Bush Administration Discovers Liberty!

Under the Bush administration, the FCC has decided to correct a horrible oversight. See, up to now, the Hearst Corporation (run by descendants of William Randolf Hearst) and poor Rupert Murdoch has been prevented, by government interference, from owning a few straggling newspapers and television stations. Now, thank goodness, action is being taken to correct this outrage. Finally, we're free!
Or, if we aren't, at least we won't have to hear about it on the news.

Currently listening : Stay Human By Michael Franti & Spearhead Release date: 15 May, 2001

10:29 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Peak Oil Won't Save Us
Current mood: awake

Peak Oil folks keep saying that the sky is falling, and we'd better get ready. It seems like wishful thinking to me.

Yes, sure, we're running out of oil. But if you're thinking that means we will no longer be able to depend on the folks with the power, that we'll have to become human again, I'm afraid you're fooling yourself. Those with the money and the power have plenty of ways to maintain the status quo, in whatever form.

    * Nanotech is coming, and that will drastically change what can be done. Nanotech is expensive, and will remain in the hands of the powerful.

    * The guns are in the hands of the people in power, and that won't change (unless we change it)

    * Food and medicines may not be able to easily travel great distances, but they can still be controlled by land-"owners," who will decide what to grow and how to grow, and tell us what we can and cannot eat.

It's not that I'm being pessimistic. I have a wonderful vision of the future, and I believe it can come about. But it isn't going to happen magically, because we run out of oil. We're going to have to create it.

And *that's* the real reason for eating locally, creating community, and making sure you know how to take care of yourself and your loved ones. Take your life back from the creepy corporate powers, and become your own person.

Don't do it because the sky is falling. Do it because you remember that you are human.

3:13 PM - 1 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Apparently, a poem

Time for poetry

Are you a poet
the new guy asks, trying
to assess my fuckability

I don't know how to answer
How do I say I'm too busy being
the creative force of the universe
to be his poet,
fuckable
or not

How do I say that being god
occupies nearly every waking moment,
and many sleeping ones,
that molding this glistening river
along the green bike path takes up
less of my time, really, than the
appreciating of it, and the rest
of the view from heaven

You created me, and I you.
The difference is that I know this,
and you do not.

If you did, you wouldn't ask
if I'm a poet.

3:20 PM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

God, Schools Suck
Current mood: sad

A high school senior in Texas made a video-game map of his school. People do it all the time, and then they play violent games like Counter-Strike (or Halo, or Doom...) and that's what this kid did. He used information that thousands and thousands of people already had--the layout of the school--and his mad skillz, and created a cool 3-D representation of the school.

This honors student was then sent to an "alternative education" program for behavior-problems. He won't be finishing his senior year with his classmates, and he won't be at his own graduation ceremony.

For 13 years he has asked permission to go to the bathroom. He has learned to regulate his days by the sound of a bell, and he has honed his ability to give teachers what they want in exchange for privilege and approval. This is the thanks he gets.

7:36 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Green Zone to be renamed "Yellow Zone"

The Green Zone in Baghdad isn't as cozy today, after someone  set off a bomb in the convention center, where Iraqi legistlators were having lunch. In fact, this isn't just in the Green Zone. It's deep in the green zone, according to the article, past six checkpoints including one with "a sophisticated full-body scanning device" and another with bomb-sniffing dogs.

Of course, George Bush doesn't approve, but he does make it clear that this will help further his agenda, saying, "My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you as you take the steps necessary to not only reconcile politically, but also put a security force in place that is able to deal with these kinds of people.'"

And in other news, a suicide bomber blew up a truck on a Baghdad bridge today, killing about ten people, and sending cars into the Tigris river.

Have you ever noticed how more—more soldiers, more U.S. involvement, more "security," more government power—more always seems to lead to results like this? Wonder what else the surge will bring us?

Pray for peace, y'all. Pray for awareness. We are one.

10:55 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

The love of oil is the root of all evil

We might be running out of oil. Would that be such a bad thing? Well, I guess if we switched to coal, it would. Or planted corn all over the country to fuel our cars. But it seems to me that running out of oil is much less scary than what seems to be happening when we burn it.

We adjust to climate change by using our air conditioners more, by moving inland, by insulating ourselves, by shipping more food, and by burning more oil. We drive or fly airplanes to environmental conferences, we buy cool "eco" stuff (imported from China), and we watch the climate change happen. We tell ourselves that we'll drive a little less, or we get a slightly more fuel efficient SUV.

An article at Science Magazine offers some ways to achive real change. Maybe we better start talking about that. Maybe we better start making a real difference, so we'll have time to wonder if we're running out of oil.

(Sorry for the practical nature of this blog post. I was trying to stick to spiritual topics here, but I accidentally posted that to my Zaadz blog today.)

8:24 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Believe in Miracles
Current mood: content

In February, I discovered the Group of 1000 (which is connected with the Conversations With God Foundation), and joined. Then I learned that there would be a conference, about a week away, in Ashland, Oregon, only a three hour drive. It was a free conference, and most retreats with Neale cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.

But at the time, I didn't even know how I was going to pay the rent. Money was very short. I knew that going to the conference was the right thing to do. After all, if I saved what little money we had, I still wouldn't have enough to pay the rent, and I needed spiritual clarity. So I left half with my family for groceries, and spent the rest on gas and food. The first night I slept in my van. The second and third nights a generous and sweet woman at the conference let me sleep in her hotel room (Thanks!). It worked out.

So we're talking about the next conference, and Neale asked who would come if it were to be held in London. I asked, "Do you mean do we know *how* we could make that happen?" He clarified: "Raise your hand if you'd make it your highest intention to be there." So, of course, I raised my hand.

I was thinking as I was driving home, "Apparently, I'm going to London! Weird..." It was hard to believe, but I knew it was important that I believe it, so I tried to.

But this past week something happened that really shook me. I got a contract that paid me over a thousand dollars up front and will pay that much again at the end. This one is going to pay for other stuff, but it occurred to me that this is a perfectly normal thing to have happen, and it will happen again. And I was walking down the street one afternoon last week, looking at plants and flowers, and suddenly it dawned on me. *This will happen again." And if it happens again, then going to London will be easy.

Fancy that. :)

Isn't life grand? Here's wishing all of your dreams come true as well.

P.S. We managed to pay the rent, and a few weeks later, happened upon a *much* nicer apartment and managed to move, too. I'm liking this manifesting thing. :)

10:38 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

How do you know?
Current mood: hungry
Category: Life

I recently discovered Oso Delicioso,* which looks like a particularly pretty drive-up coffee kiosk, but is actually more of a real kitchen, with local, organic food! How cool is that?
 
My friend (who had been on the lookout for places that serve local, organic food, especially affordable ones) said she wasn't interested because she's avoiding fast food. And this got me thinking.

They do serve food to people in cars, and they do use paper wrappers and plastic cups. (Though I'm guessing they'd use whatever dishes I brought with me.) What else might Oso Delicioso have in common with McDonald's? Is this fast-food in the ways that count?

* * *

When I mention talking with God, people ask "How do you know it's God? How do you know it's not your imagination? How do you know it's not of the devil?"

First, my imagination is a direct link to Godsource, if I let it be. Why would God need to speak in a booming voice or from a burning bush, if I'm listening? Imagination is one of the most amazing things in the entire world. Wouldn't it be a perfect vehicle for God's communication?

As for whether what I'm hearing is truly God, or some evil spirit or my mundane speculations instead, here is how I know. Only our highest thoughts come from God. Only our grandest visions, our purest feelings. God-Oneness cannot be expressed as other than truth, joy and love. If it's fear, it's not god. If it's deceitful, it's not god. Judgemental, sorrowful, separate, it's not god.

See how easy that is?

* * *

So I was thinking about fast food, and whether Oso Delicioso would count, and what I realized is that the reason I don't want to go to McDonald's is that it's not made with love.

I want to eat food grown and collected with love, prepared with love, served with love.

If we get that part right, the rest will follow.

And now, I'm off to get a stuffed biscuit, made with organic flour and local eggs. :)
________________________________________________________________
*Oso Delicioso is in Eugene, Oregon, where W. 6th and W. 7th connect.

11:13 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

It's not a political problem
Current mood: peaceful
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Good people have been trying to end poverty, wage peace, protect the environment, support women, improve education and prevent disease forever. And things do get better. But the problems persist.

This is not how Humanity is meant to live. How is it possible that we pass someone on the street who is hungry and asking for our help, and we do nothing? How can it be that mothers will kiss their children goodbye and send them off to a place where they have to ask to use the restroom, where they are bullied and told what to think, and where there's a definite chance someone will start shooting and they won't be able to defend themselves? And shouldn't it be unthinkable that we continue to drive (and yes, I do it too) when we know that the earth we call home is struggling to support us?

What about the folks who make their living lying to other people? The soldiers who follow orders knowing that they're wrong? The cops who beat somebody up just because they can? Shouldn't this be unthinkable?

I have a beautiful vision of what humanity can be. We can be loving, kind, forgiving, compassionate, joyful, and so many other things. But something is holding us back. Bezillions of non-profits can't bring this vision to life. Politicians can't either.

See, it's not a political problem. It's not an economic problem or a military problem. It's a spiritual problem. We need better ideas about god and our place in the universe.

What we need is a new myth -- a new set of ideas about who we are and what life is all about. We need a myth that will shows us our own divine nature, and that we are all one.

9:28 PM - 2 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment