-- spidermoon cobweblog --
blog of the futurepast
2003-02-28
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2003-02-27
hippie crap saves the world.
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jezebel 09:37 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-26
for your recipe book.
USA Today's "how to" guide on building a nuke...Lots of ways to make a nuclear weapon.
(keep out of reach of adults)
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jezebel 14:31 - [Link] - Comments ()
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And No Deductible For Nuclear Winter
As nervous and gullible and fear-pummeled citizens actually stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting because they believe everything they're told and are desperately deprived of common sense and even the gov't has backed off the duct tape thing, realizing it really was pretty stupid and it's a sad time in America indeed but oh well, insurers are getting questions from customers who want to know how far their policies will go in case of a terrorist attack. The answer depends on the source -- and the degree -- of the damage. State Farm, the nation's largest auto and residential insurer, recently began mailing its California customers renewal notices explaining that it doesn't cover auto losses stemming from nuclear attacks. Yep, they did. Which is to say, if you and everyone you know and everything you've ever loved in your entire life is suddenly and permanently wiped from the face of the Earth for about 1 million years or until the planet shrugs off human idiocy and starts over again, you don't get any cash to replace that '92 Honda Accord. State Farm also stated that, in the case of such a tragic nuclear event, it wishes you all well and will see you in hell suckers ha ha ha ha ha as it will be down playing ping-pong and watching porn DVDs on nuclear-powered plasma big-screen TVs and eating all the beef jerky whilst sitting around on comfy bean-bag chars in its secret underground fallout shelter in Nevada, so like, pbbttthhhtt.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2003/02/24/state0313EST0004.DTL&nl=fix
==
jezebel 10:32 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-25
this is an attempt to picture my magic carpet, the wheelchairiot. hope it works.
this has been a good chair for me so far (knock wood). my favorite so far. it's an made by invacare, the model is "arrow."
this is not an exact picture but it's close. my chair's rear wheels are black, not chrome and it doesn't have fenders. its color is dark olive and black.
jaz
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jezebel 09:12 - [Link] - Comments ()
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From: webteam@electronicIraq.net
(Electronic Iraq)
Date: Tue, Feb 25, 2003, 9:30pm (HST+4) To: eIraq@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [eIraq] Webmaster's Overview | Abunimah: War Makes No Sense | Diaries & Photos
Reply to: eIraq-owner@yahoogroups.com
_____________________________
UPDATE FROM
ELECTRONIC IRAQ
http://electronicIraq.net
_____________________________
25 February 2003
WEBMASTER'S OVERVIEW
As the Electronic Iraq website begins to settle into its third week, a greater percentage of original content is being added to the website, supplemented by links to useful commercial media coverage and activist initiatives and resources.
It is said that the first casualty of war is truth. As Electronic Iraq strives to offer a trusted independent analysis of latest developments in the US-Iraq crisis, please encourage others to visit our website, use the "E-mail this" and "Print this" functions to send articles to friends and contacts, and join our news lists. When war breaks loose, we will have limited time to promote the site as we focus entirely on providing up-to-the-minute news, analysis and other content.
For a complete list of recent additions to the website, see http://electronicIraq.net/news/
Nigel Parry
for eIraq
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jezebel 20:29 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-24
.
the dance
when i got hit by a car in downtown seattle, it was right in front of the building i lived in.
the car smashed into the right side of my power chair and broke the right rear wheel of the chair. the armrest of the chair smashed into my right rib cage and badly bruised (maybe broke) some ribs. luckily i was sort of padded by the leather jacket i wore.
but the impact sent me flying straight up, like a golf ball being chipped from a tee. as i was in mid-air looking up i saw the blue sky, the yellow sun, and a few downtown seattle buildingtops. i knew i was on the way to never-never land, gonna be dead when i hit the ground.
i landed on my back, spread-eagle in the street. my wheelchair was upside down a few yards away. if i hadda been wearing the seatbelt in my chair i probably woulda been squashed and killed by the chair.
i tried to take a breath. but the wind was knocked out of me. omg i was still alive. and i was pissed at the driver, a 16-year-old kid with a brand new driver license ran the red light. the first breath came from me in the form of curses and death threats toward the driver who was running toward me asking, "are you ok?"
but i was ok. no major injuries. just bruised all over. the ambulance and cops came and i even had a cop as a witness, it was not my fault. i never saw the car coming.
i went home and ate a bunch of pain meds and smoked a few bowls with friends.
i didn't go to the hospital or anything because i had a concert date that night to see "dead can dance" and i wasn't going to miss them. they are like the best musicians on this planet. went to the show with a broken right wheel and friends holding the side of my chair to keep it moving.
the dead can dance music and show was spiritually moving. the experience of
dancing in the air earlier that day, combined with my at times rather intense
pain later, during the show, i can say for sure, i learned the true meaning of
the name of the band.
that day was freaking spiritual. the dead can definitely dance themselves back to life.
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jezebel 19:32 - [Link] - Comments ()
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(post to oitribe)
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i upgraded spidermoon blog today. i did it for more space, before the price goes up. consequently, now it has the facility for people to add comments, like most of the real honest to goodness popular blogs of today do. people can now write in my blog -- a frightening thought -- as they can here in this group. but i don't expect a deluge, if any.
the blog, my website and oitribe are now all linked together and vaguely interactive to boot. with the upgrade,
now all i need to do is find something interesting to write about. hah. that age-old dilemma. in case anyone is interested.
blog of the futurepast
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jezebel 16:55 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-22
Arianna's Latest Column
The Bottom Line On Iraq: It's The Bottom Line
By Arianna Huffington
Boys, boys, you're all right. Sure, it's Daddy, oil, and imperialism, not to mention a messianic sense of righteous purpose, a deep-seated contempt for the peace movement, and, to be fair, the irrefutable fact that the world would be a better place without Saddam Hussein.
But there's also an overarching mentality feeding the administration's collective delusions, and it can be found by looking to corporate America's bottom line. The dots leading from Wall Street to the West Wing situation room are the ones that need connecting. There's money to be made in post-war Iraq, and the sooner we get the pesky war over with, the sooner we (by which I mean George Bush's corporate cronies) can start making it.
The nugget of truth that former Bush economic guru Lawrence Lindsey let slip last fall shortly before he was shoved out the oval office door says it all. Momentarily forgetting that he was talking to the press and not his buddies in the White House, he admitted: "The successful prosecution of the war would be good for the economy."
To hell with worldwide protests, an unsupportive Security Council, a diplomatically dubious Hans Blix, an Osama giddy at the prospect of a united Arab world, and a panicked populace grasping at the very slender reed of duct tape and Saran Wrap to protect itself from the inevitable terrorist blow-back -- the business of America is still business.
No one in the administration embodies this bottom line mentality more than Dick Cheney. The vice president is one of those ideological purists who never let little things like logic, morality, or mass murder interfere with the single-minded pursuit of profitability.
His on-again, off-again relationship with the Butcher of Baghdad is a textbook example of what modern moralists condemn as "situational ethics," an extremely convenient code that allows you to do what you want when you want and still feel good about it in the morning. In the Cheney White House (let's call it what it is), anything that can be rationalized is right.
The two were clearly on the outs back during the Gulf War, when Cheney was Secretary of Defense, and the first President Bush dubbed Saddam "Hitler revisited."
Then Cheney moved to the private sector and suddenly things between him and Saddam warmed up considerably. With Cheney in the CEO's seat, Halliburton helped Iraq reconstruct its war-torn oil industry with $73 million worth of equipment and services -- becoming Baghdad's biggest such supplier. Kinda nice how that worked out for the vice-president, really: oversee the destruction of an industry that you then profit from by rebuilding.
When, during the 2000 campaign, Cheney was asked about his company's Iraqi escapades, he flat out denied them. But the truth remains: When it came to making a buck, Cheney apparently had no qualms about doing business with "Hitler revisited."
And make no mistake, this wasn't a case of hard-nosed realpolitik -- the rationale for Rummy's cuddly overtures to Saddam back in '83 despite his almost daily habit of gassing Iranians. That, we were told, was all about "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
No, Cheney's company chose to do business with Saddam after the rape of Kuwait. After Scuds had been fired at Tel Aviv and Riyadh. After American soldiers had been sent home from Desert Storm in body bags.
And in 2000, just months before pocketing his $34 million Halliburton retirement package and joining the GOP ticket, Cheney was lobbying for an end to U.N. sanctions against Saddam.
Of course, American businessmen are nothing if not flexible. So his former cronies at Halliburton are now at the head of the line of companies expected to reap the estimated $2 billion it will take to rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure following Saddam's ouster. This burn-and-build approach to business guarantees that there will be a market for Halliburton's services as long as it has a friend in high places to periodically carpet bomb a country for it.
In the meantime, Halliburton, among many other Pentagon contracts, has a lucrative 10-year deal to provide food services to the Army that comes with no lid on potential costs. Lenin once scoffed that "a capitalist would sell rope to his own hangman." And, while the man got more than a few things wrong, he's been proven right on this one time and time again: from Hewlett-Packard and Bechtel helping arm Saddam back in the 80s, to the good folks at Boeing, Hughes Electronics, Lockheed Martin, and Loral Space whose corporate greed helped China steal rocket and missile secrets -- and point a few dozen long-range nukes our way.
Clearly, our national interest runs a distant second when pitted against the rapacious desires of special interests and the politicians they buy with massive campaign contributions. Oil and gas companies donated $26.7 million to Bush and his fellow Republicans during the 2000 election and another $18 million in
2002. So does it really come as any surprise that Cheney's staff held secret meetings in October with executives from Exxon Mobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips -- and, yes, Halliburton -- to discuss who would get what in a post-Saddam Iraq? As they say, to the victors -- and the big buck donors -- go the sp-oil-s.
Here's my bottom line: At a time of war, at what point does subverting our national security in the name of profitability
turn from ugly business into high treason?
------
Arianna Huffington is the author of "Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America." For information on the book, visit www.PigsAtTheTrough.com
If you have questions or comments, contact Arianna at
arianna@ariannaonline.com
To subscribe/unsubscribe, please visit
http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/maillist.html
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jezebel 08:22 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-21
i finally did it. started a discussion group on yahoo. it's called oitribe.
now all i have to do is get people to join.
subscribe to oi tribe
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jezebel 06:32 - [Link] - Comments ()
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********************* 
Above: Friday in the book market, central Baghdad. Since the start of economic sanctions against Iraq and the resulting collapse of the Iraqi economy, many Iraqi intellectuals have sold their libraries and other possessions in order to survive. Photo ©2003 James Longley/.
*******************
jezebel 10:04 - [Link] - Comments ()
... 2003-02-19
*
yes i understand caffeine is not good for bones, especially OI bones. this is something to consider.
on the other hand, gravity is not good for OI bones either. gravity causes falling and falling contributes to fractures. until they invent space-station apartments, we'll just have to live with gravity and caffeine here on earth.
today's confession: i am an espresso freak.
i was born addicted to caffeine. it's all my mother's doing, she is a big coffee drinker, bless her blessed heart. i became addicted in the womb. i have no hard feelings toward her. she's the best of moms.
i thank my mother every day for that blessing in particular. every good strong caffeine jolt is like a small memory of floating my cares away in the womb amidst all that caffeinated amniotic fluid.
i started drinking coffee as a child. black of course. years later, many hours pouring over books in the college student union cafe with endless cups of coffee to help make the grades led me by the caffeinated nose through university years.
then seattle and espresso happened. living in seattle, the land of starbucks, gave me all the excuse i needed to become a full-fledged coffee snob. there i learned about espresso, the heroin of coffee drinkers.
when partaking in the communion of espresso, one learns about the works that go into the fix, the shot. it's all about the shot.
well, to shorten this story of addiction, an espresso milestone happened to me this week. my coffee bean grinder started making a horrible mechanized dying noise. i feared i would awake one morning soon to a dead coffee grinder. a horrid thought.
so i got a new grinder. it's a burr grinder, the snob's delight. it has changed my life. the simple task of acquiring the grinder is a long and exasperating, yet wonderful story in itself, one worthy of another telling at another time.
let's just say at this point, the highlight of my day is now grinding the beans for that first double shot of the day. that little piece of heaven to kickstart one's heart.
i'm a good cook. i always have been. and i can make a killer shot of espresso. but with this new grinder i can make espresso that will kill you and bring you back to life.
before now all i used was a cheapish whirley-grinder. the herb mill kind. but this burr grinder is especially made for espresso coffee beans and it's a world of difference.
the world of good, snobbish, taste just gets better and better.
what else is there to live for?
--jezebel
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jezebel 21:39 - [Link] - Comments ()
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As a disability pariah, I must struggle for a place, for kinship, for community, for connection. Because I am still seeking acceptance of my humanity. [...] My goal isn't to shed the perspective that comes from my particular experience, but to give voice to it. I want to be engaged in the tribal fury that rages when opposing perspectives are let loose.
****
Harriet McBryde Johnson
-- disability advocate
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jezebel 10:24 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-18
- ON THIS DAY -
On Feb. 19, 1945, during World War II, some 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima, where they began a month-long battle to seize control of the island from Japanese forces.
>> read about it <<
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jezebel 07:23 - [Link] - Comments ()
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what follows is a transcription of some of the best signs in washington during the peace march january 18th.
---------------------------------------------
drunken frat boy drives country into ditch.
bush/cheney: malice in blunderland
who would jesus bomb?
war begins with 'dubya'.
bush is proof that empty warheads can be dangerous.
let's bomb texas, they have oil too.
how did our oil get under their sand?
if you can't pronounce it, don't bomb it.
daddy, can i start the war now?
1000 points of light and one dim bulb.
sacrifice our suv's, not our children.
preemptive impeachment.
no george, i said mac attack.
frodo has failed, bush has the ring.
look, i'll pay more for gas!
he is a moron and a bully.
it's the stupid economy.
draft richard perle. (a notoriously right-wing bush adviser)
draft dodgers shouldn't start wars.
war is sweet to those who haven't tasted it (erasmus).
pillow fights only.
our grief [over 9/11] is not a cry for war.
different bush, same shit.
stop the bushit.
just war/just oil.
you don't have to like bush to love america.
bushes are for pissing on.
bush-cheney-rumsfeld: the asses of evil.
stop the excess of evil [gives figures for the multibillion dollar defense budget].
$1 billion a day to kill people -- what a bargain.
consume -- consume -- bomb -- bomb -- consume -- consume
what's the difference between me & god? he might forgive bush, but i won't.
smush bush.
america, get out of the bushes.
it's time to trim the bush.
pro-lifers: wake from bush's propaganda spell -- war kills innocent children.
don't make me come back here [to a peace rally] again.
disarm bush too.
big brother isn't coming -- he's already here.
empires fall.
an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind (gandhi).
impeach the squatters.
mainstream white guys for peace. (sign held by three mainstream-looking white guys)
hans blix -- look over here.
let exxon send their own troops.
curious, george? -- get a clue.
destroy florida. [it could happen again]
there's a terrorist behind every bush.
how many bodies per mile?
suv owners roll over for terrorism.
we can't afford to rule the world.
war is so 20th century!
9-11-01: 15 saudis, 0 iraqis.
while you were watching the war, bush was raping america.
don't waive your rights while waving your flag.
leave desert storm to the desert.
drop bush not bombs.
sacrifice our suvs, not our children.
fighting for peace is like f___ing for virginity.
bush is to christianity as osama is to islam.
i asked for universal health care and all i got was this lousy stealth bomber.
america's problems won't be solved in iraq.
war is not a family value.
2 sided poster, one side has a picture of a chubby feline, with the words: good fat cat other side has a picture of cheney, with the words: bad fat cat
colorfully dressed drag queen carrying a sign that says: i am the bomb.
picture of the peace symbol: back by popular demand.
a picture of bush with a red-stained upper lip: got blood?
a picture of bush saying "why should i care what the american people think? they didn't vote for me."
a picture of bush saying "ask me about my lobotomy."
beneath a picture of osama bin laden dressed as uncle sam: i want you to bomb iraq.
beneath a picture of a menacing soldier pointing his rifle/bayonet toward the viewer: say it! one nation under god. say it!
blondes for peace -- its a no brainer!
jezebel 10:39 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-14
please, just give me five more minutes.
marilyn monroe returns from the dead, via 1955 for a five-minute, eight-millimeter jaunt through new york city.
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jezebel 06:29 - [Link] - Comments ()
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*
be packin' my .50 caliber valentine
(from san francisco chronicle, sfgate.com)
== Go Ahead, Make My Violent Phallic Compensatory Device ==
Smith & Wesson has introduced its biggest handgun ever, a .50-caliber Magnum, because if there's one thing the nation really needs during a time of war and ennui and manufactured hate and self-righteous chest-thumping patriotism, it's a big macho dumbass handgun for big manly monosyllabic troglodytes who really want to be able to blast the living crap out of a charging mastodon because the trailer-park bestiality porn just ain't doin' it for them anymore.
The five-shot revolver with an 8 1/2-inch barrel weighs about 4 1/2 pounds -- roughly a pound more than the big black .44 Magnum wielded by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies. It fires a new .50-caliber cartridge that the company said produces nearly three times the muzzle energy of the .44 -- or enough stopping power to bring down a charging bear. "The primary market for it is hunting" big game, spokesman Ken Jorgensen said, not sweating creepily and eyes twitching and darting around the room, as if waiting for lightning to finally strike him dead.
"Plus, there ain't nothin' like it to silence a playground full of children or annihilate a few hundred tofu-suckin' liberal jackass pacifist tree-hugger commies or blast your way through some nosey cops who be snoopin' 'round the meth lab or drop a charging elephant at 50 yards, ya know?" he did not add. "Mmm, phallic."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2003/02/13/national1107EST0565.DTL&nl=fix
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jezebel 19:55 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-13
*
"One should always be in love."
Oscar Wilde.
*
For one human being to love another:
that is perhaps the most difficult of our tasks;
the ultimate, the last test and proof,
the work for which all other work is but preparation.
-Rainer Maria Rilke
*
"The most dire disaster in love is the death of the imagination."
George Meredith.
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jezebel 04:33 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-12
*
The subject tonight is Love
And for tomorrow night as well.
As a matter of fact I know of no better topic
For us to discuss
Until we all
Die!
- Hafiz translated by Daniel Ladinsky
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jezebel 04:33 - [Link] - Comments ()
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ON THIS DAY -
On Feb. 12, 1973, the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place.
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jezebel 06:26 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-11
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He who is in love is wise and becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possesses.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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jezebel 04:33 - [Link] - Comments ()
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*
shit hits fan ...
elvis lives!
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jezebel 12:59 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-09
.
this is yet another attempt, experiment, trial of some silly new activity i've dreamed up. this is the attempt: i'm gonna try posting updates of a new newsgroup provided by the publisher of electronic intifada called electronic -- iraq.
so here we go, this will be the first post of the news service, here on this blog, of electronic iraq.
my main complaint about this iraq thing is it's putting the coverage of the palestinian conflict, ("electronic intifada" feed permanently posted on my site's, spidermoon.net's, homepage) even further out of people's view. this is not good.
you can always see the latest on the palestinian conflict at electronic intifada
anyway, here it is, the first posting on this blog.
electronic iraq #1
here is an excerpt from electronic iraq:
---
"Tunnelvised"
Diane Acosta
One electric day,
as the old world sighed in shadows
Our brightest light,
burned with the intensity of eternity
optimistic ionic vortex,
shared its treasure of the future
Man was engaged,
in blood-filled forest fires of his own doing
crackling in hate
sloughing off great sheets of discontent
He never stopped,
to notice the beauty of the eternal light
peaceful positive shades,
the serenity of the inner glow,
his gravest mistake.
©2003, D.Acosta
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jezebel 08:12 - [Link] - Comments ()
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a few wacky words of wisdom from hunter s. thompson:
levity .. gonzo links
**
"disinformation"
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jezebel 07:37 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-08
--- jules wrote:
Hi All
I know this is a really hard subject to talk about but I hope everyone can share their thoughts with me.
Ever since i turned about 25 I have been petrified of Death. I never hod really thought about it before. I went to a Catholic primary school and we were always told that you go to 'Heaven'. I would love to think there is such a place but but I just don't know. i guess when there is no proof its pretty hard to believe in something.
I would love to believe that we are reincarnated and there is quite of evidence that this happens, but still its only an opinion.
I guess i am scared that there will nothing. I think because i have had so many surgeries and when you are under you have no thought processes.
There are also cases of people claiming that they have had a Near Death Experience (NDE)
Sorry for such a morbid subject but I really would love to know what others think and feel about the subject. I have read somewhere that when you are in your late 20s and 30s you realise that you are not immortal.
Thanks for letting me discuss this with my 'online buddies'.
love Jules
__________________________________________
*
after lots of surgeries, most in childhood, i can truly say i've never seen that white light to heaven either. maybe that's why i became a big fat cynic at an early age. nevertheless, i held on to that heavenly hope until my college days.
but the combination and effects of higher education, exposure to other opinions and lifestyles, a change in geographical location (university dorms, apartments with crazy housemates) alcohol, thc, lsd and other consciousness-raising awareness activities, all confronted me with so much evidence that heaven was just a figment of some overly-hopeful starry-eyed caveman.
the veneer of denial was stripped away with logic. i was forced to admit heaven and hell are nothing more than props for mythological tales, however entertaining and inspiring they may be.
the reality of death was a fact of life for me as far back as i can remember, so mortality never really crept up on me. i can see how that could be a bummer. lucky for me i was raised in the morbid mileau of funeral homes. my family was in the business.
when i was born we lived in an apartment on the second floor of a small-town funeral home. my father was the yard boy training to be a mortician/funeral director.
our family grew and we lived in various homes in various places and then when i was about ten years old we ended up in the same apartment on the second floor of the funeral home. my family had made a complete circle. by now my dad is a mortician/funeral director/minister. he can legally marry them and bury them. i've seen him do it many times. but i digress.
i grew up in this funerary environment. my playground was the funeral chapel, back offices, prep. room (morgue) with a spacious outdoor area in the back where all the yard equipment, hearses and limos, etc. were parked and serviced.
corpses were no big deal from my early days, i will leave out all the hilarious examples for sake of brevity. lets just say from early on for me a corpse was just a corpse.
so my point of view here is kinda' of warped, in a sense. but not in a bad way. i'm just as fearful of the next person of the grim reaper. i dont wanna die.
but i'm no different than most people. kids see death all the time. some are just lucky to avoid that reality for awhile i guess. i see religion, any religion, as just a way for humans to rationalize death and not worry about, not face it really. religious people think they are all safely immortal. i think they're just walking on clouds in lifetime when they should be enjoying the time they are lucky enough to have in this incarnation on this planet at this particular time.
people are just elementary physical and chemical particles all clumped together. after life is over the clumps fall apart and the elements go into some other form. we should just be happy we're not a tumbleweed on the praire or something.
i once heard a story about two waves in the ocean that were flowing toward the beach. one wave said to the other, "oh my god, we're heading for the beach! we're gonna hit the sand and disintegrate!"
"so what?" the other wave said.
"we'll be killed, we won't be waves anymore."
"we will be fine," said the other wave. "we won't disintegrate into nothingness, we are all just part of the ocean."
... or it went something like that. one thing i do know is it doesn't do much good to worry about it. the reality of death just makes each moment we are alive more precious that's all. i take lessons from my cat and live in the moment, for the moment, as much as possible.
unless you are unlucky enough to be a scorpio, we are obsessed with death. like me, my favorite tv/movie character is wednesday addams. i want to be her when i don't grow up. she's a little girl obsessed with death, always trying to confront it, and for some reason that keeps her safe from its dangers.
the scorpio tarot card, #13 in the deck, is of course, the death card. tarot definitions see it the death card as the completion of a cycle, no more, no less. it's the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. it's all how you look at it. gypsies, tramps and thieves, people living in the real world, see life as a series of cycles.
i've always pictured life as a spiral, starting with the dna molecule and snaking its way through the universe, just getting bigger. look at galaxies, they are just big dna-shaped spirals.
some people see time as circular, like an analog clock, with hands. some people see it in linear terms, like a digital clock. circular has cycles and goes around and around, linear goes in a straight line. is it infinite or does it stop at 11:59? who knows.
there's two good books i've read in the past few years about life after death, life before life, and life between lifetimes, called "journey of souls," and "destiny of souls," by michael newton ph.d. it's lots of case studies and personal stories and things. very interesting and thought-provoking.
those books helped me feel like i was beginning to sort things out a bit about my own personal beliefs. at least they gave me that illusion for a while. i'm back to being confused about it all at this point.
that's what life is all about i suppose, sorting things out, and deciding what's an illusion and what's not. i could go on and on forever with this drivel.
enough for now. reality is a dream, shaboom, shaboom.
jaz
jezebel 07:26 - [Link] - Comments ()
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will the real cyborg please stand up?
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jezebel 09:31 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-07
sent: thursday, february 06, 2003 7:18 am
subject: lighten up people!
--- sheri wrote:
everybody just needs to take a deep breath and lighten up! so, we each have a different take on religion, politics, whatever....no need for anyone to blitz themselves into having a coronary. why would anyone care what my views, or anyone elses is, for that matter? does it really make any difference?....doesn't to me.
sheri
--- bron wrote:
no sheri it doesn't make a difference, cos in the end government still does as it likes anyway. some agree some don't. that's the way the world turns.
bron
--- jezebel wrote:
i beg to differ. yes sheri it does make a difference what you post here, or anywhere.
even if you scribble something on the bathroom wall, somebody will read it and react to what you wrote. it's simple human behavior.
words do affect other people, even if they are uttered or written on a whim, with no thought, or as brainless commentary. that's why people should really think about what they are saying/writing.
every time you write something and post it on the internet, you are publishing and you have an audience.
it's good to say something others may disagree with. it continues the conversation. this is a discussion group. there should be differences of opinion. utopian, "brave new world" communities where everyone just nods in agreement to everything being said should be avoided, unless the purpose of the group is to deny reality.
this is the most "alive" i've seen this group act. why stop now? and when writing, or saying something, we all should be prepared for reaction, because someone will notice what you write or say and they will react to it in one form or another.
i'm far from coronary territory, no worries. i'm calm, just blabbing, that's all. i try not to sound like i "look down" on people when i write, but it must come out or appear that way sometimes from the reactions i get. no problem. i'm usually just stating facts. i have no urge to insult people or try to ridicule or call them names. i'm too misanthropic for that. that means i usually don't care enough about some silly human behavior or comment to degrade the person who said or did it. unless it injures, insults me or my friends' behaviors or beliefs. then scorpio'ish impulses tend to contribute to my comments.
i really enjoy these groups. i wouldn't knowingly jeopardize my member status by insulting other people here. i wouldn't do it in the real world or in this virtual world. i might laugh at something they say, or disagree, but that's to be expected from anyone, anywhere. nothing personal, i'm not trying to make enemies or hurt feelings. just stating my point of view for discussion.
these oi groups are like an extended family, or tribe, to me. we all share close genetic similarities here, even the pretenders or imposters in these groups can add interesting points of view. i try to treat people here as i would treat any extended family member, or tribal companion. why make enemies with comrades? we are all here for each other. we are the only people who can relate to people like us. so we disagree, good. do you always agree with your brother or sister?
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ok now. i'm not attacking christianity or religion, but it's a common christian thing to reply and say, "my words are merely words, i'm just talking." but that point of view, that remark, is programmed into christians from early on. "spreading the word, witnessing" is constantly pounded in/trained to all christians and it happens all the time.
it's part of their spirituality, and many don't even realize they are doing it. i've heard them do it all my life. i did it myself when i was one. "thank god the president is christian" is that type of comment. it's christian propaganda.
i'm a fan of any propaganda, its a good way to get the message across. but the speaker or writer of those words needs to realize what they are doing, what they are really saying, what propaganda they are spouting and its possible consequences. it's a jerry falwell comment, that statement boosts the team spirit of christianity and insults all non-christians. what it really means is "god is on our side and if you want to be on our side, the winning side, then you
gotta be one of us." another sneaky tactic to "save" any "lost souls" within earshot.
jaz
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jezebel 07:06 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-04
*
ari fleisher, john ashcroft, et. al are low-intensity misdirecting electronic data streams, cybertronic animatroid computer software robotic programs manipulated with laser-powered pulsating six-shooter pistola grips venting like steam from beneath an insane-asylum beige, ten-gallon stetson under which cowers g."what-me-worry" bush craftily parting his cowboy butt cheeks, wrecklessly emitting gaseous bi-products of u.s. propaganda drenched and dripping smelly excuses to prepare for war.
~jezebel
jezebel 11:10 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-02
Re: ppl don't care
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when people ask me why i identify myself as a misanthrope, my answer usually is: "I am ashamed to be a part of the human race."
those are your exact words at the end of this message.
welcome to the club. you are now an official misanthrope. you might want to visit my website, "http://misanthropist.net" some time. it is built for any misanthropic person (and anyone else) to come visit and have a good healthy cathartic episode. purge your emotions any way you see fit there.
you will find you're now part of a very distinguished (except for me, i'm not very distinguishable) group of misanthropic people occurring momentously from time to time throughout history.
welcome to the ranks of the hopelessly depressed, oppressed radical beings that once considered themselves human, but now, know better, and consequently are outcast by their own awareness of reality.
blah, blah, blah ...
jezebel 16:55 - [Link] - Comments ()
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2003-02-01
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i support and have been a fan of nasa and the space program all my life, ever since it began. i still support it and always will.
this endless, soppy, sniveling wrist-wringing blather must end soon. the media are well known for pushing things ad nauseum, but enough is enough.
give me a freakin' break. way, way more people die every day from the effects of smoking and automobile accidents than died in the shuttle crash. relatively, seven is a very small number.
working in space is a dangerous job. just watch star trek. at least one person gets killed every episode, usually more than one. those people in texas should feel lucky they didn't get hit with falling bodies and more metal objects than they did.
remember the russians? they've lost many more people and much more equipment to accidents in space. that's just the way it is. this isn't even slowing them down. they sent another ship today to re-supply the astronauts remaining above at the space station. remember the space station?
get over it world.
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jezebel 07:19 - [Link] - Comments ()
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the other night i took the bus, as usual, to the kokua food store. my every-week-or-so trip to replenish staples for sustenance was overdue and i needed foods.
the day before this particular grocery day i received a new shirt through the mail, it was from an order i placed earlier at gimpstore.com, a.k.a. bonnie's outlet for required apparel. it's an x-large black t-shirt with that big handicapped icon sticker we all know so well, iconized, plastered chest level. also, the head of the stick-figure wheelchair's occupant is morphed into a disabled death's head and below the sticker says, "beware of handicapped."
since it's xlarge, it engulfs me and becomes very eyecatching. so when i wear it i pretty much virtually become a powerchair propelled, large black death's head handicapped sticker, topped off wth my real-live deadhead, which rotates in my dreams a full 360 degrees. people try not to stare but they just can't help it.
i roll off the bus and go down the sidewalk toward the corner, the intersection to cross the street. at the light, while waiting for it to change its signal to the walking human figure, i notice an elderly asian man. he's busy angrily pointing at the rolling human figure pasted on my chest. the man is shouting to himself, and me, in broken english mixed with what sounded like mandarin, cantonese or some such dialect.
he was pointing at me and my shirt and saying things like "handicapped" and "parking." he said, "tattoo" pointing at his arms and then me. he said "ticket" and "fuck you" while he repeatedly shouted chinese phrases at me, pointing his middle finger in the air, thrusting it at me, in front of god and everyone else. if he'd have been a few years younger he'd be jumping up and down, but his age and decrepitude only allowed him to pace back and forth, turning and twisting his body towards me.
not many things cause me to outwardly emote. i rarely cry about things and my tastes seem to limit few things to actual laughter.
but i soon realized this man was making me laugh. everytime he said "ticket" and everytime he flipped me the bird i laughed more. i was near doing the rofL thing when the street signal mercifully changed and our little gaggle of pedestrians began to cross to the other side, i sped up the pace and passed the crowd of people, including really-pissed guy, leaving him ambling and cursing me in a puff of dust.
i could only imagine what he was shouting about, and guess he maybe got ticketed for parking in a handicapped space. i see it as karma getting even for all those times i was blocked from parking by able-bodied mental cases such as pissed-off guy.
thanks Bonnie, and Kurt, for the powerfully cool shirt. it affects people in ways we may never know. it reminds me of the wonderfulness of karma. sooner or later it comes back around. those stepped on presently will bounce back later. and the ones doing the stepping now, they will be stomped in the future.
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jezebel 16:51 - [Link] - Comments ()
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