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>> CLIMATE WARS THREATEN BILLIONS - A
total of 46 nations and 2.7 billion people are now at high
risk of being overwhelmed by armed conflict and war because
of climate change. A further 56 countries face political
destabilisation, affecting another 1.2 billion individuals.
REAL FACE OF KING TUT REVEALED TO PUBLIC -
The face of King Tut was unshrouded in public for the first
time on Sunday -- 85 years after the 3,000-year-old boy pharaoh's
golden enshrined tomb and mummy were discovered in Luxor's
famed Valley of the Kings.
>> SLAUGHTER AT SEA: THE STORY OF JAPAN'S
NAVAL WAR CRIMES - The perpetrators of some of the worst
atrocities of the Second World War remain alive and unpunished
in Japan, according to a damning new book. Painstaking research
by British historian Mark Felton reveals that the wartime
behaviour of the Japanese Navy was far worse than their counterparts
in Hitler's Kriegsmarine.
>> DOCUMENTARY ON SAVANT DANIEL TAMMET -
This is the story of Daniel Tammet. A twenty-something with
extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100
decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week.
This 2005 documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America
to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the
key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone. He also meets
the world’s most famous savant, the man who inspired
Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar winning film ‘Rain
Man’.
>> 'UNWELCOMING' U.S. SEES SHARP FALL
IN VISITORS SINCE 9/11 - The number of foreign visitors to
the United States has plummeted since the September 11, 2001
attacks on New York and Washington because foreigners don't
feel welcome, tourism professionals said Thursday.
ENERGIZER
BATTERIES EXPOSED - A NewsTarget
photo investigation reveals that Energizer "D" Rechargeable
batteries are no more powerful than common "AA" rechargeable
batteries. In fact, an off-the-shelf Energizer "D" rechargeable
battery is actually made of a much smaller AA-capacity battery
wrapped in a cheap plastic cylinder with air gaps, designed
to make it appear physically like a "D" battery
while only delivering the performance of an "AA" battery
(2500 mAh).
>>>> THE NEURON STRATEGY - As we
look across the spectrum of options where the limited resources
available to eliminate poverty can be put to work, one way
of triaging the options is to ask: Does this assure properly
developed brains and nervous systems? Does this promote gender
equality? Does this assist the assimilation of minorities?
Developing programs that address these leverage points, one
might call The Neuron Strategy.
>> BUSH ADMINISTRATION BLOCKED WATERBOARDING
CRITIC - A senior Justice Department official, charged with
reworking the administration's legal position on torture
in 2004 became so concerned about the controversial interrogation
technique of waterboarding that he decided to experience
it firsthand.
After the experience, Levin told White House officials that
even though he knew he wouldn't die, he found the experience
terrifying and thought that it clearly simulated drowning.
>> THE PACHAMAMA ALLIANCE - The Pachamama
Alliance is a U.S. based not-for-profit organization that
was born out of a relationship developed between a group
of people from the modern world and the leaders of remote
indigenous groups in the Amazon region of Ecuador. This relationship
was actually initiated by the indigenous elders and shamans
themselves who, out of their deep concern for the growing
threat to their ancient way of life, and their recognition
that the roots of this threat lay far beyond their rainforest
home, actively sought the partnership of committed individuals
living in the modern world.
>> WORLD'S FIRST CARBON-NEUTRAL BUILDING -
On October 18, the U.S. Green Building Council certified
the world's first carbon-neutral building. It is "the
greenest building ever built," according to the organization's
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ranking
system.
>> KUCINICH
TO PUSH FOR CHENEY IMPEACHMENT -
Kucinich: "The momentum is building for impeachment.
Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding
Congress rein in the Vice President's abuse of power."
'DEATH MAPS' PINPOINT MORTALITY CAUSES - Africa
appears to swell like a balloon when the world is mapped
according to how many people died in 2002 due to diseases
and other conditions that are largely preventable.
>> TENNESSEE TOWN RUNS OUT OF WATER -
The severe drought tightening like a vise across the Southeast
has threatened the water supply of cities large and small,
sending politicians scrambling for solutions. But Orme, about
40 miles west of Chattanooga and 150 miles northwest of Atlanta,
is a town where the worst-case scenario has already come
to pass: The water has run out.
>> REAL
SUPERHUMANS & THE QUEST FOR
THE FUTURE FANTASTIC - In this special two-hour
presentation, "The
Real Superhumans and the Quest for the Future Fantastic," witness
the amazing stories of real people with extraordinary super
powers. But just who are these "super humans?" In
Switzerland, meet a woman who combines senses so that she
can "taste" music; in Turkey, a painter compared
with Renaissance master Brunelleschi, who has been blind
since birth; in Germany, a man discovered one day that he
can perform complex calculations in his mind; and in the
Netherlands, a man who possesses the inexplicable power to
withstand extreme cold -- but how? These super powers seemingly
transcend what it means to be human, how we use our natural
senses and our physical limitations.
WASHOE, A CHIMP OF MANY WORDS, DIES
AT 4 -
She spent her early years playing in the backyard of a
small house in Reno, Nev., learning American Sign Language
from the scientists who adopted her, and by age 5 she had
mastered enough signs to capture the world’s attention and set
off a debate over nonhuman primates’ ability to learn
human language that continues to this day.
>>>> BRUCE BUENO DE MESQUITA: A
MATHEMATICAL NOSTRADAMUS - To verify the accuracy
of his model, the CIA set up a kind of forecasting face-off
that pit predictions from his model against those of Langley’s
more traditional in-house intelligence analysts and area
specialists. “We tested Bueno de Mesquita’s model
on scores of issues that were conducted in real time -- that
is, the forecasts were made before the events actually happened,” says
Stanley Feder, a former high-level CIA analyst. “We
found the model to be accurate 90 percent of the time,” he
wrote. Another study evaluating Bueno de Mesquita’s
real-time forecasts of 21 policy decisions in the European
community concluded that “the probability that the
predicted outcome was what indeed occurred was an astounding
97 percent.” What’s more, Bueno de Mesquita’s
forecasts were much more detailed than those of the more
traditional analysts. “The real issue is the specificity
of the accuracy,” says Feder. “We found that
DI (Directorate of National Intelligence) analyses, even
when they were right, were vague compared to the model’s
forecasts. To use an archery metaphor, if you hit the target,
that’s great. But if you hit the bull’s eye --
that’s amazing.”
>> SCIENTISTS CREATE GENETICALLY MODIFIED
'SUPERMOUSE' - It can run for hours at 20 metres per minute
without getting tired. It lives longer, has more sex, and
eats more without gaining weight. Could the science that
created this supermouse be applied to humans?
>> ARMY HAS RECORD LOW LEVEL OF RECRUITS - The Army began its recruiting year Oct. 1 with fewer signed
up for basic training than in any year since it became an
all-volunteer service in 1973, a top general said Wednesday.
>> ENVOYS RESIST FORCED IRAQ DUTY - Uneasy
U.S. diplomats yesterday challenged senior State Department
officials in unusually blunt terms over a decision to order
some of them to serve at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad or risk
losing their jobs.
DA VINCI'S LAST SUPER POSTED ONLINE
IN HI-RES - There are still no telltale whiskers
to be found on the Apostle John/Mary Magdalene -- despite
the hair-raising precision of the new 16-billion-pixel
image of "The Last Supper" posted
online Saturday.
>> THE EVANGELICAL CRACKUP - The founding
generation of leaders like Falwell and Dobson, who first
guided evangelicals into Republican politics 30 years ago,
is passing from the scene. Dobson, who is 71 and still vigorous,
is already planning for a succession at Focus on the Family;
it is expected to tack toward the less political family advice
that is its bread and butter. The engineers of the momentous
1980s takeover that expunged political and theological moderates
from the Southern Baptist Convention are retiring or dying
off, too. Meanwhile, a younger generation of evangelical
pastors -- including the widely emulated preachers Rick Warren
and Bill Hybels -- are pushing the movement and its theology
in new directions.
>> TORTURE & WATERBOARDING
HAUNTS BUSH ADMINISTRATION - In adamantly refusing to declare waterboarding
illegal, Michael B. Mukasey, the nominee for attorney general,
is steering clear of a potential legal quagmire for the Bush
administration: criminal prosecution or lawsuits against
Central Intelligence Agency officers who used the harsh interrogation
practice and those who authorized it, legal experts said
Wednesday.
>> NORDIC NATIONS SOUND ALARM OVER MELTING
ARCTIC - Nordic nations sounded the alarm on Wednesday about
a quickening melt of Arctic ice and said the thaw might soon
prove irreversible because of global warming. Sweden, Finland,
Denmark, Norway and Iceland also urged all governments to
agree before the end of 2009 a broader U.N. plan to curb
greenhouse gases in succession to the Kyoto Protocol.
WITCHES GATHER IN U.S. TO HONOR ANCESTORS
AT HALLOWEEN - There are no plans to fly on a broom across the
full moon or send black cats scurrying through graveyards,
but witches' covens will gather on October 31 to honor and
commune with beloved ancestors.
>> RUMSFELD FLEES FRANCE, FEARING ARREST -
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fled France
today fearing arrest over charges of "ordering and authorizing" torture
of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq and the U.S. military's detainment facility at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, unconfirmed reports coming from Paris suggest.
>> MORE ON BLEAK EWG PEAK OIL REPORT - World oil production has already peaked and will fall by
half as soon as 2030, according to a report which also warns
that extreme shortages of fossil fuels will lead to wars
and social breakdown.
OBSCENELY DECADENT WAR PROFITEER HAULED
OFF IN HANDCUFFS - America's most ostentatious war profiteer
is no longer a free man. In a long-anticipated move, FBI
agents arrested bulletproof vest maker David H. Brooks in
his Manhattan apartment at dawn on Thursday. In the tradition
of Al Capone, Brooks was nabbed on allegations of financial
shenanigans, despite strong suspicions that the defense contractor
has much more serious crimes on his hands.
>> YOUNG PEOPLE BEGIN TO TACKLE CLIMATE
CHANGE - A coalition of more than forty youth led social
justice and environmental organizations, Energy Action is
pulling young people together from across the U.S. and Canada
to fight for and win clean energy and climate policies. In
May 2005, Energy Action launched the Campus Climate Challenge
to unite students in gaining 100 percent clean energy policies
on their campuses. In the first year of the Challenge, more
than 550 universities, tribal colleges, high schools, and
community colleges signed on. These young activists and organizers
are now well on their way to reaching a 3-year goal of 1000
campuses moving towards 100 percent carbon neutrality.
>>>> DEPLETING OIL SUPPLIES THREATEN
'MELTDOWN IN SOCIETY' - It is downhill all the way for oil,
according to a study by the Energy Watch Group (EWG) in Berlin,
Germany. It reported this week that world oil production
peaked in 2006 -- far earlier than expected. EWG analysed
oil production figures and predicted it would fall by 7 per
cent a year, dropping to half of current levels by 2030.
>>>> THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH - It's
called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (or Pacific Trash
Vortex, among other awesome nicknames) and it's a staggering
phenomenon. At least 1,500 miles wide (give or take, could
be much larger, no one's quite sure because it's a bit difficult
to measure), 30 meters deep, 80 percent plastic, and 100
percent appalling. Truly, there is nothing else quite like
it on Earth.
>> SIBEL EDMONDS OFFERS TO 'TELL ALL' TO ANY MAJOR
NETWORK - FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds will now tell all
- and face charges if necessary - to any major television
network that will let her. She's prepared to name names,
including those of two 'well-known' Congress members involved
in criminal corruption.
>> LOVELOCK: REDUCING EMISSIONS COULD SPEED GLOBAL
WARMING -- A rapid cutback in greenhouse gas emissions could
speed up global warming, the veteran environmental maverick
James Lovelock will warn in a lecture today.
>>>> LOVELOCK: GLOBAL WARMING IS IRREVERSIBLE,
BILLIONS WILL DIE - One of the most eminent scientists of
our time says that global warming is irreversible -- and
that more than 6 billion people will perish by the end of
the century.
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FEATURED
VIDEOS & AUDIOS
The Pachamama
Alliance
The
Pachamama Alliance is
a U.S. based not-for-profit organization that was born out
of a relationship developed between a group of people from
the modern world and the leaders of remote indigenous groups
in the Amazon region of Ecuador. This relationship was actually
initiated by the indigenous elders and shamans themselves
who, out of their deep concern for the growing threat to
their ancient way of life, and their recognition that the
roots of this threat lay far beyond their rainforest home,
actively sought the partnership of committed individuals
living in the modern world.
............
The
Business Of Death
Throughout
the developed world the business surrounding death has
often been an uneasy topic of discussion. Originating
in the mid-19th Century, the modern funeral has evolved
into an economic and cultural monster, with a vast network
of supporting industries and myriad options for your
earthly remains. This original GOOD Magazine animation
takes you inside the business of death.
.............
Ken
Wilber Stops His Brain Waves
A
video of Ken
Wilber hooked up to an EEG machine, consciously moving
through various brain states.
.............
Ken Wilber
Describes His Savant-Like Abilities
By David
Sunfellow
March 7, 2007
For those
of you who are fans of Ken Wilber -- or just interested
in how he is able to understand and synthesize so much information,
so fast, into books (and systems of thought) that are so
groundbreaking and far-reaching -- here's an interview that
is worth listening to. Extracted from a longer interview
that occurred between Fielding Graduate University students
in the first course of an Integral program, the segment
below is a mere 6 minutes long. Randy Martin, who is faculty
in the program, serves as the moderator. Sean Esbjörn-Hargens,
who is also faculty and the Director of Academics at Integral
Institute is also on the call. Among other things, Wilber
is asked how he keeps track of all the information he reads
and processes. Does he use notebooks, computers? His answer, "it's
all in my head... I don't take notes. I don't have notebooks.
I work on a computer and that's it... I don't know why
this is so, but it is almost like idiot savant... I've
read at least a PHD level in 23 disciplines... I'm aware
that this is extremely weird and rare..."
Wilber then describes what it means to him to have an ability
like this:
"My
duty is to use it responsibly and communicate it to the
best of my ability... I believe it's some sort of deep
metaphysical rule that you're allowed to understand an
important truth if you agree to communicate it. And I think
if you don't, you get sick. Your soul gets really, really
sick. So that's my main concern: how to handle this responsibly..."
How, exactly, does the process work? Wilber describes it
like this:
"Usually
I just have maybe four or five books open that I am having
to type quotes from and that's about it. Sometimes I'll
jot down notes about maybe the names of chapters of some
things, but I don't have any notebooks or information or
anything like that at all and the thousands and thousands
of books I've read, for some reason, I retain the information.
It is not a photographic memory because that's kind of
useless. You have to understand the information. But
for some reason I retain the understanding of the information.
And so I can recall it. All of it sort of right back
to when I was 18 and started doing this... I also have
an idiot savant level of pattern recognition... Because
I have that pattern recognition, if I would read like
Jane Lovinger and then two years later read Eric Yance
and years later read Robert Kegan or something, I would
instantly see how they fit. It just pops up in my mind...
I don't think these things through. I'm looking at them
like I am looking at a cup, or a rock, or a table. I'm
just reporting what I see. And so the reason I write so quickly
is that I am not thinking. I'm seeing, or hearing, or feeling.
And so when I sit down to write a book, the book is basically
already done in my head... Usually only it only takes about
a month or so to write a book... And the first draft is usually
very close to the last draft... Is he special, or is he weird?
Well, history will tell."
Finally, Wilber emphasized that he did not think this ability
was unique to him. Rather, he believes that everyone who
reaches certain stages of personal development will develop
similar abilities:
"It's
not something I invented. It's something I discovered...
It's brought forth and enacted by those who grow and develop
to that level or structure of consciousness. And it's something
we are all bringing forth as we move into this territory...
I just stumbled on the place a little bit earlier..."
To listen to the complete interview, go
here (6 Minutes, 2.3MB, MP3 file).
.............
Documentary: Savan Daniel Tammet
This
is the story of Daniel Tammet. A twenty-something with
extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few savants. He can do
calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn
a language in a week. This 2005 documentary follows Daniel
as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced
he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone.
He also meets the world’s most famous savant, the man
who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar
winning film ‘Rain Man’.
.............
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