12 inspirational minutes...
...and below an interesting article, some disagreements- however, well constructed.
http://truththeory.com/2012/12/29/the-end-of-the-beginning/
Sunday 30 December 2012
sacred economics
http://www.bbc5.tv/video/sacred-economics
12 inspirational minutes...
...and below an interesting article, some disagreements- however, well constructed.
http://truththeory.com/2012/12/29/the-end-of-the-beginning/
12 inspirational minutes...
...and below an interesting article, some disagreements- however, well constructed.
http://truththeory.com/2012/12/29/the-end-of-the-beginning/
Saturday 24 November 2012
Prayer
Modern western man finds himself feeling slightly rediculous at the idea of praying.
To what ? To Whom? Proove it ! nothing exists unless someone can proove it so why would I speak to it !
Actually a whole lot exists outside the scientifically proovable, simply because devising an experiment to proove otherwise seems out of scope. ...and even if the meaning is only in your heart or imagination, that doesnt make it invalid, but potentially all the more powerful if it encourages self belief and ignites action and good attitude within.
Stating dreams and wishes and intentions out loud is a type of affirmation exercise that takes you one step closer to achieving, by sharpening focus and preventing mental drift into worry cycles.
This is not the same as assuming a deity wants you to behave in a particular way as written or told by other people - or that the powers that be will automatically help in the expected way - more that they will be able to present you with better options or opportunities perhaps. It is still up to you to notice and take chances. And if you are feeling empowered rather than battered and withdrawn, you stand more chance of recognising and acting on new opportunities.
Praying for a new car wont work, but may be you'll be presented with a new friend who happens upon conversing to reveal they're looking to get rid of their old banger...better than nothing?
Praying for strength is a good option - sometimes it feels like a helping hand up a mountain is required. Things aren't flowing. May be help to get unstuck from a merry go round, or just to reset and refocus.
Stating Thanks outloud is also valid. It puts good vibes out there which are badly needed.
And heck, if you want to light a candle or josstick, is that really a childish waste of time or an extra sign of commitment to a better future..? It just means you take your existence seriously. Lighten up Modern Westerners is Yellowhammers basic plea...believe the unbelievable !
I was told once as well that the spirit world if you believe in one is NOT allowed to help without being asked out loud - I suppose that is the whole point of humans having free will - according to Christian mythology prevalent in our culture's past, we left the garden of Eden to stand on our own two feet and determine our destiny, but that doesn't mean we are cut off completely - I mean, who hasn't ever rung their parents up to ask for help once or twice since flying the nest ?
Here are some cool prayers to the spiritual parents , ancestors, the great source - you can adapt.
The "Druid's Prayer" or "Gorsedd Prayer" (Gweddi'r Orsedd) is composed by Iolo Morganwg and is still a staple in the ritual of both gorseddau and Neo-Druidism.
Neo-Druids sometimes substitute the words y Dduwies ("the Goddess") for the original Duw ("God") found in other versions.
The below version is that usually adopted by various druidic groups, notably the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) albeit in a different fashion.
The Serenity Prayer is the common name for an originally untitled prayer by twentieth century American theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr. The prayer has been adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs.
The best-known form is:
Neo Pagan Nature prayer
To Honour in gratitude and Thankfulness
Mother nature for all things *
The Birds, The bees
The flowers and the trees
The four leggeds , the crops, the children
The waters and the seas.
[* Many things..?]
as we celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth.
Tonight we speak to those through the veil,
the lines between worlds are thin and frail.
Ghosts and spirits in the night,
magical beings rising in flight,
owls hooting up in a moonlit tree,
I don't fear you - and you don't fear me.
As the sun goes down, far to the west,
my ancestors watch over me as I rest.
They keep me safe and without fear,
on the night of Samhain, the Witch's New Year.
The Lords Prayer - a constant - being one who came from a culture where this was learned by heart, it provides simply an opportunity to relax into something unchanged for many decades - so a contrast to the ever changing present - also some good statements about how to live properly.
Our Father
Which art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven (as above so below)
Give us this day our daily bread (protect our crops)
and forgive us our trespasses (expressing sorrow at harm caused)
as we forgive those who trespass against us (we are all one)
And deliver us from evil (help us resist bad intentions and actions of ourselves and others)
For thine is the Kingdom
The power and the glory
For ever and ever
Amen
To keep things simple, one could just go East and OM quietly on the bus...
And in The beginning was the Word - and the word was God.
[Genesis 1:1]
If one takes God to mean Creation, then many Eastern religions believe that the OM or AUM sound produces the right vibrational sound for creation - OM is the sound of the universe coming into being...then by uttering the sound outloud one is producing the Word - or the Sound of God/Creation.
http://video.about.com/hinduism/What-Is-Om-.htm
Buzzing in the back of one's throat is a shamanic bee exercise that also produces feelings of strengthening.
Praying to God seems like giving power up, but actually one could think of it as surrender of ego - like the hanged man in Tarot (Jesus?) , the Priestess (Maintaining balance) , the Hochmar emanation of Wisdom (Kaballah) or in the East the Third Eye Chakra - seeing beyond the visible to the eternal power of the source point. Keeping oneself below a higher power is not subordination per se , but actually a good way of gaining perspective of the bigger picture without oneself at the centre all the time...and thus increases unity conciousness making one more powerful, not less.
Don't believe me ? Try it out sometime when you have run out of all other options - you may find my mishmash of quasi religious cherry picking helps.
To what ? To Whom? Proove it ! nothing exists unless someone can proove it so why would I speak to it !
Actually a whole lot exists outside the scientifically proovable, simply because devising an experiment to proove otherwise seems out of scope. ...and even if the meaning is only in your heart or imagination, that doesnt make it invalid, but potentially all the more powerful if it encourages self belief and ignites action and good attitude within.
Stating dreams and wishes and intentions out loud is a type of affirmation exercise that takes you one step closer to achieving, by sharpening focus and preventing mental drift into worry cycles.
This is not the same as assuming a deity wants you to behave in a particular way as written or told by other people - or that the powers that be will automatically help in the expected way - more that they will be able to present you with better options or opportunities perhaps. It is still up to you to notice and take chances. And if you are feeling empowered rather than battered and withdrawn, you stand more chance of recognising and acting on new opportunities.
Praying for a new car wont work, but may be you'll be presented with a new friend who happens upon conversing to reveal they're looking to get rid of their old banger...better than nothing?
Praying for strength is a good option - sometimes it feels like a helping hand up a mountain is required. Things aren't flowing. May be help to get unstuck from a merry go round, or just to reset and refocus.
Stating Thanks outloud is also valid. It puts good vibes out there which are badly needed.
And heck, if you want to light a candle or josstick, is that really a childish waste of time or an extra sign of commitment to a better future..? It just means you take your existence seriously. Lighten up Modern Westerners is Yellowhammers basic plea...believe the unbelievable !
I was told once as well that the spirit world if you believe in one is NOT allowed to help without being asked out loud - I suppose that is the whole point of humans having free will - according to Christian mythology prevalent in our culture's past, we left the garden of Eden to stand on our own two feet and determine our destiny, but that doesn't mean we are cut off completely - I mean, who hasn't ever rung their parents up to ask for help once or twice since flying the nest ?
Here are some cool prayers to the spiritual parents , ancestors, the great source - you can adapt.
The "Druid's Prayer" or "Gorsedd Prayer" (Gweddi'r Orsedd) is composed by Iolo Morganwg and is still a staple in the ritual of both gorseddau and Neo-Druidism.
Neo-Druids sometimes substitute the words y Dduwies ("the Goddess") for the original Duw ("God") found in other versions.
The below version is that usually adopted by various druidic groups, notably the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) albeit in a different fashion.
The Serenity Prayer is the common name for an originally untitled prayer by twentieth century American theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr. The prayer has been adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs.
The best-known form is:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Neo Pagan Nature prayer
To Honour in gratitude and Thankfulness
Mother nature for all things *
The Birds, The bees
The flowers and the trees
The four leggeds , the crops, the children
The waters and the seas.
[* Many things..?]
Kids Prayer for Samhain
Samhain is here, cold is the earth,as we celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth.
Tonight we speak to those through the veil,
the lines between worlds are thin and frail.
Ghosts and spirits in the night,
magical beings rising in flight,
owls hooting up in a moonlit tree,
I don't fear you - and you don't fear me.
As the sun goes down, far to the west,
my ancestors watch over me as I rest.
They keep me safe and without fear,
on the night of Samhain, the Witch's New Year.
The Lords Prayer - a constant - being one who came from a culture where this was learned by heart, it provides simply an opportunity to relax into something unchanged for many decades - so a contrast to the ever changing present - also some good statements about how to live properly.
Our Father
Which art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven (as above so below)
Give us this day our daily bread (protect our crops)
and forgive us our trespasses (expressing sorrow at harm caused)
as we forgive those who trespass against us (we are all one)
And deliver us from evil (help us resist bad intentions and actions of ourselves and others)
For thine is the Kingdom
The power and the glory
For ever and ever
Amen
To keep things simple, one could just go East and OM quietly on the bus...
And in The beginning was the Word - and the word was God.
[Genesis 1:1]
If one takes God to mean Creation, then many Eastern religions believe that the OM or AUM sound produces the right vibrational sound for creation - OM is the sound of the universe coming into being...then by uttering the sound outloud one is producing the Word - or the Sound of God/Creation.
http://video.about.com/hinduism/What-Is-Om-.htm
Buzzing in the back of one's throat is a shamanic bee exercise that also produces feelings of strengthening.
Praying to God seems like giving power up, but actually one could think of it as surrender of ego - like the hanged man in Tarot (Jesus?) , the Priestess (Maintaining balance) , the Hochmar emanation of Wisdom (Kaballah) or in the East the Third Eye Chakra - seeing beyond the visible to the eternal power of the source point. Keeping oneself below a higher power is not subordination per se , but actually a good way of gaining perspective of the bigger picture without oneself at the centre all the time...and thus increases unity conciousness making one more powerful, not less.
Don't believe me ? Try it out sometime when you have run out of all other options - you may find my mishmash of quasi religious cherry picking helps.
Friday 23 November 2012
Sunday 11 November 2012
I wasn't born to Follow
Oh I'd rather go and journey
Where the diamond crescent's glowing and
Run across the valley
Beneath the sacred mountain
And Wander through the forest
Where the trees have leaves of prisms
And break the light in colors
That no-one knows the names of...
And when it's time I'll go and wait
Beside a legendary fountain
Till I see your form reflected
In it's clear and jeweled waters
And if you think I'm ready...
You may lead me to the chasm
Where the rivers of our vision
Flow into one another...
I will watch her dive beneath
The white cascading waters
She may beg she may plead
She may argue with her logic
And then mention all the things I'll lose
That really have no value
In the end she will surely know
I wasn't born to follow....
Are these not some of the greatest lyrics ever penned ?
Written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin for The Byrds.
Where the diamond crescent's glowing and
Run across the valley
Beneath the sacred mountain
And Wander through the forest
Where the trees have leaves of prisms
And break the light in colors
That no-one knows the names of...
And when it's time I'll go and wait
Beside a legendary fountain
Till I see your form reflected
In it's clear and jeweled waters
And if you think I'm ready...
You may lead me to the chasm
Where the rivers of our vision
Flow into one another...
I will watch her dive beneath
The white cascading waters
She may beg she may plead
She may argue with her logic
And then mention all the things I'll lose
That really have no value
In the end she will surely know
I wasn't born to follow....
Are these not some of the greatest lyrics ever penned ?
Written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin for The Byrds.
Friday 26 October 2012
Natural Navigation
A perfect example of natural navigation from the Vikings!
http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2012/10/12/how_vikings_navigated_the_globe_106385.html
If you are interested in how to get about without satnavel-gazing or compass, then look to Tristan Gooley who runs courses and has a great website of resources
http://www.naturalnavigator.com/
Saturday 20 October 2012
Rising Rumour : Overpopulation
The purpose of this piece is to encourage thoughtfulness with regard to an issue the chattering classes are gaining interest in.
Especially on facebook now too.
Some people are wishing we were all dead or didnt exist - or lots of us - but not themselves I don't think.
They want to save the planet for the future generations and animals - as long as they can say how many of us there will be in the future : Less, or certainly not more.
Are they thinking about numbers ? - which can be useful to get the measure of things, but sometimes a blunt instrument for basing conclusions on alone.
This article is not about Yellowhammer's view although obviously it's hard to resist adding it in. I traditionally have steered clear of group issues too, but think it worth getting involved.
However, it is for the most part unsubstantiated as I am not a professional author writing an advisory policy document, or selling this to newspapers with a view to shaping opinion.
There are more questions than answers here.
I am human and Im glad to be part of life on earth. And it follows I have a duty to think about issues raised that concern us. So do you. I did a little research to get the brain juices flowing where 'overpopulation' is concerned.
SO, disclaimer over, let's have some food for thought.
Defining Overpopulation :
Excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration. In this case the area is defined as the planet Earth.
Setting the table: In the eighties I remember my English teacher Mrs Gaye [she wasnt] drawing our attention to the sudden introduction of the word 'Consumer', as a label that crossed from the corporate world to general parlance, and is now used freely to describe us all in many situations.
Alongside this, there came the work place switch from the 'Personnel Department' to the 'Human Resources' department.
This use of language has always upset me slightly when I have time to think - as somewhere inside I feel slightly reduced and objectified, but also degraded, and frankly insulted....yes I do consume things like food, and I am in some ways a resource, but not in the same way as an inaminate widget as the phrase implies...and thats just part of me - not the whole, and hopefully not the even defining features.
Yet this language has an impact on the psyche and self respect. Words have power.
I much prefer the use of language from a few centuries ago:
What a piece of work is a man, How noble in
Reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving
how express and admirable, In action how like an Angel!
in apprehension how like a god, the beauty of the
world, the paragon of animals. '
...it seems to inspire pride, confidence and hope.
But in the c21, the popular thought process, here at least, in the press, and in the dark suspicions of our hearts is one of GUILT and FEAR.
These often underlay the thoughts on overpopulation.
Guilt that we are 'consuming' everything, and Fear we will consume it up and implode ourselves and everything we love.
And as we know from Yoda (who better to quote than a fictional laser wielding buddhist) :
Fear (and Guilt) leads to Anger,
which leads to hate (and self loathing),
which leads to rash decision making at the very least, or the Dark Side if you're feeling more dramatic.
Starter: This is being fed constantly now - the fight for resources by resources is continually highlighted, the consumption at all cost, or low cost for short term gain is a hot topic.
Combined with the inability of people to have time to think logically and critically, or just for themselves - we are heading for a mighty showdown with our own being.
We think we are all in it together , we are should take the blame - we should in fact just suicide ourselves and stop being so horrible perhaps...we are giving up on ourselves.
But I would argue we are good people led astray. Are your friends not nice kind people?
Maybe you just dislike the masses whilst forgetting they are someone else's nice kind friend?
We may just have been led astray by the system we inhabit, which is in turn supposed to be led by honest people whilst we are busy trying to pay the mortgage, but is, it would seem being led by dishonest greedy people who have led us astray and dont seem to have our collective interests at heart. This is not to shirk personal responsibilty, just give us the space to stop thinking through guilt. Im sure most people in the middle management sphere do some good and some bad. But leadership and example must come from the top in a hierarchical system.
...I mean - what does it say if the EU and Obama win the nobel piece prize.? Well quite a lot about politics for a start, but also how we will swallow just about anything these days without defending our honour. The type of people deciding this, are also the type of people ruling generally - A quiet moan from the sidelines is supressed as being over serious.
Afterall, nothing really matters right ? Except it does, which is why many face inner turmoil over this issue.
Lovely David Attenborough, the polar bear hugger, has joined forces with the powers that be to state that we are overpopulated, and soon to be unmanageable. Surely if he says so, it must be true - right ?
Here is his speech chaired by none other than eugenics lover Prince Philip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK0rXRmC4DQ
In it we see some saddening truths about the way we currently are.
But has Prince Phillip encouraged Wills and Kate to desist from bearing consumer children I wonder? Which peoples are we hoping to have less of - or is it equal opportunities non existence ? Here we start to get some inkling as to the difficulties presented from the conclusion drawn.
Amuse bouche: BUT dear reader, do not despair, because he makes some quite silly assumptions, although one can't deny some of the problems faced:
One is that there is not enough food or land to go around.
Two is that the monetary and markets system must stay as it is and we can't think outside the box.
Three is that nothing but our own actions will stop us from swallowing ourselves.
Let's take dish number one.
Remember EU Mountains of food, and the stats on waste food we throw out of fridges?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/4316726/EU-butter-mountain-to-return.html#
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/the-16320bn-food-mountain-britons-throw-away-half-of-the-food-produced-each-year-790318.html
Isnt that a monetary issue - we don't share or use what we overproduce because of markets and money ? The way we farm and what we produce is at the mercy of policy. Maybe the conclusion could be that there is enough food to go around, but the systems we deploy just dont let it go around ?
May be we could eat other types of food that dont use up traditional animal habitats?
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/how-cattle-ranching-chewing-amazon-rainforest-20090129
What about frying up some of the millions of ants with some sugar and making something like ricicles ??? Easier to farm than metameat.?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/sep/16/insects-arachnids-future-food
Are you seriously telling me, we dont have the stomach for it if it means we may all ruin everything we care about - or are people's rights and preferences to eat meat so important. I hate the idea of meta-meat but you've got to hand it to science for at least coming up with something, however dystopian. Surely however we should be encouraged moreso to live lightly if anything - for one it feels better. This is happening a little, but not making the impact required. A combined approach and investment is missing.
May be we don't want to prevent the developing nations from living like us if that's what they want...
There are plenty of credible people who think the world is NOT overpopulated, and that the growth rate is another malthusian miscalculation in contrast to David and co.
http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2011/07/20/the_world_is_not_overpopulated_106247.html
The bridge between one and two:
When you put your money in the bank, another part of that bank, in your name, will use money to gamble on food prices. As I understand it, If there is a shortage of grain for example due to drought, the prices will then be driven up by speculation. The starving folk in Africa who's crops have just failed, then get the double whammy of what's left being twice the price, whilst the rich in the west just see their weekly supermarket bill go up a little and get the lion's share. Cos the lawyers say so - it's in the contract we still get what we want. This is not fair - but it is again the system that then inspires the idea that there are too many brown people who cant feed themselves. Someone else rakes in the profits, whilst we are then asked to dig deep for charities, who kindly attempt to patch things up.
Cue a helping hand with drought resistant and high yield strains of crops etc- not ideal to the organic eye, but may be a better option than assuming the world is overcrowded and people must die ?
In the second world war it became unpatriotic to NOT use fertiliser - shock horror propoganda - but really? It depends what the other options were.
In this green fertile country, if everyone lived off the land we would need .3 hectare each to live through the year providing the crops were ok. We have that and more spare despite being 'densely populated'. But we'd like to save enough land for the animals and trees, and what about climate disruption... and more of us to come.
Science could help by steering us to efficiency of uses of what we produce more than ever before, if we really dont want to go with the ham fisted approach of fertilizers et al which cause other issues often too.
[apologies to pigs out there for the ham thing]
And has anyone got stats on how much land is needed in other countries or ideas on how to rearrange living out there in the debate ? There's more about problems than solutions coming from on high.
Main course - Dish Two..
WE make the system, and the concept of money which drives it. WE set the laws and decide how we want to live. WHEN DID IT BECOME THE OTHER WAY ROUND? When did we get trapped in our own system? When people started to believe that the world is the way it is and always shall be and always has been.
Wrong . Anyone heard of http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/
They've got lots of ideas how we could still have money and capitalism if you want it, but it could work better. They're educated and they're not idealists, they represent what we all really want, and that starts with understanding how supply, demand and money work currently.
Dessert and coffee - Dish Three:
Mother nature is already rebelling. Fertility and male sperm counts are dropping around the globe - many blame toxins eg pesticides and plastics. There is real research to show this - http://www.iaac.ca/content/are-men-doomed
So maybe the governments grow us in labs, or we unnaturally decline due to events already taken place.
Now - surely an educated man like Attenborough knows about this decline in fertility - do the figures take this into account ? If he does/they do, then I would wager that this whole debate is designed with the idea of carrying on the feeling of fear, and thus reliance on decision makers to 'rescue us'. Many conspiracists would yelp with pleasure at this point. Or sadness. Some would say it is a way of ensuring if/when there is a virus for example, that we'll take it on the chin as good for us all. Where has this virus come from ? Just chance (we're due one), or something more sinister ?...yikes Ive just been put on the secret list of potential trouble makers!
After the black death here in early medieval times, the population was very low, thousands of wild boar roamed free, which is why hunting became accepted as just sport later on by Henry 8th and his ilk. Prince Philip is quoted as saying if reincarnation exists he would like to come back as a virus to 'solve' overpopulation. Again - would he go for Wills n kate, and if indiscriminatory what does that say about his thought processes as a grandfather too.?
We should NOT wish for a virus - Why ? because we have other tricks up our sleeve now to help instead like scientific invention...we're just not investing in these projects or rollouts as much as we'd hope because there are quicker ways to make a buck.
Other side dishes : cans of worms
Im assuming people who are pro population reduction are also pro abortion.? or not?Is that a false dichotomy ? Critical thinking training would help us understand if this is an unfair question.
The two may or may not go together. This is not a comment on abortion, simply a reminder to scan your other viewpoints on other issues and try to be consistent in an overall approach. Often people will wax lyrical on one thing, and hold a contrasting collision point alongside, without even realising, as they have the topics all neatly filed separately. Just part of being imperfect.
If one is pro population reduction, is one also against extending the lives of the elderly or sick with medicine ?
Just another possibly fallacial question.
If we limited how many children each family unit could have , then how many ?
China prooved one was bad because it forced people to choose preferred gender, and has left a very skewed population. The national psyche has not benefited.
Are you educated in the difference between Depopulation (killing people who exist now eg genocide) and future reduction of population (stopping too many more people being born eg forced sterilisation) ?
Bill gates thinks by vaccinating the 'third world' that culturally the need for having lots of children will go down - thus vaccination and free condoms = better less crowded future for brown people.
There's quite a lot of internet chatter about this topic. Yellowhammer is undecided.
Also - look up Eugenics. Eugenics was a popular science which has had to go in disguise since the Nazi's proudly used much of the research to try to create a master race.
Like I said at the start. Think about it before you agree with David that the world is overpopulated. I still like him - he may be right too but then think about the other factors involved in deciding what to do about it. That is where I get very nervous indeed.
My view is that the system and global behaviour is wrong, not the numbers of us.
And we dont really know what other factors will shape growth for sure. whatever is decided remember the goal is peace and love for all and everything - will some of the decisions made lead to less of us, but also break our hearts.?
Form your OWN opinion based on clarity not fear.
Use the Force of your heart and mind !
Especially on facebook now too.
Some people are wishing we were all dead or didnt exist - or lots of us - but not themselves I don't think.
They want to save the planet for the future generations and animals - as long as they can say how many of us there will be in the future : Less, or certainly not more.
Are they thinking about numbers ? - which can be useful to get the measure of things, but sometimes a blunt instrument for basing conclusions on alone.
This article is not about Yellowhammer's view although obviously it's hard to resist adding it in. I traditionally have steered clear of group issues too, but think it worth getting involved.
However, it is for the most part unsubstantiated as I am not a professional author writing an advisory policy document, or selling this to newspapers with a view to shaping opinion.
There are more questions than answers here.
I am human and Im glad to be part of life on earth. And it follows I have a duty to think about issues raised that concern us. So do you. I did a little research to get the brain juices flowing where 'overpopulation' is concerned.
SO, disclaimer over, let's have some food for thought.
Defining Overpopulation :
Excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration. In this case the area is defined as the planet Earth.
Setting the table: In the eighties I remember my English teacher Mrs Gaye [she wasnt] drawing our attention to the sudden introduction of the word 'Consumer', as a label that crossed from the corporate world to general parlance, and is now used freely to describe us all in many situations.
Alongside this, there came the work place switch from the 'Personnel Department' to the 'Human Resources' department.
This use of language has always upset me slightly when I have time to think - as somewhere inside I feel slightly reduced and objectified, but also degraded, and frankly insulted....yes I do consume things like food, and I am in some ways a resource, but not in the same way as an inaminate widget as the phrase implies...and thats just part of me - not the whole, and hopefully not the even defining features.
Yet this language has an impact on the psyche and self respect. Words have power.
I much prefer the use of language from a few centuries ago:
What a piece of work is a man, How noble in
Reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving
how express and admirable, In action how like an Angel!
in apprehension how like a god, the beauty of the
world, the paragon of animals. '
...it seems to inspire pride, confidence and hope.
But in the c21, the popular thought process, here at least, in the press, and in the dark suspicions of our hearts is one of GUILT and FEAR.
These often underlay the thoughts on overpopulation.
Guilt that we are 'consuming' everything, and Fear we will consume it up and implode ourselves and everything we love.
And as we know from Yoda (who better to quote than a fictional laser wielding buddhist) :
Fear (and Guilt) leads to Anger,
which leads to hate (and self loathing),
which leads to rash decision making at the very least, or the Dark Side if you're feeling more dramatic.
Starter: This is being fed constantly now - the fight for resources by resources is continually highlighted, the consumption at all cost, or low cost for short term gain is a hot topic.
Combined with the inability of people to have time to think logically and critically, or just for themselves - we are heading for a mighty showdown with our own being.
We think we are all in it together , we are should take the blame - we should in fact just suicide ourselves and stop being so horrible perhaps...we are giving up on ourselves.
But I would argue we are good people led astray. Are your friends not nice kind people?
Maybe you just dislike the masses whilst forgetting they are someone else's nice kind friend?
We may just have been led astray by the system we inhabit, which is in turn supposed to be led by honest people whilst we are busy trying to pay the mortgage, but is, it would seem being led by dishonest greedy people who have led us astray and dont seem to have our collective interests at heart. This is not to shirk personal responsibilty, just give us the space to stop thinking through guilt. Im sure most people in the middle management sphere do some good and some bad. But leadership and example must come from the top in a hierarchical system.
...I mean - what does it say if the EU and Obama win the nobel piece prize.? Well quite a lot about politics for a start, but also how we will swallow just about anything these days without defending our honour. The type of people deciding this, are also the type of people ruling generally - A quiet moan from the sidelines is supressed as being over serious.
Afterall, nothing really matters right ? Except it does, which is why many face inner turmoil over this issue.
Lovely David Attenborough, the polar bear hugger, has joined forces with the powers that be to state that we are overpopulated, and soon to be unmanageable. Surely if he says so, it must be true - right ?
Here is his speech chaired by none other than eugenics lover Prince Philip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK0rXRmC4DQ
In it we see some saddening truths about the way we currently are.
But has Prince Phillip encouraged Wills and Kate to desist from bearing consumer children I wonder? Which peoples are we hoping to have less of - or is it equal opportunities non existence ? Here we start to get some inkling as to the difficulties presented from the conclusion drawn.
Amuse bouche: BUT dear reader, do not despair, because he makes some quite silly assumptions, although one can't deny some of the problems faced:
One is that there is not enough food or land to go around.
Two is that the monetary and markets system must stay as it is and we can't think outside the box.
Three is that nothing but our own actions will stop us from swallowing ourselves.
Let's take dish number one.
Remember EU Mountains of food, and the stats on waste food we throw out of fridges?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/4316726/EU-butter-mountain-to-return.html#
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/the-16320bn-food-mountain-britons-throw-away-half-of-the-food-produced-each-year-790318.html
Isnt that a monetary issue - we don't share or use what we overproduce because of markets and money ? The way we farm and what we produce is at the mercy of policy. Maybe the conclusion could be that there is enough food to go around, but the systems we deploy just dont let it go around ?
May be we could eat other types of food that dont use up traditional animal habitats?
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/how-cattle-ranching-chewing-amazon-rainforest-20090129
What about frying up some of the millions of ants with some sugar and making something like ricicles ??? Easier to farm than metameat.?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/sep/16/insects-arachnids-future-food
Are you seriously telling me, we dont have the stomach for it if it means we may all ruin everything we care about - or are people's rights and preferences to eat meat so important. I hate the idea of meta-meat but you've got to hand it to science for at least coming up with something, however dystopian. Surely however we should be encouraged moreso to live lightly if anything - for one it feels better. This is happening a little, but not making the impact required. A combined approach and investment is missing.
May be we don't want to prevent the developing nations from living like us if that's what they want...
There are plenty of credible people who think the world is NOT overpopulated, and that the growth rate is another malthusian miscalculation in contrast to David and co.
http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2011/07/20/the_world_is_not_overpopulated_106247.html
The bridge between one and two:
When you put your money in the bank, another part of that bank, in your name, will use money to gamble on food prices. As I understand it, If there is a shortage of grain for example due to drought, the prices will then be driven up by speculation. The starving folk in Africa who's crops have just failed, then get the double whammy of what's left being twice the price, whilst the rich in the west just see their weekly supermarket bill go up a little and get the lion's share. Cos the lawyers say so - it's in the contract we still get what we want. This is not fair - but it is again the system that then inspires the idea that there are too many brown people who cant feed themselves. Someone else rakes in the profits, whilst we are then asked to dig deep for charities, who kindly attempt to patch things up.
Cue a helping hand with drought resistant and high yield strains of crops etc- not ideal to the organic eye, but may be a better option than assuming the world is overcrowded and people must die ?
In the second world war it became unpatriotic to NOT use fertiliser - shock horror propoganda - but really? It depends what the other options were.
In this green fertile country, if everyone lived off the land we would need .3 hectare each to live through the year providing the crops were ok. We have that and more spare despite being 'densely populated'. But we'd like to save enough land for the animals and trees, and what about climate disruption... and more of us to come.
Science could help by steering us to efficiency of uses of what we produce more than ever before, if we really dont want to go with the ham fisted approach of fertilizers et al which cause other issues often too.
[apologies to pigs out there for the ham thing]
And has anyone got stats on how much land is needed in other countries or ideas on how to rearrange living out there in the debate ? There's more about problems than solutions coming from on high.
Main course - Dish Two..
WE make the system, and the concept of money which drives it. WE set the laws and decide how we want to live. WHEN DID IT BECOME THE OTHER WAY ROUND? When did we get trapped in our own system? When people started to believe that the world is the way it is and always shall be and always has been.
Wrong . Anyone heard of http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/
They've got lots of ideas how we could still have money and capitalism if you want it, but it could work better. They're educated and they're not idealists, they represent what we all really want, and that starts with understanding how supply, demand and money work currently.
Dessert and coffee - Dish Three:
Mother nature is already rebelling. Fertility and male sperm counts are dropping around the globe - many blame toxins eg pesticides and plastics. There is real research to show this - http://www.iaac.ca/content/are-men-doomed
So maybe the governments grow us in labs, or we unnaturally decline due to events already taken place.
Now - surely an educated man like Attenborough knows about this decline in fertility - do the figures take this into account ? If he does/they do, then I would wager that this whole debate is designed with the idea of carrying on the feeling of fear, and thus reliance on decision makers to 'rescue us'. Many conspiracists would yelp with pleasure at this point. Or sadness. Some would say it is a way of ensuring if/when there is a virus for example, that we'll take it on the chin as good for us all. Where has this virus come from ? Just chance (we're due one), or something more sinister ?...yikes Ive just been put on the secret list of potential trouble makers!
After the black death here in early medieval times, the population was very low, thousands of wild boar roamed free, which is why hunting became accepted as just sport later on by Henry 8th and his ilk. Prince Philip is quoted as saying if reincarnation exists he would like to come back as a virus to 'solve' overpopulation. Again - would he go for Wills n kate, and if indiscriminatory what does that say about his thought processes as a grandfather too.?
We should NOT wish for a virus - Why ? because we have other tricks up our sleeve now to help instead like scientific invention...we're just not investing in these projects or rollouts as much as we'd hope because there are quicker ways to make a buck.
Other side dishes : cans of worms
Im assuming people who are pro population reduction are also pro abortion.? or not?Is that a false dichotomy ? Critical thinking training would help us understand if this is an unfair question.
The two may or may not go together. This is not a comment on abortion, simply a reminder to scan your other viewpoints on other issues and try to be consistent in an overall approach. Often people will wax lyrical on one thing, and hold a contrasting collision point alongside, without even realising, as they have the topics all neatly filed separately. Just part of being imperfect.
If one is pro population reduction, is one also against extending the lives of the elderly or sick with medicine ?
Just another possibly fallacial question.
If we limited how many children each family unit could have , then how many ?
China prooved one was bad because it forced people to choose preferred gender, and has left a very skewed population. The national psyche has not benefited.
Are you educated in the difference between Depopulation (killing people who exist now eg genocide) and future reduction of population (stopping too many more people being born eg forced sterilisation) ?
Bill gates thinks by vaccinating the 'third world' that culturally the need for having lots of children will go down - thus vaccination and free condoms = better less crowded future for brown people.
There's quite a lot of internet chatter about this topic. Yellowhammer is undecided.
Also - look up Eugenics. Eugenics was a popular science which has had to go in disguise since the Nazi's proudly used much of the research to try to create a master race.
Like I said at the start. Think about it before you agree with David that the world is overpopulated. I still like him - he may be right too but then think about the other factors involved in deciding what to do about it. That is where I get very nervous indeed.
My view is that the system and global behaviour is wrong, not the numbers of us.
And we dont really know what other factors will shape growth for sure. whatever is decided remember the goal is peace and love for all and everything - will some of the decisions made lead to less of us, but also break our hearts.?
Form your OWN opinion based on clarity not fear.
Use the Force of your heart and mind !
Tuesday 9 October 2012
Wednesday 3 October 2012
Caitlin Moran and her waffle chops.
Yellowhammer is on the look out for bad logic - see other critical thinking articles on this blog.
Caitlin Moran [too easy to distort the surname so I wont stoop]
Feminist Author and general know-it-all - gives a perfect example of many fallacies at once - problem is Im not quite sure which is dominant - help me out if you can !
begging the question , Fallacy of false cause, hasty generalization, affirming the consequent, denying the antecendent, straw man, cause and effect assumption ....:
".. believing in an afterlife totally negates your current existence. It’s like an insidious and destabilising mental illness. ....Only when the majority of people on this planet believe - absolutely -
that they are dying, minute by minute, will we actually start behaving
like fully sentient, rational and compassionate beings...."
full passage
Surely it is because of man's capacity for understanding one's own mortality that afterlife works as a concept in the first place. ie it is because we realise we are going to die that the afterlife is useful to help us consider how to live well.
To build Heaven on earth used to be one of the foundations
for utopian thought - heck, Belinda Carlisle even wrote a song about it - so imagining perfection gives one a template of
what end result to aim for here.
Unlike many/all other animals, we learn very early on that death is inevitable.
Coping with that is quite traumatic for our species! Denial of ones mortality is of course a problem, that could lead to complacency.
---But that is not to say that believing or not believing in an afterlife is the cause of complacency.
---But that is not to say that believing or not believing in an afterlife is the cause of complacency.
The afterlife surely could be considered a place
of comfort after a hard life of trying to do the right thing. Some even
would think it a reward for being moral. Some will be scared and thus prevented from wrongdoing - or atleast that was the Catholic churches intention at one point in history. Caitlin assumes that those believing in an afterlife do so to get them out of problems in this one, rather than an incentive.
Take
some of those with a belief system including an afterlife - Mother
theresa, Ghandi etc- they all got things done because of their faiths -
would they be considered mentally ill ???? How rude.
Plenty of people who do not believe in an afterlife can be cruel and useless - take chairman mao. This is not to say they have realised they are going to die though.
Plenty of people who do not believe in an afterlife can be cruel and useless - take chairman mao. This is not to say they have realised they are going to die though.
For those who have no where to go after this life
then longevity becomes the key focus of purpose potentially. This is
one of the biggest mental problems modern society faces.
A lack of logical thought and analysis is in my book a dangerous form of 'mental
illness', yet she accuses those with an imagination and belief in more
than the material of that very thing.
Everyone in the world is never going to believe the same thing and nor should they so it is pointless ranting about Everyone being something one person wants. Everyone in history who has tried that trips up, as in my opinion it's more how you reconcile the differences that counts, not being 'right'.
There's probably a few fallacies in my counter arguments - and of course she can write what she wants in her own book - but it behooves any author writing a book to sell, knowing young women are following every word, to go through it with a fine tooth comb.
Im sure female emancipation didn't simply mean having the right to be as flaky as some of the men out there. [eg. that means you, Dawkins]
Comments welcome as ever.
And a final musing from Voltaire:
"If God did not exist it would be necessary for man to invent him"
The same could be applied to an afterlife generally.
Tuesday 2 October 2012
Siddhis
http://the-wanderling.com/siddhis.html
The term Siddhi is most often applied to a variety of spritual-related psychic capabilities or powers manifested by adherents in the Hindu and Buddhist realms.
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Moaning
Got the Chakra Shakes?
The serpent halo of the Egyptian god Hourus shows the kundalini rising.
This was quite a charming article that helps negative interactions in these intense
times.
YelloHammer's thinking has indeed been cloudy of late.
The ever changing weather doesn't help...D'oh - there's another one...
Monday 17 September 2012
TreeStories
Persephone puts such thought of language into each entry on her Treestories blog.
This one brought a tear to Yellowhammers eye, do have a rifle if you have time.
Sunday 16 September 2012
Foxtrot
Dancing horse, you can tell it's happy by its ears...
Fred Astaire dancing round the lounge ..
Fred Astaire dancing round the lounge ..
Tuesday 11 September 2012
Cave Art
These pictures are of cave art that is 30,000 years old.
Designed to elicit feelings of movement by utilising the curves and dips of the walls, with the knowledge that the flickering fire will imbue the figures with life. Shading, colour all in tact - and see the rhino top left shaking is head back and forth?
The Cave of Forgotton Dreams is a docu with some magical footage. Undiscovered until recently, the Chauvet cave, in France, has pure colours and even hand prints of some of the artists.
Thursday 6 September 2012
Comedy Award - REV
Thanks Be for repeats of REV on TV - a gentle, yet not twee, comedy about an inner city Vicar, highlighting much about what is good and difficult translating biblical wisdom to 'Modern Britain'.
Move over Stephen Hawking, you're not helping anyone with your Space Theories..apart from the atheists, and I doubt they would accept help anyway.
Yellowhammer is feeling for Rev, as frankly EVERYONE finds modern Britain difficult, but for people trying to help us retain some dignity below the Babelic* towers, it must be a nightmare.
*made up word
The writing by Tom Hollander and co has depth and perception of the human condition, without too much cynicism, and the surrounding parishoners are hilarious, especially Colin the wastrel.
I cant speak for Jesus but I reckon he would prefer this show to the Vicar of Dibley. (assuming he has time, and exists..)
Newly Buddhist Colin refuses to play on Adam's team in an interfaith football tournament:
I thought this clip was very sweet.
Thursday 30 August 2012
Blue Moon Me
Neil Armstrong died recently, so along with everyone else on the web, let's talk about the Full Moon tomorrow [Aug 31 2012 -although it's also payday which is weighing more on my mind.]
Yellowhammer would like to see Neil's ashes taken into Space to be scattered, I wonder if anyone will oblige. Im sure Nasa can utilise his death for some kind of publicity. Ouch.
A blue moon is commonly thought of as a second full moon within the same solar calender months we use today . Obviously if we just used a lunar calender this wouldnt be relevant.
Blue moons occur every 2.7 years on average under this definition.
However, 1999 had blue moons in January and March. As astrophysicist
Neil Degrasse Tyson points out, presidential elections happen less often
but we don't call them rare.
The modern definition of a twice-in-a-month full moon comes from a 1946
Sky and Telescope magazine article. That article misinterpreted the
usage of the term in The 1937 Maine Farmers' Almanac.
That publication
put the "blue" label on the fourth full moon in the season as there are usually just three. Conflicting websites muddy the definition, but no one can really thwart the mystical moon, it just looks silly arguing about a definition against a non compatable calender.
Whatever definition you want, why is it Blue ? Well let's see if it is. Moons can be white, grey, green even - the blue I read is just to express rarity, but I have no idea if the colour has other significance in folklore - probably.
Yellowhammers favourite moon relates to Endymion and Selene (Moon Goddess)
Instead of retelling the tale, this beautiful artwork reveals a lot
Traditional works passed through to us some usage of Sun , Moon and Stars imagery.
The Sun represents the desire for light and betterment, to seek truth, and gain riches- think bountiful.
Solar cults are rumoured to exist to this day (Illuminati) - however philosophically they would pervert the above ideas, and use others for betterment of selves, instead of putting in the work - and they would desire gain material riches - instead of genuine Enlightenment.
But bad luck them, for they shall remain on the wheel of fortune , going in circles for ever.
The Stars represent the group or relation to others. Stellar Cults were rife in Ancient Greece.
Stars can mean the realisation of possibilities or unexpected help from others .
The Moon represents the introspective, possibly feminine, or left pillar aspects of the soul and life's adventure. It is also associated with Hunting and Lunar cults.
{ The Moon guides in the dark, so YH reckons She is ultimately one to keep on side in order to prevent lunacy }*
* That's your signal to go and light a joss stick...(-:
Monday 13 August 2012
Reminder
Always worth watching periodically. A fatherly delivery from J.Krishnamurti.
http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/view-video/brockwood-park-school--1979---part-6-of-6.php
http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/view-video/brockwood-park-school--1979---part-6-of-6.php
Sunday 12 August 2012
TV Detectives
Yellowhammer's Culcha Spot.
A Good detective drama will have a quality script with witty or ponder-provoking phrasing.
Some examples of imagery used in Yellowhammers Detective (Inspector or Private)
viewings recently include :
'..He's climbing up
the candle...' ie the wrong direction towards the flame of trouble.
' I'm working like a one armed paper hanger..' - ie Too busy plate spinning
'..He's a busted
flush..' - ie Showed great promise and messed it right up
And on a more classical tip - Poirot's wisdom can not be faulted ..
'The sins of the past cast long shadows, mon ami...'
along with 'Look after your Liver, Hastings, and the rest will look after itself...'
Miss Marple is not an easy detective to like, but also comes with the odd wise observation..
' When love is driven underground, it quickens it ardour...'
Too true, too true.
There are quite a few rubbish detective shows to steer clear of.
Rosemary and Thyme don't hold a candle to Cadfael...and ...Dalziel & Pascoe are not even pronouncable- more Pie Hole than Pie in the Sky...I think they come from the Frost school.
...Some modern detective dramas are a bit too close to horror, or brooding and uncomfortable like Wallander...and many are mildly rediculous plotwise, despite excellent characters eg Johnathan Creek, Midsommer Murders...arguably all watchable Sunday viewing.
Yellowhammer likes the moody ones of course - Rebus and Morse would make a formidable pair. Sherlock however, can only ever go with Watson, which brings us onto sidekicks.
Some detectives find themselves often outside the social sphere, and are therefore able to view humanity with less emotional involvement which aids thinking afresh.
The detective and their sidekick often have a good relationship with one another however - and are both on the side of justice, truth and loyalty - practising critical thinking, studying patterns with intellectual patience to dispense with dark plotters.
The side kick acts to add skills, pose questions, balance personality and highlight logical, yet artistic brilliance. Never as shrewd though.
Watson,
is grateful Im sure, to be beefed up in more recent adaptations - a
skilled shooter, doctor and moral guardian, more masculine than bumbling
these days.
Along with Sherlock, Poirot has to be the most arrogant - possessing OCD tendencies yet loving himself so much he spends hours on his appearance, and always scatters self complements over his grand concluding speech.
Although Yellowhammer imagines there are people trying to
solve-along-a-murder, my preferred method is to go with the Flow...
Rockin' Like Columbo .
SIDEKICKS QUIZ
MORSE & _______
LEWIS & _________
POIROT & _________
GENTLY & ________
BARNABY & _______
REGAN & ________
bonusQ
Sunday 29 July 2012
Saturday 28 July 2012
Wiltshire Wagon view snaps.
A hot sunny day in Wiltshire, the tractor in the background bales up hay at last for the winter, thankfully the rain did not totally ruin the opportunity to stock up for the animals...
The Sanctuary, off limits for overnighters until further notice...boo...
Flags at van back. straight above and enhanced by magic faerie below :
Sacred Clumps. Long may ye clump.
Wheat fields in Friday Sunshine. Got stopped by a crop circle hunter, but didnt see any of those about too busy making a bacon roll.
Wiltshire sunsets. Scudded and then soft evenings...
Wagon Tales of....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)