Sounding Circle

28 Mar 2003 @ 20:30
" To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American
public." --Theodore Roosevelt More >

Micro-drone Aerial Spies

Northwest Earthquake Taking Weeks

28 Mar 2003 @ 20:26
From Liberty Think website.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The future of surveillance aircraft will take off next Saturday from a small hayfield in northern Florida, but observers will have to look hard to see it. The next generation of spy planes will be small--perhaps less than 6 inches in diameter--and agile as a hummingbird.

Seeking to capitalize on the ability to put a TV camera on a chip and other shrinking components, university and Navy researchers will try their wings near here during a micro-aerial-vehicles (MAV) competition sponsored by the International Society for Structural and Multidisciplinary Organization (ISSMO). More >

International News Streams

28 Mar 2003 @ 20:21
Experts: Northwest quake under way taking weeks, not seconds

Wednesday, March 26, 2003
©2003 Associated Press

(03-26) 13:36 PST PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) --

A widespread earthquake is taking place beneath the Northwest, slowly unleashing energy that may be equivalent to the magnitude 6.7 Nisqually quake that rocked the region two years ago, experts say.

But the so-called "silent" or "slow" earthquake is releasing that energy over weeks rather than in the sharp, seconds-long jolts of a typical quake. No one can feel it.

The event started Feb. 26 and seems to be sputtering to a halt far beneath northwest Washington and southwest British Columbia. The quake originated beneath the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Friday Harbor, Wash., and Victoria, British Columbia.

Recently discovered silent quakes, which can only be detected with sensitive instruments, aren't as harmless as they may seem.

Scientists say they may be adding to the tremendous pressure in an area where the brittle rocks of two tectonic plates are locked offshore.

Evidence shows that every few hundred years, the jammed plates release that stress in huge magnitude 8 or 9 earthquakes that can rattle the entire Northwest coast and generate lethal tsunamis. The last such powerful subduction-zone quake occurred about 300 years ago.

"These slow slips aren't reducing the stress on the locked zone," said Herb Dragert, a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada in Sidney, British Columbia. "They're actually, in little pulses, adding a tiny bit of stress to the locked zone."

About every 14 to 15 months, the slow-motion earthquakes are generated about 15 to 30 miles deep at the interface of the lower Juan de Fuca tectonic plate and the upper North American plate.

In that area, called the "slip" zone, the rocks are hotter and more flexible than in the locked zone 30 to 60 miles farther west, allowing the plates to pass each other more easily.

"What is going on for those 14 to 15 months is that things are stickier in the slip zone," Dragert said. "Then the slip happens -- the sticky portion is released -- which adds stress to the locked zone" as the North American plate shifts westward toward it.

The locked zone is causing the western edge of the normally westward-moving North American plate to compress and be shoved eastward about a half inch each year along the coast. However, each slow earthquake reverses that eastward motion, allowing the North American plate to rebound westward by about 0.08 to 0.16 inches during the course of the quake.

The earthquakes weren't detected until data was obtained from the global positioning system, or GPS, a network of 24 orbiting satellites with instruments that can measure tiny movements of ground-based stations.

Scientists have found that the silent earthquakes' signals show up on seismographs, but until recently they were overlooked because they don't look similar to the signals from regular earthquakes.

The discovery of the silent quakes provides a new tool for monitoring the fault zone that could rupture into a powerful subduction zone earthquake, an event that occurs near the coast on average about every 500 years. More >

Thursday, March 27, 2003

27 Mar 2003 @ 12:43
MOAWW is a fairly comprehensive website that provides streams from international news feeds.

A lot of these audio/video streams are either bogged down, or entirely down, or this site is overloaded, but a friend WAS able to watch a little Bahrain TV.

Light Dancer

FERC Finds Widespread Power Manipulation in California

27 Mar 2003 @ 10:02
Some friends of mine have developed an amazing dance ,movement, music technology they call Light Dancer

I've spent some time on this myself and it is really a lot of fun, multi-sensory and dissolves the boundaries between performers and audiences I see lots of different applications for this software/hardware invention.

In brief The LightDancerTM is a full-body, non-contact, mistake-free interactive music and visual media instrument. It can be configured either as permanently in-floor, or as a 1.5-inch thick, multi-hexagon platform.

First-time, casual players can effortlessly play real music,
while creating spectacular immersive and 3D interactive visuals.Spontaneously control lasers, or intelligent robotic lighting.

You can animate incredible 3D computer graphics, with the
3dMaxMedia Zuma Visualizer and...

groups of people can play simultaneously and in perfect harmony and rhythm,while creating huge overhead visuals in the forthcoming:Laserium Cyberdome More >

27 Mar 2003 @ 09:36
Help support and realize inexpensive free energy so we don't have to read articles like this one any longer.

By Mark Sherman
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal energy regulators said Wednesday that their investigation found widespread manipulation of natural gas and electricity prices and supplies in California.

Pat Wood, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said that as a result of the manipulation California would receive more than the $1.8 billion in refunds recommended by a FERC judge in December.

The exact amount is to be determined in the coming months, but FERC spokesman Kevin Cadden estimated that the total would be $3.3 billion. California is seeking $9 billion.

The FERC singled out seven subsidiaries of bankrupt Enron Corp. and five other companies for taking advantage of a dysfunctional market and reaping millions of dollars in unjust profits.

"The price gouging abounded," Commissioner William Massey said. He said he regretted that FERC did not intervene earlier to police the newly deregulated power market in California.

California Gov. Gray Davis said the ruling confirms "there was widespread market manipulation and a massive ripoff of California ratepayers. Now the question is whether the FERC commissioners will have the grit to order the remedies that are necessary."

The agency is considering placing limits on the profits of four marketers of wholesale power and banning eight gas companies from selling natural gas in California, Wood said.

The power marketers are Enron Power Marketing Inc., Enron Energy Services Inc., Reliant Energy Services Inc., and BP Energy Company.

The natural gas companies are Bridgeline Gas Marketing LLC, Citrus Trading Corp., ENA Upstream Company, Enron Canada Corp., Enron Compression Services Company, Enron Energy Services Inc., Enron MW LLC and Enron North America Corp.

The investigation also found a close link between natural gas and electricity prices. Gas is the fuel at many power plants.

After a 13-month investigation, FERC concluded "that many trading strategies employed by Enron and other companies violated the anti-gaming provisions" of marketing rules.

READ ON More >

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

Halliburton Follow-up

25 Mar 2003 @ 17:26
This is an update on my previous post about Halliburton and Cheney's ties and profiteering from the post war rebuilding.
---------------------------------------------
Iraq rebuilding contracts awarded

Halliburton, Stevedoring Services of America get government contracts for early relief work.
March 25, 2003: 10:01 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The first contracts for rebuilding post-war Iraq have been awarded, and Vice President Dick Cheney's old employer, Halliburton Co., is one of the early winners.

The Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) unit of Halliburton (HAL: Research, Estimates), of which Cheney was CEO from 1995-2000, was awarded a contract late Monday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to put out oil fires and make emergency repairs in Iraq.

Halliburton wouldn't disclose the monetary value of the contract, under which Halliburton will put into action some of the firefighting and repair plans it detailed for the Army in a study in conducted in November.

"KBR's ... contract is limited to task orders under the contract for only those services which are necessary to support the mission in near term," Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said.

Army Corps of Engineers representatives could not be reached for comment.

The most critical part of the contract could be the "emergency repairs" portion, which could put Halliburton in prime position to handle the complete refurbishment of Iraq's long-neglected oil infrastructure.

Getting Iraq's oil fields to pre-1991 production levels will take at least 18 months and cost about $5 billion initially, with another $3 billion in annual operating expenses, according to a recent study by the James A. Baker III
Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, named for the first President Bush's Secretary of State during the first Gulf War.

Though none of the potential administrators of such a contract -- including the Defense Department, the State Department's U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations -- have claimed responsibility for handing out the job, Monday's award could mean the Defense Department will be in charge.

Halliburton said it has subcontracted the firefighting portion of the Army contract to Houston-based companies Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc. (WEL: Research, Estimates) and Wild Well Control, Inc., a private company.

Hall of Halliburton said the fires should be put out in about 240 days. Very few oil wells have been set ablaze by Iraqis so far, in contrast to the first Gulf War in 1991, when Iraqi troops retreating from Kuwait set fire to more than 700 Kuwaiti oil wells. Halliburton's KBR unit was involved in putting out the 1991 fires.

Separately, USAID late Monday awarded a $4.8 million contract to Stevedoring Services of America (SSA), a private company based in Seattle, to manage the Umm Qasr ports in southern Iraq.

Umm Qasr's ports, where U.S. and British troops have struggled for full control, are seen as critical to efforts to bring humanitarian relief to Iraqis. SSA will handle several tasks, including assessing the need for dredging and repairs to the ports and unloading and warehousing cargo.

USAID plans to issue seven other contracts, including one for $600 million for general construction work in post-war Iraq. Halliburton is among several companies reported to have put in bids for that contract. More >

A Welcome Change

25 Mar 2003 @ 17:14
My friend Greg Hurley wote and sent me this link:

"Here's a welcome change-of-pace: a beautiful web site with an inspiring set of messages presented at a pace and with such love that I had to slow down and really savor the presentation. I hope you take the time to enjoy it..."

It comes from the Daily Motivator website. More >

Thomas Jefferson says...

Sex Museum Seeks to Break Taboos

25 Mar 2003 @ 17:03
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." - Thomas Jefferson More >

Monday, March 24, 2003

24 Mar 2003 @ 19:01
The painting that accompanies this article is from an interview GQ magazine did with me in 1997. Though some of my thoughts and ideas have changed I think it is still appropriate for today.

Sex Museum Seeks to Break Taboos

By Jayashree Lengade

BOMBAY (Reuters) - It tells you all you ever wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask.

India's first sex museum in the western city of Bombay takes curious visitors on a journey into a world that is still considered taboo in the tradition-bound country.

Unlike similar museums in the West, the Bombay museum aims to tutor rather than titillate.

"This is not a place that will arouse passions," said Arvind Shah, a doctor and a founder of the museum. "We have designed the museum to educate and provide correct information."

Tucked away in a century-old building near a red-light district, the museum juxtaposes ancient texts with modern caricatures and models to educate people on a range of subjects from reproduction to the dangers of AIDS (news - web sites).

"For the first time I learned how a baby was born," said Sher Singh, 22, father of a seven-month-old baby.

The museum, named "Antaranga," or "Inner Self," begins with abstract drawings of entwined couples and verses from the "Kamasutra," India's ancient treatise on the art of love.

The exhibits are a mix of the academic and the explicit.

Apart from clay sculptures of sex godesses, the museum also uses fiber-glass models of human genitalia as well as Adam and Eve statues locked in a passionate embrace.

"What are we ashamed about?" asked Dr Shah. "Young people are usually confused. We want to clear their minds."

A 16-year-old student, Rahul Jadhav, said he felt awkward looking at the naked figures but the museum was a "storehouse of information."

Apart from providing sex education, the museum also seeks to build awareness about AIDS through real-life stories, explanations on how to use condoms and illustrations of the HIV virus (news - web sites) depicted like a vulture eating into the human body.

India has nearly four million people suffering from HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS, second only to South Africa, and health experts warn the numbers could spiral if urgent steps are not taken.

While critics say the museum is a bit too explicit, visitors say it is a good way of educating people in a country where people tend to shy away from any discussion of sex. More >

Saturday, March 22, 2003

National Debt Clock

Great Example: Think Globally, Act Locally

22 Mar 2003 @ 18:15
This is an intriguing resource that tracks the public and national debt per day.

National Debt Clock

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.42 billion per day
since September 30, 2002!

The estimated population of the United States is 290,743,300
so each citizen's share of this debt is $22,259.87. More >

Halliburton Makes a Killing on Iraq War

22 Mar 2003 @ 18:05
I was thrilled to see our small town (about 8000 people) of Ojai addressing some difficult issues on how the international policies affect us here in our own community.

Ojai City Council Meeting
March 25
7:30 pm
Arrive Early
401 S. Ventura Ave.
Across from Police Dept.

The Anti-War Resolution we first presented to the Ojai City Council last November will be on the agenda at the Council's next meeting, this coming Tuesday, March 25. The article that appeared on the front page of the OVN last Friday was misleading. It made it appear that the resolution had been rejected. Joe DeVito was against putting it on the agenda but two other council members wanted it on and another wanted more information so it was decided to place it on the agenda. We need Ojai Valley residents to speak to this issue that night and many others to attend. Please respond to this e-mail if you can speak. There's a 3 minute time limit. We hope to coordinate topics so there isn't a lot overlapping.

Some suggestions for speaking:

Stay focussed and on point.

Be passionate, but don't be confrontational.

Don't treat the City Council members as enemies. They are neighbors and friends.

Don't make speeches to educate people about foreign policy, the history of imperialism or the lack of character of President Bush. These topics are worthy of attention, but off task for what we intend to achieve.

Don't address any extraneous issues. This is about sending a message from our town to Washington to stop the war and the economic sanctions against Iraq.

Some suggested topics:

The economic impact of war expenditures on community funding.

Hazards to our troops and all others in areas of use of depleted uranium ammunition. (Cancer, radiation injuries, birth defects - even in offspring of exposed vets.)

The importance of acting in accordance with the majority of the United Nations.

Ojai Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions More >

Back Pain Linked To Brain Shrinkage

22 Mar 2003 @ 17:44
This comes from the CorpWatch website. I feel it's vital that all of us understand the symbiotic relationships in the military corporate complex. In this way we can make more educated choices, to not only whom we elect, but also how we spend our consumer dollars and what those dollars are funding.

Halliburton Makes a Killing on Iraq War
Cheney's Former Company Profits from Supporting Troops

Special Series
By Pratap Chatterjee
Special to CorpWatch
March 20, 2003

As the first bombs rain down on Baghdad, CorpWatch has learned that thousands of employees of Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, are working alongside US troops in Kuwait and Turkey under a package deal worth close to a billion dollars. According to US Army sources, they are building tent cities and providing logistical support for the war in Iraq in addition to other hot spots in the "war on terrorism."

While recent news coverage has speculated on the post-war reconstruction gravy train that corporations like Halliburton stand to gain from, this latest information indicates that Halliburton is already profiting from war time contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Cheney served as chief executive of Halliburton until he stepped down to become George W. Bush's running mate in the 2000 presidential race. Today he still draws compensation of up to a million dollars a year from the company, although his spokesperson denies that the White House helped the company win the contract.

Read On... More >

22 Mar 2003 @ 17:28
Back Pain Linked To Brain Shrinkage - Study
By Merritt McKinney
3-22-3

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with chronic back pain may experience shrinkage in the 'thinking' part of the brain, according to preliminary results of a small study presented this week at a meeting of the American Pain Society in Chicago.

The decrease in brain tissue remains a chicken-or-the-egg question for researchers, since they do not know which comes first -- the back pain or the shrinkage.

But if chronic pain turns out to cause parts of the brain to shrink, "the urgency to cure chronic pain becomes more important," according to Dr. A. Vania Apkarian at Northwestern University in Chicago, who heads
the ongoing study.

In previous research, Apkarian and his colleagues uncovered evidence that people with chronic pain may experience changes in brain tissue called gray matter. Unlike white matter, which mainly holds the brain together, gray matter contains active "thinking cells" that are involved in processing information and memory. It makes up the largest proportion
of the brain.

In the new study, Apkarian's team continued to study the brains of people with chronic pain, in this case 10 people with chronic back pain. The researchers measured gray matter in the brains of people with chronic back pain and compared them to a group of 20 people who did not have chronic pain.

The measurements revealed that people with chronic pain had less gray matter -- overall and in a part of the brain called the thalamus. Not only was there less gray matter in terms of volume in pain sufferers, but the tissue was also less dense, Apkarian said.

The changes in people with chronic pain, Apkarian told Reuters Health in an interview, were particularly noticeable in parts of the gray matter that are known to be important in making "emotional assessments," including decision making and control of everyday social behavior.

"We have shown that brain chemistry is abnormal in chronic back pain patients," Apkarian said. He cautioned however, that "we have no idea" whether the shrinkage causes the back pain or vice-versa. The two phenomena could also be unrelated, he said.

The research raises "a whole new set of questions" about chronic pain, Apkarian said. "This is just the beginning at looking into the brain at what chronic pain really is."

Right now, Apkarian and his colleagues are still recruiting people with chronic back pain, as they would eventually like to measure gray matter in 20 people with pain, he said.

The Chicago researcher said that he would like to follow a group of people with chronic pain to see whether the changes in gray matter progress. If gray matter continued to shrink as the pain continued, it would support the idea that the shrinkage is caused by chronic pain, he said.

One question Apkarian would like to see answered is whether treating the pain can reverse the damage to the brain's gray matter, although he said such a reversal is unlikely.

Apkarian noted that even though "a lot of work" needs to be done in studying the relationship between gray matter changes and chronic pain, the possibility that pain can cause parts of the brain to shrink highlights the importance of treating chronic pain.

Apkarian noted that in another study that has yet to be published, he and his colleagues found that people with chronic pain have "a very specific" type of decline in the ability to make emotional decisions. More >

Some Timely Lyrics

Raymond Powers - My New Weblog Name

22 Mar 2003 @ 10:50
These are a couple of lyrics that I wrote for my album Archer and the Muse. You can hear the songs on my mp3.com website
Also, there are more lyrics Here.

Mr. G

Skies turning foreign,
A breath that is foreign to breathe.
Pushing me closer,
The soil I smell as my grave.

There's much to recover ,
A game where we can't drop the ball.
We kick, push, and shove her ,
The scoreboard is telling it all.

Stand down your mission,
To cut down the trees, Mr. G, G, G,
Stand down your mission,
Forever for me, Mr. G, G, G.

Nickel and diming,
And smiles might win their campaign.
I watch television,
Which side do I choose to believe?

I reach out my hands to pray,
I listen for what you might say,
I'm not so sure that I will ever learn.

Everyone's spilling their seed,
I'll trade you my greed for some peace,
Plant a tree the children want to breathe,
Plant a tree the children want to breathe.

Stand down your mission,
To cut down the trees, Mr. G, G, G,
Stand down your mission,
Forever for me, Mr. G, G, G.

------------------------------------------------

Secret of Service

I say that the world's just a run around,
And we're chasing our tails in the dark,
We send ships to the stars,
While we cover with tar to build parking lots.

Be it gardener, or banker, or diplomat,
I question the fruits of our plan,
We send men to the moon,
Yet we don't provide food for the starving man.

It's not always easy to trust your feelings,
To do what's right.

The secret of service has not been told,
Handing out trips or a crime,
Broadcasting fables,
The young and the able don't buy the lines.

Patiently waiting for someone to tell,
How they finally discovered the way out of Hell,
Is it true.
If so can our earthly desires improve,
Roll your eyes,
For the cynic we've run out of room.

I say that the world's just a runaround,
Yet our spirit is reaching new heights,
"Calling All Angels",
a friend on the radio cries.
"Calling All Angels",
a friend on the radio cries.

It's not always easy to trust your feelings,
To do what's right. More >

Friday, March 21, 2003

4 comments

21 Mar 2003 @ 02:12
Welcome to my continuing, yet re-titled weblog Sounding Circle. This name has been with me for a couple decades, originally that of a project called The Los Angeles World Music Center and then as a series of community sound and music making explorations. Later, leading to a workshop called Singing Your Dream Awake.

In the context of this weblog, it implies the cycles, spirals and symbols of our thought, our culture, our lineage and our imagination. A palindromatic meeting in the middle outside of time.

Welcome and welcome back. I always enjoy your comments and appreciation of my posts. More >

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

What Would Saint Francis Do?

Simple Brilliance - Preface

19 Mar 2003 @ 20:48
Though I don't consider my self a champion for organized religion or the judeo-christian historical record, sometimes the essence of a particular individual can be inspiring inspite of the models they adhere to. I'm also not a scholar on the life of Assisi, so if this article is wearing rose tinted glasses, I'l apologize in advance.

What Would Saint Francis Do?
By Donald Spoto
Released 23 February 2003

by Donald Spoto
author of Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi

In the spring of 1208, a 25-year-old Italian who had quite a reputation as a playboy and wealthy man about town was embarking on a radically new life. The flashy dresser, the romantic troubadour, the partygoer and tipsy minstrel-these words no longer described Francis Bernadone. Instead, he was(to use a modern phrase) sick and tired of feeling sick and tired: hung-over, purposeless, simply wandering, with none of the old pleasures giving him much comfort and meaning. Everything seemed to have gone flat.But things began to change that year as he embarked on the lifelong process of conversion. Two astonishing things about Francis come to mind: his ability to love without exception and to criticize without fear. The simplicity of his life, as he nursed lepers, preached to the poor, saw to the needs of the unpopular and the impolite, could never have been predicted by anyone. Francis was, we must remember, the son and heir of one of Assisi's richest merchants, and what a scandal his new and not very pretty life created! That new life was an implicit correction to the luxury and privilege that defined much Church life in his time. This correction he did without preaching hellfire and damnation: he simply made a radical effort to live the Gospel without compromise at a time when institutions political and ecclesiastical seemed hopelessly compromised. Layman though he was and remained, Francis became one of the most powerful men of his time-entirely through his good example and his ceaseless insistence on peace. His customary greeting to everyone-stranger and friend alike-was invariably, "May the Lord give you peace.The insistence on nonviolent peace, the refusal to endorse war, the love he extended to Muslims and the Islamic prayers he brought back from his meeting with the sultan in Egypt during the height of the Fifth Crusade: all this made Francis an uncommon man of his time. The 13th was not a century when peace reigned anywhere-not among kingdoms, not in the Church, not in regions or cities. "May the Lord give you peace." With those words, Francis embarked each day on his mission to a violent world. Much more than the absence of conflict, peace was to be established by social justice and the refusal to extract vengeance or reprisal. The idea of a pre-emptive strike against anyone or any nation would have appalled him-as it would have appalled Jesus of Nazareth, whom Francis so resembled. You don't have to be a biblical scholar to know that if anything can be said about Jesus, it was that he absolutely forbade violence. That was his fundamental message. As the English author G.K. Chesterton famously said, "Christianity is such a marvelous idea-what a shame so few people have ever tried it!" Francis was one who did. The answer to this essay's title question is obvious. In our dreadfully dangerous time, when so many seem (literally) hell-bent on war, Francis (like Jesus) would love, help repair, counsel, admonish and broker peace. Revenge, threats and retaliation? Out of the question. "May the Lord give you peace." Nothing else seems to be working-maybe we ought to give it a chance. More >

Arctic Oil Drilling Rejected

19 Mar 2003 @ 20:16
Last night I had the honor to be a guest speaker at a monthly series called Look Who's Talking sponsored by the Healing Arts Council of Ojai.

When asked what I wanted to speak about, I paused a few moments and then replied Simple Brilliance. Now I wasn't all that clear on what that meant or what form the presentaton would take. The concept of Simple Brilliance, though certainly not new, came to me entotal as a definition, preface and about 20 chapter titles. It was so rich in content and interpretation that I have been sitting with it for almost two years.

I was curious to find out what would happen as I began to elaborate on it with a small group of twelve people. The evening, which I shared with Carol wade, a nutritional counselor and herbalist, was very expansive. The 20 minutes I was alotted turned into 45, with stories spilling out of me, and an in depth look at the concepts presented in the preface.

I've performed, facilitated and spoken quite a few times over the years and I always approach these events extemporaneously with a great deal of improvisation using only the basic content outline.

I began with an invocation on my cedar flute which tuned and stilled the room.What happened next was that I was moved to read the preface and then go back and repeat each sentence and then speak on that. I felt the energy in the room begin to conspire together and a unity being formed with the group mind. The often present critical voice in my head was still and I felt as if I was authentically embodying the words I was speaking. What a gift I was given to be invited to speak about life, love, relationship, cosmology, creativity and the compassionate heart.

-------------------------------------------

Here's the preface of Simple Brilliance that I read:

There's a state of remembering that brings us back to the full self-expression and conscious passion we were as a child. Those very activities and resources that magnetized our attention, and later our intention. With little effort, hours were spent as minutes, and days as hours, as we remained enraptured with this/these creations of life.

Maybe it was something externally present already, like something in nature, or a technology or a person; or maybe it was something we enjoyed birthing from our internal wellspring into the world, such as art, or music or words.

Creation IS, and always it has been coursing through our veins wanting expression. Simple Brilliance is a conscious re-memberance of who we are as integrated, inter-related, passionate and vital Beings.

Through the freedom born from discipline, we can rediscover and embody the very essence of ourselves, revealing and sharing without ill confidence, our own unique genetic stamp. For some, this will be easy, for others, extremely difficult, even painful.

We all have our own hinderances to joy and exuberance. Some may need to focus on releasing emotional material from their past, others will need to learn how to still their mind and others may need to create some type of spiritual cosmology that expands their viewpoint of themselves in relation to nature and the universe. Attending to a way that is inclusive rather than exclusive.

There is no "one way" to freedom and there are many ways that we prevent ourselves from fully living our original vision of life. We must first learn to cultivate trust in Life itself and then in ourselves and finally with others.

Cultivating Simple Brilliance renders us available to that which is joyous and unforeseen. More >

Town Hall Meeting in Los Angeles

19 Mar 2003 @ 19:47
Arctic Oil Drilling Rejected by U.S. Senate in Close Vote Today. Our efforts made a difference!

In a victory for the environment, the Senate voted today to remove a provision from the 2004 budget bill opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. An amendment to remove this oil drilling provision, sponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), passed by a narrow vote of 52 to 48.

Thanks to more than 25,000 Environmental Defense activists who quickly responded to our urgent action alert since Monday with e-mails, faxes and phone calls to Congress, we helped turn the tide against oil company efforts to open this precious wilderness area to oil companies.

HOW DID YOUR SENATOR VOTE?
(A "yea" vote is opposed to Arctic oil drilling. A "nay" vote supports Arctic oil drilling)

OIL DRILLING THREATS CONTINUE:
Stripping oil-drilling provisions out of the Senate's 2004 budget bill is only a temporary victory for the Arctic, unfortunately. Oil companies and drilling supporters in Congress will continue their search for new legislative vehicles for opening the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling.

Environmental Defense will also continue its fight to protect the Arctic. Be sure you will hear from us again to enlist your support in getting the message out to Congress to continue to protect the Arctic and its unique wildlife from oil companies.

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO:
Just as we fight to safeguard the Arctic Refuge, we must also step up our efforts to reduce oil dependence and fight global warming. And you can help!

Sign the Global Warming Petition. Become a part of history:

Take the Clean Car Pledge. Tell automakers to offer cleaner car choices:

Visit our Action Center for more urgent action alerts from Environmental Defense:

For more information about oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, visit Environmental Defense online More >

Congressman Kucinich Introduces

19 Mar 2003 @ 19:34
Americans Against War With Iraq (AAWWI) cordially invites you to a town meeting on the future of our country and the world with...

Democratic Presidential Candidate
Rep. DENNIS KUCINICH

"Yes I am a candidate for peace. I am a candidate for economic justice. I am a candidate for choice. I am a candidate for social justice. I am a candidate who says we can change the outcome. We can change this country. We can change the world."

Introduced by Ed Asner
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2003
Time: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Place: Immanuel Presbyterian Church
3300 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

Rsvp: (323) 692-6912
This event is free.

Representative Kucinich of Ohio is in his fourth term in Congress. He is the Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the author of the new DEPARTMENT OF PEACE proposal which already has 45 sponsors in the House of Representatives. Rep. Kucinich is responsible for organizing the 126 Democrats in the House who voted against war with Iraq. Help him launch the DEPARTMENT OF PEACE. Join us.
Convenient church parking and street parking. A city lot at 6th and Vermont is located two blocks away. More >