It is our choice

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“Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.”

– Carl Sagan

Raising Awareness: Why We Shouldn’t Take It For Granted

Five Ways of Being That Can Change the World

You Are Here to Wake Up

8 Reasons Young Americans Don’t Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance

Race – the Power of an Illusion

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An eye-opening three-part series confronting our myths and misconceptions about race through the distinct lenses of science, history and social institutions.

Race: The Power of an Illusion was a three-part series that was produced by California Newsreel and investigated race in society, science and history. The educational documentary originally screened on PBS and was primarily funded by CPD, the Ford Foundation and PBS.

The division of people into distinct categories—“white,” “black,” “yellow,” “red” peoples—has become so widely accepted and so deeply rooted in our psyches, that most people would not think to question its veracity. This three-hour documentary tackles the theory of race by subverting the idea of race as biology, tracing the idea back to its origin in the 19th century.

Chapters

• Chapter One – The Difference Between Us

examines the contemporary science – including genetics – that challenges our common sense assumptions that human beings can be bundled into three or four fundamentally different groups according to their physical traits.

• Chapter Two – The Story We Tell

uncovers the roots of the race concept in North America, the 19th century science that legitimated it, and how it came to be held so fiercely in the western imagination. The episode is an eye-opening tale of how race served to rationalize, even justify, American social inequalities as “natural.”

• Chapter Three – The House We Live In

asks, If race is not biology, what is it? This episode uncovers how race resides not in nature but in politics, economics and culture. It reveals how our social institutions “make” race by disproportionately channeling resources, power, status and wealth to white people.

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Economic Collapse & The Rise of Fascist & Racist Elements

The purpose of this video is to draw attention to a dangerous undercurrent of racism, anti-semitism and outright fascism which has been growing within our ranks in recent years. We’re going to point to where this could end up if we allow it to continue, and to we’re going to explain how to confront it effectively.

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This image was used several times in the film ‘Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden’ to help understand the multiple processes of colonization and the dominant understanding of ‘American Progress’.

The image captures a disturbing truth about the history of our education system. The truth is chilling. But it is a history we should never forget!

This is a clip from the feature documentary: Schooling the World

(Thanks to the generosity of the film-makers, you can watch the full film online for free and in HD)

Other images used in the film: Photo gallery

Living in a lie won’t help you

The Architects of Destruction

“It’s so difficult to pinpoint one person or two people [for the economic meltdown]. It really was the whole system.”
— Georgetown University Finance Professor Reena Aggarwal

In a world of accelerating knowledge one of the more unfortunate side-effects is that our ignorance grows even faster than our knowledge. (This is because all that “you don’t know” is naturally growing faster than that small amount of new knowledge you can and are absorbing.)

This might seem like a depressing notion but it need not be.

Often what holds people back from trying new things and exploring new avenues isn’t a person’s ignorance, it is their knowledge.

People, especially experts and other “learned” folks, think they know the answer so they stop seeking new knowledge.

It is for this reason that so many inventors and innovators are young. They don’t know “what they don’t know” so they don’t let the “knowledge of how things are done” impede their perspective.

So what does this mean?

For one thing, it means we must challenge the idea that “not knowing” is a weakness and, instead, seek to embrace our ignorance as a potential strength.

Now, embracing and acknowledging one’s ignorance is not the same as remaining ignorant–which is a bad thing. Rather, to remain aware of one’s ignorance is a powerful tool for staying intellectually humble, curious and open-minded.

These traits, in turn, will make you more adaptable and, thus, more likely to survive–and thrive–in today’s constantly changing world.

So go ahead–unlearn–and start putting your growing ignorance to good work.

Ignorance Quotes and Sayings (1)

Ignorance Quotes and Sayings (2)

15 shocking numbers that will make you pay attention to what ISIS is doing in Iraq

Over the past few months, the Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot formerly known as ISIS, has mounted a brutal campaign in Syria and Iraq that has allowed it to expand its ranks and win large swaths of new territory.

With the stated goal of establishing a Sunni caliphate — or an Islamic state governed by a religious figurehead — the insurgent group’s fighting has taken a heavy toll on Iraq’s Shiite Muslim majority, as well as a number of minority groups, including Kurds and Christians.

While reports of the Islamic State carrying out mass executions, placing heads on fence posts and imposing harsh religious restrictions have sparked concern across the world, they haven’t elicited military involvement until now.

Over the weekend, U.S. warplanes began bombing Islamist fighters following an announcement by President Barack Obama that he had authorized airstrikes to prevent “genocide.”

In light of the recent news, here’s an update on the militant group by the numbers:

15 Shocking Numbers That Will Make You Pay Attention To What ISIS Is Doing In Iraq

How reincarnation works

…Bloom a Smile
Smile at Will
Will you Do?
Do it Now
Now is Truth
Truth or Dare?
Dare the Fear
Fear for None
None is You
You be Love
Love the Life
Life is New
New as Bloom…

– Words by Din

Natural life is cyclical. Day fades into night and turns back into day as the sun rises. One season gradually gives way to the next. Over the passage of time, new generations are born and old ones die. The continuous succession of birth, death and rebirth permeates nature even though our own lives seem linear. So it’s no surprise that some ancient observers looked at the seeming linearity of human existence and decided that life, like the natural world, might actually be more cyclical than linear. Multiple religions, philosophies and movements adopted this belief in cyclic life, or reincarnation.

Religion Image Gallery

Reincarnation, also called transmigration or metempsychosis, is the concept that the soul, or some aspect of the soul, is reborn into new lives. Depending on the religion or philosophy, the soul can appear incarnate in humans, animals or plants as it works its way toward an eventual escape from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Most religions that believe in reincarnation consid­er it the path to purity and salvation.

­Reincarnation is widely accepted by the major Eastern religions — most prominently Hinduism and Buddhism. It also has a history in ancient Greek philosophy. However, for people more familiar with the major monotheistic religions — Christianity, Judaism and Islam — the idea of reincarnation seems foreign and maybe even a little strange. That’s because Christianity, Judaism and Islam conceive of time linearly. Life is simply a short step that determines the quality of an afterlife. For those who believe in only one life followed by an eternal afterlife, reincarnation is like an unwieldy marathon run by relay instead of a short, concise sprint.

In this article, we’ll learn about different religions and philosophies’ interpretations of transmigration. We’ll also investigate how the scientific community has endeavored to study reincarnation.

How Reincarnation Works

How Karma Works

How Nirvana Works

 

Speech: Alan Watts – What is wrong with our culture

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Thought-provoking 5 minutes on the state of the world from the late, great Alan Watts, a man far ahead of his time.

Turn on, tune in, drop out

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As part of a 1963 military experiment, a crew of British soldiers were each given LSD while in the field.  This hilarious video will show you what the military soon figured out-  LSD isn’t conducive for violence or war.

“Fifty minutes after taking the drug, radio communication had become difficult, if not impossible. But the men are still capable of sustained physical effort; however, constructive action was still attempted by those retaining a sense of responsibility despite their physical symptoms. But one hour and ten minutes after taking the drug, with one man climbing a tree to feed the birds, the troop commander gave up, admitting that he could no longer control himself or his men. He himself then relapsed into laughter.”

Ancient Astronomy in Armenia

ROCK ART:

Studies of the Armenian rock art present in the territory of modern Armenia (historic Armenia was ten times larger, having 300,000* square km area) show that the Armeni­ans were interested in heavenly bodies and phenomena. The Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the Planets, Comets, Milky Way, Stars and Constellations are reflected in these pictures drawn on rocks in mountains around Lake Sevan and elsewhere in Armenia. These drawings are being studies by a number of historians, archaeologists, and astronomers.

Ancient Astronomy In Armenia

From Albert Einstein to Noam Chomsky: famous Jews who have opposed Israel

Combatants for Peace – Saturday, Tel Aviv

Between 7000 and 10.000 Israelis protested against the war against Gaza under the banner: “No more deads – Israeli-Palestinian peace, NOW!”.

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There is a long tradition among prominent Jewish figures opposing the Israeli state, who found themselves, like Isaac Asimov, “in the odd position of not being a Zionist”.

ON 9 AUGUST 2014, 150 000 protesters marched in London in solidarity with the people of Gaza who were suffering a barbaric assault by Israel which had killed over 2000 people, most of them civilians, and over 400 of them children.

Numerous Jewish groups joined the march. They marched as Jews to show their opposition to the state of Israel, which for 66 years has endlessly stolen Palestinian land and imposed the most brutal occupation and siege on Palestinians. Jewish marchers saying “not in my name” included, the Jewish Bloc, The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Jews for Justice for Palestinians and Jews Against the war on Gaza.

These Jewish marchers were part of a long and honourable tradition. Many prominent Jewish figures over the past century — from Albert Einstein to holocaust survivor Primo Levi — have opposed the idea of an ethnically exclusive Israeli state.

NOTE: Almost 250 Jewish survivors and descendents of survivors of Nazi genocide have signed a petition condemning the massacre of Palestinians.

Sigmund Freud:

“I concede with sorrow that the baseless fanaticism of our people is in part to be blamed for the awakening of Arab distrust. I can raise no sympathy at all for the misdirected piety which transforms a piece of a Herodian wall into a national relic, thereby offending the feelings of the natives.”

Albert Einstein:
“The (Israeli) state idea is not according to my heart. I cannot understand why it is needed. It is connected with many difficulties and a narrow-mindedness. I believe it is bad.”

Erich Fromm, social psychologist:
“The claim of the Jews to the Land of Israel cannot be a realistic political claim. If all nations would suddenly claim territories in which their forefathers lived two thousand years ago, this world would be a madhouse.”

Primo Levi, writer and Auschwitz survivor:
“Everyone has their Jews. For the Israelis they are the Palestinians.”

Marek Edelman, last surviving leader of the 1943 Warsaw uprising:
Edelman wrote a letter in support of the Palestine resistance, comparing them to ZOB, the Jewish fighters in Warsaw. He opened with, “Commanders of the Palestine military, paramilitary and partisan operations – to all the soldiers of the Palestine fighting organisations.”

Isaac Asimov, novelist:
“I find myself in the odd position of not being a Zionist … I think it is wrong for anyone to feel that there is anything special about any one heritage of whatever kind. It is delightful to have the human heritage exist in a thousand varieties, for it makes for greater interest, but as soon as one variety is thought to be more important than another, the groundwork is laid for destroying them all.”

Hannah Arendt, political scientist:
“The trouble is that Zionism has often thought and said that the evil of antisemitism was necessary for the good of the Jewish people. In the words of a well-known Zionist in a letter to me discussing the original Zionist argumentation: ‘The antisemites want to get rid of the Jews, the Jewish State wants to receive them, a perfect match.’ “

I.F. Stone, US journalist:
“Israel is creating a kind of moral schizophrenia in world Jewry. In the outside world the welfare of Jewry depends on the maintenance of secular, non-racial, pluralistic societies. In Israel, Jewry finds itself defending a society in which mixed marriages cannot be legalized, in which the ideal is racial and exclusionist.”

Noam Chomsky:
“In the Occupied Territories, what Israel is doing is much worse than apartheid. To call it apartheid is a gift to Israel, at least if by “apartheid” you mean South African-style apartheid. What’s happening in the Occupied Territories is much worse.”

Gabriel Kolko, one of the leading historians on modern warfare:
“The large majority of Israelis are not in the least Jewish in the cultural sense, are scarcely socialist in any sense, and daily life and the way people live is no different in Israel than it is in Chicago or Amsterdam. There is simply no rational reason that justifies the state’s creation.”

Uri Avnery, ex-Israeli army officer:
Avnery wrote that after an Israeli military victory, “What will be seared into the consciousness of the world will be the image of Israel as a blood-stained monster, ready at any moment to commit war crimes and not prepared to abide by any moral restraints.”

Henry Siegman, Rabbi and director of the U.S./Middle East Project:
“Israel has crossed the threshold from ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’ to the only apartheid regime in the Western world.”

Richard Cohen, US columnist:
“The greatest mistake Israel could make at the moment is to forget that Israel itself is a mistake … the idea of creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism of the sort we are seeing now. Israel fights Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south, but its most formidable enemy is history itself.”

Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun Magazine:
“If a Jew today goes into any synagogue in the U.S. or around the world and says, ‘I don’t believe in God or Torah and I don’t follow the commandments,’ most will still welcome you in and urge you to become involved. But say, ‘I don’t support the State of Israel,’ and you are likely to be labeled a ‘self-hating Jew’ or anti-Semite, scorned and dismissed.”

Richard Falk, the former UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories:
Falk has called Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories “a crime against humanity.” Falk also has compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians to the Nazi treatment of the Jews. Falk has said, “I think the Palestinians stand out as the most victimized people in the world.”

Boating now and then

Boating now and then: a moulded tablet from Mohenjo-daro ca. 2300 BCE, below while above, flat bottomed ferry boats are still used today to help travelers cross the Indus River near Mohenjo-daro. The boat on the seal is part of “a three-sided molded tablet, with boat, gharial and script. One side is a flat-bottomed boat with a central hut that has leafy fronds at the top of two poles. Two birds sit on the deck, and a large double rudder extends from the rear of the boat.” (Kenoyer, Ancient Cities, p. 192)