ShenLung

Illustrating the amount of 'space' available for persons to live in is an extreme example, it is more to put the lie to the "oh no, we're overpopulated, we're destroying the planet" belief. I'm really trying to tie a few concepts together here, and hopefully come up with a synthesis. When the essential needs of a person are readily at hand, and under the direct influence of the person, there should be a relief from those anxieties that permeate (not all, apparently) modern cultures. By decentralizing production, and putting access to the essentials closer to the end user, the individual is not under constant threat to their existence from external sources for something so basic as food and water. Being capable of such self reliance does not make the individual isolated, but liberated in such a manner that they may excercise independent thought. Remaining interconnected to other independent thinking individuals, free from anxieties over (artificially?) scarce resources, a global society could, perhaps develop synthesis of the right sort of thought by excercise of free choice, rather than dictate. We are doing this sort of thing right now ... but that freedom of individual thought is not the norm as of yet.

I don't know the specifics of what is causing the physical mobility issues, so coming up with a targeted approach to aleviate them is beyond my capability ... but making use of a pool to suspend the body and take some of the load off of old, achy joints could be beneficial.

Woohoo! grats to Sinfest 2: Judgement day! I'm having a party over at my pad on friday for all newly inaugerated dieties, byod (bring your own dogmas) I'm making bean dip.

In your zone, you might try stacking tires, fill with straw, and then add a tire and more straw as the plant grows. The black rubber keeps the root system warm and promotes growth. Farther south, the built up heat is too intense, and kills the plant ... I'm planning on trying out a fine wirecloth cage on a couple of plants this next season.

There are a few factors that all of the latest mass murders in the USA seem to have in common: 1) diagnosis of mental 'problems', sometimes not fully defined, but always followed by 2) prescription medication to 'treat' the poorly defined mental issues 3) social withdrawl and immersion in a world of violent media 'entertainment' 4) ready access to defensless victims 5) guns exist The mental health factor is huge. Real, effective treatment requires time and involvment, and resources. Writing a prescription is the 'quick fix' that is being substituted ... but look at the side effects of these medications: visual and auditory hallucinations, psychosis, thoughts of suicide, suicide, ect ... but these only present in 'a small number of patients'. A small number of patients includes people who go into schools and movie theaters and try for a high score IRL.

In the urban homesteading category, I've been looking into aquaponic set-ups .. you get fresh veggies and fish out of the same space. If local governments were to invest in larger scale aquaponics centers, the economically disadvantaged persons would have ready access to a high-quality food supply. Operating the facility could be done by the very people who would be getting their food from it: Instead of supplying them with a special credit card and borrowing the money to purchase foodstuffs from a grocery store, people would actually be putting in real work in exchange for the food. Costs for materials, electricity, ect. could be met by offering fresh produce for sale, either directly at the site, or through the grocery stores about town ... who doesn't like fresh, locally grown organic produce when they can afford it?

I would have pegged Japan to be the example for people being crammed in closely with minimum civil disruption. Lots of cultural influence, possibly ethnic homogeny, serious self discipline ... These factors don't really apply to a country like the United States. Try cramming too many Americans together, and it's a recipe for disaster.

Toxic treats. Too bad They looked so good on the shelf with shiney wrappers.

I am thinking that there are three layers of music which can affect the mental state of a listening audience. There is the composition itself: This is pure mathematics, and there is harmony in mathematics. When the composition shifts in irrational ways, this shift creates a disruption in the mental state. Such disruptions can prepare the mind to recieve and process new information, and are not 'bad' in and of themselves, but can certainly be used to prepare the mind to recieve negative programming. There is then the sound quality, playing of instruments, modulation of voice, and the mixing of sounds and effects. Playing or singing off-key can have a disturbing effect, and the addition of distortion that seems to be so popular in metal these days can be very disrupting. Some music is so heavily distorted that I cannot tell if it was good music to begin with ... I don't listen to it when it is distorted this way; it just sounds like noise to me. Finally there are the lyrics. When the message is one glorifying violence, abuse, or other negative behaviors, it isn't hard to classify the music as 'bad'. A lot of lyrics are an expression of the artist attempting to expell their own negative emotions; for the artist, this is theraputic, and the venom that comes forth is like the puss of their damaged psyches being ejected from them. A listener who has need for such a release might well be helped by going along for the ride, but there is a tendency for audiences to remain, lapping up this toxic waste and absorbing it as new information. Sometimes a piece of music can be so disruptive that, at the end of the music, the listener has been psychically disoriented. Whatever seemingly rational information that they are exposed to before their minds have been normalized can be readily accepted and programmed into their thoughts - this could be images from a video game, from the news, ect. Combined with drugs that alter the brain's normal chemistry, particularly in a brain that is still developing (up to 25 years of age) Music and images can seriously warp one's perception of reality.

There is a certain distinction between douchebag nature and troll nature. I, for example, am a douchebag. I can accept this, learn from this, and move on from this. Trolls cannot do the same. Any other douchebags out there?

If one cannot sincerly appreciate this joke, one must wonder why one should be so gifted to enjoy a physical existence in this particular universe: Mousing over my name, I found this information: Group The Tao Bums Active Posts 85 Member since 24-November 12 Last active 18:20 Currently Searching Thank you. I'll be here all week!

I really appreciate you flaming me, Aaron, because it helps me remember that, although I might like to think of myself as a spiritual being having a human experience, your sound wisdom brings me back to the reality that I am only a semi evolved monkey pretending to be on a spiritual journey. Thank You. I will not ever (eek, absolutes! ) deny that I have issues with my own ego. I regard this to be a major block in my own progress to enlightenment. Please, by all means, smack me when I get too big of a head. I suggest that our author in this thread create a new persona for this very reason. If he were to make the breakthrough, I could claim that I helped in that respect, and, even if that were true, it would harm me in my own progress. It is not for him, you see, but for me. I am selfish that way. I am a selfish bloviating windbag with a great big fat ego. Go easy on me, I am still learning to be.

Cat is not MY cat, he is just cat. That is what he is, I see no need to project anything else into my understanding of him. (and now you see how partners in a taoist relationship argue) What the heck is that picture of, anyway? Your flat coat retriever eats my socks. I don't find that very friendly. <3 (I have to do that, you see, or else she will kill me when I'm sleeping )

At this point, Jetsun, dude ... I advise you to make a new account. The statement that you posed is one that is going to have many philosphers discussing for a long time, and frankly, I don't think any of us will benefit from your reaching that "breakthrough" that we all want to see. For those who are right, it will be a barrier to our own progress "look, we were right, you can learn from us" ha ha For those who were wrong we would still be searching, no closer to the truth, but we would still be trying to sound wise... that's where it's all at, anyway, right? ha ha Seriously, new account, right now. Please.

I am of the opinion that we are, currently, witnessing what will in future civilizations be refered to the "fall of the American Empire" Individual examples such as the death of a mere 20 children will be forgotten, since in the context of the loss of billions of lives, they willl be regarded as meaningless. For those temporarly challenged observing todays news, however, these events are horrifying. I am cursed, it seems, to look upon my fellow man and see their bones walking, clad in flesh and bearing the semblence of some mortal being. It's a crappy prophetic vision, and I don't appreciate it, thank you. Long time, geological time has a tendency to put a certain spin upon current events. I burned my dinner. To me, this is tragedy.

Ahh, what a relief, for I always t'ought t'was I, in a fit for need of good drama and comedy did will the death of babes. Like I said elsewhere, there is a certain sickness that has penetrated society ...

Tag end of that video, where the incident in China is mentioned ... what was the weapon used? a KNIFE? Some countries have laws outlawing the use of knives. You know who you are. Has that prevented KNIFE violence? really? the stats are out there. The sickness is still NOT BEING ADRESSED.

I've already mentioned Boo in previous posts Foot is, I think a menace to society.

I know, is that not the funniest joke ever? Oh God, I'm a douche.

If this tale is true .. may I be your student? if not, it's still damn good. Cheers.

Aye, this one is the 'middle-distance-it-shall-come-to-pass' sort of prophecy. I hate it because I cannot fully explain it, but yes. Tsunami, west coast, this lifetime. Going to Happen. Best advice? follow your path. If you are going to die, then die, no worries. If you are going to narrowly escape, then you move. No worries. It's all good, the world isn't done changing yet

We have concieved a model whereby the surface of your planet will have several seperate bits of solid mass, call them "crustal plates" will circulate over the more fluid mass of a region that we shall refer to as "the mantle". The plate that forms the pacific ocean region in current time will be making an energetic relationship with the North American plate, generating a certain degree of tension. Eventually, this tension will be released as these plates interact, and one slides beneath the other. Up to the more energetic of these activities, persons on the planet will be aware of their occurance, but will think little of them; they happen all the time. Usually, these energetic releases occur within the surface area of the North American crustal plate itself, and any damage that might occur is reletively slight - think San Fransisco 1906. Next to nothing, right? When the more significant (historically speaking) release of tension occurs off of the coast, One would be advised to NOT BE TOO CLOSE. Oops, sorry for yelling. The thought of millions of people dying is very disturbing to me, and I tend to get worked up over that.

Did I not just say they go together like oil and water? Oil and Water DO NOT MIX! I love you, you are, just as you say, a pure spirit

When I am working in my profession, I must be very attentive, pay attention to the most minute of details, and faliure to pay attention to these details is not an option. If I screw up, Billions of people may die. This is very stressful. There are a lot of factors that I cannot be aware of, and many circumstances arise that I have no control of. In acknowledgment of all of the 'humanity experience shit' that I have no control of, I opt to let these things that I have no control of 'Slide' and not worry about them too much. Adjust the scale to fit your reality, but the essential idea is still the same. We are planning to reshape the western coastline of the North American continent. Interesting life experiences are available for anyone willing to remain within 200 miles of the coast during this period. Apply for these life experiences by being born into realities where one is living in this region and opts to NOT MOVE after being advised of the restructure. Thank you, the management.

Sikhs and Muslims go together like water and oil, which is to say: typically, not at all. Yes, one can find pictures of either wearing turbans. This is very superficial. I can wear a turban .. heck, Johnny Carson has worn a turban. I had a co worker once who brought some of his thanksgiving dinner into work to share with the rest of the crew. He curried the turkey. Looking at him, I percieved that he was either from the Kashmir region, or at least one of his parents were. He vehemently denied any association with Pakistan, his lineage was Indian! After a LOT of cross talk and examination, he was finally willing to admit that his grandparents were Pakistanii, his mother and father both from Kashmir ... and the turkey was excellent, which is exactly what we try to get done in America.