Pistachios
Pistachios are like people. They are good as hell but every once in a while you come across a nasty one and you have to have a bunch more of the good ones to get the taste out of your mouth.January 2012
38 posts
You Want a Physicist to Speak at Your Funeral →
cuethefire.tumblr.com
You want a physicist to speak at your funeral. You want the physicist to talk to your grieving family about the conservation of energy, so they will understand that your energy has not died. You want the physicist to remind your sobbing mother about the first law of thermodynamics; that no energy gets created in the universe, and none is destroyed. You want your mother to know that all your energy, every vibration, every Btu of heat, every wave of every particle that was her beloved child remains with her in this world. You want the physicist to tell your weeping father that amid energies of the cosmos, you gave as good as you got.
And at one point you’d hope that the physicist would step down from the pulpit and walk to your brokenhearted spouse there in the pew and tell him that all the photons that ever bounced off your face, all the particles whose paths were interrupted by your smile, by the touch of your hair, hundreds of trillions of particles, have raced off like children, their ways forever changed by you. And as your widow rocks in the arms of a loving family, may the physicist let her know that all the photons that bounced from you were gathered in the particle detectors that are her eyes, that those photons created within her constellations of electromagnetically charged neurons whose energy will go on forever.
And the physicist will remind the congregation of how much of all our energy is given off as heat. There may be a few fanning themselves with their programs as he says it. And he will tell them that the warmth that flowed through you in life is still here, still part of all that we are, even as we who mourn continue the heat of our own lives.
And you’ll want the physicist to explain to those who loved you that they need not have faith; indeed, they should not have faith. Let them know that they can measure, that scientists have measured precisely the conservation of energy and found it accurate, verifiable and consistent across space and time. You can hope your family will examine the evidence and satisfy themselves that the science is sound and that they’ll be comforted to know your energy’s still around. According to the law of the conservation of energy, not a bit of you is gone; you’re just less orderly. Amen. - Aaron Freeman
“I think some part of being human is to seek other levels of consciousness. It’s human curiosity. If you watch kids play, they love to spin around in a circle until they get real dizzy, and then fall on the ground and laugh like hell. As soon as you know you can change your consciousness you want to do it as much as you possibly can. Because it’s fun. And it’s a human thing to want. I have no problem there. The only conflict is that there is somebody somewhere who finds that to be morally unsupportable. I don’t know why. Of all the things to decide, “This is not a good thing to do,” why changing consciousness? It’s people who have such great fear of the unknown. Of what? More light? More information?”
—
Jerry Garcia, 1989.
This is important.
(via fuckyesgratefuldead)
The moon was high: I'm against big government →
the-moon-was-high.tumblr.com
I would tend to agree with anarcho. I would also think that we can accelerate the demise of big government by not cooperating. By this I mean we need to withdraw from the process. Stop, or rather, decrease consuming goods. Especially if they are not locally produced. If we pull the plug on the economic system by not participating, then it will wither and die. This will mean that we have to find a way to feed ourselves, to stop buying the latest cell phone, and finding the true joy and pleasure of life - personal relationships.
but I’m also against 50 smaller governments with radically different views all attempting to work together.
Ron Paul really misses the point of being against government…
This conversation honestly fascinated me. I’d have to say I agree with you both in a way. I believe government should back out of social issues. And I hate how capitalism runs our lives, so I don’t think I’d be opposed to getting rid of that either. But having one or two people run a large mass of people does not sound promising to me. If a group of people can’t even make good decisions for us, why would just one or two people? They wouldn’t. Having a pure democracy, where everyone could contribute ideas and then the idea would be voted in our out would, in my opinion, be the best route. But I can even see flaws in that since human beings are flawed and stupid and will therefore make flawed and stupid decisions for their society.
I would NEVER want one or two ass-hats running anyone’s life.
Basically my ideal form of living is small communes made up of a couple hundred to a couple thousand where every decision is made democratically and not a single person is above anyone else. If you don’t like it at one, leave. If you don’t like any of them, live on your own. No one owns any of the lands, it’s all public space and same goes with the resources. No capitalism, no forced government.
We Are Rushing to Kill Ourselves?
CRIIGEN - Genetically engineered maize: New indication of health risks - January 2012Bt protein toxic to human cells Caen/ München. Insecticidal Bt toxins such as those produced in genetically engineered plants can be detrimental to human cells. This is a result of recent research led by researchers at the University of Caen (France).
via Criigen
European Parliament Official In Charge Of ACTA Quits, And Denounces The ‘Masquerade’ Behind ACTA from the wow deptThis is interesting. Kader Arif, the “rapporteur” for ACTA, has quit that role in disgust over the process behind getting the EU to sign onto ACTA. A rapporteur is a person “appointed by a deliberative body to investigate an issue.” However, it appears his investigation of ACTA didn’t make him very pleased:
I want to denounce in the strongest possible manner the entire process that led to the signature of this agreement: no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, exclusion of the EU Parliament’s demands that were expressed on several occasions in our assembly.
As rapporteur of this text, I have faced never-before-seen manoeuvres from the right wing of this Parliament to impose a rushed calendar before public opinion could be alerted, thus depriving the Parliament of its right to expression and of the tools at its disposal to convey citizens’ legitimate demands.”
Everyone knows the ACTA agreement is problematic, whether it is its impact on civil liberties, the way it makes Internet access providers liable, its consequences on generic drugs manufacturing, or how little protection it gives to our geographical indications.
This agreement might have major consequences on citizens’ lives, and still, everything is being done to prevent the European Parliament from having its say in this matter. That is why today, as I release this report for which I was in charge, I want to send a strong signal and alert the public opinion about this unacceptable situation. I will not take part in this masquerade.
Go Sondhi!
Media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul of ASTV, a popular news and media outlet in Thailand, gave a 2-hour talk on Friday night (in Thai) regarding the corporate-funded Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USAID, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Amnesty International amongst others and their role in destabilizing nation states around the world and in particular their unfolding plot in Thailand itself.
….
No punches were pulled, and the talk was accompanied by a news story on the ASTV website, Manager.co.th (in Thai), complete with graphics illustrating the documented ties between foreign corporate-financier interests and seditious elements within Thailand working with them.
Single Law of Solidarity
“The inherent principles of human existence are summed up in the single law of solidarity. This is the golden rule of humanity, and may be formulated thus: no person can recognise or realise his or her own humanity except by recognising it in others and so cooperating for its realisation by each and all. No man can emancipate himself save by emancipating with him all the men about him.”
— Mikhail Bakunin
Well? Make a Choice
The Declaration of Independence for what became the United States holds, “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… .” It would be more precise, however, 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 community of destructive institutions, they will destroy our community. If we as a community cannot provide meaningful and non-destructive ways for people to gain food, clothing, and shelter, then we must recognize it’s not just destructive institutions but the entire economic system pushing the natural world past breaking points. Once we’ve recognized the destructiveness of this economic system 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. There is nothing else to do.
You can ask: by quoting the Declaration of Independence am I calling for revolution, to which I will respond that the answer should be clear. You can ask, then, if this means that I am calling for the overthrow of the United States and other governments, to which I will respond that this question comes far, far, far too late. For the governments were long since overthrown, and those who overthrew them are known as ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Halliburton, Monsanto, ADM, Wal-Mart, Massey Coal, Goldman Sachs, Citibank. They are the real governors, and the United States and other governments are wholly-owned subsidiaries, brought to you by McDonald’s, Pfizer, and Lockheed Martin.
So then you can ask, am I advocating the overthrow of governments that are by, for, and of corporations, advocating the overthrow of corporate states, to which I will say, “Hell, yes.”
- Derrick Jensen, speech at Occupy DC
Discoveries will go on Forever
via Universetoday
A Whistleblower’s Open Letter to the Citizens of Canada →
oliverdailynews.com
My name is Andrew Frank. I grew up in a small town in the Okanagan valley of British Columbia. My granddad taught me how to fish. My father was a well-respected lawyer known for his unwavering integrity, and my mother was a favourite kindergarten teacher. Both have always impressed upon me the importance of telling the truth.
Today, I am taking the extraordinary step of risking my career, my reputation and my personal friendships, to act as a whistleblower and expose the undemocratic and potentially illegal pressure the Harper government has apparently applied to silence critics of the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil tanker/pipeline plan.
As I have detailed in a sworn affidavit, no less than three senior managers with Tides Canada and ForestEthics (a charitable project of Tides Canada), have informed me, as the Senior Communications Manager for ForestEthics, that Tides Canada CEO, Ross McMillan, was informed by the Prime Minister’s Office, that ForestEthics is considered an “Enemy of the Government of Canada,” and an “Enemy of the people of Canada.”
This language was apparently part of a threat by the Prime Minister’s Office to challenge the charitable status of Tides Canada if it did not agree to stop funding ForestEthics, specifically its work opposing oilsands expansion and construction of oilsands tanker/pipeline routes in Canada.
This is especially concerning because ForestEthics is a legally registered intervenor in the National Energy Board’s Joint Review Panel process, currently examining the Enbridge oil tanker/pipeline proposal. By attempting to silence a registered participant in the review, I fear the Harper government may have permanently damaged the integrity of this process.
After waiting more than two weeks for Tides Canada to go public with this story, it has become clear to me that the organization is too afraid of reprisals from the government to act. Tides is responsible for the employment of hundreds of Canadians and dozens of crucial environmental projects like the Great Bear Rainforest, and has been understandably paralyzed in challenging the Prime Minister’s Office on this matter. I on the other hand, am speaking out as a private citizen because I feel that the rights and civil liberties of my fellow Canadian citizens, including freedom of expression and freedom of speech, are at risk.
There was a look of fear and disbelief on my fellow staff members’ faces the day they were told our own government had labelled them enemies of the state. Our administration coordinator had tears in her eyes. In the days that followed, our employees couldn’t sleep well. They lost their appetites, and they began to fear for their own personal safety and civil liberties, and those of their families and loved ones. They began looking over their shoulder, out of fear and paranoia, because their own government might be watching them.
The language of anti-terrorism, when applied to Canadian citizens who legitimately question the wisdom of an unsustainable oil tanker/pipeline plan, is an affront to the rights of all Canadians. It is the language of bullying. It is language that is violent and above the law, and harkens to previous examples of RCMP surveillance of Canadians for political rather than legal purposes, including Tommy Douglas. The casual use of such loaded language at the top of our government is immoral, unethical and probably illegal.
A strongly opposed oil tanker/pipeline plan is now the least of this government’s worries. In its heavy-handed attempt to override public opposition, the government has breached the public’s trust.
I now invite Canadians, including the media and members of the House of Commons, to challenge the unacceptable behaviour described in this letter and sworn in my affidavit. Approximately three weeks from now, Mr. Harper will visit China on an official state visit. In China, Amnesty International asserts that a half-million “enemies of the government” are held in prisons without charge.
If the argument in favour of the Enbridge pipeline is that Canada stands to make billions selling oil to an oppressive Chinese government, then my answer is “no thank you.” That’s not “ethical oil,” especially when profiting from this oil wealth requires repressive tactics against critical citizens – tactics we would normally associate with the Chinese state, not Canada.
The events of the last month have ensured that I will never take my rights as a Canadian citizen for granted again. That is both sad and encouraging. Sad that I ever had to question them, and encouraging because I have been reminded of another lesson taught to me by my parents: the best way to stop a bully is to stand up to him.
I invite you to join me in expressing your voice on what is perhaps the most pressing moral crisis facing our nation today. Together we can hold this government to account and prevent the dismantling of Canadian civil society and the further erosion of citizens’ rights.
“We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on. Why? Because the system works for us.”
—
A “former Apple executive” speaking to the New York Times about working conditions at suppliers’ plants in China. (via officialssay)
This says it all.
Only a Drill, but who is the Enemy?
We need pictures of this.
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — If you notice a heavy military presence around downtown Los Angeles this week, don’t be alarmed — it’s only a drill.
Joint military training exercises will be held evenings through Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The LAPD will be providing support for the exercises, which will also be held in other portions of the greater Los Angeles area, police said.
Training sites “have been carefully selected to ensure the event does not negatively impact the citizens of Los Angeles and their daily routine,” a department official said.
The training, which a department official said would involve helicopters, has been coordinated with local authorities and owners of the
training sites, police said.Police said safety precautions have been taken to prevent risk to the general public and military personnel involved.
The exercises are closed to the public, police said.
The exercises are designed to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments, prepare forces for upcoming overseas deployments, and meet mandatory training certification requirements, police said.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/01/24/lapd-joint-military-drills-in-downtown-la-wont-disrupt-publics-daily-routines/
“
These institutions are about managing docile, apathetic, idiotic, domesticated resources. So, when these resources go out and scream “we’re going to occupy Wall street”, they are not even questioning the fact that their bodies, their minds, their desires, their purpose have already been occupied. If we go back to Mary Douglas’s notion of the institution — these institutions need bodies to live through these bodies. Everybody is an atom of the institution of civilization. And institutions are in civilization, because wilderness is about diversity. Wilderness is about communion, you always tune in, you dance together. But in monoculturalism, which is civilization, you only have one way…
So, the problem then is that since people are born in this system – they end up being educated and domesticated by the system. They are domesticated by the fact that their parents put them in schools and tell them – “You won’t be able to survive, you won’t live, you will die, my child, if don’t get good grades, if you don’t do what the teacher tells you; if you don’t come out into the world and get a job, and vote, and vote, and vote!”
This becomes natural for us – this is where we start reenacting the institution, just like Mary Douglas tells us, even though the institution – the institution of civilization – is the real Alien, who occupies our dreams, our minds, our purpose, and starts reenacting its own interests through us. So, when these people go out and all they want is a slightly bigger piece of the cake, which is not meant for them. The cake only gets devalued, because civilization is unsustainable. It’s not meant to be sustainable, because it always needs to occupy more minds, more bodies, more territory. It needs to exterminate more species, more living beings, more variety.
So, from the very beginning, ontologically, from its conception, civilization and domestication are not viable systems. They are not sustainable, they are not viable and so, when these people believe that by simply going out and asking the 1% to share with them, they are not questioning the basis on which their knowledge is built on… They come out on the streets to say “We are the 99% and we want more cake”. But there is no cake! Marie Antoinette lied!
” —Anonymous (via f-e-r-a-l)
It’s not Anonymous, it’s by Leila Abdel Rahim
“Because the current worldview causes escalation of our destructive relationship with the environment at every level of life, human meaning atrophies. The emerging environmental cosmology will be in conflict with the popular mechanistic view. This “cosmic” conflict can be seen in the energy underlying philosophical, political, religious, and economic debates all over the world.”
—Gregory Cajete in “Native Science: natural laws of interdependence.”
White people lack empathy for brown people, brain research shows →
restructure.wordpress.com
The participants – all white – watched simple videos in which men of different races picked up a glass and took a sip of water. They watched white, black, South Asian and East Asian men perform the task.
Typically, when people observe others perform a simple task, their motor cortex region fires similarly to when they are performing the task themselves. However, the UofT research team, led by PhD student Jennifer Gutsell and Assistant Professor Dr. Michael Inzlicht, found that participants’ motor cortex was significantly less likely to fire when they watched the visible minority men perform the simple task. In some cases when participants watched the non-white men performing the task, their brains actually registered as little activity as when they watched a blank screen…
The trend was even more pronounced for participants who scored high on a test measuring subtle racism, says Gutsell.
Where is the science in this? What happens when they test brown people the same way? How about black? It might be that all people behave this way.
“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shore, the scar of our racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it. Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations.”
—The Autobiography of Malcolm X - © 1964 (via thenewneutral)
“
This new type of man turns his interest away from life, persons, nature, ideas—in short from everything that is alive; he transforms all life into things, including himself and the manifestations of his human faculties of reason, seeing, hearing, tasting, loving.
Sexuality becomes a technical skill, feelings are flattened and sometimes substituted for by sentimentality; joy, the expression of intense aliveness, is replaced by “fun” or excitement; and whatever love and tenderness man has is directed toward machines and gadgets. The world becomes a sum of lifeless artifacts; from synthetic food to synthetic organs, the whole man becomes part of the total machinery that he controls and is simultaneously controlled by.
He has no plan, no goal for life, except doing what the logic of technique determines him to do. He aspires to make robots as one of the greatest achievements of his technical mind, and some specialists assure us that the robot will hardly be distinguished from living men. This achievement will not seem so astonishing when man himself is hardly distinguishable from a robot.
” —Erich Fromm (via cultureofresistance)