tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-144063462009-07-12T21:31:52.140-08:00Surfing the TaoStriving to increase awareness of our spiritual natures as well as the news, technologies and agendas in our world which influence them. Find out more at <a href="http://www.surfingthetao.com/">www.surfingthetao.com</a>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-90080149619970202762007-04-30T14:39:00.000-08:002007-04-30T14:41:49.573-08:00Surfing the Tao.comPlease follow me as I move my blog to my domain at <a href="http://www.surfingthetao.com">www.surfingthetao.com</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-9008014961997020276?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-66486679908812444812007-04-16T14:44:00.000-08:002007-04-16T14:47:16.186-08:00Moving to WordPress.orgMore news on the blog front. I am in the midst of changing my domain, <a href="http://www.surfingthetao.com">www.surfingthetao.com</a>, to a WordPress site/blog. I'm still not sure if I'll keep this Blogspot or not - right now I have a lot of traffic here so I might continue posting here for awhile. If you are linked here or subscribed to this feed, consider switching over to www.surfingthetao.com. It's not pretty yet but I'm working on it!!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-6648667990881244481?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-4190993531595003402007-04-12T12:29:00.000-08:002007-04-12T12:31:23.405-08:00A Closer Look at the 2012 PhenomenonAloha all, here's a <a href="http://www.occultofpersonality.com/2007/04/12/a-closer-look-at-the-2012-phenomenon/">link</a> to my interview with Occult of Personality.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-419099353159500340?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-60409335886166752432007-04-10T18:48:00.000-08:002007-04-10T18:51:50.412-08:00Hawaiian Bees are Missing Too<p class="MsoNormal">Regarding my <a href="http://surfingthetao.blogspot.com/2007/04/missing-bees.html">post yesterday</a> on our neighborhood bees, I just spoke with my neighbor and got an update.<span style=""> </span>Although the beehive in their yard is still buzzing away (behaving strangely, though, he said they are circling in unusual ways for some reason), they have 60 other hives up north on the island, and are confused as to why 20 of them are suddenly gone, just in the past couple of months.<span style=""> </span>Nothing’s left, he said, no queen, nothing; just the cockroaches.<span style=""> </span>He didn’t actually realize it was happening all over the world and I think he was a little stunned.<span style=""> </span>He promises to talk to other island beekeepers to see if it’s happening to anyone else.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Scary.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-6040933588616675243?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-72023410578709633762007-04-09T19:02:00.000-08:002007-04-09T19:09:58.561-08:00Missing the Bees<p class="MsoNormal">I live in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hawaii</st1:place></st1:state> in a relatively rural place so we are used to seeing things like wild turkeys wandering around our neighborhood.<span style=""> </span>Yesterday a wild goat scampered across the street in front of my car to join its family on the other side.<span style=""> </span>The <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Big</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place> has wild pigs, cattle, goats, horses, mongoose, parrots and even donkeys.<span style=""> </span>(Not to digress, but <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Hawaii</st1:state></st1:place> even has its own Bigfoot myths – two of my family members have personal stories about that.)<span style=""> </span>In suburban neighborhoods it’s not unusual for people to keep chickens or goats; the best eggs I ever had were from a friend’s backyard.<span style=""> </span>In fact the people across the street from us keep a goat as a lawnmower and have a beehive.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They’ve given us some honey before; it’s wonderful.<span style=""> </span>I used to have a patch of mint that flowered and the bees just took over my garden.<span style=""> </span>One time a few months ago they swarmed, coming right up our driveway next to our porch.<span style=""> </span>We all ran inside, including the dogs, at a loss as to what might have upset them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the evenings lately I’ve noticed there is always one lone and angry bee buzzing around our porch light rather frantically, as if it’s bound and determined to go somewhere.<span style=""> </span>With all the talk about the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/business/27bees.html?ex=1330232400&en=3aaa0148837b8977&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">bees disappearing</a> lately, I always hope it will find its way home. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder">bee apocalypse</a> is hot news right now – truly a sign of the times.<span style=""> </span>So far no one is sure what’s going on - a virus, genetically modified crops, insecticides or maybe the effect of an increase in UV radiation which bees use to navigate.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,473166,00.html">People are quoting</a> Einstein as having said, "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Next time I see my neighbor I will ask about the bees.<span style=""> </span>It’s important to know if they are still around, and we would miss them very much indeed if they weren’t.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-7202341057870963376?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-5383402832907459922007-04-05T13:53:00.000-08:002007-04-05T13:54:06.352-08:00Blogging<p class="MsoNormal">A little off the subject for me today, but my brain is full of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_feeds">RSS feeds</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_%28metadata%29">tagging</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widget_%28computing%29">widgets</a>.<span style=""> </span>Blogging is a rapidly growing and changing world!<span style=""> </span>At least for my generation – hey, I grew up with Pong, I have a lot to learn!<span style=""> </span>As a self-published author I’ve done most of my marketing online so I’m constantly searching for more places to put my stuff.<span style=""> </span>Thanks to my smart and wonderful stepdaughters, I’ve entered the world of blogging and social networking sites.<span style=""> </span>It’s been a great way to keep myself involved in the topics that interest me, and to find other like-minded people.<span style=""> </span>Here’s to all the people that work hard coming up with new gadgets, designs and ideas.<span style=""> </span>I look forward to more.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">However this rapid advancement can also mean that you can do something on one site that you can’t do yet on another.<span style=""> </span>Frustration at Blogger led me to Wordpress and I’m happy to find some things are easier there; on the other hand, since I’m not into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS">CSS</a> yet (hey, I can find <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML">HTML</a> code now and know where to put it, that’s saying a lot for me!) I went back and decided I liked some of the things about Blogger too.<span style=""> </span>Maybe I’ll just keep them both for awhile and see which one works out to be better.<span style=""> </span>I’m still learning and I like the different options and people on all of them.<span style=""> </span>But between my pages on <a href="http://surfingthetao.blogspot.com/">Blogger</a>, <a href="http://surfingthetao.wordpress.com/">Wordpress</a>, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/surfingthetao">Myspace</a>, <a href="http://surfingthetao.zaadz.com/">Zaadz</a>, <a href="http://surfingthetao.vox.com/">Vox</a>, <a href="http://people.tribe.net/surfingthetao">Tribe</a>; even experimented with <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/surfingthetao/">Freewebs</a> just because I could; and now there’s stuff like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_cloud">tag clouds</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us</a>, <a href="http://www.digg.com/">Digg it</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/">Technorati</a>, <a href="http://openid.net/">Open ID</a>, and the various <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_aggregator">feed readers</a> – as a neophyte it can be difficult to absorb it all.<span style=""> </span>But – also a lot of fun.<span style=""> </span>Here’s to surfing, dudes!</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-538340283290745992?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-8673428106503749002007-03-30T16:02:00.000-08:002007-04-07T12:40:46.053-08:002012 Hype?<p class="MsoNormal">USA Today recently published an <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_N.htm">article</a> about the recent flurry of speculation surrounding December 21, 2012, which is the date the Mayan <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar">“Long Count”</a> calendar is set to end.<span style=""> </span>Many people believe it will be the ‘end of the world’, while others scoff at this notion.<span style=""> </span>Some say it’s just the end of a cycle; others predict a change of consciousness, and see it as a positive change.<span style=""> </span>Still others expect catastrophe.<span style=""> </span>What’s interesting, notes USA Today, is that “Part of the 2012 mystique stems from the stars. On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. This means that ‘whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11 p.m. Universal Time,’ Joseph writes.” (Note the <a href="http://surfingthetao.blogspot.com/2006/11/1111-phenomenon.html">11:11</a>…)<span style=""> </span>There are so many books and TV specials being created around 2012 one can hardly keep track.<span style=""> </span>Even <st1:city st="on">Hollywood</st1:city> is getting into the action; director <a href="http://fe30.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070319/film_nm/souls_dc">Michael Bay</a> is planning a film called "2012: The War for Souls", based on Whitley Strieber’s book.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One of the chapters my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1414037023/qid=1087793468/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_/104-8249417-7924712?v=glance&s=books">book</a> discusses the strange reoccurrence of a ‘destruction by fire’ in many belief systems – it’s mentioned in more than a dozen books of the Bible, as well as in the Koran, the <i style="">Zand i Vohuman Yasht</i> (Zoroastrian scripture), <i style="">The Final Signs of Qiyaamah, </i>the Norse <i style="">Ragnarok</i>, the <i style="">Srimad Bhagavatam</i>, the <i style="">Ipuwer Papyrus</i>, and by other Native American and medieval prophets.<span style=""> </span>An asteroid? Polar shift?<span style=""> </span>The return of the 10<sup>th</sup> planet, <a href="http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa021102a.htm">Nibiru</a>?<span style=""> </span>Misuse of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Frequency_Active_Auroral_Research_Program">HAARP</a>?<span style=""> </span>Or maybe the eruption of a super volcano, or a massive solar flare?<span style=""> </span>Could it have something to do with this coming alignment?<span style=""> </span>It should be noted that other prophets set the date for the ‘apocalypse’ around 2018 or 2019.<span style=""> </span>Still others, such as <a href="http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/did-nostradamus-predict-the-end-of-the-world-faq.htm">Nostradamus</a>, give us a few more thousand years.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is widely known, at least amongst conspiracy theorists, that the government has long had several survival plans in the case of world catastrophe – called <a href="http://educate-yourself.org/cat/index.shtml#alt123">Alternatives I, II and III</a>, developed by the secretive Jason Society which was formed by President Eisenhower in 1957.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Do they know something we don’t know?<span style=""> </span>Or are they just being prepared for anything?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have no answers; just a great interest and wonderment at the idea of it all.<span style=""> </span>I’m also careful not to blindly follow the crowd; I prefer to test it against my own spirit, which has clearly alerted me to some coming monumental change – and yet not panicked me, either.<span style=""> </span>Whether natural or man-made, things certainly seem to be setting up for a fall, if you just read the headlines these days. <span style=""> </span>I won’t be surprised if the end really does come in 2012 – spiritually I’m prepared for that. <span style=""> </span>But I won’t be too surprised if nothing happens at all: if we’re too hyped up for 2012 and nothing happens, it could be a classic case of boy crying wolf.<span style=""> </span>Something even bigger could be on the horizon, and we wouldn’t pay attention anymore.</p> <script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-867342810650374900?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-55596910419962574362007-03-05T18:07:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:34:32.087-08:00Operation Northwoods<p>Journalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bamford" title="James Bamford">James Bamford</a> summarized Operation Northwoods in his April 24, 2001 book <i>Body of Secrets</i> thusly:</p> <blockquote> <p>Operation Northwoods, which had the written approval of the Chairman and every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called for innocent people to be shot on American streets; for boats carrying refugees fleeing Cuba to be sunk on the high seas; for a wave of violent terrorism to be launched in Washington, D.C., Miami, and elsewhere. People would be framed for bombings they did not commit; planes would be hijacked. Using phony evidence, all of it would be blamed on Castro, thus giving Lemnitzer and his cabal the excuse, as well as the public and international backing, they needed to launch their war.<sup id="_ref-bamford_0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods#_note-bamford" title="">[11]</a></sup></p><p>(From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods">Wikipedia</a>, where you can find lots more info and links on Operation Northwoods. )
</p> </blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-5559691041996257436?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-32578398294961247032007-02-21T18:00:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:45:49.466-08:00Dolphins in the Navy<p class="MsoNormal">Since I live in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hawaii</st1:place></st1:state>, news about dolphins always catches my eye.<span style=""> </span>I’ve seen them many times here in the wild.<span style=""> </span>Once I was alone meditating on the cliffs on the ocean at Honaunau, a sacred spot, when an entire pod swam up to the cliff shore directly underneath me.<span style=""> </span>They looked up at me as if to say, hello, did you call?<span style=""> </span>It was both exhilarating and eerie.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Last week I noticed the Navy <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2870040&page=2">released information</a> about their program using dolphins and sea lions to patrol military bases.<span style=""> </span>Trained Navy dolphins can drop a beacon if they detect a person in the water; they can also detect underwater mines.<span style=""> </span>Dolphins were used for this in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> in 2003.<span style=""> </span>They also patrolled the bay in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">San Diego</st1:city></st1:place> during the Republican National Convention in 1996.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The <a href="http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/">U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program</a> explains dolphins are useful for their echolocation, or biological sonar, which enables them to locate mines or other objects underwater.<span style=""> </span>The Navy also lists a page of <a href="http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/NMMP_FAQ.html">FAQs</a> about their program, to explain questions such as why they use marine mammals (they also employ sea lions and whales), and whether they use them for offensive warfare.<span style=""> </span>They claim they do not train them to attack, yet after Hurricane Katrina there were <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9503310/">reports</a> that three dozen <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> military dolphins, which had been trained and fitted with toxic darts, had been washed away and were missing.<span style=""> </span>They were supposedly accounted for soon after, and the Pentagon denied they were ever trained to attack.<span style=""> </span>Perhaps the fear mongers and rumor mill at work; perhaps the truth is still secret.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The history of the use of marine mammals by the military can be found at <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/etc/navycron.html">PBS</a>.<span style=""> </span>Begun in 1960, the program was originally classified.<span style=""> </span>Rumors still abound that dolphins were used to attack and kill enemy swimmers in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Vietnam</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>By the 1990s, with the Cold War over, much (but not all) of the program was declassified and many of the dolphins were retired.<span style=""> </span>Some <a href="http://www.awionline.org/pubs/Quarterly/winter03/0103p15a.htm">still claim</a> dolphins were used to attack and kill; many animal rights organizations object to their employment, and I found a <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/navydolp/petition.html">petition</a> online objecting to the Navy’s use of dolphins.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Many people believe dolphins are particularly special, beyond their incredible intelligence.<span style=""> </span>I’ve seen many spiritual books and websites devoted to them.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.eccosys.jp/lilly/hub.html">John Lilly</a> was a scientist who was responsible for much of the early research involving dolphins and their means of communication, providing the basis for the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069946/">“Day of the Dolphin”</a> and the enactment of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.<span style=""> </span>He also contributed to research involving psychology and human consciousness, including use of the isolation tank (forming the basis for the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080360/">“Altered States”</a>), and is often discussed alongside people like Aldous Huxley.<span style=""> </span>His work was cited in an <a href="http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=20708">article</a> by Steve Hammons, who also responded to the recent news about dolphins in the Navy.<span style=""> </span>Hammons noted that the recently declassified information about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project">Project Stargate</a> includes a 1987 report called “A Remote Action Investigation with Marine Animals” regarding research conducted by SRI International into anomalous cognition.<span style=""> </span>In other words, the Pentagon is looking into remote viewing, telepathy and other ESP phenomena relating to dolphins and our means to communicate with them.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-3257839829496124703?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1169431810055665172007-01-21T18:09:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:35:49.554-08:00The Perfect Wave<p class="MsoNormal">Some of you might already know a little <a href="http://www.surfingthetao.com/Who_is_Angela_V_Michaels.htm">about me</a> and how my life changed so drastically nearly eight years ago.<span style=""> </span>Since then I’ve seen the world, and the Universe, with new eyes and an awakened soul, now charged with pointing out the strange and impractical as I’d never seen them before.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My book, <i style=""><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1414037023/qid=1087793468/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_/002-6277332-1364013?s=books&v=glance&n=283155">Surfing the Tao: A Revolution of Free Will</a></i> was published nearly three years ago now; sometimes I’m asked if I will write another, but so far every time I’ve tried to start, that same strange book keeps coming out of me again – nearly word for word, no matter how long I’ve put it aside and refused to look at it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That is despite the news and recent events I could probably add, and of course three more years of continued research which I am still compulsively driven towards.<span style=""> </span>In the end, the point remains the same and the mission goes on as before.<span style=""> </span>In that sense nothing has changed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is a slow but powerful mission; some days seem stagnant, others surge with answers and further possibilities.<span style=""> </span>I sometimes wonder; should I be doing more?<span style=""> </span>But the answer is always the same: it has a life of its own now, and must be allowed to grow at its own rate.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Something like learning to surf, then waiting for the perfect wave.<span style=""> </span>It’ll come eventually.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116943181005566517?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1168485144844797712007-01-10T19:04:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:37:09.733-08:00UFO sighting makes news in ChicagoThis past November airline personnel at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago reported sighting an unknown craft hovering in the area. The <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/columnists/chi-0701010141jan01,0,5874175.column">Chicago Tribune</a> finally mentioned it on January 1, and then commented on it <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/columnists/chi-0701080118jan08,0,4296728.column">again</a> the other day, after a flood of responses. I especially liked this one:
<span id="text"> "Hmm. Looks like we're being visited by advanced craft from other worlds, and not only is the U.S. government keen to cover up the details, so are many private corporations whose existence would be threatened by the free-energy technology that powers these vehicles."
--Andrew Johnson, United Kingdom
I always find it interesting when these things hit the mainstream news.
</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116848514484479771?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1167427502437221862006-12-29T13:18:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:37:53.261-08:00Ancient Ice Shelf Breaks Free from Canadian ArcticAs an update to my last entry, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/29/canada.arctic.ap/index.html">today CNN reports</a> that the 41-square mile Ayles Ice Shelf, one of the six major ice shelves which remain in Canada's arctic, broke off the coast about 16 months ago.
According to scientists, this "disturning event" shows "we are crossing climate thresholds."<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116742750243722186?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1167255585565565552006-12-27T13:37:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:38:51.172-08:00Island Disappears Beneath the Waves<p class="MsoNormal">This week, an article in The Independent entitled <a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2099971.ece">“Disappearing world: Global warming claims tropical island”</a><span style=""> </span>seems to confirm for the first time that an inhabited island has been officially washed off the face of the Earth by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level_rise">rising seas</a>.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>“The obliteration of Lohachara island, in <st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region>'s part of the Sundarbans where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the <st1:place st="on">Bay of Bengal</st1:place>, marks the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists has started coming true.” Refugees fled to neighbor islands which are doomed to similar fates; a total of 70,000 people will soon become homeless due to global warming.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Independent also reported eight years ago when the first uninhabited islands, in the Pacific nation of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kiribati</st1:place></st1:country-region>, “vanished beneath the waves.”<span style=""> </span>One may remember when the tiny island nation of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Tuvalu</st1:country-region></st1:place> was <a href="http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update2.htm">evacuated in 2001</a>.<span style=""> </span>Another article from 2002, <a href="http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/chanton.html">“Global Warming & Rising Oceans”</a> by <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Florida</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> oceanographer Jeffrey Chanton, Ph.D., explains that rising oceans are eroding coastal areas and submerging low-lying islands.<span style=""> </span>He suggests the “near future could see millions of ‘climate refugees’”, and recommends alternative fuel sources to alleviate the problem.<span style=""> </span>His references include great links to scientific studies, online maps of sea levels, and a <a href="http://www.carboncounter.org/">personal carbon counter</a> to estimate your own CO2 emissions.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">By now most people have seen or at least heard about Al Gore’s movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/">An Inconvenient Truth</a>, about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming">global warming</a>. <span style=""> </span>What have we done to our planet, and can it be saved?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“The world is sacred.<span style=""> </span>It can’t be improved.<span style=""> </span>If you tamper with it, you’ll ruin it.<span style=""> </span>If you treat it like an object, you’ll lose it.” –<i style="">Tao Te Ching #29</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">
Thanks to <a href="http://www.wanttoknow.info/">www.wanttoknow.info</a>
</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116725558556556555?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1167015200397787992006-12-24T18:51:00.000-08:002006-12-24T18:53:20.410-08:00Merry Christmas!Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka, warm Hawaiian wishes this Christmas! Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116701520039778799?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1166662139255434592006-12-20T16:47:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:39:48.433-08:00Keith OlbermannVery brave commentary on the loss of civil liberties in our new age. If you haven't seen it yet check it out.
<object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oIe2fPmGFYw"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oIe2fPmGFYw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116666213925543459?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1166313315808941422006-12-16T15:53:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:40:35.427-08:00The Christmas Truce<p class="MsoNormal">On Christmas in 1914, just a few months after the start of World War I, German and British troops along the Western Front held an unofficial cease-fire, meeting each other in No Man’s Land, exchanging gifts, burying their dead, singing Christmas songs and playing ball together.<span style=""> </span>This incredibly moving story has inspired many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce">articles</a>, a <a href="http://labornotes.org/songs/music/christmastrenches.ram">song</a> and a movie, <a href="http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0424205/">Joyeux Noel</a>, a French film nominated for Best Foreign Language film in the 78<sup>th</sup> Academy awards.<span style=""> </span>David G. Stratman wrote about it in his book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0962856606/qid=1070134447/sr=12-1/103-2792244-8591047?v=glance&s=books">We Can Change the World</a>. <a href="http://www.lib.byu.edu/%7Eenglish/WWI/historical/slide6.html">Here</a> is an article from the London News in 1915, along with an illustration of the event.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.fylde.demon.co.uk/xmas.htm">Tom Morgan</a> writes, “The image of opposing soldiers, shaking hands with each other on one day and then deliberately trying to kill each other the next, is a powerful one, and one which is part and parcel of remembrance of the Great War. It was, perhaps, a last example of open-handed chivalry before the squalor and horror of the next three years changed the old world for ever.”<span style=""> </span>His site also includes remembrances from soldiers who were there.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As much as war is an obvious moneymaking <a href="http://www.wanttoknow.info/warcoverup">racket</a> for so many rich and powerful people, one cannot help but think, how much power is in the hands of those who do the actual fighting, and that the possibility of peace may be closer than we realize – all it would take is the softening of hearts.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“He who is centered in the Tao</p> <p class="MsoNormal">can go where he wishes, without danger.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">He perceives the universal harmony,</p> <p class="MsoNormal">even amid great pain,</p> <p class="MsoNormal">because he has found peace in his heart.” <i style="">–Tao Te Ching</i>, #35</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to <a href="http://www.wanttoknow.info/christmastruce">Wanttoknow.info</a>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116631331580894142?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1165630452754644632006-12-08T18:08:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:41:42.078-08:00Eat Your Apple Seeds<i><span style="font-weight: bold;">
"Everyone should know that most cancer research is largely a fraud…"</span></i><b> - Linus Pauling PhD (1901-1994) Two times Nobel Prize winner.<o:p></o:p></b> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B17">Vitamin B17</a> (also called Amygdalin or Laetrile) is one of the most controversial substances in cancer research.<span style=""> </span>It is a <a href="http://www.navi.net/%7Ersc/krebs3.htm">nitriloside</a>, which occurs naturally in fruit seeds, some berries, flax, millet, and some beans, leaves, grasses and nuts.<span style=""> </span>Touted as a cure for cancer several decades ago by <a href="http://www.karlloren.com/biopsy/p76.htm">Dr. Ernst T. Krebs</a>, it has since been discredited by orthodox medicine as “<a href="http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/laetrile.html">quackery</a>.”<span style=""> </span>Respected researcher <a href="http://www.laetrile.com.au/img/content/sugiura1.jpg">Dr. Kanematsu Sugiura</a> was fired after refusing to publish false test results on Laetrile – he stood firm in his belief in it.<span style=""> </span>One of the most famous proponents of B17 is G. Edward Griffin, whose <a href="http://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Cancer-Story-Vitamin/dp/0912986190">book</a>, <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4312930190281243507&q=a+world+without">video</a> and <a href="http://www.vitaminb17.org/">articles</a> attempt to explain what the fuss is all about.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">These and other researchers contend that cancer is little more than a <a href="http://www.vitaminb17.org/">deficiency disease</a>, much like scurvy or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellagra">pellagra</a>.<span style=""> </span>In cultures that eat foods high in nitrilosides such as the <a href="http://www.laetrile.com.au/img/content/hunza1.jpg">Hunza</a> or the Eskimo, cancer is unheard of.<span style=""> </span>But today, our modern diets have all but eliminated this vital nutrient.<span style=""> </span>The medical establishment, on the other hand, has worked hard to undermine confidence in this substance.<span style=""> </span>Their “official” reason?<span style=""> </span>Because it contains a molecule of cyanide.<span style=""> </span>But Mr. Griffin’s video and many other <a href="http://www.laetrile.com.au/copy.asp?sect=q1&page=goodbad">articles</a> and websites explain how the molecule is uniquely absorbed and used by the body: the only enzyme that can break it down exists only in a tumor cell, so in a sense it becomes a kind of “cancer smart-bomb,” and is neutralized in the body’s other healthy cells.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Of course many also contend that the pharmaceutical industry has a lot of financial incentive to ensure that vitamin B17 remains illegal and unacceptable by the medical establishment.<span style=""> </span>Unable to patent a naturally occurring substance (and thereby in risk of losing a $200 billion a year industry), a war is being waged on the forefront of cancer research – each side supporting <a href="http://www.laetrile.com.au/copy.asp?sect=q1&page=tested">various studies</a> on its effectiveness.<span style=""> </span>In fact it is even <a href="http://www.laetrile.com.au/copy.asp?sect=q1&page=why">illegal to sell Laetrile</a> as a cure for cancer in the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place> – and some have <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=9825">gone to jail</a> for it.<span style=""> </span>Despite this I found information online about <a href="http://home.bluegrass.net/%7Ejclark/b17_dosage.htm">proper dosages</a> and “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cyanide-Cookbook-Delicious-Recipes-Vitamin/dp/0912986379/sr=1-1/qid=1165627504/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7387002-2415323?ie=UTF8&s=books">The Little Cyanide Cookbook</a>” which explains how to prepare foods high in Vitamin B17.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.laetrile.com.au/copy.asp?sect=q2&page=foods">Foods containing B17</a> include berries, beans, nuts (especially the bitter almond), and various veggies – but the most is found in apricot seeds (the little seed found inside the pit) and apple seeds – in fact it’s said three apples a day, including the seeds, could prevent cancer.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What’s that old saying, an apple a day?<span style=""> </span>Could be more important than we know.</p><span style="font-weight: bold;">"...when government officials spend money on weapons instead of cures;...all this is robbery and chaos. It is not in keeping with the Tao." </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">-</span>Tao Te Ching #53</span>
<p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116563045275464463?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1165393540046146322006-12-06T00:21:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:42:05.786-08:00Free Hugs<p class="MsoNormal">A man in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Sydney</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Australia</st1:country-region></st1:place> walks around a mall holding a “Free Hugs” sign…and what do you think happens?<span style=""> </span>If you haven’t yet seen this three and a half minute <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL7Jo_1Z3Y8">YouTube video</a>, now’s the time.<span style=""> </span>I keep coming back to it because it’s so heartwarming, and the movement continues to grow.<span style=""> </span>First released in September on YouTube, by November the video had over seven million views.<span style=""> </span>The story is amazing, and there is more to it…<i style="">Good Morning America</i> aired it, and the man, calling himself “Juan Mann”, even recently appeared on <a href="http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200610/20061030/slide_20061030_284_101.jhtml">Oprah</a>. <span style=""> </span>The Sydney Morning Herald covered it <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/freehug-manspeaks-out/2006/09/28/1159337257843.html">here</a>.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.hvtd.com/?q=node/1250">Here</a> is another article about it – and <a href="http://www.freehugscampaign.org/">here</a> is the official website.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Hugs_Campaign">Wikipedia</a> has a great overview too, and links to much more about it.<span style=""> </span>It started a worldwide movement…and Juan Mann isn’t the only hugger to face problems; in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> huggers were <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/06/content_725199.htm">thrown in jail</a>! </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let’s all give someone a hug today and make the world a better place.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“The Master is available to all people and doesn’t reject anyone.”
-Tao Te Ching #27</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116539354004614632?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1163563411099589372006-11-14T20:01:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:43:09.946-08:00The Quickening<p class="MsoNormal">“Practice not-doing,</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And everything will fall into place.” <i style="">Tao Te Ching, #3<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As the world hums along on its ever-quickening pace I often wonder, is time speeding up, or is it just me?<span style=""> </span>No one disagrees that just in the last century our world, its economy, populations, and technologies have advanced at an increasing rate.<span style=""> </span>How often to we take time to stop and smell the roses anymore?<span style=""> </span>Multi-tasking has now become routine and many see idle time as wasteful or unproductive.<span style=""> </span>This value is a relic of the Protestant work ethic; some say it’s what has made our country unique.<span style=""> </span>Certainly it has fueled our leadership in many scientific and technological fields, though the decline of moral values and the increase in violence and fraud – including war - seem to be the dark side of this obsessive-compulsive tendency.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">James Gleick wrote a book called <i style=""><u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067977548X/ref=pd_kar_gw_3/102-7387002-2415323">Faster</a></u></i> in which he describes the accelerated pace of everyday experience over the course of the ‘manic’ 20<sup>th</sup> century - from so-called ‘hurry sickness’ (waiting anxiety) to automatic appliances, express mail, speed-dialing, the internet, and a general increase in type-A personality flaws that cause people expect fast service and are rude or impatient when it’s not.<span style=""> </span>Time is money, believes this over-worked society with busy schedules and demands for instant gratification.<span style=""> </span>Our <a href="http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CHINNEG.html">stress levels</a> have increased to match this quickening pace and it’s making many of us sick.<span style=""> </span>“<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock">Future shock</a>” and “<a href="http://www.serv-inf.deusto.es/abaitua/konzeptu/fatiga.htm">information fatigue syndrome</a>” are two terms created to describe this phenomenon.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But is time actually speeding up?<span style=""> </span>Most people will tell you, it only seems that way as you get older, as each increment of our lives become ever smaller parts of an increasing whole.<span style=""> </span>An hour seemed like an eternity when we were five; at fifty, it seems to go by in a flash.<span style=""> </span>Or maybe it’s what we’re doing with that hour; waiting for a bus can seem eternal, but while having fun with friends, time seems to fly.<span style=""> </span>One is reminded of Einstein’s theory of relativity; time passes slower the faster you travel.<span style=""> </span>It doesn’t matter much to those of us without the opportunity to swing through space at the speed of light; however, it is known that our solar system itself is traveling through the galaxy at dizzying speeds, and that the universe appears to be <a href="http://www.astro.ucla.edu/%7Ewright/cosmology_faq.html#CC">expanding</a> at an accelerating rate.<span style=""> </span>Could this be influencing our world in ways we’ve not yet imagined?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://deoxy.org/t_camden.htm">Terrence McKenna</a> admits, “It has become a cliché of modern parlance and journalism that time is speeding up, that history is moving faster and faster.”<span style=""> </span>He suggests “we have entirely misunderstood the character of time”, and believes we are “…on a collision course with a temporal vortex of some sort…wrapping ourselves around a cosmic endpoint of some sort.”<span style=""> </span><a href="http://montalk.net/notes/time-speeding-up">Montalk</a> suggests there is a shift from 3D to 4D in which “linear time is giving way to nonlinear time…with a shift in priorities, trivialities fade into a repeating background pattern while spiritual events (leaps in awareness and maturity) increase in their frequency and novelty, both of which lead to the perception that time is speeding up for different reasons.”<span style=""> </span>Others such as <a href="http://www.2012.com.au/Site.A.html">2012 Unlimited</a> suggest humanity is going through a shift in consciousness and that time is actually speeding up as we enter a new era.<span style=""> </span>Some like <a href="http://www.crystalinks.com/greggbraden.html">Gregg Braden</a> believe the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schumann_resonance">Schumann resonance</a> (like the Earth’s heartbeat) is increasing in frequency, causing us to experience the equivalent of 16 hours in a day instead of 24.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.skepticreport.com/mystics/braden-book.htm">Skeptics</a> debate this view.<span style=""> </span>Interesting to note the <a href="http://www.livescience.com/technology/050705_leap_second.html">earth’s rotation</a> is actually slowing down, causing scientists to add an extra “leap” second to our atomic clocks last year.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In response to this increasingly complicated and hurried way of life, some are making an effort to slow down.<span style=""> </span>Wikipedia has a page on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Movement">Slow Movement</a>, an attempt to slow down the pace and savor the good things in life.<span style=""> </span>Check out <a href="http://www.slowdownnow.org/">slowdownnow.org</a>, funded by ‘the international institute of not doing much.”<span style=""> </span>Or how about the <a href="http://www.slowsociety.se/eng/">Slow Society</a>, created as an alternative to the short-sightedness of a fast-paced society.<span style=""> </span>I appreciate the sentiments – but what a shame we need to be reminded.<span style=""> </span>As for myself, I continue to struggle with the expectations of this frantic world.<span style=""> </span>For the first time in my life, this past year or two, I’ve had the luxury of staying at home, and I never hear the end of the questions, “what are you doing with your time?<span style=""> </span>what do you do all day?<span style=""> </span>what do you do to keep busy?”<span style=""> </span>As if sitting on my porch enjoying the Hawaiian sunset isn’t enough.<span style=""> </span>It’s tough to Surf the Tao in today’s world – but at least I have the words of Lao Tzu to comfort me.<span style=""> </span>True wisdom seems foolish, remember.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Therefore the Master acts without doing anything.” - #2</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116356341109958937?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1163204115284263912006-11-10T16:08:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:44:06.645-08:0011:11 Phenomenon<p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><i style="">“We work with being, but non-being is what we use.” –Tao Te Ching #11<o:p></o:p></i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As we approach 11/11, I want to mention the phenomenon surrounding those numbers.<span style=""> </span>About two years ago I noticed that for some reason I always checked the time when it was exactly 11:11.<span style=""> </span>When I mentioned it to my husband, he said the same thing had been happening to him.<span style=""> </span>Soon after it escalated to include 1:11, 3:11, 9:11; nearly every time we looked at a clock, it was 11 minutes after the hour.<span style=""> </span>Since we are both aware of numerological and other types of synchronicities, we knew it had some significance but couldn’t quite place it.<span style=""> </span>Since then we’ve been hearing the same thing all over the place from all kinds of people.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Those who are into numerology and the symbols used in various secret societies probably already know about the strange reoccurrence of the number 11 in the events on September 11, 2001. <span style=""> </span>You can find more about this online, <a href="http://www.september11news.com/Mysteries2.htm">here</a> is one example.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Similar coincidences are found for the numbers 11.11.<span style=""> </span>The WWI armistice was signed at 11:11 AM on 11/11/18.<span style=""> </span>World War II ended on the 11<sup>th</sup> hour of the 11<sup>th</sup> day of the 11<sup>th</sup> month.<span style=""> </span>The Berlin Wall fell on 11/11/89.<span style=""> </span>Supposedly the Mayan calendar end year 2012 is timed at 11:11 Universal time; the <a href="http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/EarthSeasons.html">U.S. Navy</a> lists the 2012 solstice for 12/21/12 at 11:11 Universal time.<span style=""> </span>Yasser Arafat died on 11/11/04.<span style=""> </span>JFK was assassinated on 11/22.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_11">Wikipedia</a> lists the events, births, deaths, holidays and observances on this day.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Interesting to note that 1.11111111 squared = 1.2345678987654321<span style="font-size:13;"> and </span>111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321, like a count-up and count-down, or pyramid.<span style=""> </span>I discuss the number 11 in my book <i style="">Surfing the Tao</i>, which was published before I started noticing the 11:11 phenomenon on clocks, because in my spirit I sensed it was important to have at least some awareness of how others think of and use numbers.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Note that the twin pillars are significant Masonic symbols.<span style=""> </span>They are found in our dollar sign, along with an encircling serpent.<span style=""> </span>According to their legends, sacred knowledge was inscribed upon two pillars called Boaz and Joachim, which were then lost in a great flood.<span style=""> </span>Pythagoras and Hermes Trismegestus supposedly found them later and passed this wisdom on to others.<span style=""> </span>Also it should be noted that the numbers 11, 22 and 33 are considered “<a href="http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/16617/102/5">master numbers</a>” to occultists.<span style=""> </span>Aleister Crowley revered the number 11 and considered it to be an object of magic, believing it was more powerful than the number 13, which to those ‘in the know’ is just a red herring in terms of power numbers.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The number 11 means different things to different people.<span style=""> </span>It’s considered a ‘bad’ or ‘unlucky’ number to the Hebrews; for them ‘11’ stands for transgression of the law, rebellion, sin, war, sorcery and martyrdom.<span style=""> </span>To others it represents the ‘Old World Order’ (thus the destruction of the twin towers to usher in the New World Order, so they say).<span style=""> </span>According to numerologists, ‘11’ can mean anything from intuition, honesty, spirituality, light, gentleness, and insight to justice, karmic burden and growth in consciousness.<span style=""> </span>Some say it stands for destruction, the battle between good and evil, or the birth of something new.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The 11:11 phenomenon can be found everywhere now – online there are many websites, forums, discussions, blogs and articles about it. <span style=""> </span>There’s even a 4 minute video called <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2062918337057043456&q=11%3A11+phenomenon">“11:11 Wake Up”</a> on Google. <span style=""> </span>Renowned psychic <a href="http://www.uri-geller.com/articles/11.htm">Uri Geller</a><span style=""> </span>noticed 11:11 too; he believes it is a “pre-encoded trigger placed into our cellular memory banks prior to our descent into matter which, when activated, signifies that our time of completion is near.”<span style=""> </span>He says 11:11 is our wake-up call, and when it happens to reflect for a moment, look larger, ask for help or simply listen for a revelation.<span style=""> </span>Geller asserts that 11.11 is “the bridge to our vitality and oneness.<span style=""> </span>It is our pathway into the positive unknown and beyond.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.nvisible.com/1111/1111intro.html">Solara</a> says people notice these numbers more during times of “accelerated personal change”, as “a reminder of your true purpose here on Earth”; she also describes an 11:11 Doorway or Gateway, like a crack between two worlds linking two different spheres of energy. <span style=""> </span>She says when you see them, know you are on the right track.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.1111spiritguardians.com/">1111spiritguardians.com</a> says the 11:11 reoccurrence is the work of “fun-loving Spirit Guardians, or Angels” to get our attention.<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.crystalinks.com/11.11.html">Crystalinks</a> says 11:11 can be seen as a key to unlock the subconscious mind, to remind us that we are spirits having a physical experience, rather than the other way around. <span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.mystic-mouse.co.uk/Wisdom_Texts/G_Tucker/ElevenEleven.htm">Graham Tucker</a><span style=""> </span>also wrote about 11:11, noting some crop circles with this design.<span style=""> </span>Many more links to 11:11 synchronicities can be found <a href="http://www.greatdreams.com/numbers/1111/1111.htm">here</a>.<span style=""> </span>I also found it interesting to look up 11:11 (Chapter 11, etc.) in different books of the Bible and other spiritual sources.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For me, numbers resonate in different ways, and in the grand scheme of the multi-dimensional universe we live in, I know enough to pay attention to them. <span style=""> </span>11:11 has happened to me so many times now I just laugh, and think of it as God winking at me. They are like messages from the Universe, little synchronicities and signs that at the very least, confirm for me that there is a much bigger, much more elaborate plan in the works than my puny mind can comprehend.<span style=""> </span>What does it mean that so many people are experiencing the 11:11 phenomenon, I can’t be 100% sure; simply that those of us who do sit up and pay attention is what I believe is important at this point.<span style=""> </span>“Wake up”, as the video warns.<span style=""> </span>Perhaps it’s just another guidepost on our journey towards Surfing the Tao.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116320411528426391?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1162159438406670912006-10-29T14:00:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:46:32.404-08:00Scientists Create Cloak of InvisibilityAnother news item from <a href="http://www.wanttoknow.info/">Wanttoknow.info</a>(for the full ABC news article click <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2587624">here</a>): "Scientists are boldly going where only fiction has gone before to develop a Cloak of Invisibility. It isn't quite ready to hide a Romulan space ship from Capt. James T. Kirk or to disguise Harry Potter, but it is a significant start and could show the way to more sophisticated designs. In this first successful experiment, researchers from the United States and England were able to cloak a copper cylinder. It's like a mirage, where heat causes the bending of light rays and cloaks the road ahead behind an image of the sky. <strong>"We have built an artificial mirage that can hide something from would-be observers in any direction," </strong>said cloak designer David Schurig, a research associate in Duke University's electrical and computer engineering department. Cloaking used special materials to deflect radar or light or other waves around an object, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream. The new work points the way for an improvd version that could hide people and objects from visible light. Conceptually, the chance of adapting the concept to visible light is good, Schurig said in a telephone interview. But, he added, "From an engineering point of view it is very challenging." The cloaking of a cylinder from microwaves comes just five months after Schurig and colleagues published their theory that it should be possible. In an ideal situation, the cloak and the item it is hiding would be invisible. An observer would see whatever is beyond them, with no evidence the cloaked item exists. <p style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;"><strong>Note:</strong> Remember that technologies developed in top-secret military, intelligence, and other government projects are generally at the very least 10 years in advance of anything being developed in the public domain."</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116215943840667091?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1160611782610006332006-10-11T16:05:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:46:56.945-08:00Scientists teleport two different objects<p style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;">From <a href="http://www.wanttoknow.info/">WantToKnow.info</a>: "Physicists in Denmark have teleported information from light to matter bringing quantum communication and computing closer to reality. Until now scientists have teleported similar objects such as light or single atoms over short distances from one spot to another in a split second. But Professor Eugene Polzik and his team at the Niels Bohr Institute at Copenhagen University in Denmark have made a breakthrough by using both light and matter. "It is one step further because for the first time it involves teleportation between light and matter, two different objects. One is the carrier of information and the other one is the storage medium," Polzik explained in an interview on Wednesday. <strong>The experiment involved for the first time a macroscopic atomic object containing thousands of billions of atoms. They...teleported the information a distance of half a meter but believe it can be extended further. </strong>"Teleportation between two singe atoms had been done two years ago by two teams, but this was done at a distance of a fraction of a millimeter," Polzik, of the Danish National Research Foundation Center for Quantum Optics, explained. "Our method allows teleportation to be taken over longer distances because it involves light as the carrier of entanglement." Quantum entanglement involves entwining two or more particles without physical contact." For the full article click <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/10/04/teleportation.reut/">here</a>.<a name="060927msnbc"></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116061178261000633?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1160100294699459512006-10-05T18:02:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:47:28.090-08:00DiscernmentIf you want to shrink something,
you must first allow it to expand.
If you want to get rid of something,
you must first allow it to flourish.
If you want to take something,
you must first allow it to be given.
This is called the subtle perception
of the way things are.
The soft overcomes the hard.
The slow overcomes the fast.
Let your workings remain a mystery.
Just show people the results.
<span style="font-style: italic;">Tao Te Ching #36 (trans. Stephen Mitchell) </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-116010029469945951?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1159305437624159352006-09-26T13:12:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:48:03.912-08:00RFID Chip in PassportsFrom <a href="http://www.wanttoknow.info/">Want to Know.info</a>: An article in the Washington Post reveals new plans to add RFID chips to our passports.
<p style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;">If you have a passport, now is the time to renew it -- even if it's not set to expire anytime soon. In many countries, including the United States, passports will soon be equipped with RFID chips. And you don't want one of these chips in your passport. RFID stands for "radio-frequency identification." Passports with RFID chips store an electronic copy of the passport information: your name, a digitized picture, etc. And in the future, the chip might store fingerprints or digital visas from various countries. By itself, this is no problem. But RFID chips don't have to be plugged in to a reader to operate. Like the chips used for automatic toll collection on roads or automatic fare collection on subways, these chips operate via proximity. The risk to you is the possibility of surreptitious access: <strong>Your passport information might be read without your knowledge or consent by a government trying to track your movements, a criminal trying tosteal your identity or someone just curious about your citizenship.</strong> Security mechanisms are also vulnerable, and several security researchers have already discovered flaws. One found that he could identify individual chips via unique characteristics of the radio transmissions. Another successfully cloned a chip. The Colorado passport office is already issuing RFID passports, and the State Department expects all U.S. passport offices to be doing so by the end of the year. Many other countries are in the process of changing over. So get a passport before it's too late. </p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-115930543762415935?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14406346.post-1158113129032059082006-09-12T17:11:00.000-08:002007-04-03T15:49:27.097-08:00How to Know?<p class="MsoNormal">"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -<span style="font-style: italic;">Goethe</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">As came up in my last radio interview, there are quite a few different points of view regarding otherworldly or ‘non-human’ entities who have, are or will influence our world - angels, demons, aliens, ancient gods, ethereal masters, spirit guides and the like.<span style=""> </span>Debate arises when one attempts to determine, are they good guys or not, and how do we know for sure?<span style=""> </span>Early on in my blog I touched on this; <a href="http://surfingthetao.blogspot.com/2006/02/aliens-gods-or-demons.html">Aliens: Gods or Demons?</a> is one example, and <a href="http://surfingthetao.blogspot.com/2006/03/true-masters.html">True Masters</a> is another angle, along with my article <a href="http://www.surfingthetao.com/The_Good_Guys.htm">The Good Guys. </a><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My mission is to attempt to help people find and use their own sense of discernment in these matters.<span style=""> </span>It’s why I wrote my book.<span style=""> </span>The truth is within us; in fact this is one way to tell if a guide is really a friend or not – they will tell you (if they tell you anything at all, for real good guys rarely interfere): the truth is within yourself.<span style=""> </span>We just have to learn to access it.<span style=""> </span>That’s what good guys like Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Krishnamurti, Ueshiba and others have tried to explain.<span style=""> </span>It’s also why in my book I placed much of their wisdom next to topics like UFOs and secret societies; it’s a great way to learn how to think about such things.<span style=""> </span>There is a Way to Know.<span style=""> </span>The Chinese called this Way the Tao.<span style=""> </span>It’s pulsing through you right now.<span style=""> </span>Do you have the ears to hear?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>“<b>...Over twelve years ago, a group of individuals from several different worlds gathered at a discreet location in our solar system near earth for the purpose of observing the alien intervention that is occurring in our world. From their hidden vantage point, they were able to determine the identity, organization and intentions of those visiting our world and monitor the visitors’ activities. This group of observers call themselves the ‘<a href="http://www.alliesofhumanity.org/">Allies of Humanity</a>.’”</b> <b><span style=""> </span></b><span style="">You can read their first book free online <a href="http://www.alliesofhumanity.org/book1.php">here</a> <span style=""></span>(Thanks, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/1266322">Kingsley</a>).<span style=""> </span>Their message is to warn us that the various “alien visitors” to our world have <i style="">not</i> come to “promote the advancement of humanity or the spiritual education of humanity…As has occurred in your own world in your own history, the first to reach the new lands are the explorers and the conquerors.<span style=""> </span>They do not come for altruistic reasons.<span style=""> </span>They come seeking power, resources and dominion…The challenge is for humanity to understand who its allies really are and to be able to distinguish them from its potential adversaries.”<span style=""> </span>According to the Allies, spiritually advanced races do not engage in regular space travel, commerce or interfere with other worlds - they prefer to remain unseen.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">“They bad guys love to disguise themselves as the good guys,”- <i style=""><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1414037023/qid=1087793468/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_/104-8249417-7924712?v=glance&s=books">Surfing the Tao: A Revolution of Free Will</a>.</i><span style=""> </span>The Allies write, “The visitors will try and create the impression that they are ‘the allies of humanity.’<span style=""> </span>They will say they are here to save humanity from itself, that only they can offer the great hope that humanity cannot provide for itself, that only they can establish true order and harmony in the world.<span style=""> </span>But this order and this harmony will be theirs, not yours.<span style=""> </span>And the freedom that they promise will not be yours to enjoy.”<span style=""> </span>These visitors seek to gain our “trust and… devotion,” telling people they’re here to “uplift humanity spiritually, to give humanity new hope, new blessings and new power…once this allegiance is established, it becomes increasingly difficult for people to discern what they know within themselves from what is being told to them.<span style=""> </span>It is a very subtle but very pervasive form of persuasion and manipulation.”<span style=""> </span>“Subtlety is the name of the game.”-<i style="">Surfing the Tao</i>.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">So how do we know?<span style=""> </span>The Allies claim not to want any relationship with our world, nor will they interfere on our behalf; rather they say they are only here to help us advance mentally and spiritually to the point where we can discern and act for ourselves before it’s too late.<span style=""> </span>In contrast to the 'visitors', they “advocate a spirituality…not the spirituality that is governed by nations, government of political alliances, but a natural spirituality – the ability to know, to see and to act…In the <a href="http://www.greatercommunity.org/">Greater Community</a>, spirituality is embodied in what we call <a href="http://www.greatercommunity.org/steps1-49.pdf">Knowledge,</a> Knowledge meaning the intelligence of Spirit and the movement of Spirit within you.<span style=""> </span>This empowers you to know rather than only believe.<span style=""> </span>This gives you immunity from persuasion and manipulation, for Knowledge cannot be manipulated by any worldly power or force…If you can respond to Knowledge and learn a Greater Community Way of Knowledge, you will be able to see these things for yourself.<span style=""> </span>Then you will confirm our words rather than only believe them or deny them. <span style=""> </span>The Creator is making this possible, for the Creator wills that humanity prepare for its future…Knowledge enables you to think in a number of ways, to act spontaneously, to perceive reality beyond the obvious and to experience the future and the past.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Are these “Allies” good guys themselves? Look within yourself for answers. <span style=""></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dharmacist">Dharmacist</a> Edward Namerdy in his book <a href="http://www.anotherplaceinspace.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Another Place in Space</span></a> wisely suggests we “see what we believe,” rather than merely “believe what we see.”<span style=""> </span>Lao Tzu said, “The Master observes the world but trusts his inner vision.” From Ueshiba, "On occasion the Voice of Peace resounds like thunder, jolting human beings out of their stupor." Bernard Bromage wrote, "The wise man is he whose ears are very attuned to the Divine Whisperer, and who, through all the delusions of a cheaper civilization, hears the Voice." And lastly, from Hosea 14:9,"Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them." <span style=""></span><span style=""></span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/14406346-115811312903205908?l=surfingthetao.blogspot.com'/></div>A.V. Michaelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814890580404889655noreply@blogger.com1