b2evolution at cbrunning.net

holy Parenting

cbrunning — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 05:08:53 +0000

Wow, a big job and worth it. The home has to be Ashram, Church, so we work to improve our questionable one that lives for Amma. We keep at it and have Faith. It's been easier with gifts -- miraculous stuff often seems to be happening. Hey, I'm not going to whine at the idea put forth that we're just delerious or psychotic... but that's not it for me and we don't celebrate the idea of it either. Amma guides us, and it's obvious.

What a joke; The Onion reminded me that I have a blog again

cbrunning — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 17:02:57 +0000

http://theonion.com

Sometimes out here in the Denver area, headlines on The Onion newspaper jump out at me at the funniest times. I wish I had some of the satirical talent that they've obviously got over there Once in a while I come home and remember to look it up again on their website... then I remember that I haven't blogged again for a while...

finding something funny this July 4th:
• Man Who Fought For Americans' Rights Demands Americans Stop Exercising Their Rights
• Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be

from the version of this post on 2010 June 09:
• Massive Flow Of Bullshit Continues To Gush From BP Headquarters
• New Eco-Friendly Cigarettes Kill Destructive Human Beings Over Time

"Obama To Make Reassuring Eye Contact With Every Last American" sounded funny to me, but also reminds me of how Amma actually does see, hug, console and help millions of people... (try just watching Amma; challenge yourself to even keep that up -- I bet you can't handle it -- She can leave quite an impression)

Our food recipes are currently at phpBB at cbrunning.net

cbrunning — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:14:56 +0000

http://cbrunning.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=32

Oops, I never filled in any posts for this category. We have a bunch of good food recipes at the phpBB at cbrunning.net

Quinoa, both our kids enjoy eating lots...

cbrunning — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:38:07 +0000

Our kids like to eat quinoa. They especially like it flavored with flax oil and/or tamari.

Justice for Lynne Stewart Link lynnestewart.org

cbrunning — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 22:24:57 +0000

http://lynnestewart.org

"The Lynne Stewart Defense Committee has a speakers bureau made up of attorneys and activists able to speak at an event in your area."

Mailing Address:
The Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
350 Broadway, Suite 700, New York, NY 10013

approvideo

cbrunning — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:01:52 +0000

http://approvideo.org

many appropriate tech videos and documents

There is a list of video categories on their videos page @ http://wiki.edc-cu.org/blogs/index.php/videos

chomsky article on znet from left forum 3-21-10

cbrunning — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:46:23 +0000

http://leftforum.org/about

"rekindling the radical imagination"

I believe in the value of practicing control of this mind before more kindling, though I do see myself looking forward to performing positive actions with everybody as much as I can every day sometime sooner than later so let us improve. Amen

Thanks for Special Transit

cbrunning — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:03:42 +0000

http://specialtransit.org

Special Transit is a private nonprofit organization in Boulder that provides transportation options for people with limited mobility. They have provided transportation to Jaya and the kids ...we are grateful.

love to every being

cbrunning — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:37:03 +0000

every being is dear, every being, being

tv news

cbrunning — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:03:58 +0000

http://www.theonion.com/video/breaking-news-some-bullshit-happening-somewhere,16928/

Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere

http://media.theonion.com/flash/video/embedded_player.swf?&videoid=16928

developing devotional path

cbrunning — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:46:43 +0000

May I experience the devotional path to God that leads to Her Grace. By God's Grace may I learn to pray and learn not to misplace faith by attachments to delusion. May I properly fall at the feet in worship of Divine Mother Ammachi, living Master. May I seek not the last breath of air, but Her Alone.

Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

EFF on social network monitoring issues

cbrunning — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:00:36 +0000

http://www.eff.org/foia/social-network-monitoring

The EFF's post today is titled
EFF Posts Documents Detailing Law Enforcement Collection of Data From Social Media Sites

Consequences of 9/11 chart by Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth

cbrunning — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:20:04 +0000

http://www.ae911truth.org

information slideshow selection link:
http://www.ae911truth.org/ppt_web/ppt_selection.php

endorsing this Proposal for a Participatory Socialist International on zcommunications.org

cbrunning — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:17:18 +0000

http://www.zcommunications.org/newinternational.htm

Om. I endorsed. Read it at Zcommunications.org

"We, the undersigned, endorse the idea of a new International and urge that its creation include assessing, refining, augmenting, and then implementing as many of the following points as the International’s participants themselves, after due deliberation, decide mutually agreeable:

1. A new International should be primarily concerned (at least) with:

Read it at Zcom

Love, Love, Love

Our boys are getting older

cbrunning — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:36:02 +0000

Both the boys are so big now! Shivan regularly talks in sentences. They need more space and regular interaction. We all Love each other a lot,

Haiti - medialens.org

cbrunning — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:10:46 +0000

http://www.medialens.org/alerts/10/100203_haiti_the_broken.php

"Joining compassion with reason means asking why over 80 per cent of Haiti's population of 10 million people live in abject poverty. Why less than 45 per cent of all Haitians have access to potable water. Why the life expectancy rate in Haiti is only 53 years. Why seventy-six per cent of Haiti's children under the age of five are underweight, or suffer from stunted growth, with 63 per cent of Haitians undernourished. Why 1 in every 10,000 Haitians has access to a doctor. (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/haiti/intro.htm)"

Corporate person

cbrunning — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:57:42 +0000

http://murrayhillweb.com/pr-012510.html

Kids, use your discrimination

thanks Howard Zinn

cbrunning — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:23:02 +0000

Howard Zinn passed away Jan 27, 2010

meat is

cbrunning — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:35:32 +0000

I thought that this was such a crushing and compelling article that I was thinking twice about veg whole foods diet. From the authoritative NYTimes:

Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too
By NATALIE ANGIER
Published: December 21, 2009

56 days between Shannon's last two seizures of 2009 -- longest stretch in awhile

cbrunning — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:05:09 +0000

http://cbrunning.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=412

56 days passed between Shannon's seizures on October 26 2009 and December 21.

re: surveillance of mobile phone GPS location

cbrunning — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:46:21 +0000

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/surveillance-shocker-sprint-received-8-million-law

"Sprint received over 8 million requests for its customers' information in the past 13 months. That doesn't count requests for basic identification and billing information, or wiretapping requests, or requests to monitor who is calling who, or even requests for less-precise location data based on which cell phone towers a cell phone was in contact with. That's just GPS. And, that's not including legal requests from civil litigants, or from foreign intelligence investigators. That's just law enforcement. And, that's not counting the few other major cell phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. That's just Sprint."

Read the entire article at eff.org

You may be interested in an earlier link I made to an article "FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool" -- even when it's "powered off"

Ilebrate Gita Jayanti

cbrunning — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:19:19 +0000

http://www.dlshq.org/religions/gita_siva.htm

"THE HOLY Gita Jayanti, or the birthday of the Bhagavad Gita, is celebrated throughout India by all the admirers and lovers of this most sacred scripture on the eleventh day (Ekadashi) of the bright half of the month of Margaseersha (December-January), according to the Hindu almanac. It was on this day that Sanjaya narrated to King Dhritarashtra the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, and thus made the glorious teachings of the Lord available to us, and to people of the world, for all time."

- Sri Swami Sivananda

"The teachings of the Gita are broad, universal and sublime. Its teachings do not belong to any cult, sect, creed, particular age, place or country. They are meant for the people of the whole world at large. The teachings are based on the Upanishads, the ancient wisdom of the seers (Rishis) and sages. It teaches a method which is within the reach of all. It has a message for the solace, peace, freedom, salvation and perfection of all human beings."

imagination and thought

cbrunning — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:14:45 +0000

Om - I bow down to Her who is unattainable through imagination or thought

- Lalita Sahasranama verse 113

R.A.S. Farms

cbrunning — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:44:38 +0000

http://rasfarms.com

Our friends with Ital skills...
Ras Tafari

The Soul Must Reascend to God

cbrunning — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:01:13 +0000

"Before creation existed there was Cosmic Consciousness: Spirit or God, the Absolute, ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Bliss beyond form and manifestation. When creation came into being, Cosmic Consciousness "descended" into the physical universe where it manifests as Christ Consciousness:⁺ the omnipresent pure reflection of God's intelligence and consciousness inherent and hidden within all creation. When the Christ Consciousness descends into the physical body of man it becomes soul, or superconsciousness: the ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new bliss of God individualized by encasement in the body. When the soul becomes identified with the body, it manifests as ego, mortal consciousness. Yoga teaches that the soul must climb back up the ladder of consciousness to Spirit.⁺⁺

+ The Hindu scriptures refer to Christ Consciousness as Kutastha Chaitanya, universal consciousness or omnipresent intelligence.

++ Yoga teaches that the abode of the soul -- of man's life and divine consciousness -- is in the subtle spiritual centers in the brain: Sahasrara, the thousand-petaled lotus at the top of the cerebrum, seat of cosmic consciousness; Kutastha, at the point between the eyebrows, seat of Christ consciousness; and the medullary center (connected by polarity to the Kutastha), seat of superconsciousness. Descending into the body (and body-consciousness) from these centers of highest spiritual perception, life and consciousness flow down the spine, passing through five astral spinal centers (see chakras in glossary) and branching outward into physical organs of life, sensory perception, and action.

To regain the blissful realization of its oneness with God, the soul of man must retrace its downward course, ascending by the sacred spinal route to its home in the higher cerebral centers of divine awareness. This is accomplished by the practice of guru-given scientific techniques of yogic meditation, such as may be learned from the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons. (See glossary)"

Paramahansa Yogananda. Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays On Realizing God In Daily Life, Volume I. Second ed. Page 17.

Veterans Day

cbrunning — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:39:32 +0000

I pray for veterans and for those in the militaries. I love them.

"Happy 1984"

cbrunning — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:05:52 +0000

http://studentsfororwell.org

I'm recalling a time in the place where I was employed right after sept, 11 2001 getting a visit by irritated "suits" with the earpieces getup after their surveillance of the bookstore spotted a small flyer in the window that read:

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
BUSH IS PRESIDENT

Amma on remembering

cbrunning — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:36:06 +0000

"Children, Mother knows that it is difficult for you who live in the midst of material pleasures and with family ties, to remember God constantly. But when you become aware that you are not remembering Him, immediately repent, 'O Lord, I have forgotten you for this much time. I have forgotten to chant your name for this length of time. O Lord, please forgive me. Please bestow upon me the mental strength to cherish Your form within and Your name on my lips constantly and incessantly. O Lord, please do not let me waste time like this. Let the desire to behold Thy form burn within me.' Having repented and prayed thus, immediately start repeating the mantra. Again you might forget it. Don't worry, go on applying the same technique of repentance and prayer whenever you realise that you have not been chanting the mantra for a long time. Slowly in due course, you will develop the power to remember Him incessantly."

-Amma

Black Elk speaks to InI

cbrunning — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:31:40 +0000

There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men. — Black Elk, Oglala Lakota

In other words, purify youself.

I read Black Elk Speaks a couple of years ago and recognize that I have on occasion seen that which he writes about in something like daydreams... since I was a kid.

US, Alt. media, Report on the G20 Mobilization in Pittsburgh

cbrunning — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:35:33 +0000

http://www.ainfos.ca/en/ainfos23202.html

...the link to this informative article is provided thanks to:
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists

And amongst many others, many thanks to Pittsburgh Indymedia, the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project, Pittsburgh Organizing Group, and Pittsburgh Thomas Merton Center...

I think yinz did good

Check out some videos of the G20 events in Pittsburgh at the G-Infinity site ( currently at http://indypgh.org/g20/ )

lower seizure threshold lately

cbrunning — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:47:13 +0000

Jaya is apparently experiencing a lower-than-normal seizure threshold lately. Not only have the generalized seizures been more frequent, but yesterday morning she almost had another one... it stayed partial tho.

Her fatigue gets real intense at these times. Hope she feels better today and the boys are helping me let her sleep in!

nukulur issues propaganda continues to dominate the 'liberull media' - Media Lens Media Alert

cbrunning — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:27:03 +0000

http://medialens.org/alerts/09/091001_iran_the_war.php

MEDIA ALERT: IRAN - THE WAR DANCE

On September 19, the Irish Times reported:

“Israel has rejected the call by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and open up its atomic sites to international inspection.” (Mark Weiss, ‘Israel spurns nuclear watchdog's call to open atomic sites to inspection,’ Irish Times, September 19, 2009; http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0919/1224254860406.html)

The IAEA, which met in Vienna on September 18, adopted a resolution expressing concern about “Israeli nuclear capabilities” and called on agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei to work on the issue. The motion was adopted by 49 votes to 45, with 16 abstentions.

Read more at medialens.org

Only spirituality can give us the strength to go on loving and serving others

cbrunning — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:33:34 +0000

It is only through understanding spiritual principles and performing spiritual practices that we will gain the right understanding and the right mental attitude in order to persevere in performing good actions no matter what kind of response we get in return.

Once Saint Eknath saw a scorpion floundering in a pool of water. He decided to save it by stretching out his finger, but the scorpion stung him. Eknath briefly withdrew his hand, wincing in pain. After a few moments Eknath again tried to rescue the scorpion from the water, but the scorpion stung him again. This went on for some time.

Finally an onlooker asked Eknath, "Why do you keep trying to rescue a scorpion knowing it will only sting you in return?"

Eknath explained, "It is the nature of the scorpion to sting; it is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting?" Finally the scorpion, held in thrall by the power of Eknath's compassion, refrained from stinging him anymore, and Eknath happily retrieved the scorpion and placed it safely on the ground.

Only spirituality can give us the strength to go on loving and serving others, even when they only sting us in return. As the Buddha said, "Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love -- this is the eternal law."

from The Blessed Life, by Swami Ramakrishnananda Puri

looking glass

cbrunning — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:05:10 +0000

"We see in the world that which we project. If we look with eyes of hatred and vengence, the world will appear exactly that way to us. But if we look with eyes of love and compassion, we will see nothing but God's beauty everywhere.

~ Amma

Leonard Peltier - "I Am Barack Obama's Political Prisoner Now"

cbrunning — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:37:31 +0000

http://www.counterpunch.org/peltier09112009.html

I Am Barack Obama's Political Prisoner Now

By LEONARD PELTIER

The United States Department of Justice has once again made a mockery of its lofty and pretentious title.

After releasing an original and continuing disciple of death cult leader Charles Manson who attempted to shoot President Gerald Ford, an admitted Croatian terrorist, and another attempted assassin of President Ford under the mandatory 30-year parole law, the U.S. Parole Commission deemed that my release would “promote disrespect for the law.”

If only the federal government would have respected its own laws, not to mention the treaties that are, under the U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of the land, I would never have been convicted nor forced to spend more than half my life in captivity. Not to mention the fact that every law in this country was created without the consent of Native peoples and is applied unequally at our expense. If nothing else, my experience should raise serious questions about the FBI’s supposed jurisdiction in Indian Country.
Read more »

never forget

cbrunning — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:05:38 +0000

false flags and insanity notwithstanding, All is Divine

Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj's birthday - Sept 8

cbrunning — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:17:51 +0000

http://www.dlshq.org/saints/siva.htm

"You must be very correct, very punctual, very regular. You should discipline yourself rigidly. Otherwise, you cannot attain the highest, the Realisation. It is not an easy task. Happy-go-lucky type easy temperament is no good in spiritual pursuits. Have you noticed how correct, how strict, how disciplined are the soldiers in the army? They have to stand in the parade according to the unit or battalion they belong to. They have to be absolutely spick and span. They do polishing of the shoes and brass by themselves. Even if a single button is dull, the inspecting officer spots the soldier and puts him into quarter-guard, and he will have to do fettling duty. They are always fighting fit, trim and clean, neat and tidy, because they have been drilled into this sort of correctness, precision and training. When an ordinary soldier is required to be so disciplined, so correct, so punctual, so regular, then what to say about you, O aspirant! A spiritual aspirant has to be even ten times more strict, regular, punctual, correct, well-disciplined. A soldier fights to win a battle, whereas an aspirant has to win the kingdom of heaven, win Kaivalya Moksha. Therefore, never give leniency to your mind." ~Sivananda

from "Practised Before Preaching", a chapter of Sri Swami Chidananda's book Swami Sivananda: Saint, Sage and Godman

Sept. 19 is 2009's Software Freedom Day

cbrunning — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:44:56 +0000

http://softwarefreedomday.org

Events may be held locally to your area.

this is from http://softwarefreedomday.org/about:

"Software Freedom Day (SFD) is a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Our goal in this celebration is to educate the worldwide public about of the benefits of using high quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business -- in short, everywhere! The non-profit company Software Freedom International coordinates SFD at a global level, providing support, giveaways and a point of collaboration, but volunteer teams around the world organize the local SFD events to impact their own communities."

Happy Labor Day

Ganesha Chaturthi - 23 August

cbrunning — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:51:11 +0000

http://www.dlshq.org/religions/ganesh.htm

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namaha!

Om Gung Ganapathaye Namah!

Today is the festival celebration of the birthday of Lord Ganesha.

He is the Lord of power and wisdom.

Alice Walker, Gaza

cbrunning — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:47:48 +0000

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10675.shtml

Ananda Veethi

cbrunning — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:04:38 +0000

http://www.amritapuri.org/amma/life/ananda/

"Oh Man, merge in your Self!" ~Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

Amma sings about Her experience in the mystical song, 'Ananda Veethi', The Path of Bliss.

Turning Children Into Consumers, Sharon Beder, Media Lens Guest Media Alert

cbrunning — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:45:00 +0000

http://www.medialens.org/alerts/09/090629_turning_children_into.php

Introduction and full excerpt at medialens.org

TURNING CHILDREN INTO CONSUMERS
by Sharon Beder -- extracted from “This Little Kiddy Went to Market: The Corporate Capture of Childhood”, Pluto Press, London, 2009.

Children are naïve about advertising and can easily be manipulated and exploited by marketers to want and demand their products. Corporate marketers believe that over time they can be shaped into lifelong consumers with brand loyalties and that can be profitable for decades to come. What is more, children influence family spending decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars on household items like furniture, electrical appliances and computers, vacations, and even the family car.

Corporations began targeting their marketing messages directly to children during the 1980s, as affluent adult markets became saturated with consumer goods. Large firms established ‘kids’ departments and smaller firms specialised in marketing to children. A number of advertising industry publications were created such as Selling to Kids and Marketing to Kids Report. The academic literature began to feature studies of children as consumers.

In the US the amount corporations spent marketing to children under twelve increased by five times between 1980 and 1990 and ten times more during the 1990s. In 2004 around $15 billion was being spent marketing to children. Conferences on the best ways to market to children are held all over the world. There are also awards for the best advertisements and marketing campaigns with hundreds of entries.

two wheeling Quinn

cbrunning — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:17:36 +0000

We had been seeing kids around that were Quinn's age or younger and really doing well with bicycling...

So Quinn picked it up immediately and was able to ride without the trainingwheels. Evidently mind over matter...

Shivan says "Amma"

cbrunning — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:54:56 +0000

nate the nate

cbrunning — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:41:49 +0000

http://nathanhutchinson.net

We have these two prints from our friend Nate.

	I have no idea what this thing is; I've heard it referred to as "the owl"

We have a number of other drawings and paintings that Nate has gifted us with.

I had made this blog post a while ago but forgot to set it to "published".

Nate does Commission work -- call on him to get some art into your life;
check out his website.

Intentional Communities

cbrunning — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:40:36 +0000

http://www.ic.org/link.php

Intentional Communities Website: provides information on the intentional communities movement including a searchable Communities Directory and hundreds of articles on community. Published by the FIC

The Communities Directory that they publish is also a really good resource; no computer necessary.

Newspeak Newsweek

cbrunning — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:34:33 +0000

http://cbrunning.net/b2evolution/index.php/politics/socialism/talking-heads-want-u-to-fear-socialism

I saw a newsweek on the rack at a coffeeshop today that says IN HUGE LETTERS on the front "We are all socialists now"

I chuckled when I picked the thing up because then I noticed that it had been strategically placed on top of a copy of International Socialist Review.

U.S. Supreme Court denies Mumia Abu-Jamal ...without comment

cbrunning — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:54:32 +0000

http://www.freemumia.com/rejected.html

US Supreme Court rejects appeal by Mumia Abu-Jamal for new trial
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/apr2009/mumi-a07.shtml

"The United States Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal for a new trial by Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose struggle over more than a quarter century against his murder conviction in a politically and racially motivated frame-up has become a focus of international opposition to capital punishment and political repression.

The Court rejected, without comment, a writ of certiorari filed by Abu-Jamal's lawyers charging that his 1982 trial in the killing the previous year of a Philadelphia police officer should be discounted because the prosecution illegally excluded African-Americans from the jury. It requires only four of the nine justices to agree to hear such an appeal, meaning that at least one of the four nominally liberal members of the court refused to support the writ. The fact that the decision was issued without comment or dissent suggests that the decision was unanimous."

Some links:

Saturday, April 11, 2009 at 6:00 p.m
NYC: Emergency Meeting in Response to the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Mumia Abu-Jamal

http://millions4mumia.org

http://www.freemumia.com

http://www.abu-jamal-news.com

Is it really sat ire

cbrunning — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:36:49 +0000

http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/come_on_lighten_up_im_just?utm_source=b-section

From the Onion opinion column:

Come On, Lighten Up, I'm Just Being A Total Asshole

By Jeffrey Studges
March 26, 2009
Issue 45•13

Talk about not having a sense of humor. These days you can't even sit down, rudely interrupt someone's conversation, insult them directly to their face, and then act like a complete and utter asshole without people getting super offended by it. It's like, Christ—lighten up, will you?

from theonion.com

Iraq Occupation Anniversary

cbrunning — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:43:37 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/mar2009/pers-m20.shtml

Six years since the U.S. invasion
In six years likely more than 1.3 million Iraqi deaths
Millions of Iraqis are out of their homes, displaced
4,260 acknowledged U.S. Military deaths
30,000 Iraqis remain detained, most of them without charges, in US and Iraqi prisons, where torture continues
The majority of the U.S. people are opposed
U.S. President Obama has indicated he is with the military Wall Street

¹ http://www.arthistoryclub.com/art_history/Iraq

² http://countrystudies.us/iraq/30.htm

29.3 million population estimate for 2007? ^0, 0.9 25.4 million estimate for 2004? ¹ 17.9 million people lived there as of a 1991 estimate, a different estimate says 16.28 million in 1987 and 12 million + in 1975 ²

"One Million Dead in Iraq: Our Own Holocaust Denial"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18765.htm

there are various other official "credible" counts, there are efforts to confuse
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/conflicts/iraq_handover/numbers_game_revisited

slideshow at gallery2_at_cbrunning.net

cbrunning — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:38:02 +0000

http://cbrunning.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=slideshow.Slideshow&g2_itemId=7

This is a link to a slideshow of our main gallery2

Right now it draws from the large rootlevel album of mostly unlabeled family photos. Might be boring; might not work. The album runs w/ javascript.

U.S. ganja laws link (NORML)

cbrunning — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:34:02 +0000

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4516

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

I appreciate a lot of the organization's efforts and information -- particularly that they provide this:

Daylight "Savings" Time ?

cbrunning — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:44:41 +0000

http://www.republicoflakotah.com/?p=1347

I thought this was sad-but-true funny:

When told the reason for daylight saving time the old Indian said...

"Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket."

What is the reason for this massively disruptive thing called DST? I've never heard anything that sounds reasonable. Typical overwhelming bull all around

I'm still feeling it. "Little" stuff...

Fortunately we don't get totally railroaded by the clock as much as we could be. We didn't even realize that the clocks changed until Wednesday!?

A goal of consistency in action

cbrunning — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:24:59 +0000

http://bhagavad-gita.gita-society.com/bhagavad-gita.htm#4

We have a capacity to remember God throughout every action.

One who has abandoned selfish attachment to the fruits of work and remains ever content and dependent on no one but God, such a person - though engaged in activity - does nothing at all and incurs no Karmic reaction.

~ Bhagavad Gita chapter 4

Parenting Alternatives to Punishment

cbrunning — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 15:34:26 +0000

This list is from the "Discipline" chapter in Natural Family Living by Peggy O'Mara.

Use positive reinforcement.

Create a positive environment.

Say yes as much as possible.

Say no for the important things.

Use natural consequences.

Use logical consequences.

Use restitution.

Leave it up to your child.

Compromise.

State your expectations, and get out of the way.

Give specific instructions.

Give a reason.

Offer help.

Give a choice.

Redirect your child.

Remove your child.

Make positive statements.

Give in occasionally.

Give your child time to agree.

Simply insist. [instead of asking "Okay?" constantly]

Make rules.

Ignore some behavior.

Avoid nagging and threats.

Distract your child.

Use humor.

Make it a game.

Be willing to admit your mistakes.

Stop and think before you act.

Don't make a big fuss over little things.

Stick to routines.

Don't hurry your children too much.

Get to the root of the problem.

Correct one behavior at a time.

Give yourselves time.

Use the golden rule.

Model appropriate behavior.

Think of your child as an equal.

Always keep your love for your child in mind.

I do not necessarily agree with everything on this list or in the book, or in this blog for that matter. But how many other places have you found lists of alternatives to punishment? (Please do not send your go0gle query result -- I know how to do that) Earlier in the chapter, where the author describes each one of these alternatives a little, she states:

"Look over this list of alternatives to punishment. Not all of them will work for you -- some may be more appropriate for certain ages or situations; some may even be contradictory. The point is to have a repertoire of approaches to draw from in any given situation."

This simple list is then reprinted at the end of the chapter.

Om

Oakland CA Resident Tristan Anderson Critically Injured by IDF Tear Gas Canister in Ni'lin

cbrunning — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:49:19 +0000

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/13/18576814.php

Tristan Anderson Critically Injured in Demonstration Against Israeli Wall

He was reportedly hit in the head with an Israeli military tear gas canister

Zinn: Sacco and Vanzetti

cbrunning — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:41:05 +0000

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/1589

"[This essay is part of the ZNet Classics series. Three times a week we will re-post an article that we think is of timeless importance. This one was first published April 14, 2007.]"

[...]

Their ultimate crime was their anarchism, an idea which today still startles us like a bolt of lightning because of its essential truth: we are all one, national boundaries and national hatreds must disappear, war is intolerable, the fruits of the earth must be shared, and only through organized struggle against authority can such a world come about.

What comes to us today from the case of Sacco and Vanzetti is not just tragedy, but inspiration. Their English was not perfect, but when they spoke it was a kind of poetry. Vanzetti said of his friend Sacco:

Sacco is a heart, a faith, a character, a man; a man lover of nature and mankind. A man who gave all, who sacrifice all to the cause of liberty and to his love for mankind: money, rest, mundane ambition, his own wife, his children, himself and his own life.... Oh yes, I may be more witful, as some have put it, I am a better babbler than he is, but many, many times, in hearing his heartful voice ring a faith sublime, in considering his supreme sacrifice, remembering his heroism I felt small, small at the presence of his greatness, and found myself compelled to fight back from my eyes the tears, quench my heart throbbing to my throat to not weep before him -this man called chief and assassin and doomed.

Worst of all, they were anarchists, meaning they had some crazy notion of a full democracy in which neither foreignness nor poverty would exist, and thought that without these provocations, war among nations would end for all time. But for this to happen the rich would have to be fought and their riches confiscated. That anarchist idea is a crime much worse than robbing a payroll, and so to this day the story of Sacco and Vanzetti cannot be recalled without great anxiety.

Sacco wrote to his son Dante: "So son, instead of crying, be strong, so as to be able to comfort your mother...take her for a long walk in the quiet country, gathering wild flowers here and there, resting under the shade of trees...But remember always, Dante, in this play of happiness, don't you use all for yourself only...help the persecuted and the victim because they are your better friends.... In this struggle of life you will find more love and you will be loved."

[...]

Read the full essay at Znet

Google Begins Behavioral Targeting Ad Program

cbrunning — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:46:32 +0000

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/google-begins-behavioral-targeting-ad-program

Read the article at eff.org

Some of you out there might be interested in this Adbusters project:
http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/blackspot_blog/unclick_google.html

Blogging anonymously

cbrunning — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:41:20 +0000

http://www.rsf.org

Reporters Without Borders and the Electronic Frontier Foundation always have a lot of good information on their websites. Included is information on how to stay anonymous on the internet as one tries to say something. Once in a while I think about taking some different steps sometimes to remain more anonymous, but something personally is telling me these days to simply do my best to speak my truth and use the tools I've already got (like on this site till it goes down -- I'm obviously not anonymous). Of course I try not to act foolishly, and I don't profess that what I'm doing is necessarily right for others. (BTW I'm quite used to people obviously having the opinion that I'm smart but naive -- so you can spare me your concerns about that unless you've got some real advice, and you actually care -- I can usually detect these things. ) I see what I do as part of my spiritual practice. And it is always a learning experience. I do believe that it is essential for people to have the rights and the tools which will enable them to speak anonymously. I also know that the "war on terror" is bullshit, just like the "war on drugs", etc...

Generic Invader Nonsense - Obama on Iraq (Media Lens Media Alert)

cbrunning — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:36:38 +0000

http://www.medialens.org/alerts/09/090305_generic_invader_nonsense.php

Here is an example of a recent Media Lens Media Alert

Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 10:53:15 UT
From: Media Lens Media Alerts noreply@medialens.org
Subject: Generic Invader Nonsense - Obama on Iraq

MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media

March 5, 2009

MEDIA ALERT: GENERIC INVADER NONSENSE - OBAMA ON IRAQ

As a presidential candidate, Barrack Obama described the war in Iraq as one that “should never have been authorised and never been wagedd”. (www.wsws.org/articles/2009/mar2009/pers-m02.shtml) On February 27, as president, Obama saw it differently. He told US troops at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina:

“You have fought against tyranny and disorder. You have bled for your best friends and for unknown Iraqis. And you have borne an enormous burden for your fellow citizens, while extending a precious opportunity to the people of Iraq. Under tough circumstances, the men and women of the United States military have served with honor, and succeeded beyond any expectation..” ((’Obamaa’s Speech at Camp Lejeune, N.C.,,’ New York Times, February 27, 2009; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/us/politics/27obama-text.html)

This might best be described as Generic Invader Nonsense (GIN). Much the same has been said by every war leader and general of every invasion in history. Did Goebbels not argue that Germany was fighting “tyrannyy” on the Eastern front in 1941? Were Indonesian armed forces not offering a “precious opportunityy” to the impoverished people of East Timor in 1975?

Obama next directed his GIN to the people of Iraq:

“Our nations have known difficult times together. But ours is a bond forged by shared bloodshed, and countless friendships among our people. We Americans have offered our most precious resource – our young men and women – to work with you to rebuild what was destroyed by despotism; to root out our common enemies; and to seek peace and prosperity for our children and grandchildren, and for yours..”

The precise moment when the illegal invasion demolishing Iraq - the attack that "should never have been authorised and never been waged" - became a selfless act of friendship in pursuit of peace and prosperity was not identified. Did this happen half-way through 2003? Perhaps early 2004?
Read more »

They give the lying name of empire ["Freedom"]

cbrunning — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:43:00 +0000

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/tac/ag01030.htm

"Raptores orbis, postquam cuncta vastantibus defuere terrae, mare scrutantur: si locuples hostis est, avari, si pauper, ambitiosi, quos non Oriens, non Occidens satiaverit: soli omnium opes atque inopiam pari adfectu concupiscunt. Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant."

"Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a solitude and call it peace."

~ Tacitus: De vita Iulii Agricolae (98 CE)

Trial Begins - Churchill vs. University of Colorado

cbrunning — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:31:16 +0000

http://www.russellmeansfreedom.com/?p=1109

March 9-27, 2009: Churchill v. University of Colorado scheduled for trial in Denver State Court.

Which form of God?

cbrunning — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:24:02 +0000

http://www.neemkarolibaba.com

I lost my mobile phone

cbrunning — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:48:41 +0000

http://cbrunning.net/b2evolution/index.php/politics/people-under-attack/fbi-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping

Shivan tossed my phone somewhere while we were riding the bus yesterday... I forgot to pick it up. Lost and found has not seen it yet. Oh well, one less surveillance device to be mindful of.

Internet Service Provider censorship, ACTA

cbrunning — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:15:09 +0000

http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2378/2089

If you are interested in ISP censorship issues you may want to look at this essay, written by Journalism and Media Studies Centre, University of Hong Kong Assistant Professor Rebecca MacKinnon.

A related topic you might be interested in is the intellectual property enforcement treaty being discussed in secret, known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)...

From the EFF: ( http://www.eff.org/issues/acta )

[...]

"Although the proposed treaty's title might suggest that the agreement deals only with counterfeit physical goods (such as medicines), what little information has been made available publicly by negotiating governments about the content of the treaty makes it clear that it will have a far broader scope, and in particular, will deal with new tools targetting "Internet distribution and information technology".

[...]

"ACTA is being negotiated by a select group of industrialized countries, outside of existing international multilateral venues for creating new IP norms such as the World Intellectual Property Organization and (since TRIPs) the World Trade Organization. Both civil society and developing countries are intentionally being excluded from these negotiations. While the existing international fora provide (at least to some extent) room for a range of views to be heard and addressed, no such checks and balances will influence the outcome of the ACTA negotiations."

[...]

Read more about the ACTA at eff.org

UPDATE 15 March 2009 ( blog.wired.com ):

Obama Administration Declares Proposed IP Treaty a 'National Security' Secret [ like Bush ]

Like the EFF had previously done, "On January 31, 2009, KEI submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to USTR for copies of seven documents containing much of the negotiating text of the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)."

Link to Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) - http://www.keionline.org

cbrunning post history - 21 February 2009, 15 March 2009

Vorbis stream from KGNU 88.5 MHz

cbrunning — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:21:47 +0000

http://stream.kgnu.net:8000/KGNU_live_med.ogg.m3u

For someone who supports ogg-vorbis AND listens to KGNU at the same time, an ogg stream may be available at this link or something similar.

reality

Jaya — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:27:11 +0000

"Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one." ~Albert Einstein
"Only one who is awake can awaken others." ~Amma

Essay: Why Audio Format Matters by Karl Fogel

cbrunning — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:07:38 +0000

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-audio-format-matters.html

An invitation to audio producers to use Ogg
Vorbis alongside MP3

by Karl Fogel

The Free Software Foundation have also produced a user-friendly guide to installing Ogg Vorbis support in Microsoft
Windows and Apple Mac OS X.

If you produce audio for general distribution, you probably spend 99.9% of your time thinking about form, content, and production quality, and 0.1% thinking about what audio format to distribute your recordings in.

And in an ideal world, this would be fine. Audio formats would be like the conventions of laying out a book, or like pitches and other building-blocks of music: containers of meaning, available for anyone to use, free of restrictions. You wouldn't have to worry about the consequences of distributing your material in MP3 format, any more than you would worry about putting a page number at the top of a page, or starting a book with a table of contents.

Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in. MP3 is a patented format. What this means is that various companies have government-granted monopolies over certain aspects of the MP3 standard, such that whenever someone creates or listens to an MP3 file, even with software not written by one of those companies, the companies have the right to decide whether or not to permit that use of MP3. Typically what they do is demand money, of course. But the terms are entirely up to them: they can forbid you from using MP3 at all, if they want. If you've been using MP3 files and didn't know about this situation, then either a) someone else, usually a software maker, has been paying the royalties for you, or b) you've been unknowingly infringing on patents, and in theory could be sued for it.

The harm here goes deeper than just the danger to you. A software patent grants one party the exclusive right to use a certain mathematical fact. This right can then be bought and sold, even litigated over like a piece of property, and you can never predict what a new owner might do with it. This is not just an abstract possibility: MP3 patents have been the subject of multiple lawsuits, with damages totalling more than a billion dollars.

link to Richard Stallman's "Why schools should exclusively use free software"

cbrunning — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:04:51 +0000

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/schools.html

amongst other free software philosophy...

Free software makes sense to me and I want to use and develop more for education

link to Essay: The Politics of Self-Emancipation by Steve D'Arcy

cbrunning — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:23:04 +0000

http://mostlywater.org/politics_selfemancipation

"Anarchists and Marxists have not always agreed on very much. Indeed, Karl Marx and his anarchist contemporary and rival, Mikhail Bakunin, were especially prone to disagree with one another. But there was one key political judgment of which they both became convinced: that "the emancipation of the working class must be the act of workers themselves." This principle of self-emancipation was enshrined in the Rules of the organization to which they both belonged in the late 19th century, the "International," as it was then called, or the "First International," as it came to be known. Today, it is perhaps best known through the song dedicated to it, The Internationale."

"Mother, just see how much this world has degenerated!"

cbrunning — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:15:30 +0000

Question: Mother, just see how much this world has degenerated!
Amma: Son, do not look at the world. Look within your own self and remove the impurities from your mind. Practice seeing only the good in others. When all the impurities are removed from your mind, then you will be able to help make others good. Whereas, if you go on blaming the world and finding fault with others, your own mind will become degenerated and you will also become like them. If we try to make the world good before becoming good ourselves, that will do harm both to us and the world. Only one who has studied can teach others; only one who is rich can help others financially; only one who has accumulated can give and only one who is completely freed from sorrow and impurities can free others from sorrow and make them pure. If you know your own Self, the world will become your wealth, but to know the Self needs constant practice. Mother sees only the Pure Essence in you. One can become like that through practice. When a blacksmith sees a piece of iron, he will not care about the rust covering it. He will think of the object he can make out of the iron after removing the rust. A sculptor, when he sees a rock, thinks of the form he can carve out of it. He does not pay any attention to the moss on the rock. In a similar manner, we should see only the good in others.
Question: Mother, can householders attain Liberation?
Amma: Yes, but they must be real grahasthashramis. Living in the house, they must live like Ashramites. That is real grahasthashrama. While remaining in the house, they should live for God. It is possible to carry on a spiritual life while living in the world. The one condition is that one must perform actions selflessly without any attachment. One should not worry about the past or the future. Live in the present, surrendering your actions and their fruit at the Feet of the Lord. Perform your duties as sincerely as possible, keeping in mind that all is entrusted by God. Be satisfied with whatever is provided by the Supreme. Anyhow, when we act with an attitude of surrender and devotion, it will bear the best fruit. But do not confuse your mind thinking of the fruit. If you perform your duties in the present, sincerely and wholeheartedly, considering it as your duty entrusted by God, then the future will become your friend. Live today with dedication, then tomorrow will be your friend. Get rid of "I" and "mine" and consider everything as God's.
Question: Mother, who is a real Guru?
Amma: A real Guru is one who kindles and sustains the Light of Knowledge or spirituality in the disciple, destroying ignorance. A genuine Master always works with the vasanas of the disciples. He makes the disciple realize his negativities and helps him to eliminate them. A true Master never gives importance to siddhis. He has all the powers needed under his sway. Even then, he will always remain simple and humble. A true Master is a Self-Realized Soul. One can see and experience all the eternal virtues like universal love, renunciation, patience, forbearance, endurance, etc., in him. He will have equal vision and perfect balance of mind in all circumstances. There will not be even an iota of selfishness in him. He will have no desires except the good and well-being of the entire creation. He will neither find fault with others nor will he criticize anyone. Peace and tranquility are his nature. Anger can never overpower him. If you see him get angry, that will only be for correcting and guiding others. His anger is another expression of his love. Such a Master's anger is like a burnt shell. The burnt shell will have the shape of a shell but will disappear if tapped with a little force. The real Master will appear to be angry but that is only an external show. His mind will not be affected by it.
Question: Mother, what are the signs of a true Guru-sishya (Master-disciple) relationship?
Amma: In a genuine Guru-sishya relationship, it will be difficult to recognize who is who because the Guru will have more of a servant-like attitude than the disciple. The Guru will have the attitude to transform the disciple by every possible means. The Guru will watch each and every action of the disciple, but the disciple will not understand this. In a true Guru-sishya relationship, the Guru will have tremendous patience. Even if the disciple commits serious errors, the Guru will patiently forbear and will give opportunity after opportunity for the sishya to correct himself and become flawless. A real Guru will be like a true mother and a true father to the disciple. That means not only will he love the disciple selflessly and wholeheartedly, but at the same time, he will also be a good disciplinarian.
On the other hand, the disciple will serve the Guru with an attitude that the Guru should not even know that he is serving him. That is the duty of a true disciple. Seva or service means obedience. Obedience means self-surrender. Self-surrender means giving up one's own ego, the feeling that "I am doing and I must get the fruit of it." A true disciple will be ready to sacrifice all of his comforts and even his body to serve the Guru. A true disciple's love towards his Master will be like the love of the Gopis towards Krishna. The disciple will have no secrets. He will be like an open book in front of the Master. He will always have the awareness that his Guru knows everything. Therefore, he will not commit any mistakes. In such a Guru-sishya relationship, the Guru will be in the disciple and the disciple will be in the Guru.
A real disciple wil eat and sleep only after the Guru eats and sleeps. He will get up before the Guru gets up, and having finished with his nature calls, bath and other morning necessities, he will do whatever is needed for the Guru. He will never show impatience or impertinence. Humility will be his trademark. Just as water flows automatically to where the field is low, the Guru's grace will automatically flow into the disciple when he sees the disciple's movements endowed with sraddha (faith) and bhakti (devotion). But today it is very difficult to find such a Guru-sishya relationship.
Question: Nowadays we hear about many Avatars (Incarnations), but the Srimad Bhagavatam says that there are only ten Avatars.
Amma: Son, nowhere is it stated that God will incarnate only during a certain time, place and in a certain form. Nobody can predict where, how or when the glory of God will assume form. All that takes place according to His Will. He can incarnate in any place at any time. He is not bound by time or place. To protect dharma, the unlimited and formless Supreme Being accepts different limited forms according to His own sankalpa and again makes them merge in His Infinite Self. This is like the waters of the ocean rising up as vapor and returning again to the ocean as rain.

Mata Amritanandamayi. Awaken Children! Volume II. Pages 87-90.

Leonard Peltier's safety is in jeapordy

cbrunning — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:55:29 +0000

http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/alert.htm

"We feel that prison authorities at the prompting of the FBI orchestrated this attack and thus, we are greatly concerned about his safety. It may be that the attackers, whom Leonard did not even know, were offered reduced sentences for carrying out this heinous assault. Since Leonard is up for parole soon, this could be a conspiracy to discredit a model prisoner."

READ MORE...

MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

27 JANUARY 2009

Contact: Kari Ann Cowan
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
PO Box 7488
Fargo, ND 58106
Phone: 701-235-2206
whoisleonardpeltier.info

Native Americans and supporters outraged at FBI and George W. Bush

Fargo, North Dakota — The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) recently influenced the federal prison system to transfer elder Native American, Leonard Peltier, to a facility for young gang members whereupon his arrival he was immediately attacked and severely beaten. He was thrown into solitary confinement and denied proper medical care and food. The FBI has put out a letter encouraging others to indulge in whatever activities they can to block a possible pardon by President Obama for Leonard Peltier.

READ MORE...

Noam Chomsky, Video: The U.S. - Israel's Godfather

cbrunning — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:37:39 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30X2tYUGK_8

See chomsky.info

Here is another relevant and recent video featuring Professor Chomsky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DqgVHn7TiQ

The full video of this event (the second video) held at the MIT Center for International Studies on January 13, 2009, is out there on YouTube and is also archived at the MIT site -- linked from http://web.mit.edu/cis/eventposter_011309_chomsky.html and from http://web.mit.edu/cis/starr.html

On other topics, there are privacy issues when embedding videos that place cookies on computers

But those Bill Hicks videos I linked to last year are so funny!

I am using Gnash to play these videos. You should try it. http://getgnash.org

Gnash is a high priority project of the Free Software Foundation, and needs your support:
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority.html

College Student Vindicated After Political Email Sparks Disciplinary Action

cbrunning — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:09:56 +0000

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/27

Yeah. Lots of people have to deal with crazy "acceptable use" policies.

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) website:

January 28th, 2009

College Student Vindicated After Political Email Sparks Disciplinary Action

Michigan State University Clears Student Government Leader

East Lansing, MI - A Michigan State University (MSU) student government leader has been cleared of any charges of wrongdoing after the school falsely labeled her a spammer for sending out a political email to faculty members. MSU has also agreed to revise its Network Acceptable Use Policy to ensure that it is fair and constitutional.

Read more at eff.org

Republic of Lakotah

cbrunning — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:09:44 +0000

http://www.republicoflakotah.com

The information at the site is informative. FYI here is a video interview with Russell Means :

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2bf_1232825204

Mitakuye Oyasin

David Swanson: Dangerous Executive Orders

cbrunning — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:08:49 +0000

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39276

The Center for Constitutional Rights has expressed concern that President Obama's executive order banning torture may contain a loophole. But no president has any right to declare torture legal or illegal, with or without loopholes. And if we accept that presidents have such powers, even if our new president does good with them, then loopholes will be the least of our worries.

Torture is, and has long been, illegal in every case, without exception. It is banned by our Bill of Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 2340A. Nothing any president can do can change this or unchange it, weaken it or strengthen it in any way.

Chomsky: No change coming with Obama

cbrunning — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:22:30 +0000

http://chomsky.info/interviews/20090124.htm

Iraqis get some deserved credit, as should many others:

"What happened in Iraq is extremely interesting and important. [...]

What has happened is that there was a remarkable campaign of non-violent resistance in Iraq, which compelled the United States, step-by-step, to back away from its programs and its goals. They compelled the US occupying forces to allow an election, which the US did not want and tried to evade in all sorts of ways.

Then they went on from there to force the United States to accept at least formally a status of forces agreement, which if the Obama administration lives up to it, will abandon most of the US war aims. It will eliminate the huge permanent military bases that the US has built in Iraq. It will mean the US will not control decisions over how the oil resources will be accessed and used. And in fact just every war aim is gone.

Of course there is a question of whether the US will live up to it"

Chomsky: No change coming with Obama
Noam Chomsky interviewed by Afshin Ratansi
Press TV, January 24, 2009

Some global warming news blurbs

cbrunning — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:43:46 +0000

Global warming could suffocate the sea
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16477-global-warming-could-suffocate-the-sea.html

Slowdown of coral growth extremely worrying, say scientists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/01/1

Tree deaths double across western US
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16469-tree-deaths-double-across-western-us.html

Global warming increasing death rate of US trees, scientists warn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/22/trees-death-global-warming

Medical Marijuana: DEA Hits California Dispensary in First Raid of Obama Administration -- New President [had] promised End to Raids

cbrunning — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:18:31 +0000

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/569/DEA_raid_medical_marijuana_dispensary_first_obama

This, as with many other things, is not going as Obama promised.

According another article on stopthedrugwar.org , Obama's whitehouse dot gov agenda also does not even mention " a word about the nation's most widely used illicit drug or the nearly 900,000 [US!!] arrests a year generated by marijuana prohibition"

Chomsky article: Obama on Israel-Palestine

cbrunning — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:18:57 +0000

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20364

"Obama is not directly falsifying the Arab League proposal, but the carefully framed deceit is instructive."

I read this recent Chomsky article at Znet

All of this is happening as Obama's new foreign policy team prepares escalated bloodletting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, writes Patrick Martin at the World Socialist Web Site.

Nasty boulder library sewage in boulder creek

cbrunning — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:04:01 +0000

http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10437&Itemid=3400

Stupid thoughts --

It's a tough decision: now do I bathe in the creek or do I use the tap water? Even the library is dumping.

Well, ridiculous amounts of chlorine and other industrial byproducts do reduce the biological activity in the tap water, in a controlled way, at some times. And getting my fluoride is so important to me. And I feel lucky that the smell helps to remind me to get out of the shower before I get dizzy.

But the creek is so energizing! It obviously has better quality water. Rolling out of the mountains, it's probably got better water than most places in the country, despite all the mining runoff. The chlorine and other industrial byproducts don't smell as obvious in the creek either.

Chomsky article: "Exterminate all the Brutes": Gaza 2009

cbrunning — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:39:32 +0000

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20316

"Exterminate all the Brutes": Gaza 2009

January, 20 2009

By Noam Chomsky

On Saturday December 27, the latest US-Israeli attack on helpless Palestinians was launched. The attack had been meticulously planned, for over 6 months according to the Israeli press. The planning had two components: military and propaganda. It was based on the lessons of Israel's 2006 invasion of Lebanon, which was considered to be poorly planned and badly advertised. We may, therefore, be fairly confident that most of what has been done and said was pre-planned and intended.

That surely includes the timing of the assault: shortly before noon, when children were returning from school and crowds were milling in the streets of densely populated Gaza City. It took only a few minutes to kill over 225 people and wound 700, an auspicious opening to the mass slaughter of defenseless civilians trapped in a tiny cage with nowhere to flee.

In his retrospective "Parsing Gains of Gaza War," New York Times correspondent Ethan Bronner cited this achievement as one of the most significant of the gains. Israel calculated that it would be advantageous to appear to "go crazy," causing vastly disproportionate terror, a doctrine that traces back to the 1950s. "The Palestinians in Gaza got the message on the first day," Bronner wrote, "when Israeli warplanes struck numerous targets simultaneously in the middle of a Saturday morning. Some 200 were killed instantly, shocking Hamas and indeed all of Gaza." The tactic of "going crazy" appears to have been successful, Bronner concluded: there are "limited indications that the people of Gaza felt such pain from this war that they will seek to rein in Hamas," the elected government. That is another long-standing doctrine of state terror. I don't, incidentally, recall the Times retrospective "Parsing Gains of Chechnya War," though the gains were great.

The meticulous planning also presumably included the termination of the assault, carefully timed to be just before the inauguration, so as to minimize the (remote) threat that Obama might have to say some words critical of these vicious US-supported crimes.

33rd seizure yesterday

cbrunning — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:41:57 +0000

http://cbrunning.net/wordpress/seizures/

We were just outside the house; I was going out for a walk with the fam at around 10am. Jaya had this seizure in the driveway... lucky it was relatively warm and Quinn and I kept her covered with a couple of blankets. She was ok and we got her up and inside in less than 25 minutes. Usually it is best to ignore the temptation to move her and just make sure that Jaya doesn't get up and stumble into something -- rather than try and move her somewhere and risk injury. I did knock on the neighbor's door though to see if I could get some help carrying her inside. Nobody was home.

It is notable that I felt this seizure coming beforehand and had already mentioned this feeling to Jaya. We were laughing afterwards cuz we were comparing me to one of those trained dogs that some epileptics have around to sense a seizure coming. Actually, many previous seizures I have also sensed something about before they manifest, but I don't often talk much about it; I don't want to be obnoxious, and my intuition hasn't usually been so precise anyway. When I think about it, I have been present for something like 29 of the 33 seizures since we've been together. Seems more than luck. And we're not insane about sticking together every moment of every day... although we have learned a lot about what it means to live with a serious health issue like this, in a situation where no one really cares or helps much. I know that it is grace that has kept us safe and learning from these things.

I'll have to make a new chart for 2009...

33 sounds like such a small number

Here is what happened in 2008: 12 seizures -- they've been more frequent lately:

Overcome the times of trouble with Spiritual strength

cbrunning — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:01:13 +0000

http://www.amritapuri.org/2514/nyrmsg/

"We should develop a mind devoid of egoism—a mind that doesn't fall apart in failure, a mind that finds joy in giving and accepts adversity with love. Such a mind will never experience sorrow." -Amma

Excerpts from Amma's New Year message at amritapuri.org

WBAI FM 99.5 MHz - NYC

cbrunning — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:15:12 +0000

http://stream.wbai.org

link to WBAI online streams

who says it's "A Just War"

cbrunning — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 02:42:19 +0000

http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/2610

A Just War? Hardly

May, 20 2006
By Noam Chomsky

Spurred by these times of invasions and evasions, discussion of "just war" has had a renaissance among scholars and even among policy-makers.

Concepts aside, actions in the real world all too often reinforce the maxim of Thucydides that "The strong do as they can, while the weak suffer what they must" - which is not only indisputably unjust, but at the present stage of human civilisation, a literal threat to the survival of the species.

In his highly praised reflections on just war, Michael Walzer describes the invasion of Afghanistan as "a triumph of just war theory," standing alongside Kosovo as a "just war." Unfortunately, in these two cases, as throughout, his arguments rely crucially on premises like "seems to me entirely justified," or "I believe" or "no doubt."

Facts are ignored, even the most obvious ones. Consider Afghanistan. As the bombing began in October 2001, President Bush warned Afghans that it would continue until they handed over people that the US suspected of terrorism.

The word "suspected" is important. Eight months later, FBI head Robert S. Mueller III told editors at The Washington Post that after what must have been the most intense manhunt in history, "We think the masterminds of (the Sept. 11 attacks) were in Afghanistan, high in the al-Qaida leadership. Plotters and others - the principals - came together in Germany and perhaps elsewhere."

What was still unclear in June 2002 could not have been known definitively the preceding October, though few doubted at once that it was true. Nor did I, for what it's worth, but surmise and evidence are two different things. At least it seems fair to say that the circumstances raise a question about whether bombing Afghans was a transparent example of "just war."

Walzer's arguments are directed to unnamed targets - for example, campus opponents who are "pacifists." He adds that their "pacifism" is a "bad argument," because he thinks violence is sometimes legitimate. We may well agree that violence is sometimes legitimate (I do), but "I think" is hardly an overwhelming argument in the real-world cases that he discusses.

By "just war," counterterrorism or some other rationale, the US exempts itself from the fundamental principles of world order that it played the primary role in formulating and enacting.

After World War II, a new regime of international law was instituted. Its provisions on laws of war are codified in the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions and the Nuremberg principles, adopted by the General Assembly. The Charter bars the threat or use of force unless authorized by the Security Council or, under Article 51, in self-defense against armed attack until the Security Council acts.

In 2004, a high level UN panel, including, among others, former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, concluded that "Article 51 needs neither extension nor restriction of its long-understood scope ... In a world full of perceived potential threats, the risk to the global order and the norm of nonintervention on which it continues to be based is simply too great for the legality of unilateral preventive action, as distinct from collectively endorsed action, to be accepted. Allowing one to so act is to allow all."

The National Security Strategy of September 2002, just largely reiterated in March, grants the US the right to carry out what it calls "pre-emptive war," which means not pre-emptive, but "preventive war." That's the right to commit aggression, plain and simple.

In the wording of the Nuremberg Tribunal, aggression is "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole" - all the evil in the tortured land of Iraq that flowed from the US-UK invasion, for example.

The concept of aggression was defined clearly enough by US Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, who was chief prosecutor for the United States at Nuremberg. The concept was restated in an authoritative General Assembly resolution. An "aggressor," Jackson proposed to the tribunal, is a state that is the first to commit such actions as "invasion of its armed forces, with or without a declaration of war, of the territory of another State."

That applies to the invasion of Iraq. Also relevant are Justice Jackson's eloquent words at Nuremberg: "If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us." And elsewhere: "We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well."

For the political leadership, the threat of adherence to these principles - and to the rule of law in general - is serious indeed. Or it would be, if anyone dared to defy "the single ruthless superpower whose leadership intends to shape the world according to its own forceful world view," as Reuven Pedatzur wrote in Haaretz last May.

Let me state a couple of simple truths. The first is that actions are evaluated in terms of the range of likely consequences. A second is the principle of universality; we apply to ourselves the same standards we apply to others, if not more stringent ones.

Apart from being the merest truisms, these principles are also the foundation of just war theory, at least any version of it that deserves to be taken seriously.

Conversations Between Michael Albert and Noam Chomsky

cbrunning — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:58:51 +0000

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20036

These are interviews from Jan 1993.

There is a 'part two' and 'part three' linked below:

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20037
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20038

May the Christ take birth in your heart

cbrunning — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 22:26:05 +0000

http://www.amritapuri.org/2472/christbirth/

I hope everyone's been in some Love this holiday.

Christopher

seizure thwarted

cbrunning — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:53:38 +0000

http://cbrunning.net/wordpress/seizures

Jaya was able to stop a partial seizure from becoming a bigger one while we were all out on a walk this morning.

FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool

cbrunning — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:59:23 +0000

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html

You may not be able to really turn your mobile phone microphone off. What about the camera?

politics of Facebook you may want to consider

cbrunning — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:58:20 +0000

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook

And, like MySpace and probably others, Facebook won't even let a mom publish a photo of a nursing baby. Enough said. Relevant link follows:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090101/facebook-nudity-policy-draws-nursing-moms-ire.htm

Utilities cut off to 1 in 20 US households in 2007

cbrunning — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:02:42 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/util-d18.shtml

middle school Teacher Throws Fit Over Student's Linux CD

cbrunning — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:48:08 +0000

http://austinist.com/2008/12/10/aisd_teacher_throws_fit_over_studen.php

This is probably a sad kind of funny

People were paid to riot and stop the vote recount in Miami in 2000, remember?

cbrunning — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:17:40 +0000

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2002/080502a.html

People were paid to riot and stop the vote recount in Miami in 2000.

Here is a newer article regarding that Supreme Court's decision.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/121108.html

Seizure yesterday AM

cbrunning — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:38:51 +0000

Jaya had a seizure around 10:40 on Nov 30 2008. She was at home with the family and is ok.

so often a shirt but no pants

cbrunning — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:45:59 +0000

It's funny that so many photos of the young kids end up showing them wearing a shirt but no pants. Now that it's getting to winter we are dressing more warmly, but there are still plenty of days around here where an E.C. baby can lounge around like they really want to.

Soup's almost done, another seizure

cbrunning — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:10:12 +0000

Jaya got back from her hike and had a seizure soon after. She didn't get a chance to eat breakfast yet. Now she's sleeping on the kitchen floor. I brought a pillow and went over with Quinn how to take care of her head and how to call me when this happens.

http://cbrunning.net/wordpress/seizures/

Macrobiotic plan

cbrunning — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:35:05 +0000

A 45-day macrobiotic-ish plan begins for us today. We've been preparing a little; I make the miso soup and grain in the morning.

Maybe we'll put some more recipes up, like at http://cbrunning.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=32

Bouncing around with Quinn

cbrunning — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:52:48 +0000

Quinn is super packed with energy, and now he is big. It is important that we give him individual attention for specific periods of time and wrestle or run around -- A LOT.

Election Protection Wiki

cbrunning — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:22:55 +0000

http://www.epwiki.org

"Citizens tracking voter suppression and election integrity."

Is your printer spying on you?

cbrunning — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:58:53 +0000

http://www.eff.org/issues/printers

"the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information."

also see http://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots

US Supreme Court clears way for execution of likely innocent death row inmate

cbrunning — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:09:09 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/davi-o16.shtml

By Kate Randall
16 October 2008

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis. The case against Davis, convicted in the 1989 killing of an off-duty Savannah police office, has gained worldwide attention, with demands by human rights activists and high-profile figures for his life to be spared.

The Court’s refusal to hear the case paves the way for the state-sponsored murder of an individual who is very likely innocent of any crime.

Read more...

Chomsky: Anti-democratic nature of US capitalism is being exposed

cbrunning — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:31:13 +0000

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/1010/1223560345968.html

Anti-democratic nature of US capitalism is being exposed
October 12, 2008
By Noam Chomsky

THE SIMULTANEOUS unfolding of the US presidential campaign and unraveling of the financial markets presents one of those occasions where the political and economic systems starkly reveal their nature.

Passion about the campaign may not be universally shared but almost everybody can feel the anxiety from the foreclosure of a million homes, and concerns about jobs, savings and healthcare at risk.

The initial Bush proposals to deal with the crisis so reeked of totalitarianism that they were quickly modified.

NSA Spied on US Service Members and Aid Workers

cbrunning — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:47:13 +0000

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/10/new-nsa-whistleblowers

October 10th, 2008

New NSA Whistleblowers Say NSA Spied on US Service Members and Aid Workers

Deeplink by Hugh D'Andrade

This has been a bad week for President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. First, a government study reported that data-mining is actually a hindrance in the fight against terrorism. And now, two new whistleblowers have come forward with firsthand accounts of how innocent Americans' communications have been swept up in the NSA's dragnet.

According to ABC News and a new book by James Bamford, David Murfee Faulk and Adrienne Kinne witnessed and participated in the interception of hundreds of personal, intimate calls from American service members and aid workers. They say NSA employees have been routinely intercepting the calls of individuals with no involvement in terrorism.

Intelligence is not enough

cbrunning — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:19:17 +0000

"We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character -- that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate."

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Columbus Day: A celebration of the brutality

cbrunning — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:08:05 +0000

Maybe it's worth thinking about monsters like Columbus and how they brutally hack their way to the ends of the physical earth, and now hide amongst the people waiting for their next profit. What makes a monster?

Seizing Cell Phone Location Records

cbrunning — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:04:31 +0000

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/09/11

New Court Decision Affirms that 4th Amendment Protects Location Information

Government Must Get a Warrant Before Seizing Cell Phone Location Records

San Francisco - In an unprecedented victory for cell phone privacy, a federal court has affirmed that cell phone location information stored by a mobile phone provider is protected by the Fourth Amendment and that the government must obtain a warrant based on probable cause before seizing such records.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had asked the federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania to overturn a magistrate judge's decision requiring the government to obtain a warrant for stored location data, arguing that the government could obtain such information without probable cause. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), at the invitation of the court, filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the government's appeal and arguing that the magistrate was correct to require a warrant. Wednesday, the court agreed with EFF and issued an order affirming the magistrate's decision.

Read more at the EFF site...

Chomsky - Ossetia-Georgia-Russia-USA

cbrunning — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:58:58 +0000

http://www.counterpunch.com/chomsky09112008.html

Ossetia-Georgia-Russia-U.S.A.

Towards a Second Cold War?

By NOAM CHOMSKY

Aghast at the atrocities committed by US forces invading the Philippines, and the rhetorical flights about liberation and noble intent that routinely accompany crimes of state, Mark Twain threw up his hands at his inability to wield his formidable weapon of satire. The immediate object of his frustration was the renowned General Funston. “No satire of Funston could reach perfection,” Twain lamented, “because Funston occupies that summit himself... [he is] satire incarnated.”

It is a thought that often comes to mind, again in August 2008 during the Georgia-Ossetia-Russia war. George Bush, Condoleezza Rica and other dignitaries solemnly invoked the sanctity of the United Nations, warning that Russia could be excluded from international institutions “by taking actions in Georgia that are inconsistent with” their principles. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations must be rigorously honored, they intoned – “all nations,” that is, apart from those that the US chooses to attack: Iraq, Serbia, perhaps Iran, and a list of others too long and familiar to mention.

Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth

cbrunning — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:21:17 +0000

http://www.ae911truth.org

information slideshow selection link:
http://www.ae911truth.org/ppt_web/ppt_selection.php

Voting systems, wikipedia entry

cbrunning — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:27:02 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_system

Media Lens on the Georgian conflict media coverage etc.

cbrunning — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:36:27 +0000

http://www.medialens.org/alerts/08/080904_when_news_is.php

WHEN NEWS IS NOISE - GEORGIA, SOUTH OSSETIA AND THE POLITICAL PIPELINE

A Los Angeles Times editorial observed last month that China had persuaded world leaders to attend the Olympic Games "despite their misgivings about Beijing's horrific human rights record both domestically and abroad". The horror, the editors noted, could not be entirely suppressed:

"What planners in Beijing miscalculated is that no matter how well you teach performers to smile, the strain behind the lips is still detectable." ( http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-olympics26-2008aug26,0,5033807.story )

Needless to say, no mainstream British or American journalist referred to the host nation's "horrific human rights record" at the time of the US Games in Atlanta in 1996, or of the Los Angeles Games in 1984. And of course no media outlet has discussed "misgivings" about the awarding of the 2012 Games to Britain. But why on earth would they? Historian Mark Curtis explains:

"Since 1945, rather than occasionally deviating from the promotion of peace, democracy, human rights and economic development in the Third World, British (and US) foreign policy has been systematically opposed to them, whether the Conservatives or Labour (or Republicans or Democrats) have been in power. This has had grave consequences for those on the receiving end of Western policies abroad." (Curtis, The Ambiguities of Power, Zed Books, 1995, p.3)... More...

Been thinking of Ganesh

cbrunning — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:09:19 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh_Chaturthi

We have this book "How Ganesh got his elephant head" that has been a good read for bedtime with the kids

Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha

they always fall

cbrunning — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:51:04 +0000

"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it, always."

- Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi

doubt

cbrunning — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:01:33 +0000

http://sivananda.org/publications/quotes/daily_quote.html

The greatest weakness is doubt. Doubt is thy enemy. Doubt is the greatest sin. Slay this doubt. Slay the slayer mind.

- Sri Swami Sivananda

50 Percent of Food is Wasted Causing Water, Food and Hunger Crisis

cbrunning — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:06:39 +0000

http://www.siwi.org/sa/node.asp?node=343

I'm reading some of this:

http://www.siwi.org/documents/Resources/Policy_Briefs/PB_From_Filed_to_Fork_2008.pdf

after I read:
http://www.siwi.org/sa/node.asp?node=343

which is a policy brief describing how 50 percent of food is wasted.

The same articles are linked from:
http://www.worldwaterweek.org/press/index.asp

Frequently Awkward Questions for the Entertainment Industry

cbrunning — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:38:58 +0000

http://w2.eff.org/IP/faq/

There are many useful links available from the linked version of this article on the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) site. Go there to see the latest version.

Frequently Awkward Questions for the Entertainment Industry

Learn More About These Issues

The RIAA and MPAA trot out their spokespeople at conferences and public events all over the country, repeating their misleading talking points. Innovators are pirates, fair use is theft, the sky is falling, up is down, and so on. Their rhetoric shouldn't be given a free pass.

To that end, EFF has prepared a sample list of tough questions for times when you hear entertainment industry representatives speaking and want to challenge their positions.

On eve of Democratic convention, Obama advances agenda of global militarism

cbrunning — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:16:33 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/aug2008/obam-a20.shtml

"With less than a week to go until the Democrats officially nominate Obama at their convention in Denver, and with barely two-and-a-half months until the election, the candidate's speech underscores a stark political reality confronting the American people. Once again this November, the two-party system will offer no means of expressing the massive popular opposition to war, but rather an empty choice between two big business candidates who are committed to the expanded use of militarism in pursuit of US corporate and financial interests."

US government survey: Most corporations pay no taxes

cbrunning — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:02:28 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/aug2008/ctax-a15.shtml

Everyone who paid taxes this year, raise your hand. If you made at least $8,750 as an individual in the US last year, I think you were obligated to by law.

Corporations are supposed to pay a percentage of their income, but the Government Accountability Office recently disclosed that many of them do not pay anything.

baby airplane pose

cbrunning — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:54:23 +0000

http://cbrunning.net/b2evolution/media/blogs/friends//baby_yoga_airplane_asana.jpg

Our friend made this image a couple years ago in May 2005 and I recently thought I should preserve it here instead of on my hard drive. That's Quinn and Jaya!

Thanks Saraswati

Inshallah

cbrunning — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:56:40 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/aug2008/hamd-a11.shtml

Gratitude to this military jury for not locking an innocent man up for the rest of his life.

Article: Guantánamo trial sentence stuns Bush administration

Texas executes Mexican and Honduran nationals

cbrunning — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:05:51 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/aug2008/texa-a08.shtml

US Supreme Court rejects appeals despite international protests

Mexican-born Jose Ernesto Medellin died by lethal injection Tuesday night, ignoring a ruling by the International Court of Justice (World Court) that his execution be stayed, as well as protests by the Mexican government.

See "World Court orders US to stay execution of Mexicans in Texas"
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/texa-j18.shtml

See Also:
"US: Executions in Texas and Mississippi"
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/exec-j24.shtml

The lies of Hiroshima are the lies of today

cbrunning — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:39:29 +0000

http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=499

"In an article for the Guardian on the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, John Pilger describes the 'progression of lies' from the dust of that detonated city, to the wars of today - and the threatened attack on Iran."

supreme court supports murdering retarded people

cbrunning — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:34:30 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/may2008/exec-m22.shtml

Despite evidence of mental retardation, Mississippi executes inmate by lethal injection
By Kate Randall
22 May 2008

Earl Wesley Berry was executed Wednesday evening at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. His lethal injection was administered at around 6 p.m. local time after all last-minute appeals for a stay had been exhausted.

Berry’s attorney provided evidence to state courts that he was mentally retarded, which would have rendered his execution unconstitutional, but he was denied an evidentiary hearing on procedural grounds.

Guru

cbrunning — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:04:21 +0000

guru. Spiritual teacher. Though the word guru is often misused to refer simply to any teacher or instructor, a true God-illumined guru is one who, in his attainment of self-mastery, has realized his identity with the omnipresent Spirit. Such a one is uniquely qualified to lead the seeker on his or her inward journey toward divine realization.

When a devotee is ready to seek God in earnest, the Lord sends him a guru. Through the wisdom, intelligence, Self-realization, and teachings of such a master, God guides the disciple. By following the master's teachings and discipline, the disciple is able to fulfill his soul's desire for the manna of God-perception. A true guru, ordained by God to help sincere seekers in response to their deep soul craving, is not an ordinary teacher: he is a human vehicle whose body, speech, mind, and spirituality God uses as a channel to attract and guide lost souls back to their home of immortality. A guru is a living embodiment of scriptural truth. He is an agent of salvation appointed by God in response to a devotee's demand for release from the bondage of matter. "To keep company with the Guru," wrote Swami Sri Yukteswar in The Holy Science, "is not only to be in his physical presence (as this is sometimes impossible), but mainly means to keep him in our hearts and to be one with him in principle and to attune ourselves with him." See master.

Paramahansa Yogananda. Man's Eternal Quest: Collected Talks and Essays On Realizing God In Daily Life, Volume I. Glossary, page 472

Znet

cbrunning — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:59:13 +0000

http://zcommunications.org/znet/

Znet is a great resource for finding alternative media.

http://zcommunications.org/znet/

Participatory Economics Q&A

cbrunning — Sun, 11 May 2008 17:34:27 +0000

http://www.zcommunications.org/zparecon/qaoverview.htm

Been reading about Parecon for a while... Michael Albert and Company have done a lot of serious visioning. Their work helps me develop applied sciences.

http://www.zcommunications.org/zparecon/qaoverview.htm

tragedy

Jaya — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:28:00 +0000

The greatest tragedy in life is not death; the greatest tragedy takes place when our talents and capabilities are underutilized and allowed to rust while we are living.

-Mata Amritanandamayi

unverified Richard Feynman

cbrunning — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:56:56 +0000

I don't know that he was saying good or bad...

"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt."

A couple others:

"The remark which I read somewhere, that science is all right as long as it doesn't attack religion, was the clue I needed to understand the problem. As long as it doesn't attack religion it need not be paid attention to and nobody has to learn anything. So it can be cut off from society except for its applications, and thus be isolated. And then we have this terrible struggle to try to explain things to people who have no reason to want to know. But if they want to defend their own point of view, they will have to learn what yours is a little bit. So I suggest, maybe correctly and perhaps wrongly, that we are too polite."

"What does it mean, to understand? ... I don't know."

Regarding the olympic protests

cbrunning — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:27:42 +0000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/apr2008/olym-a10.shtml

"The anti-Chinese protests, which, while vociferous, have not mobilized massive numbers of participants, have received wide coverage in the US media. It should simply be noted that vast worldwide demonstrations against American intervention in Iraq in February 2003, which numbered in the millions, did not garner one-tenth the airtime or column space."

spiritual education

Jaya — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:48:01 +0000

The main purpose of education should be to impart a culture of the heart - a culture based on spiritual values.

- Amma

family sadhana

Jaya — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:02:47 +0000

"Whereas in the past in both East and West there have been precise models these have been built around a culture and tradition which was supportive of this practice. In Western culture the support system has been destroyed by the industrial revolution and the money economy compelling at least one and often both principal members to become money earners. This necessitates daily absence from the home and reliance on day-care centers, nursery schools or regular schools to provide a spiritual foundation which one cannot expect them to provide as they essentially are educating and directing children to become 'good members' of the same society which is in essence profane and in extension looking only to continue its existence at the present level of consciousness. Consequently the family is dispersed,its members isolated from each other and effectively only together as an economic and sleeping unit. The family thus has no center to radiate from and no spiritual-psychic support system. It is dead. The outlook is bleak from this vantage point."

- from "Be Here Now"

smile

Jaya — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:48:42 +0000

"When one beholds the entire universe as a play of Consciousness, what else can one do but smile?"

-Amma

"Murdered by Mumia" examined

cbrunning — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:23:06 +0000

http://www.partisandefense.org/pubs/articles/factsheet1231.html

There is a factsheet published by the Partisan Defense Committee that examines the "facts" portrayed in Maureen Faulkner and Michael Smerconish's book Murdered By Mumia.

Shivaratri

cbrunning — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:52:52 +0000

http://www.dlshq.org/religions/shivaratri.htm

Some relevant info on Shivaratri courtesy of the Divine Life Society website. Shivaratri is celebrated tomorrow I think.

Shivaratri:
http://www.dlshq.org/religions/shivaratri.htm

Om Shiva

Israel’s Illegal Assault On The Gaza ‘Prison’ [Media Lens Media Alert]

cbrunning — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:19:33 +0000

Subject: Israel’s Illegal Assault On The Gaza ‘Prison’
From: "Media Lens Media Alerts" noreply@medialens.org
Date: Mon, March 3, 2008 8:42 am

MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media

March 3, 2008

MEDIA ALERT: Israel’s Illegal Assault On The Gaza ‘Prison’

Attacking The Prisoners

Israel has drawn international criticism for its latest series of onslaughts against the ‘prison’ of Gaza, the crowded home to 1.4 million Palestinians. Since last Wednesday (February 27), 112 Palestinians have died under Israeli air attacks and ‘incursions’ by Israeli troops. The dead include many women and children, such as four boys who had been out playing football and even babies killed in their homes. Last Saturday alone saw the deaths of 60 Palestinians under Israeli attacks. Three Israelis have died - one a civilian killed during a rocket attack by Hamas last Wednesday and, since then, two Israeli soldiers.

On February 29, Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the UK, said on the BBC Today programme that:

“We've been restraining ourselves for a very, very long time. But we have a responsibility to defend our citizens. This is the context.” (BBC Radio 4 Today interview with Edward Stourton, Friday, February 29, 2008, 7.30 am; http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/ram/today3_israel_20080229.ram

The same day, a senior Israeli source threatened a “holocaust” in Gaza.
Read more »

Boycott Israel

cbrunning — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:32:34 +0000

http://boycottisrael.co.uk

Adobe Pushes DRM for Flash

cbrunning — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:19:13 +0000

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/02/adobe-pushes-drm-flash

An example of the relevance of free software.

See this article on the Electronic Frontier Foundation website:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/02/adobe-pushes-drm-flash

Gnash, not Flash!

• get gnash - http://getgnash.org
• Gnash @ gnu.org - http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/
• Gnash @ wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnash
• developer site - http://gnashdev.org

CA court: "go ahead and discriminate against medical marijuana patients"

cbrunning — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:12:29 +0000

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4407

...on January 24, 2008, in a 5-2 opinion, the California Supreme Court narrowly construed the Compassionate Use Act to rule in favor of [an] employer and hold that medical marijuana patients cannot state civil causes of action for employment discrimination.

politics of birth

cbrunning — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:12:26 +0000

What is it that causes this culturally accepted criminal action that is so widespread in our culture... the abuse of mother and baby?

Trees

cbrunning — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:04:18 +0000

I found this scrap of paper in a computer that a friend passed on to me.

Trees offer their amazing gifts of shade, paper to write on, wood for homes, firewood to keep us warm, home for animals, fresh oxygen... even inspiration for stories and poems. As we care for the trees they will sustain and care for us.

Even if you encrypt check this

cbrunning — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:13:13 +0000

It's easier to decrypt your shyat than you might think.

See:

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1257

-- and --

http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/
http://citp.princeton.edu/memory/exp/
etc...

Friends and Family: let us know your contact details.

cbrunning — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:06:19 +0000

We’ve got a mailing list and contact management system going on our website again… it’s been a while. We are setting this system up in time to let people know about new baby! Through the PHPlist system you can keep your contact information updated with us. Sign up for a list at http://cbrunning.net/mailinglists/

gravity

cbrunning — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:22:38 +0000

There is this vision of being on something like Jupiter, experiencing so much gravity. I am crushed with the weight. I still live on though, trapped in this world that is smashing the body. Through this thing, I still find the strength to turn toward the Source and live joyfully, gratefully.

"homegrown terrorism!", "homegrown terrorism!" ...police state

cbrunning — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:14:02 +0000

Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

From the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (http://bordc.org)

"Thought Crime" Bill Still Threatens in Senate

The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act (H.R. 1955) passed by an overwhelming 404-6 in the House last October, and is currently in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Critics say the bill uses ambiguous language to categorize people exercizing First Amendment rights and people in targeted communities as "homegrown terrorists".

Center for Constitutional Rights factsheet:

http://ccrjustice.org/learn-more/faqs/factsheet%3A-violent-radicalization-and-homegrown-terrorism-prevention-act-2007

National Lawyers Guild opposes along with the Society of American Law Teachers

http://nlg.org/news/index.php?entry=entry071127-093332

The National Lawyers Guild and the Society of American Law Teachers strongly oppose this legislation because it will likely lead to the criminalization of beliefs, dissent and protest, and invite more draconian surveillance of Internet communications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HR_1955

Bush's Last State of the Union

cbrunning — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:20:17 +0000

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16366

January 31, 2008 By Stephen Zunes
Source: Foreign Policy In Focus

On January 28, President George W. Bush gave the last State of the Union address of his two-term tenure. Many of his remarks centered on foreign policy. FPIF’s Stephen Zunes annotates the president’s claims and statements.

Not this guy

cbrunning — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:45:15 +0000

Jaya, I posted a comment on your post: "Any candidates worth voting for in the upcoming election?"

Whoa, over 62 Million people voted for G.W. in the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

happiness comes from within

Jaya — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:32:46 +0000

Children, all the love which the world offers will ultimately lead us to sorrow. There is no selfless love in this world. .... Happiness is not in any object. It is from within us. Happiness is experienced when the sense organs are concentrated.

-Amma

voting confusion

Jaya — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:27:03 +0000

What do you think? Any candidates worth voting for in the upcoming election?

Credibility isn't usually worth intentionally pursuing

cbrunning — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:25:19 +0000

Update: it's still like 'dis: I know that I do not make the greatest candidate for the job of looking into and objectively reporting the health of our society. I thought of this when I thought of how I'd likely lose credibility because of the distant relationship I have with many friends and family. I suspect a lot of people are unintentionally going through this these days though. Anyway, I'm sure that I could work my whole life in the hope of gaining some sort of credibility, and look at it some way that evokes regret. But I found out that I am supposed to detach. And that's (kindof like :-) what I had already started so now I can be grateful keep on moving...

Don't trust yet, use your discrimination.

I Love You

Veggie car

cbrunning — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:00:24 +0000

diesel 1989 VW Jetta, 2nd SVO fuel system onboard

O Divine Mother

cbrunning — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:51:50 +0000

May every thought I think be a meditation on Thee,
May every word I utter be Thy praise,
May every action I do be Thy worship,
May every step I take be a step towards Thee,
May my eating and drinking be an offering to Thee,
Each time I lie down, may it be a prostration to Thee,
May my every breath be the remembrance of Thee,
And may every will of mine be Thy will.

Hard things make for good lessons

cbrunning — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:37:21 +0000

We're feeling good overall about the pregnancy and birth but there's a sadness too as our process brings to light, for us, some harsh realities about the way we all are living. I haven't stated much, I think, about the way we have very little community or support regarding our choice to remain home in this upcoming birth. We barely have practical help with the pregnancy or anything much else anyway. I'm not trying to complain, it's just a sort of sadness that I'm trying to express. We are grateful...

Religion of Medicine article

cbrunning — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:27:10 +0000

http://www.unhinderedliving.com/PregNewRel.html

I thought this essay was semi-inspiring, since it seems we have so little support for making our own choices...

Pregnancy and The New Religion of Medicine

I see that I don't agree with a lot of what the author(s?) of the site have to say, but whatever... cheers to them for having the courage to say something that isn't the typical kindof canned speech I hear everywhere.

Big belly baby movement

cbrunning — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:10:43 +0000

It has been amazing, again, to feel Jaya's belly with a huge baby moving around inside. There's nothing like it. It must seem so crazy for womyn sometimes to have that movement going on inside yourselves...

So, probably less than six or seven weeks to go! It's obvious that Ajna is growing really fast now.

Freedom for all political prisoners. Period.

cbrunning — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:29:29 +0000

Free Leonard Peltier

laugh w/ Bill Hicks; play media with Gnash

cbrunning — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:43:16 +0000