Running 'Cause I Can't Fly

"I Often Dream About Falling..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:20:00 +0000

"I often dream about falling.
Such dreams are commonplace to the ambitious or those who climb mountains.
Lately I dreamed I was clutching at the face of a rock, but it would not hold.
Gravel gave way, I grasped for a shrub, but it pulled loose,
and in cold terror I fell into the abyss.
Suddenly I realized that my fall was relative;
there was no bottom and no end.
A feeling of pleasure overcame me.
I realized that what I embody, the principle of life,
cannot be destroyed.
It is written into the cosmic code,
the order of the universe.
As I continued to fall in the dark void,
embraced by the vault of the heavens,
I sang to the beauty of the stars and made peace with the darkness."

~ Heinz Pagels
•
Dr. Pagels fell to his death during a climbing accident in 1988.

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:42:00 +0000

Siena, Toscana, Italy. Thanks for stopping by.

Derrick Jensen, “A New Declaration”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:39:00 +0000

“A New Declaration”
By Derrick Jensen

"We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That the real, physical world is the source of our own lives, and the lives of others. A weakened planet is less capable of supporting life, human or otherwise. Thus the health of the real world is primary, more important than any social or economic system, because all social or economic systems are dependent upon a living planet.

It is self-evident that to value a social system that harms the planet’s capacity to support life over life itself is to be out of touch with physical reality.

That any way of life based on the use of nonrenewable resources is by definition not sustainable.

That any way of life based on the hyper-exploitation of renewable resources is by definition not sustainable: if, for example, fewer salmon return every year, eventually there will be none. This means that for a way of life to be sustainable, it must not harm native communities: native prairies, native forests, native fisheries, and so on.

That the real world is interdependent, such that harm done to rivers harms those humans and nonhumans whose lives depend on these rivers, harms forests and prairies and wetlands surrounding these rivers, harms the oceans into which these rivers flow. Harm done to mountains harms the rivers flowing through them. Harm done to oceans harms everyone directly or indirectly connected to them.

That you cannot argue with physics. If you burn carbon-based fuels, this carbon will go into the air, and have effects in the real world.

That creating and releasing poisons into the world will poison humans and nonhumans.

That no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be allowed to create poisons for which there is no antidote.

That no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be allowed to create messes that cannot be cleaned up.

That no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be allowed to destroy places humans or nonhumans need to survive.

That no one, no matter how rich or powerful, should be allowed to drive human cultures or nonhuman species extinct.

That reality trumps all belief systems: what you believe is not nearly so important as what is real.

That on a finite planet you cannot have an economy based on or requiring growth. At least you cannot have one and expect to either have a planet or a future.

That the current way of life is not sustainable, and will collapse. The only real questions are what will be left of the world after that collapse, and how bad things will be for the humans and nonhumans who come after. We hold it as self-evident that we should do all that we can to make sure that as much of the real, physical world remains intact until the collapse of the current system, and that humans and nonhumans should be as prepared as possible for this collapse.

That the health of local economies are more important than the health of a global economy.

That a global economy should not be allowed to harm local economies or land bases.

That corporations are not living beings. They are certainly not human beings.

That corporations do not in any real sense exist. They are legal fictions. Limited liability corporations are institutions created explicitly to separate humans from the effects of their actions—making them, by definition, inhuman and inhumane. To the degree that we desire to live in a human and humane world—and, really, to the degree that we wish to survive—limited liability corporations need to be eliminated.

That the health of human and nonhuman communities is more important than the profits of corporations.

We hold it as self-evident, as the Declaration of Independence states, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness], it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it. . . .” Further, we hold it as self-evident that it would be more precise to say that it is not the Right of the People, nor even their responsibility, but instead something more like breathing—something that if we fail to do we die.

If we as a People fail to rid our communities of destructive institutions, those institutions will destroy our communities. And if we in our communities cannot provide meaningful and nondestructive ways for people to gain food, clothing, and shelter then we must recognize it’s not just specific destructive institutions but the entire economic system that is pushing the natural world past breaking points. Capitalism is killing the planet. Industrial civilization is killing the planet.

Once we’ve recognized the destructiveness of capitalism and industrial civilization—both of which are based on systematically converting a living planet into dead commodities—we’ve no choice, unless we wish to sign our own and our children’s death warrants, but to fight for all we’re worth and in every way we can to overturn it."

- http://www.countercurrents.org/jensen120212.htm

•

Derrick Jensen is an American author and environmental activist. Jensen has published several books questioning and critiquing modern civilization and its values, including "A Language Older Than Words," "The Culture of Make Believe", and "Endgame"

“The Greatest Source of Humility”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:34:00 +0000

“The Greatest Source of Humility”
by Guy McPherson

“Perhaps the greatest source of humility surrounds us every day. When I was a child of about ten years, I used to lie on the backyard lawn nearly every summer night, staring at the haunting mystery of the starlit sky. The Idaho town of a few hundred people in which I lived produced little light pollution, so with unaided eyes I could see the stars of Pleiades and all the brighter stars. Many of these nights under the stars I wept uncontrollably at my insignificance in the universe. I had never heard of Carl Sagan, but I knew I was cosmically inconsequential, dwarfed as I was by the “billions and billions of stars” above me.

I am humbled that, like the millions of other species on planet Earth, we find ourselves in the magnificent position of occupying the only planet in the universe known to support life. My humility grows deeper when I realize that we have no idea how many species share the globe with us, not even within an order of magnitude. I marvel at the beauty, wonder, and complexity of each one of these species. Then I marvel at our power as we single-handedly drive half the species with which we share the planet to extinction. That we have this power is truly awesome. That we use it to exterminate the species with which we share the world is the height of hubris. These days, I rarely cry when I gaze upward at the night. But I often weep when I realize how badly we are misusing our power.

Life, in its myriad forms, is almost certainly the greatest wonder in the universe. In the universe, as far as we know, life is restricted to planet Earth. Arguably, the other great wonder of the universe is the human mind, that complex product of natural selection that allows us to ask who we are, how we came to be, and why we are here. It’s the mind, in other words, that inspires sufficient awe to bring us to tears in the face of nature’s grandeur.”

- http://guymcpherson.com/

"The Essence Of Civilization..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:33:00 +0000

“Sharing is the essence of teaching. It is, I have come to believe, the essence of civilization... Without it, the imagination is but the echo of the self, trapped in a soundproof chamber, reverberating upon itself until it is spent in exhaustion or futility.”

- Bill Moyers

"How to Ruin Your Economy and Influence People"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:25:00 +0000

"How to Ruin Your Economy and Influence People"
by Bill Bonner

"We can learn a lot from the Argentines. When it comes to messing up an economy, they’re Numero Uno. They’re Olympians of financial legerdemain and masters of the old false shuffle. In 2001, the country was deeply in debt. The government was out of money. And the currency was losing value fast. What did the Argentines do?

First, they broke their promise to investors and savers, cutting the peso loose from the dollar. Then, they seized control of banks and bank accounts. People had been saving money in US dollar accounts in order to avoid problems with the peso. But the Argentine feds forcibly converted their accounts to pesos, just as the peso was losing 2/3rds of its value. The next thing was to take the reserves in the central bank and use them to pay current expenses — which caused the head of the bank to resign in protest. And finally, a few years later, they took over private pension funds — to protect them for the pensioners, of course. What are they used for? To fund the country’s deficits!

But the Argentine feds are not just scalawags, they’re the pacesetters for the rest of the developed world. Here’s The Financial Times with a warning:

"Watch Out As Sovereigns Eye Company Cash Piles"
By David Bowers

"Much has been written about how the developed world must tackle its structural budget deficits. But the link that remains to be properly recognised is that the counterparts to those ‘unsustainable’ public-sector budget deficits are equally ‘unsustainable’ corporate-sector surpluses. The conventional wisdom believes that the current sovereign debt crisis is the result of governments having been too profligate. But it is not that governments have been spending ‘too much’ that is the problem; it is that corporates have been spending ‘too little’. Moreover, because this corporate saving is the main counterpart to the government’s borrowing, until companies start to spend again, the burden of fiscal adjustment will have to fall on cutbacks in public services and higher personal taxation. It is time to shift the debate away from talking about the fiscal position, and focus instead on whether it is a shift in corporate behaviour that is responsible for the fiscal mess in the developed world.

It is very unusual for the corporate sectors to run sustained financial surpluses. Look back at the UK and the US for more than half a century and the corporate sector has tended to be a net borrower, not a net saver. What has prompted the recent move into financial surplus has been the decision by companies to step away from investment. Investment-to-gross domestic product ratios in the developed world are now close to the lowest levels seen in 60 years. Corporates appear to have decided to run themselves for cash, and not for growth. It is this profound shift in corporate behaviour that policymakers and politicians have been slow to spot. Until this behaviour changes — or is changed — it will be very hard to improve the fiscal arithmetic."

In the Reagan-Thatcher era, politicians cut taxes so that companies would come to their country, invest, create jobs…so that those politicians could, in turn, be re-elected. It does not work like that anymore; globalisation has seen to that. The reality is that public services used by the ‘99 per cent’ are taking the strain, while attractive corporate tax regimes are protected. Just as the trade-union barons of the ’70s failed to see the writing on the wall, so the global captains of industry may suffer a similar fate unless they put their cash to work in the countries in which they are domiciled.

The Argentines are the pacesetters for all modern governments. And The Financial Times is their newspaper of reference. It’s what the policy makers read. And the bankers. Here, The Financial Times makes it clear what the policy makers should think: that corporations are to blame for current financial problems. They haven’t invested their money the way they should. If they’d invested more, instead of paying dividends and bonuses to rich people, we’d have more jobs…more spending and more growth. Surely the feds can help them find ways to “invest” their money…

“I love the US…but it does seem to be going in a bad direction,” said a friend in Miami. “You look around here and everything looks good. The grass and trees are all manicured. People are prosperous. But you go inland and it’s a different story. A lot of people in Florida don’t have two dimes. That’s why you see so many old people working. They’re taking tickets at the amusement parks. They’re working the cruise ships. They’re parking cars. They don’t have any money. They have to work to make ends meet. And the real estate market here is a disaster. People tell you it’s bottoming out. I don’t see it. What I see are few transactions…the market is very soft. People keep thinking they’re going to buy at the bottom. They buy…and then the bottom sinks some more.

This is a consumer society down here. People live in suburbs…almost the whole state is suburb. They go to work. They come home. They go out to eat. They go out to shop. At any hour of the day, you’ll see work vans in about half the driveways. Someone’s cutting a lawn or fixing a cable TV. Nobody does these things for himself. That’s the way people live down here. They call someone. It’s money in and money out…all the time. Nobody’s got any savings…or any time. It’s go…go…go…You go to work. Then you go shopping.

And it can’t stop. If it just slows down a little, the state goes into a slump. Everybody is checking his cellphone or iPhone or email all the time. He can’t stop either. It’s go, go, go…. Nobody can take the time to think or even to wonder. That’s why a real depression now would be much worse than the Great Depression of the ’30s. Nobody can sit still. They can’t wait for it to pass. They can’t stop to breathe…or think…or wait for all the problems to clear up. They can’t relax and wait for an uneconomic upturn. They have to work. They’ve got to have money coming in…and money going out.

You know, I’ve been reading your Daily Reckoning for years. And the one lesson I take from it is that you have to have some savings…so you’re not forced to run on the treadmill all the time. You need some money and some time. Otherwise, you’re never going to figure out what is going on. And you’re not going to have a clue of how to make any money. You just go from day to day…from job to job…from one shop to the next mall…from bill to bill…

Scientists have done some studies on how the brain works. They found that most of what we do is reactive… Like someone throws a ball at you…you reach out and catch it. Quick response. But there are some things where the brain needs time. Some kinds of deep thought require, well, reflection. And nobody has time for reflection when they are on the computer or the iPhone…or rushing to get something done… And nobody can stop to think when they are having trouble paying their bills. That’s why you need savings. That’s why you need to have a garden, too. Nobody’s got a garden down here in South Florida. We have to go to the supermarket to buy our food.

Of course, that’s part of the problem. If you have to work to prepare your food, you get better food…and you don’t get fat. But now you have to work to not get fat. Otherwise, food is just another distraction…like the iPhone or the Internet. You eat because it’s easier than thinking. It saves you from having to figure things out. You work. You drive. You shop. You check email. You call people. You eat. Money in. Money out. There’s no stopping it. No hesitating. No time to think. No time just to let things be.”

- http://dailyreckoning.com/

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:47:00 +0000

And if you're wondering where this cartoon idea came from...

Humphrey Bogart, Alfonso Bedoya,
"The Treasure of The Sierra Madre", 1948

“The Rise Of The Dollar Stores”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:36:00 +0000

“The Rise Of The Dollar Stores”
by mybudget360

“Before 2000 dollar stores were largely seen as a bazaar of quirky trinkets and plastic oddities. Many sold excess volume of products, even selling old Super Bowl t-shirts of teams that did not win. Yet the dollar store of today is not the one of even one decade ago. The disillusionment of the middle class and the rise of a low-wage American worker base have created a booming business for dollar stores. Customers from more affluent backgrounds are now shopping at these stores because of an economic caution about their declining purchasing power. Even in the midst of the boom in the stock market we still have over 45,000,000+ Americans receiving food assistance. I talked about this large segment of our population in EBT Nation. What does the rise of the dollar store tell us about the future of the American economy? If you look at where dollar stores are most prevalent you will find them all across the country but they are most prevalent in the South:

Dollar stores have been around for many decades but the surge in big name dollar stores really hit a full head of steam once the recession arrived. The two leading dollar stores, Dollar General and Family Dollar hit full stride after 2008. This is a billion dollar business that is benefitting from the weakness in the overall economy. As more income is concentrated in fewer hands, the middle class gets squeezed down and with trillion dollar bailouts targeted at the financial sector, many Americans are seeing their purchasing power dwindle. Yet this compression is not felt as heavily at dollar stores where many can live large with a declining dollar, even if it is only for a brief shopping experience. Part of this growth also comes from our persistently high unemployment rate:

The fastest growing segment of dollar store customers are coming from those making $70,000 a year or more. In fact, 1 out of 5 dollar store shoppers come from this group. Keep in mind the median household income in the US is $50,000 and those that make $70,000 a year or more are in the top 35 percent of households. This also plays into the reality of those lower-wage service sector jobs being added: “This growth has led to a building campaign. At a time when few businesses seem to be investing in new equipment or ventures or jobs, Dreiling’s company announced a few months ago that it would be creating 6,000 new jobs by building 625 new stores this year. Kiley Rawlins, vice president for investor relations at Family Dollar, said her company would add 300 new stores this year, giving it more than 7,000 in 44 states.”

The rise of the dollar store goes hand and hand with the loss of the middle class in America. The largest customers at dollar stores are still those with lower incomes, households making $40,000 a year or less make up nearly half the customer base. But when this pool continues to grow you have business growth and that is what we are seeing here. The average per capita income in the US is $25,000 which doesn’t go far given the cost of healthcare, energy, and education.

It is also fascinating to see that 40 to 45 percent of dollar store items now come from big name brand companies. This industry is now a multi-billion dollar industry. I’ve driven around and see Subway and KFC for example now having marketing material showing “EBT accepted here” and dollar stores with a large and growing segment of their aisles made up of by food, are seeing a boon in this economy. I mean think about it with 45,000,000+ Americans receiving food assistance this is a large customer base. You also have many retirees who heavily rely only on Social Security stretching their declining buying power at these stores. Even with low profit margins business can be good. Not sure if we should be thrilled that dollar stores are one business segment that is booming in our modern day economy.”

- http://www.mybudget360.com/

"Anyone Else Feeling The Strange Vibes?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:48:00 +0000

"Anyone Else Feeling The Strange Vibes?"
By Zen Gardner

"It's weird out. I mean weird. Anyone getting the dizzies, battling disorientation? Myself and my friends and loved ones are, and it's not that pleasant. I'd like to think it's the vibrational change just turning up but it's not bearing real good fruit just yet as far as I can feel. It's not on that transcendent vibrational level. It's physical.

What's the buzz? I don't know, maybe it's just me and a few others and a side effect to the good stuff, but it's weird. My sleep cycle is so screwed up I almost work the same hours as friends I correspond with overseas...and they're sleeping less and feeling it as well. I mean we've been finding even our cell phones are literally stinging our heads now when we don't use our protective earphones. In the US, as in many countries now, it's a cesspool of electromagnetic and chemical pollution. They're trying to sedate, control and poison us all so fast it's almost comical if it weren't so horrific, watching these roiling elitest rats scramble to foist more controls and do more damage to us than the other. Disgusting vermin. But are they playing with this cosmic and toxic soup combo?

Cosmic Correlations: I know we're passing through some serious cosmic changes. The sun is clearly emanating major energy including massive coronal flares, and the magnetosphere is getting rocked by all kinds of influences. Cosmic impulses and alignments are apparently affecting the energy and rotation of the core of the earth, the giant dynamo that drives our magnetic field and gravitational pull in conjunction with our inner sun. Hence part of the reason for the earthquake uptick and possibly the strange sounds and no doubt other phenomena. So we're bound to feel these things in our circuitry. Planetary and inter-stellar arrangements are hitting peak alignments while we simultaneously also pass through a vast photon cloud of some sort. Research it for yourself, but we're in that very special time of convergences we've been anticipating.

Never let a good crisis go to waste: Those natural changes are happening for sure, but I can't help but wonder if the mad scientists aren't jamming the circuits as well. This barrage feels more like the PTBs turning up their HAARPs, cell phone circuits, GWEN towers and any other damned EMF producing crap they've got. It would make sense at a time like this to fire away into an amped up atmosphere laden with metallic chemtrails. We've been sucking this toxic soup into our bodies for years, as well as via metallic fluoridated food and water. This not only dumbs us down but makes us better receptors for EMFs I'm sorry to say. Apparently we each have enough barium in us to make us visible from space.

Just another tool for the drones? Nasty, I know. They've declared war on the awakening so we know this is well within their agenda and capabilities. As always, I'm wondering, but at the least maybe this is advanced warning to remember to guard our thoughts and be well aware of these potential effects on our physical electromagnetic bodies and hence our thoughts during these times.

Stay calm and vigilant on the outside...but keep paddling underneath: It's always the same message for me. Transcend. Not like a flitting new ager or religionist in denial, but seriously tune into the higher mental and spiritual frequencies by being consciously aware of what's going on. Just think how hard this worldwide crash is gonna hit those who can't see it coming. And they're not even aware they're being deliberately drugged and dumbed down and are sitting squarely on the Illuminati depopulation chopping block on top of it.

Similarly we need to take this to higher and higher levels. I mean, try telling someone their TVs watching them and sending mind control signals, and their house is being wired for full electromagnetic influence over them as well as for their monitoring. Then you have to tell them to watch their minds because the Control freaks can implant thoughts and emotions that are not really theirs.

Crazy, but true. We need to see this for what it is and stay free from its domination over our lives. For me, keeping a pulse on the real news with sources and people I love and trust for honest insights and commentary is paramount. Then I have to digest it and formulate what I'm learning and perceiving. That's what keeps me awake. I'm like the guy who's pacing the house and mumbling to himself, trying not to fall asleep or else the zombies will get him. Very much so. That is a very real scenario, anyway you want to spiritualize or conceptualize it. We're under attack.

Conclusion: We are going through major changes as we expected. There's not much we can do about the natural ones, although we do need to monitor them closely and keep each other informed. We certainly need to dwell on the wonderfully empowering aspect of these vibrational changes. A transformation is under way and it's wonderful. However it's happening at the same time as the NWO crackdown, so it's going to be confusing for many as they can't decipher which is which. And that's their intent.

The insidious side of all these changes is the Controllers' master plan for our final stages. And it is something we can do something about...by being well aware of their plans and activities and exposing them in order to alert and empower others. That they want to control our minds is a no-brainer, so to speak. That's the name of the game. When they have that, which they're also working on via a fully controlled mass media, false education, debasing distractions and chemical contamination, the compliance and lack of consciousness will follow. They're also broadcasting all the "wonderful" technological advances toward this end more than ever, getting the public to swallow the transhumanist pill...or should I say RFID chip.

Those of you who know what I'm talking about will get this and take it seriously. Those who don't, please investigate further. We're being empowered but also under attack and people need to be made aware of what we're undergoing. Don't delay, please. You don't just sidle casually away from an oncoming tornado now, do you? This is not a game...but it's also not the ultimate reality. They're trying to keep you from that. Screw 'em."

- http://beforeitsnews.com/

"Dawn of the Drones: The Realization of the Total Surveillance State"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:22:00 +0000

"Dawn of the Drones:

The Realization of the Total Surveillance State"
By John W. Whitehead

“To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonoured. That is government; that is it's justice; that is it's morality.” – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, 19th century French philosopher.

Imagine a robot hovering overhead as you go about your day, driving to and from work, heading to the grocery store, or stopping by a friend’s house. The robot records your every movement with a surveillance camera and streams the information to a government command center. If you make a wrong move, or even appear to be doing something suspicious, the police will respond quickly and you’ll soon be under arrest. Even if you don’t do anything suspicious, the information of your whereabouts, including what stores and offices you visit, what political rallies you attend, and what people you meet will be recorded, saved and easily accessed at a later date. It is a frightening thought, but you don’t have to imagine this scenario. We are only a few years away from the realization of this total surveillance society.

Congress has just passed a bill, the FAA Reauthorization Act, mandating that the Federal Aviation Administration create a comprehensive program for the integration of drone technology into the national air space by 2015. The FAA predicts that there will be 30,000 drones crisscrossing the skies of America by 2020, all part of an industry that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year. This mandate is yet another example of the political power of the military-industrial complex, Congress’ disdain for the privacy of American citizens, and the rampant growth of government. With this single piece of legislation, Congress is opening the floodgates to an entirely new era of surveillance, one in which no person is safe from the prying eyes of the government. This may prove to be the final nail in the Fourth Amendment’s coffin.

Attempts to integrate drone technology into the national air space were underway long before Congress put its stamp of approval on the FAA Reauthorization Act. In fact, the FAA authorized 313 certificates for drone operation in 2011, 295 of which were still active at the end of the year, although the agency refuses to say which organizations received the certificates and for what purposes they were used. However, we do know that the FAA had already approved drones for use by the Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Patrol (which uses the drones to conduct surveillance and counternarcotics missions), and certain state and local law enforcement operations. For example, in June 2011, a family of cattle farmers accused of stealing some cows were spied on with a Predator drone before being apprehended by police.

The fact that drones—pilotless, remote controlled aircraft that have been used extensively in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to assassinate suspected terrorists, as well as innocent civilians—are coming home to roost (and fly) in domestic airspace should come as no surprise to those who have been paying attention. The US government has a history of commandeering military technology for use against Americans. We saw this happen with tear gas, tasers, sound cannons and assault vehicles, all of which were first used on the battlefield before being deployed against civilians at home. Thus, while 83% of Americans approve of the use of drones abroad, and 65% approve of using drones to assassinate suspected terrorists abroad, even if they are American citizens, it remains to be seen how those same Americans will feel when they are the ones in the sights of the drones. Needless to say, they won’t have to wait too long to find out.

While there are undoubtedly legitimate uses for drone technology, such as locating missing persons, there is no legitimate reason for the government to collect a constant stream of information on the whereabouts of Americans. However, if this drone program is implemented in the way that Congress intends, we will have drones armed with “less-lethal” weaponry, including bean bag guns and tasers, flying over political demonstrations, sporting events, and concert arenas. Eventually, these drones will be armed with the lethal weaponry that is currently being used overseas in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The power of these machines is not to be underestimated. Many are equipped with cameras that provide a live video feed, as well as heat sensors and radar. Some are capable of peering at figures from 20,000 feet up and 25 miles away. They can also keep track of 65 persons of interest at once. Some drones are capable of hijacking Wi-Fi networks and intercepting electronic communications such as text messages. The Army is currently developing drones with facial recognition software, as well as drones that can complete a target-and-kill mission without any human instruction or interaction. They are the ultimate killing and spying machines.

In addition to the privacy concerns, the safety of drone technology has been called into question. There have been a handful of high-profile crashes involving American drones abroad, including in Iran, the island nation of Seychelles, and most recently in Somalia. The Iranian government claimed they brought down the drone flying in their territory via a computer hack. This is two years after Iraqis were able to hack into the live feed of a few drones using “$26 off-the-shelf software.” Mind you, back in October 2011, the US military admitted that their drone fleet had been infected by a ‘mysterious virus.’ The faultiness of the drone technology and the fact that amateur hackers can access the controls and camera feeds are reason enough to ground these devices indefinitely.

Unfortunately, with the wars abroad winding down, America has become the new battleground in the war on terror, to the delight and profit of the military-industrial complex. In fact, with companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin making their influence felt among members of Congress (Boeing spent over $12 million lobbying in 2011, and Lockheed spent over $11 million), you can be sure that their technologies will continue to be purchased by the government, even when there is no need for them. Thus, in the same way that our domestic police forces are now armed with mini-tanks and grenade launchers taken from the military’s armory, it was simply a matter of time before drone technology made its way back home.

While most Americans are unaware of the electronic concentration camp which is slowly enveloping our society, a select few groups are working to push back against government control. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the FAA, demanding the records of the drone certificates which the FAA has issued to various agencies, but it is unlikely that the implementation of this technology can be stopped. Based upon the government’s positions on wiretapping, GPS tracking devices, and Internet tracking technologies, it is also unlikely that our elected officials will do anything to protect the American people from the prying eye of the American government.

We can sit around waiting for some member of Congress with a conscience or some judge concerned about the coming tyranny to push back against the drone empire from within. However, until the American people succeed in raising their collective voices against this technological tyranny, the powers that be will continue on the path to total control, and the condition of our civil liberties will become more dire with every passing day.”

www.rutherford.org/
http://www.anunews.net/blog/?cat=955
•

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:26:00 +0000

“The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row. A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters, all embedded in an extended patch of gaseous wisps in the greater Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The brightest three stars on the far left are indeed the famous three stars that make up the belt of Orion. Just below Alnitak, the lowest of the three belt stars, is the Flame Nebula, glowing with excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust.

Click image for larger size.

Below the frame center and just to the right of Alnitak lies the Horsehead Nebula, a dark indentation of dense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular shapes on the sky. On the upper right lies M42, the Orion Nebula, an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas, visible to the unaided eye, that is giving birth to a new open cluster of stars. Immediately to the left of M42 is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man that houses many bright blue stars. The above image, a digitally stitched composite taken over several nights, covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500 light years away and spans about 75 light years.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120212.html

"Navajo Origin Legend"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:21:00 +0000

“It is lovely indeed, it is lovely indeed.
I, I am the spirit within the earth.
The feet of the earth are my feet;
The legs of the earth are my legs.
The strength of the earth is my strength;
The thoughts of the earth are my thoughts;
The voice of the earth is my voice.
The feather of the earth is my feather;
All that belongs to the earth belongs to me;
All that surrounds the earth surrounds me.
I, I am the sacred works of the earth.
It is lovely indeed, it is lovely indeed.”

~ Navajo Origin Legend

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:11:00 +0000

Bat Yam, Tel Aviv, Israel. Thanks for stopping by.

“95 Questions to Help You Find Meaning and Happiness”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:07:00 +0000

“95 Questions to Help You Find Meaning and Happiness”

by Marc

“At the cusp of a new day, week, month or year, most of us take a little time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future. We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story. This process of self-reflection helps us maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go. It is pertinent to the organization and preservation of our long-term goals and happiness. The questions below will help you with this process. Because when it comes to finding meaning in life, asking the right questions is the answer.

   1. In one sentence, who are you?
   2. Why do you matter?
   3. What is your life motto?
   4. What’s something you have that everyone wants?
   5. What is missing in your life?
   6. What’s been on your mind most lately?
   7. Happiness is a ________?
   8. What stands between you and happiness?
   9. What do you need most right now?
10. What does the child inside you long for?
11. What is one thing right now that you are totally sure of?
12. What’s been bothering you lately?
13. What are you scared of?
14. What has fear of failure stopped you from doing?
15. What will you never give up on?
16. What do you want to remember forever?
17. What makes you feel secure?
18. Which activities make you lose track of time?
19. What’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever made?
20. What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
21. What are you most grateful for?
22. What is worth the pain?
23. In order of importance, how would you rank: happiness, money, love, health, fame?
24. What is something you’ve always wanted, but don’t yet have?
25. What was the most defining moment in your life during this past year?
26. What’s the number one change you need to make in your life in the next twelve months?
27. What’s the number one thing you want to achieve in the next five years?
28. What is the biggest motivator in your life right now?
29. What will you never do?
30. What’s something you said you’d never do, but have since done?
31. What’s something new you recently learned about yourself?
32. What do you sometimes pretend to understand that you really do not?
33. In one sentence, what do you wish for your future self?
34. What worries you most about the future?
35. When you look into the past, what do you miss most?
36. What’s something from the past that you don’t miss at all?
37. What recently reminded you of how fast time flies?
38. What is the biggest challenge you face right now?
39. In one word, how would you describe your personality?
40. What never fails to frustrate you?
41. What are you known for by your friends and family?
42. What’s something most people don’t know about you?
43. What’s a common misconception people have about you?
44. What’s something a lot of people do that you disagree with?
45. What’s a belief you hold with which many people disagree?
46. What’s something that’s harder for you than it is for most people?
47. What are the top three qualities you look for in a friend?
48. If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?
49. When you think of ‘home,’ what, specifically, do you think of?
50. What’s the most valuable thing you own?
51. If you had to move 3000 miles away, what would you miss most?
52. What would make you smile right now?
53. What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy?
54. What do you wish did not exist in your life?
55. What should you avoid to improve your life?
56. What is something you would hate to go without for a day?
57. What’s the biggest lie you once believed was true?
58. What’s something bad that happened to you that made you stronger?
59. What’s something nobody could ever steal from you?
60. What’s something you disliked when you were younger that you truly enjoy today?
61. What are you glad you quit?
62. What do you need to spend more time doing?
63. What are you naturally good at?
64. What have you been counting or keeping track of recently?
65. What has the little voice inside your head been saying lately?
66. What’s something you should always be careful with?
67. What should always be taken seriously?
68. What should never be taken seriously?
69. What are three things you can’t get enough of?
70. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
71. What fascinates you?
72. What’s the difference between being alive and truly living?
73. What’s something you would do every day if you could?
74. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
75. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
76. What makes you feel incomplete?
77. When did you experience a major turning point in your life?
78. What or who do you wish you lived closer to?
79. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be?
80. What’s something you know you can count on?
81. What makes you feel comfortable?
82. What’s something about you that has never changed?
83. What will be different about your life in exactly one year?
84. What mistakes do you make over and over again?
85. What do you have a hard time saying “no” to?
86. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
87. What’s something that used to scare you, but no longer does?
88. What promise to yourself do you still need to fulfill?
89. What do you appreciate most about your current situation?
90. What’s something simple that makes you smile?
91. So far, what has been the primary focus of your life?
92. How do you know when it’s time to move on?
93. What’s something you wish you could do one more time?
94. When you’re 90-years-old, what will matter to you the most?
95. What would you regret not fully doing, being, or having in your life?”

From the wonderful "Marc and Angel Hack Life" blog:
- http://www.marcandangel.com/

Chet Raymo, "On Being Good"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:24:00 +0000

"On Being Good"
by Chet Raymo

“A 2006 issue of "Science & Spirit" has a long section on the origins of morality, a topic of some interest to readers of Science Musings. Harvard professor of psychology and biology Marc Hauser argues that ethical judgments are based on unconscious, involuntary intuitions that have evolved over millions of years. He is the author of "Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong."

Philosopher Paul Kurtz sees morality as a set of evolved biological and social principles common to all humans. Integrity, trustworthiness, benevolence and fairness are "moral decencies" accepted by religious and non-religious people alike. He writes: "There is no easy road to moral truth, and it is presumptuous of theists to claim that they have a monopoly on moral virtue -- particularly in light of a history littered with religious war of violence and hatred perpetrated in the name of God."

Keith Ward is an Anglican priest and professor of divinity agrees that morality is a matter of reflection and analysis. But the fundamental rules of right and wrong come through religion, he says. Secular humanism rests on sandy soil. A sound ethics cannot exist without a bedrock faith in a supremely personal God who objectifies moral goodness.

Biological, social, religious? Can objective data decide which is the basis for moral decency? What studies I have seen suggest that secularists are no more or less moral than theists. And peoples who have never heard of the great monotheistic religions have moral codes that are not all that different from the rest of us. If I were a betting man, I would put my money somewhere between Hauser and Kurtz: i.e., universal moral principles based on bio-cultural evolution.

Commenting in a "Science & Spirit" sidebar, the Dutch-born primatologist Frans de Waal sees the roots of moral decencies even among our primate cousins. Biology and morality are not at odds, he writes. "Human nature is not all selfish and nasty, and we do not need religion to tame us into becoming moral beings."

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/2006_08_01_archive.html

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:03:00 +0000

Arundhati Roy, "What Does Peace Mean?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:56:00 +0000

"What does peace mean in a world in which the combined wealth of the world's 587 billionaires exceeds the combined gross domestic product of the world's 135 poorest countries? Or when rich countries that pay farm subsidies of a billion dollars a day, try and force poor countries to drop their subsidies? What does peace mean to people in occupied Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir, Tibet and Chechnya? Or to the aboriginal people of Australia? Or the Ogoni of Nigeria? Or the Kurds in Turkey? Or the Dalits and Adivasis of India? What does peace mean to non-muslims in Islamic countries, or to women in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan? What does it mean to the millions who are being uprooted from their lands by dams and development projects? What does peace mean to the poor who are being actively robbed of their resources and for whom everyday life is a grim battle for water, shelter, survival and, above all, some semblance of dignity? For them, peace is war."

- Arundhati Roy

"Illusion Of Economic Recovery – Feelings & Facts"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:39:00 +0000

"Illusion Of Economic Recovery – Feelings & Facts"

By James Quinn

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”
- Albert Einstein

"Until Debt Do Us Part: The recovery storyline being touted by the oligarchy of politicians, bankers and media is designed to make consumers feel better. This is a key part of their master plan. Any honest assessment of the financial disaster that struck in 2008 would conclude it was caused by too much debt peddled to too many people incapable of paying it back, too few banks having too much power, the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates too low for too long, and that same Federal Reserve doing too little regulating of the Too Big To Fail Wall Street mega-banks. I wonder what Albert Einstein would think about the "solutions" rolled out to fix our debt problem. Would he find it insane that total credit market debt has actually risen to an all-time high of $53.8 trillion, up $533 billion from the previous 2008 peak? Our leaders have added $6.1 trillion to our National Debt in the last four years, a mere 66% increase. This unprecedented level of borrowing certainly did not benefit the American people, as real GDP has risen by $96 billion, or 0.7%, over the last four years.

Would Einstein find it insane that the governing elite would encourage the 4 biggest banks, that were the main culprits in creating a worldwide financial collapse, to actually get bigger. The largest banks in the U.S. now control 72% of all the deposits in the country versus 68.5% in 2008. The Too Big To Fail are now Too Bigger To Fail. Rather than liquidating the bad debts, breaking up the insolvent banks, selling off the good assets to well-run banks, firing the executives, and wiping out the shareholders & bondholders foolish enough to invest in these badly run casinos, the powers that be chose to protect their fellow .01% brethren and throw the 99% under the bus.

Ben Bernanke, in conjunction with Tim Geithner and his masters on Wall Street, implemented a zero interest rate policy designed to enrich the Wall Street banks, force investors into the stock market, and encourage Americans to borrow and spend like it was 2005 again. Rather than accepting that our economy has been warped for decades, with over-consumption utilizing debt as the driving force, and allowing a reset, the Federal Reserve insanely encouraging banks and consumers to do the same thing again. We do know Bernanke has stolen $450 billion of interest income going to savers and senior citizens and handed it to Jamie Dimon, Vikrim Pandit, Lloyd Blankfein and the rest of the Wall Street cabal. The "austerity is bad" storyline is pounded home on a daily basis by the politicians, corporate chieftains, Wall Street billionaires, and MSM pundits. The definition of austere is "practicing great self-denial". Did you see the mob scenes on Black Friday? Americans are incapable of any self-denial, let alone great self-denial, and the masters of our country will not allow it to happen. One look at our GDP figures confirms the non-austerity occurring in this country. In 2007, prior to the collapse, consumer spending accounted for 69.7% of GDP. Today, consumer spending accounts for 71% of GDP, with investment accounting for 12.7% of GDP. In the good old days of 1979 prior to the epic debt bubble, when the financial industry do not run this country, consumer spending accounted for 62% of GDP and investment accounted for 19% of GDP. What an insane concept. You spend less than you make and save the difference. You then invest that money where you can get a reasonable return (.15% in a money market account is not exactly reasonable).

As Ludwig von Mises pointed out, a false boom created by credit expansion will ultimately collapse. We had the chance in 2008 - 2009 to voluntarily abandon the Wall Street induced credit expansion and allow our country to reset. The pain and misery would have been great, especially for the 1% who own most of the stocks, bonds and peddle the debt to the ignorant masses. As you can see in the chart below, the powers that be need debt per employed American to grow at an ever increasing rate to maintain their power and wealth. The miniscule reduction in debt from 2009 to 2011 was unacceptable. The governing powers will not be satisfied until von Mises' final currency catastrophe is achieved.

Bernanke and his Wall Street puppet masters' plan is actually quite simple. It's essentially a confidence game. A confidence game (also known as a con, flim-flam, gaffle, grift, hustle, scam, scheme, or swindle) is an attempt to defraud a group by gaining their confidence. The people who commit such tricks are often known as con men, con artists, or grifters. The con man often works with one or more accomplices called shills, who help manipulate the mark into accepting the con man's plan. In a traditional confidence game, the mark is led to believe that he will be able to win money or some other prize by doing some task. The accomplices may pretend to be random strangers who have benefited from successfully performing the task. Bernanke and the 1% are the con men. They are attempting to defraud the 99% by convincing them their "solutions" will benefit them. The shills acting as accomplices are Wall Street bankers, bought off economists, politicians, journalists, and mainstream media pundits. You are the mark. The game has multiple facets but is based on more freely flowing low interest easy debt. The con man has reduced interest rates to zero at the behest of his puppet masters. The Wall Street accomplices offer enticing financing to the marks for big ticket items like automobiles, furniture and electronics. As the marks go further into debt, the Wall Street shills report record earnings ($26 billion from loan loss reserve accounting entries), consumer spending rises and GDP goes higher. The mainstream media accomplices dutifully report an improving economy. The government accomplices massage the employment and inflation data and declare a jobs recovery with no inflation. The marks are supposed to feel better about the future and spend even more borrowed money. This is what is considered a self-sustaining recovery by the psychopaths running this country.

All you have to do is open your daily paper to see the confidence game in full display. Last week the MSM reported another surge in automobile sales. Our beloved American automobile manufacturers are back baby!!! Automobile sales are now pacing above 14 million on an annual basis. This is up from the depths of the recession in 2009 when the annual rate was below 10 million. We've breached the Cash For Clunkers level and there is nowhere to go but up. The storyline is that Obama was right to save GM and Chrysler with your tax dollars. They are now making splendid vehicles (except for the exploding Chevy Volts) and employing millions of Americans. This is a true American comeback success story. Clint Eastwood should do a commercial about it.

There is one little problem with this storyline. It's bullshit. Remember GMAC? You bailed them out when all their subprime auto and mortgage loans went bad in 2009. They have a brand new business plan. Change your name to Ally Bank and start making as many subprime auto loans as possible. You will be happy to know that according to Experian, 45% of all auto loans being made today are to subprime borrowers. What could possibly go wrong? In addition, the average loan term has grown to almost 6 years. Executives at Ally Financial said that subprime car lending had become "very attractive" because profit margins on the loans more than cover the cost of expected losses from borrowers who fail to repay what they owe. I'm sure they have everything completely under control. Gina Proia, a company spokeswoman, said the company places "greater emphasis on the higher end of the nonprime spectrum" and only lends to people who show they can pay. I can't believe they are restricting their loans to only people who they think can pay. I'm surprised Obama isn't condemning them for such restrictive loan terms. If you open your paper to the auto section you will see financing offers of $0 down-payment, and 0% interest for 7 years across the board on most models. But why buy, when you can lease a luxury automobile for $300 per month? It is simply amazing how many vehicles you can "sell" when "credit challenged" Americans can rent them for seven years. I wonder if this explains why I see dozens of $40,000 luxury autos parked in front of $25,000 dilapidated hovels during my daily commute through West Philadelphia. It also seems the Big Three are "selling" a few extra vehicles to their dealers in January as pointed out by Zero Hedge. No need to let a few facts get in the way of a feel good story.

    * Ford month-end inventory 86-day supply at end of Jan. (492k vehicles) vs 60-day supply (466k) as of Dec. 31
    * Chrysler had 83-day supply (349k units) end of Jan. vs 64-day (326k units) as of Dec. 31
    * GM month-end inventory 89-day supply (619k units) vs 67-day supply (583k) Dec. 31

The facts prove the issuance of billions in easy credit is creating the illusion of recovery. Non- revolving (auto & student loans) consumer credit outstanding is now at an all-time high of $1.7 trillion. Even with billions in bad debt write-offs since 2009 the amount outstanding has risen by $100 billion. Does this sound like austerity is gripping the nation? The Federal government is dishing out student loans like candy, as hundreds of thousands of students get worthless degrees from for-profit diploma mills like the University of Phoenix and its ilk. By keeping them occupied in school, the government is able to keep them in the Not in the Labor Force category. Not to be outdone, our friends at GE Capital, Wells Fargo and the other too big to fail entities have been doing their part on the revolving credit side of the scam. I've recently been seeing an ad by the largest U.S. furniture retailer, Ashley Furniture, offering 0% interest with no payments for 7 years. I don't know about you, but my kids destroy a couch in less than 7 years. Wells Fargo Credit doesn't seem too worried. A critical thinker might ask, how can Wells Fargo possibly make money offering these terms? But there is the rub. Ben Bernanke is loaning Wells Fargo money at 0% so they can perpetuate the confidence game. These insane bankers truly believe they can kick start this moribund debt saturated economy by issuing billions more in debt to people incapable of repaying them. Einstein would be amused.

The McKinsey Group put out a report a couple weeks ago analyzing the amount of American household debt and optimistically concluding that it could be back on a sustainable path by 2013. Mike Shedlock pointed out that sustainable is in the eye of the beholder. It seems the bright fellows at McKinsey haven't grasped the concept of regression to the mean. First of all their analysis is flawed because real disposable personal income is actually declining and Ben Bernanke's master scam is working and Americans are now adding to their household debt. The little blue line has turned upwards since they gathered their data. Secondly, as Mish so accurately points out, the sustainable level of household debt is really at the levels prior to the debt bubble that began in the early 1980s. That is a debt level of approximately 70% of disposable personal income, as opposed to the current level of 110%.

The implications of household debt levels regressing to their long-term mean would be catastrophic to the 1%. Their kingdom of debt would come crashing down. Their power and wealth would be swept away. This is why it is so vital for them to create the illusion of recovery. Their confidence game is built upon an ever increasing flow of credit expansion. It will not work. There is no avoiding the final collapse of a boom created solely by credit expansion. Those in power will never voluntarily relinquish their grand game of pillaging the wealth of the nation, so economic collapse will be the ultimate result. They will continue to use propaganda, printing presses, and half-truths to further their agenda. But those who examine the facts will come to a logical conclusion that we are being sold a great lie."
․

“Half the truth is often a great lie.”

– Benjamin Franklin

•

Full article with supportive statistics and links is here:
- http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article33013.html
Join me at www.TheBurningPlatform.com to discuss truth and the future of our country.

"Avoid Problems..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:11:00 +0000

"Avoid problems, and you'll never be the one who overcame them."

- Richard Bach

Paulo Coelho, "The Law of Jante"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:17:00 +0000

"The Law of Jante"

by Paulo Coelho

"'The Law of Jante?' Of course I had never heard of this, so he explained what it was. I continued on my journey and discovered it is hard to find anyone in any of the Scandinavian countries who does not know this law. Although the law exists since the beginning of civilization, it was only officially declared in 1933 by writer Aksel Sandemose in the novel “A Refugee Goes Beyond Limits.”

The sad truth is that the Law of Jante is a rule applied in every country in the world, despite the fact that Brazilians say that “this only happens here,” and the French claim that “unfortunately, that’s how it is in our country.” Now, the reader must be annoyed because he/she is already half way through the column and still does not know what the Law of Jante is all about, so I’ll try to explain it here briefly in my own words:

“You aren’t worth a thing, nobody is interested in what you think,
mediocrity and anonymity are your best bet.
If you act this way, you will never have any big problems in life.”

The Law of Jante focuses on the feeling of jealousy and envy that sometimes causes so much trouble for people. This is one of its negative aspects, but there is something far more dangerous. And this law is accountable for the world being manipulated in all possible manners by people who have no fear of what the others say and end up practicing the evil they desire. We have just witnessed a useless war in Iraq, which is still costing many lives; we see a huge abyss between the rich and the poor countries of the world, social injustice on all sides, unbridled violence, people being forced to give up their dreams because of unfair and cowardly attacks. Before starting the second world war, Hitler sent out several signals as to his intentions, and what encouraged him to go ahead was the knowledge that nobody would dare to defy him because of the Law of Jante.

Mediocrity may be comfortable, up to the day that tragedy knocks at the door and people start to wonder: “but why did nobody say anything, if everybody could see that this was going to happen?” Simple: nobody said anything because the others did not say anything either. So in order to prevent things from growing any worse, maybe this is the right moment to write the anti-Law of Jante:

“You are worth far more than you think. Your work and presence on this Earth are important, even though you may not think so. Of course, thinking in this way, you might have many problems because you are breaking the Law of Jante – but don’t feel intimidated by them, go on living without fear and in the end you will win.”

- http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2010/01/22/the-law-of-jante-3/

"So Much More..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:16:00 +0000

"Man performs and engenders so much more than he can or should have to bear.

That's how he finds that he can bear anything."

- William Faulkner

"A Video Moment With Nature"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:23:00 +0000

Artist: Gaelic Storm
Great scenery from ''Planet Earth'' series, episode ''Mountains''.
Music is a Celtic (Irish) music mix.

Rumi, "The Trap Is Hidden..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:04:00 +0000

“The pleasures of this world are delightful from a distance before the actual test.
From a distance they appear to be refreshing water,
but when you approach them, you find they are a mirage.
The world’s bait is visible, but the trap is hidden...”

- Rumi,

"Jewels of Remembrance," Mathnawi VI, 316-317; 321

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:54:00 +0000

“Beautiful island universe M94 lies a mere 15 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the hunting dogs, Canes Venatici. A popular target for astronomers, the brighter inner part of the face-on spiral galaxy is about 30,000 light-years across.

Click image for larger size.

Traditionally, deep images have been interpreted as showing M94's inner spiral region surrounded by a faint, broad ring of stars. But a new multi-wavelength investigation has revealed previously undetected spiral arms sweeping across the outskirts of the galaxy's disk, an outer disk actively engaged in star formation. At optical wavelengths, M94's outer spiral arms are followed in this remarkable discovery image, processed to enhance the outer disk structure. Background galaxies are visible through the faint outer arms, while the three spiky foreground stars are in our own Milky Way galaxy.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100114.html

"The Legend of the Starfish"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:47:00 +0000

"A vacationing businessman was walking along a beach when he saw a young boy. Along the shore were many starfish that had been washed up by the tide and were sure to die before the tide returned. The boy was walking slowly along the shore and occasionally reached down and tossed the beached starfish back into the ocean.

The businessman, hoping to teach the boy a little lesson in common sense, walked up to the boy and said, “I have been watching what you are doing, son. You have a good heart, and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day. Surely such an industrious and kind hearted boy such as yourself could find something better to do with your time. Do you really think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?”

The boy looked up at the man, and then he looked down at a starfish by his feet. He picked up the starfish, and as he gently tossed it back into the ocean, he said, “It makes a difference to that one.”

"The Legend of the Starfish"

Author Unknown