Holiday Wishes 2009

The Scene: Helicopter flying low over the parking lot, live turkeys plummeting to the ground.
Les Nessman: "Oh the humanity!!"
Mr. Carlson: "As god as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly" (WKRP classic episode available at HULU.com)


So Thanksgiving has just passed and even though it's not a high holiday for this vegetarian I suppose it would be appropriate to talk a little about for what I'm thankful. Of course I am thankful for all the typical sentimental things like family, friends and fine health, but I'd like to also express an often left out and more antithetical perspective. I'm also thankful for all the adversity in life.

Not that I am currently experiencing a lot of adversity at the moment. In fact, I could stand a little more, but all in good time. Adversity isn't on a wish list either, but I can appreciate it because without it life would be stagnant. The difficult situations we face are what help us to grow and without them we wouldn't amount to much.

According to Buddhist theology there are Heavenly realms, Hellish Realms and the Human realm (none of which are eternal). The Buddha explained that the Human realm is the optimum because the conditions are greatest for developing insight into the true nature of all things. In the Hellish realms one is in too much distress to see beyond ones own pain. In the Heavenly realms one is too happy in pleasure to question life. So the Human existence is uniquely special, it's one where real spiritual work can be done, one where true wisdom can be attained.


There is a Buddhist story which points out the precious nature and rarity of human existence with its great balance of pleasure and pain. He said that all beings have had innumerable lives. So many, that the drops in the oceans are less than the number of tears one being has shed over the loss of loved ones throughout its incarnations. Throughout these incarnations the occurrence of a human birth is akin to the likelihood of a blind man in a rowboat with a rope noose actually catching an sea turtle which comes to the surface only once every hundred years!

So the moral of the story is simply to be thankful to be alive with all the ups and downs. And try and learn a thing or two along the way.

Now on to Xmas.

I have all I want or need materially. I have no interest in Black Friday or Cyber Monday, whatever that is. All I really want materially is continued food, water and shelter and at the moment I'm good on those accounts. I am trying to learn a thing or two so I do have a few books on my wish list, but other than that, money would be better spent on someone else. Unless Santa has in his bag a gift certificate for a scenic "Instant Karma Juice" crop dusting flight over D.C. and Wall Street! Oh please, please, I've been good, really I have, please Santa! Actually, Santa you can skip the gift certificate for the flight in the crop duster. Simply lighten your load of the "Instant Karma Juice" on your fly by over those areas. Pull that off and I'll never doubt your existence again. Thanks in advance, you're the best!

This year what I really want for Xmas is to be "Good". If I can accomplish that and maintain it I figure everything else will fall into place. This idea came up the other day and it kind of fits in with things here. We all tell children that they have to be good or Santa won't bring them presents. That's bribery at best and blackmail if we are honest with ourselves, pure and simple. This would not be necessary if we taught children to think critically about being good. I'm not saying we are all negligent in this, but it could always bear a little more scrutiny.

Ask a child what he wants to be when he grows up and 50 million to 1 you'll never hear, "I want to be good." Now you might say that an answer like that is too philosophically sophisticated for children, but I'd would vehemently disagree. In fact, I'd call bullshit!

We constantly tell children to be good, we want them to be good, they are fully capable of understanding what "good" is if we take the time to explain it thoroughly and yet we often sell them short. Instead, we are so proud when they respond to the question with, "I want to be a fireman, or police officer, or doctor". None of which they have any actual comprehension of nor will they in any likelihood actually become any of those idyllic proletariat models.

Imagine fully explaining that a fireman can be burned to death or killed by smoke. That a police officer is in mortal danger daily (and will be forced to circumvent inalienable rights for government profit, but I digress). That doctors are surrounded by communicable diseases, death and nasty internal yucky parts which often don't stay completely internal. Now imagine really explaining the merits of "goodness" so that they truly understand intellectually to a degree which allows them to go out and experiment with "good" experientially. Now imagine asking the question again about what they want to be and I bet the 50 million to 1 odds drop dramatically. In addition, they don't have to wait until they grow up! If they can accomplish that and maintain it, I figure everything else will fall into place...

Of course, if one is to be a skilled teacher one has to know his subject thoroughly. So the question arises, "What is good?" Good question ;)

Before I get down off this soapbox I'd like to offer the following teaching from the Buddha to his son Rahula when he was seven years old. (I have condensed it for brevity's sake)

"What do you think, Rahula: What is a mirror for?"


"For reflection, sir."


"In the same way, Rahula, bodily actions, verbal actions, & mental actions are to be done with repeated reflection.



"Whenever you want to do a bodily action, verbal action or mental action you should reflect on it: 'This action I want to do — would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Would it be an unskillful action, with painful consequences, painful results?' If, on reflection, you know that it would lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it would be an unskillful action with painful consequences, painful results, then any action of that sort is absolutely unfit for you to do. But if on reflection you know that it would not cause affliction... it would be a skillful action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results, then any action of that sort is fit for you to do.



"While you are doing a bodily action, verbal action or mental action you should reflect on it: 'This action I am doing — is it leading to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Is it an unskillful action, with painful consequences, painful results?' If, on reflection, you know that it is leading to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both... you should give it up. But if on reflection you know that it is not... you may continue with it.



"Having done a bodily action, verbal action or mental action you should reflect on it: 'This action I have done — did it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Was it an unskillful action, with painful consequences, painful results?' If, on reflection, you know that it led to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it was an unskillful action with painful consequences, painful results, then you should confess it, reveal it, lay it open to the Teacher or to a knowledgeable companion in the holy life. Having confessed it... you should exercise restraint in the future. But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to affliction... it was a skillful action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results, then you should stay mentally refreshed & joyful, training day & night in skillful mental qualities.



"Rahula, all those brahmans & contemplatives in the course of the past, present and future who purified their bodily actions, verbal actions, & mental actions, did it through repeated reflection on their bodily actions, verbal actions, & mental actions in just this way.


Excerpt from: Ambalatthika-rahulovada Sutta

May all transcend suffering and have happy holidays!

The Moon and Bust!

So I stayed up to watch the live feed (4:30am) on NASA TV Friday morning when the Centaur Booster rocket crashed into the moon followed by the LCROSS Spacecraft.I'm sorry to report that it was a dissapointing waste of time.

Other than a video of the Moon getting larger and larger as the crafts approached the moon there was absolutely NOTHING to see.(Nasa reports that one of the instruments picked up 1 or 2 pixels of evidence of a flash.One might question what exactly was the nature of the flash.)

They were attempting to kick up debris miles into the air to spy for evidence of water. Or at least that's their cover story.Recently three other spacecraft have already confirmed water on the moon. Conspiracy buffs will say that since other countries are taking a lot of interest into visiting the moon these days, that our government
thought it was time to destroy our secret moon base and any evidence of it.So we already know there is water on the moon, but a moon base is another matter.

It turns out that I'm not the only one who is a little baffled by the lack of a show that night.
According to SpaceWeather.com - "NASA scientists are grappling with a mystery. Where did the debris go?....the debris plumes that were supposed to issue from the impacts failed to materialize." Further on they are careful to point out that the experiment isn't a failure. On the contrary, they say, "by offering up the unexpected, LCROSS is teaching us something new about the lunar surface and the products of lunar impacts. That makes it, by definition, a successful experiment. All that remains is to figure out what the new information is."
I guess the glass is always full.

My first thought was that maybe the Moon really is made of cheese and the spacecrafts simply "cut the cheese" and went right in and perhaps out the other side. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? That would be some new information for sure. It would sure update the old information which told us that the Moon is solid, rocky and dusty. Which of course can't possibly be true if this experiment was a "success". I fail to see how objects traveling at 4000 mph impacting into that supposed surface would not produce the expected debris cloud. Or at least a small dust cloud!

So I think the next logical question is, "Was this experiment a success at all?" As I mentioned, the video feed did show the moon appearing to get larger as it approached, but after watching it I was struck by the fact that we didn't appear to actually see what you would expect to see as something smashes into something else. Visualize what the bug sees before it hits the windsheild. Or what you see just before you walk into a wall. In other words, there was no "Oh shit!" moment. There was just anticipation until the feed was "lost".

Did the spacecrafts actually make it to the surface or not? If seeing is believing, I'd have to put my money on "Not". Even if we take NASA's (Never A Straight Answer) word that they did pick up a "flash" there is nothing to say that the "flash" took place on the surface and not in the air (uh, er, I mean space). You see where I'm going with this? Perhaps there really is someone or something up there who has a similar propensity to privacy and staying in one piece. Maybe cousins of the Martians who have often toyed with the toys we have sent there.

I don't know. It does make for some entertaining conversation though. Actually, I don't really care. Except that things just aren't adding up and I don't think they should just be swept under the rug. I would like to state for record though, that I am definitely not in favor of bombing things on this rock or any others in the universe!

Stange Days, strange days indeed! But enough about Me and the Moon. What do you think about Me and the Moon?

UFO Halo

Did you see the story from Moscow:” “UFO halo” in the sky baffles Muscovites””?

http://www.rt.com/Top_News/2009-10-08/ufo-halo-sky-baffles.html

It’s being dismissed as a “purely optical effect” and scientists are to begin working on an explanation for it. I’m not holding my breath. One thing is for certain, it’s not simply an “optical effect”. Everything has a cause and this halo is no exception. Is it electromagnetic forces (terrestrial or extraterrestrial craft), possibly residual effects from a rocket launch or natural forces at work? I don’t know, but it seems to me that natural wind vortexes are out of the question although nature has a way of surprising us. I don’t think it’s quite time for disclosure (of terrestrial or extraterrestrial craft) capable of producing it so I don’t think we will hear that as the conclusion. My bet is that they will go with the rocket explanation, as lame and easily debunked as it would be. Or, most likely, the story will just fade away……

Maybe our friends think that the crop circles aren’t getting the attention they deserve so they are moving into a new medium with greater visibility. That would be something! I’d like to see a bunch of “crop crushers” get up in the early morning and pull that off!

On a personal note: Davey and I have got the house to myself as Mark and Julie are back in NJ for a wedding. Mark and I got together and jammed with a couple of guys last weekend and it went well so that’s promising. I’m also having the guys from my old college band (Stop Dead) over on Saturday for a reunion jam.

And in Strange Space News: At 4:30 a.m. Pacific time NASA will be “bombing” the moon. They are supposedly looking for water. I know the mission has been underway for some time now, but it seemed like an odd idea to begin with and now since 3 other sources have recently already confirmed water up there, it doesn’t make any sense at all. It’s interesting that we hadn’t found water before. Were our instruments faulty or did it just appear in the last 40 years!? My guess is that someone on the moon base left a tap running by mistake.

So I’ll be up early this morning looking at the moon with binoculars to witness our entry into our first Galactic War. NASA TV will also be broadcasting their Shock ‘N Awe!
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

I wonder if Vegas is running odds on something (someone?) causing a mission malfunction which prevents the impact from occurring.

If you are up watching this, keep an eye out for strange cloud evidence of UFO’s and if you know anyone from the moon, please pass on my apologies. :p

Wild Wild West

It's 3:30am in the sleepy little town of Cardiff by the Sea. Nothing is stirring, not even a mouse. Or are they?

Outside, on the front lawn, the sound of a cats battle cry is heard. Cats will be cats. As it goes on for a few seconds I lift up window shade to check out the skirmish. Out of my periphary I see a tan tabby on the lawn, but no adversary. Its hissing and screeching searing my ears. Then immediately the cat is flying through the air and lands, presumably on its feet, a few feet away. More terrifying shreiking from the pussy. As my eyes focus and my pupils constrict I make out the outline of its adversary.

I'm confused. I'm unable to grasp right away what it is I'm seeing. Understandably, my brain is looking for another cat. Tonight reality is throwing my brain for a loop. Undeniably, the cat's opponent is not another cat. The predator towers over the cat, brown coloring in the moonlight, long legs, long snout, long perked up ears. The cat makes no move to escape. Calmly, exuding confidence and seemingly with all the time in the world the predator snatches the cat in its mouth. Violently shaking it's head back and forth a few times before dropping the cat to the ground.

Simultaneously, I notice the the absence of hair raising screeching from the cat and my brain finally catches up with the scene before my eyes. Through the open window I lower my mouth and let out a hiss to alert the predator to my presence and scare it off. It looks quizzingly towards me. Although it's too dark too see and I'm not that talented of a mind reader I imagine the look on its face is saying "What are you doing up at this hour?".

Not sticking around for my answer it takes the cat in its mouth and high tails it down the block. I'm left somewhat shocked at what I just saw and with the question, "What was that predator?". Dog, fox, coyote, or maybe I'm dreaming and it's the dog from Resident Evil!? So I get out of bed and begin the internet search. I'm pretty confident now that I'm not having a Resident Evil dream (I can't imagine that dream not being dominated with visions of Milla Jovovich) so I rule out the Resident Evil dog, although in the dark there was a uncanny resemblance I couldn't quite shake.

In the end, I have settled on the Canis Latrans, The Coyote. In any case, I would think twice before letting your small pets (or children) out at night in Southern California. Wild Wild West indeed!

In other news: The Congressional Budget Office will release the summer update to the Budget and Economic Outlook on Tuesday August 25th. No matter how they cook the books it won't be good news, unless its a complete work of fiction. I mention this because there is a lot chatter about an upcoming bank holiday. I doubt this will be the trigger. Then again the actual trigger could come at any time. Such as the DOW taking another big dive which I believe is on track to happen soon, probably 6-8 weeks, tops. Or another big bank failure such as the five failures announced this week including Colonial Bank with 346 branches (6th largest failure in US history). That is 3,433 bank failures in a little over a year. The point is it's a smart move to have cash, food and water stocked up. If you are skeptical about the afore mentioned points, then how about something more concrete like Hurricane Bill for you eastcoasters or an earthquake for you west coasters or a tornado for you midwesters, etc, etc. You get the point.

Be prepared. Be Safe.

Hello everyone,

On August 5 at 7pm at the La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas CA.. the documentary "Hanging FIve" will premiere.

Hanging Five is a film that follows five artists who all happen to be surfers. The film documents their work and looks

at different aspects of their lives and how those experiences have impacted their work. The film also looks at

why the surf culture embraces and supports the arts.

Trailer: http://www.vimeo.com/4079670

The artists include:

Andy Davis, Tyler Warren, Julie Goldstein, Alex Knost, Wolfgang Bloch

Director/ Producer: Christopher Cutri

Thank you for your continuing support!! Hope to see you there.

Nothing Much.

Hey all. I don't have much to write, but since a picture is worth a thousand words I guess I'm off the hook. Check out Facebook for 100,000 words worth of pictures (Album=Colors of Cardiff).

I was just strolling around town taking shots of the Flora and misc. I used my Canon S3 for the first set and the Meditation Garden pictures were taken with a Canon Rebel XTi with a Tamron 28-80mm Lens. Not that you care. If you happen to be a camera buff and would like to know the particulars for the photos (f stop, ISO, shutter speed, etc.) Tough! I've got all the time in the world on my hands, but not that much :)

I'm not sure if the Rebel seems to shoot undersaturated or it was just the lighting, my lack of skill with the camera, or all of the above. So I did some tweaking with Vista's Photo Gallery.

Other News: Surf is flat :( But the weather is gorgeous and warmer. The Solana Beach Triathalon is this weekend. I was going to enter, but then I came to my senses. Instead I'll just cheer Julie on.

I was put forward for a position on a 150 footer in New England, but I haven't heard anything so I guess that's that.

So long for now....

Well, we made it through the San Diego “May Gray” and so far “June Gloom” has been driven back by the sun, but the wind has been up and the surf mostly down. I’ve been on the same program of biking, running and occasionally surfing. Mark and Julie had a party last Saturday for Davey’s birthday. He is now two or 14 in dog years. He had a good time hanging with his dog buddies and receiving a new stock of dog toys. It’s funny how many Jersey people have transplanted here. I’d say 90% of the attendees were Jersey Ex-pats.

I’ll be back in Jersey for cousin Leigh’s wedding from the 13th through the 20th. So if you are around I’ll see you then…..

Cardiff by the Sea and Me

I am somewhat familiar with the city, but not so much with North County since much of my time was spent south in La Jolla, Blacks, Mission and Imperial Beach or Mexico. Now that Mexico is off limits between the drug wars and the virus war it’s a good thing that Cardiff by the Sea is north of these stomping grounds as it edges up toward Orange County. It also may be one of the best kept secrets in Southern California.

Nestled between Solana Beach, Encinitas, the Pacific Ocean and I-5, Cardiff by the Sea is an active small town environment and friendly beyond belief. In many ways it’s typically Southern Californian with a constant flow of surfers, bicyclers, walkers, joggers, campers and moms baby strolling. Of course, you are never far from a yoga class or authentic Mexican food whether you prefer the fast and cheap kind or the upscale variety. One word of caution though, cougars are thriving and everywhere. Beware!

The most striking difference to be found here is the completely oppressive “niceness” of everyone here. Seriously, good luck trying to enjoy a good “bad mood”. You cannot pass someone without a “Hey, how are you?”, “Hi!” or at least a smile. Even while you are walking past on the sidewalk while they are parking their car.

“The Shanty” is the local pub which I’ve been frequenting to watch the NHL Playoffs and enjoy a pint or two of Stones Ale. Definitely the kind of place where everyone knows your name or in a case like mine, they politely make sure to find it out quickly.

Sometimes in California you can experience some animosity towards east coasters. But that is not the case here, that just wouldn’t be nice! It seems that once you’ve gotten here, you are here and it’s like you have always been here. Typical conversation: “Hi, my name is Betty, what’s yours?” “Nice to meet you Charles. Welcome to Cardiff. My brother is getting married this weekend. You should come!”

I have to admit the weather has been a little dicey, but maybe I’m being a bit too picky. After all, I did arrive from Ft. Lauderdale so I’m not used to the occasional chilly mid 50 degree temperatures which have been alternating with the beautiful shorts and t-shirt weather which begs you to be outside all day. The ocean temperature seems to be little chillier than usual for this time of the year, but there are waves more days than not, actually most. And that beats the flat warm water conditions of Ft. Lauderdale as well as the thick wetsuits, hood, booties and gloves conditions of NJ any day in my book.

I would however be remiss if I failed to disclose that I did have one bad run in with an ornery San Diegan. It seems that a certain Californian Stingray wasn’t so happy to make my acquaintance and zapped me on my ankle as I was getting out of the water after a surf. It felt like a crab bite, but having spotted one of his buddies in the water and noticing the numbness setting in by the time I got to the parking lot it was pretty easy to put two and two together. There were no serious complications I’m happy to report, but for the next 2-3 hours I did experience a significant amount of discomfort.

It felt similar to someone bruising my ankle bone with a Reggie Jackson special, heating up the surrounding skin to a nice reheating temperature of 200 degrees and piercing the center with a knife to check if the core was cooked yet. A long way off from Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin’s fate and not exactly “put me out of my misery” status, but enough to cause small involuntary moans to escape even while telling myself to stop being such a wimp! So remember, don’t mess with the stingrays!

Last week I got to catch up with some old friends. The old college band mates met up in Newport’s beautiful Crystal Cove where Tiger Woods and Mick Jaggar allegedly have homes. We enjoyed a nice few hours at the pool and Jacuzzi followed by a good diner while reminiscing on old times and trying to hash out exactly what is going wrong with the world. For an added bit of nostalgia we reviewed some audio and video of the band which I was happy to learn had not, as I thought, been lost to the ether.

The next day I was back up in Newport to meet with my ex, Nicole. After getting through some hellacious weekend traffic we partook of some excellent table side prepared fresh guacamole at El Toritos Grille and then stopped in on Balboa island for a treat at Balboa bar. Vanilla ice cream dipped in thick chocolate and rolled in rainbow sprinkles and crushed oreo cookies. So rich I thought for a moment I wouldn’t be able to finish it. But that moment passed.

Later in the week Mark and I headed up to Orange County for the Nike 6.0 Trestles Pro contest. Typically you need an Abacus to count the number of heads in the water at this world famous spot, but we got lucky and surfed some fun ones practically alone. All the while with a front row seat of the pros showing why they get paid to surf.

After that is was back to the monotonous rut of lazily waking up and heading for a surf, going to the meditation gardens, taking “Davey” for a walk or some other stressful type of activity. San Diego sucks. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Iron Mountain

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on the internet. I’ve also been experiencing a bit of synchronicity lately. In the course of my research I came across a reference to a document called the “Iron Mountain Report”. So I googled it, found it and book marked it for later perusal.

Well, this afternoon I walked out of D&D, looked up after taking a sip of coffee and saw on the side of a truck plastered right in front of me: www.IronMountain.com. An advertisement for some Data company I think. The context of the situation was irrelevant. I decided to move up in priority my reading of the Iron Mountain Report.

What is the "Iron Mountain" report of the 1960's? Well it's either a hoax or an authentic (and disturbing) report on the viability of a world peace model versus world war model which was offered to the U.S. government and may or may not have had significant influence.

The report can be found here: http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/iron_mountain_full.htm

For some general background information have a look at this Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Report_From_Iron_Mountain



In this age of information one must not be blind to the art of "dis-information". It is often difficult or damn near impossible to ascertain the real from unreal, the truth from lies, and the fact from fiction. So to my mind it is prudent to examine all the information available and rely on one's personal acumen to determine to the best of one's ability the most practical model of truth, based on one's relative understanding of how things relate.

Whether or not the Iron Mountain Report is a hoax or not, one thing seems apparent to me. Its contents caught the attention and admiration of those running the show. The mentality within the report can be seen as the norm in practice. Whether or not it is a hoax, an honest attempt to objectively investigate a world peace model, or simply propaganda it is in my opinion disturbing and dangerous. Not because it was written or published, but that documents like this exist "under the radar" so to speak without much of a chance for the public to weigh in.

Perception is reality. One’s man’s rubbish is another's treasure. One man’s hoax is another’s belief. So without debating its authenticity one has to admit that to some extent the document has some intrinsic power (It's motivated me to write on it and fueled debate for countless others). I believe this document is at best extremely short-sided. Or to be more blunt, extremely ignorant!

Maybe it was a sign of the times. Spiritual consciousness was only in its infancy when it was written so maybe some slack should be cut for the group’s lack of understanding. For their inability to take in to account the inherent human ability to adapt and transcend social and economic difficulties. Especially those difficulties created by inherently flawed social and economic systems perpetrated by the same government entities that introduced them in the first place and now seemingly want to investigate changing things, but somehow can't fathom putting the genie back in the box! Blind should not lead the blind. Spiritually inept people should not try to solve problems created by spiritual ineptitude.

If you want to think outside of the box to discover a solution you need to step out of the box!

Here is a quote and an example of what the view from inside the box looks like:

"It is uncertain, at this time, whether peace will ever be possible. It is far more questionable, by the objective standard of continued social survival rather than that of emotional pacifism, that it would be desirable even if it were demonstrably attainable. The war system, for all its subjective repugnance to important sections of "public opinion" has demonstrated its effectiveness since the beginning of recorded history; it has provided the basis for the development of many impressively durable civilizations, including that which is dominant today."

Antiquated thought patterns perpetuating itself. This group which self declaringly operated from
"1) military-style objectivity;
2) avoidance of preconceived value assumptions;
3) inclusion of all relevant areas of theory and data."
failed miserably on all three accounts.

There is only one sentence in the entire document which shows even a glimpse of wisdom and it reads: "It by no means stretches the imagination to visualize comparable developments which may compromise the efficacy of war as, for example, an economic controller or as an organizer of social allegiance." However, it is extremely disappointing that they were not the least bit able to "stretch their imagination to visualize" the fact the difficulties in progression to peace that they foresaw require an existential approach. Then again maybe that wasn't their intent.

Below is an excerpt explaining what they believe are integral contributions of war to society and therefore what must be fulfilled by any replacement Peace system. Bear in mind that it was their conclusion that the probability of the Peace alternative being successful was too low at their time and quite possibly for all time. (My comments in green)


THE FUNCTIONS OF WAR

The visible, military function of war requires no elucidation; it is not only obvious but also irrelevant to a transition to the condition of peace, in which it will by definition be superfluous. It is also subsidiary in social significance to the implied, nonmilitary functions of war; those critical to transition can be summarized in five principal groupings.

1. ECONOMIC. War has provided both ancient and modern societies with a dependable system for stabilizing and controlling national economies. No alternate method of control has yet been tested in a complex modern economy that has shown itself remotely comparable in scope or effectiveness.

This premise is flawed on two accounts:
1) It assumes the "complex modern economy" works and is worth keeping intact. Evidence to the contrary is self evident today, but even back then it was apparent that the economic system was flawed and had an expiration date (at least to those who created/allowed it to be created).
(Don't even get me started)>http://www.davidicke.com/content/view/18696/48/

2) It assumes or denies the possibility of an Economy which is inherently stable and doesn't require national controlling mechanisms.


2. POLITICAL. The permanent possibility of war is the foundation for stable government; it supplies the basis for general acceptance of political authority. It has enabled societies to maintain necessary class distinctions, and it has ensured the subordination of the citizen to the state, by virtue of the residual war powers inherent in the concept of nationhood. No modern political ruling group has successfully controlled its constituency after failing to sustain the continuing credibility of an external threat of war.

I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence so my first reaction is not even to bother commenting on this, but just in case I later publish this rant under the title: "Getting a Clue- For Dummies" I'll say this:
1) If war is the foundation of government, F*ck government!!!!
2) If you have an innate need to submit to authority get into S&M! At least get some fun out of it!
3) Class distinctions aren't necessary anymore than racism, sexism or any other "ism"!
4) "subordination of the citizen..." Well, I agree with this one. I wake up every morning earnestly contemplating how I can subordinate myself to the state comprised of greedy, morally corrupt, ignorant psychotic maniacs of the world. It makes me happy. NOT!
5) The last sentence of the paragraph is Gold. If you are not happy with the "ruling group", simply Reject War!

3. SOCIOLOGICAL. War, through the medium of military institutions, has uniquely served societies, throughout the course of known history, as an indispensible controller of dangerous social dissidence and destructive antisocial tendencies. As the most formidable of threats to life itself, and as the only one susceptible to mitigation by social organization alone, it has played another equally fundamental role: the war system has provided the machinery through which the motivational forces governing human behavior have been translated into binding social allegiance. It has thus ensured the degree of social cohesion necessary to the viability of nations. No other institution, or groups of institutions, in modern societies, has successfully served these functions.

So they are saying:
1)The only solution for dealing with those of us who are disgruntled enough to act out in violence is to make them slaves in the military machine and every once in awhile provide the opportunity for them to kill themselves and their counterparts in other nations. It couldn't be that the crazy world the war mongers create and manipulate is inherently responsible for these "dissidents' " malcontent! Nope, war is the answer, not the problem. Oh, and please don't look up the meaning of Orwellian Doublespeak.

Side note: 1b.) Although not apparent from this excerpt, one problem the group has with conventional war is that it is inefficient with regard to evolutionary growth since the "genetically strong" are sacrificed. In other words, they paradoxically believe that it is beneficial to the species to have these people in existence, but not in society!

2) "motivational forces governing human behavior have been translated into binding social allegiance"- In other words, we trick you into behaving the way we want by creating false patriotism.
3) "ensured the degree of social cohesion necessary to the viability of nations" - In other words, they have been very good so far at controlling the cattle and really can't be bothered with putting that in jeopardy or seeking an alternative. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
4) "No other institution,....has successfully served these functions" In other words, these functions are necessary, no discussion. They choose not to explore alternatives, no discussion. They are right. Screw you, Screw you, SCREW YOU!

How about instead of war we just expand the mixed martial art competitions? If you want to hurt someone then go play with others that want to hurt someone. Have Fun, enjoy, have release. And sell a hell of a lot of tickets too.


4. ECOLOGICAL. War has been the principal evolutionary device for maintaining a satisfactory ecological balance between gross human population and supplies available for its survival. It is unique to the human species.

1) What is also unique to the human species is rationality!

2) The basic urge for procreation is:

a. the instinctual want/need of survival and it is greatly dependent on fear. ie. "we need as many people as possible for the species to survive"

b. the need to express unconditional love. Greatly dependent on fear of others, we have an inability to unconditionally love everyone and because this creates a blockage for a necessary human outlet we create something that doesn't cause fear and provides an outlet for unconditional love, babies. ie. "If we could love all unconditionally we would have more of an outlet and less of a need to create new ones.

c. to a lesser extent ego. ie. Me vs. You, Us vs. Them. More often than not at this point in evolution the ego causes more harm than good. Create a society which doesn't bolster the defensive actions of ego and you create a place in which the ego will rest and not impose its influence unnecessarily and negatively on society. ie. If one already understands their interconnectedness to others one is less likely to feel the need to have children to "carry on our name" or "continue our bloodline" etc.

3) "war has been the principal evolutionary device" "principal evolutionary device"?!?! Are they saying amoebas battled other amoebas and as a result became viruses. Fish warred with other fish to transmute to lizards. Neanderthal threw sticks at Homo Erectus and this spawned Homo Sapien. Did I miss the discovery of fossil remains showing the evolution of man into missile? This is absurd! Evolution is supposed to be marked by transitions which foster efficiency in a species. Did you guys even consider education and condoms? Maybe something voluntary?


In Summary: If you remove fear from people’s lives and soften the ego's grip by fostering the truth of oneness there will be room for rational planning. We could attack the root cause of overpopulation. Not immorally wipe out the effect of that cause! Better to prevent the disease than treat it.


5. CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC. War-orientation has determined the basic standards of value in the creative arts, and has provided the fundamental motivational source of scientific and technological progress. The concepts that the arts express values independent of their own forms and that the successful pursuit of knowledge has intrinsic social value have long been accepted in modern societies; the development of the arts and sciences during this period has been corollary to the parallel development of weaponry.

Faulty Logic, pure and simple.
Premise: "A" happens and at the same time "B" happens.
Conclusion: Therefore if "A" is missing, "B" won't happen.
A 13 year old can see through this one.

Yes, technological progress in weaponry necessitates technological progress in general. And it's obvious that if money is being poured into weaponry then general technological progress will benefit. But it would benefit all that much more if the money wasn't diverted to weaponry, but instead directly into benign technology.

The idea that war somehow is a required impetus for Art is insane. Artists will depict what they experience. If they experience war they will be heavily influenced by war. If they experience something positive well..... say no more.

I think perhaps that the writers of this Iron Mountain Report were simply addicted to violent art. That would most simply explain their conclusions. Or maybe they were Illuminati. Or maybe they were mentally deficient. Or maybe it was propaganda. Or maybe it was smoke and mirrors. Or maybe it was a hoax.

What do you think?

For All Eyes Only!

Wake up, We’re having a nightmare!

Not much to say other than raise the vibration and rise above what is happening.


David Icke Lecture: School’s in, pay attention.
http://www.edgemediatv.com/article001_icke.html

Two movies: Zeitgeist and The Addendum
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

Article on the new definition of transparency.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=51769357478&h=xgTzp&u=oUdEv

Project Camelot: the X-files are alive and well.
http://www.projectcamelot.org/

Please inform yourselves and share. And don’t get depressed. The spirit can not be taken. Only given!

Hurry up and wait!

I voted for Obama. Normally I try and vote for the lesser of two evils. This time around there was excitement and hope that we actually had a chance to elect someone who would fight the entrenched elitist power conglomerate in the best interest of all those outside of the Free Masons and Illuminati.

Were we naive? It appears so. It only took about 3 weeks for good to get trampled like an ant! Whether or not the “Stimulus Bill” is good or bad, effective or ineffective, etc is not something I wish to address here and now. In fact I would argue that informed debate is not possible!

This bill which Obama earnestly cracked the whip behind to get congress to pass and have it on his desk today for signing is still sitting on his desk while he is having a romantic getaway with Michele. (http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=62252292447&h=ku7hQ&u=RykzL )

Based on the rhetoric I would have expected to turn on the TV today or peruse any internet website and be bombarded with stories about the signing of this “Stimulus Bill”. Instead the biggest story of the day is Hilary’s trip to Asia! Not a word on the bill.

So if Obama had no intention is enacting this bill today why such a hurry to have congress pass it on Friday!? Why was congress (and the public) forced, coerced, tricked into passing this bill without even having time to read the final version!? It’s a rhetorical question! Mainly so Obama could enjoy “President’s Weekend” relaxed by the knowledge that he had pulled off another ruse of epic proportions. Same shit, different day!

Very disappointing! Blame goes to this new executive branch as well as this legislative branch. Only fools sign contracts without reading them. Transparency? I don’t think so!

GM is Evil!

GM is EVIL!!

Not you GM (Glenn Miller), nor General Motors (They are another fish to fry) and not even General Mills. I’m referring to “Genetically Modified” foods and organisms. Oh wait, actually yes, General Mills is evil also. Why? Because they support and use “genetically modified” foods (GM) and don’t feel the need to label this and give the consumer a choice over what they ingest.

There is a big behind the scenes war going on and I’d like to bring your attention to it because if people don’t wake up the greedy power hungry corporations will win this war. This is a war that could quickly affect every man, woman and child on Earth. A loss of which will make it impossible and illegal to grow your own food. If you choose to eat you will be at the mercy of a corporation which has the patent for that particularly GM food. If you don’t choose to eat then you can kindly ignore this problem.

Pro’s and Cons of GM
Cons:
1) These GM foods will be illegal to grow without patent rights.
2) These GM foods will not grow naturally. They require the magic formula of fertilizers.
3) These GM foods can cross pollinate and decimate forever our natural crops. Once this happens there is no turning back.
4) These GM foods have been shown to have side effects. Including: Toxicity, anti-nutritional, allergenic and carcinogenic.
5) The FDA is not equipped or interested in protecting us from GM foods mainly as result of the public being unaware.

Pros:
1) Money and Power. Lots of it. These GM producers patent and control our food supply thus wielding unacceptable power and monetary control over us. Obviously a Pro for them, but just another Con for the people!

What can we do? Vote with your dollars. Don’t buy GM foods. Write to suppliers using GM and let them know that you are no longer going to buy their products. Write to your local, state and federal representatives voicing your concern and letting them know that meddling with our food supply is unconscionable.

Although I’ve been studying this issue now for minutes, hundreds of minutes, my credentials on the subject may leave something to be desired so if my expertise on the subject isn’t convincing I invite you to research the subject for yourself. Below are some helpful links which may provide a good start.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=gm+food - many videos on the subject.

After watching the videos I’m sure you are ready to learn a bit more and get involved.

http://thecampaign.org/ - nice site with info. And on their “Action Alert” page they provide links to various entities recommended to voice your concern with.

http://www.seedsofdeception.com/Public/Home/index.cfm - another site with lectures and a link to a petition to Obama.

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/TakeAction/MandatoryLabelingPetitiontoObama/index.cfm - another site with info including this very handy guide to avoiding GM products.

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/DocumentFiles/144.pdf -Shopping guide to avoid GM foods.

You are what you eat. And right now you are eating GM products and organisms which have never before been in our diets! Do something about it or suffer the consequences. It’s up to you!

Global Distress

>So I was up for a job this week against one other guy for the Mate position on a 131 ft. yacht. The size of the boat puts it out of reach for me as Captain, but would have been good experience for me on the way up to my 500 ton license. They loved us both, but in the end he had one more important certification and won out. Since it was my longest interview ever, over an hour, it wasn’t the outcome I was expecting, but at least I know why it panned out that way and can do something about it. And I am. For the rest of this month I will be in school to get my G.M.D.S.S. certification. Otherwise known as the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System it’s all about radio and satellite communications and has nothing to do with the current economic Global Distress!

It’s something I should have technically had while skippering in the Mediterranean. In fact, it was on my list of things to do ASAP since I expected to have problems as a result of not having it. However, while I was over there I simply didn’t have a chance to get it and surprisingly none of the authorities called me on it. If they did I probably could have gotten a temporary exemption since the reality is that it’s one of those things that they require, but really doesn’t come into play for most smaller yachts.

So after this last week and the prospect of heading back to the Mediterranean next season it’s really something that I should scratch off my list. A pretty easy decision even though I had secured a one month salaried gig. So instead of making money this month, I’ll spend some. Or invest in myself if you will. Sort of like folding with a decent hand so that later in the game I’ll be in a good position to take the bigger kitty.

It’s also a requirement for the next career step I will eventually take to reach Officer Of the Watch (OOW). OOW is necessary in order to work as an officer on the large yachts (150-250 ft.). Believe it or not a 100 ft. yacht isn’t that big! I don’t have any real interest of captaining anything over 150 ft, but for anything over 110 ft. (my current limit, more or less) it will be necessary to work as a Mate or 1^st Officer in order to eventually Skipper a larger yacht.

Relatively speaking maritime courses are really quick. Usually a week or two as opposed to a semester. However when you take into account the work schedule most yachties are on it really can be a problem to schedule these courses. Typically you’ll get 3-4 weeks vacation a year, but do you really want to spend that holiday time in school for boating when you are burned out from boating and really need time away from the whole scene. Most don’t and opt for a frivolous hedonistic time in some exotic locale. I know, boo hoo! I’m not making a very good case, but the reality is that to take courses, often people have to forgo a whole season of work to get it accomplished.

So it will be good to get this two week course out of the way. After that I’ll have two 1 week courses and one more 2 week course to complete. Then a week of prepatory class for the oral exams and whamo, certified OOW! The real trick is to get on a boat that finds it in its own interest to facilitate your continued education and makes it possible to do it. Particularly since although each upgrade only takes a few weeks of classes the cost equates to a semester or more at a decent college.

After that will be “Chief Mate 3000 ton”. Another 3 weeks of classes and a trip across the Atlantic will grant you this distinguished title and allow you to be second in charge on any yacht in the world. Then another year of service, 6 weeks of classes capped off with another oral exam and you too can be a 500 Ton Captain.

Ironically I can see myself going through all that only to wind up back on a 120-130 ft. yacht! Oh well.

OK. Enough of the yachting syllabuses. Yesterday I helped prepare a new Palmer Johnson 123 ft. (M/Y Ocean Drive) yacht for showing to a potential buyer. Today we took the sheik out on a trial run. As a captain now I really want to try and avoid washing boats myself, I would rather have a crew to do it for me. However, since today I got to drive a 17 million dollar yacht, I guess I can’t complain too much! The president of the company was also on board and he was happy with the way things went. So that is an introduction that can’t hurt. Good thing I didn’t crash! ;)

So I’m dusting off my highlighter pen and getting back to hitting the books. Try to stay warm up there!

Job

Job Seeking

I'm still in Ft. Lauderdale and still without a permanent position. But I'm not phased. Tough times for sure. When a trillion dollars disappears off the face of the earth it comes out of someone's pocket. And those are the deep pockets of people who typically own yachts and the first stop loss is to cut out toys or at least put things on hold. With the whole world in recession and the stock markets bottom still not found things are braking hard.The boat show was huge as usual, but the general consensus is that business is way down. Although I spoke with the builder of my last boat and he said they were doing pretty well. They are an Italian though so I guess the dollar strengthening versus the euro allows more wealthy Americans to buy their goods where as a few months ago it was out of the question. It seems though that things will be tight for while until it all stabilizes.

The other factor handicapping crew at the moment is the phenomenal influx of "newbies". For years now the yacht industry has been a "crews market" with not enough good crew to fill the boats. Well word has obviously gotten out and the jig is up. Experienced crew are caught in the Lauderdale Blizzard of '08. The crew agencies we use to find work are completely snowed under the avalanche of new candidates. While 'newbies' aren't necessarily competing for the same jobs as experienced crew, they are clogging up the whole system. At the moment it takes about two weeks just to get a meeting with a crew placement agent. Pretty crazy since crew agencies are springing up like mushrooms. At this rate soon there will be a crew agent for every crew member! A royal pain since in the past you would sign up with a couple of agents and take it from there. Now we all feel obligated to sign up with as many as possible to get better odds. I've had to start a database just to keep track of everything.

So all we can really do is rely on the old tried and true practice of networking. So we frequent the 'yachtie' gatherings and get togethers and repeat for the thousandth time "Do you know of any boats looking for a _____?" The upside is I've met a lot of new unemployed friends. The same faces appear so many times that you feel you've known them all for years.

All we can do is plug away and wait for things to loosen up. People are running out of money, especially the unfortunate 'newbies' who were told and truly thought they would have a glorious new job in a matter of days rather than weeks. People will start giving up and move on. Time is on my side. Truth be told I haven't brought out the big guns yet. I never run with the herd and I definately don't like running against it so I've been bidding my time, putting out the feelers and letting the dust settle. Last Saturday we had a sort of reunion with Gloria's Sun "family" at the China Grill which is a chic restaurant/club. The food was very good (should be for the outrageous price), but the music was too loud. Anyway there was the owner and former captains, stews, engineers, managers and others. A couple of days later Michael called to say if I wanted, to come and stay on the boat. The next day he called and invited me to the club, but I was out with others and apparently he fell asleep anyway. A couple of days later he called to ask me if I wanted to do a trip to the Bahamas with him. So since I'm not doing anything I said yes. He has a new captain who is happy to have someone onboard who knows the boat well since he hasn't taken it out on a real voyage yet. So from Nov 24th- Dec 1st I'll be in the Bahamas.

Tomorrow I'm off to a barbeque (more networking) and next week hopefully I will finally have the opportunity to charm some crew agents face to face.

Fall in NJ

Hey All. I finally broke down and was persuaded to join Facebook.com. It's really crazy how many people you can quickly catch up with on this site. I skipped the High School reunion, but since I've been on Facebook I've gotten the current low down on many of our classmates and even saw some pics from the reunion. Which brings me to my point: I'll be uploading my photos from now on to Facebook since it's easy and a good central point to place them. You will need to be registered to view them, but it only takes a minute.

Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/people/Doug_Wolinsky/635121840

October 18th I've volunteered to be Beach Captain for Clean Ocean Alliance's Harvey Cedars Beach Clean Up. We will have refreshments and snacks for participants (quantities are limited). It's the same day (unless postponed because of no waves) and meeting place as "The Clam Jam" surf contest so there should be a lot of activity this Saturday on the beach of Harvey Cedars. So come on down, check out the contest, help clean up a beach and enjoy the shore once more before it gets too cold! We will meet at the top of Hudson Avenue or just on the other side of the dune. See ya there!

OK, I didn't post this on time so you can disregard the above paragraph. It was a cold and windy day for the Clean Up which I'm sure didn't help the turnout which as it turns out wasn't great. A total of 9 people showed up. Well actually 7 and two toddlers. But we managed to pull of a couple bags of trash off of the precious little beach which is left in Harvey Cedars. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

The next day was the "Clam Jam" amidst large Northeast storm surf with more high winds and cool temperatures. An impressive amount of people braved the weather to watch and cheer for the local surfers as well as partake in the goodies provided by the sponsors including Pine Surf Shop and Mud City Restaurant. Brendan Wilhem was killing it and for the second year in a row will have his name engraved on the Clam Trophy along with teammate Dan Merganser. There are pics of the day on my Facebook page. A day late for the Clam Jam, on Monday the winds went offshore. The surf cleaned up nicely, held it's size and provided good fun for myself doing some drifts in Beach Haven and the contestants in Seaside attending the "Grudge Match" surf contest won by Sam Hammer.

A week later we again were blessed with fun surf, but the water is cooling down. Fullsuits are the call now and many are opting for booties. It won't be long before the 5mm wetsuits are needed.

So now it's time to get back to work. I'm heading down to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow to start the search for another boat. It looks like just in a nick of time before Old Man Winter arrives.
Au revoir!

There Goes the Neighborhood!

Hold on to your hats! The world is already a scary place. I hate to add to it, but I didn’t create the situation, I’m just commenting on it. The good news is you may not have to worry for much longer. The bad news is you may not have much longer to worry.

In Geneva the CERN LHC is open for business. LHC standing for Large Hadron Collider and no, unfortunately it is not the world's newest and largest bumper car park. It is a 27km ring of underground magnets designed to fire proton's at each other at nearly the speed of light. The idea is to recreate, with a markedly smaller bang, the aftermath of the Big Bang and hopefully see some hither to unseen particles which will give us some clue as to how the universe was created. The cost of our newest theme park for geeks: 6 billion Euros to date.

Particle physicists have stalled out. They have gone as far as they can with previous experimental data and so in the spirit of progress they need to build a bigger experiment, thus the LHC. The problem is that while they know what they hope to find (sort of), they have no way of knowing what they will actually find. The "x" factor is real and they embrace that. It’s the very spirit of discovery and perhaps even a noble effort. After all, I might be writing from Europe or Asia had not some brave souls embraced the "x" factor, disregarded the idea that the Earth was flat and set sail around the globe (Actually those explorers were just greedy and desperate, but it‘s too early for me to make that correlation). But what if the Earth was flat? Well I'd be writing from another continent and those explorers would be floating out towards the edge of the Milky Way. No earth shattering tragedy there, relatively speaking. However, in the case of the LHC the stakes are considerably higher. If they are wrong no one will be falling off the Earth. If they are wrong the Earth will fall out of existence!!

Yes, there are those who are concerned that these experiments might bring about the total annihilation of Earth, possibly even the solar system (see example story below). Who are they? Most are probably crackpots like me who don't have degrees in Astro or Particle Physics, but a few do have degrees and good reputations and they have voiced concerns. Should they be dismissed? I would like to say yes, but I can not. The doomsayers are worried that these new experiments might create a mini Black Hole or “Stranglets” which convert matter to something completely unpalatable to us. The experimenters say they don't "think" they will, but "if" they do there won’t be any harm.

I am not really up on my Astrophysics so I can't say for sure, but I'm not aware of any experiential, physical or observational data on Black Holes or Stranglets which leads me to believe they know anything more of substance about them than your local preacher can prove about God. It now appears that their motivation to disprove God is so great they are willing to paradoxically debate him face to face!? Consider how science has moved closer to religion. Faith is the major component of religion and now science is prepared, on the "faith" that they are not wrong, to gamble in an effort to discredit “Faith“! Hmmm? Zealots? These guys are playing with matches and they refuse to listen to Old Smokey The Bear. “Shhhushh Smokey! The adults can control this” What child doesn’t say the same exact thing? And let us not forget that there is no Milky Way Volunteer Fire Department to come to the rescue.

I'm personally not very comfortable with "scientists" placing bets using words like "we don't think" and "if we create a black hole" when to call this bluff requires us to go "all in" by betting Planet Earth. Do I think it will happen? No. But just in case I'm updating my intergalactic will. Of course, unless the legal system in the alternate universe we will be sucked into recognizes Earth law, this will be wasted time. Could it happen? Yes. Why, because the brains behind this don't know what will happen. That's the whole point of the experiment. They aren't trying to verify anything. They are looking for new fodder. They have finished their book "Science through the 20th Century" and are desperately searching for a story line to their next best seller "Fun things to think about in the 21st Century" even if they need to cook it up in a laboratory Petri dish.

Particularly worrisome is my understanding that their back up plan (that any created black holes will evaporate) is based on "Hawking's Radiation". This 30 year old theory very nicely explained away quite a few theoretical problems in its day. However, more recently it has become considered possibly obsolete due to the fact that newer evidence has come to light which also very nicely explains away those same theoretical snags of yesteryear. In short, "Hawking's Radiation" may or may not be correct.

With the Snaglets they predict that their positive charge won’t attract any matter and so they won’t be a problem. The problem is that for every positive there is a negative. You don’t have to be a genius to realize that! The fact that at least one (but not all) reputable scientist(s) has posited that it is possible for a negative Snaglet to be created makes one question whether or not IQ tests have any validity at all!

There goes the neighborhood! If just one negative Snaglet moves in property values will plummet. It would convert all Earth’s matter into similar Snaglets. Great for the Snaglet market, not so good for the housing market! But then again the housing market is in shambles and maybe it would be fun being a “Snagling”, you never know. At best we could hope that the world would be turned into an anti-world where geniuses are working at WalMart and the simple folk are running the science affairs. At least in that world we won’t have to worry about science experiments actually working and thus we will be able to sleep at night.

The other day telephones lines got crossed and I listened in on a long distance conversation-

Voice: “Hello, and thank you for calling Universal Life Insurance. How may I help you?”
Earth: “Hello, am I covered for Black Holes under the Hawking’s Clause?”
Universal Life Customer service: "Hmm, well Earth I'll have to get back to you. I'm not sure if the "Hawking's Radiation clause" in your insurance policy covers mini black holes or not. If you tell me the size of the black hole I'll take it to our legal department and clarify."
Earth: "I don't know. Let's say nothing bigger than a pin head, but my how they grow up fast. And get back to me quickly with an answer. If it's a matter of a higher premium I'll send a check today!!"
Universal Life Customer Service: “Yes, Ma’am. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Earth: “Yes. What about Snaglets? Am I covered for them?”
ULCS: “Yes and No. You are covered for Postive Snaglets, but due to the inherent risk of
Negative Snaglets they can not be covered. I’m sorry.”
Earth: “ Yeah, me too!”

We might get away with this, but it is still troubling. If God himself appeared and said the experiment was safe I'd still be worried. Not for the immediate future, but with regard to the mentality which continuously inquires "how can we do this?" without ever stopping to ask "should we do this?" Or honestly and sincerely asking “why do we want to do this?”.

Scientists can be addicts too! Fabricating job security isn't noble. Even if they aren't aware of it consciously most everyone can see that the military machine continually creates or perpetuates situations which allow it to continue to justify it's existence. Noble? I think not. Self perpetuation isn't lost on corporations either. Gillette will soon discover evidence that shows that 5 shaving blades aren't enough, but six will do the trick. Does anyone really believe we need 5 or 6 blades? Not me, I’m holding out for ten! Intelligent beings should be able to grow and adapt. Wise men should know when it is time to move on, to change course. Maybe we should couple a “Wisdom Test” with the IQ Test before giving people the ability to put the planet at risk. If only common sense were common. Or maybe it’s just that we need to put more common people in charge who actually possess common sense.

Are not some of the sciences falling prey to narcissistic qualities? 6 Billion Euros is a pretty big habit we are supporting! What do we actually get from these guys, even if we allow for success? Undoubtedly these people have brains parents will all be genetically opting for in our children (Should we? Probably not. Will we? Yes!), but does that mean they can't be mistakenly led down a road best left un-traveled?

I should state here that I have no stake in whether or not they prove or disprove the existence of God. To me that question is as irrelevant as the question as to whether or not the Big Bang theory is correct. Both are interesting questions, but neither in my opinion make one iota of difference in day to day life! But I have to admit, you never know when one of these questions will pop up on Final Jeopardy! But then again, I never saw anyone win 6 Billion on Jeopardy!

So if we still exist the next time scientists ask for a ridiculous amount of money for their next experiment I suggest we round them all up in one place to discuss the matter, which will be simple. We will just tell them we’ve discovered another “matter“. We should plan ahead for this and set aside a billion euros or so to cover the large psychiatrists/hypnotists fees and lock them in until they see that they should be concentrating their collective intelligence on something of real world value instead of foolishly stimulating their brains to orgasm! Are geniuses more predisposed to the psychotic fear of "not knowing"? I'm sure there is a scientist out there who will happily take research money to find out!

Leaving big brains aside for a moment; I thought it was just a bad dream, but apparently Bush's plan to send a man to the moon (again?) is real and another perfect example of irresponsible science. Why do it!? Does he want the American flag back that we supposedly left there? Does he think we are running out of cheese? Or does he just want to rap with the man on the moon?
There was absolutely no rational reason for sending anyone to the moon in the 60's*. There is even less reason today!
* Which is my main rational for believing we never went. Conspiracy theories aside, think about it and keep in mind Occam's Razor (The simplest answer is probably the correct answer). The only reason to go to the moon was to gain psychological advantage over the Russians. If we could accomplish that without the time, money, risk and effort of actually going there we would. And we could, not because our science was more advanced, but because our movie making was. Somewhere there is a director without an Oscar that really deserves one. He also deserves the thanks of an entire nation if not the entire world for arguably the most important film in the history of man and it goes without credit. Sir/Madam, I salute you!

Something else to heap on the pile: I don't think these are credible, but they popped up in my searches and I do think they are humorous enough to include here:
1) Nostradamus predicts calamity. Paraphrasing: "Leave Geneva. Positive Ray will annihilate all".
2) Bible backed doomsayers point out that our population is approaching 6.66 Billion. For the devil in me I can’t understand what that has got to do with anything!
3) Bible code predicts this disaster in numerous places. But then again it also predicts that a big
purple one eyed ape is writing this. (I’m hairy and possibly color blind, but I definitely have 2
eyes!) Unless I’m perpetually drunk and just seeing double. Oooh, I’m scaring myself now!
4) And there is a Mayan doomsday prophecy stating the world will end in 2012. Just enough time for a mini black hole to be pulled by gravity to the center of the Earth where it will slowly (relatively speaking. See: Einstein's Theory of Relativity) gobble up the Earth over the next 3.5 years.

Sleep Well, don't go to bed angry and if you feel yourself getting inexplicably heavier in the next few weeks don’t bother dieting. Run to the nearest space shuttle, hop in, press the “lift off” button and try to figure out how to steer the thing out of Earth’s orbit.

PS. Don’t forget to pack a big lunch and your Mp3 player. Space radio signals are notoriously static-y.

PPS. Maybe the Moon is Bush’s escape plan. Maybe someone should tell him that the moon is under Earth’s gravitational pull? Naaaah!

PPPS. Nothing can go faster than the speed of light, right? That is probably what you were taught and believe, but it isn’t true! I just thought I would throw that in just in case you are thinking that science is always correct and forthcoming with all the facts. (See: Tachyons or VSL-variable speed light)

PPPPS. Note: I am an amateur pessimist and should probably be ignored. However, if you are in possession of any worm hole technology please post a comment with the cost of a one way ticket to "anywhere but here" and the nearest point of departure. Thanks.

PPPPPS. Wikipedia says using all these “Post Post Scripts” is deemed “poor style”

PPPPPPS. I don’t give a damn, There is a lot of PP in me and I’m letting it out!

The following Story Copied from:
Risk Evaluation Forum http://www.risk-evaluation-forum.org/

Recent developments in physics suggest the possibility that an experiment, scheduled to begin at the European research facility at CERN in 2008, will destroy the Earth. CERN is installing a new high-energy particle collider, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It is expected to produce particles scientists have not seen before. Two of these particles could be dangerous.

Black Holes Several string theorists have published papers predicting (if their theories are true) that the LHC will produce mini black holes. In the worst case, a mini black hole could swallow Earth.

Strangelets Strangelets, another potential collider product, might catalyze conversion of normal matter into more strangelets, turning Earth into a small ball of strangelets.

Safety Factors In 2003, CERN published a paper asserting several safety factors. Black holes were supposed to dissipate via Hawking radiation. A collection of strangelets were supposed to be electrically positive on its surface, and therefore not attract other matter. However, new studies have put these safety factors in question. New physics papers question the existence of Hawking radiation. A recently published paper finds that a collection of strangelets can be negative on its surface.

Recently (in June 2008) CERN published a new safety study that asserts additional safety factors. We are reviewing this new study. We have quibbles with their methodology and with some of their assumptions. Nevertheless, this is a welcome development that reduces the subjective risk. The question is whether this is good enough. Even a small risk has a large negative expected value (probability times cost) when the lose at issue is Earth.

What You Can Do Readers can help by thinking about, discussing, and publicizing the issue. Contact us to help with our initiatives. We also encourage more physicists to work on the issue, and we encourage funding to help them to do so. (Physicists quickly see model limiters. Consider if candidate model limiters are reliable enough to protect something as valuable as Earth. If you think you have found a sufficiently reliable model limiter, please let us know.)

It's a pretty bad weather year for Amsterdam this summer. It really isn't much better than when I came early in March 2005. Hopefully it is better in NJ because I'm coming home!

Right now I should be in Thailand, but alas it was not meant to be. I got to the airport and was told I was not on the flight and to add insult to injury they were telling me that I needed to go to the embassy to replace my passport because after washing it doesn't look so good anymore.Its sparkly clean! but I was afraid to run it through the dryer's "Wrinkle Free" cycle therefore it's a bit wrinkly.

So after some thought I decided that I didn't really want to have passport problems through S.E. Asia and I also didn't really want to spend another two weeks here while a new passport was issued.

So I booked a flight home. Tomorrow to be exact. I'll arrive in Philly at 2:45pm and catch a bus to A.C.

So one more day here in Amsterdam and back with you all to enjoy the last two weeks of summer.

For all those interested: courtesy of Art- there are according to Wikipedia 700,000 bikes in Amsterdam.

Partir en France

WhereisDJtoday.com is alive again! I have just left France spending my last evening in Nice. Nice is a fun city in the summer. The winter also, but whether dining, drinking, walking or just people watching in the snaky labyrinth of Old Towne it is so alive in summer that simply being surrounded by it is more than enough entertainment.

So I was in France and Monaco for over 7 months, “Did I learn to speak French?” I guess that depends on what you mean by “speak”. Yes, “I can speak French”, but I think I’d be torn apart in a debate with a 3 year old and ‘L’Enfant’ would certainly have better grammar! I didn’t get any practice on the boat, but as soon as I started mixing it up with the locals this last week things started to come together if ever so slightly. I had to break myself out of the habit of quickly telling someone speaking French that “Je ne parlez pas L’France” or “I don’t speak French” because as I would finish the sentence a bell would go off and I’d realize that I did in fact sort of understand what they had just said. I think I was 1 French girlfriend away from actually making sense of the language. Good thing I left, I hear the French girls can really put the claw into you.

End Score: Monaco = Lots O’ $$$ with no charm! French Riviera = Considerable $$$ with character and things to do! Travel Tip: St. Tropez and for that matter Portofino, Italy are tourist traps. Keep your visit down to a day trip and move on. Do you really want to spend your hard earned vacation dollars on way overpriced fashions and to gawk for hours at luxury yachts backing into their berths? It can be quite the spectacle when you look up and see that your 5 person play entitled “A Completely Un-Dramatic Yacht Berthing” in 1 Act (hopefully?!) is being played for a Standing Room Only crowd (there isn’t any seating) of 400 people. And they are always gone by the time you get the gangway out and have a chance to ‘pass the hat’!

So even though I could have stood a few more days in Nice I was ready to make like a tree and leaf. Where to then?? Well my bank seems to have pulled its finger out of it’s a*s so that saves me a trip to the U.K.. After much consideration I decided that Amsterdam would be a good place to hole up for a while until I could organize the rest of the journey.

So at 6am I practiced my French one last time as I handed off the hotel key to the elderly gentleman returning to the hotel with a ’sac’ of freshly baked baguettes. He said he worked for the hotel, at least that’s what I think he said?!?

Arriving in Amsterdam I was a little surprised to find it sunny, but cool and breezy like early spring or late fall Jersey shore weather. I overheard a traveler say to someone at the other end of the phone “Yeah, it’s boiling here!”. I’m thinking “where are you from?!” and regretting donating all my warm clothes to The French Legion. And by ‘French Legion’ I mean whatever group of French recipients that wind up wearing two bags of clothing.

A quick ride on the train takes me from the Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam Central and from there it’s a short walk to the ‘Budget Hotel Inn’. I’m a little early for check-in so I drop the bags and go for a wonder. Along the canal on the far side from Amsterdam Central is the main commercial ‘Straat’ with all your restaurants, shops, café shops and of course coffee shops. Don’t confuse the two! One more block in and you are simply in the neighbor hood. A quiet and mind clearing walk along the canals always does one good.

Eventually stopping at a café and I settle down to an outdoor table on the corner of the ’neighbor hood’. I start off with a cappuccino which takes forever to order because the poor solo worker is Slammed! Everyone in America drives cars, everyone in France rides scooters and everyone in Amsterdam rides bicycles. I started to wonder how many bicycles there must be in the city. Then I decide to count them. I realized I would quickly tire counting every single bike in the city or I would at least run out of time. So I counted bicycles for ten minutes at an intersection and got a count of 164. That is about 1000 per hour through just one intersection in just one neighbor hood!

I noticed another thing: each bike has lights, a bell, a lock and the obvious pairs of wheels, pedals and handlebars. What you won’t see is ONE mirror! Now I don’t know if I’m missing something here, but unless there is some deep rooted cultural aversion or phobia to mirrors on bikes, someone should import one of those magical mirrors and figure out how to attach it to a handlebar. I know the technology probably isn’t there yet, but when it arrives a person could make a killing over here selling the things! Think of how many lives would be saved, how many tragic bicycle accidents would be prevented by simply taking the over the shoulder blind spot out of the equation! Simple 3 speed bikes cost around 500-700 euros, what’s another 15 euros for something which could possibly save you from the pain and suffering of enduring a lifetime 5mm scar you might get scraping your knee in that near fatal bicycle crash! You can also now get a scooter with 2 helmets and a maintenance plan for 1600 euros. If the scooters start selling watch for the mayhem to begin. In that case, invest in band aids, sutures and gauze. The scooters already have mirrors!

Fortunately there are only a few scooters running around. As to the original question as to how many bicycles are in Amsterdam? I have no idea! I’ll take a wild guess at 500,000. If I had a wi-fi hook up at the moment I would try and find out for you, but if you are reading this then you have time to google it yourself. Let me know what you come up with. For now I’m just going to sit back and watch the waitress (cute by the way) take away my coffee cup and ask her to bring a sandwich and a pint to wash it down with as I watch Amsterdam go by…… 1 bicycle, 2 bicycles, 3,4,5 bicycles……

Free at Last

Free at Last. Free at Last!

I am no longer the Captain of Jazz of Monaco. I got the boot and couldn’t be happier. They wanted things to go perfectly and I couldn’t deliver perfection so they decided to bring on the “much more experienced” captain who relieved me when I was on holiday to finish out the season. I can’t blame them for wishing for perfection, but I think they are foolish to be believe it possible.

The split was amicable. In fact, I’m still helping them straighten out some of the accounting which was supposed to be done on a monthly basis. However, they fired their accountant and it’s been piling up for six months and of course I’m the only one who can make heads and tails of it all.

Really there is no doubt that I was more unhappy than they were and no doubt I am and will be happier than they will be now that I have been released.

So at the moment they have me in a Hotel Compte de Nice in Beauleiu through Friday. So the question arises, “What’s next?”. A good question which I’m working out at the moment. I get hit with a huge tax bill if I go back home before October so for now that’s going to have to wait. So I have two months to kill one way or the other. I could try for more work around here which I will do, if only half heartedly. What I think I will do though is take some time for myself.

Firstly, if I can’t get access to my offshore account by the end of the week I will be flying to London to straighten that out. Two months ago I sent in requested documents so that I could access my account via Internet/phone and apparently I slipped through the cracks. Since then I have been accruing a long diary of un-returned phone calls trying to straighten things out, but so far to no avail. It’s really pissing me off since NatWest is basically holding me ransom. The money goes in, but doesn’t come out.

Once I’ve got that taken care of the world is my oyster. I don’t really like oysters, but I do like the east and will probably fly to Thailand. I think another retreat is in order. If I don’t reach enlightenment there and decide to rejoin society I think a career move is in order. Are you ready for this; I’m gonna be a helicopter pilot! It’s something I’ve been considering for years, but the price tag has always been prohibitive. Now I’ve got the money, I still have the desire and with all the baby boomers (Vietnam pilots) retiring the market is good.

I’ll update later in the week when I have a better idea of what I’m doing….

Jersey Shore

June 15th 2008
Well after working 45 days straight without a break the owner of my boat realized that it would be critical for me to have some time off if I was to survive the rest of the season. So last week I hopped on an Air France flight to Philly via Paris.
Mom and Pop picked me up at the airport and we drove back through the Pine Barrens to Barnegat. There really isn’t too much to report. I came back full of plans: 1) Avoid plans. 2) To do as little as possible. 3) Try not to think about work. 4) Drink real coffee. 5) Eat American comfort foods. 6) Mimic a bump on a log. Etc, etc…. I’ve been fairly successful!
I’ve gotten a chance to catch up with a bunch of my old friends. I’ve gotten to surf a couple of times. I’ve gotten to relax in the hot tub. I’ve eaten bagels, pizza, homemade waffles and drank good coffee! Europe still hasn’t and probably never will come around to “American Coffee” even though you can get “Café American”, but it’s not the real deal! Now I’m not suggesting that Europe would or should mimic the U.S.. But the fact is the best coffee comes from South America and is extremely popular throughout the Americas so you would think that you could find some Columbian Beans and brew some, but alas it’s all espresso or what we have on the boat which is Nescafe capsules. Nothing close to real coffee. And Europeans love their espresso, it such a part of the culture you’d think in this day and age they may branch into new territory and expand their palates a little. No such luck. Anyhooo…
The latest highlight was a trip up to Boston, Amesbury to be exact, to visit my sister, her husband and my little 9 month old Nephew. He is just starting to crawl around and pull himself up to stand. He is a happy baby, full of smiles and we believe he has to be the cutest baby alive today. We may be biased, but you’d be hard pressed to disagree.
So it’s been a little over a week at home and I have a little under a week to go. I plan on carrying on with my detailed plans: eat, sleep, surf, be lazy and little else!!