…8 hours of uninterrupted sleep…
…7 hours work a day…
…20 minutes or less commute a day…
…5 home cooked meals a week…
…2 hours of play with your children a day…
…4 hours of play with your partner a day…
Month: November 2010
Thousands of students and lecturers are descending on London to demonstrate against plans to almost treble tuition fees in England to £9,000 per year.
The National Union of Students is threatening to try to unseat MPs who go back on pre-election pledges to oppose any rise in tuition fees.
It says the Liberal Democrats face an electoral “wipeout” if they break their pledge to vote against higher fees.
The coalition government says its plans are “fairer” than the current system.
But the UCU lecturers’ union leader, Sally Hunt, attacked the proposals which will see the upper limit for fees rising from £3,290 to £9,000 per year from 2012.
Student targets
“There is nothing fair or progressive about tripling the cost of a degree and axing college grants that are often the difference between students being able to study or not,” said Ms Hunt.
Student leaders say they expect 24,000 people to take part in the demonstration in Westminster.
They say they will try to use the proposed “right to recall” legislation to unseat MPs who ditch their election pledge to oppose an increase in tuition fees.
- Labels: government, non violent direct action, protest
“Ridicule is not part of the scientific method, and people should not be taught that it is. The steady flow of reports, often made in concert by reliable observers, raises questions of scientific obligation and responsibility. Is there … any residue that is worthy of scientific attention? Or, if there isn’t, does not an obligation exist to say so to the publicânot in words of open ridicule but seriously, to keep faith with the trust the public places in science and scientists?”…..J. Allen Hynek
- Labels: above top secret, acceptance, aliens, disclosure, truth
In 1984, there is a perpetual war between Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia, the super-states which emerged from the atomic global war. “The book”, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchic Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein, explains that each state is so strong it cannot be defeated, even with the combined forces of two super-statesâdespite changing alliances. To hide such contradictions, history is re-written to explain that the (new) alliance always was so; the populaces accustomed to doublethink accept it. The war is not fought in Oceanian, Eurasian or Eastasian territory but in a disputed zone comprising the sea and land from Tangiers (northern Africa) to Darwin (Australia) to the Arctic. At the start, Oceania and Eastasia are allies combatting Eurasia in northern Africa.
That alliance ends and Oceania allied with Eurasia fights Eastasia, a change which occurred during the Hate Week dedicated to creating patriotic fervour for the Party’s perpetual war. The public are blind to the change; in mid-sentence an orator changes the name of the enemy from “Eurasia” to “Eastasia” without pause. When the public are enraged at noticing that the wrong flags and posters are displayed they tear them downâthus the origin of the idiom “We’ve always been at war with Eastasia”; later the Party claims to have captured Africa.
“The book” explains that the purpose of the unwinnable, perpetual war is to consume human labour and commodities, hence the economy of a super-state cannot support economic equality (a high standard of life) for every citizen. Goldstein also details an Oceanian strategy of attacking enemy cities with atomic rockets before invasion, yet dismisses it as unfeasible and contrary to the war’s purpose; despite the atomic bombing of cities in the 1950s the super-states stopped such warfare lest it imbalance the powers.
(read more)
- Labels: big brother, fear, lies, propaganda, slavery, torture
âUsually when someone believes in a particular religion, his attitude becomes more and more a sharp angle pointing away from himself. In our way the point of the angle is always toward ourselves.â
Shunryu Suzuki
- Labels: Labels
When you die…
you will go to heaven…
we all go to heaven…
there is no hell…
Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
~ Lord Tennyson
- Labels: bill
I would like to preface this discussion with the idea that we, as a nation, live in exceedingly dangerous times. The most compelling evidence for me is the results of the recent mid-term elections. So many of the candidates, chosen for office by their electorate, have taken positions on critical issues that are rife with anti-intellectual and anti-science rhetoric. Their sense of implacable self-righteousness seems to dominate their thinking. They are apparently devoid of even the barest hint of humility. In my thinking, humility is the capacity to acknowledge that one can be mistaken, and it is an absolutely essential characteristic for those who assume positions of leadership. Without humility, we position ourselves, as a people, to a frightful future, for there can be no collective sanity without embracing our failings and our mistakes. To be devoid of humility is to welcome disaster.
Demagogues are often appealing during frightening times, for their madness entices those who are desperate for clarity, purpose and straightforward solutions no matter how absurd the answers might be in the light of critical thinking. Self righteousness can brook no compromise, for ideology is sustained and propelled by myopic vision. It proclaims clarity where there is none; it takes ownership of moral certitude where uncertainty abounds; it takes on the guise of salvation in spite of the evidence to the contrary.
If the nation is determined to choose leaders that cloak themselves in the guise of such righteousness at the ultimate expense of the common good, then we are a nation in serious trouble. This is the politics of the absurd and the dangerous.
If we are a nation in crisis, as all the evidence suggests, the answer does not lie in absurd and extreme notions, but rather through the use of reason and rational judgment in the true spirit of peace and humility.
- Labels: Labels
“The Eye of Silence”
Max Ernst 1943-44
Max Ernst (2 April 1891 â 1 April 1976)
was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet.
A prolific artist, Ernst is considered to be one of the
primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.
(read more)
I am always fascinated to see how the observations of early Eastern Philosophers, in this case the teaching of interdependence between sentient beings, prefigured the findings of modern-day Neuroscience.
- Labels: bill, neuro, philosophy
âThe meaning of a sentence is derived from the original words by an active, interpretive process. The original sentence that is perceived is rapidly forgotten and memory is for the information (meaning) contained in the sentence.â [Link]
For years, neuro-linguists have studied what remains after we hear somebody speak. What theyâve come up with is something that resembles a three-dimensional network inside of our head. The network is made up of propositions (coded events), scripts (a sequence of coded events) and associated images and feelings. Although part of the network is constructed from the original sentences ..most of it is supplied from the past experience of the listener. What we come away with is a feeling of resonance and familiarity, based largely on our own beliefs and experience ..and not necessarily the meaning intended by the speaker. These finding are consistent with the construction-integration model for narrative comprehension proposed by psychologist Walter Kintsch [Link]
- Labels: bill, communication, neuro, psychology
Iâm always fascinated by the way people explain events to themselves ..especially when the cause is obscure and not directly observable. In Haiti, for instance, the local population believes that the earthquake was caused by angry mystical entities known as âgedesâ ..or spirits of the dead. Evangelical Christians, arriving on the scene, say the earthquake was caused by exactly that kind of superstitious thinking .. if only they had switched their beliefs, none of this would have happened. According to Pat â ..they made a pact with the devil when they won independence from the French (and Christian rule) .. and now theyâre paying for it.â No one talks about fault lines or tectonic plates, I guess that sounds way too much like scientific ideology. So now Iâm going to say that the mudslides in Los Angeles last week were brought about by the kind of decadent behavior LA is known for, and has nothing to do with the fires last summer ..those happened way too long ago.
- Labels: bill, religion, superstition
“Home”…is a small blue marble…
that orbits a sun…
that orbits the galaxy…
that is our little blue lifeboat…
that is our “Home”
- Labels: awareness, common sense, eyes, human condition
My values are at variance with many that society takes for granted.
Maybe society has created a compliant insanity by majority rules.
There are many indicators that we don’t live in a well or fair state.
Could responsibility address the fear of a Welfare State?
There are conceptual properties that are interfering with original rights to own material properties. Our Founding Fathers came from the era when monarchs owned all the property of a country (and it’s empire) so They were attempting to design a proper property for individuals to manage. The ultimate private interest was confronted to create the best republic they could. This was a social movement as the first paragraph of Common Sense clearly implies. Protection of property is how government earns confidence. Does it seem like a majority of Americans would vote no-confidence in their government? How much should we think that is insane?
Their agrarian economy was at a pace with natural progression that was distorted by concepts allowed by an industrial revolution. Profit worked great when measured by production values. What seems to distort economic integrity is how information and service is sold for profit.
My parents were social workers who were pioneers of a social service era. The entitlement of a stable government inspired the creation of assurances like Social Security according to their standards.
The wealthy interpretation was to create an insurance market that is based on gambling. The perpetrators are proving the imbalance of values that became pervasive with the acceptance of governmental lotteries. So many pay every week with hope for something they will never experience. Insurance makes us pay every month for something we never hope to use. How rational is that?
The deficit is a result of gambling attitudes. But how can the future be held responsible for the behavior of the past, monetarily? How can the nonexistent account for a conceptual derivative? Maybe it doesn’t exist!Doesn’t it seem more like an admission of borrowing in order to gamble? This could be a value of (and owed to) those who were used.
Wealth seems to be a style of compulsive obsessive hoarding. The more I have (of anything powerful) the more I am removed from a balanced reality and the more defensive I become. Those with the most have the most to lose. Money has become a harsh demanding master monarch.
The new confidence could come from a credit game that doesn’t create debt. Overthrow the monarch money with three branches of economy. Divide the deficit into potential credit that can be accessible by staying well and fairly well-balanced. Every patient is important for the practice of medicine so they should get paid to submit to compliant health goals. This credits care for our bodies as a national interest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of contentment.
The best liberty we have now is to indulge in education. Does the entitlement of education lack the values of observation and or recognition? Universities should financially credit students for completing stages of research and development. This could be the redistribution of interest to recreate the best American production behavior that proper investment deserves. If students came into society with credits to invest, those in the profit branch of economy could make products beyond reproach.
If the fastest growing job is collection agent, it is a symptom of inappropriate use of energy. I have implied that the insurance job market created a parasite that is a tumor in the system of banking that has derived the most harm to our well-being. It is easier to just live with a parasite than to treat it. The immediate problem with jobs is what limitations they have forced humanity to accept.
The job of regulator is a type of mediation that needs to relax the punishment of judgment and expedite educational and healthy observations as trustworthy. This could be the role of government if economics were removed, The Founding Fathers had the hint that lawmaking and enforcement was the cause of taxation. Regulate that burden by repealing the mistakes of the past. Forgive so we don’t have to forget the lessons of mistakes. The deficit is a symptom that reparations are deserved if relative to three respectful styles of coexistence. Production, thought development, and health care.
- Labels: Labels
Proceedings from the Symposium on Extraterrestrial Psychology
Dr. Latimer: Language is nothing more than a stream of symbols that signify nothing until we recognize something we might have either seen or heard before, and look up it’s meaning in our mental dictionary. In a plurality of worlds, without a common store of experience that comes from shared culture, efforts at communication may be an exercise in incomprehensible gestures. Verbal communication is the manipulation of symbols to which meaning is assigned by culture. An important point to keep in mind my friends is that the events experienced by members of a culture over time are what make up the narrative thread of that culture.
Dr. Zhavern: When we look into space, we donât see things as they are. What we see is a single narrative thread winding itâs way through the cosmos ..a cosmos that may be shared by narratives other than our own. However, to itâs participants ..each narrative looks like the only cosmic game in town. Like language, we skew space to resemble something weâve either seen, or heard before. Itâs the only way we can come to grips with it.
Dr. Orloff: I think human consciousness is a fragmented and unstable process. It creates rapid models of counterfactual worlds inside the brain for things it cannot observe ..but only infer. The brain keeps track of these different versions until only those that contribute to narrative coherence receive sufficient signal strength to survive while those leading nowhere dissolve into noise ..and disappear into non-narrative space .. in an instant.
Dr. Pangloss: I think consciousness is made up of searchlights, projected from different mental versions of the world we create. They eventually converge to form concentric circles in the brain that illuminate the focal points that contribute most to narrative events, and fade rapidly at the periphery with fewer contributing points until things go black somewhere around the edges of non-narrative space.
My feeble brain ( hasnât got a clue ): Are you saying that the narrative threads of extraterrestrials arenât likely to uncoil very closely to ours ..(?)
- Labels: bill, cosmos, neuro, psychology
London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared – and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard,you boys and girls
London calling, now don’t look to us
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain’t got no swing
‘Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing
Now war is declared – and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard,you boys and girls
London calling, now don’t look to us
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain’t got no swing
‘Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing
CHORUS
The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, live by the river
London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go at it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out – and draw another breath
London calling – and I don’t wanna shout
But while we were talking I saw you *running out
London calling, see we ain’t got no high
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes
The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, I live by the river
Now get this
London calling, yes, I was there, too
An’ you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!
London calling at the top of the dial
And after all this, won’t you give me a smile?
London Calling
I never felt so much alive, alive, alive…
- Labels: Labels
Halloween (or Hallowe’en) is an annual holiday observed on October 31, primarily in Canada, Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints’ Day, but is today largely a secular celebration. (read more)
Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 â October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts. Harry Houdini died on Halloween. (read more)
Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 â July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros. during the “Golden Age of American animation” (and later for Hanna-Barbera television productions) as the voice of such well-known characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote, Woody Woodpecker, Barney Rubble, Mr. Spacely, Speed Buggy, Captain Caveman, Heathcliff, and hundreds of others. Having earned the nickname “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” Blanc is regarded as one of the most influential people in the voice-acting industry. (read more)
