'When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.' Mahatma Gandhi

"I am only a child"

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17665.htm

Ah... maccas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYyDXH1amic

...and GM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG8Y-_p8XSg

Zeitgeist - the movie

This movie made me at once angry and inspired. It plainly states a lot of what many of us have always feared to be true about the systems of control put in place to keep us ignorant and complacent, sighting just a few obvious examples, Religion, 911 and The US Federal Reserve.

I recomend watching it on Google video as it is bigger. Follow the link on the screen that pops up (the first 3 minutes are with out picture).

A smothered fire can still smolder

I am raging right now, but it is a good rage, a healthy rage. I want to stand up and fight but i know that fighting is not the answer. Who would i fight? Myself? The evil which permeates the world does not come from somewhere out there, from some beast or being hell bent on the destruction of human kind. It comes from within, the greed of us all is responsible for everything which suppresses or threatens to destroy us. The good news is that most people don't succumb to it, not whole heartily at least, and for the most part not consciously. The bad news is that unfortunately it is no longer us who decides what is good for us or others. We have given our power over. The greed of a few seems to be more powerful than the compassion of all others. How is this possible, how are they able to control us, and continue to ensure the suffering of all? Because we are divided and because we let them. By them i simply mean the powers that be. The Corporations, Governments, and institutions who decide for us what we hear, eat, drink, and speak, and equally what we don't. I no-longer trust anything that I am allowed to do.

Ok, so perhaps i am caught in a negative cloud, but what i am actually doing is transmuting it, this apparent negativity, into something positive. If darkness is just the absence of light, then shedding light onto situations and systems which suppress us is surely a positive thing? As long as it results in some positive action. Understanding is wonderful and with awareness comes choice, but with out action it is all for nothing. For realisation to be actualised it takes action.

A smothered fire can still smolder. And when the time is right it can spark up again and rise from its ashes to burn anew. That is what I want to do, and i can feel that the time is right. It has always been right. It is now. We are not really separate. We really are limitless and whole beings and anything that tells you otherwise is simply not the truth.

From Unlikely Quarters

From Unlikely Quarters, Bruce Willis and The JFK Debate
The Kennedy assassination furore is over and the "conspiracy theorists" won, 9/11 is soon to follow
Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet
Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Bruce Willis' insightful and definitive comments to Vanity Fair about the assassination of JFK, in which he =oldly states that Kennedy's killers were never caught and are still in power today, are a benchmark as to how far the truth movement has progressed since 9/11.
"They still haven't caught the guy that killed [President] Kennedy," Willis told Vanity Fair's June issue.
"I'll get killed for saying this, but i'm pretty sure those guys are still in power, in some form. The entire government of the United States was co-opted," adds the Die Hard star.
Bruce Willis is a perfect example of how the rampant corruption of the U.S. government and the overwhelming evidence proving that the entire war on terror is a manufactured hoax has ostracized even the administration's most fervent cheerleaders.
The son of a military man, Willis was and still is an ardent patriot and like many was caught up in the post-9/11 fervor, believing that his beloved America had been attacked from outside and committed his work to supporting a positive and healthy message that America's motives in the war on terror were just and necessary.

Willis' genuine patriotism and moral compass was exploited and perverted by the Neo-Con agenda to police the world not in the interests of America but to serve the agenda of the military industrial complex. Again, like the majority of the nation, for a time Willis was fooled into supporting the lie, but soon came to the realization that he had been double crossed.
After Hollywood director Richard Linklater handed Willis DVDs of Alex Jones' documentary films Terror Storm and Martial Law on the set of Fast Food Nation, Willis underwent a political awakening and his entire paradigm was shifted.
Sources tell us that Willis is now virtually obsessed with "conspiracy" material and, like Charlie Sheen before him, spent months researching the JFK assassination as well as 9/11 before he spoke publicly to Vanity Fair.
We salute Mr. Willis for having the courage to use his huge profile to draw people's attention to subjects of vital importance, flying in the face of the fear, in his own words, that they might kill him for doing so.
Willis' comments follow last week's definitive revelations concerning the role of CIA veteran E. Howard Hunt in the murder plot and his deathbed confession that the assassination of JFK was a conspiracy on behalf of Lyndon Baines Johnson.
The establishment news media have completely blackballed one of the stories of the decade and it would take a very naive person to believe the ignorance wasn't deliberate. As Bruce Willis said, the U.S. government was overthrown in November 1963 and the military-industrial complex have been running the show ever since - they are still in power today. The press are afraid to cover this story because a lot of people who have pursued the truth about the assassination or simply been in a position to know certain information - have ended up in a coffin pretty soon after.
Some even scoff at the tape's authenticity simply because it was aired first on Coast to Coast Live, ashow that tackles a multitude of controversial and quirky issues. How else could Saint John Hunt have got the tape released when no corporate media outlet dare touch it? Coast to Coast has 20 million listeners every night, in using them as a forum, Hunt was ensuring the maximum exposure possible outside of mainstream channels.
The tape is real, the confession is real - burying your head in the sand and pretending it's all a fairy tale is not going to make the truth of this story go away.
We are now declaring victory on proving the assassination of JFK was an inside job - polls routinely show that around 90% of Americans agree and one of the main conspirators has now admitted this to be the case, in addition to others on the inside like Madeleine Duncan Brown and LBJ's lawyer who also blew the whistle on the fact that it was a coup de 'tat orchestrated by Johnson.
There can no longer be any debate, the establishment press can continue to use their little "grassy knoll" cliches to try and debunk anyone who questions the official government version of anything, but the fact is that they now reflect a tiny minority of popular opinion in this context.
Similarly in the case of 9/11, polls show that around 84% distrust the government's account and suspect a cover-up, and no amount of ad hominem attack slurs and Popular Mechanics style hit pieces are going to reverse that growing trend. The game is almost up, we are in the fourth quarter and we have accrued an unassailable lead - the conspiracy theorists have won and though things may get worse before they get better, the success of our mission to rouse the human race from its sleepwalk will soon begin to catalyze measurable change in the world around us and freedom will rise again.

Global Meditation

Worth reading, www.firethegrid.com - out of this amazing story has come a GLOBAL MEDITATION on JULY 17th, at 11.11 G.MT. - (this translates to 9.11 pm, Melbourne, Australia time.) Millions of people around the world will be tuning in at this time, in their own time zone, to meditate, pray, sing, dance, listen to wonderful music, whatever it takes to hold the upliftment of love globally at that time. Shelley was an atheist at the time of her drowning, but the miracles that happened with her and her son, soon converted her. Spirit has other plans for her, and it has led to this incredible global meditation, which started from nothing and without any financial help. At this stage I think 46 countries have joined in.

Letter toMrs. Bush

The following is an open letter from the poet Sharon Olds to Laura Bush declining the invitation to read and speak at the National Book Critics Circle Award in Washington, DC. Sharon Olds is one of most widely read and critically acclaimed poets living in America today.

Dear Mrs. Bush,

I am writing to let you know why I am not able to accept your kind invitation to give a presentation at the National Book Festival on September 24, or to attend your dinner at the Library of Congress or the breakfast at the White House.

In one way, it's a very appealing invitation. The idea of speaking at a festival attended by 85,000 people is inspiring! The possibility of finding new readers is exciting for a poet in personal terms, and in terms of the desire that poetry serve its constituents--all of us who need the pleasure, and the inner and outer news, it delivers.

And the concept of a community of readers and writers has long been dear to my heart. As a professor of creative writing in the graduate school of a major university, I have had the chance to be a part of some magnificent outreach writing workshops in which our students have become teachers. Over the years, they have taught in a variety of settings: a women's prison, several New York City public high schools, an oncology ward for children.

Our initial program, at a 900-bed state hospital for the severely physically challenged, has been running friendships between young MFA candidates and their students--long-term residents at the hospital who, in their humor, courage and wisdom, become our teachers. When you have witnessed someone nonspeaking and almost nonmoving spell out, with a toe, on a big plastic alphabet chart, letter by letter, his new poem, you have experienced, close up, the passion and essentialness of writing.

When you have held up a small cardboard alphabet card for a writer who is completely nonspeaking and nonmoving (except for the eyes), and pointed first to the A, then the B, then C, then D, until you get to the first letter of the first word of the first line of the poem she has been composing in her head all week, and she lifts her eyes when that letter is touched to say "yes", you feel with a fresh immediacy the human drive for creation, self- expression, accuracy, honesty and wit--and the importance of writing, which celebrates the value of each person's unique story and song.

So the prospect of a festival of books seemed wonderful to me. I thought of the opportunity to talk about how to start up an outreach program. I thought of the chance to sell some books, sign some books and meet some of the citizens of Washington , DC . I thought that I could try to find a way, even as your guest, with respect, to speak about my deep feeling that we should not have invaded Iraq, and to declare my belief that the wish to invade another culture and another country--with the resultant loss of life and limb for our brave soldiers, and for the noncombatants in their home terrain--did not come out of our democracy but was instead a decision made "at the top" and forced on the people by distorted language, and by untruths. I hoped to express the fear that we have begun to live in the shadows of tyranny and religious chauvinism--the opposites of the liberty, tolerance and diversity our nation aspires to.

I tried to see my way clear to attend the festival in order to bear witness-- as an American who loves her country and its principles and its writing--against this undeclared and devastating war.

But I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.

What kept coming to the fore of my mind was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its continuation, even to the extent of permitting "extraordinary rendition": flying people to other countries where they will be tortured for us.

So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.

Sincerely,
SHARON OLDS

Tall Tim's Quick Tip

If one looks deeply into ones problems with others, "I" will be the root cause. Drop "I" arguments from your thinking and the problem will eventually disappear.

I've tried it out and it works

TT

JJ's Book Reviews

SHADOW OF THE WIND by carlos ruiz zafon;

he's a spanish writer and its his only book in english to date, its a story of a family whos tradition it is that when the boy comes of a certain age (about 12-13) his father takes him to a very old cemetery called the cemetery of forgotten books and how the boy is chosen by a book (because a book always chooses you) and so begins his fascination with this book he reads, and his fascination with its author.

a fantastically written, wonderfully atmospheric descriptions of Barcelona. a great book.

GREY SOULS by Phillipe claudel

One freezing cold morning in the dead of winter, a ten year old girl, one of three daughters of the local innkeeper, is found strangled and dumped in the canal. Suspicion falls on two deserters who are picked up near the town. This is a literary detective story about the murder of the young girl in a small town in Northern France in 1917.

one of the very few french authors i have ever read, if this guy seta a safe precedent for others from his country then bring it on, this is stunning writing, it is the only book in english from this guy that i know of again, really look forward to seeing more, there is one of those lines in this book that you hope you`ll find in all books you pick up (but rarely do) and it will never leave me, and the author delivered it in such a beautifully off-hand way that made it all that much better, not often can you call a crime book beautiful, this time its safe.

FRANKENSTEIN, beautifully adapted from mary shelley's, by margrete lamond and illustrated by drahos zak.

this is a hard back book with the coolest illustrations depicting the visions of the original story, i couldn't imagine reading it without them its got a real magic to it.

my favourite for the books that came out this summer.

CARRY ME DOWN by M.J Hyland.

seen through the eyes of a 6ft 11 year old boy, john egan, who is also very eccentric, intelligent and bordering on mad, with a passionate love for the Guinness book of records, and convinced he has a very special gift for lie detection, set in country ireland and dublin, this is the story of a family trying to survive and come to terms with each other.

this is some of the best writing i`ve come across by an author i have only just discovered, she has another book called HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN.

By JJ Aitken

Local AND/ORganic

I think it is a real shame that the organic section at Safeway looks so dreary and there is such a small selection. I wonder whether they do it on purpose, just to deter people and ensure they keep buying the massive amounts of artificial crap that they peddle. It is true however that if you are buying local organic food at market then you do get a smaller range of produce. This is simply because it is mostly grown in the region where you live and it is dependent on the season in which it naturally grows.

People are so accustomed to having every vegetable and fruit available to them, with no consideration for what it took to produce it and have it shipped to their finger tips. Often it is grown in massive monoculture plantations and shipped great distances using massive amounts of fossil fuels and energy for refrigeration. A lot of what is available at the large supermarkets is not fresh, but has been cooled and stored for long periods just to ensure that it is always on the shelf.

One of the dangers with the monoculture conditions is that all the plants are almost genetically identical, not only on each farm but throughout whole regions and in some cases (like bananas) whole industries. This leaves crops far more vulnerable to disease and pests as they are so genetically similar. Herbicide and pesticide resistant strands of plants and insects also develop creating super weeds and pests. Much of the land is over worked and the soils nutrient content depleted. This of course means that the crops may not be fulfilling their requirements as a food for nourishment. No wonder so many people feel the need to supplement their diets with pharmaceutical vitamins. More pesticides and herbicides and chemical fertilizers are then required just to keep the crops viable. The effect that these chemicals have on both the environment and on people, are so significant that you don’t have to look very hard to see them. The incidence of diseases like cancer and leukemia are far higher around agricultural areas with heavily sprayed crops. The emergence of mass pesticide use since the 1950s coincides with the massive increase in cancer in our society. The fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides quickly find there way into the waterways and the food chain, affecting all animals and so us again. They also are causing the destruction of important aquatic ecosystems like wetlands and mangroves. These ecosystems are the natural filters at river mouths and throughout river systems. The chemicals then make their way out to sea and are also destroying the incredibly diverse coral reefs which contain so much of the biodiversity of the oceans.

It is not actually that much harder to grow vegetables and grains organically. Here at the farm we simply place screens over the young seedlings to protect them from pests. Weeds are pulled or cultivated back into the soil. Food crops in the fields are rotated with crops of green manures and nitrogen fixing plants, which are allowed to develop, die and are also cultivated in. It is more labour intensive, and that is why it costs more on the shelf. But you’re paying for what you get. I ask you to consider that the price of organic food IS the price of the production of food, not the price of some idealistic alternative. It is simply what it costs to grow food naturally. Organic should not be seen as the alternative to the norm, but the norm. Just say you were lucky enough to have the choice between food that is produced without harmful chemicals and is usually fresher and produced locally, or food that has had chemicals sprayed around and all over it, has been shipped from afar and is often no-longer fresh when it gets to you. What would you choose? Not everybody has the luxury of that choice.

Why is it that when a person is diagnosed with cancer the first thing the doctor recommends is that they switch to an organic, low meat diet. Why does it take for us to get mortally ill to make the necessary changes in our life to prevent such suffering? It is a mirror for how we treat the earth. We are living way beyond our capacity through practices that are so obviously not sustainable. Yet we don’t change, and all the symptoms are there, plain for us to see.

Ok, so my little rant is not referenced or peer reviewed and is certainly not new to many ears, but you know I am right, yeah? And you knew most of this already, right? Why do we continue to compromise our health and the health of the planet? Consider the cascade effect of your choices at the supermarket. Make the effort to get to a local market and support the organic growers that are putting in the extra effort and time to ensure that real, fresh food is available for you. If you talk with them I am sure you will find that they are as passionate about your health and the health of the planet as they are about their own and their family’s. They are keeping the future of your food secure also. If we support growers in our local community we ensure that when the shit hits the fan (and the oil runs out – transportation costs increase) there is food there for us all to eat. Also that the seed and strains of crops aren’t owned and patented by some massive corporation hell bent on sucking us and the third world dry of every last dollar. Ok, enough….
Check out these animations for a more light-hearted look at what I have been going on and on and on about…
[links to Store Wars, the meatrix, the meatrix 2]