Enbridge lies to you.

Enbridge is acting in typical 'big oil' fashion. Invent a debate, then skew it. This is classic deception, and in perfect correlation with Stephen Harper and the 'economy trumps everything' philosophy. Will people die over this debate? Possibly. Protests will be large, both side have irreverent resolve, and both sides will not give in as they share the commonality of believing their cause is dire. Conservative supporters see oil as fuel for a strong economy and a means to healing society's calamities, First Nations supporters see oil as fuel for destruction of the natural world and a means to creating deeper calamity.

In the end judgment is left to the children, both current and unborn. If history is any indication, the children will place culpability upon us just as we have placed culpability on our great-grandparents for the societal mistakes of their time (eg: residential schools, denying Jewish immigration to Canada during Nazi rule, corporate hegemony, imperialist foreign policy, etc etc), yet it seems we are indifferent. It seems we don't really care what happens after we are dead. Whether we are in the ground or in some ethereal after-life we don't seem to mind if future humans suffer. It doesn't seem to matter to us that generations after us will suffer from the decisions of our dead hands. It's almost like we believe so devoutly in the Gods of economics that we can create human life and then die peacefully so long as the dollar is doing well...

And so we relinquish our personal conviction to Harper and Enbridge with the deluded belief we are not immoral or unethical.

But what is actually happening here? We are empowering ourselves to be deceived by allowing ourselves to be ignorant, and Enbridge knows this and is capitalizing on it. In the same way many oil companies finance studies which yield their desired results and then claim that climate change is still debatable, Enbridge is misrepresenting the opinions of First Nations people as a means to eroding the environmentalits' solidarity.

It's a classic divide and conquer technique that has worked to oil companies' advantage for decades. Check it out:

Read this first.

Then read this.

...and for more info:

'On the Line' trailer from Frank Wolf on Vimeo.

We Can Hallucinate Colors at Will

Basically what this study has shown is what many philosophers and psychologists already know: our experience of the world around us is a product of what we choose and/or desire rather than a product of what actually is. The world is a product of us rather than us a product of the world, that is, in our experience. As such, we can believe anything we want about our world and it will become a reality... maybe that's why we have such strange traditions or incoherent religions...

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

Certain People Can Hallucinate Colors at Will

By TRACI PEDERSEN Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on December 4, 2011

Some individuals have the ability to hallucinate colors at will, according to scientists at the University of Hull. The research — centered on a group of people already known to be ‘highly suggestible’ during hypnosis — was conducted by the university’s department of psychology.

Less suggestible people — people less likely to respond to hypnosis — were also included in the study as a control group.

During the study, participants were told to look at a series of monochrome patterns and try to see the color in them. They completed this task under hypnosis and without hypnosis; both times, suggestible subjects reported that they were able to see colors, while individuals in the non-suggestible group were not able to hallucinate color.

Through an MRI scanner, participants’ reactions to the patterns were also captured; this allowed the researchers to keep track of the differences in brain activity between the suggestible and non-suggestible subjects. In the suggestible subjects only, there were significant changes in brain activity in areas of the brain responsible for visual perception.

“These are very talented people,” said Professor Giuliana Mazzoni, lead researcher on the project. “They can change their perception and experience of the world in ways that the rest of us cannot.”

Changing one’s experience at will can be a very useful ability. Studies have already shown that hypnotic suggestions are effective for blocking pain and increasing the effectiveness of psychotherapy.

It was assumed that hypnosis was a requirement for these effects to occur; however, the new study suggests that this is not the case. Even though hypnosis does seem to intensify the participants’ ability to see color, the ‘suggestible’ subjects were also capable of seeing colors and changing their brain activity without the help of hypnosis.

The MRI scans showed clearly that although it was not necessary for the participants to be under hypnosis in order to perceive colors in the tests, it was evident that hypnosis increased the ability of the subjects to experience these effects.

“Many people are afraid of hypnosis, although it appears to be very effective in helping with certain medical interventions, particularly pain control. The work we have been doing shows that certain people may benefit from suggestion without the need for hypnosis,” said Dr. William McGeown, who was also a contributor in the study.

The study is published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

Source: University of Hull

CSIS supports torture. WTF?

CSIS head urged government to fight ban on information obtained through torture

Atheists Cling to Science...

I just came across this and agree with his points.... and it actually got me thinking about denominations and the fact that in spite of God being "unchanging" his followers are actually very fragmented in their doctrine and faith. It seems suspect for Christians to claim God is "unchanging" while the whole of Christianity is in constant flux.

A Vancouver sunset makes me ponder.

Currently I'm pondering the many verses in the Bible that most christians avoid. Deuteronomy 22 has many interesting passages, most of which are filled with God's complete disrespect of women... On the flip side, God lets men in on the fact that if they decide to rape a virgin... don't get caught.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, ²⁹ he shall pay her father fifty shekels^[a] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Some atheist scientists with children embrace religious traditions...

Some atheist scientists with children embrace religious traditions, according to new research

...after all, nobody can be utterly sure of the Truth of their personal beliefs... so to teach a child something is Truth, would be leading the child in a gross misdirection. Interestingly, a healthy dose of scepticism can inspire growth in a person of any persuasion; for it's doubt that fuels the desire for certainty. Of course, epistemologists have shown us that we cannot be sure of much in this universe, and thus exposing a child to the multitude of world-views can only be a benefit, or so it seems...

AMAZING Miniatur Wunderland - Germany's biggest tourist attraction.

"Fancies of satisfaction are saboteurs of pleasure."

"I think that it would be possible to have pictures of good lives that aren't set up to make one fail; a more realistic idea as opposed to an ideal would be one that is genuanly attainable."

"What we are talking about are fictions rather than ideals."

"What we are talking about are ideas that are transformable rather than ideals that you have to comply with."

"Cultural ideals are set up to humiliate us."

Check out this short video from Adam Phillips. I don't know what the hell my soul is, but I think he might be speaking to it.

Makes me wonder...

I don't know who made these images, but they make me ponder...

Who said it??

"We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public."

Here and there, I see this quote everywhere but never see a name attached to it...

Occuwhat??

Clicking around on youtube's occupy videos I found myself inspired by the optimism and passion of these particular two...

I found it enlightening to hear the brief mentioning of the movement's philosophical/tactical dilemma in that specific demands constrain the discussion to it's current (failing) paradigm, yet abstract goals of a different civilization get written of as 'vague' by the critics.

'Brinicle' ice finger of death!!

Sexy Sax Man

Oh man this song hasn't left my head since seeing this video again on Wednesday; one of the best viral videos ever.

The Green Winged Teal, and a knee-jerk rant about a Psyc Today article.

Self, a concept: that's what I'm feeling about 'self' after reading this extremely succinct and insightful history of psychology's ideas of 'self'... it's just a concept, that's it. Nothing more; philosophers and psychologists can discover ideas and scrutinize our styles and differences in cognition, but when applied to the whole of a person it all falls short. It all falls down. It seems the very idea of even having a self is itself a construct. Maybe even a 'self' construct...

Some of us humans don't even struggle with this concept, people with extreme congenital problems and/or various mental handicaps whose minds never had the chance do grow or develop never even ponder one's self. Yet through history and forward great minds grapple with this friction they've conceptualized as "self"...

So where does it end? We live our whole lives learning, discovering, building, growing, moulding and developing, inventing and battling with our 'self' and then regardless of how much we know our 'self' or how disheartened we are about our 'self' knowledge, it's all just fucking over.

Do we really need this concept? Is there any use for it?? Maybe we can just 'be'?

The coolest creeper around? The Brown One.

I never here 'em, rarely see 'em, and can forget about capturing a decent image of 'em.

That's all changed.

Ayahuasca Tea is Something to be Seriously Considered

Check out this Nature of Things.

The Jungle Prescription

Visit the official website to read more about this project and ayahuasca

The Jungle Prescription is the tale of two doctors treating their addicted patients with a mysterious Amazonian medicine rumored to reveal one’s deepest self. Dr. Gabor Maté has a revolutionary idea: to treat addicts with compassion. His work as the resident doctor in Vancouver’s Portland Hotel - a last-chance destination for lifelong drug abusers - has been courageous, but incredibly frustrating. Maté hears of an ancient medicine beyond his imaginings: one that could provide his patients with a solution. Its name is ayahuasca: the vine of the souls. Deep in the Amazon jungle, French doctor Jacques Mabit is using this medicine to treat hardcore addicts. Mabit runs a detox centre in the Amazon (Takiwasi or "The House That Sings"), using the plants and methods of traditional medicine. Ayahuasca is a visionary formula that unlocks emotional memory; causing life-changing catharsis in those who drink it. The reported success rates for curing addicts at Dr. Mabit's detox centre are quadruple the average.

Dr Mate returns to Canada with a plan to work with a group of healers to treat patients struggling with various types of addiction. At these sessions they will serve ayahuasca: the acrid tea that occupies a grey area of Canadian law. But without a detox centre or support structure for his patients, will it work?

Dr. Jacques Mabit over a cauldron of ayahuasca

Since the publication of his award-winning book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Dr. Gabor Mate has been one of Canada’s leading thinkers on addiction and its deeper causes. The experience of making the film has had a profound impact on him: “As a physician all too aware of the limitations and narrowness of Western medicine, I have learned much from working with this plant. The Jungle Prescription took me far physically, but even further in the spiritual realm where our deepest humanity resides. The plant, and the experience with the plant, is no panacea. There are no panaceas. But as an opening to human possibility, even in the face of lifelong trauma and desperation, it offers much. Seeing people open to themselves, even temporarily, has been a teaching and an inspiration.”

Thought Experiment: Do you show the real you?

Check out this cool little article.

Succinct and Poignant points on Hell

Do we all feel this? or are you and I the only ones?

...something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there." - Patrick Bateman

Open mind, Open thoughts, Open acceptance

I don't want salvation prayers. I don't want anyone to have to worry about me. Yes, I accept that people do in fact worry, but in light of world-view differences I feel like my lack of desire for heaven is very troublesome for the devout Christian. Years ago as a devout Christian myself, I personally agonized over friends and family I thought were going to hell... how could I not? I love these people and am deeply affected and influenced by their lifestyle and 'walk with God' yet at the same time saw apathy on issues Jesus himself directly addressed.

Today, I don't believe in the after-life. I view sentient beings as plants and trees: when they die they become life for new species... without a dead Hemlock a beaver may not have food or a home, without a dead Cedar a chipmunk may not have a place to raise its family. But I still empathize with the Christian worrying about others' salvation and thus do not want to be that 'other'.

And so I shy from the topic. I censor myself. I say too little. I don't know how to cross the chasm and reach some mutual ground where I can stand and say that people I love believe I'm going to hell, and not resent their belief.

I'm not sure what harms me more: loved ones believing I'm going to hell, or having a resentment I resent. I do not want to resent ANYTHING or ANYONE. EVER. I have been actively working for years (nearly a decade in actuality) at not letting my mind fuel resentment toward any world-views regardless of their doctrine or dogma. I've feel that I may have mistaken passivity for acceptance, so I will go forward with less of the former and more of the latter.

I'm a fucking Atheist with deep deep fucking Ethics...

and emotion; it's with these disturbances that I feel forced to completely and purely step out of the closet to the one hundredth percentile.

How can I continue with the politeness of watering down my beliefs to my Christian loved ones when I feel the whole of Christian community has a lack of regard to non-believers and even less of an accurate understanding?

How can I feel a sense of belonging/community/solidarity or even family when my whole worldview is completely misunderstood and in fact viewed in a negative light? How can this not torment me?

The crux of the problem here lies in the philosophy of understanding. What does it mean to "understand"? how does it look when someone "is" understanding? how big is the valley between "understanding" and "acceptance"?

I have been trying to answer these questions for many many years, all the while attempting to avoid the problems by defaulting to minimizing the value of my personal beliefs... unfortunately I've realized (through the death of my Uncle, the Dad of one of the best friends I or anyone could ever imagine) that I've also been unwittingly minimizing my personal respect in the process.

If I don't show due regard to my own world view, why and how would and could anyone else show due regard to it?

I therefore feel the need to be open and free with what I believe, to sow understanding and cultivate consideration in order to reap dignity.

The the next step would be to actually post this.

I nauseate myself with my personal censorship and constant subdued expression.

Oh how many times I have deleted heart-felt words at the expense of a free heart and mind. I feel the time has come to allow my mouth to be as free as my heart. I feel deeper change. I feel willing to risk my increasing feeling of ideological alienation.

Listening to the Pastor at the funeral exploit a captive audience with full knowledge of many world-views in attendance has caused me to deliberate intensely. Reading the lyrics of worship songs sung in passion have forced me to reflect on the reality that most people I love and respect don't believe in death. It forced me to admit once again that they believe I will spend an eternity in torment in spite of my pure intentions (and pure torment) on earth. If I decide to go lie on the train tracks today, or use cyanide to fall asleep tonight I will rest assured in my lack of existence, but if God brings me to to His gates I will remind him of my profound scepticism and the pain He has caused me... I will remind him of the horrors caused in His name and I will politely but directly remind him of my preference to die peacefully (or in torment) without Him.

As for the questions swirling through my neurotransmitters, I will contemplate them in this revived version of "Tormentography" in my future days of living torment. And, hopefully, every paster around the God-forsaken world will read my every word and never again take even a morsel of dignity from another human-being ever a again.

If you have read this, thank-you.

If you enjoy the picture, thank-you (overlay of 1978 bike and skull found on famous Utah hill known as 'the widowmaker').

I am now going to wipe these tears from my eyes and among other things go smoke cigarettes in the forest.

Peace and love to ALL.