Globalove Think Tank

I dream of a Star Trek world. This think tank will focus on creative actions
designed to initiate a global paradigm shift towards a world where racism, poverty
and war will be a thing of the past.

Category: bill

Weapons Delivery

Unforeseen Consequences
American political leaders call for military action because it seems like a decisive and strong thing to do. But restraint often takes greater resolve. Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu once wrote: “Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance by clever means …before fighting. If you know neither your enemy nor yourself, you will be defeated in every battle.” By repeatedly engaging in interventions without a proper understanding of our enemy …and without a better understanding of the consequences of our own actions (stabilizing the region ?!) …we have weakened our nation security, not bolstered it. Terrorism perpetuates terrorism …and right now in the eyes of the Middle East we are the terrorists. The law of unforeseen consequences does not reward recklessness.

Percepts

Orphan Black

Brit Marling for President

Qualifications:
Degree in Economics, Georgetown University, Valedictorian. Investment analyst (Goldman Sachs), Film maker, Producer, Screenwriter and Actor specializing in science-based films and documentaries. Successfully overcame gender stereotypes by writing her own roles in  complex and thought-provoking films.
Proven ability to handle complex situations with deliberation and effectiveness.

transmission

“So much of who I am is because of Dr. Seuss.”
[courtesy of humansofnewyork]

Sound of my Voice

Sound of my Voice  with Brit Marling

Somewhere in the valley, there is a woman living in a basement. She
claims to be from the future and she’s amassing followers. These people
believe that she will actually lead them to salvation. The
FBI say she is perpetrating a con ..stockpiling weapons and forming a
militia.

Kālī

“There are many ways to calm a negative energy without suppressing or fighting it. You recognize it, you smile to it, and you invite something nicer to come up and replace it; you go somewhere in nature, or you do some walking meditation.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

dissolution

In space, the powers of creation and destruction work differently than they do here on earth. Matter appears, dissolves and reappears just like here but  in  a   much   s l o w e r   m a n n e r.  Matter that makes up you and me. On earth we’re refreshed at such high rates of speed that the particles of matter disappear and reappear in essentially the same place ..making our position more or less predictable from one instant to the next. In space, however, it’s so cold that things take a little longer ..when measured in nano-seconds. So, instead of the high-speed collisions that we see on earth .. particles are refreshed by way of quantum tunneling in space [link]. This means we could wink out of one place one moment and reappear in another place the next ..kind of like looking at someone through a strobe light. And not only that .. this kind of delay lowers the probability of particles sticking together ..meaning there’s a good chance that we could dissolve in the process.

Tomorrow never knows

“Stop the fight ..turn off your mind, relax and float downstream ..tomorrow never knows”   ~   John Lennon

Catching fire

“remember who the real enemy is”
(Image source: StalkerAE)
An interpretation:  The film shows what can happen when economic class differences are enforced by the Government. They become structured rather than fluid. The possibility for advancement is eliminated ..except by winning the hunger games ..inspiring a false sense of hope.

Attack of the jabberjays

under the skin

The film was shot on location in Glasgow and the Scottish Highlands.
Scarlett Johansson plays an alien predator. She wears a black wig and is not immediately recognizable as she cruises through Glasgow and the surrounding countryside picking up hitchhikers in a van equipped with hidden video cameras. Like candid camera, their reactions are real and authentic. Their stories offer a glimpse of society from the point of view of the ultimate outsider. 

Adapted from the book by Michel Faber

Oral transmission in post-apocalypse sects

Savannah ..! Finn ..! look.
It’s him. I finded him ..It’s Captain Walker.

-What’s his talk?
-He ain’t made any wordstuff.
-It’s a long track. Maybe he’s burned out.
-Maybe.
-Maybe he’s just listening.
Walker? Hello?
Maybe he’s talking, but we ain’t hearing.
You see ..his lips ain’t moving.
Not with wordstuff, but maybe with sonic.
This is Delta-Fox-X-Ray. Can you hear me? Delta-Fox-X-Ray. Come in. Is anybody out there? Can you read me, Walker? What’s up, Doc? Can you hear me,

Yeah, I can hear your ..who are you

-Quiet!
-Shut up!
-Enough!

Who are you?

We are the waiting ones.

Waiting for what?

Waiting for you.

And who am I?

I think he be testing us .. this a testing, Walker? …you reckon we been slack?

I don’t know ..maybe you’ve been slack.

We ain’t ..we kept it straight. It’s all there. Everything marked ..everything ‘membered. You wait, you’ll see. This you knows. I be First Tracker. Times past count I done the Tell. But it weren’t me that tumbled Walker. It was Savannah. So it’s only right that she tell the Tell.

This ain’t one body’s story. It’s the story of us all. We got it mouth-to-mouth. You got to listen it and ‘member. ‘Cause what you hears today ..you got to tell the birthed tomorrow.

I’m looking behind us now. ..across the count of time . .down the long haul, into history back. In the end what were the start. It’s Pox-Eclipse, full of pain! And out of it we were birthed ..from crackling dust and fearsome time. It were full-on winter ..and Mr. Dead chasing them all. But one he couldn’t catch. That were Captain Walker.

He gathers up a gang, takes to the air and flies to the sky! So they left their homes,said bidey-bye to the high-scrapers . .and what were left of the knowing, they left behind. Some say the wind just stoppered. Others reckon it were a gang called Turbulence. And after the wreck, some had been jumped by Mr. Dead . .but some had got the luck,and it leads them here.

One look and they’s got the hots for it. They word it “Planet Earth. ” “We don’t need the knowing.We can live here. “

Time counts and keeps counting.They gets missing what they had. They get so lonely for the high-scrapers and the video. And they does the pictures so they’d ‘member all the knowing that they lost.

‘Member this?
-Tomorrow-morrow Land!
‘Member this?
-The River of Light!
‘Member this?
-Skyraft!
‘Member this?
-Captain Walker!
‘Member this?
-Mrs. Walker!

Then Captain Walker picked them of an age and good for a long haul. They counted twenty, and that were them. The great leaving. The rescue party departed at first light ..led by Flight Captain. Walker. “May God have mercy on our souls. ” They said bidey-bye to them what they’d birthed.And from the nothing ..they looked back ..and Captain Walker hollered:

“Wait, one of us will come.”
“Wait, one of us will come.”

And somebody did come. .Walker! We’s heartful to you, Captain Walker. We’s ready now. Take us home. We kept it straight! Everything marked, everything ‘membered!

You kept it real good. You ain’t been slack.

Why are we waiting?

That ain’t me ..you got the wrong guy.

-Quit joshing!
-Catch the wind.
-We got to see Tomorrow-morrow Land!
-Home! Tomorrow-morrow Land!

There were places like these.Cities. They were called cities.They had lots of knowing. They had skyscrapers ..videos and they had the sonic.Then this happened. This Pox-Eclipse happened, and it’s finished. It isn’t there anymore. You got to understand that this is home.And there ain’t no tomorrow Land ..and I ain’t Captain Walker.

This is it!We’s loaded and waiting, Captain. We got the wind up our arse, Captain. Let’s go!Who’s coming? We’s pulling a leaving.

There ain’t gonna be no leavings. All that’s just jerking time.We’s working it different. Ain’t you seen nothing? He couldn’t catch the wind. There weren’t no skyrafting. There won’t be no salvage-shun. This is our Tomorrow-morrow Land. He’s proof of that.

Programmed! All of you programmed. If he ain’t Captain Walker, who is he? He ain’t no different to us. He slogged it on foot. If he can get here, we can get back.He ain’t much bigger than us. Copilot did it. So why can’t we? That’s the trick of it. Who’s coming? Across the nothing? Don’t you ‘member? When you finded him, he were half jumped by Mr. Dead. Nobody’s saying it ain’t a hard slog. If we wants the knowing, it ain’t an easy ride.

Look ..! There ain’t no knowing! There ain’t no skyraft and no sonic. You slog out there to nothing! Worse than nothing. The first place you’ll find is a sleaze pit called Bartertown. If the earth doesn’t swallow you up,that place will.

Don’t listen to im ..! He’s got wordstuff out his ass! Whoever’s got the juice, track with us.

Now listen good! I’m not Captain Walker. I’m the guy who keeps Mr. Dead in his pocket. I say we’re gonna stay here. And we’ll live a long time and we’ll be thankful. Right?

Yeah right .. whoever’s got the juice, track with us.

A parable

Once upon a time in a world not long ago ..a succession of countries held sway over the planet. A great war ensued and two countries were left standing. The two countries remained in contention for nearly half a century. Then one let it’s infrastructure decay and economy falter while pouring it’s national treasure into the military. They became stuck in an unending war in Afghanistan. The other country watched in amazement while their former adversary became weaker and weaker and then totally disintegrated. Amazement gave way to arrogance. Arrogance gave way to recklessness and they made the most puzzling decision. They chose to follow the same path that lead to the downfall of their former adversary. Moral …? I guess strength doesn’t always override poor decision-making.

Interdependent originations

from the journal science [ link ]

Sensory integration

This garden universe vibrates complete. Some we get a sound so sweet. Vibrations reach on up to become light, and then thru gamma, out of sight. Between the eyes and ears there lay, the sounds of color and the light of a sigh. –  Moody Blues 

Peer-mediated buzz

   James Fowler, a professor of psychology at UCSD, found that messages from our peers are more likely to initiate action than messages delivered by a political committee [ link ]. Last year, Obama’s reelection committee learned the same thing. They developed a system that leverages database technology and social-media to deliver their messages. In an instant, this system allows them to:

  1. mobilize grassroots support for White House concerns 
  2. provide White House support for local concerns
Apparently they took an extra step, conducted surveys ..and learned that nothing energizes participation better than ‘reciprocity’. Brilliant use of technology combined with Obama’s experience as a community organizer. Politically I’m independent and pretty damn naïve ..but I can see why this might give Republicans cause for alarm.

Decision making

Decisions are mostly intuitive, logical explanations
catch-up milliseconds later ~ Robert Sapolsky [ link ]

Narrative culture

“Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we grow up hearing only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding”

presupposition

So true for me

Fast and Furious

A federal program called Fast and Furious allowed weapons to be sold to gun smugglers in the U.S. so they could be traced to drug cartels in Mexico. However, they quickly lost track of the weapons and some of them turned up in the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol Agent near Tucson in December 2010. Since then, an ongoing investigation has looked into the possibility that it was a gun-running operation headed by the Department of Justice.
The investigation into the Fast and Furious program concluded yesterday saying “Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. had no knowledge of the problems surrounding Fast and Furious before the slaying of a U.S. Border Patrol agent brought them to light.” The Attorney General was quick to point out that this proves he “had neither knowledge of ..nor did he condone any such operation” [ link ]. Now, I’m not making a political statement here. ..but I am making a linguistic observation when I say that this proves nothing of the sort. Finding he had “..no knowledge of the problems” associated with the program does not necessarily mean that he didn’t know ..or wasn’t involved.
This makes me suspicious because it sounds like a non-denial of a non-denial. Makes me wonder what the Feds are covering up, which leads me to conclude that they really were supplying guns to drug cartels. This doesn’t surprise me. It’s in their interest to keep smuggling operations alive and well. Not only does it keep the Justice Department in business ..but it provides a much-needed stream of revenue for the Federal Government when times get lean and Congress shuts down funding for other such operations.

Neurolinguistic programming

Hackers are sending messages over the Internet that bypass the usual centers for linguistic processing. They travel along the optic or auditory nerve and go directly into the deep structures of the brain ..those areas responsible for carrying-out parsing operations native to all languages. These messages arrive in their native state ..just out of the reach of the predicates of logic. Like a Trojan horse ..they deliver instructions that basically shred conditioned passageways in the brain, which causes the recipient to start raving incoherently. Like a virus .. anyone hearing the ravings of this lunatic will also be infected ..experience a similar disruption of linguistic pathways and start raving and spreading the virus to others. This isn’t new. 12th century practitioners of the Kabbalah realized the hypnotic power of messages that were composed of symbols taken from sacred texts. I have the Book of the Names on my shelf. It frightens me to take it down because when I do ..I lose hours, even days out of my life and I never know where I’ll end up. Click below and see. 
 

The feeling of discourse

An MRI study reveals that emotion, not fact-sharing, promotes social interaction and facilitates interpersonal understanding. What researchers discovered is that emotions ‘synchronize mental networks’ between individuals. Synchronized network activity focuses attention on shared experience and produces a common framework for understanding. Sharing other people’s emotional state during discourse enables us to perceive, experience and interpret what others say in a like manner ..without separation [ link ].

A most lucid explanation

If I understand what he’s saying ..the current economic crises can be traced back to the Reagan Administration. In 1980 they deregulated the Savings and Loan industry ..which put the business of making home loans in the hands of amateurs. Then, in 1987 ..the Reagan Administration had to bail out the Savings and Loan industry when it collapsed under the weight of it’s own incompetence (and unbridled greed). The Federal government allowed the Savings and Loans to package questionable loans, and sell them as stocks ..or mortgage-backed securities. It was mortgage-backed securities that helped make the housing slump of 2006–2007 ..go global in 2008 ..and wipe out investment houses from Bear Stearns to Deutsche Industriebank

Sgt Bales vs War

Recent information blows my PTSD theory. Sgt Bales wasn’t suffering the effects of multiple deployments. He re-up’d and saw the military as his calling. It sounds like a deliberate attack. I have a new theory. The only sane response to an irrational and life-threatening situation is to act in an equally irrational manner. U.S. soldiers are trained to fight with ‘discrimination’ and regard for civilian life. However, they’re constantly put into battle with an enemy that fights without such civility. The Taliban are known to place little value on the lives of civilians. The Afghan people live in fear of the Taliban, but the Taliban are there all the time and they know they’ll continue being there after we’re gone. They side with them out of necessity. As a result, U.S. soldiers are operating in a region “..riddled with mistrust and hostility.” In an effort to deprive Taliban fighters of cover, U.S. soldiers routinely bulldoze houses, orchards, and farms. This fuels more hostility. As a result, residents regularly assist the Taliban. They help plant IED’s and U.S. soldiers often find bomb-making material in their homes. The war in Afghanistan has put our troops in an un-winnable situation. I deplore the killing of innocent women and children (any killing for that matter) ..but the civilian population is harbouring and assisting the enemy and the Taliban have no problem getting their compliance out of the barrel of a gun. This is no doubt the case in the Panjwayi district where Sgt Bales and his squad were operating. Perhaps the only way Sgt Bales felt he could deliver a message of strength was to act with equal ruthlessness. It’s been seen before. During the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, orders were given to shoot civilians  â€œThey’re all V.C., now go and get them” [ link ]. Instead of prosecuting Sgt Bales, perhaps it’s the U.S. war in Afghanistan that should stand trial.

21st century

Well, I dreamed I saw the knights in armor coming / Saying something about a queen / There were peasants singing and drummers drumming / And the archer split the tree / There was a fanfare blowing to the sun / That was floating on the breeze / Look at Mother Nature on the run / In the twenty first century
Photo of ~> [ Coral Reefer ]

Obama’s War on Pot

Photo courtesy of Coral Reefer [ link ]

In a shocking about-face, the administration has launched a
government-wide crackdown on medical marijuana

Oaksterdam, a dispensary owned by legendary activist Richard Lee, was raided Monday morning by Federal DEA agents. Lee began using marijuana to ease his back pain after suffering a spinal injury at age 27. He and others like him have revolutionized the industry by using hydroponic techniques to grow marijuana safely, onsite and in compliance with state law. The Justice Department has been cracking down on California’s dispensaries and growers since October. Over the past year, the Obama administration has unleashed a multiagency crackdown on medical cannabis that goes far beyond anything undertaken in the past. The feds are busting growers who operate in full compliance with state laws, vowing to seize the property of anyone who dares to even rent to legal pot dispensaries, and threatening to imprison state employees responsible for regulating medical marijuana. It’s true that California has no shortage of illegal pot growers and the statute that allows for medical marijuana was poorly written. However, the state still has the right to pass laws and the power of jurisdiction. The Federal Government is overstepping it’s bounds and violating the sovereignty of the state when it repeals these laws and imposes it’s own jurisdiction.

Music never stops

“There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go, no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone”
            Ripple by the Grateful Dead

        

The head of network services where I used to work had calendars from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s covering his wall with well over a thousand dates circled in red. Each one represented a Grateful Dead concert he had attended. On occasion, I would catch him leaning back and staring at them all glassy-eyed. He’d ask me to pick a date, any date ..and he could tell me not only what city they played, but how he managed to get there, who he was with and what songs the band played that night. You can verify the playlists online. We’re looking at a period of time spanning 3 decades. I have a hard time remembering what movie I saw at the theater last week.

Anti anxiety

The complaint I most frequently hear from former pot smokers of my generation (those who came-of-age during the 60’s and 70’s) ..is that smoking marijuana makes them feel nervous. Some describe it as so intense, it borders on paranoia. Consequently they quit and never came back. In the day, little was known about cultivating for the psychoactive effects of marijuana.

The times they are a’ changing. A new breed of cultivator has revolutionized the field. They can grow sophisticated varietals with a range of psychoactive properties. “The THC component is the same ..it is the mixture of other elements that play a vital role in changing the psychoactive effect.” Two decades ago, most marijuana smokers bought whatever their dealer had. It was illegal even for research purposes. Consequently nothing was known about marijuana other than its THC content.

One of these newly found elements is a compound called Cannabidoil or CBD. It’s responsible for the calming and pain relieving effects found in medicinal marijuana. Takes the buzz off THC so to speak. CBD is also helpful in treating a range of problems, including arthritis, the side effects of chemotherapy, asthma, sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder [ link ]. CBD is measured in grams. Your local dispensary should carry varieties containing different amounts of CBD .. 0.35 grams being considered ‘good’.

Beauty of uncertainty

based on a study showing what happens when we discount the surprise value of unexpected events ~> [link]

House of Saud

When a modern-day “monarchy” commits the worst human rights violations on the planet, can we still call it a monarchy ..? Wouldn’t autocracy or totalitarian dictatorship be more appropriate ..? Saudi Arabia’s ruling family prohibits freedom of religion, speech and press. Beheadings and other barbaric punishments are part of their corrupt system of justice. Women are not even allowed to drive a car. Meanwhile, the House of Saud runs the world’s largest oil reserves like a personal bank account, occasionally tossing out billions to fight democratic reforms in the Middle East. Even the personal wealth of Osama bin Laden, which funded terrorist operations of al-Qaeda (including 9/11) ..was acquired through this kind of largesse from the House of Saud. Are these the people we want to sell billions of dollars worth of arms to? Of course we have no choice but to ignore the gravity of this political hypocrisy. With no coherent energy policy, our only option is to pretend these tyrants are our friends.

Extraterrestrial psychology

Astrophysicist Gregory Benford says we need to consider extraterrestrial economics when looking for signals from outer space. He suggests SETI narrow down its search to what we can reasonably expect extraterrestrial to achieve at such great distances ..assuming they’re not omnipotent. I applaud him for his pragmatism, however I think we also need to consider extraterrestrial psychology if we are to expect a reasonable chance of successful contact. Otherwise, I don’t see how we hope to achieve any kind of meaningful communication. Since we have no basis from which to conceive of the extraterrestrial mind, I think we have to start with something we can observe ..and I believe that would be us.
Psychologists already know that rational thought is a spatio-temporal process. It’s powerful but limited to weighing evidence about the physical universe. Other-worldly experience is out-of-scope. I believe this would also apply to the thought processes of any aliens we encounter. First, we’d only know we’ve encountered them if they share the same spatial-temporal dimension as us. Second, those we do meet would have to have some way of processing information about this shared dimension that is similar to ours. In other words, like us .. they would also have to integrate sensory information into a coherent model of the world they inhabit. So, I believe the first step in contemplating extraterrestrial life is to better understand our own. I mean, lets face it .. at this point it’s all we got.
Science tells us that knowledge is often knowledge of differences. Given that the human brain is tuned to receive only a narrow band of information available on earth, which is further constrained by culture ..I’m not sure it’s safe to assume that the alien mind is similarly tuned. They do not share the same background. We know that human perception is based on background information as much as information from the present ..and that the brain integrates information selected by the senses with information available in memory to create a coherent whole. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect extraterrestrials, who do not share our planetary history, to perceive our surroundings the same way we do. The way I’ve heard it explained best goes something like this:
“We could try and introduce ourselves to them ..but all they might see is a sparse dusting of energy waves occurring in a vacuum ..with some probability of identity based on their backgrounds ..not ours.”

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