The Un-broken Chain
Posted by Ren in The Present
The Un-broken Chain
There is a lot of your great grandparents in you, even though you've (probably) never met them. Granted its been filtered through you parents (because there's even more of your great grandparents in them). But its there, in ways you'll never know, in ways that made your parents look at you incredulously and smile a smile that has unspoken recognitions behind it… its there. An un-broken chain of personality, reactions, expressiveness and even vocal intonations that shows your just the latest in an ancestral line that stretches as far back as you'd care to contemplate. Each generation… each version of your line… keeping some traits by choice, some traits by conditioning with still others traits being there as part of your genetic memory.
Even in complete solitude, you are not alone. A large portion of your private self dialogue is at least informed by (if not sometimes completely governed by) the traits (genetic and otherwise) passed on to you by your parents who received their personality "programming" from theirs and so on all the way back to the beginning of things (before your ancestors were people).
It's part of our strength… this ability to build on, or if need be… turn away from… the un-broken chain of life that preceded us. But even in stepping away from whatever we might wish to discard… the metaphorical platform FROM which we step… is the top of a layered accumulation of all the life experience that preceded us… and the place upon which our footsteps will fall… is still that same place… from which all that we are… is rooted. All we did really… is shift our perspective, face another direction, maybe point out a new direction to tilt the whole construct towards (but our ancestors are always with us).
Outside of our families influence, is everyone else, each on their own "platforms" of accumulated family and genetic history, each, as subject to their "programming"… as you are to yours. The closer we are in physical (and now virtual) proximity to each other, the more we are influenced by their past programming (indirectly influenced by their ancestors as we are by ours) as they interact with us. A part of their experience now shapes ours and tilts us…sometimes imperceptibly, in directions our initial programming would never have done.
If you are victimized by someone, it's a guarantee that its not just the person who victimized you that's responsible. That person is most likely just the latest in a long line of victimized people that may have repeated the action by psycho/physical (maybe even genetic) programming… until it reached you… An unbroken chain.
Likewise if your inspired, positively touched, or just plain physically helped out by someone… when you thank them, you indirectly thank the people who made them the type of person that gave you the positive experience your grateful for…An Unbroken Chain…of interconnected, interdependent living experience.
Our "individual" consciousness is just the tip of the ever backward expanding iceberg of experiential (and other) conditioning/programming always metamorphosizing as it rubs up against every other "island" of "individuality" that rises out of the bedrock its own ancestry, surrounded by the ocean of shared consciousness (which some call God).
What good is realizing all this?... To put things in context… develop empathy… Open the capacity for compassion and instill a sense responsibility for the consequences of our individual actions that extends far beyond where we would have thought that responsibility ended_____________________.......
What good was my writing this?… I reach out to you (not knowing you) that you might in turn reach out to another and they, to another. That we might join in an agreeable awareness, that we are not alone, that we can and will affect others for generations to come (in ways we can not fathom). That we might realize that...
On the accumulated fears and desires of others, we stand. On the accumulated mistakes and accomplishments of others, We Stand And...
Peace
Ren
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Stand Up!
Posted by Ren in The Present
Stand Up!
Let go of the mouse, push back the chair, turn off the computer, stand up and the let blood circulation return to your buttocks! (said buttocks will appreciate the oxygen rich fluid you're allowing to nourish them) NO no Wait!… Finish reading this Gravaton Mini Blog, browse the Gravaton a bit (I mean since you're here and all) AND THEN… Let go of the mouse etc. etc.
So there you'll be… standing in front of a blackened screen... Avert your eyes, the computers off (nothing to see there). Look around… anything need tidying, organizing, discarding? Now's a good time. Depending on how long you'd been sitting, those newly (and gratefully) re-oxigenated buttocks might be a bit sweaty so maybe a bit of personal "tidying" & "organizing" might be in order.
Now what? The internet feed glass teat is off, you've organized your local and personal (hygienic) environment… wipe that (potentially perplexed) look of your face and… Get dressed… No no, not the same old clothes, put on something fresh… Why the fuss? Because your going to…
Go outside (into the "real" physical world) and connect with a real flesh and blood person. It'll help if (when you set out into the potentially unfamiliar world) you set the goal of making someone else's day go by a little bit easier (could be offering a helping hand, holding a door open, giving an unsolicited compliment or even just looking a beggar in the eye and smiling when you hand them your spare change).
It wont always go well when you try to connect with strangers. We've gradually (and deliberately) had our sense of community stripped away from us (from small towns to big cities) by the anxiety producing barrage of information that's fired at us every day but… even if its only one in twenty attempts, if you venture fourth into the your world and make the effort, you'll connect! It doesn't (and even maybe shouldn't be) a lasting connection (although sometimes it will be) but…
When you make a real (as opposed to virtual) connection (even the briefest ones) with another, you begin to re-spin the threads of humanity that have been gradually cut away by the design of those who appointed themselves as our sensing organs, our eyes, our ears and our skin (I'm metaphorically referring to the entirety of the mass media).
By design and carefully studied, refined implementation, no matter your age or background, the world thats been created around you serves to disconnect you from the joyous, painful, interconnected, interdependent experience of being a thinking feeling human being. It goes against our natures to behave the way we've now been programmed to and it's the root cause of much of our personal suffering. That's why it can make you feel so good when you have a random real spontaneous connection with someone. Sharing our humanity, even in the simplest of ways, is one of our reasons for being.
Even if we live in a crowded household, almost everything about how we "entertain" ourselves in it is designed to keep us from (really) seeing each other (really noticing the people we live with). Its gotten to the point that even if we play a "physical" game, we don't face each other, we look away at a screen while we swing our "Wii-motes" wildly in the air (its an extreeme example I know but compare it to sitting with friends playing a card game, or facing someone playing chess and you can FEEL the qualatative difference in the social experience). Even lovers, spouses, and friends now prefer to "text" and "IM" each other rather then hear each others voice (I don't know about you but it actually brings me joy and contentment to hear a loved ones voice). You may not realize it, but every time you choose (or act in your externally preprogrammed way) NOT to make a real connection, NOT to make eye contact, NOT to let your REAL audible voice be heard and NOT to hear someone's real voice… You play into the designs of those who would seek to separate, manage and control EVERY aspect of your actions and your thoughts so they can pursue their own unhealthy agendas free of scrutiny or interference. Yeah…
I know that many of you don't remember any other way to do things but I swear to you, the personal "headspace" you live in now could be a much more open friendly place then it's been molded into being. You might be "happy" as can be reading this while the Tivo plays back in the same room, while you've got 6 IM windows open and your new email comes in but… you're not necessarily doing better, your just doing more and your doing it "ALONE" (and that real solitude will eventually leave you empty, inert, and... controllable) . Even if there's someone in the house with you, they, like you are taken for granted, disconnected and rendered less human and less real in the shared solitude that might be your household and… should you permanently loose touch with them, its because of what your doing right now (wait, don't walk away yet I'm almost done).
We got this way because of external forces FAR MORE POWERFULL then any one of us could ever hope to be... have shaped the world for us as they would have it function (not as WE SHOULD have it function). All we have to do to counterbalance those forces is… make a conscious effort to exercise those little everyday connections with one another that we (thanks to social de-programming) now unconsciously avoid. So TALK to your friends… FACE EACH OTHER… LISTEN TO THE MUSIC IN EACH OTHERS REAL VOICES and REACH OUT to those who may need your help.
It is in the simplest of ways, that the most massive transformations are set in motion. I'm going out to connect with the world now. Whatever your "world" is I hope you'll do the same.
Welcome To The Gravaton
Peace
Ren
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Decisions, Decisions
Posted by Ren in The Present
Decisions decisions
Now that I'm getting back to a more regular bloging schedule, I had to decide what to write about. Having just finished the last Gravaton Blog on Fear And Desire, I decided to pick up on a thread from there.
We can go from days to months without making a single real decision. I'm not talking about the things we do in response to life's external stimulus (which is often just a response to what someone else decided to do to, for or about us). I mean actual decisions. The kind who's consequences (and that's not a negative word)…either good or bad…we are RESONSIBLE for.
Everything around us is for the most part structured (by someone else) to facilitate our being able to get through the day without making any of those pesky decisions that would otherwise make us aware of… cause and effect… action and reaction… AND... decision and consequence (responsibility).
Its necessary for some things. For example: You don't get to decide when you go to work (but you might have been able to decide what you do for a living). Or… You don't get to decide which way to drive on the highway (but you can decide to drive alertly and free of distraction) and so on.
We're designed to be creatures of comfort. The pleasure principal rules our animal natures. Its easy to not even be aware of the fact that your entire daily routine (from the time the alarm clock wakes you, until the time you log on to the net to check The Gravaton Fun Forums
, on through what you have for dinner and when you go to sleep) is pre programmed for you (even though you think your in control of your life).Now as I've said, some of this is unavoidable if you want to live in a functioning society…but much of it… is insidious and arises out of a sustained barrage of overt and subliminal conditioning designed (almost from birth) to conform you to what external powers have decided your existence should be like.
When the realization of what accumulated passive indecisions have done to your life (and your society) hits you (and it WILL), it can shatter your psyche. A good portion of the people surrounding you every day have already realized that they made too few real decisions, too late (so they think) and they've already given up…
The "realization" can be an unconscious/subconscious one and if that's the case… the person just becomes duller, more easily distracted (even more pleasure seeking), more likely to act out (in destructive/negative ways), more likely to make excuses, more likely to blame others and… LESS likely to participate in anything that requires thought (except for who the next "American Idol" should be)… and far FAR LESS LIKELY to take responsibility for anything they do (which ultimately makes them easier to guide, manipulate and control). If however, the realization is conscious and the person is too fragile to process it, the result can be tragic. If that's happened to you... know that is not ever too late to take a breath, and move in the direction of your OWN choosing.
The sometimes painful consequences of making real decisions guarantee a good portion people will always avoid the process. Its not always going to be as calming, soothing or as pleasurable as just zubbing out in front of the TV (or whatever else the ritual distraction may be). Making real decisions is hard and can have unintended consequences (that you are nonetheless STILL responsible for) but… Making decisions (not just coming to internalized conclusions about things but actually deciding.. and taking ACTION on your decision)… also means your awake, aware, alive and fighting for control of our own destiny. It can give you a pride and self respect that comes from within (and so can't be diminished by any external force).
This Gravaton Mini Blog 10 is offered in the hopes that when you do decide to..DECIDE, you make your considered decisions without any malice in your heart or intent to cause suffering for another. Self actualizing in this way is one of the most positive things you can do and it often has a positive influence on those around you leading to an improved localized reality (which in turn leads to more positive possibilities)… and if enough "localized realities" are improved, well then, the world is OURS and if can be made beautiful!Begin From Within!
Welcome To The Gravaton
Peace
Ren
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It could have been saving lives for decades but...
Posted by Ren in Medical
This is a personal story from within my own extended family (it's the first of three stories that I'll blog about over time concerning first hand experiences with "alternative" medicine from within my own family. There is a specific forum over at the Fun Forums that this could have been posted in but for those that might otherwise overlook it, I'm posting it here at the Gravaton Mini Blog instead.
A personal tale about Ms. M
It was an automatic death sentence, because of it, she was sent home to die…But she didn't, thanks to a third world trained doctor who knew ALMOST FOURTY YEARS AGO, that there was a substance that could prevent and even cure cancer.
For this blog, I'll call her "Ms.M". She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1969. It had metastasized (spread) throughout her reproductive organs and her bladder. She was offered a chance to have what was then one of the first radical hysterectomies (the complete removal of the ENTIRE reproductive system AND the bladder) on the chance that it would extend her life a bit longer.
She survived the (then experimental) operation. Ms.M's post op condition however was so bad that she was not considered a viable candidate for (the then much younger science of) chemotherapy - which is the treatment of tumors through drugs.
Normally after a malignant (cancerous) tumor is removed (let alone a metastasized one), patients are given a treatment course of drugs designed to kill off the remaining cancerous cells that are floating around in the body so that they do not create new tumors elsewhere and/or so that the cancer doesn't re-appear in the same place.Before being sent home to die, one of Ms M's doctors… a physician trained in the then, MUCH MORE third world country of India told her something…something ("off the record") which saved her life!.. Her family still remembers his words… "I can't tell you to do this as your doctor but I want you to have your children go to a health food store and buy something called… Selenium…and I want you to take it every day for as long as you can…If you can survive for five years then you'll probably never have cancer in your body again…after that you can stop taking it if you want but make sure, every day, for as long as you can, take Selenium"….THAT WAS ALMOST FOURTY YEARS AGO AND SHES STILL ALIVE TODAY!!!!…It goes without saying, Ms.M did indeed take her Indian doctors "off the record" advice.
You can bet the life of every person who has died of cancer in the United States since then…that the Indian doctor (who worked out of a big city municipal hospital almost 40 years ago - and who was afraid to tell her in an official capacity about Selenium for fear of loosing his license) was not the only person in his industry who knew about Selenium.
Yes… people who could have made a difference, knew about Selenium, and never put it in the medical syllabus (course of study) so generations of doctors could never offer it as a viable treatment.
Only today, a few years after US government studies confirmed that Selenium is a potent anti-carcinogen, are SOME doctors beginning to talk about and offer it as a treatment modality (they never talk about cures, just.. "treatment modalities" ). But Ms. M… She was told about it 38 years ago and she's alive today because of it.
Should you trust your doctor? Yes but only if you also realize that they can only tell you what they have been taught to tell you and if they (on their own) don't EDUCATE THEMSELVES on treatments other then pre$cription drug$… then they can't tell you about them because they simply ARE NOT trained to…in fact they are often taught that vitamins, minerals and trace elements (like Selenium) do not work.
I could fill many Blogs with the how and why of the medical industrial complex (it's a clammy tale) but for now lets leave it at this…Doctors are not GODS. The medicine they practice is based on the medicine they are taught and the system that controls what they are taught... is based on an industry that DOES NOT PROFIT FROM WELLNESS.
For the medical industrial complex to generate billions in profit, for universities to keep getting billions in research grants, for charities to keep raising billions in contributions (often only fractions of which actually wind up being spent on research)…illness MUST NOT BE CURED. Its bad for business. So its up to you to find a doctor you can work with, who has an open mind to the possibility of actually curing illness and is willing to work with you to try alternative treatments as either a supplement to or instead of Drug$ and/or $urgery.
In the main blog I've told you about greed being good but as I've also mentioned in another article at the main blog, "sometimes greed is bad" too. The medical industrial complex is most definitely one of those places.
I encourage you to share your stories about alternative medicine over at the Natural Remedies, Life Extension, Good Health sub forum. You could save a life.
Welcome to The Gravaton!
Peace
Ren
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Relax with a bit of IPTV
Posted by Ren in Fun Stuff
Before moving on to the heavyosity (my spellchecker is screaming at me that that's not a word) of the main blog post "Total War", I wanted to go lighter on this Gravaton Mini-Blog and give an unsolicited plug to a couple IPTV shows that I always enjoy.
First up is DL.TV:
Hosted by technology media veteran Roger Chang and technology enthusiast and HDTV expert Robert Heron who along with occasional guest hosts put out a consistently informative and entertaining weekly show that offers their culling of news from the world of computers, games and consumer electronics along with product reviews and a viewer questions segment.
If you like to stay in touch all things techno-fun and maybe want to learn a few things you otherwise wouldn't ever have thought to have known about, give DL.TV a look. The show streams live every Thursday at 12pm PST/3pm EST and can be downloaded from the site in just about every conceivable media format about 12 to 24 hours later. You don't have to wait for the next show to check them out though. The entire back catalog of shows is always available at the site.
The Show (along with the next one I'll be mentioning in this post) is overseen by another tech media veteran Jim Louderback who, despite his impressive resume and experience is (like the rest of the DL.TV crew) as down to earth and accessible as anyone you'd meet and honestly enjoys what he does. I speak from having had the pleasure of meeting them all a few months back while doing some audio engineering work at the Digital Life Trade Show in New York City. Jim's latest project is What's New Now and along with the The Gravaton Fun Forums , you might want to make it a regular stop if you hunger for all things tech.
The other IPTV show overseen by Mr. Louderback is Cranky Geeks:
Hosted by "head crank" John C. Dvorak and newly added co-crank Sebastian Rupley, two more battle hardened veterans of technology reporting/commentary that, with two additional rotating guests have a freewheeling discussion on whatever computer/consumer tech-happenings piqued the interest of the host(s) during the preceding week. The show is on every week and (like DL.TV) in addition to streaming live, can also be downloaded in all popular video formats and has a full show archive available.
Both shows will expose you to information that you would probably otherwise not have come across in formats that (though professionally done) don't take themselves or the content too seriously and so remain very inviting and accessible.
That's it for this Mini-Blog. Enjoy the shows!
Welcome to The Gravaton!
Peace
Ren
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It Doesn't Matter Who You Vote For (I'm NOT Saying What You Think I'm Saying)
Posted by Ren in Politics
It Really Doesn't Matter Who You Vote For. Well, in most western "democracies" that is.
Most people mistake that to mean it doesn't matter IF you vote…wrong, dangerously (on a global scale), WRONG!. It matters not very much for whom you vote, just that you DO VOTE. Why that is, I'll opine on at the end.
So in this blog article, when you see.. ( I.S.F.S.O.A.O.P)… you'll know I mean the aforementioned paragraph. Keep that in mind as I launch into…
Political promises… Or the very well disguised fact that no major western politician makes any. Observe any debate or political speech carefully and you see that all the major candidates never actually promise anything to anyone.. EVER.
What they do say (besides all the usual complaints about whoever it is they are trying to replace)?…They say things like:
- Its time for a change…
- We need leadership that (I.S.F.S.O.A.O.P)…
- There is a need for (I.S.F.S.O.A.O.P)…
- (I believe that) We should have/There should be ( I.S.F.S.O.A.O.P)…
- The country needs (I.S.F.S.O.A.O.P)…
- I want to provide leadership that ( I.S.F.S.O.A.O.P)
- We can accomplish (I.S.F.S.O.A.O.P)…
- We should/must try to (I.S.F.S.O.A.O.P) etc. etc.
Politicians now get elected based on broad social mandates, handed to them by the dwindling portion of the purposefully disillusioned populace that votes.
They never have to break any promises because THEY NEVER REALLY MADE ANY TO BEGIN WITH. You could be forgiven for thinking they did but again, paying very close attention to what most of them said when they were trying to get your vote, you'll be disappointed to find that all they did, (on most of the issues that concern most of the people), was posture in one direction or another.
Once elected based on generalized postures they are then free to serve their real constituents… which would be those controlling interests that provided the money AND the system through which they were able to manipulate the LEAST NUMBER OF PEOPLE POSSIBLE… into giving them the requisite "majority"… The less people the better. That way they didn't promise anything to only a fraction of the countries total population.
Under the conditions I've outlined, they can serve the oligarchy and the corporations with a totally clean conscience. And you know what?… that may not be a bad thing (for reasons I put forward in the main blog but I'd much rather see a healthy balance occur)…
The scenario I've outlined is easily rectified, as long as you do vote (although clearly you should try to vote your beliefs, even that doesn't matter until your neighbor, who might oppose your beliefs, votes too)…Here's why…
The wealthy and the corporations have long since figured out how to exert such influence on "democracies" as to ensure their wants are paramount in the minds of whomever is elected. The individual citizens only have a voice when a large enough block of them vote. If the voting block of citizens is large (at LEAST 70% of eligible voters) then whomever is elected now has to counterbalance the favors owed to the people who financed them against the fact that the majority of the populace is voting (and by extension, PAYING ATTENTION to what the politician is doing). Under those circumstances the politicians who want to survive, need to give equal consideration to the needs of the people if they want to keep their jobs.
Understand this, it takes almost an entire populace voting for any real healthy counterbalance to exist over the wealthy and corporate interests. That's why it doesn't matter who you vote for..BUT YOU MUST VOTE. And ...
You must make sure that all those people who hold opposing political beliefs vote as well. If only those who agree with you vote then that... coupled with the fact that the person you elected really didn't promise you anything... leaves you with a "leader" who only owes his election to the people who financed him and.. who only got elected by a fractional minority of the population… In an election, where only a fraction of the population voted. Then just sit back and watch all those implied promises never be kept. (if you're an American, this should be very familiar to you now).
A small example: in America today, the newly elected legislature had actually made the rare promise (an actual PROMISE mind you) of raising the minimum wage, but since that doesn't serve corporate interests and (as in the conditions I outlined earlier) only a fraction of the population elected them…they were able to avoid doing so (raising the minimum wage) for over 1 year aided by the corporate financed mass media which had buried the story of that broken promise.If you really expect any of your specific single issues to be addressed then I..PROMISE YOU the only way that happens... is if your guy/gal was elected in an election where overwhelming majority of the populace votes OR... if that specific interest also meets the wants of a wealthy and/or corporate donor FIRST.
There are a number of western European democracies where a decent balance has been achieved between the peoples needs and the wealthy peoples wants…but achieving that globally (or on your little patch of earth), requires that everyone realize that their ONLY power lies not in for whom they vote, but rather in insuring that they… AND… those opposed to what they believe in, vote as well.
An odd reality to be sure
but one of the most important of the globalized realities we now have to deal with…If we want to survive.
Welcome to The Gravaton!
Peace
Ren
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To The Stars And Beyond, Within And Without.
Posted by Ren in Fun Stuff
Before this Mini-Blogs dissemination on the good clean fun provided by "SFI-FI" TV shows,.. A quick follow-up to the Unattractive Women post… It seems Don Imus (who ultimately was fired over the controversy discussed in the aforementioned Mini-Blog), may be suing his former bosses. It turns out Mr. Imus's contract literally REQUIRED him to be "irreverent and controversial" so it would seem that firing him for doing what he was contractually required to do, constitutes a breach of contract. Looks like he may be getting the 40 million dollar remainder due on his contract after all.
Ok, on to the (not so "Mini") matter at hand. This Gravaton Blog discusses the differences between Speculative fiction (what I called "true Science fiction literature") and "SCI-FI" and the Video below includes a includes Harlan Ellison, J. Michael Straczynski and others discussing the difference between "sci-fi" and "science fiction" (just to set the tone).
Not wanting to give the impression that I 'm a snoot about SCI-FI (when in fact I consume more of it then the average person) here's my recommended watching list on this "Mini"-Blog. Remember, for the most part these shows ARE NOT Science Fiction (speculative fiction) they are however a heck of a lot of fun and sometimes do skirt along the edges of true speculative fiction (as well as a TV show can). In no particular order, HERE WE GO!
Its third season was a little weak but it's fourth (and planned) final season has again made this show the must watch, that it was during its two seasons.
…
That ends this (not so) Mini-Blog. Again I remind you, all the above shows are for the most part, NOT real Science Fiction (A.K.A. speculative fiction) but they are, for the most part good "SCI-FI" and entertaining TV overall. Have Fun checking a few of them out. And…
Welcome to The Gravaton!
Peace
Ren
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Its kind of like here, just 120 trillion miles away.
Posted by Ren in Fun Stuff
Want to.. Wonder… about something?
Only 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra, in case you hadn't heard… scientists at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile, confirmed they've found an "earth like" planet, with about earth size temperature swings (between 32 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit) that would permit liquid water on its surface (considered crucial to the evolution of known higher life forms) . This means the possibility of an "earthlike" atmosphere too. A First!
In a universe that's over 9 billion years old with our milky way galaxy being only one of about 100 billion observable galaxies (each containing about 100 billion stars), its not a big deal that. e-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y a world similar to ours might have been found…eventually… but the odds that we found one so soon after developing the technology to find them, in such an infinitely, mostly empty expanse, might be considered a miracle. Its only the 221st planet we've been able to find. All the prior ones had either been too hot, too cold or just too big and gaseous to be considered habitable (by us that is).
The new ("earth like") planet (named 581c), orbits it's tiny low energy star (120 Trillion miles away), classified as a Red Dwarf every 13 days… and has a gravity about 1.6 times ours (so it's a safe bet you'll have to spend some time bulking up at the gym if you're planning a trip there) but.. its really there and was discovered in a pool of only 100 stars that were selected for planet hunting with a relatively new technology called HARPS (High Accuracy Radial-Velocity Planetary Searcher).
Prior to the new worlds discovery, Red Dwarfs… were never even considered good candidates for finding "earth like" worlds... That's being reconsidered now.
Why am I telling you all this?
If you get a chance tonight… look up at the stars, hopefully, with a sense of wonder, and… consider the fact that:
80 percent of all the stars immediately around the earth…ARE RED DWARVES!
Welcome To The Gravaton! 
Peace
Ren
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The Hail Storm...
Posted by Ren in The Present
If you look in on the main blog site at This Post you'll notice I'm in the mood to make meteorological analogies when it comes to the social organism. So allow me indulge that tendency one last time.
Hail (for those who might not know) comes down when ice crystals formed in the in the upper atmosphere are prevented from falling to earth by strong updrafts from below. The updrafts push up against gravities force so the crystals stay up gathering more ice, more weight, until they are heavy enough to overcome the force trying to keep them from doing what comes natural and…they come down to earth. They always have... they always will.
At times though, the updrafts preventing hail from falling are so strong that it gets as big as baseballs and then, when it does fall, look out! You don't want to be around for that. History is often made when those humongous social hail chunks overcome the force trying to keep them from doing what comes natural and its often not pretty.
So maybe, ask yourself, do we always really need to push back so hard against a bit of cyclically changing "weather". At the risk of stretching the metaphor too thinly, you can't always live in sunshine.
As of this writing, the American nation is living the consequences of people in power not being able to cope with the fact that they couldn't keep their version of constant sunshine warming us (or at least those of us they deemed worthy) all in perpetuity.
My point:
Fear is… the updraft… and the hail… well that could be anything that cowers the powerful and/or the masses (or, what the masses have been indoctrinated into fearing).
Re-acting out of fear however, never stops the um…hail. It just gets bigger and heavier until all you can do is get out of its way and pray it doesn't hit someone you care about. (We've long since been desensitized from caring about much about others but be that as it may…)
If it pleases you, I bid you take from this little blog, the notion of compassion. To revisit my metaphor for the last time.. If you don't try to push against the inevitable seasonal hail storm, but rather experience it with an understanding of why it happens, you'll never have to try to survive it becoming something far worse. This applies to all dealings at all levels (even the very personal ones).
My good wish for you:
May you never live in fear and always be able to give yourself the awareness to act with understanding and compassion, in all matters at all times (even when it would please you more not to do so).
Welcome to the Gravaton.
Peace
Ren
You've just read an entry in the Gravaton Mini Blog. To read more you can always return here as well as visit the other blog site The Gravaton Blog which will contain different (though sometimes related) content. Go see for yourself
Gears and Fuel or…“Have A Nice Day!”
Posted by Ren in The Present
...Who Doesn't wan't to have one of those, free of agitation, aggravation and irritation and once that's all squared away….it wouldn't hurt to be slender, athletic, and attractive and hey, how about a pleasant, equally attractive, equally stress free mate…Mmmm sounds yummy!
But, we are what we eat and… what's feed to us (in the absence of anything else good to consume) and, to extend the metaphor, as long as we don't have to work very hard to find something to consume, we generally accept what we're given, molding into what those who feed us, want us to become. No matter that we're given…anxiety producing, unrealistic expectation raising, humanity desensitizing, mind…controlling…..Ka-Ka (a family friendly word, this part of the FunForums after all).
Its all that most work for… to just be unbothered, "pleasantly" distracted, sated, and anesthetized.
If we have "a nice day", not having to deal with anyone else's … um, Ka-Ka (keeping it family friendly again) and… we get our daily fix of whatever we've (unconsciously) accustomed ourselves into self medicating with…(be it the daily five dollar cup of coffee, the sanctioned or unsanctioned drug, the ritual daily sucking on the TiVo charged glass teat [TV] or even an often harmful [to yourself or others] behavior)….then we THINK we're "doin just fahhhhine, thank you very much".
People dedicate a lifetimes worth of energy to achieve and maintain what I've just described…and… if they can't rise to the level of that externally defined success… there are lots more ways to self medicate away that disappointment until they "feel" (and I put that in quotes because its actually the opposite of feeling that they're doing) "just fahhhhine, thank you very much"
Before we're even adults it's… Tell me what I'm supposed expect, how I'm supposed to get it and If I just can't get what you say I should wan't, then tell me what I have to buy, watch, eat, wear and what sanctioned drug I have to consume…to make everything right again.
Becoming really good at following the aforementioned blue print, might even lead to the reward of becoming part of the great machine and if you can't for some reason, that's ok you can always become the fuel instead…The machine needs fuel just as much as it needs gears.
Where endith this sermon…I wish you all A SERENE and AWARE day.Welcome To The Gravaton!
In SERENITY may you feel ALL that makes you alive. May you accept (without any recrimination) that which you can not change and dedicate your energy to changing that which you have the ability to change (if change is what is right for you )
In AWARENESS may you never be distracted from that which you should know (and never look away from that which you should see).
And in dealing with whatever pain or suffering that may arise from such serene awareness, may you seek to alleviate the suffering of others and find joy in all the unexpected places you were once blinded from knowing existed, within and without.
Have a Serene and Aware day.
Peace
Ren
You've just read an entry in the Gravaton Mini Blog. To read more you can always return here as well as visit the other blog site The Gravaton Blog which will contain different (though sometimes related) content. Go see for yourself
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