Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Tiny Alien from Sirius documentary is most likely a human mutation
From a Belgian news site, can't find a decent similar english story at first glance. The specimen has human DNA and Garry Nolan of Stanford University who did the DNA tests says it's probably an interesting human mutation. I've downloaded a flash version of the Sirius docu from torrents, but it's not high on my to-watch list to be honest.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Scientists Intervene in TED Controversy
There was a stunning intervention in the TED controversy by 19 leading
scientists.
In brief it looks like TED Curator Chris Anderson opened Pandora's Box
-- further details below -- when he authorised the removal of talks by
myself and Rupert Sheldrake from the TEDx Youtube channel. Rupert's talk
was entitled "The Science Delusion", my talk was entitled "The War on
Consciousness", and both can be viewed, in context -- scroll down on this TED blog page.
The reason the talks are still on the TED website at all (even if sequestrated to the blog) is because of the internet furore that erupted following the removal of the talks from the TEDx Youtube channel. Let me put on record here how deeply grateful I am for the solidarity and intelligent, well thought-out intervention of many members my online community. Without this I believe TED would have been able to sweep the whole matter under the carpet. And I note how dismissive and insulting TED were: "Graham Hancock put out an immediate alert that he was about to be 'censored' [and] his army of passionate supporters deluged us with outraged messages". See here.
There's a lot to be learnt about TED's attitude towards the general public from that short phrase, which does not recognise the intelligence, integrity and independent thought of the thousands who wrote to them but instead lumps all together as an "army of passionate supporters". I for my part feel honoured to have been given that support but I recognise that it was never about me; rather it was about the ideas and principles that are at stake. Even so, TED demonstrated its contempt by refusing to answer the appeals that I and Rupert Sheldrake made for an open, live debate on the core issues (see here, and here) and by ignoring all the thousands of posts put on their blog by members of the general public (SEE HERE: http://www.ted.com/conversations/17190/the_debate_about_graham_hancoc.html
AND HERE: http://www.ted.com/conversations/17189/the_debate_about_rupert_sheldr.html
AND HERE: http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/14/open-for-discussion-graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake/
AND HERE: http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/18/graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake-a-fresh-take/)
Perhaps by turning a deaf ear to criticism TED hoped they would get away with it. But it is clear now that they are not going to be allowed to do so.
The mainstream media picked up the story on 7 April with this article in one of Britain's leading national newspapers, the Independent on Sunday. The article also appeared in the Belfast Telegraph three days later on 10 April.
Then the following happened in quick succession:
(1) On 18 April an open letter to TED deeply critical of TED's decision to remove talks by myself and Rupert Sheldrake from the TEDx Youtube channel was published in the Huffington Post. The letter was written by Deepak Chopra, MD, Stuart Hameroff, MD (Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychology, Director of Consciousness Studies, at the University of Arizona), Menas C. Kafatos, Ph.D (Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor in Computational Physics, Director, Center of Excellence, Chapman University), Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D (Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard University and Director of the Genetics and Ageing Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital), and Neil Theise, MD (Professor, Pathology and Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York).
(2) On 19 April Ted Curator Chris Anderson replied in the Huffington Post with some slick, evasive PR-speak (coupled with a pinch of the give-away sneering and high-handedness that he has resorted to again and again throughout this controversy).
(3) The same day, 19 April, Chopra, Hameroff, Kafatos,Theise, and a stunning array of 15 other immensely qualified and experienced scientists, came back with a devastating response to Anderson's letter.
The reason the talks are still on the TED website at all (even if sequestrated to the blog) is because of the internet furore that erupted following the removal of the talks from the TEDx Youtube channel. Let me put on record here how deeply grateful I am for the solidarity and intelligent, well thought-out intervention of many members my online community. Without this I believe TED would have been able to sweep the whole matter under the carpet. And I note how dismissive and insulting TED were: "Graham Hancock put out an immediate alert that he was about to be 'censored' [and] his army of passionate supporters deluged us with outraged messages". See here.
There's a lot to be learnt about TED's attitude towards the general public from that short phrase, which does not recognise the intelligence, integrity and independent thought of the thousands who wrote to them but instead lumps all together as an "army of passionate supporters". I for my part feel honoured to have been given that support but I recognise that it was never about me; rather it was about the ideas and principles that are at stake. Even so, TED demonstrated its contempt by refusing to answer the appeals that I and Rupert Sheldrake made for an open, live debate on the core issues (see here, and here) and by ignoring all the thousands of posts put on their blog by members of the general public (SEE HERE: http://www.ted.com/conversations/17190/the_debate_about_graham_hancoc.html
AND HERE: http://www.ted.com/conversations/17189/the_debate_about_rupert_sheldr.html
AND HERE: http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/14/open-for-discussion-graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake/
AND HERE: http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/18/graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake-a-fresh-take/)
Perhaps by turning a deaf ear to criticism TED hoped they would get away with it. But it is clear now that they are not going to be allowed to do so.
The mainstream media picked up the story on 7 April with this article in one of Britain's leading national newspapers, the Independent on Sunday. The article also appeared in the Belfast Telegraph three days later on 10 April.
Then the following happened in quick succession:
(1) On 18 April an open letter to TED deeply critical of TED's decision to remove talks by myself and Rupert Sheldrake from the TEDx Youtube channel was published in the Huffington Post. The letter was written by Deepak Chopra, MD, Stuart Hameroff, MD (Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychology, Director of Consciousness Studies, at the University of Arizona), Menas C. Kafatos, Ph.D (Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor in Computational Physics, Director, Center of Excellence, Chapman University), Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D (Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard University and Director of the Genetics and Ageing Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital), and Neil Theise, MD (Professor, Pathology and Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York).
(2) On 19 April Ted Curator Chris Anderson replied in the Huffington Post with some slick, evasive PR-speak (coupled with a pinch of the give-away sneering and high-handedness that he has resorted to again and again throughout this controversy).
(3) The same day, 19 April, Chopra, Hameroff, Kafatos,Theise, and a stunning array of 15 other immensely qualified and experienced scientists, came back with a devastating response to Anderson's letter.
Robert Anton Wilson - A Lesson in Karma
Robert Anton Wilson - A Lesson in Karma - Robert Anton Wilson Online Library:
"...returning from school one afternoon, Luna was beaten and robbed by a
gang of black kids. She was weeping and badly frightened when she
arrived home, and her Father was shaken by the unfairness of it
happening to her, such a gentle, ethereal child. In the midst of
consoling her, the Father wandered emotionally and began denouncing the
idea of Karma. Luna was beaten, he said, not for her sins, but for the
sins of several centuries of slavers and racists, most of whom had never
themselves suffered for those sins. "Karma is a blind machine," he
said. "The effects of evil go on and on but they don't necessarily come
back on those who start the evil." Then Father got back on the track and
said some more relevant and consoling things. The next day Luna was her
usual sunny and cheerful self, just like the Light in her paintings.
"I'm glad you're feeling better," the Father said finally. "I stopped
the wheel of Karma," she said. "All the bad energy is with the kids who
beat me up. I'm not holding any of it."
Karma, in the
original Buddhist scriptures, is a blind machine; in fact, it is
functionally identical with the scientific concept of natural law.
Sentimental ethical ideas about justice being built into the machine, so
that those who do evil in one life are punished for it in another life,
were added later by theologians reasoning from their own moralistic
prejudices. Buddha simply indicated that all the cruelties and
injustices of the past are still active: their effects are always being
felt.
Similarly, he
explained, all the good of the past, all the kindness and patience and
love of decent people is also still being felt. Since most humans are
still controlled by fairly robotic reflexes, the bad energy of the past
far outweighs the good, and the tendency of the wheel is to keep moving
in the same terrible direction, violence breeding more violence, hatred
breeding more hatred, war breeding more war. The only way to "stop the
wheel" is to stop it inside yourself, by giving up bad energy and
concentrating on the positive. This is by no means easy, but once you
understand what Gurdjieff called "the horror of our situation," you have
no choice but to try, and to keep on trying.
And Luna, at 13,
understood this far better than I did, at 43, with all my erudition and
philosophy.... I still regarded her absolute vegetarianism and pacifism
as sentimentality."
Thanks Relaxed Focus
WTF - 11000 people on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is innocent Facebook page
I've deleted my Boston Bombings related posts because I don't wanna be associated with people like this... I never came to a conclusion, I listed evidence and interesting info that could be related to a conspiracy. I quote myself "Some more conspiracy related info, no idea what to think of it myself." But each year I just wanna distance myself more from the "conspiracy community". I'd rather be a closet conspiracy researcher than be associated with what's going on online. There's a difference between good media/government skepticism and this, jumping to conclusions while falling flat on your face. Maybe it's time most of the people who are crying to wake up, wake up themselves, they're obviously talking in their sleep.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Reality Model Playground!
Check out this awesome new blog!!!
From the info:
"I created this blog as a place to store and share the models of reality I enjoy exploring. I don't believe totally in anything, a concept introduced to me by Robert Anton Wilson, freeing me to consciously create my own reality tunnel.
The images here were created by me using my art & photography."
More cool art, images & quotes at the blog!
Money-printing scam at taxpayer expense & why are there no bankers in jail - Godfrey Bloom MEP 16/04/2013
Whoa! Godfrey Bloom at the European Parliament, the response from the other politicians is just telling...
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Terence McKenna - The Message
Terence McKenna talks about culture, 5 dried grams of psilocybin
mushrooms and self empowerment, from the question and answer session of
his lecture entitled 'Eros And The Eschaton'. More info about the video in the youtube info.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
David Lynch explains Consciousness, Creativity and benefits of Transcendental Meditation
Really nice how David Lynch answers these questions, even though I'm not a big fan of his work. I'm also always happy to bash Transcendental Meditation, because a mantra isn't worth thousands of dollars. It's a rip off, though it obviously wouldn't hurt David Lynch's wallet. That being said, to be very clear, I have no problem what so ever with mantra meditation and practice it regularly myself. (Mostly the Yogani 'I am' or the Gayatri Mantra). It's just charging insane money for consciousness techniques I can't support.
TED flirts with Scientism
Scientism is an ideology that attempts to apply conventional scientific principles to fields of knowledge where it has no business being. Scientism is an exaggerated belief in the knowledge that science provides and the ability of science to use that knowledge to solve all manner of problems, human and otherwise. Hardcore scientism asserts that scientific knowledge is the only real knowledge. Only science can provide access to truth. All other forms of human inquiry and experience are not to be trusted.Read more at Reality Sandwich.
"I loathe science and am always keane to attack it in most situations (...)
but I love reason and I'm perfectly aware of the difference."
Terence Mckenna
but I love reason and I'm perfectly aware of the difference."
Terence Mckenna
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian calls Google to talk CISPA
CISPA - The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. Oh my, the name includes sharing and protection, how can it not be great for EVERYONE?
The Mighty Mighty Storm Giants! Flowers bloom and then they die & Pearly white Teeth
Check out this awesome music! The singer is Sureshot, the verbal wizard you might know from this blog's comments!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Father John Misty - Fear Fun (full album)
Thanks to SURESHOT for recommending this, it's freaking awesome! Here have the full album!
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Smartmatic Electronic Voting will have to pay for failing computers during last Belgian regional elections
Smartmatic will not receive 16.5% of the first agreed payment, because its systems failed repeatedly in the last regional Belgian elections which caused lost votes. They will have to improve their systems. Smartmatic declined to comment except to say that more time to prepare might have helped. Well at least it's not Diebold. The Belgian governments are not considering reverting back to pen & paper.
Bashar al-Assad (with Russia & China) Versus the People of Syria
A Belgian news journalist is in Syria reporting on the hopeless situation. The Syrians tell him they are getting hopeless that after two years the international community is still not helping. Syria is getting increased media coverage in Belgium because several Belgian young people are going to Syria to fight alongside the rebels... One father is there now trying to find his son.
This situation in Syria is of course still going on partly thanks to the vetos in the UN by the heartless diplomats of China and Russia... Incredible and just ridiculous how useless the UN is. The government are even using air strikes on its own citizens and the west is still largely ignoring this conflict... This is a country in the Middle East where people want democracy, where are the "world police" who like spreading democracy so much? Oh, what's that? Distraction incoming.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Friday, April 12, 2013
John Stewart describes how the Monsanto Protection Act was snuck in under our noses
Some sound issues with the clip though. Here's the video at the official site but it's 2 minutes shorter.
Pretty baffled they did this, baffled anytime money > food...
...anonymously! "ooooh!" Holy shit
Thursday, April 11, 2013
ExTEDxWestHollywood - The saving of "Brother, can you spare a Paradigm?"
http://www.tedxwesthollywood.com/
Thanks to DeSwiss for the heads up!
From the site: TED CANCELLED THE LICENSE FOR THIS EVENT, WHICH COULD NOT MOVE FORWARD UNDER ITS AUSPICE. THIS PROGRAM IS TOO GOOD TO NOT BE DELIVERED AND WE REGROUPED. AS WE HAVE LOST OUR TED-BASED SPONSORSHIP AND TICKET REVENUE ONLY WILL PAY SOME OF OUR BILLS, TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS TO OUR NON-PROFIT ARE APPRECIATED.
READ THE STORY OF OUR CANCELLATION HERE:Good luck to the Ex-TED Team! Here's a link to the speakers.
http://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/ted-not-satisfied-with-current-censorship-tedxwesthollywood-is-taken-down
Thanks to DeSwiss for the heads up!
Let's promote... Sugar
The "flemish union of food specialists and dietists" in Belgium is causing a bit of an uproar because it's running campaign for the promotion of Sugar in a healthy diet... Yay for our national health association in that doesn't agree this is necessary because people are eating too much sugar already. Cherry on top, the campaign is sponsored by... Coca-Cola.
Who! can believe you?
Monday, April 8, 2013
Ding dong the witch is dead!
Margaret Thatcher is dead! Klaus Nomi and Elvis Costello are two amongst many others that aren't too sad about it. Klaus Nomi totally looks like Loki.
In not so but kinda related news, in Papua New Guinea two women (Belgian media reports two, this linked article says one) have been decapitated after three days of torture. They were charged with using witchcraft to murder a teacher.
When the police finally wanted to intervene, they were stopped by the villagers and they had to watch how the women were decapitated with axes. Damn Papua New Guinea!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Alien Encounters - pilot with Whitley Shrieber & Audrey Hewins
I found this on a torrent site but apparently can't find a decent official webpage about it. This page on the Biography Channel's website (here it's called Alien Intent though) has a little summary but the links in the menu on the left are not related to the show.
"For those who feel that they've survived a close encounter with an extraterrestrial, questions linger and torment them long after the incident has ended: Who were these things? Where did they come from? Am I losing my mind? Why was I chosen? In this special, world-renowned UFO expert Whitley Strieber attempts to answer these questions, by helping those who are struggling to find closure from their haunting and seemingly very real personal encounters. Strieber, along with a network of leading scientists and researchers, tackle the UFO phenomenon on a human level, reaching out to those who have had paranormal experiences with an objective mindset and a determination to find the truth."
I thought it was pretty scary stuff, Strieber and Hewins recounting their alleged experiences. Aliens abducting humans to alter their DNA, and seeing an alien-human hybrid child is just a little of what you'll see re-enacted on this show...
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Ideas worth spreading - You're doing it wrong!
TED is revoking the license of TEDxWestHollywood, just a couple of weeks before their event, "Brother, Can You Spare a Paradigm?" without offering a reason, beyond a vague statement suggesting that the program is not sufficiently scientific. This occurred just two weeks before the April 14 event, after over a year of preparation. If you're feeling a sense of déjà vu, that's because they used this same line of reasoning to pull videos by Graham Hancock and Rupert Sheldrake just a few weeks ago, an incident that sparked wide controversy.Read more here at "TED rejects new Paradigm" - Reality Sandwich.
The irony...
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
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