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Archive for the 'zeitgeist' Category
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Permaculture at its finest. A living swimming pool stacks the functions of rainwater catchment, water filtration, food production, wetlands reclamation, wild animal habitat formation, energy capture in the form of heat from the sun, and the most important function of all: fun.
“David Pagan Butler introduces natural swimming pools: beautiful swimming ponds that require no chemicals, just plants and a simple solar powered filter pump to clean the water.”
(via)
Heyo SuperForesters!
You may recognize singer/songwriter/musician Christina Perri from her uber-famous Twilight ballad A Thousand Years, or perhaps you know her from her heartbreakingly honest song, Jar of Hearts. But let’s get serious, most of you probably know her because she sang with SuperForest’s favourite son.
I came across this video yesterday and I was so amazed at:
a) Her super beautiful glossy hair
b) Her unbelievable video game analogy
c) Her badass fearless attitude!
Enjoy this video where Christina drops some serious knowledge about going to the edge, facing your fears, pushing on and going for your dreams! YES!
Slowly I started to make these conscious decisions to do the thing that I was afraid of…and I’m so serious that the minute I did that it was like all these doors appeared…
Rock on, sister! “Feel the fear, and do it anyway!”
P.S., I talk a lot too ;)
And for your musical enjoyment, please enjoy Christina’s latest hit, A Thousand Years:
Here is a motion piece that Peter Kim and his team created about the tragedy in Japan. It takes you through some of the hardships the Japanese people are going through and the fantastic progress made thus far.
OnlineSchools.org presents Japan One Year Later
In the last decade, Japan’s Ministry of Education has responded to market imperatives and a need for managers with specialized skills by increasing the number of graduate programs. But Japan’s new professional and graduate programs have experienced chronic under-enrollment — basically, no one is showing up to class. Now the Ministry of Education is playing catch-up to market these educational programs to a very truant bunch of students.
It is not hard to determine why Japan’s graduate classrooms sit empty. For one thing, the promise that graduate programs offer does little to remove the stigma associated with continuing education courses. Traditional definitions of success lead many professionals to fear that they will be perceived as less competent if they pursue education after they have entered a professional career. In the past, Japanese companies have also based career advancement on seniority. An extra one or two years in school has often meant falling behind less educated counterparts who move faster up the corporate ranks.
As Japan approaches the first anniversary of the crisis that transformed the nation, global attention will undoubtedly focus on the progress that the country has made in resurrecting its physical infrastructure. Restoring homes, roads, hospitals and schools, and mitigating the damage of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl certainly deserve our attention and reflection. Still, it is important to remember that solving the social and economic problems that Japan faced before the crisis are just as critical.
The unique skills that graduate programs offer will play a vital roll in managing Japan’s long-term recovery. If students and professionals continue to avoid higher education, Japan will find itself ill-equipped to maintain its revival. Considering how many people have been displaced and how much there is yet to be rebuilt, it may be worthwhile for the Ministry of Education to encourage distance learning or online graduate programs. Because online schools are more cost-efficient, offer the ability to reach a larger audience across vast distances, and provide the opportunity to study while working full-time — thereby avoiding the stigma of a late entry into the workforce — they may be the perfect tool in ensuring that once Japan’s physical recovery is complete, the nation will have an educated workforce capable of leading an economic recovery.
To learn more about Japan’s recovery and to see the photos that inspired the hand drawn illustrations in the video above, check out:
The Atlantic
Washington Post
NPR
CNN
To get involved in Japan’s recovery, donate to:
Hey SuperForesters!
Truthy DeFrog here with a little squirt of reality juice for your brain hole. Last night I watched the Kony2012 movie and I couldn’t believe my amphibian eyes. I hopped back to my pond and blearily wrote this. I hope you like it.
Peace!
-Truthy
“So Right it’s Wrong…
Having just watched and consumed a highly effective piece of propaganda I find my passions are inflamed and I am restless and sleepless and moved to write this. I just watched the Kony2012.com movie and am struck at the energy and the heart that has gone into it. There is something about it that disturbs me greatly, and that is the need to perpetuate and continue the cycle of violence by “othering” yet another human being. That list of tyrants and dictators was pretty long. Is it not unreasonable to suggest that in the vacuum created by the removal of Joseph Kony, another opportunist will simply take his place? The template for living like Caesar hasn’t changed since the days of Caesar. Use violence to both repel and attract, make a living out of death. Check, and check!
The Joseph Kony’s of this world are not the disease, they are the symptoms of the disease. The disease is the idea that human on human violence is acceptable in any form, unless terms are expressly agreed upon by both parties, i.e. sports. That would include the slow-motion violence of forcing human beings into economic slavery. And the violence enacted on all humans beings by destroying the ecosystem that supports us in the name of “profit.”
This is the disease that is killing the human race. The need to perpetuate the cycle of violence. Are we any better than Joseph Kony? I hate to ask that uncomfortable question, but I must. Are we not complicit in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents people? Are our hands so free of blood that we can afford to spill more? Are we so sinless as to afford to be casting stones? What are the death tolls of Iraqi and Afghani civilians? Cambodian? Vietnamese? Must I go on?
If we are going to go after Joseph Kony, may I suggest that next we go after the heads of the United States military industrial complex, whose products make warlords like Kony possible? Should we not also turn our scornful gaze on the very men and women, American mothers and fathers and sons and daughters, whose livelihoods depends on the weapons that we create and sell? And what of our army? Slayer of civilians, murderer of millions. Should we not also shut that rattling apparatus of destruction down? And when you get right down to it, are all of those destructive things not… us? They are indeed. The army, the war machine, the media that supports it, that’s all us. WE make up those systems. We live within and tend to and support those systems. We raise our children to respect and worship those systems. We are the war machine. We are all Joseph Kony. We worship and adore the very factory that produces the Joseph Kony’s of the world. Witness our school shootings. Witness our war on drugs. Witness our war on the poor. Witness our angry music. Witness our hateful movies. Witness every aspect of our violence-drenched culture.
“They” is us. We are our own enemy. Scapegoating yet another person when the enemy is within is tragically missing the point.
I love the passion and the energy but if the Kony2012 movement is simply another giant pointing finger, saying that the enemy is outside of our own hearts, then this force which touts itself as a force for good is simply another oppressive warlord. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Oh hell, fine! We can go after Kony. But you have to promise me something. First we get Kony, then we go after the head of McDonnell Douglas. Then the heads of Boeing, Haliburton, Alcoa, DeBeers, and every advertising guru who ever worked for these guys. Then every American president since Eisenhower. This is the road that this movement is taking, and I don’t like the look of it. It’s too easy. It’s too packaged. It’s too dependent on cute kids, and sobbing Africans. We have misery and violence a’plenty in the United States. We have warlords and killers and murderers of our own to deal with.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t help Uganda. I am saying that we’ve got to clean up our own backyard FIRST and then start bitching at the neighbors to rake up their leaves. We are a society of killers and death worshippers now taking umbrage that someone is doing it and making it look more fun than we had ever thought to. Get him! String the f—–r up! How dare he out-violence us!?
Sorry to play devil’s advocate, but my god, the irony. An American, calling for the end of violent oppression, in Uganda? Am I missing something? Is it not like Rambo calling for an end to murderous ex-Green Berets?
You cannot compare a Joseph Kony to the destructive power the United States and its citizens have wielded over the globe since the end of the second world war, when despite President Eisenhower’s demand to repeal the standing army, the military industrial complex, aka America’s central nervous system, was allowed to become the primary economic breadwinner that it is today. Our country’s main export is weapons and our principle role in global geopolitics is to start and support wars. To treat ourselves to the moral high ground over Joseph Kony is to invite a cognitive dissonance too great for the logical mind to stand.
We are Americans for Christ sake! Our entire country is based on slavery and a genocide that far outshines Joseph Kony. Remember the native American population? The entire race of people that were here when the white settlers got here and began slaughtering them? Remember Columbus? The first guy to take slaves in the new world? He who imported syphillis to America? Are those Native Americans any better treated today? Are things all squared away here in the US? All sorrys made? All wounds patched up?
Oh wait, no… No, not even f—–g close.
So then…
Take a long hard look at yourself, America. The children of today and tomorrow are asking for a change, in this misdirected joust at some blatant little bush tyrant. We have no moral highground from which to condemn this man. I’m sorry, but we don’t. Masterfully edited and beautifully shot propaganda is one thing, but a slick glossy call for a scapegoat that uses the power of facebook to hoodwink yet another generation into believing that violence and revenge is a worthwhile pursuit, is a diabolical and needlessly vindictive use of the medium. Waving banners and shouting slogans into the camera is fun. But goddamn…. Don’t mistake it for what’s right.
If you want to stop not only Joseph Kony, but all Joseph Konys forever, then first we must agree that what makes the Joseph Konys of the world possible is resource scarcity and the manufacture and sales of arms. So if you’re serious about making the world a better place for all life, we, the United States, must first stop making and selling arms. Secondly, we address the question of resource scarcity. Since resource scarcity is the engine of the capitalist model, then capitalism must be replaced with something that works better. Permaculture works better. Let’s use that.
When capitalism (aka debt slavery, false scarcity, and the destruction of the environment) is replaced with permaculture (aka earth care, people care, fair share) AND the US stops making and selling arms, then we can go after Joseph Kony, m’kay?
God f—–g damn, people. Who does your thinking for you?
Okay… Okay… I’m sorry. I just got a little worked up… Look, you know I love you. It’s just when you do these stupid things I get a little hot under the collar. It was the banner waving, and the white t-shirts with the big black x’s on them. Those got me a little hot. They are just sooooooo Fourth Reich!
So, yeah… Violence is within. Solve it there first. Then help your friend’s and family do the same. Then your neighbors. Then your neighborhood. Then your town. Then the city you live in. Then your state. Then all adjoining states. Then the United States.
When the United States stops enslaving it’s people, brainwashing them into serving the destructive system that they hate, stops selling arms, does right by the native americans and the poor and the elderly, and women, then we can scapegoat our little hearts out. Yay!!!
See you on the other side, motherlickers.”
Aloha SuperForest!
Since finding out that we are pregnant, my research and experience has lead me to appreciate the incredible service that midwives offer in supporting women and encouraging our true power and intuition on this transformative journey in growing, birthing, and parenting a new human being.
Jackson’s beautiful sister, Nile Nash, has launched an IndieGoGo fund raising campaign for her latest and greatest endeavor: A Midwifery Clinic in San Francisco. Complete with annual exams, full midwifery care, and, while she’s down there, a waxing! With 14 days left in her campaign, this Mama Lion will surely appreciate all support given. Be sure to check out the rewards she’s offering, like fancy hand knitted hats and even a well woman exam.
Help this amazing woman help other amazing women!
Love you Nile, and all the midwives of the world.
Love + Aloha,
Melissa
Gooood Morning SuperForest!
I often write about the mind and its power over the body. I also often write about how our cultural conditioning determines every aspect of what we call our minds. Our values, our likes and dislikes, our preferences, all are based in where and when we were raised.
This plasticity of the mind is something that I think about a lot, sort of like a toaster thinking about toasters toasting, I guess. How to use this plasticity to my advantage is my main focus.
Case in point: fermented cod liver fish oil.
Melissa was doing some research into tooth decay and found a number of websites that advocated using a combination of fermented cod liver fish oil and butter oil to help teeth stay healthy. Now, why this butter/oil combination works is beyond me, but that it could work is interesting. Basically, if I believe that it could work, then it could work indeed.
The problem is this: the stuff tastes wretched. Fermented cod liver oil tastes exactly like it sounds like it would taste; like fish guts that have been left out to get stinky. Melissa bought a little bottle of it and we decided to eat the recommended quarter teaspoon. Blech. Not wanting to have our teeth fall out, and believing in the curative power of the stuff, I decided to play a little game with my and Melissa’s minds. I would craft and introduce an idea into the both of us that would counter act and redirect the “get nauseated” impulse that arose in me whenever we tasted the fish oil.
One night, before our fish oil, I said to Melissa something to the effect of:
“Hey, you know why I love this fish oil?”
“Why?” Melissa said.
“Because it always reminds me of that time we spent with the Eskimos up in Alaska. Do you remember that?”
Melissa and I have never been to Alaska, nor have we ever hung with Eskimos. Melissa quickly and amusedly pointed that out.
“No, no, you remember! We went to Alaska and we lived with the Eskimos and we had so much fun! We ate seal blubber and cod liver oil and all that raw reindeer meat. Oh man, wasn’t it delicious? Every time I eat this cod liver oil it reminds me of that trip.”
Melissa and I were smiling at each other. The basic idea was this: my feelings toward the taste of cod liver oil were totally conditioned. The taste of cod liver oil is neutral. How I felt about it was everything, and how I felt about it was entirely up to me. Since I had been conditioned to believe that cod liver oil tastes revolting, I decided to create a fake memory that would redirect the nausea into a feeling of nostalgia and satisfaction. I didn’t hate the tastes of cod liver oil, I loved it! It reminded me of a great time I once had with a person I loved.
Now, that this memory I created never happened and that fact was inescapable had nothing to do with the effects it had on my mind. My mind, plastic and flexible and re-writable piece of wonderment that it is, happily accepted the new procedure for what to do when encountering cod liver oil. Instead of not enjoying it, I chose to enjoy it, and as a result I did.
When I eat cod liver oil now, it brings to mind three things: the memory of creating the memory and sharing it with Melissa (happy!), the fake memory of the trip to Alaska and the enjoyment of exciting Eskimo cuisine complete with bizarre made up details that I have filled in myself (happy!), and the idea that my reactions to everything I encounter are entirely up to me, once I recognize that my reactions are open to being set and reset ad nauseum ad infinitum (triple happy!)
Think about the power implicit in this. What could you do with your life if you realized that literally everything you thought or felt could be rewritten, and redirected into whatever experiential alley you chose?
(via)
Case study two: Love the Police.
Whenever I am driving, and I see a cop, a part of me freezes. Gets nervous. Perhaps it’s because I’m from Los Angeles originally and the sight of a cop while driving means getting pulled over and getting a ticket. My conditioned reaction to seeing the police was to have my peace upset. Realizing this unhelpful pattern was dominating my behavior I set out to change it.
Starting several months ago, whenever I was driving and saw a cop, I would wave or give them the shaka. Instead of simply ignoring the police while inwardly freezing up a bit, I forced myself to be gregarious.
“Ah ha! A policeman in a squad car! My friendly friend! My helpful friendly officer friend. The police are here to help.” this was the sort of thinking that I forced myself to engage in while smiling and waving at the police. That they never waved back made no difference at all.
For a while, I would be driving, see a cop, freeze up inside, remember my pattern interrupting idea, and force myself to wave. It felt unnatural. It felt phony. It felt forced and stupid. But I kept at it, and yesterday a miracle happened.
I was driving, I saw a policeman in a squad car coming toward me, and I felt a rush of gratitude and happiness. I waved at the passing policeman and continued on my way. The reconditioning had worked!
“Fake it ’til you make it” is a popular phrase in the world of mind study. Feeling sad? Force your face into a grin and watch as the happy parts of your brain fire and soon you feel happy. Force yourself to laugh and eventually you’ll be laughing for real. Force yourself to reconsider and redirect your feelings towards the police from fear to joy and watch as the police begin to trigger joy feelings in you.
I did the same thing with tailgaters! When people tailgate me now, I pretend that they are my friends and their car has broken down and I am towing them. Instead of feeling frustrated when people drive on my tail, now I feel a bit sad when they pass me.
Training, puppies, training. I have treated my own mind like it was a new dog and I am astounded to see that it is quite capable of forgetting old patterns and replacing them with new ones that I like better and serve me more. I can teach my mind new tricks and the end result is that I am happier.
Every single facet of my reality is up to me to control. Every single thing. How nuts is that? Even more nuts is that I am not some sort of special case. We all have this gift. Most of us will not realize it or utilize it because we are never told that it exists, and we are never taught how to utilize it. You have the same power of mind that I myself have. You can take any external stimuli and train your mind to react to it in any way you see fit.
Our culture conditions us to feel and think certain ways about the world, but once we realize that this is so, we can examine and change any pieces of conditioning that we feel no longer serve our peace and happiness.
Got an unhappy past? Change the story to one of your triumph over adversity, with all your former enemies and tormentors recast as zen masters and teachers. Change the story in your mind and observe that your body will respond accordingly. That statement may strike you as offensive and elitist, but that’s your choice isn’t it? My words are neutral. You decide how to feel about them.
The conditioned separated ones will be upset by this information, and the flexible united ones will use this trick to make their entire existence one of joy and peace. Which side would you like to be on?
The search for enlightenment boils down to this: enlightenment is inside you, in the form of a chosen set of responses to the outside world. If Buddha would just smile and enjoy a nice long sit in a thorn bush, then you and I can train ourselves to enjoy the same thing. We can tell ourselves that the thorns that pierce our flesh are actually loving kisses, or the tickling of butterflies. Or we can tell ourselves that we love the feeling of thorns in our flesh, that it reminds us of wonderful, happy things.
We can choose anything and everything to enjoy, especially the things that our culture has told us to feel negatively towards: sickness, death, poor people, rich people, women, men, other ethnicities, other people’s sexual preferences, religion, the military. We can enjoy or loathe these things at our convenience. But to loath them, indeed, to loath anything, without understanding the mechanics behind why you feel that way, is a waste of a good mind. Your mind has better things to do.
We can use any trick we like to remake the world, but it always starts with remaking ourselves.
Love,
Jackson
p.s. Here’s an earlier SF post about how I taught myself to pee on command.
…or should it be titled “Judge Napolitano: How to help spark a revolution in under 5 minutes”?
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