Posts resume Saturday

Taking tomorrow off to do some Labor Day preparation stuff for Monday...

Will get it all done on Friday, and Saturday will get back to posting in this blog.

Hope all my readers have a good Labor Day weekend!

The Apocalypse of Overpopulation and Climate Change : Fighting for Water and Food

From Newd Junkie Food: The Apocalypse of Overpopulation and Climate Change : Fighting for Water and Food 

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As we are coming closer to December 21, 2012, anxiety is building up for many. It is of course the prediction of the Mayan calendar, the one of Nostradamus, and the belief of christian fundamentalists  that the fateful “judgment day” phase has already begun with a few potential candidates  playing the role of the anti-Christ. As a rationalist, I can not adhere to any of this and especially not the part of the return of Jesus. However, anyone able and willing to analyze our current human predicament knows that we are entering a very challenging period for our own survival. The two main causes are purely man made in the form of overpopulation and climate change. As a specie we are heading for a cliff to be forever sent to oblivion. We can only blame our own arrogance, selfishness, lack of foresight and stupidity.

We have a plethora of problems that our largely incompetent governments are not tackling. It is of course climate change, but also overpopulation and social inequality. The world will unlikely come to an end in 2012, but we might have entered the phase of “the end of the world as we know it”, and most of us are not prepared to make any significant adjustments from our current social behavior. With a world population already at six billion, not addressing this quickly ticking time bomb is the equivalent of global suicide. With the ice cap quickly melting, fertile and highly populated areas worldwide will be flooded and will become inhabitable for 600 million people within less than 20 years. Large migration of people, escaping the floods, will take place, and such migrations will likely cause conflicts with existing local populations.

We are living under the delusional concept of stability and permanence, as if our trivial mentality of “business as usual” will always prevail. But, with sea waters rising, extreme weather spreading destruction all over the world, and nuclear disasters poisoning our food supply, it seems that humans have created an unstoppable army of Frankensteins, with the ability to destroy our very own planet. Since the industrial revolution, the focus of development has been on constant growth of production and labor force to accomplish it. The concept of exponential growth is by essence unsustainable.

But in order to accommodate this exponential development drive our insatiable appetite for natural energy and mineral resources have depleted planet earth and compromised the natural balance necessary for our survival. Unfortunately, this obsession for energy and resources is even more prevalent today than it was 150 years ago. We have collectively raped the planet for one and a half century, and we are about to pay the price for it. Some of us already have: just ask Haitians or Japanese facing their respective man-made so called “natural” disasters.

My experience with a preview of such apocalyptic scenario  was in New-Orleans post-Katrina. It gave me a precise idea of what our life can be like when you can’t rely on standard first world amenities, such as electricity, gas, water coming out of the pipes and stores to buy food. In disaster situations such as New-Orleans, Haiti or Japan, governments usually fail, to some degree, and survivors are left to fend for themselves. Then, it is back to the basics, and it translates into the two absolute  human necessities: food and water.

Today humans are stupid enough to fight for the exploitation of resources such as oil, natural gas and charcoal. If we are unable to curtail this madness, the wars of the very near future will not be about energy, control of transport and access to cheap labor forces. Instead, they will be about basic survival. There is an international trend burgeoning all over the world, populated by people smart enough to understand that the proverbial feces is just about to hit the fan. The off the grid survivalists are trying to be self reliable, and they have the right idea.
In California, Los Angeles is overdue for a major earthquake, yet, is the population prepared? As a former resident of the City of Angels, I can say that the community is absolutely not ready to handle such a challenge. Globally, we should ask ourselves some critical questions.  How would we survive if all our utilities (water, power) were cut off for weeks? How and where would we get water and the food to feed ourselves and our  families?
Editor’s Note: All photographs of New-Orleans post Katrina  by Gilbert Mercier.

 

White Buffalo Day 2012: A Positive Sign

From Huff Post:  White Buffalo Day 2012: A Positive Sign

Every culture and religion has prophecies that concern future catastrophe and/or Earth renewal and rebirth. Maybe these are meant to be fate that is written in the stars, or mere warnings about possible futures. The Mayan date of 2012 has brought the discussion to the forefront of many peoples thoughts. Wether it is nuclear fallout from Fukushima, global warming, solar flares, pole-shifts, economic melt-down or political unrest, the "doom and gloom" predictions seem to take spotlight over the more positive notions of renewal. No matter what you believe, it is clear that we are in a time of uncertainty and unprecedented change. The White Buffalo Prophecy, handed down for 19 generations within the Lakota Tradition, has continued to unfold in magical ways that paint a positive future for humanity.
In 1994 Alison "Tootie" Montana, a prominent Black Indian Chief from New Orleans, had a vision of bringing together many tribes to celebrate their shared history. David Carson, Choctaw author of "Medicine Cards" and Kam Nightchase, a Lakota Pipe-Carrier also shared a similar vision. Reverend David "Goat" Carson of New Orleans led the organizational effort to make this vision a reality at Congo Square in Louis Armstrong Park. The gathering was called "Sacred Medicine Circle at High Noon" on Aug. 20, 1994.
Black Indians are descendants of slaves who inter-married with local indian tribes, as noted by the scholar William Loren Katz. Indians would raid plantations, free the slaves and escape into the swamps where they shared and mixed their cultures. This union was clearly seen as a threat to the colonists, who did their best to stomp out the resistance and make sure the history of it was also erased.
Congo Square, located in the Treme Neighborhood in New Orleans, was a place where slaves and free people of color gathered to drum, dance and trade on Sundays. The dance, with origins in Africa and throughout the Caribbean, is called the Calinda and is said to invoke the ancestors. Local American Indians had a prophecy that their ancestors would one day return with songs and dances to heal the nations of the world and the slaves were seen as the fulfillment of this prophecy. The coming together of African poly-rhythms with the Native America pow-wow drum birthed the blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll and hip-hop.
So it was fitting for a sacred medicine circle to be held on Congo Square to bring this history out in the open, bringing people together across tribal lines to celebrate unity and healing. However, the event was considered controversial for bringing up a history that is not much talked about in the deep south. During the ceremony, in acknowledgement of the controversy, Rev. David "Goat" Carson asked for a sign from the Buffalo Nation that this coming together in Unity was good medicine for the people. The event was attended by many tribes, including Lakota, Choctaw, Cherokee and others.
Meanwhile in Arizona, another event had been organized for the same week called The World Unity Festival to honor The Hopi Rainbow Prophecy. This prophecy talks about a time when people will come together from all religions, all cultures and colors, to restore the sacred hoop of life on Earth and bring healing. Neither event organizers were aware of the others event. The World Unity Festival culminated with Drumming Around The World, which included people drumming simultaneously in 38 countries and 42 U.S. States for unity and healing. The drumming was led by the late Baba Olatunji and was attended by members of Hopi, Dineh (Navajo), Havasupai, Apache local tribes and people from all over the world.
During that same week in Janesville, Wis., a White Buffalo was born named "Miracle" thus fulfilling a Lakota prophecy that is 19 generations old. In response to these events the City of New Orleans proclaimed Aug. 27 as White Buffalo Day to be celebrated from this day forward. Eighteen years later, and after many deep and meaningful cultural exchanges between tribes across the country sharing their own stories and prophecies for the future, White Buffalo Day is still being celebrated in New Orleans and all over the world. You can learn more at WhiteBuffaloChildren.org or read the actual city proclamations here.
Please enjoy the video of Chief Arvol Lookinghorse, 19th Generation Keeper of The Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe and Bundle, speak about the prophecies. As he states, "We all love our kids, we all have a gift of compassion and a gift of responsibility." Political institutions and religious organizations that are supposed to bring unity are currently the cause of so much fighting across borders and religious lines, perhaps White Buffalo is a calling to come together regardless of our backgrounds and create a better world for future generations. As Chief Lookinghorse states, "No one person is better than the other." It is truly a time to find spiritual unity or we may just inherit a doomsday future instead of a positive one.

 

Christian Science Monitor Mayan collapse mystery solved? Deforestation exacerbated a drought

From Christian Science Monitor: Mayan collapse mystery solved? Deforestation exacerbated a drought

The city states of the ancient Mayan empire flourished in southern Mexico and northern Central America for about six centuries. Then, around A.D. 900 Mayan civilization disintegrated.

Two new studies examine the reasons for the collapse of the Mayan culture, finding the Mayans themselves contributed to the downfall of the empire.
Scientists have found that drought played a key role, but the Mayans appear to have exacerbated the problem by cutting down the jungle canopy to make way for cities and crops, according to researchers who used climate-model simulations to see how much deforestation aggravated the drought.
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"We're not saying deforestation explains the entire drought, but it does explain a substantial portion of the overall drying that is thought to have occurred," said the study's lead author Benjamin Cook, a climate modeler at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, in a statement. [Dry and Dying: Images of Drought]
Using climate-model simulations, he and his colleagues examined how much the switch from forest to crops, such as corn, would alter climate. Their results, detailed online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, suggested that when deforestation was at its maximum, it could account for up to 60 percent of the drying. (The switch from trees to corn reduces the amount of water transferred from the soil to the atmosphere, which reduces rainfall.)
Other recent research takes a more holistic view.
"The ninth-century collapse and abandonment of the Central Maya Lowlands in the Yucatán peninsular region were the result of complex human–environment interactions," writes this team in a study published Monday (Aug 20) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team, led by B.L. Turner, a social scientist at Arizona State University, concurs that by clearing the forest, the Mayans may have aggravated a natural drought, which spiked about the time the empire came to an end and population declined dramatically.

But this is just one contributing factor to their demise, Turner and colleagues write, pointing out that the reconfiguration of the landscape may also have led to soil degradation. Other archaeological evidence points to a landscape under stress, for instance, the wood of the sapodilla tree, favored as construction beams, was no longer used at the Tikal and Calakmul sites beginning in A.D. 741. Larger mammals, such as white-tailed deer, appear to have declined at the end of empire.
Social and economic dynamics also contributed. Trade routes shifted from land transit across the Yucatán Peninsula to sea-born ships. This change may have weakened the city states, which were contending with environmental changes. Faced with mounting challenges, the ruling elites, a very small portion of the population, were no longer capable of delivering what was expected of them, and conflict increased.
"The old political and economic structure dominated by semidivine rulers decayed," the team writes. "Peasants, artisan – craftsmen, and others apparently abandoned their homes and cities to find better economic opportunities elsewhere in the Maya area."

 

Let’s hope the Mayans were right in their apocalyptic predictions

From Troy Media:  Let’s hope the Mayans were right in their apocalyptic predictions

LEEDS, UK, Aug 20, 2012/ Troy Media/ – The end of the world will come in December 2012, if the inaccurate reporting of Mayan predictions is to be believed. But some people could be forgiven for thinking the Mayans were simply two years too early with their doom mongering. Let me explain.

Last week I found myself sitting in an airport lounge, checking my diary and fidgeting in my seat: I’d just had a chat with another passenger and it left me feeling decidedly nervous.

The passenger was a gentleman named Smith (no, seriously) and he had noticed I was huffing and puffing at the frustratingly slow speed of my laptop. Mr Smith, on the other hand, was smugly typing on his iPad (his smugness was purely an invention of my imagination; I just felt I needed another focus for my frustration).

He asked “You okay? Can I help?”

“Oh I just seem to be waiting forever for my laptop to process some data. I’m wondering if it’s got a bug or something,” I answered.

A hopelessly pathetic attempt to cover-up my technical ineptitude, but hey it worked for me. It also piqued his interest.

After a few insightful questions from Mr Smith (for which I had absolutely no answers), I agreed it would probably be wise to get a technician to look at it. I also listened to him for another 15 minutes.

It was one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had in a very long time; I now know that on 8th April 2014 Microsoft will stop supporting and security patching Windows XP.

Of course, those in the know are already moving away from XP and that Microsoft stopped sales of XP on new machines. As of June 2012, Windows XP market share was at 26.2 per cent, after having peaked at 76.1 per cent in January 2007 but, according to netmarketshare.com and Mr Smith, that still represents 870 million users worldwide. It’s a daunting number.

Mr Smith explained there are a number of options open to companies, large and small, but he then waved a cheery goodbye to go catch his flight (after I asked for his business card).

I know LOTS of companies which use Windows XP and they all might be au fait with the financial implications, technical obstacles and operational risks associated with the XP end-of-life date, but I then had a mini-Y2K déjà vu of late preparation and media-fuelled panic.

Will companies look at the price of migrating to Windows 7, and perhaps then upgrading to Windows 8, and simply bury their heads in the sand for now, hoping Microsoft delay the execution of XP? New 64-bit hardware will need to be added to many desktops so they are physically capable of running Windows 7 or Windows 8. Oh, and then there’s the server upgrades required if those PCs are on a network.

Now I’m in no position to say whether Mr Smith is right or wrong about the scale of the challenge that some very substantial companies may face, nor whether my tiny company is ready to consider moving its three laptops and a desk top, oozing with well-used and trusted Windows technology, to an alternative hardware and software, but it did open my eyes:

If I was unaware of the scale of the risk and investment required (because there WILL have to be an investment, one way or the other) what sort of risk assessment might a pan-European company with 100 000 pieces of kit need to do?

Perhaps more frighteningly, what other risks does my external environment pose to my future survival, and how do I ensure I’m regularly up to date with such things?

Then I paused: I vividly recall the hysteria about Y2K. I can’t help thinking perhaps this discussion about 8th April 2014 is in danger of becoming a greater issue than is really is, provided people address the question completely and soon.

I love my iPhone and maybe now’s the time to buy a Mac, an iPad, integrate it all in the ‘cloud’ and migrate to Google Apps, or perhaps I should just stay with Windows and upgrade.

Then again, if the reported Mayan prediction of the end of the world in 2012 is true, perhaps there’s time for one more pre-apocalypse coffee rather than worrying about Windows XP.

 

Fabled Spiritual Retreat Debates Its Future

From the New York Times:  Fabled Spiritual Retreat Debates Its Future

BIG SUR, Calif. — At twilight, not far from a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, a Mayan shaman spoke of the return of Kukulkan to dozens of listeners sitting on the floor inside a yurt: As Venus, a planet of special significance to the ancient Mayans, passed directly between the Sun and Earth in June, the forces out there were heralding the return of Kukulkan, the snake deity, and the start of a new age of spiritual enlightenment in 2012. 

“The cosmos is talking to us — we need to listen,” said the shaman, Miguel Angel Vergara. “Kukulkan shines in the infinite. Kukulkan is the sacred energy beating in every atom. Kukulkan is the feathered serpent living in your heart forever.”

Mr. Vergara would soon lead his listeners in breathing exercises and chants to Kukulkan, as part of a weeklong workshop mixing yoga and Mayan rituals at the Esalen Institute, the fabled spiritual retreat here. Hidden along an extraordinarily scenic stretch of California’s coast, with only a small sign alerting drivers to its existence along Highway 1, Esalen helped bring once-alien concepts and practices, including personal growth, yoga and organic food, to the American mainstream while celebrating the oneness of mind and body in its workshops and clothing-optional hot springs.

These days, as the retreat prepares to observe its 50th anniversary next month, people are still making pilgrimages here, drawn by Esalen’s focus on healing, melding of traditions and mantra of “spiritual but not religious.” Guests and workers still perform emotional “check-ins” in group “weather reports” during their stays, which can extend from a weekend to months, depending, an Esalen spokesman said, “on how far down the rabbit hole you go.” Esalen’s leaders say they are tweaking the institute’s balance between the personal and the social with an emphasis on the latter so they can present the next “edge” to America.

But others, including people formerly and currently associated with Esalen, say it is losing its relevance in a culture where New Age has become a cliché. The retreat’s half-century anniversary has coincided with continuing protests over the layoff of longtime employees as part of a management restructuring. Staff members and others have gathered in circles of silence here; on the Internet, including on a site called Esaleaks, other protesters have assailed Esalen’s management as corporate types bent on transforming the retreat into a boutique resort.

Michael Barry, a retired television writer who is now an investor, said he has been coming here since 1971. In the 1970s, his marriage broke up, and he came here with “his tail between his legs.” An acquaintance working in the laundry room let him sleep on laundry sacks while he healed himself.

“In my life, Big Sur and Esalen have been a through line for me,” said Mr. Barry, who was sitting at the back of the yurt with his wife, Sharon. He added that a “Mayan shaman talking about 2012 and the return of Kukulkan” was a “good example” of how Esalen had remained on American culture’s cutting edge.

But Peter Meyers, an Esalen regular for the past 25 years who was leading a workshop on public speaking, said the center was not moving fast enough to keep ahead of the times.

“For a long time it was the only game in town,” he said in the main lodge, where a lunch of products from Esalen’s organic gardens was being served. “You wanted to take yoga and study Eastern mysticism. Now, next to every nail place on every street in L.A. there’s a yoga studio, and there’s an ashram right next to it.”

As a culture, he said, America had also evolved beyond some of Esalen’s focus on personal emotions and growth. “Letting it all hang out — that’s passé, so what is the next edge?” he said. “The risk is that if Esalen rests on its laurels, it’ll become a museum.” 

In recent years, Esalen has engaged in “stocktaking” about its mission and vision, said Gordon Wheeler, a Gestalt psychologist and the center’s president. 

“We’ve always said we’re about personal and social transformation,” he said. “If anything, we’ve stepped up the social. The world is more demanding now. The call of the world is more urgent. And we looked at each other and said we have to step it up.” 

Mr. Wheeler pointed to a workshop on how to turn spiritual practice into social service as an example of this new effort. 

Part of the stocktaking, he said, also included improving the management of Esalen, a nonprofit organization. A new office in Carmel, about 40 miles up Highway 1 from here, provides services not found here, including fast Internet and good cellphone coverage. The recent layoffs of longtime employees, he said, were particularly difficult because many staff members also live within the Esalen compound. 

But critics said the new direction points to a growing corporatism. The Carmel office, they say, has weakened the sense of community as managers spend part of the week there. The recent appointment of a boutique hotel founder to Esalen’s board of trustees, they say, reflects the increasing emphasis on moneymaking packages, which range from $405 for sleeping bag accommodations for a weekend workshop to $1,595 for a luxury room. 

“I feel that the corporate model doesn’t always serve the seeker and the spiritual path,” said Jasmine Bangoura, who teaches at the preschool here and grew up in Esalen, where her mother worked as a massage therapist. 

David Price, the son of Dick Price, a co-founder of Esalen who was killed by a falling boulder while meditating here in 1985, said the worry that this place would become just another luxury resort was a perennial one.

“It was always a fear, but pretty abstract in the past,” said Mr. Price, who served as Esalen’s general manager from 1995 to 2003. “But now people are building more compelling arguments. There is definitely a greater level of fear.” 

Michael Murphy, the other co-founder of Esalen and a member of its board of trustees, said that the recent changes were necessary for the center’s financial survival and that it was “built into the DNA of the Esalen leadership to not become a commercial operation.” 

Whatever Esalen may become, people seeking something are still gravitating here. Bhavani Werning, 30, and Rebecca Popp, 21, had come from Germany to work for several months at Esalen in exchange for participating in its workshops. 

“I’m very interested in the Mayan prophecies,” Ms. Werning said. 

It had become dark by the time the Mayan shaman began wrapping up his talk on the return of Kukulkan. Innumerable stars lit up the sky above Esalen, and the Milky Way shone so clearly that it seemed within everyone’s grasp. 

“Please close your eyes,” the shaman said, instructing his listeners to invoke Kukulkan. “Breathe in, breathe out.” 

“Ku-kul-kan,” he said, pronouncing each syllable separately and banging slowly on a drum as his listeners repeated after him. “Ku-kul-kan.”

Soon, the chanting and drumming grew faster and louder, building into a frenzy with cries of “Kukulkan!”

“Breathe in,” the shaman said, “breathe out.”

"“Breathe in,” the shaman said, “breathe out.”

 

The Great Convergence 2012 Will Party at the Pyramids

From Music Festival Junkies: The Great Convergence 2012 Will Party at the Pyramids

The 2012 winter solstice may mark the end of the Mayan calendar, but it also will mark the beginning of The Great Convergence, a three day music festival set at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Running from December 20-22, 2012, The Great Convergence promises a lineup of world class DJs including Beats Antique, Apparat, Random Rab, Bluetech, Gaudi, Govinda, Desert Dwellers, David Starfire, DJ Dragonfly, Imagika, plus Moontribe DJs: Treavor, Brad, and Dela.

From the website:

The Great Convergence is a calling of the tribes to gather from across the globe for a once in a lifetime experience to intentionally celebrate this potent, transformational time in our lives culminating in a prophesized galactic astronomical alignment that happens once every 26,000 years.

And if epic pyramid raves aren’t enough, there will be a four night, five day Nile River Cruise from December 23-28 that takes festie fans from Luxor to Aswan. Tickets for the music festival and the cruise are sold separately. Three day passes to the music festival start at $550 with a variety of packages. Click the link below to get more information.
via The Great Convergence