Minding Your Memes

Have you ever noticed the way different media outlets seem to all get on the same page, even when they are (seemingly) unconnected? I first noticed this in listening to the radio in high school. The songs that came and went would somehow have the same themes like sailing and oceans or shining star/super star, etc. At that time I chalked it up to Jung's collective unconscious. Interestingly, it never occurred to me all those years ago, to ask (seriously ask) just WHY that was? It got filed under WEIRD and that was the end of it.

Now this phenomenon has it’s own name. It’s been called a meme. From Dictionary.com:

meme n.
A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea,
that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

[Shortening (modeled on gene), of mimeme from Greek mim ma, something
imitated, from mimeisthai, to imitate. See mimesis.]

An expansion on the idea:

Meme: /meem/ [By analogy with "gene"]
Richard Dawkins's term for an idea considered as a replicator, especially withthe connotation that memes parasitise people into propagating them much as viruses do.
Memes can be considered the unit of cultural evolution. Ideas can evolve in a way analogous to biological evolution. Some ideas survive better than others; ideas can mutate through, for example, misunderstandings; and two ideas can recombine toproduce a new idea involving elements of each parent idea.

The term is used especially in the phrase "meme complex" denoting a group of mutually supporting memes that form an organised belief system, such as a religion. However, "meme" is often misused to mean "meme complex".

Use of the term connotes acceptance of the idea that in humans (and presumably other tool- and language-using sophonts) cultural evolution by selection of adaptive ideas has become more important than biological evolution by selection of hereditary traits. Hackers find this idea congenial fortolerably obvious reasons.

Did you catch that last bit? What if some memes are deliberate? Like computer viruses for subtly hacking the mind? In this light, I’m finding The daVinci Code and its attendant ideas are getting to look a lot like memes. The first clue is of course, it’s staggering popularity. The world view I have today says, "Whatever idea is occupying the attention of the masses is likely diverting it from something way more important, or it is twisting it away from any truth that idea may have originally had." Why are people so taken with this book, to the point where some heavy hitters from the Catholic church are getting involved to counter it?

Secondly, there are supporting ideas coming out in the most unlikely places. One of the organizations mentioned in dVC is called the Priory of Sion, and a place called Renne-le-Chateau. These are already fabled for holding "esoteric secrets" and have spawned a cottage industry of their own., but they weren’t very well known outside of the "esoteric fringe". The da Vince Code has brought them into the main stream. Why is that?

But this is what really got my attention. One of my guilty pleasures is science fiction and fantasy TV. I loved Star Trek, Outer Limits, Twilight Zone and X-files, all the superhero shows, and the rest. Even, so help me, the original Lost in Space (I was really young, OK???). There are a couple good ones running on cable right now. Imagine my surprise when in the middle of a story arc that was seemingly divorced from any sort of current esoteric fad, up pops a reference to "Sauniere manuscripts", Renne-le-Chateau and "the Priory". This time though, I’m asking, "what’s up with that?"

The Grail Series has a lot of good information on the Priory of Sion and Renne-le-Chateau. Enjoy checking it out.

It's Like, We're Gettin' Set Up, Eh?

Heard this on the CBC last week and it gave me the total willies:

Task force urges joint security perimeter

By PAUL KORING

Monday, March 14, 2005

Updated at 2:06 AM EST

From Monday's Globe and Mail

Washington - Canada, Mexico and the United States should collectively gird against

terrorism with a common security perimeter, protecting an increasingly integrated

continent where residents freely cross internal borders and the three countries share

a common energy strategy.

That's the sweeping and undoubtedly controversial vision for North America that

is to be unveiled in Washington today by a blue-ribbon tri-national task force chaired

by former Canadian deputy prime minister John Manley, former Mexican finance

minister Pedro Aspe and former Massachusetts governor William Weld [...]

The thing you need to understand is that I was born in the US. But for the last 20-plus years, I've had the privilige of living outside of it. Of having the chance to hear other points of view. Of actually getting to see the blatent disconnect between the words and the deeds of the US government. I didn't want to believe it at first, but with the wrangles over salmon , soft-wood lumber (here and here), and now mad cow disease (here and here), it became pretty obvious that the elite of the US are arrogant, rapacious and possess an unlimited sense of entitlement to whatever will benefit them, and the arest of the world can go hang. The illusion was hard to give up, but there it is.

The US may have the corner on this behaviour at this juncture in history, but that doesn't mean there isn't a matching dynamic here. From the same article:

Spurred by self-interest to prevent Washington from slamming shut the border in case

of another major terrorist attack against the United States, "Canada and Mexico have an

overriding commercial interest in increasing North American security, apart from any other considerations," according to a draft version of the co-chairs' statement, obtained by The Globe and Mail.

It includes these little gems:

• Unified visa and refugee regulations, joint inspection of container traffic at ports and integrated terror "watch" lists;
  
• Common biometric border passes that would allow seamless passage through customs, immigration and airports throughout North America;
  
• Shared external tariffs "at the lowest rate consistent with multilateral obligations";
  
• Joint energy and natural resource security strategies; (just wanna borrow a little oil and oh yeah, maybe some water?)
• A development strategy to stimulate growth in Mexico.

Don'tcha just feel safer already? I had a stomach ache for two days. Small encouragement, but there's a sense there could be some problems here:

New vision for North America criticized
By BETH GORHAM
Canoe News Network
March 14, 2005

A prominent task force's elaborate vision of a common economy and security perimeter in North America by 2010 drew fire Monday from some Canadians who see it as a dangeroussurrender of sovereignty designed to benefit big business.

The panel, which includes former deputy prime minister John Manley and is backed by Canada's business elite, insists thatleaders from Canada, the United States and Mexico have a crucial chance at theirmeeting next week in Texas to start building "the architecture of the future."

But Maude Barlow, head of the Council of Canadians, slammed contentious recommendations released Monday, saying they shouldn't gain traction when President George W. Bush sits down with PrimeMinister Paul Martin and Mexico's Vicente Fox to talk about NAFTA and securityissues.

"My worry is that because we said 'No' to Iraq and missile defence, the prime minister has to offer something by way ofapology," said Barlow.

"This is how these things happen. You don'tstart with the big dramatic bang; it's incremental."

Barlow said the plan, which calls for muchcloser collaboration between the three countries, including a common biometricborder pass to speed travel and identical external tariffs on goods to easeregulatory differences that cost firms money, is a great idea for bigtransnational companies but few others.

"This is NAFTA plus, plus,plus. This is using the terrorist threat to promote a business agenda," said Barlow. "It won't make us safer. In fact it aligns us closer with the primetarget. This would be a George Bush North America, a kind of superpower againstthe rest of the world." [....]

Gee thanks Paul, why don't you just paint a big bullseye on the country and be done with it.

But this proposal can't be laid completely at the feet of the present players. It, like the Patriot Act seems to have been in the works for quite a while:

Is the Annexation of Canada part of Bush's Military Agenda?
by Michel
Chossudovsky

SUMMARY
For nearly two years now, Ottawa has been quietly negotiating a far-reaching
military cooperation agreement, which allows the US Military to cross the border
and deploy troops anywhere in Canada, in our provinces, as well station American
warships in Canadian territorial waters. This redesign of Canada's defense
system is being discussed behind closed doors, not in Canada, but at the
Peterson Air Force base in Colorado, at the headquarters of US Northern Command
(NORTHCOM).

The creation of NORTHCOM announced in April 2002,
constitutes a blatant violation of both Canadian and Mexican territorial
sovereignty. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced unilaterally that US
Northern Command would have jurisdiction over the entire North American region.
Canada and Mexico were presented with a fait accompli. US Northern Command's
jurisdiction as outlined by the US DoD includes, in addition to the continental
US, all of Canada, Mexico, as well as portions of the Caribbean, contiguous
waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans up to 500 miles off the Mexican, US
and Canadian coastlines as well as the Canadian Arctic.

NorthCom's stated mandate is to "provide a
necessary focus for [continental] aerospace, land and sea defenses, and critical
support for [the] nation’s civil authorities in times of national need."

(Canada-US Relations - Defense Partnership – July 2003, Canadian
American Strategic Review (CASR), http://www.sfu.ca/casr/ft-lagasse1.htm

Rumsfeld is said to have boasted that "the NORTHCOM – with all of North
America as its geographic command – 'is part of the greatest transformation of
the Unified Command Plan [UCP] since its inception in 1947.'" (Ibid)

Following Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's refusal to join NORTHCOM, a
high-level so-called "consultative" Binational Planning Group (BPG), operating
out of the Peterson Air Force base, was set up in late 2002, with a mandate to
"prepare contingency plans to respond to [land and sea] threats and attacks, and
other major emergencies in Canada or the United States".

It's a bad enough to be embarrassed to be the citizen of one country. But governments going behind the bak of those it purports to represent is the way of this world. Check here for a cogent analysis of these articles. Maybe learning to see this for what it is can allow you to make a choice for another world. The Signs of the Times news service is a good resource if you're looking for a way out.

Blue Ibis
News
NAFTA
NORTHCOM
Canada - U.S. Relations

Physics and Fulcanelli?

A long, loooong time ago, I took Chemistry 10. The periodic table was my favorite part of the subject. All those neat little categories that defined the properties of each group of elements organized in visual fashion. Change the number of protons and neutrons around and you got a completely different substance. I loved it. My teacher even had a bit of hope for me in the field, until the day we were discussing radioactive elements. The idea that they could be changed by bombarding them with other particles, or that they even naturally transmuted themselves into other elements, was fascinating. "So," I piped up, "the alchemists were right! If you were able to alter the number of protons and neutrons in lead, you could change it into gold." His face said it all. I stuck with ballet.

Later on I read a couple of books called The Dancing Wu Li Masters, and The Tao of Physics. They are both "physics lite", but they made a persuasive case that western science's research into quantum physics was unknowingly validating eastern mysticism. It gave me a giggle to picture a lab-coated researcher and saffron-r0bed monk backing into each other in the dark.

Much later on I read more about Alchemy. To my surprise, it turns out not to be a fanciful medieval superstition, but a system of mystical development as valid as that of the East, but suited to the psyche of the West. All of this business of turning lead into gold and other "operations" were metaphors for stages of physical, emotional, and intellectual development. To create the Philosopher's Stone, or achieve the Great Work, was to bring oneself to a height of soul development granted to very few, and only after a lifetime of work. If a person approached the subject in a literal, material way (i.e. for gain or power), he naturally weeded himself out of the field where the real knowledge was to be found. A person like that couldn't be trusted with real knowledge.

Yet, well attested stories persist that base metals were indeed turned into gold by adepts. From The Grail Series :

" In 1666, Johann Friedrich Schweitzer, physician to the Prince of Orange, was visited by a stranger who was "of a mean stature, a little long face, with a few small pock holes, and most black hair, not at allcurled, a beardless chin, about three or four and forty years of age (as I guessed), and born in North Holland."

Before I finish the story, it needs to be pointed out that Dr. Schweitzer, who was the author of several medical and botanical books, was a careful and objective observer and was a colleague of the philosopher, Spinoza. Schweitzer was a trained scientific observer; a reputable medical man, and not given to fraud or practical jokes. And yet, what I am about to describe is, in modern understanding, impossible.

Now, what happened was that the stranger made small talk for awhile and then, more or less out of the blue, asked Dr. Schweitzer whether he would recognize the "Philosopher's Stone" if he saw it. He then took out of his pocket a small ivory box that held "three ponderous pieces or small lumps... each about the bigness of a small walnut, transparent, of a pale brimstone colour." The stranger told Schweitzer that this was the very substance sought for so long by the Alchemists. [....]

The guy leaves at this point and promises to return the next morning to show Schweitzer the correct way to perfom the transmutation but,

"The next day he came not, nor ever since. Only he sent an excuse at half an hour past nine that morning, by reason of his great business, and promised to come at three in the afternoon, but never came, nor have I heard of him since; whereupon I began to doubt of the whole matter. Nevertheless late that night my wife... came soliciting and vexing me to make experiment... saying to me, unless this be done, I shall have no rest nor sleep all this night... She being so earnest, I commanded a fire to be made - thinking, aslas, now is this man (though so divine in discourse) foudn guilty of falsehood... My wife wrapped the said matter in wx, and I cut half an ounce of six drams of old lead, and put into a crucible in the fire, which being melted, my wife put in the said Medicine made up in a small pill or button, which presently made such a hissing and bubbling in its perfect operation, that within a quarter of an hour all the mass of lead was transmuted into the ... finest gold."

The famous philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, who lived nearby, came the next day to examine this gold and was convinced that Schweitzer was telling the truth. The Assay Master of the province, a Mr. Porelius, tested the metal and pronounced it genuine; and Mr. Buectel, the silversmith, subjected it to further test that confirmed that it was gold.

And then there's this:

Twenty years before Schweitzer's meeting with the mysterious stranger, Jan Baptista van Helmont, who was responsible for several important scientific discoveries, and was the first man to realize that there were other gases than air; and who invented the term "gas," wrote:

"For truly I have divers times seen it [The Philosopher's Stone], and handled it with my hands, but it was of colour such as is in Saffron in its powder, yet weighty, and shining like unto powdered glass. There was once given unto me on fourth part of one grain [16 milligrams]... I projected [it] upon eighty ounces [227 grams] of quicksilver [mercury] made hot in a crucible; and straightaway all the quicksilver, with a certain degree of noise, stood still from flowing, and being congealed, settled like unto a yellow lump; but after pouring it out, the bellows blowing, there were found eight ounces and a little less than eleven grains of the purest gold."

Remember it's the Philosophers Stone that makes this purported transmutation possible and the study of alchemy is about creating the Philosopher's Stone. It has struck me that the whole business of actually turning lead into gold and all that could be a way of validating that the mystical goal had been achieved. We westerners do like confirmation of things, after all.

With that in mind, we come to Fulcanelli, supposedly a real live nineteenth century alchemist, living and working long after the Age of Reason was supposed to have banished alchemy to the realm of myth. In the article "The True Identity of Fulcanelli and The Da Vinci Code", by Laura Knight-Jadczyk, she proposes among other things, that not only was Fulcanelli a real person, that he was prominant French scientist engaged in the study of the sun. One of Fulcanelli's books is dedicated to "The Brothers Heliopolis". Her acquaintance with Patrick Riviere provided an invaluable set of clues to identifying Fulcanelli. Msr. Riviere is a most credible source, as he was a long-time student of Eugene Canseliet, the disciple of Fulcanelli. Further, Msr. Riviere has documentation attesting to the idea that Fulcanelli is still among the living. Not surprising since, those who achieve the Great Work are supposedly able to step in and out of the flow of "time" at will.

These ideas are discussed more fully in a new book "The Secret History of the World and How to Get Out Alive". Msr. Rivere has written a forward to the book:

The Secret History of The World

This book of revolutionary importance is essential reading. With this
original work, Laura Knight-Jadczyk shares with us her prodigious
discoveries that put into question History as well as our habitual
observations concerning the myth of the "Grail". She does this by revisiting
the Bible and comparative mythology, looking closely into parallel universes
and hyperspace, and penetrating into quantum physics, genetics, and the
mysteries of the diverse creations populating the hyperdimensions of the
Cosmos.

Throughout her expose, Laura Knight-Jadczyk refers to two powerful works of the scientist-alchemist Fulcanelli: The Mystery of the Cathedrals and Dwellings of the Philosophers. She applies her vast knowledge to the continuation of his work.

Thus, following in the footsteps of Fulcanelli (citing Huysmans) when he
denounces the constant lies and omissions from official History over the
course of time, Laura Knight-Jadczyk, citing numerous examples, exposes the manipulations in the official history of ancient civilizations of which
humanity is the victim. She strives to re-establish the truth, and her
answers are often enlightening.

According to Laura Knight-Jadczyk, the mysteries of the Holy Grail and the
Ark of the Temple refer to a particular, very advanced "technology" - with
the aim, for example, of teleportation and changing between space-time
dimensions - a secret and sacred science of which only a few great
"Initiates" have remained custodians. Christ Jesus was the surest guarantor
of this precious legacy, and, although it might displease Dan Brown (author
of The DaVinci Code), the genealogical lineage of the "Sangréal" (the "Sang
Royal" or "Holy Blood"), is not at all as he believes it to be!

The reader of this important work by Laura Knight-Jadczyk will realize that
there are completely different conclusions to that mystery. Her erudition
cannot but impress the reader during the course of an assiduous reading of
this quite astonishing book. As to her inspiration, what can we say, and,
from whence could it come, if not the Light of the stars?

Patrick Riviere

Patrick Riviere is a writer and author of numerous works that have been
published in France and that have been translated and published in many
languages. He is a specialist on the '"Grail" (On the Paths of the Grail) and of Alchemy following the path of Fulcanelli

I still can't wait to get my copy. Maybe one for my old chemistry teacher too!

Blue Ibis

Ancient Science
Alchemy
Fulcanelli
New Books
Hermeticism

The Can of (Peak) Oily Worms

Well, the more you look into the whole Peak Oil thing, the weirder it gets.
Two more articles on the "plenty of oil" side of things:

Sustainable oil?

Posted: May 25, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Chris Bennett
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

About 80 miles off of the coast of Louisiana lies a mostly submerged mountain, the top of which is known as Eugene Island. The portion underwater is an eerie-looking, sloping tower jutting up from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico, with deep fissures and perpendicular faults which spontaneously spew natural gas. A significant reservoir of crude oil was discovered nearby in the late '60s, and by 1970, a platform named Eugene 330 was busily producing about 15,000 barrels a day of high-quality crude oil.

By the late '80s, the platform's production had slipped to less than 4,000 barrels per day, and was considered pumped out. Done. Suddenly, in 1990, production soared back to 15,000 barrels a day, and the reserves which had been estimated at 60 million barrels in the '70s, were recalculated at 400 million barrels. Interestingly, the measured geological age of the new oil was quantifiably different than the oil pumped in the '70s.

(continued . . . . )

Then there's Joe Vialls' take on it:

[. . . . .]

Campbell is just the tip of a giant iceberg of academic Peak Oil 'experts' who suddenly appeared en-masse to give you this frightening news, right after President Saddam Hussein suddenly started trading his oil in Euros rather than in US Dollars, a devastating switch with the easy capacity to destroy the US Dollar in less than five years if it was left unchallenged and unchecked.

So these shills [decoys] were carefully positioned to deflect your attention away from the obvious greed and incompetence of the United States Government and its Wall Street masters, and focus it elsewhere instead. Then, hopefully, a few years later down the track when prices start to bounce through the roof, and America has no Euros to buy crude oil, you will blame gasoline prices of $5.00+ per gallon at the pumps on an 'inevitable decline' in world oil production, rather than march furiously on Washington DC with locked and loaded firearms.

Though attacking Campbell and his ilk is not the purpose of this report, his idiot claims can be debunked readily enough. While it is true that nowadays we only officially find one barrel of oil for every four barrels we consume, this is primarily because we temporarily stopped the incredibly expensive process of looking for crude oil when we had already physically established more than two trillion barrels of reserves in known reservoir locations around the world. When those known reserves drop to [say] one trillion barrels we may be tempted to go and find more, but not until then. And while it is true that the production rate from each individual oil well ever drilled has slowly declined over the years, there is a perfectly valid technical reason for this predictable reduced flow rate, which will be explained later.

In order to understand how Russia has left the rest of the world standing in its wake, it is essential to know a little bit about where oil is located, and how it is extracted from the ground for refining and commercial use. It is an enormously complex subject, especially when considering the ultra-deep wells, which should really have a separate category all of their own. Many years ago I was personally involved at the sharp end of two ultra-deep drilling operations [one of them in direct liaison with Russian experts from the Moscow Drilling Institute], and will try to keep this drilling lesson as simple as I can.

[....] see the link for some good diagrams and photos.

Further on he has this to say:

The theory underlying how oil is formed at such enormous depths in the mantle of the earth is not central to this report, because the Russians have already proved its point of origin in absolute drilling terms more than 300 times. Those interested in the exact process should research the archives, where there are more than two hundred Russian papers on the subject. Probably a good place to start would be "The Role of Methane in the Formation of Mineral Fuels", written by by A.D. Bondar in 1967. What is central to this report is the massive advantage that Russia's ultra-deep drilling discoveries and technical achievements give it over the western nations

.
The first advantage I intend to explain is nowhere near as important in global terms as the second, because it is the second advantage that finally drove the Zionist Cabal to illegally invade sovereign Iraq, and thereby bring us all to the very brink of thermonuclear war. However, from where I sit, the first advantage is much more important in simple humanitarian terms, although "humanitarian" is not an acceptable trading process on Wall Street.

As we have already discovered, oil can be produced virtually anywhere on earth, provided the host country can afford the expensive [and sometimes classified] technology, and the massive cost of drilling a well to extreme depth through extremely hard rock formations. But just think what even 20 or 30 deep producing oil wells can mean for the people of a country that has no natural resources of its own, or worse still, for people who have been told by glib western lobbyists that they have no natural resources of their own. Anyone who can prove that the western nations were lying or simply wrong, will become a trusted friend forever. Vietnam is a classic example.

After more than 60 years of being enslaved, pillaged, and raped by the French and then by the Americans, the poor Vietnamese were told officially by American oil multinationals that their country was barren; that western 'cutting edge' technology had failed to find anything to help them recover financially from the mess left behind by American bombs, Agent Orange, and a host of other delightful gifts from Uncle Sam. This of course was exactly where America wanted the Vietnamese to be: desperately poor and unable to take action against their former invaders.

The Russians had other ideas and a very different approach. After telling the Vietnamese that the Americans had lied to them, oil experts were flown in from Moscow to prove this startling claim in a no-risk joint venture, meaning the Russians would provide all of the equipment and expertise free of charge, and only then take a percentage of the profits if oil was actually found and put into production. Vietnam had absolutely nothing to lose, and swiftly gave Russia the green light.

The Vietnamese White Tiger oil field was and is a raging success, currently producing high quality crude oil from basalt rock more than 17,000 feet below the surface of the earth, at 6,000 barrels per day per well. Through White Tiger, the Russians have assisted the Vietnamese to regain part of their self respect, while at the same time making them far less dependent on brutal western nations for food-aid handouts.

All of a sudden in a very small way, Vietnam has joined the exclusive club of oil producing nations, and a stream of cynical U.S. Senators and Congressmen have started making the long pilgrimage to Ho Chi Minh City in order to 'mend fences'. Predictably perhaps, the Vietnamese are very cool, and try hard to ignore their new American admirers."

He then describes a method which he claims makes it possible to "ream out" a clogged borehole, one of the reasons for diminishing flow-rates. He says the Russian oil industry makes regular use of this technology, but that shareholder driven western corporation won't because it is too expensive. Cheaper to invade another country with resources easier to get to. It's an intriguing read.

But suppose that's not the whole taco? If the Peak folk are right, thing are going to go right off the rails and a lot of people will die. Try to think of something in your (western, industrialized) life that is not touched by oil?

Going back to Mike Ruppert who was caught saying the following:

Instead of advocating war I oppose it. Anyone who has attended any of my more than 35 lectures in eight countries (more than 15,000 live audience members) will know, of a certainty, that my position on solutions is absolutely clear. I advocate an immediate cessation of all military conquest and imperialism by the US government and industrialized powers; an end to the war on terror.

I advocate an immediate convening of political, economic, spiritual and scientific leaders from all nations to address the issue of Peak Oil (and Gas) and its immediate implications for economic collapse, massive famine and climate destruction (partially as a result of reversion to coal plants which accelerate global warming). This would, scientifically speaking, include immediate steps to arrive at a crash program – agreed to by all nations and in accordance with the highest spiritual and ethical principles – to stop global population growth and to arrive at the best possible and most ethical program of population reduction as a painful choice made by all of humanity.

To quote the article this came from:

I hope that the sharp and sudden increase in heart rate and blood pressure that the words "population reduction" must surely have caused in readers was not too much to handle, and that we can continue and rationally consider the practicality of just what is being suggested by Mike.

The first question that can be reasonably asked is: "What planet has Mike been living on for the past 50 years?"

Please tell me when exactly the wonderful, life-respecting, spiritual beings took over the planet? Was it while I was at the toilet?

Seriously though, can ANYONE imagine Cheney or Putin or Blair or Zhu Rongji, or any other world leader for that matter, who by definition of their position of power have been completely corrupted by that power, suddenly exhibiting "the highest spiritual and ethical principles"? Just about every world leader, including the supposedly "spiritual" ones, have been presiding over mass depopulation for centuries, and they didn’t need any stinkin’ ethics or morals to do it; glee and relish was all it took!

Mike then backpeddles:

From the article quoted above

When Mike was challenged by Victor Thorn of Wing TV about his stance on the depopulation question, he stated that, ideally, the job of depopulation would:

" […] include people of more humane vocations than those of the economists, politicians, and financiers who are currently in charge of most domestic and international institutions".

Sure, we would all like to have those "of more humane vocations" included, Mike, but, last time I checked, it was still the "economists, politicians, and financiers" that were running the show. Better yet, let’s have more humane people make the decisions, not simply those who are in positions where the illusion of humaneness is part of the job description.

Mike continues in this vein with his basic point being that it would be better that the several billion of us that sadly have to "go", be put to sleep by the Dalai Lama than prematurely euthanised by the Nazi Neocons.

Again, really Mike, it’s not much of a choice. Either way you are asking us to make the ‘ultimate sacrifice’ in order to clear the board for the "economists, politicians, and financiers" to just start all over again. THAT is the reality of the situation and it’s time we all grew up and accepted it.
The bottom line with Ruppert is that, while his alarmist, doomsday message is a real attention grabber, his solution to the problem really isn’t a solution at all, and for this reason it would be better if he were to just make his point and quietly sit down.

Yup, this is a disgusting oily can of worms. And it only gets worse.

Blue Ibis

A Snack Turns Into a Feast!!

Remember that neat article about alchemy and the da Vinci code I mentioned a couple of days ago? It turns out it's an excerpt from a much larger book called The Secret History of the World and How to Get Out. Cool. Here's a bit about it:

If you heard the Truth, would you believe it? Ancient civilisations. Hyperdimensional realities. DNA changes. Bible conspiracies. What are the realities? What is disinformation?

The Secret History of The World and How To Get Out Alive is the definitive book of the real answers where Truth is more fantastic than fiction. Laura Knight-Jadczyk, wife of internationally known theoretical physicist, Arkadiusz Jadczyk, an expert in hyperdimensional physics, draws on science and mysticism to pierce the veil of reality. Due to the many threats on her life from agents and agencies known and unknown, Laura left the United States to live in France, where she is working closely with Patrick Rivière, student of Eugene Canseliet, the only disciple of the legendary alchemist Fulcanelli.

With sparkling humour and wisdom, she picks up where Fulcanelli left off, sharing over thirty years of research to reveal, for the first time, The Great Work and the esoteric Science of the Ancients in terms accessible to scholar and layperson alike.

Conspiracies have existed since the time of Cain and Abel. Facts of history have been altered to support the illusion. The question today is whether a sufficient number of people will see through the deceptions, thus creating a counter-force for positive change - the gold of humanity - during the upcoming times of Macro-Cosmic Quantum Shift. Laura argues convincingly, based on the revelations of the deepest of esoteric secrets, that the present is a time of potential transition, an extraordinary opportunity for individual and collective renewal: a quantum shift of awareness and perception which could see the birth of true creativity in the fields of science, art and spirituality. The Secret History of the World allows us to redefine our interpretation of the universe, history, and culture and to thereby navigate a path through this darkness. In this way, Laura Knight-Jadczyk shows us how we may extend the possibilities for all our different futures in literal terms.

I've already ordered a copy. Can't wait to get it. Here's another link with a nice graphic of the cover. Hold the mouse over the image and you'll get the little enlarger thingy for jpgs. It's really beautiful.

Book lovers of the world, treat yourself! You'll be glad you did.

Blue Ibis

The Panic Over Peak Oil?

Geez, just when I'm ready to do some personal whining (my ex-job), something way more interesting comes along.

There was an interview with Andrew Nikiforuk on this noontime radio show I sometimes get to hear when I'm running errands. It was about this idea called Peak Oil, and a companion concept with the catchy title High Noon for Natural Gas. Now when you live in oil country, these are subjects of intense interest. Not only that, the gov'mint here has boasted it is one of the few debt free jurisdictions in the western hemispere. You can bet it weren't cattle that did it,not with the border closed and all ( yet another blog). It was oil royalties. Where oil is, how much is left, and how hard/expensive it is to get at, is personal bottom-line stuff around here.

Simply put, Peak Oil is the notion that we've already pumped out the majority of easily recoverable oil that is available in the earth, and while there's still a lot of oil around, the cost in terms of energy input to turn that oil into something usable is more than the energy we will get out of it:

It is widely accepted that oil is a finite resource; there are basic laws which describe the depletion of any finite resource:

Production starts at zero;
Production then rises to a peak which can never be surpassed;
Once the peak has been passed, production declines until the resource is depleted.

These simple rules were first described in the 1950s by Dr. M. King Hubbert, and apply to any relevant system, including the depletion of the world’s petroleum resources.

The link is to an excellent summary page of Dr. Hubbert's theory.

High Noon for Natural Gas is running more or less on the same theme. Here is a quote from the book of the same title by Julian Darley:

In this timely expose, author Julian Darley takes a hard-hitting look at natural gas as an energy source that rapidly went from nuisance to crutch. Darley outlines the implications of our increased dependence on this energy source and why it has the potential to cause serious environmental, political, and economic consequences. In High Noon for Natural Gas readers can expect to find a critical analysis of government policy on energy, as well as a meticulously researched warning about our next potentially catastrophic energy crisis.

Sounds pretty dire eh? Just to make everything more confusing, there is the Abiotic oil theory proposed by Thomas Gold, among others, which says that oil is not dead dinasaurs at all. It is being formed continuously deep in the earth's mantle:

[....] Gold's theory of oil formation, which he expounded recently in a book entitled The Deep Hot Biosphere, is that hydrogen and carbon, under high temperatures and pressures found in the mantle during the formation of the Earth, form hydrocarbon molecules which have gradually leaked up to the surface through cracks in rocks. The organic materials which are found in petroleum deposits are easily explained by the metabolism of bacteria which have been found in extreme environments similar to Earth's mantle. These hyperthermophiles, or bacteria which thrive in extreme environments, have been found in hydrothermal vents, at the bottom of volcanoes, and in places where scientists formerly believed life was not possible. Gold argues that the mantle contains vast numbers of these bacteria.

So there might be lots of oil after all, and the evil industrialists aren't telling us that because it would cut into their control over the world.

Maybe.

But what if this whole circus is a distraction from even more damaging situations which the PTB don't want us to pay attention to? From an article called Ruppert and Hopsicker Co-Opting the 9-11 Truth Movement:

Ruppert has been making alternative news headlines for the past few months over two issues: the flack he has been taking, and giving, in a war of words with several high profile 9-11 investigators, and the issue of "Peak Oil". Quite often the two controversies are related. [...]

If we look at what thrust Mike into a unique position among 9-11 researchers, we find that it was not his research into 9-11, but rather his shocking revelations about "peak oil". Now it is no surprise that, from Mike’s point of view, this particular issue would eventually eclipse the events of 9-11 altogether, as he stated in his recent lecture at Washington University. After all, what’s the point in pursuing the prosecutions of Cheney and the boys when a large percentage of the population, according to the peak oil scenario, will never get to enjoy the trial anyway?

[...] If we look at the situation dispassionately (not an easy thing to do given the subject matter - "you’re all gonna die" - tends to make people a little emotional don’t ya know), what seems to be true about Mike’s message is that it is so shocking that it tends to have the effect of suspending the critical thinking capabilities of people who hear it. In a way it is like one of those doomsday cults where blind faith is asked for and given because: "we’re all gonna be toast pretty soon anyway, so what have you got to lose?"
It is also, coincidentally, a very good way to focus attention away from 9-11.

It's a cogent analyis of all these different forces, and some you have may not considered which are.at play in our world. Good solid reading from a unique point of view. Enjoy.

Blue Ibis

Chilling Out with the Real da Vinci Code

Sorry to be away a while folks. After a month and a week, I've been set free from the Temp Job From Hell, (three weeks earlier than I dreamed possible!) and it's taken three days to recover from the stress-induced chest pains. But that's another blog.

There's been a lot of hoopla around the best-seller The daVinci Code. Friends are recommending it; one of my kids bought a copy since the library waiting list is months long. I've told my agency NOT to call me for at least a week. Maybe this might be a good way to unwind.

So what is so fascinating about this book? I heard a round table discussion on CBC. Most interesting was a part of the discussion of whether or not something that is fiction should be more forthcoming about it. Some of the panelists were offended that the writer seemed to consciously strive for a level of reality that would blur the idea that dVC was a book of fiction. These same people were more than a little dismayed that most people were NOT offended at this blurring, that they WANTED to believe such a concoction of legend and innuendo. People love to feel they are getting the inside scoop on things. It was a good program and I will try to find a link. CBC's search engine is a little rusty, but their customer service line is terrific. TBPL! (to be posted later . . . )

In the mean time there's no lack of material about the da Vinci Code on the web. Most seem to go off on the whole "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" thing, forgetting that these esoteric secrets are just that. Any sort of mystical secret worth finding out will be wrapped in riddles, puns in many languages ancient and modern (and who's modern?). After all, there were adepts in many cultures and spanning many centuries. To be sure there will be obstacles placed in the way of those seeking these secrets to weed out those who's motives are not of the highest order. The subject seems a lot more complex than one religion trying to keep a lock on its position in current society.

Here is an article by Laura Knight-Jadczyk discussing some of the deeper symbolism surrounding Leonardo's famous painting. A lot of historical background is offered to put this symbolism in context. These forays into medieval astronomy, languages, history, and politics offer many jumping off points for personal inquiry. It would be especially interesting for those interested in alchemy, past and present. Apparently the legendary master Fulcanelli was more intimately involved in the mysteries brought up by this work of da Vinci than many would suspect.

Happy reading and researching,

Blue Ibis