You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'responsibility' category.
about…
10 years ago
i got a lil obsessed with collecting audio of alan watts
had to catalog all the media to cd-r about 3-4 yrs ago
and have really not visited since
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit group dedicated to defending the freedoms of individuals in the digital age, thinks the U.S. government may be violating the privacy of individuals who post content to Facebook and Twitter.
The organization has filed suit in San Francisco’s U.S. District Court, Northern District, against the Department of Defense, the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in order to get “information concerning the government’s use of social-networking websites for investigative and data gathering purposes to help inform Congress and the public about the effect of such uses and purposes on citizens’ privacy rights and associated legal protections.”
According to the complaint, EFF is aware that the government is using content posted to social media sites in their investigations. After their initial requests for more information and documentation on the specific policies around these activities went unanswered, the EFF began seeking a court order to force the government’s hand in full disclosure.
One of the incidents cited in the complaint was the widely publicized FBI search of an activist’s home, which came after the man in question used radio scanners to post the movements of police on Twitter (
) during the G-20 Summit.
From the complaint:
“Although the Federal Government clearly uses social-networking websites to collect information, often for laudable reasons, it has not clarified the scope of its use of social-networking websites or disclosed what restrictions and oversight is in place to prevent abuse.”
While it should come as no surprise that the government would be monitoring social media sites for information (earlier in the year the White House sought to hire a social media archivist, while the CIA invested in a social media monitoring firm), it does seem that the EFF has a valid complaint, and that the public should know the scope of the government’s monitoring activities.
The full 8-page complaint is embedded below. We’re curious to see how this all plays out, so we’ll keep you posted on new developments.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23516518/Social-Networking-FOIA-Complaint-Final
practicality stfu!
Technology anthropologist Stefana Broadbent analyzes how we text, IM and talk. Today, she says these new methods of communication are helping us break out of old institutions and bringing us closer together than ever before. She’s speaking with a backdrop of constantly refreshing, beautiful black and white portraits, always of two people seated together. She explains that in each picture is someone she interviewed and the person the communicate with most in the world, whether it be their significant other, parent, grandparent or sibling, along with the communication tools they use — by and large, these are cell phones.
She says that although we may have many people on our Facebook friend lists (120 on average) and in our cell phone directories, we typically use these technologies to interact with a small core group of people. The typical cell phone user makes 80 percent of their calls to just four people, and the average Facebook user exchanges most of their messages with only five or six friends. So these technologies are not networking us with more people, but reinforcing our communication with our inner circle.
Even more interesting, she says that we are now seeing the democratization of intimacy. As more communication technologies are written, and can therefore fly under the radar more easily in a workplace, the boss is not the only one that can keep in touch with their family and friends during working hours. She finds companies’ restrictions on Facebook and schools’ restrictions on texting appalling. We always lived with work and family together, she explains, this compartmentalization of our lives only began 150 or so years ago with the Industrial Revolution. Broadbent is glad to see that cleavage ending.
can’t gt the vid to embed
check the link
http://staging.democracynow.org/2009/10/22/cia_invests_in_software_firm_monitoring
LISTEN
WATCH
JUAN GONZALEZ: “America’s spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates—even check out your book reviews on Amazon.” That’s the lead sentence to a new article on the website of Wired magazine titled “US Spies Buy Stake in Firm that Monitors Blogs, Tweets.”
The article reveals how the investment arm of the Central Intelligence Agency has invested in a software firm called Visible Technologies that specializes in monitoring social media sites, including blogs, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon.
AMY GOODMAN: Noah Shachtman joins us here in our firehouse studio. He broke the story. He’s a contributing editor at Wired and editor of “Danger Room,” the magazine’s national security blog.
OK, lay it out for us, Noah. What did you find?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: So, the CIA, in 1999, set up an investment arm called In-Q-Tel that sort of makes investments in technologies that the spy agencies would like to see grow. And their latest investment is in this company called Visible, which basically takes blog posts and takes Twitter updates and takes comments on YouTube videos and sort of sorts them out and decides which people have the most weight in the blogosphere, which people are the most influential, and also filters out, you know, certain key words, decides whether certain posts are hostile or positive. And it’s basically a way for them to sort of keep track on what’s going on in Twitter, on the blogs, etc., etc.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And who does this firm normally supply this information to?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Usually to companies like Microsoft. Right now they’re tracking the buzz on their Windows 7 release. They also do the work for Hormel, the processed meat company. When PETA was going after Hormel for some of their business practices, they kept track on the sort of anti-processed food activists. So it’s usually corporate clients, although there’s sort of a political spin to some of the work they do, as well.
JUAN GONZALEZ: So, in essence, they’re sort of like an intelligence operation for the corporate world on a normal—
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Yeah. They would say they try to spot trends and keep tabs on things, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: But In-Q-Tel, you say, is the investment arm of the CIA. I think a lot of people would just be surprised by the CIA having an investment arm.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Yeah, that’s right. In 1999, the CIA set up this sort of separate agency that would make investments on behalf of the intelligence agencies. It was a way to sort of develop certain technologies without going through the formal contracting process. Remember, back in 1999, that was like sort of the height of the dotcom boom. And there were a lot of these business incubators that were growing small businesses into something bigger. And In-Q-Tel was the CIA’s attempt to do the same thing.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Is it reporting it’s making money for the government?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: I don’t—it’s a not-for-profit—
JUAN GONZALEZ: Oh, not-for-profit, I see.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: —company, but I do believe that it has—many of its investments have panned out.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain how Visible works. You talk about how it crawls over half a million web 2.0 sites a day.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain exactly. And then, how do people protect their privacy?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Well, first they protect their privacy by not tweeting or not blogging. I mean, that’s the way they would have to protect their privacy, or to do it within a closed password-protected system. If you leave it out there, not only is the government going to read it, but Microsoft and Google just signed deals with Twitter and Facebook yesterday, where all the—all your tweets and all your blog updates will be very easily searchable by either Microsoft’s Bing search engine or by Google.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s the deal?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: The deal is basically that all your Facebook updates will be sort of fed into Microsoft’s new search engine, and people will be able to see what you post on Facebook or Twitter, or what have you.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And, of course, for the CIA, given the fact—the recent reports of how tweets and other social networking are used around the world sometimes to give advance notice on popular insurrections or—
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm.
JUAN GONZALEZ: For the CIA, this would be a sort of a normal direction for them to take, if they want to collect more intelligence.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: It would be. They’re probably already doing so, but just in a less elegant way. So this is probably—for them, they view it as a smarter way to get information they’re already interested in. The question is whether it’s aimed out at international audiences or whether it’s aimed in at domestic ones.
AMY GOODMAN: Noah Shachtman, you’ve also written about the US military using a fleet of unmanned spy blimps to keep tabs on would-be enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Well, you know, the US military in Afghanistan—I just got back from there in September—is very interested in what’s called ISR—Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. The idea is to see as much of what’s going on in Afghanistan as possible and to hear as much of what’s going on in cell phone conversations, or what have you. And so, these blimps are another tool to do it. There’d be cameras and listening equipment installed in these blimps in Afghanistan. It’s another way to kind of keep tabs on what’s going on.
AMY GOODMAN: And tell us what’s going on in New Jersey. In New Jersey, you have written about the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Oh, oh, yeah, right, right, right. So, in New Jersey, there is a—the Navy’s got a sort of R&D arm, and they’re looking to upgrade what’s in those spy blimps and really kind of update the surveillance equipment, make it much more powerful.
JUAN GONZALEZ: I’d like to get back for a second to this—you just happened to mention that remark that depending on whether this is being done, the social networking intelligence is being mined, internationally or domestically. Can the CIA conduct surveillance of Americans at home here, in terms of their communications?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Well, they’re not supposed to. But, I mean, given the recent history of the US intelligence agencies looking inward as well as outward, it’s tough to imagine they wouldn’t. Also, remember, on the internet, it’s very tough to discern whether it’s a purely international conversation or whether a purely domestic conversation.
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, you say, “In-Q-Tel says it wants Visible to keep track of foreign social media, and give spooks ‘early-warning detection on how issues are playing internationally,’” but that tool can just be used inward?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: I mean, obviously, right? It’s the internet. There’s no—there’s no hard national borders, and all this stuff is already out in the public. So it’s a little hard to fathom that there wouldn’t at least be the temptation to use it domestically.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s the military’s policy on soldiers using Twitter?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: The policy right now is up for grabs, but there should be a declared policy in the next, I would say, two to three weeks. And surprisingly, the Pentagon looks to be having a fairly liberal policy when it comes to Twitter and Facebook and other social networks. There was a lot of confusion over the years about whether soldiers could use it or not. Some commands banned it, others allowed it to happen. But it looks like the Pentagon is actually going to come out with something that says, “Hey, look, use YouTube and use Twitter, but just do it smart.”
JUAN GONZALEZ: But that has, certainly during the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war now, opened up a whole new level of communication that didn’t exist before, of ordinary soldiers being able to get information out to their family or to people here in the United States that normally would not happened in previous wars.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Yeah, that’s absolutely true. And in this period of confusion where it wasn’t clear what the regulations were, a lot of times insecure commanders would sort of slap down their soldiers if they printed something that maybe was a little bit subversive or, you know, didn’t quite hew to the party line. But hopefully these new regulations are going to sort that out, and you really should be able to have those soldiers take to YouTube, take to Twitter, you know, with a great deal of freedom.
AMY GOODMAN: Back to what you said at the beginning, saying the uses for Visible before, Visible tracking animal rights activists’ online campaigns against the company that was Hormel?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm.
AMY GOODMAN: When it was working for Hormel. So, I see here you’ve got trillions of dollars being spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, actually trillions. And it seems like it’s very ripe and open money that can’t be tracked. It can also develop the spy technology under the guise of just war.
NOAH SHACHTMAN: That’s true, although the Pentagon also has plenty of money to—independent of the war costs, to develop spy technology. And the intelligence agencies, remember, their budgets are largely a black box. We don’t know how much they spend. And so, you know, there’s plenty of places where money for spy technology can be funded out of.
AMY GOODMAN: And this issue of how Hormel used Visible, now In-Q-Tel buying into it?
NOAH SHACHTMAN: Mm-hmm. Well, I mean, I don’t know too much more than the fact that they used it. I don’t have a lot of details. But, you know, the way Visible works is it kind of grabs all the blogs and all the tweets out there, then it sorts for certain key words, it sorts for a sentiment about whether things are positive or negative, and then it also sorts based on which bloggers and which tweeters are really important or not. And you can sort of see over time how a conversation develops. Technology then allows companies or the government to respond directly within a blog or within a Facebook page to those people. So, who knows? The commenter—the next commenter on your blog might be the CIA.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we will leave it there. Noah Shachtman, I want to thank you for being with us. Noah Shachtman is a contributing editor at Wired magazine, and he’s editor of “Danger Room,” the magazine’s national security blog.
“We Are All Connected” was made from sampling The History Channel’s Universe series, Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, Richard Feynman’s 1983 interviews, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye’s Eyes of Nye Series, plus added visuals from The Elegant Universe (NOVA), Stephen Hawking’s Universe, Cosmos and more.
[deGrasse Tyson]
We are all connected;
To each other, biologically
To the earth, chemically
To the rest of the universe atomically
[Feynman]
I think nature’s imagination
Is so much greater than man’s
She’s never going to let us relax
[Sagan]
We live in an in-between universe
Where things change all right
But according to patterns, rules,
Or as we call them, laws of nature
[Nye]
I’m this guy standing on a planet
Really I’m just a speck
Compared with a star, the planet is just another speck
To think about all of this
To think about the vast emptiness of space
There’s billions and billions of stars
Billions and billions of specks
[Sagan]
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it
But the way those atoms are put together
The cosmos is also within us
We’re made of star stuff
We are a way for the cosmos to know itself
Across the sea of space
The stars are other suns
We have traveled this way before
And there is much to be learned
I find it elevating and exhilarating
To discover that we live in a universe
Which permits the evolution of molecular machines
As intricate and subtle as we
[deGrasse Tyson]
I know that the molecules in my body are traceable
To phenomena in the cosmos
That makes me want to grab people in the street
And say, have you heard this??
(Richard Feynman on hand drums and chanting)
[Feynman]
There’s this tremendous mess
Of waves all over in space
Which is the light bouncing around the room
And going from one thing to the other
And it’s all really there
But you gotta stop and think about it
About the complexity to really get the pleasure
And it’s all really there
The inconceivable nature of nature
-
and of course
another excuse to post this
“A Glorious Dawn” is crafted from sampling Carl Sagan’s 1980 PBS Documentary Cosmos and Stephen Hawking’s 1997 PBS cosmology documentary series Stephen Hawking’s Universe. Cosmos is available to watch for free on Hulu, and many parts of Stephen Hawking’s Universe can be found on Youtube and various other video sites online.
[Sagan]
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch
You must first invent the universe
Space is filled with a network of wormholes
You might emerge somewhere else in space
Some when-else in time
The sky calls to us
If we do not destroy ourselves
We will one day venture to the stars
A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way
The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths
Of exquisite interrelationships
Of the awesome machinery of nature
I believe our future depends powerfully
On how well we understand this cosmos
In which we float like a mote of dust
In the morning sky
But the brain does much more than just recollect
It inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes
it generates abstractions
The simplest thought like the concept of the number one
Has an elaborate logical underpinning
The brain has it’s own language
For testing the structure and consistency of the world
[Hawking]
For thousands of years
People have wondered about the universe
Did it stretch out forever
Or was there a limit
From the big bang to black holes
From dark matter to a possible big crunch
Our image of the universe today
Is full of strange sounding ideas
[Sagan]
How lucky we are to live in this time
The first moment in human history
When we are in fact visiting other worlds
The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean
Recently we’ve waded a little way out
And the water seems inviting
nice
i mean NICE doc on “this subject”
angles
ideas
perspectives
vid will mostlikely not play here
but will open to the tudou page proper
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/W6Rjkr3Olvk
Interest in the Mayan Long Count Calendar and 2012 end-of-the-world prophecies is increasing rapidly with about four years left to the target date of December 21, 2012 (or thereabouts).
A significant number of new books, as well as reprints of older ones, on the topic of 2012 are being published, some becoming legitimate bestsellers, including: Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation into Civilization’s End by Lawrence E. Joseph; Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 by John Major Jenkins; and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck.
On the fiction front, Whitley Strieber’s latest novel, 2012: The War for Souls, is slated to be a Michael Bay-produced (and possibly directed) film at Warner Bros. Pictures.
An increasing number of mainstream publications are writing about 2012. The New York Times Magazine ran a feature on the topic, focusing on John Major Jenkins, in its July 1, 2007 edition; USA Today published an article entitled “Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?” on March 28, 2007; and Publishers Weekly ran a story about the large number of new books on the topic on March 26, 2007. A second PW story ran in the September 3, 2007 edition with a quote from a well-known editor saying that 2012 “has practically become its own category” of books; and proving that the trend is only strengthening, a year later the September 22, 2008 issue of PW in its cover story stated “publishers agree that New Age readers can’t get enough prophetic 2012 literature,” and “sales on this topic have been through the roof.”
Perhaps most significantly from a mainstream awareness perspective, Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Day After Tomorrow, 10,000 BC) is directing a new tent-pole film for Sony Pictures entitled 2012. It is set for wide theatrical release in July, 2009.
The Disinformation Company specializes in publishing articles on topics surfacing in the culture on its popular website at www.disinfo.com and publishes books by authors writing in this and related fields. (For instance, Disinformation author Graham Hancock’s bestselling book Fingerprints of the Gods was one of the first to focus on the Mayan calendar and its end date in 2012, and will be one of the bases for the Roland Emmerich movie.) Of course, in addition to its publishing division, The Disinformation Company also produces and distributes documentary films.
Producer Gary Baddeley recognized that interest in 2012 was on a fast track into the zeitgeist in 2007 and initiated the process of planning and producing 2012: Science Or Superstition with director Nimrod Erez. The Disinformation team, including co-producer Ralph Bernardo, contacted and arranged interviews with multiple experts, often obtaining speedy access due to more than ten years of working with them or colleagues in their fields.
Interviews were conducted in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Palenque and also shot on location in Mexico and Egypt. Co-producer Bernardo worked with NASA to obtain illuminating footage of our solar system and galaxy and was able to locate leading astronomy professor Anthony Aveni, a cornerstone of the film’s balanced approach. Director Nimrod Erez worked closely with animators to illustrate the sometimes complicated concepts discussed in the film, allowing the viewer to see visually, the hard to grasp phenomenon of precession.
In accord with the Disinformation style of documentary filmmaking and publishing, the producers attempted to highlight multiple views of the subject matter and to interview experts who address the issues from varying and sometimes conflicting perspectives. The goal was to present the viewer with a balanced look at the 2012 phenomenon, allowing him or her to form an independent opinion on the debate about what the December 21, 2012 date means to all of us.
Please contemplate the following ten questions as they relate to your relationships with others and, perhaps more importantly, with yourself.
- Do you know what values, standards, or guidelines control your thinking and feelings in your relationships?
- What principles or beliefs determine your ‘world view’?
- Do you know how to improve yourself in whatever you do?
- Do you think/feel you could learn to use your intelligence more intelligently, and your creativity more creatively?
- What do you know for sure?
- How do you know what you know, and how do you know what you know is so?
- Do you judge yourself based on the high standards by which you judge others?
- Do you know how to go about creating more satisfying relationships with yourself, others, and your environment?
- Are you aware of times when you acted as if what you knew – or thought you knew – was all there was to know; when you were certain beyond a doubt … and later proved wrong?
- Do you take responsibility for the meanings you give to what you see, hear, read and experience?
I wrote these articles based on my interpretation of what I have read of Alfred Korzybski and others. My intent is to help others — and myself — apply the principles of general semantics and modify our habitual ways of thinking-behaving to improve our human understanding and relationships.
A Story About Stories From a Story-telling Form of Life
One way we could describe our species is that we are, among other characteristics, a story-telling form of life. Other life forms, in their own way, “tell stories”, but few of us believe these to be anywhere near as extensive, as varied and as fanciful as the stories we tell. We tell ourselves stories about ourselves – sometimes distressing ourselves with our own stories. We tell others stories about our children, our marriage, our pets, our fears, hopes, beliefs, vacations, and so on. We also make up and tell each other stories about other story-tellers. We repeat others’ stories, sometimes in an admiring way, sometimes to discredit them.
Politicians tell stories they think we want to hear, hoping that we will believe their stories and elect them to office. Advertisers use words, images, music, etc., to tell us stories extolling the virtues of their clients’ products and services. Revolutionaries tell stories about the good life to come after present leaders are removed. Scientists tell us stories about their discoveries of some relationships they have explored. Theologians and religious leaders tell us stories purportedly about God and His/Her relationship with the world, and about how we shoud behave toward each other. Philosophers tell us stories, purportedly about the nature of reality, values, meanings, and so on. Authors, playwrights, poets, and others, tell us stories which we sometimes fail to perceive as stories about ourselves.
Now, all these story-tellers do not usually introduce their stories by saying “This is my story …” Could it be that they/we suspect that we/others would ‘listen’ differently? In my story, I visualize a society with an evolved education system, where teachers at all levels would recognize their roles as “story-tellers”. They would help students evaluate what they read and hear in terms of “degrees of fantasy” and “degrees of accurate representation”. They would advise students to become more aware of the stories they tell themselves, and the stories they tell to others. They would also remind students that there are times to reserve judgment on a story.
When we hear the word “story”, among the images that might pop up are those of a parent telling a child a story; children listening attentively to stories in a classroom; stories we read in books; myths, and so on. We also tend to think of stories as fictional – not factual – but fanciful and made up. It is part of my story that we all make up stuff. Our everyday conversations, news reports, books and articles we write, documentaries, etc., are all made up – and as such, they also qualify as stories. In my story, I suggest that we would greatly improve our understanding of ourselves, others, situations we find ourselves in, and the world around us, if we considered the following:
- Anything we read, hear, think, feel, believe, say, write, etc., qualifies as a story. The stories we make up about someone else’s story is not their story – it is our story, about their story. Stories are not objective reports. Stories will unavoidably be slanted in terms of an individual’s age, experiences, state of mind, beliefs, concerns, motives, world view, values, social standing, and so on.
- Whatever else a story is about, it is also a story about the story-teller. It reflects his/her thoughts, feelings, experiences, understanding, etc.
- Individuals in the ’same’ situation will have different stories to tell.
- There are unavoidable gaps in our awareness. Therefore no story tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. No story is ever the whole ’story’.
- Since we depend on light waves, sound waves, electrochemical impulses etc., for information about ourselves and about the outside world, our stories will always be out of synch with their referents.
- Things were going on before our arrival. In a sense we are always ‘late’ on the scene.
- Stories constituted of relatively static words will necessarily be more or less inaccurate as an account of a world of change, process and multi-interactions.
- As maps are not the territories they represent, as words are not the processes they stand for, stories made up of words and images are not their referents. Stories are about referents, both inside and outside one’s head.
- Stories are sometimes presented to us as opinions, facts, truths, insights, intuitions, gut feelings, revelations, news, etc.
- Our stories have endings. We end our stories. But that’s not the end of the ’story’. Happenings do not start or end exactly where our stories start and end.
- In terms of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle and the observer-observed interaction, we sometimes affect, to some degree, the situations our stories are about. (Listen carefully to what we call ” news”).
- Metaphors and similes embellish our stories. For clearer understanding, it helps if we don’t confuse metaphors and similes with descriptions and facts.
- We benefit a great deal when we take responsibility for the meanings we give to the stories that we read and hear.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-signstealing100109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
By Jeff Passan
DETROIT – Tony Faust does not play baseball, nor is he a scout. He is a 28-year-old graphic designer who loves the Minnesota Twins. So when he saw video that he believed shows Twins catcher Joe Mauer(notes) stealing signs from the Detroit Tigers, Faust decided to annotate it, upload it and let the world witness just how slick his favorite player really is.
One problem: The Twins say it’s a bunch of malarkey.
As they prepared for the finale of a pivotal four-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, the Twins had to confront something positively 2009: a fan, one with a minimal baseball background at that, accusing the likely American League MVP of standing on second base and blatantly relaying signals to home plate to give batter Jason Kubel(notes) an idea of the next pitch.
Kubel laughed at the implication that Mauer was tugging at his helmet as a means of subterfuge. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire denied it, saying with such obvious sign-stealing “somebody would get killed.” First baseman Justin Morneau(notes) insisted on talking to the media to underscore the ludicrousness of the allegations.
And yet across the field, in the Tigers’ clubhouse, Gerald Laird(notes) – the catcher for the game in question, a 6-5 Detroit victory Tuesday night – said the Twins’ reputation for stealing signs is no secret.
“They’re known for it over there,” Laird said. “I know they’ve done it in the past. I don’t know if it’s signs or location. They’re really good at stealing signs. It’s a skill. There’s nothing bad about it; they’re just well prepared.”
Sign-stealing is nothing new in baseball. The most famous hit in history, Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard ‘Round the World in 1951, came off a Ralph Branca fastball he knew was coming. Players, coaches and managers consider it part of the game rather than cheating. If a catcher can’t deceive the opponents, he’s not trying hard enough. Because every team – Twins included – attempts to decode signals.
“I’m not saying we’re out there trying to steal signs, but I hope we are,” Gardenhire said. “I hope that they’re out there trying to steal signs. Because that’s the game. Everybody does it.”
It’s just … well, there’s an elegance to it that perhaps Faust didn’t capture in his breakdown of the 4-minute, 23-second clip, which Major League Baseball may soon take down for copyright violation. The theft of signs takes a keen ability to decode indicators, secondary signals and all of the other tricks catchers use. Relaying them is generally a subtle trick – an exaggerated lean that looks natural, or a hand tap that is familiar between only two players. They generally indicate pitch location instead of pitch type.
Something as remedial as putting a finger in the earhole for a breaking ball and touching the face for a fastball, as Faust interpreted, would be mighty dim of Mauer, generally regarded among the brightest players in baseball. Getting caught stealing signs invites the opponent to throw at the hitter. It’s like a public-urination rap. The cops aren’t chasing leads on a random puddle, but if you do it in front of them, they’re going to arrest you.
“It’s absolutely what they were doing,” Faust said. “It was such an urgent situation, they had to do something. There’s no question that was it.”
Actually, the entire Twins clubhouse questioned it. The video spread virally throughout the morning. At one point, a half-dozen Twins surrounded the locker of pitcher Kevin Slowey(notes), who sat in his chair with a computer on his lap. The video played, and the Twins critiqued it like a group at Cannes watching the worst film of the year.
“What an idiot,” one player said.
“Can we write notes to this guy?” another said. “And tell him that his explanation of tipping the signs was atrocious?”
Their biggest beef came from the first pitch. Faust said that Laird put down two fingers, signaling a curveball, and that Mauer touched his helmet to indicate the pitch to Kubel. The pitch was actually a changeup. Mauer, who was unavailable for comment before the game, often tugs at his helmet, according to teammates.
“What else are they gonna say?” Faust said. “I don’t know. That was the one weird thing. It was a changeup. Maybe he was just tipping offspeed overall.
“I’m just a fan who noticed it.”
Whether it was legitimate thievery, only the Twins know. Their denial was quick and vehement. They were perturbed that hours before the biggest game of their season, they had to address something manufactured – literally, and perhaps in his head as well – by a graphic designer from Maple Grove, Minn., about 20 miles northwest of Minneapolis, and simultaneously amused that it had taken on life so quickly with such sparse underpinnings.
“I wish we could steal signs,” Gardenhire said.
“We don’t do it around here,” Kubel said.
“I’ve been hitting behind Joe for five years and haven’t gotten a sign from him yet,” Morneau said.
That’s fine, Faust said. He still loves the Twins even if he doesn’t believe them.
“I know what I saw,” Faust said.
And he won’t be convinced otherwise.
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/law_librarian_blog
Since 1982, the ALA has sponsored this event to remind us not to take our intellectual freedom for granted.
ALA reports that there were 581 challenges to books in schools and libraries in 2008; however,the Banned Books Week web sight informs us that the official ALA figures do not include ALL the challenges. Seventy to eighty percent of challenges are not reported to the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom (though they do not provide supporting documentation for that figure, other resources indicate this data is supported by surveys undertaken by a variety of advocacy groups.) Banned Books does offer a nice mashup that maps the challenges.
At the ALA web site, you can review the differences between a challenge and an actual banning of books. They also provide information about the types of challenges and bans that take place in schools and libraries throughout the country.
On the web site, there is little information about the procedures ALA follows in response to these challenges or activities, or exactly how many are successful or unsuccessful. You can learn a little more about the challenges in this report by Roger Doyle at http://www.ila.org/pdf/2008banned.pdf.
A further exploration of the ALA web site reveals the Office of Lawyers for Libraries which holds regional advocacy institutes for lawyers retained to represent libraries on legal issues. In February they will be holding an Advocacy Institute in Los Angeles. You can also take advantage of a number of self help tools posted on the ALA Advocacy University web site.
Most of the resources focus on how to advocate for your library in terms of lobbying. There is only one paper based resource that focuses on lobbying for the library workers. There are no resources to help advocate for job security or academic freedom for individual librarians who are on the front lines battling censorship everyday. Oh wait, that was yesterday’s post.
In any case, Resource Shelf is doing a marvelous job keeping track of banned book resources to consult. This is a very important issue that I hope will all support.(VS)
m pretty close to obsessed with my pair of KSO
i only get giddy and idolatrous over very few products and objects
Tabasco
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Sativa strains
Am Appy
idk
i feel like im doin it right in these
The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.
That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.
When we first introduced Vibram FiveFingers® to the world, it was the beginning of a revolution.
For the first time, active outdoor athletes and fitness professionals were able to experience the sensation and freedom of going barefoot with the protection and sure-footed grip of a Vibram sole. Their response exceeded our wildest expectations.
Some customers told us they felt more connected to the earth and more in tune with their bodies. Others discovered an increased sense of balance and greater agility. And many reported health benefits like improved posture and less back pain. All were generous with their praise and their ideas, often suggesting new and creative uses for FiveFingers.
With the new 2009 Vibram FiveFingers collection, our patented barefooting concept continues to evolve.
Now you can choose from a variety of designs to cover the wide range of activities you would rather do barefoot; everything from fitness training and yoga, to running and trekking, to kayaking and sailing. Clearly, the barefooting revolution is alive and well.
When you go barefoot, your movements become the movements of a child—playful and sensitive, yet purposeful and confident. You experience the unbound joy of stepping, hopping, and running across any surface on earth, simply to get from here to there.
Vibram FiveFingers® allow you to relive that sensation. Unlike conventional shoes that insulate you from your surroundings, FiveFingers footwear deepens your connection to the earth and your surroundings. FiveFingers enhance your sense of touch and feel, while improving foot strength, balance, agility, and range of motion. Because wearing Vibram FiveFingers is so close to going barefoot, you’ll enjoy the health and performance benefits of barefooting without some of the risks.
Outdoor enthusiasts have found FiveFingers to be the ideal crossover shoe for multiple sports and activities—from ChiRunning and bouldering to kayaking and windsurfing. Fitness enthusiasts use FiveFingers for core strength training, yoga and Pilates. Our customers continually discover new and creative uses for our alternative performance footwear.
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com
-
Vibram FiveFingers is perfect for people who want the benefits of barefoot walking or running without the consequences of going barefoot in modern urban society. There are 4 different product lines that Vibram offer which accommodate a variety of activities and users.
FiveFingers Classic – no frills simple version of the FiveFingers design. Dries quickly and perfect for Running, Fitness Training, Martial Arts, Yoga, Pilates, Travel.
FiveFingers Sprint – extra loop and hook enclosures add additional fit and snugness making it great for a variety of activities like Light Trekking, Climbing, Canyoneering, Running, Fitness Training, Martial Arts, Yoga, Pilates, Sailing, Boating, Kayaking, Canoeing, Surfing, Flats Fishing, Travel.
FiveFingers FLOW – extra covering on top of shoe provides additional insulation for cold weather envrionments which makes it great for Cold Weather Running, Light Trekking, Climbing, Canyoneering, Sailing, Boating, Kayaking, Canoeing, Surfing, Flats Fishing.
FiveFingers KSO – the KSO stands for “keep stuff out” and that’s what it was intended to do. The extra mesh on the top of the shoe keep out dirt, gravel, and other nasties and make it good for Light Trekking, Climbing, Canyoneering, Running, Fitness Training, Martial Arts, Yoga, Pilates, Sailing, Boating, Kayaking, Canoeing, Surfing, Flats Fishing, Travel.
-
-
Plastic Gorilla Feet Give You Twinkle Toes
Minutes after wiggling my feet into these five-toed monstrosities I was creeping across a coworker’s desk like Spider-man. Sadly, Vibram FiveFingers don’t actually let you stick to walls and ceilings, but they are wickedly fun to wear.
Vibram FiveFingers are little more than flexible plastic soles with just enough cloth to hold them snugly on your feet. They have little individual pockets for each toe, making the FiveFingers into a sort of foot glove. The resulting footwear feel less like shoes and more like tougher, more invulnerable versions of your feet.
Traction is incredibly good, due to the grippy material, the separation of the toes, and the addition of siping, or tiny zigzag cuts etched into the soles that expand into little treads as the sole flexes.
The VFFs are also surprisingly comfortable. Each toe is snuggled inside its own little pocket, which is not only cozy, it also gives your feet a surprising amount of feedback about the ground you’re standing on. Your toes, freed from their typical leather prisons, act like a tiny topography sensor array.
Running in FiveFingers is much like running barefoot, except without the mincing “Ow-ow-ow!” moments as you hit a patch of gravel or sun-baked asphalt. You have to use the same stride (and the same, probably atrophied, calf and arch muscles) as you do when running with naked feet. The end result is good: By forcing me into a more efficient stride, the VFFs helped subtract nearly a minute from my admittedly slow per-mile pace. Also, a growing body of research suggests that minimal or no footwear will result in fewer running injuries. But it takes some getting used to if you’ve never run barefoot before. Start with very short runs, and work up gradually.
Vibram offers four different models of its FiveFingers line; I tested two. The Classic offers as clean a line as you’re going to get from such freaky footwear, but the KSO (short for “Keep Stuff Out”) is more practical for running, with webbing on the top to keep debris from sneaking in and a single strap for snugging the shoes more firmly onto your feet.
Vibram FiveFingers will make you look like you have plastic gorilla feet. They’ll draw curious, often appalled stares from strangers and mockery from your family. But by making you run as if barefoot, Vibram FiveFingers might just make you a stronger, faster and less-injured runner.
WIRED Just like going barefoot, except without the cuts, abrasions and icky stuff between your toes. Excellent traction on a variety of surfaces. Surprisingly comfortable.
TIRED Ugly as a bucket of vomit. Just looking at the shoes is a one way ticket to the uncanny valley. Slightly time-consuming to put on. Sizing is extremely fickle. -http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/pr_vibram_fivefingers_kso
-
-
[disclaimer: stream of consciousness prose riff in realtime]
oh!
really?
um…
ok then
you’re doin it wrong
lol
wtf
you bring rocks to a gun fight?
what is the purpose of facing off w/the cops and then running away when they advance? what is the purpose of goin to a fight
to not fight
tha fuck?
i know damn well if the fight comes to me
im in
so why would i go to a fight
to run
this logic is slippin through my fingers like sand
protesters would be a lot more effective and respected if they had shotguns instead of bandanas
and oh yeah
how do you not rob a high school football team of its pads and helmets b4 this shit too
?
lol
i love the lens jockeys scrambling for the perfect shot
sometimes they outnumbered the protesters
and im sure their media outlets are just on some “bringin sand to the beach” shit too
aint none of them from redbook or aarp magazines
and you can get penthouse camera views but have no sniper on the payroll
damn commies
you
are
doin
it
wrong
!
i love the logic folk use about things brewin
and about to blow
these kids dont understand protests like this have been goin on for 40 years
to the advancement of what is bein protested against
do you see Wall Street?
have you seen your hometown’s Main Street?
did you see that spectator kid bitchin
“we were just observing”
you know thats why the cops gassed you
right
right
?
lol
i really wonder what they think they are doin and tryin to accomplish…
i assume and project they think it will bring attention
but only those that already know will know
its a closed loop of logic and perception
maybe this comes with experience
most of these protesters looked to be kids
under 25
have insecurity malfunctions with being honest, aware, intimate or responsible with self
and are most likely rationalizing this shit when its just misperceived dualisms
repressions
projections
c’mon
we did this shit 15 years ago
but WOW & WTF at the things i did 15 yrs ago
that fuckin loudspeaker voice by the cops is on some strait up big brother movie shit
can i sample that guy on record?
id love to ghost write some shit for him!
lol
thought jonesin on the megaphone in that monotone
idk
my police record shows…
idk
i cant empathize with these guys
you cant half step like that
if you’re goin to step
STEP
this is the definition of retarded
you’re impeding the flow with this disgusting display of ignorance
c’mon guys
my post about the darwin hijack was aimed at the one video and the logic kirk used
not christianity in general
or you specific
i stand by my logic unless i revolve around it
i would like to hear y’all stand by yours and actually attend to what i typed just like i did with the 2 mins of the vid
instead of nasty accusations and projected insecurity malfunctions
i am sorry if that makes too much sense for some of you
i have an understanding that might be a problem if you identify with kirk’s logic in the video
so…
the first vid in a 17 part series made by AronRa
check out his youtube page for the series and more of his work
http://www.youtube.com/AronRa
http://darwinwasright.homestead.com/1stFFoC.html
The U.S. population seems pretty evenly divided over whether the human species is biologically related to other animals or whether we were “specially-created” as part of a flurry of miracles. Even our collective politicians -seemingly all of them- are wrapped up in this controversy. Yet its hard to find even one of them who knows what its about. Why is it that there is such concern in so many grade schools (K thru 12) about teaching evolution, yet there is still a complete consensus among scientists all over America and the rest of the world -that evolution is the backbone of modern biology, and a demonstrable reality historically as well?
Most people really don’t understand science; what it is, how it works, what hypotheses and theories are, or even the purpose behind it. Sadly even those on your school faculty or state Board of Education often need an education themselves before they can be trusted to govern how or what our kids will be taught, and that’s why I thought I should speak up and do what I can to help.
To adequately understand evolution, you not only have to understand how to be scientific, (which is the real trick for most people) but you also have to know something about cellular biology, genetics, and anatomy, geology, particularly paleontology, as well as environmental systems, tectonics, atomic chemistry, and especially taxonomy, which most people don’t know squat about at all. Most people who accept evolution also tend to know a whole lot about cosmology, geography, history, sociology, politics, and of course, religion.
But to believe in creationism, you don’t have to know anything about anything, and its better if you don’t! Because creationism relies on ignorance. It is not honest research! It is a scam, a con job exploiting the common folk, and preying on their deepest beliefs and fears. Creationist apologetics depends on misrepresented data and misquoted authorities, out-of-date and out-of-context, and uses distorted definitions if it uses definitions at all.
There are basically two types of creationists; the professional or political creationists; these are the activists who lead the movement and who will regularly deliberately lie to promote their propaganda; and the second type which are the innocently-deceived followers commonly known as “sheep”. I know lots of intellectual Christians, but I can’t get any of them to actually watch the tele-evangelists, because they either already know how phony they are, or they don’t want to find out. But that only allows a radical fringe to claim support from they masses they now also claim to represent. So there’s nothing to stop them. Professional creationists are making money hand over fist with faith-healing scams or bilking little old ladies out of prayer donations, or selling books and videos at their circus-like seminars where they have undeserved respect as powerful leaders. All of them feign knowledge they can’t really possess, and some of them claim degrees they’ve never actually earned.
“You are a scientist, correct?”
“That’s right; I have a PhD in truthology from Christian Tech.”
Were it not for this con, they’d have to go back to selling used cars, wonder drugs, and multi-level marketing schemes. They will never change their minds no matter what it costs anyone else. So it is obviously the “sheep” whom I’m attempting to reach with this speech –so that they might not be sheep anymore, and will stop feeding fuel into that manipulative movement. Because its one thing to believe in something that might be true (like God in general or Christianity specifically) even though neither can be substantiated or tested in any objective way. But it is a whole other matter to willfully deceive others into believing things which are definitely not true -like creationism, especially when we can also prove that those doing this know their assorted arguments are bogus, and know they’re lying to our children, and that they hope to continue doing so under the guise of “education”.
Creationism extorts support through peer-pressure, prejudice, and paranoid propaganda, and sells itself with short, simplistic slogans which appeal to those who don’t want to think too much, or are afraid to question their own beliefs. Worst of all, it actually forbids critical inquiry, and promotes anti-intellectualism, and it is based on at least a dozen foundational falsehoods. First and foremost among them is the idea that accepting evolution requires the rejection of theism, if not all other religious or spiritual beliefs as well.
For decades those behind the creationism movement have tried very hard to portray the illusion that one cannot accept evolution and still believe in God. They know better, but they still want you to believe that evolution is atheist, and that it is either evolution without God, or God creating without evolution. That’s been their central claim since the creationism movement began. But this supposed controversy never was about whether or not there is a god. Most people believe there is a god, and they believe he is in control of all the seemingly-random events of our lives. This is true of most of the people who accept evolution also. Most of them believe in God as well, and they believe that God is in control of evolution; that evolution, like every other system in nature, is part of God’s design.
Of the couple hundred different, and often violently-conflicting denominations of Christianity, the largest of them by far is Catholicism followed by Orthodoxy. Both of these have stated support of evolution and denounced creationism. Pope Benedict recently described evolution as an “enriching reality” and described creationist contests against it as “absurd”. Both of the popes before him advised Christians ‘round the world to consider evolution to be “more than an hypothesis” and not to fear acceptance of that as being any challenge to their faith in Christ.
The early pioneers of evolutionary science were all initially Christian, (including Darwin) and many leading proponents of modern evolutionary science are still Christian today. For example, microbiologist Dr. Ken Miller, (who testified against intelligent design creationism in Kitzmiller v. Dover) -is a Catholic. Another outspoken proponent of evolution, Dr. Robert T. Bakker, (who has PhDs from both Harvard and Yale) is not only one of the leading, and most recognizable paleontologists in the world today, but he also happens to be a Bible-believing Pentecostal preacher; though he interprets Genesis differently than literalists would. In his book, Bones, Bibles and Creation, he says that to treat the Bible as though it were common history is to degrade its eternal meaning. One of the earliest geneticists, Theodosius Dobzhansky was an Orthodox Christian who many times professed his belief that life was created by God, but that nothing in biology made sense except in light of evolution. All these men agree that even if there really is a god, and even if that god is the Christian god, and even if that god created the universe and everything in it, =which they all believe- evolution would still be at least mostly true, and creationism would still be completely wrong.
Of all the developed nations throughout Christendom, only the United States has a significant number of creationists, and they’re the minority even here! Every other predominantly-Christian country tends to regard creationism as an incredulous, (if not insane) radical fringe movement which is an almost exclusively American phenomenon, and not taken seriously anywhere else. Poll after poll continues to reveal that, around the world, most “evolutionists” are Christian, and most Christians are evolutionists. So evolution is not synonymous with atheism, and creationism isn’t synonymous with Christianity either. Most creationists aren’t even Christians! There are millions more Muslim and Hindu creationists than Christian ones.
Regardless which religion they claim, creationism can be collectively defined as the fraction of religious believers who reject science, not just the conclusions of science, but its methods as well, and I mean all of them, from uniformitarianism and methodological naturalism to the peer review process and requirement that all positive claims be based on testable evidence. These people rely instead on blind faith in the assumed authority of their favored fables. In all cases, creationism is an obstinate and dogmatic superstitious belief which holds that members of most seemingly-related taxonomic groups did not evolve naturally, but were created magically, -that plants and animals were literally poofed out of nothing fully-formed, in their current state, unrelated to anything else –despite all indications to the contrary.
Creationists may side with western Abrahamic religions, (being the Judeo-Christian/Islamic mythos) in which there are conflicting versions of the same tales. Or creationists may belong to one of many eastern religions where the sacred stories of creation are much older, completely different, and dedicated to other gods and pantheons. But in every case, the proposed “creator” is supernatural, meaning that it is not a part of perceptible reality. Therefore it is undetectable by any testable means, and can only be assumed to exist for subjective emotional reasons, or as a result of cultural indoctrination, rather than because of any measurable evidence or logical rationale. In other words, there’s no way to say if its really there. Worst of all, there’s also no way to distinguish anyone’s gods or ghosts from the imaginary beings some primitive folks just made up either. This doesn’t mean no god exists. But it does mean that science can’t say anything about them. Because even if gods are real, they still don’t appear to be, and apparently don’t want to –since all the holy books demand they be believed on faith alone. As there is nothing anyone can verify and thus actually know to be correct about gods, then science is unable to make any comment about them at all. Because science can only ever investigate things with demonstrable evidence can be tested or measured.
From the creationist’s perspective, the method or mechanism of creation which these mystical beings use is nothing more than a golem spell where clay statues are animated with an enchantment. Or its an incantation in which complex modern plants and animals are “spoken” into being. That’s right, magic words which cause fully-developed adult animals to be conjured out of thin air. Or a god simply wishes them to exist; so they do. That’s it! There really is nothing more to it than that; pure freakin’ magic –by definition. Remember that the next time you hear anything from a creation “scientist”.
So for those who believe in God, the question really is how God created, and whether it was by one of many inextricably integrated natural systems he seemingly designed, or whether he simply blinked, wiggled his nose, wished upon a star and said “abra-cadabera”.
The 1st Falsehood of creationism:
“evolution = atheism”
ol boy has a helmet that can…
yeah
just watch
the helmet is in the intro to the lecture itself
i like to listen to this guy speak
his voice
his logic
searchin out more of his work now
kinda curious as to why im ignorant of him given the work n all
“christians” or christ likin folk should pay attention to the 36:45 min mark up until 39:00
and the info presented on rauvolfia
then his remarks on synergism
this is one h.a.i.r.y. fella
47:45 is another buena vista!
im kinda sick and tired
figuratively
literally
idk
values have shifted
self has become clearer
steal has rubbed steel to a sharpness
i’ve always been cognizant of this line of logic
but never felt or perceived a need to be or obtain such
not that im back into vamachara or that im gettin all left handed again
maybe so though
idk
LOGIC!
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
we’ll see
The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers
http://www2.tech.purdue.edu/cg/Cours…s_of_power.htm
Law 1
Never Outshine the Master
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.
Law 2
Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies
Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.
Law 3
Conceal your Intentions
Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.
Law 4
Always Say Less than Necessary
When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.
Law 5
So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life
Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.
Law 6
Court Attention at all Cost
Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.
Law 7
Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.
Law 8
Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary
When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the cards.
Law 9
Win through your Actions, Never through Argument
Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.
Law 10
Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky
You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.
Law 11
Learn to Keep People Dependent on You
To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.
Law 12
Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim
One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.
Law 13
When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest,
Never to their Mercy or Gratitude
If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.
Law 14
Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy
Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.
Law 15
Crush your Enemy Totally
All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.
Law 16
Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor
Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.
Law 17
Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability
Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.
Law 18
Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous
The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.
Law 19
Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person
There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.
Law 20
Do Not Commit to Anyone
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.
Law 21
Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark
No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.
Law 22
Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power
When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.
Law 23
Concentrate Your Forces
Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.
Law 24
Play the Perfect Courtier
The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.
Law 25
Re-Create Yourself
Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.
Law 26
Keep Your Hands Clean
You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.
Law 27
Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following
People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.
Law 28
Enter Action with Boldness
If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.
Law 29
Plan All the Way to the End
The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.
Law 30
Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless
Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.
Law 31
Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal
The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.
Law 32
Play to People’s Fantasies
The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.
Law 33
Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew
Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.
Law 34
Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one
The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.
Law 35
Master the Art of Timing
Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.
Law 36
Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge
By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.
Law 37
Create Compelling Spectacles
Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.
Law 38
Think as you like but Behave like others
If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.
Law 39
Stir up Waters to Catch Fish
Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.
Law 40
Despise the Free Lunch
What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.
Law 41
Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes
What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.
Law 42
Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter
Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.
Law 43
Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others
Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.
Law 44
Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect
The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.
Law 45
Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once
Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.
Law 46
Never appear too Perfect
Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.
Law 47
Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop
The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.
Law 48
Assume Formlessness
By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.
“Why Are We Here?”
-
“Are We Real?”
-
“Are We Alone?”
-
REVOLVE!
youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/JhaEc_4zuFI]
The Pharmacratic Inquisition DVD – Official Online Edition
1:51:19
How deep does the rabbit hole go? Gnostic Media is proud to present the official online edition of The Pharmacratic Inquisition 2007. If you enjoyed “Zeitgeist – The Movie”, you will love this video; the creators of this video are listed as one of the sources for the Zeitgeist Movie. The Pharmacratic Inquisition 2007 is a video version of the book, “Astrotheology & Shamanism” by Jan Irvin & Andrew Rutajit. The painstakingly detailed and heavily footnoted research in the book comes to life in this video and is now available to you for FREE! For further research of the claims made in this video, please read AstroTheology & Shamanism – this book is available to order as a combo with the DVD. Thousands of years ago, in the pre monarchic era, sacred plants and other entheogenic substances where politically correct and highly respected for their ability to bring forth the divine, Yahweh, God, The Great Spirit, etc., by the many cultures who used them. Often the entire tribe or community would partake in the entheogenic rites and rituals. These rites were often used in initiation into adulthood, for healing, to help guide the community in the decision process, and to bring the direct religious experience to anyone seeking it. In the pre literate world, the knowledge of psychedelic sacraments, as well as fertility rites and astronomical knowledge surrounding the sun, stars, and zodiac, known as astrotheology, were anthropomorphized into a character or a deity; consequently, their stories and practices could easily be passed down for generations. Weather changes over millenniums caused environmental changes that altered the available foods and plant sacraments available in the local vicinity. If a tribe lost its shamanic El-der (El – God), all of the tribe’s knowledge of their plant sacraments as well as astronomical knowledge would be lost. The Church’s inquisitions extracted this sacred knowledge from the local Shamans who were then exterminated…It is time to recognize the fact that this Pharmacratic Inquisition is still intact and destroy it.
Renowned linguist Steven Pinker speaks at Google’s Mountain View, CA, headquarters about his book “The Stuff of Thought.” This event took place on September 24, 2007, as part of the Authors@Google series. For more information about Steven Pinker, please visit http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/books/s…
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aSp9VoPeHquI
By Jonathan Tirone
Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) — The dollar’s role in international trade should be reduced by establishing a new currency to protect emerging markets from the “confidence game” of financial speculation, the United Nations said.
UN countries should agree on the creation of a global reserve bank to issue the currency and to monitor the national exchange rates of its members, the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development said today in a report.
China, India, Brazil and Russia this year called for a replacement to the dollar as the main reserve currency after the financial crisis sparked by the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market led to the worst global recession since World War II. China, the world’s largest holder of dollar reserves, said a supranational currency such as the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights, or SDRs, may add stability.
“There’s a much better chance of achieving a stable pattern of exchange rates in a multilaterally-agreed framework for exchange-rate management,” Heiner Flassbeck, co-author of the report and a UNCTAD director, said in an interview from Geneva. “An initiative equivalent to Bretton Woods or the European Monetary System is needed.”
The 1944 Bretton Woods agreement created the modern global economic system and institutions including the IMF and World Bank.
Enhanced SDRs
While it would be desirable to strengthen SDRs, a unit of account based on a basket of currencies, it wouldn’t be enough to aid emerging markets most in need of liquidity, said Flassbeck, a former German deputy finance minister who worked in 1997-1998 with then U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers to contain the Asian financial crisis.
Emerging-market countries are underrepresented at the IMF, hindering the effectiveness of enhanced SDR allocations, the UN said. An organization should be created to manage real exchange rates between countries measured by purchasing power and adjusted to inflation differentials and development levels, it said.
“The most important lesson of the global crisis is that financial markets don’t get prices right,” Flassbeck said. “Governments are being tempted by the resulting confidence game catering to financial-market participants who have shown they’re inept at assessing risk.”
The 45-year-old UN group, run by former World Trade Organization chief Supachai Panitchpakdi, “promotes integration of developing countries in the world economy,” according to its Web site. Emerging-market nations should consider restricting capital mobility until a new system is in place, the group said.
The world body began issuing warnings in 2006 about financial imbalances leading to a global recession.
The UN Trade and Development report is being held for release via print media until 6 p.m. London time.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net
September 8, 2009
Listen to the Story
All Things Considered [5 min 20 sec]
“Retarded” used to be a garden-variety insult, but it may be the next candidate for prime-time bleeping.
E. Duff Wrobbel never gave the word much thought — until his daughter was born with Down syndrome. When she was just a baby, Wrobbel was driving with her when another car cut them off.
“And I actually said that word,” says Wrobbel, who is a professor of speech communications. “And then I stopped my car and got teary. And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I just said that.’ “
Now, Wrobbel has joined other activists who campaign against the word “retard.” To them, it’s not a hilarious put-down; it’s hate speech. (The word has been retired by medical and social service organizations, which prefer the term “intellectual disabilities” instead.) They petition TV networks and comedians, and organize against movies like last summer’s hit film Tropic Thunder, which coined the term “full retard” to describe a certain kind of unsuccessful Oscar-baiting role.
While the Tropic Thunder protests did little but provide publicity, there are signs that the word’s status may be changing. Earlier this summer, film critic Eric D. Snider was reviewing a DVD called Miss March. It’s a stinker of an insult comedy uniformly hated by critics when it came out in theaters last spring. Snider noticed that in the DVD version, actors’ lips were clearly saying “retard” repeatedly, but the word was dubbed out and replaced with “stupid” or “crackhead.” (He wrote about it here.)
It’s not just movies rethinking “retard” as an easy laugh. The Black Eyed Peas recorded a “clean” version of their song “Let’s Get Retarded” that changed that line to “Let’s Get It Started.” And a few months ago, popular sex advice columnist Dan Savage renounced his use of the word.
“You know, I just sat down to write the column, and I’d used the word ‘retard’ in a column recently,” he explained. “And there was a handful of letters taking me to task and I thought, ‘OK, I won’t use it anymore. I’ll use a new word. I hope you like this one better.’ “
The new word was “leotard.” As in, “You’re being totally leotarded.”
“Frankly, I’ve heard people using the ‘r-word,’ ” Savage says, “and it just seems so pansy-assed, if I may use that phrase.”
Savage is gay and brings a specific knowledge to that phrase. According to Oxford English Dictionary editor Jesse Sheidlower, “gay” and “retard” occupy parallel linguistic positions when it comes to schoolyard trash talk. They mean the same thing — “stupid” or “bad.”
Sheidlower can trace the use of “retard” as an insult back to the late 1950s. The first reference he could find was in a book about jazz. In a reference to Playboy magazine, a character says, “that Hefner jazz is for retarded jockstraps.”
“Retarded,” like “gay,” functions as an all-purpose put-down, says Sheidlower. If you say, “Stop being so gay,” or “That movie was retarded,” it’s not meant to be taken literally — as in “Stop being so homosexual,” or “That movie was intellectually disabled.” That differentiates those words from racist slurs. Ta-Nehisi Coates has written on the topic in his column in The Atlantic.
Coates says that in order for hateful language to become socially unacceptable, it needs to be linked with the kind of bigoted behavior no one wants to be associated with. And he suggests that there needs to be a fundamental cultural shift in empathy.
“As a young man, I used the word ‘chink’ all the time,” he says. “We referred to the corner store as ‘the chink store’ and thought nothing of it. What happens is, if you’re lucky, you come to understand those words describe actual human beings.”
Until then, “retard” will continue as a commonplace zinger.
-
re⋅tard
/rɪˈtɑrd, for 1–3, 5; ˈritɑrd for 4/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ri-tahrd, for 1–3, 5; ree-tahrd for 4]
–verb (used with object)
1. to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.
–verb (used without object)
2. to be delayed.
–noun
3. a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.
4. Slang: Disparaging.
a. a mentally retarded person.
b. a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard.
5. Automotive, Machinery. an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine so that the spark for ignition in each cylinder is generated later in the cycle.
Compare advance.
Origin:
1480–90; < L retardāre to delay, protract, equiv. to re- re- + tardāre to loiter, be slow, deriv. of tardus slow; see tardy
Related forms:
re⋅tard⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Synonyms:
1. obstruct, check.
Antonyms:
1. accelerate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Inspired on the book, THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND by G. Edward Griffin, FIAT EMPIRE discusses the effects of the Federal Reserve System on the U.S. economy and explains why the debt-backed “fiat” money it issues is no longer Constitutional. This 60-minute documentary is an excellent primer for the citizen or student who wants to get an understanding of how money is created and why the U.S. government has entered into a partnership with elite Wall Street banks. Featuring Ron Paul, Edwin Vieira, G. Edward Griffin and Ted Baehr, FIAT EMPIRE is a free public service film, however you can get the Director’s Cut (complete with 120-minutes of additional interviews) and/or quantities of DVDs (in the event you wish to disseminate this information to your family, friends and associates). Go to http://www.FiatEmpire.com for higher quality DVDs or go to http://www.FiatEmpire.tv to watch it for free. Lastly, follow the progress of our new documentary, ORIGINAL INTENT, at http://www.FiatEmpire.com/producers and get involved as a donor, crew member or associate producer.
http://e-cognitive-enhancers.blogspot.com/
Dopaminergics
Dopaminergics are substances that affect the neurotransmitter dopamine or the components of the nervous system that use dopamine. Dopamine is produced in the synthesis of all catecholamine neurotransmitters, and is the rate limiting step for this synthesis. Dopaminergic nootropics include dopamine precursors and cofactors (vitamin C and vitamin B6), and dopamine reuptake inhibitors:
* Mucuna pruriens – Seed powder which contains high concentrations of levodopa (L-dopa),[28] a direct precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
* Tyrosine (requires Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C) – Amino acid. Precursor to dopamine, anti-depressant, sleep reducer.
* Lazabemide – a MAO-B inhibitor and has potent membrane lipid antioxidant activity. The antioxidant effects of lazabemide are attributed to its chemical structure and direct physicochemical interactions with the membrane lipid bilayer. It is a potent antioxidant, even more powerful than selegiline (deprenyl) or vitamin E, and is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease.[29]
* L-dopa – Prescription drug and dietary supplement. Precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine, anti-depressant.
* Phenylalanine (requires Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C) – Essential amino acid. Precursor to dopamine, anti-depressant, sleep reducer.
* Selegiline – L-deprenyl is an irreversible MAO-B inhibitor, an enzyme that breaks down dopamine. Thus, it is used to treat Parkinson’s disease, and has been tested as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.[30] It protects against the genotoxin AraC, provides neuroprotection against growth factor withdrawal in PC12 cells, protects against oxidative stress in mesencephalatic neurons, and delays neuronal cell death in the hippocampus after global ischemia.[31]
* Tolcapone – Inhibits COMT (an enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitters dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine) and increases performance in tasks depending on working memory in individuals with the val/val and val/met genotype of the val158Met polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene, while decreasing it in presence of the met/met version. Tolcapone presents the risk of deadly side effects.
* Yohimbe – Bark. Aphrodisiac. Boosts dopamine levels,[citation needed] though how it does this is not yet understood. Supplements are likely to have no yohimbe in them.[32] Yohimbe poses some health risks through its side-effects: it is a neuro-paralytic which slows down breathing and induces acidosis, some symptoms of which are malaise, nausea, and vomiting. Contraindicated for users of megadoses of acidic vitamins or nutrients.
* Theanine – Found in tea. Increases serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain. Increases alpha-wave based alert relaxation.
Publicat de health victorro la 04:23 0 comentarii
Etichete: Dopaminergics
Cholinergics
Cholinergics are substances that affect the neurotransmitter acetylcholine or the components of the nervous system that use acetylcholine. Acetylcholine facilitates memory, concentration, focus, and high-order thought processes (abstract thought, calculation, innovation, etc.).[citation needed] Increasing the availability of this neurotransmitter in the brain may improve these functions and increase the duration in which they may be engaged without slowing down or stopping. Oversupplying the brain with acetylcholine may have the opposite effect, temporarily reducing rather than improving mental performance.[citation needed] Cholinergic nootropics include acetylcholine precursors and cofactors, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors:
Piracetam
Main article: Piracetam
Piracetam (Nootropil) is the original[15] and most commonly taken[16][15] nootropic supplement. It is a cholinergic agent synergistic with DMAE, Centrophenoxine, choline, Alpha-GPC and Hydergine. It increases brain cell metabolism and energy levels,[17][15] and speeds up interhemispheric flow of information (left-right brain hemisphere communication). It increases alertness,[12] improves concentration, and enhances memory. Protects neurons from hypoxia,[15] and stimulates growth of acetylcholine receptors.[citation needed] It may also cause nerves to regenerate.[citation needed] Piracetam markedly decreases the formation of neuronal lipofuscin.[18] It improves posture in elderly people.[19] It is not regulated in the US.[citation needed] It is a pyrrolidone derivative.
Aniracetam
Main article: Aniracetam
Aniracetam is a pyrrolidone derivative drug, analogous of piracetam, and considered more potent[citation needed]. Like piracetam, aniracetam protects against some memory impairing chemicals, such as diethyldithiocarbamate and clonidine.[20] Also like piracetam, aniracetam may enhance memory in aging adults by increasing levels of brain biogenic monoamines, which are beneficial to learning and memory.[13] Both racetams have possible therapeutic use in treating fetal alcohol syndrome.[21] Aniracetam increases vigilance.[12] Aniracetam has shown to positively potentiate AMPA receptors.
Other cholinergics
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
* Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) – Amino acid. Precursor of acetylcholine (donating the acetyl portion to the acetylcholine molecule). It is synergistic with lipoic acid.[22] Inhibits lipofuscin formation.
* Choline – precursor to acetylcholine (an essential component of the acetylcholine molecule).
o Alpha-GPC (L-alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine, Choline alfoscerate) – most effective choline precursor, readily crosses the blood-brain barrier.
o Citicoline – less expensive and similar in effect to Alpha GPC. Appears effective in rats.[23][24]
o Choline bitartrate – precursor of acetylcholine, anti-depressant.
o Choline citrate – precursor of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, anti-depressant.[citation needed]
* DMAE – approved treatment for ADD/ADHD[citation needed], precursor of acetylcholine, cholinergic agent, removes lipofuscin from the brain, anti-depressant.
* Galantamine – acetylcholinesterase inhibitor made from chemical synthesis or extract from plants such as Red Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata).
* Huperzine A – potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor derived from Chinese club-moss. Recent Cochrane review concluded that it appears to have beneficial cognitive effects with limited side-effects, but more evidence is needed.[25]
* Ispronicline – recently developed selective α4β2 partial agonist
* Lecithin – contains phosphatidylcholine, precursor of acetylcholine.
* Other pyrrolidone derivatives:
o Etiracetam – It increases vigilance.[12]
o Nefiracetam – Drug. Analog of piracetam, and facilitates hippocampal neurotransmission.[26]
o Oxiracetam – Drug. Analog of piracetam, and 2 to 4 times stronger. Improves memory, concentration, and vigilance. When fed to pregnant rats, the offspring of those rats were more intelligent than the offspring of rats fed a saline solution placebo.
o Pramiracetam – Drug. Analog of piracetam.
o In animal studies, nootropics such as piracetam, oxiracetam and aniracetam are known to facilitate the formation of long term memory traces and to restore object recognition in aging rats.[27] There is evidence that the beneficial effect of racetams may result from an interaction with the central glutamatergic receptor function. [27]
* Vitamin B5 – cofactor in the conversion of choline into acetylcholine, cholinergic agent, increases stamina (including mental stamina).[citation needed]
Excess acetylcholine is considered by many to be potentially harmful; see acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors function by inhibiting the cholinesterase enzyme which breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. They exist in the form of poisons and have been used as weapons, but they are also used to treat Alzheimer’s patients. Donepezil, galantamine, and Huperzine A are notable among these.
Publicat de health victorro la 04:21 0 comentarii
Etichete: Cholinergics
Replenishing and increasing neurotransmitters
As the brain ages, its ability to produce and maintain youthful levels of neurotransmitters declines.[13] There are various reasons for such an insufficiency. For instance, there might be a lack of enzymes involved in the neurotransmitter synthesis. Nevertheless, in many cases, providing the brain with ample raw materials necessary to make neurotransmitters can restore them to more youthful levels and thus help maintain cognitive function at vigorous youthful levels.[citation needed] Furthermore, there are declines in immune and endocrine functioning.[14] Certain nootropics enhance immune and endocrine functioning.
Publicat de health victorro la 04:21 0 comentarii
Etichete: neurotransmitters
Stimulants
Stimulants are often seen as smart drugs. Their effects are non-specific with similar results seen in children and adults with and without ADHD. One finds improved concentration and behavior in all.[6][7][8][9] Due to their non-specific activity, stimulants have been used by writers to increase productivity,[10] as well as by the United States Air Force to improve effectiveness in combat.[11] Some scientists recommend wide spread use (of Ritalin and Adderall) by the general population to increase brain power.[4]
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)
* Adrafinil (Olmifon) – Drug.
* Caffeine – Drug. Improves concentration, idea production, but hinders memory encoding. Large amounts produce the jitters. Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world, and may be susceptible to strong levels of tolerance.
* Coffee – Bean. Contains caffeine; brewed coffee is high in antioxidants.
* Nicergoline – Drug. Nicergoline is an ergoloid mesylate derivative used to treat senile dementia. It has also been found to increase mental agility and enhance clarity and perception. It increases vigilance.[12] Increases arterial flow and use of oxygen and glucose in the brain.
* Nicotine – stimulus barrier (aids in concentration). Stimulus barrier rebound effect (an unpleasant side effect).
* Cocaine – Drug. Schedule II. Increase extracellular dopamine and serotonin levels resulting in increased alertness and arousal.
* Methylphenidate (Ritalin) – aids in concentration, focus and stamina. Prescribed for ADHD.
* Dextroamphetamine – (Adderall, Dexedrine) – aids in concentration, focus and stamina. Prescribed for ADHD.
* Modafinil – (Provigil) – Drug.
* Phenibut -
* Theophylline -
* Amphetamines – aids in concentration, focus and stamina. Prescribed for ADHD.
* Carphedon (Phenotropil) -
Publicat de health victorro la 04:19 0 comentarii
Etichete: cognitive, enhancers, Stimulants
Availability
Currently there are several drugs on the market that improve memory, concentration, planning and reduce impulsive behavior. Many more are in different stages of development.[3] The most commonly used class of drug are the stimulants.[4]
These drugs are used primarily to treat people with cognitive difficulties: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ADHD. However, more widespread use is being recommended by some researchers.[5] These drugs have a variety of human enhancement applications as well and are marketed heavily on the World Wide Web. Nevertheless, intense marketing may not correlate with efficacy; while scientific studies support some of the claimed benefits, it is worth noting that many of the claims attributed to most nootropics have not been formally tested.
logic play!
whoa
nobody is obligated
but somebody is tryin to oblige
wtf
so i posted some surface info on codex last week
and got asked if i was passin out propaganda
i was not
now i am
im not at all comfortable with this ladies sensational, emotion manipulating set ups and her folksy colloquial acting
i mean
its all normal human shit that i get annoyed at and sick of experiencing when it’s used to weight like this
and im gettin the sense that shes down with the general idea of codex
just not the specifics
and is lookin to be a major part of an alternative codex
codex lite
alternative guidlines
a codex that works for her or her assumed group ideals
and not what she sees as the opposition
oh wait…
she actually says that in part 5
now…
im goin to assume or project that someone may think im talkin to him here
not specifically ; )
but i’ve been havin an issue with certain…
counter-cultural icons and movements
employing the same tacts and avenues of control
but jsut to different ends
ive even had folk own up to that being the case
but then rationalize it by saying they are doin it for good or to a better end
which is the same fuckin logic the other side used to begin with!
carpet wrinkles man
carpet wrinkles
idk
im still curious
yeah
the idea
the idea of monsanto making all dairy cows chemically contaminated cyborg clones i find fucked up
but almost too much to every be a reality in my lifetime
and if so
then ok
but fuck off if you aint hip to be responsible for your own food at that point
it almost seems karmic
you sleep in the made you make
ha
fuckin monsanto is genetically modifying the fruits on the tree of liberty!
this is some wrinkly damn carpet
yeah
i want to know specifically how my backyard/agri. acres would be out of my responsibility
and under UN or FDA mandate and control
then you lefties can have yer pitbull
wait
that would then be on the right…
Jnana Yoga By Sri Swami Sivananda
Introduction
Brahman and Maya
Sadhana Chatushtaya
The Seven Stages of Jnana
Practical Hints
Jnana is knowledge. To know Brahman as one’s own Self is Jnana. To say, “I am Brahman, the pure, all-pervading Consciousness, the non-enjoyer, non-doer and silent witness,” is Jnana. To behold the one Self everywhere is Jnana.
Ajnana is ignorance. To identify oneself with the illusory vehicles of body, mind, Prana and the senses is Ajnana. To say, ” I am the doer, the enjoyer, I am a Brahmin, a Brahmachari, this is mine, he is my son,” is Ajnana. Jnana alone can destroy Ajnana, even as light alone can remove darkness.
Brahman, the Supreme Self, is neither the doer of actions nor the enjoyer of the fruits of actions. The creation, preservation and destruction of the world are not due to Him. They are due to the action of Maya, the Lord’s energy manifesting itself as the world-process.
Just as space appears to be of three kinds – absolute space, space limited by a jar, and space reflected in the water of a jar, – so also there are three kinds of intelligence. They are absolute intelligence, intelligence reflected in Maya, and intelligence reflected in the Jiva (the individual soul). The notion of the doer is the function of intelligence as reflected in the intellect. This, together with the notion of Jiva, is superimposed by the ignorant on the pure and limitless Brahman, the silent witness.
The illustration of space absolute, space limited by a jar and space reflected in water of a jar, is given to convey the idea that in reality Brahman alone is. Because of Maya, however, It appears as three.
The notion that the reflection of intelligence is real, is erroneous, and is due to ignorance. Brahman is without limitation; limitation is a superimposition on Brahman.
The identity of the Supreme Self and the Jiva or reflected self is established through the statement of the Upanishad ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ – ‘That Thou Art’. When the knowledge of the identity of the two arises, then world problems and ignorance, with all their offshoots, are destroyed and all doubts disappear.
Self-realization or direct intuitive perception of the Supreme Self is necessary for attaining freedom and perfection. This Jnana Yoga or the path of Wisdom is, however, not meant for the masses whose hearts are not pure enough and whose intellects are not sharp enough to understand and practice this razor-edge path. Hence, Karma Yoga and Upasana (Bhakti) are to be practiced first, which will render the heart pure and make it fit for the reception of Knowledge.
Brahman is Sat, the Absolute, Reality. That which exists in the past, present and future; which has no beginning, middle and end; which is unchanging and not conditioned by time, space and causation; which exists during the waking, dream and deep sleep states; which is of the nature of one homogeneous essence, is Sat. This is found in Brahman, the Absolute. The scriptures emphatically declare: “Only Sat was prior to the evolution of this universe.”
This phenomenal universe is unreal. Isvara created this universe out of His own body (Maya), just as a spider creates a web from its own saliva. It is merely an appearance, like a snake in a rope or like silver in mother-of-pearl. It has no independent existence.
It is difficult to conceive how the Infinite comes out of Itself and becomes the finite. The magician can bring forth a rabbit out of a hat. We see it happening but we cannot explain it; so we call it Maya or illusion.
Maya is a strange phenomenon which cannot be accounted for by any law of Nature. It is incapable of being described. Its relation to Brahman is like that of heat to fire. The heat of fire is neither one with it nor different from it.
Does Maya really exist or not ? The Advaitin gives this reply: “This inscrutable Maya cannot be said either to exist or not to exist”.
If we know the nature of Brahman, then all names, forms and limitations fall away. The world is Maya because it is not the essential truth of the infinite Reality – Brahman. Somehow the world exists and its relation to Brahman is indescribable. The illusion vanishes through the attainment of knowledge of Brahman. Sages, Rishis and scriptures declare that Maya vanishes entirely as soon as knowledge of the Supreme Self dawns.
Brahman alone really exists. The Jiva, the world and this little “I” are false. Rise above names and forms and kill the false egoism. Go beyond Maya and annihilate ignorance. Constantly meditate on the Supreme Brahman, your divine nature.
The world is unreal when compared to Brahman. It is a solid reality to a worldly and passionate man only. To a realized sage it exists like a burnt cloth. To a Videhamukta (disembodied sage) it does not exist at all. To a man of discrimination it loses its charm and attraction.
Do not leave the world to enter a forest because you now read that the world is unreal. You will be utterly ruined if you do this without proper qualifications. Be first established in the conviction that the world is unreal and Brahman alone is real. This will help you to develop dispassion and a strong yearning for liberation. Stay in the world but be not worldly; strive for liberation by the practice of Sadhana Chatushtaya.
Jnana Yoga of Brahma Vidya or the science of the Self is not a subject that can be understood and realized through mere intellectual study, reasoning, ratiocination, discussion or arguments. It is the most difficult of all sciences.
A student who treads the path of Truth must, therefore, first equip himself with Sadhana Chatushtaya – the “four means of salvation”. They are discrimination, dispassion, the sixfold qualities of perfection, and intense longing for liberation – Viveka, Vairagya, Shad-Sampat and Mumukshutva. Then alone will he be able to march forward fearlessly on the path. Not an iota of spiritual progress is possible unless one is endowed with these four qualifications.
These four means are as old as the Vedas and this world itself. Every religion prescribes them; the names differ from path to path but this is immaterial. Only ignorant people have the undesirable habit of practicing lingual warfare and raising unnecessary questions. Pay no attention to them. It is your duty to try to eat the fruit instead of wasting time in counting the leaves of the tree. Try now to understand these four essential requisites for salvation.
Viveka is discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the permanent and the impermanent, between the Self and the non-Self. Viveka dawns in a man through the Grace of God. The Grace can come only after one has done unceasing selfless service in countless births with the feeling that he is an instrument of the Lord and that the work is an offering to the Lord. The door to the higher mind is flung open when there is an awakening of discrimination.
There is an eternal, changeless principle amidst the ever-changing phenomena of this vast universe and the fleeting movements and oscillations of the mind.
The aspirant should separate himself also from the six waves of the ocean of Samsara – birth and death, hunger and thirst, and exhilaration and grief. Birth and death belong to the physical body; hunger and thirst belong to Prana; exhilaration and grief are the attributes of the mind. The Soul is unattached. The six waves cannot touch Brahman which is as subtle as the all-pervading ether.
Association with saints and study of Vedantic literature will infuse discrimination in man. Viveka should be developed to the maximum degree. One should be well established in it.
Vairagya is dispassion for the pleasures of this world and of heaven. The Vairagya that is born of Viveka is enduring and lasting. It will not fail the aspirant. But the Vairagya that comes temporarily to a woman when she gives birth to a child or when one attends a funeral at a crematorium, is of no use. The view that everything in the world is unreal causes indifference to the enjoyments of this world and the heaven-world also. One has to return from heaven to this plane of existence when the fruits of good works are all exhausted. Hence they are not worth striving for.
Vairagya does not mean abandoning one’s social duties and responsibilities of life. It does not mean abandoning the world, for life in a solitary cave of the Himalayas. Vairagya is mental detachment from all worldly objects. One may remain in the world and discharge all duties with detachment. He may be a householder with a large family, yet at the same time he may have perfect mental detachment from everything. He can do spiritual Sadhana amidst his worldly activities. He who has perfect mental detachment in the world is a hero indeed. He is better than a Sadhu living in a Himalayan cave, for the former has to face innumerable temptations every moment of his life.
The third requisite is Shad-Sampat, the sixfold virtue. It consists of Sama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha, Sraddha and Samadhana. All these six qualities are taken as one because they are calculated to bring about mental control and discipline, without which concentration and meditation are impossible.
- Sama is serenity or tranquillity of mind which is brought about through the eradication of desires.
- Dama is rational control of the senses.
- Uparati is satiety; it is resolutely turning the mind away from desire for sensual enjoyment. This state of mind comes naturally when one has practiced Viveka, Vairagya, Sama and Dama.
- Titiksha is the power of endurance. An aspirant should patiently bear the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain, etc.
- Sraddha is intense faith in the word of the Guru, in Vedantic scriptures and, above all, in one’s own self. It is not blind faith but is based on accurate reasoning, evidence and experience. As such, it is lasting, perfect and unshakable. Such a faith is capable of achieving anything.
- Samadhana is fixing the mind on Brahman or the Self, without allowing it to run towards objects. The mind is free from anxiety amid pains and troubles. There is stability, mental poise and indifference amid pleasures. The aspirant has neither like nor dislikes. He has great inner strength and enjoys unruffled peace of mind, due to the practices of Sama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha and Sraddha.
Mumukshutva is intense desire for liberation or deliverance from the wheel of births and deaths with its concomitant evils of old age, disease, delusion and sorrow. If one is equipped with the previous three qualifications (Viveka, Vairagya and Shad-Sampat), then the intense desire for liberation will come without any difficulty. The mind moves towards the Source of its own accord when it has lost its charm for external objects. When purification of mind and mental discipline are achieved, the longing for liberation dawns by itself.
The aspirant who is endowed with all these four qualification should then approach the Guru who will instruct him on the knowledge of his real nature. The Guru is one who has a thorough knowledge of the scriptures and is also established in that knowledge in direct experience. He should then reflect and meditate on the inner Self and strive earnestly to attain the goal of Self-realization.
A Sadhaka should reflect and meditate. Sravana is hearing of Srutis, Manana is thinking and reflecting, Nididhyasana is constant and profound meditation. Then comes Atma-Sakshatkara or direct realization.
There are seven stages of Jnana or the seven Jnana Bhumikas. First, Jnana should be developed through a deep study of Atma Jnana Sastras and association with the wise and the performance of virtuous actions without any expectation of fruits. This is Subheccha or good desire, which forms the first Bhumika or stage of Jnana. This will irrigate the mind with the waters of discrimination and protect it. There will be non-attraction or indifference to sensual objects in this stage. The first stage is the substratum of the other stages. From it the next two stages, viz., Vicharana and Tanumanasi will be reached. Constant Atma Vichara (Atmic enquiry) forms the second stage. The third stage is Tanumanasi. This is attained through the cultivation of special indifference to objects. The mind becomes thin like a thread. Hence the name Tanumanasi. Tanu means thread – threadlike state of mind. The third stage is also known by the name Asanga Bhavana. In the third stage, the aspirant is free from all attractions. If any one dies in the third stage, he will remain in heaven for a long time and will reincarnate on earth again as a Jnani. The above three stages can be included under the Jagrat state. The fourth stage is Sattvapatti. This stage will destroy all Vasanas to the root. This can be included under the Svapana state. The world appears like a dream. Those who have reached the fourth stage will look upon all things of the universe with an equal eye. The fifth stage is Asamsakti. There is perfect non-attachment to the objects of the world. There is no Upadhi or waking or sleeping in this stage. This is the Jivanmukti stage in which there is the experience of Ananda Svaroopa (the Eternal Bliss of Brahman) replete with spotless Jnana. This will come under Sushupti. The sixth stage is Padartha Bhavana. There is knowledge of Truth. The seventh stage is Turiya, or the state of superconsciousness. This is Moksha. This is also known by the name Turiyatita. There are no Sankalpas. All the Gunas disappear. This is above the reach of mind and speech. Disembodied salvation (Videhamukti) is attained in the seventh stage.
Remaining in the certitude of Atma, without desires, and with an equal vision over all, having completely eradicated all complications of differentiations of ‘I’ or ‘he’, existence or non-existence, is Turiya.
Purify the Chitta by doing Nishkama Karma for twelve years. The effect of Chitta Suddhi is the attainment of Viveka and Vairagya. Acquire the four qualifications (Sadhana Chatushtaya), – Viveka, Vairagya, Shad Sampat and Mumukshuttva. Then approach a Guru. Have Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana. Study carefully and constantly the twelve classical Upanishads and Yoga Vasishtha. Have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the Lakshyartha or indicative (real) meaning of the Maha-Vakya ‘Tat Tvam Asi’. Then, constantly reflect over this real meaning throughout the twenty-four hours. This is Brahma-Chintana or Brahma-Vichara. Do not allow any worldly thoughts to enter the mind. Vedantic realization comes not through mere reasoning but through constant Nididhyasana, like the analogy of Brahmarakita Nyaya (caterpillar and wasp). You get Tadakara, Tadrupa, Tanmaya, Tadiyata, Talleenata (Oneness, identity).
Generate the Brahmakara Vritti from your Sattvic Antahkarana through the influence of reflection on the real meaning of the Maha-Vakyas, ‘Aham Brahma Asmi’ or ‘Tat Tvam Asi’. When you try to feel that you are infinity, this Brahmakara Vritti is produced. This Vritti destroys Avidya, induces Brahma Jnana and dies by itself eventually, like Nirmal seed which removes sediment in the water and itself settles down along with the mud and other dirty matter.
Retire into your meditation chamber. Sit on Padma, Siddha, Svastika or Sukha Asana to begin with. Relax the muscles. Close the eyes. Concentrate on or gaze at the Trikute, the space between the two eyebrows. Repeat ‘Om’ mentally with Brahma-Bhavana. This Bhavana is a sine qua non, very very important. Silence the conscious mind. Repeat mentally, feel constantly:
All-pervading ocean of Light I am OM OM OM
Infinity I am OM OM OM
All-pervading infinite Light I am OM OM OM
Vyapaka Paripoorna Jyotirmaya Brahman I am OM OM OM
Omnipotent I am OM OM OM
Omniscient I am OM OM OM
All Bliss I am OM OM OM
Satchidananda I am OM OM OM
All purity I am OM OM OM
All glory I am OM OM OM
All Upadhis (limiting adjuncts such as body, mind, etc.,) will be sublated. All Granthis (knots of heart, viz., Avidya, Kama and Karma – ignorance, desire and action) will be cut asunder. The thin veil, Avarana, will be pierced. The Pancha Kosha Adhyasa (superimposition) will be removed. You will rest doubtless in Satchidananda state. You will get highest Knowledge, highest Bliss, highest Realization and highest end of life. ‘Brahma Vit Brahmaiva Bhavati’. You will become Suddha Satchidananda Vyapaka Paripoorna Brahman. Nasti Atra Samsayah’, there is no doubt of that.
There is no difficulty at all in Atma-Darshan, in Self-Realization. You can have this within the twinkling of an eye as Raja Janaka had, before you can squeeze a flower with fingers, within the time taken for a grain to fall when rolled over a pot. You must do earnest, constant and intense practice. You are bound to succeed in two or three years.
Now-a-days there are plenty of ‘Talking Brahman’. No flowery talk or verbosity can make a man Brahman. It is constant, intense, earnest Sadhana and Sadhana alone can give a man direct Aparoksha Brahmic realization (Svanubhava or Sakshatkara) wherein he sees Brahman just as he sees the solid white wall in front of him and feels Brahman, just as he feels the table behind him. Practice, practice, practice and become established in Brahman.
http://www.dlshq.org/teachings/jnanayoga.htm
-
Erowid Yoga Vault: Jnana Yoga
the yoga of knowledge or wisdom
requiring strength of will and intellect
Taking the philosophy of Vedanta the Jnana yogi uses his mind to inquire into its own nature. We perceive the space inside and outside a glass as different, just as we see ourselves as separate from the spirit. Jnana Yoga leads the devotee to experience his unity with the spirit directly by breaking the glass, dissolving the veils of ignorance. Before practising Jnana Yoga, the aspirant needs to have integrated the lessons of the other yogic paths, for without selflessness and love of all, strength of body and mind, the search for self-realization can become mere idle speculation. Jnana Yoga techniques and paths include:
- Viveka – The technique of intellectual discernment or discrimination of the true self from distractions.
- Neti-neti – The technique of discarding, one by one, thoughts and distractions which are not the true self.
- Vicara – The tecyhnique of internal examination and reflection.
- Vairagya – The practice of dispassion or detachment.
- Shad-sampat – The path of the six virtues.
- Mumukshutva – Intense longing for liberation.
http://www.erowid.org/spirit/yoga/yoga_jnana.shtml
-
jnana yoga: the yoga of knowledge
Jnana Yoga is practical Philosophy/Metaphysics.
It is both theory and practice.
Jnana Yoga uses the intellect as a tool to understand that our true Self is behind and beyond our mind. It is, however, a mistake to think the Source could be found with the intellect alone. For the purpose of Self-discovery, Jnana Yoga probes the nature of the Self through the question “Who am I?” Thus Jnana Yoga may be called the Quest for the Self or the Inquiry into “who we are.”
Who practices Jnana Yoga?
Some seekers, who do not require tools like Jnana Yoga, already have a strong belief in God and Spiritual survival and require no other system than to believe in God and love God with all their heart. That is the path of main stream Religion and that of Bhakti Yoga. Other seekers feel they need to do good and self-less deeds. That is also the path of Religion as well as the path of Karma Yoga. Some seekers have their belief but need a more systematic approach. Generally, they like systems like: Raja, Ashtanga, or Kriya Yoga. At times, seekers feel they need more outside assistance; they are good candidates for Religion, Shaktipat, and Siddha Yoga.
Finally, there are seekers who want to believe but have a greater need to understand; they have lots of questions and need all of them answered. These seekers are the best candidates for Jnana Yoga. Jnana Yoga is not alien to other systems or religions. One could say that the beginnings of Jnana Yoga are found in Vedanta, the philosophy of Vedic Scripture. These writings are even older than the Bible and there are scholars who see the origin of all major religions in these ‘revelations of Truth.’ The relationship between the Bible and Vedanta was also pointed out by Ramana Maharshi, who once said that the whole Vedanta is contained in the two Biblical statements: “I am that I AM” and “Be still and know that I am God.”
Is Jnana Yoga a mere intellectual exercise?
Definitely not. Practically all questions may be answered intellectually but not final questions like:
Who or what is God? Or, who or what is the Self? The answer to “who is the Self,” must be the Self by ‘It-Self’. The answer to “who is God”, must be God by Him\She\Itself. As a first result of Jnana Yoga or introspection, we can intellectually realize that God’s nature must be pure Beingness or pure Awareness, or we may realize that at the center of our Being is pure Beingness and that this is the real Self – but to know the Self we must be the Self. To know Beingness, we must be Beingness or pure Awareness. This could be compared with an orgasm: We may hear in detail what it feels like but to really know what it is we must have the actual experience. In order to have the experience of God’s omnipresence, we may intellectually realize, what Jnana Yoga and Religion has taught all along, that we should not produce a single thought in the otherwise pure Awareness (Psalm: “Be still and know that I am God”), but to be still is not an intellectual exercise; that is done with Meditation. The meditation in Jnana Yoga is to concentrate on the answer to the question: “Who am I?” Or, to simply hang on to the first of all thoughts which is “I”. That might sound strange and egotistical, but every thought we produce is added to “I”, is following the “I”.
Thus we may say: I see you, I do this, and so on. First comes I – then everything else. If we concentrate on “I” until the thought can be held, then we are already at the root of all problems and errors. In time, even this thought will disappear leaving nothing else but pure Awareness. That is the omnipresence of God. It should be quite clear that we still continue to exist without thinking.
We must also realize that such a thoughtless condition must be possible. However, if one simply tries to stop thinking just for a moment, we encounter the resistance of our ego. Since the ego cannot consist of anything more than thoughts, it is constantly weakened by our meditation, as long as we really try to stick with our Mantram, which for a Jnana Yogi may simply be “I”. The best promise of the Jnana Yoga system is the possible culmination into Sahaja Samadhi; that is when the natural condition of the Self continues even during regular activities, free of worries and anxiety.
Shankara and, more recently, Ramana Maharshi are the classic authorities concerning Jnana Yoga. Like Hatha- and Radja Yogis, Jnana Yogis also acknowledge the relationship between breathing and thinking. However, they found out that breathing slows automatically through the concentration on the “I-AM.” Through persistent probing, fixing our attention on the source of our Being, we regain our real Self; we remember who we are.
The inquiry, as the result of practising Jnana Yoga, leads us towards clear Awareness by removing our attention from that which we are not. Along with Bhakti Yoga (Devotion), Jnana is listed among the best approaches for becoming aware of the eternal Self (God).
See “Self-Knowledge,” a short outline based on Shankara’s treatise, as an introduction to Jnana Yoga.
See Ramana Maharshi as the ultimate source for instruction in the tradition of Jnana Yoga.
http://www.self-realization.com/articles/yoga/jnana_yoga.htm
