American foreign policy in a nutshell.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Musings I
America is the land of freedom
Thus evil can be perpetrated without restraint.
Evil acts first by undermining the principle of rules
Then by subverting the application of rules
Finally, it invents its own application of rules.
The opposite of principles are sins. Without understanding, principles will inevitably degrade towards sin. Certain areas are the birthplaces of principles; their regression involves their transformation into places of sin. This is enacted by an authority undermining the foundation of a particular principle, and applying the ensuing sin, the counterpart, throughout the region he or she commands. With the success of the collusion to fatally undermine a principle, other morally bereft states will imitate the behavior of the perpetrating state, leading to the sudden undermining of principle in vast regions of the United States.
It should be noted that there are multiple principles, and thus there will be multiple centers where there will be degradation of a principle. Each epicenter’s success or failure in conspiracy will lead to either propagation of sin or a re-establishing of principle.
Propagation can be resisted if consciously recognized. Backlash is best generated by educating the populace of the moral degeneracy of the authority, through evidence of actions and decisions aimed at the undermining of principle. Principle is that which exists for the benefit of all; sin is that which exists solely for the benefit of one.
People can also be considered centers or epicenters of principle or sin. In the case of the latter, their removal can considerably slow degradation of principle, or at least enact a temporary period where the corruptive forces must regroup. However, this removal must be non-violent, whether legal or through political pressure. Violent removal has repercussions, most significantly in creating a vacuum of power and an immediate alignment of state forces against public forces, leading to conflict. Additionally, non-violent removal has an inhibitory effect that violent removal often lacks; beyond this, the vacuum created by violent removal is likelier to generate another authority amenable to the degradation of principle than to be occupied by a moral authority.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Theories on beneficial marijuana practice I
One helpful metaphor to use in explaining my approach to marijuana exercises is picturing things in terms of neutral and positive space. There is space outside my body and there is the space inside my body. One can see the outside in terms of neutral space, and the inside as positive space. Positive space can expand outwards into neutral space if supported; that is growth.
Using the two species of cannabis, sativa and indica, as network-expanders "above" and "below", so speak (above being outside the body, and below being inside the body), we arrive at the theory behind basic technique. Sativa is mind-oriented, and yang, while indica is body-oriented, and yin. Yang is hot; yin is cold. Thus we can say yang is expansion while yin is contraction or stillness. Using sativa, one attempts to push the boundaries of the space inside your body outwards. This is done by imagining the space outside you as a void, then performing movements at various speeds and at different levels of muscle tension, progressively increasing in either level of tension, speed, or both. Remember according to this logic; every movement you make within the void is a movement you have made, and thus were capable of making. You are still capable of making that movement, and you are capable of making more complex movements because you made those past movements. You are building a spatial network in a tree-like fashion; slowly mastering basic movements, then building variations upon and/or utilizing those basic structures to create more complex movements. As you're making movements, imagine the after-images of yourself remaining rather than fading, building up through repetition into more vivid representations the more that specific movement is repeated.
The Daoist script Shiwen refers to various exercises for the body; one line reads, "Within, there is nothing dense or rotten. Thus the body is without pains or injuries." This is within a passage about breathing exercises. However, utilizing the phrasing here, "Within, there is nothing dense or rotten," we introduce the concept of negative space into our model. The yin-yang model is 0 and 1; now we have 0, 1 and -1. It is important to pay attention to the words dense and rotten; these are classifiers for negative space within the body. One can only identify these characteristics by feel; density is measured by touch, as is the sensation of rot. To perform basic techniques, one must be able to identify denseness and rot within the body, and learn how to clear these ailments.
Density can be identified as hardness in parts of the body that impede normal movement. Rot can be inferred by thinking about what the word, rot, means, as well as trying to imagine the descriptive qualifiers connected to rot: decomposition, decay, putrefaction, disintegration. Words can evoke sensations, and that is one of the few ways of identifying rot. "Acidic" parts of the body, dark parts of the body, are rot, and can be mentally associated with water and the depths if that assists in perception. Dark parts of the body are literally that; places where there is nerve damage, muscle tears, obfuscation of bloodlines, imperfections in the bone, which all lead to a dysfunctional local network. These places do not respond to nerve signals as readily, have uneven bloodflow distribution, cannot exert sufficient force upon the skeleton to create movement, or disturb the flesh in the area, impairing the previously mentioned functions.
Utilizing a grayscale in combination with binary black and white helps make a more accurate picture of the self, and is another way of understanding the negative, positive and neutral space system. Dark areas are obviously shades from gray to black, with white areas being normal functioning. Imagining this, one can immediately separate the body into these two divisions. One will attempt to rectify the former, while utilizing the latter as the base to extend into and correct the former. The latter is the tree, the branch, the root. Expand from the bright root into the dark; this is the progression of healthy functioning into the damaged or diseased area.
How this is done is by feel and sensation, which being magnified under cannabis can be sufficient enough to provide direction. Being heavily stoned, from using indica, will give you enhanced body awareness. Try moving around in a dark room, or with minimal lighting. Close your eyes and move your body in a single location. Learn to move faster, slower, to avoid objects. Doing this with minimal visual input allows you to be more aware of your body's natural electric field.
You may not see it literally, but you will be able to visualize it better in the dark by imagining it as a network of lighted pathways within your body of varying intensity. You will find that certain physical movements are only possible with noticeable shifts, or changes, within this network. You will also possibly feel a strengthening of intensity of that network with practice over time. The brightness of the network can measure the percentages towards full, conscious neuro-muscular control of the affected area. Dimness of the network represents damage to the nerves, muscles, and tissue of the area; in sensational terms, pain, stiffness, numbness, and suffering.
Repairing this damage can be thought out in this manner; first take your ideal, human body, with full range of possible movements projecting outwards as afterimages from you. Even a person at the peak of their life will not match this naturally, but over the course of a life everyone suffers damage to their body; this can be seen as cutting out arcs in the range of movement available to the ideal self. Perhaps we can say the normal self is the achievable, healthy average for most people. This is a good place to aim for. Therefore, while there may be significant damage to the ideal self, the normal self can remain largely untouched. It is when there are problems encroaching on the normal self that one practices these techniques, to clear up physical pains, or parts of the body which have been traditionally weak. They will all be points where the network, which you will be able to conceptualize into visual form in time, are weak.
Damage can occur from burns, bruises, broken bones, disease, and so on. As there are different causes, so are different areas affected. Nerves, skin, tissue, muscle, bone; never is one area solely affected, but one or several elements will usually be more progressed in damage than others, depending on the cause. In elemental terms, these are graying to black areas in the network, and must be repaired by extending the healthy network into damaged areas, primarily by branching. Branching is using the visual analogy of the word itself to represent a creation of complexity from a single root. One slowly extends oneself into the void by moving the affected part in novel ways. One can imagine the gap within the range of one's own movement caused by the damaged area as a gap in the after-image field emanating around you. Try moving in that gap; if you've visualized correctly, you will find pain, stiffness, inflexibility, slowness of movement. As you make movements across that gap, you leave faint after-images in the void; as you repeat these movements and make new movements, you fill in the void. Then you can progress to a new area, while continuing to work with the old wound. Eventually, you will fill in the entire dark area, and you should find yourself more flexible and with less pains. This is a basic form of this technique; a more complicated form understands the nature of negative space, and the concept of reversal; essentially the mathematical equivalent of -1 x -1.
Using the two species of cannabis, sativa and indica, as network-expanders "above" and "below", so speak (above being outside the body, and below being inside the body), we arrive at the theory behind basic technique. Sativa is mind-oriented, and yang, while indica is body-oriented, and yin. Yang is hot; yin is cold. Thus we can say yang is expansion while yin is contraction or stillness. Using sativa, one attempts to push the boundaries of the space inside your body outwards. This is done by imagining the space outside you as a void, then performing movements at various speeds and at different levels of muscle tension, progressively increasing in either level of tension, speed, or both. Remember according to this logic; every movement you make within the void is a movement you have made, and thus were capable of making. You are still capable of making that movement, and you are capable of making more complex movements because you made those past movements. You are building a spatial network in a tree-like fashion; slowly mastering basic movements, then building variations upon and/or utilizing those basic structures to create more complex movements. As you're making movements, imagine the after-images of yourself remaining rather than fading, building up through repetition into more vivid representations the more that specific movement is repeated.
The Daoist script Shiwen refers to various exercises for the body; one line reads, "Within, there is nothing dense or rotten. Thus the body is without pains or injuries." This is within a passage about breathing exercises. However, utilizing the phrasing here, "Within, there is nothing dense or rotten," we introduce the concept of negative space into our model. The yin-yang model is 0 and 1; now we have 0, 1 and -1. It is important to pay attention to the words dense and rotten; these are classifiers for negative space within the body. One can only identify these characteristics by feel; density is measured by touch, as is the sensation of rot. To perform basic techniques, one must be able to identify denseness and rot within the body, and learn how to clear these ailments.
Density can be identified as hardness in parts of the body that impede normal movement. Rot can be inferred by thinking about what the word, rot, means, as well as trying to imagine the descriptive qualifiers connected to rot: decomposition, decay, putrefaction, disintegration. Words can evoke sensations, and that is one of the few ways of identifying rot. "Acidic" parts of the body, dark parts of the body, are rot, and can be mentally associated with water and the depths if that assists in perception. Dark parts of the body are literally that; places where there is nerve damage, muscle tears, obfuscation of bloodlines, imperfections in the bone, which all lead to a dysfunctional local network. These places do not respond to nerve signals as readily, have uneven bloodflow distribution, cannot exert sufficient force upon the skeleton to create movement, or disturb the flesh in the area, impairing the previously mentioned functions.
Utilizing a grayscale in combination with binary black and white helps make a more accurate picture of the self, and is another way of understanding the negative, positive and neutral space system. Dark areas are obviously shades from gray to black, with white areas being normal functioning. Imagining this, one can immediately separate the body into these two divisions. One will attempt to rectify the former, while utilizing the latter as the base to extend into and correct the former. The latter is the tree, the branch, the root. Expand from the bright root into the dark; this is the progression of healthy functioning into the damaged or diseased area.
How this is done is by feel and sensation, which being magnified under cannabis can be sufficient enough to provide direction. Being heavily stoned, from using indica, will give you enhanced body awareness. Try moving around in a dark room, or with minimal lighting. Close your eyes and move your body in a single location. Learn to move faster, slower, to avoid objects. Doing this with minimal visual input allows you to be more aware of your body's natural electric field.
You may not see it literally, but you will be able to visualize it better in the dark by imagining it as a network of lighted pathways within your body of varying intensity. You will find that certain physical movements are only possible with noticeable shifts, or changes, within this network. You will also possibly feel a strengthening of intensity of that network with practice over time. The brightness of the network can measure the percentages towards full, conscious neuro-muscular control of the affected area. Dimness of the network represents damage to the nerves, muscles, and tissue of the area; in sensational terms, pain, stiffness, numbness, and suffering.
Repairing this damage can be thought out in this manner; first take your ideal, human body, with full range of possible movements projecting outwards as afterimages from you. Even a person at the peak of their life will not match this naturally, but over the course of a life everyone suffers damage to their body; this can be seen as cutting out arcs in the range of movement available to the ideal self. Perhaps we can say the normal self is the achievable, healthy average for most people. This is a good place to aim for. Therefore, while there may be significant damage to the ideal self, the normal self can remain largely untouched. It is when there are problems encroaching on the normal self that one practices these techniques, to clear up physical pains, or parts of the body which have been traditionally weak. They will all be points where the network, which you will be able to conceptualize into visual form in time, are weak.
Damage can occur from burns, bruises, broken bones, disease, and so on. As there are different causes, so are different areas affected. Nerves, skin, tissue, muscle, bone; never is one area solely affected, but one or several elements will usually be more progressed in damage than others, depending on the cause. In elemental terms, these are graying to black areas in the network, and must be repaired by extending the healthy network into damaged areas, primarily by branching. Branching is using the visual analogy of the word itself to represent a creation of complexity from a single root. One slowly extends oneself into the void by moving the affected part in novel ways. One can imagine the gap within the range of one's own movement caused by the damaged area as a gap in the after-image field emanating around you. Try moving in that gap; if you've visualized correctly, you will find pain, stiffness, inflexibility, slowness of movement. As you make movements across that gap, you leave faint after-images in the void; as you repeat these movements and make new movements, you fill in the void. Then you can progress to a new area, while continuing to work with the old wound. Eventually, you will fill in the entire dark area, and you should find yourself more flexible and with less pains. This is a basic form of this technique; a more complicated form understands the nature of negative space, and the concept of reversal; essentially the mathematical equivalent of -1 x -1.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
The Consolidation of Power: The Universal Threat as shown by Wisconsin and the Middle East
Modified Daoist base philosophy can provide a useful interpretative lens for the world, in this case providing a helpful metaphor for the progression of governments. As has been previously discussed, my interpretation of Daoist thought utilizes binary to explain the concept of yin-yang. To introduce a new layer, seeing Daoist thought in mathematical terms of whole number counting, addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, while keeping in mind its binary nature, can allow us to see the parallels that show how all the world's governments are simply various points along a same bipolar line, with two extremes and one mean point. So far in the world we live in, only the lower end of one extreme and the mean point are usually reached. The two poles are these; Fascism and government by means of the Dao. The mean point is a government which provides for all the needs of its people, but does nothing to organize them into larger projects or to help encourage projects begun by its people. This is an analogical model for seeing all governments as part of a continuum rather than isolated entities.
With this in mind, we can look at the governments of the Middle East as degraded single-power governments that embrace various degrees of fascism. The traits that embody them are these; 1. high degrees of control over its citizenry by denying them basic rights, 2. a military/security state willing and able to carry out its edicts, including shooting and dispersing its own citizenry, 3. a siphoning of resources from the majority of its citizens to a minority of its citizens. These resources are retained and never get redistributed in their entirety to the citizen majority. Thus, traits one and three disempower the people of a nation, while trait two makes sure that attempts to revolt are quashed.
There are many tools that are utilized by each trait; the more tools available to and used by the government, the lower on the pole towards absolute fascism. But making separate scales for available tools and the will to utilize those tools helps create a more complex model. Often a government may have the tools available, but will not be able or willing to employ them. The latter may ensure a brutal crackdown, but as is being seen in Libya, if the people oppose the crackdown by force of arms, there becomes a division within the state between the people and the government. In this scenario, the people's armed resistance capability and willingness to commit that capability is measured against the scaled available tools and dictatorial will.
There are countries that have democratic governments, but increasingly coming under the influence of fascist influences. In the case of the United States, it is helpful to see our country in the terms of US and us.
US is the government, assorted lobbyists, mainstream media figures and organizations, top-tier CEOs, mega-corporations and various thinktanks and sympathetic agencies. us with the lower-case is the other 90% or so of the American population, particularly those who are NOT among that 1% with 40%+ of our nation's wealth. US is constantly trying to leach us, turn us against each other, trick and rob us, control us and remove the ability of us to oppose them. This degradation of our rights is a step by step process with plateaus; at a certain point, all those smaller steps add up, a part of our life-support system is undermined, everyone but the rich fuckers suffer, and we all go a little further down while they go up.
I was talking earlier about Daoism and mathematics. I'd like to go back to that and explore that as an analogical model here. Let's take each basic right given to us as a whole number. These add up to a certain number, let's say 10. To get from the most basic of rights, 1, to more advanced rights, 2, there was a fractional progression from 1.0 to 2.0. These were the fights of everyone who got us from the bottom to the top. Black people are no longer on plantations, women can vote, these could be examples of 2 and 3.
The efforts of US is to go in the reverse direction, from 3 to 2 to 1 to 0. It's the same thing; they do hundreds of little steps, taking us from 6.732 to 6.726. There's still hundreds of steps to go, but as soon as we reach 6 and go below, bam, all the rights of 7 are gone.
The problem is we outnumber them almost a hundred to one. Once we identify the motherfuckers as the pestilent, rotten, putrid pustulent mess they are, they done. So without employing the divisory methods described above successfully, they can't exist. They constantly fear their comeuppance, and so try to continually increase their hold upon us. This is achieved by various repeals of regulation restricting them, repeals of laws that guarantee a minimum of rights for us, and sneaking through incidents that try to establish precedent for illegal interpretations of the law. You imprison someone for uncertain charges; if there is no outcry, that becomes the new acceptable norm.
There is an eventual transition point; an event horizon where an egalitarian government becomes inegalitarian. It is when an oligarchy forms, becomes entrenched, and reaches the point of being able to remove rights without effective opposition. As soon as the oligarchic elements understand that there is no one to stop them, they escalate their activities continuously until there is now an autocracy, where the leadership can impose restrictions on its citizens at will.
In the Middle East, those autocracies are losing their ability to impose restrictions upon its citizens. In the United States, the oligarchic, corporate elements that become an autocracy are making their move. They have been unopposed by spineless democrats for long enough that they think they can go for the throat. In Michigan,
"And for it to happen on the same day, because just a couple hours before that, the state of Michigan, my state, the Senate voted—the House already passed this bill—the Senate voted on a bill that gives the governor the so-called "emergency powers," where he can essentially fire the elected mayor or city council or school board of any town in Michigan and turn it over to a corporation—I’m not making this up—turn it over to a corporation to run the town, or appoint a corporate manager to run the town—not the elected people, but this individual or this company can run the town."
The only opposition left is the people; however, as we hold and resist, there will be elements of the government which, in their own self-interest, will begin taking our positions. They are only as strong as we are, but they know we still hold their yokes, as corrupted as that process now is. We vote them in. We can vote them out. We can recall them when they step beyond the boundaries. We must use our legal means and protest to first stem, halt, then reverse the hemorrhaging of our protective rights. The more of our rights that get revoked, the more likely our revolution will resemble Libya rather than Egypt.
Cikán muzika velice dobrá...
The Dragon of San Marcos
With this in mind, we can look at the governments of the Middle East as degraded single-power governments that embrace various degrees of fascism. The traits that embody them are these; 1. high degrees of control over its citizenry by denying them basic rights, 2. a military/security state willing and able to carry out its edicts, including shooting and dispersing its own citizenry, 3. a siphoning of resources from the majority of its citizens to a minority of its citizens. These resources are retained and never get redistributed in their entirety to the citizen majority. Thus, traits one and three disempower the people of a nation, while trait two makes sure that attempts to revolt are quashed.
There are many tools that are utilized by each trait; the more tools available to and used by the government, the lower on the pole towards absolute fascism. But making separate scales for available tools and the will to utilize those tools helps create a more complex model. Often a government may have the tools available, but will not be able or willing to employ them. The latter may ensure a brutal crackdown, but as is being seen in Libya, if the people oppose the crackdown by force of arms, there becomes a division within the state between the people and the government. In this scenario, the people's armed resistance capability and willingness to commit that capability is measured against the scaled available tools and dictatorial will.
There are countries that have democratic governments, but increasingly coming under the influence of fascist influences. In the case of the United States, it is helpful to see our country in the terms of US and us.
US is the government, assorted lobbyists, mainstream media figures and organizations, top-tier CEOs, mega-corporations and various thinktanks and sympathetic agencies. us with the lower-case is the other 90% or so of the American population, particularly those who are NOT among that 1% with 40%+ of our nation's wealth. US is constantly trying to leach us, turn us against each other, trick and rob us, control us and remove the ability of us to oppose them. This degradation of our rights is a step by step process with plateaus; at a certain point, all those smaller steps add up, a part of our life-support system is undermined, everyone but the rich fuckers suffer, and we all go a little further down while they go up.
I was talking earlier about Daoism and mathematics. I'd like to go back to that and explore that as an analogical model here. Let's take each basic right given to us as a whole number. These add up to a certain number, let's say 10. To get from the most basic of rights, 1, to more advanced rights, 2, there was a fractional progression from 1.0 to 2.0. These were the fights of everyone who got us from the bottom to the top. Black people are no longer on plantations, women can vote, these could be examples of 2 and 3.
The efforts of US is to go in the reverse direction, from 3 to 2 to 1 to 0. It's the same thing; they do hundreds of little steps, taking us from 6.732 to 6.726. There's still hundreds of steps to go, but as soon as we reach 6 and go below, bam, all the rights of 7 are gone.
The problem is we outnumber them almost a hundred to one. Once we identify the motherfuckers as the pestilent, rotten, putrid pustulent mess they are, they done. So without employing the divisory methods described above successfully, they can't exist. They constantly fear their comeuppance, and so try to continually increase their hold upon us. This is achieved by various repeals of regulation restricting them, repeals of laws that guarantee a minimum of rights for us, and sneaking through incidents that try to establish precedent for illegal interpretations of the law. You imprison someone for uncertain charges; if there is no outcry, that becomes the new acceptable norm.
There is an eventual transition point; an event horizon where an egalitarian government becomes inegalitarian. It is when an oligarchy forms, becomes entrenched, and reaches the point of being able to remove rights without effective opposition. As soon as the oligarchic elements understand that there is no one to stop them, they escalate their activities continuously until there is now an autocracy, where the leadership can impose restrictions on its citizens at will.
In the Middle East, those autocracies are losing their ability to impose restrictions upon its citizens. In the United States, the oligarchic, corporate elements that become an autocracy are making their move. They have been unopposed by spineless democrats for long enough that they think they can go for the throat. In Michigan,
"And for it to happen on the same day, because just a couple hours before that, the state of Michigan, my state, the Senate voted—the House already passed this bill—the Senate voted on a bill that gives the governor the so-called "emergency powers," where he can essentially fire the elected mayor or city council or school board of any town in Michigan and turn it over to a corporation—I’m not making this up—turn it over to a corporation to run the town, or appoint a corporate manager to run the town—not the elected people, but this individual or this company can run the town."
The only opposition left is the people; however, as we hold and resist, there will be elements of the government which, in their own self-interest, will begin taking our positions. They are only as strong as we are, but they know we still hold their yokes, as corrupted as that process now is. We vote them in. We can vote them out. We can recall them when they step beyond the boundaries. We must use our legal means and protest to first stem, halt, then reverse the hemorrhaging of our protective rights. The more of our rights that get revoked, the more likely our revolution will resemble Libya rather than Egypt.
Cikán muzika velice dobrá...
The Dragon of San Marcos
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Violation of Civil Liberties Within the United States
Within the last thirty years, and speeding up exponentially in the last decade, the citizens of the United States have seen the erosion of their legal protections and rights at the benefit of the wealthy, who not only have corrupted the very integrity of the executive office, and the entire US government, but gained extrajudicial rights that only can exist when the equal rule of law is not enforced. What benefits does a wealthy individual gain when they can be directly responsible for the election of a public official? The prank call to Governor Walker of Wisconsin's office (Koch Brother Prank Call) illustrates with certainty one thing; that those with vast sums of money have direct access to the government. I would challenge anyone who can claim that the average citizen would have equal attention as clearly obtuse.
This is the tip of the iceberg illustrating the inequalities between the majority of the US population and the small minority that possesses most of the country's wealth, and the US government, which is more and more becoming one and the same. To better understand the depth of the threat we face, one of the best examples in current events to examine is the United States government's response to Wikileaks.
I believe the best way to mentally approach the challenge we face is via imagery and symbology. Grouping concepts utilizing this approach allows for different organizational strategies, and will enable us to think on a different level from those who are, at their root, the cause of all this world's oppression. In that spirit, I want you to see 1. the ever-increasing US security state apparatus, 2. the main trades which corporations are currently monopolizing; pharmaceuticals, food (and importantly, seeds), health insurance, energy (Big Oil), telecommunications, and the Banking industry, 3. the neverending wars of the United States and the lobbying of the military-industrial complex, first brought to America's attention by President Eisenhower, as branches or arms of a single entity, a cancerous growth not only infesting our country, but every other country on Earth, draining natural resources without replenishing them and increasingly polluting land, sea and air via oil use and spillage, as well as skimming continuous increases in money from the majority of the world's population, forcing them to tighten their belts while its profits continue to skyrocket, and growing ever more prosperous as it continues to invent reasons to engage in war in distant countries and contributes to destabilization of governments around the globe. Imagine this cancer as a creature, a chimaeric monster with its own kind of intelligence which seeks to divide everything and create conflict, for it is only in that pursuit that profit may be infinitely focused in one individual.
Call it the Hydra, for it has many heads; corporate law firms like Hunton & Williams, which commissioned online security firms HB Gary, Palantir Technologies (oh fuck it's sauron), and Berico to find ways to attack and undermine "supporters" of Wikileaks, in an effort to destroy the aforementioned institution. While there are many enemies of Wikileaks, the US government one of the foremost among them, in this case Hunton & Williams was hired on behalf of... Bank of America. Wikileaks is preparing a big info drop on BoA, which they say has the potential to bring more than a few board members down. However, the Hydra's head is still connected to its body; Glenn Greenwald, who was one of the people targeted by Hunton & Williams' associates, reports,
"And perhaps most disturbing of all, Hunton & Williams was recommended to Bank of America's General Counsel by the Justice Department -- meaning the U.S. Government is aiding Bank of America in its defense against/attacks on WikiLeaks."
This is a perfect illustration of the interconnectedness of our opposition; just like the US government bailed out Wall Street for billions upon billions (and won't do the same for us!), the US government will serve as legal obfuscation and servile attack dogs for the Banking industry as well. That is because the Banking industry is the government, and the government is the banks, the pharmaceutical corporations, Monsanto, the oil industry, the electric giants, Comcast, and the rest. Old and decrepit, sluggish dinosaurs that they are, they control our means of communication, our means of transport, heating and cooling, our medicines, food, soon water, they even hold hostage our very housing. We must break ourselves free of these dependences, and provide them ourselves. Until we do, they also control our very lives. And their only goal is endless consumption, for their greed can never be satisfied. Recognizing this threat is the first step.
Wikileaks, as current center of Sauron's attention, should have some background provided. I will do so by listing chronologically the three major releases that have led to the US government to target and attack Wikileaks.
1. A video release of an Apache gunship attack on Reuters employees mistaken as insurgents, and subsequent shooting of a van that pulled up to aid the wounded, in which contained children.
2. The Afghan and Iraq War Logs release, which published some 391,000 military reports on events on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq.
3. The US Embassy Diplomatic Cables drop, which consists of 251,287 cables. Only 5011 of these cables have been published so far.
Wikileaks also published leaks on many of the dictators in the Middle East now in danger of frying alive (hopefully soon). While not the trigger for Tunisia's revolt, Wikileaks did open to the public eye of Tunisia the excesses of dictator Ben Ali for all to see, as well as the US government's knowledge of these excesses, neither of which were news to the people of Tunisia except insofar as it provided concrete evidence of criminal conduct that could be used to reinforce the moral position of the people.
That is what Wikileaks has done in the last two years. What has the US government done in the last year to Wikileaks? To put it simply, it has pulled strings with major corporations to prevent avenues of funding to Wikileaks, as well as initiating a number of attacks on their ability to maintain a web site, manhandled its relations with submissive European countries to initiate international manhunts for Wikileaks spokesman Julian Assange, and most likely pressured Sweden to detain Assange on unusual charges with unusual police handling. They have targeted US citizens who are affiliated with or voice support for Wikileaks.
This behavior has a parallel course in the US government's handling of detainee Corporal Bradley Manning, who is alleged to have leaked the Apache gunship video and the Afghan war logs (Charges against Manning, 7/6/10). Bradley Manning was arrested in late July 2010, and has since then remained in solitary confinement as a Maximum Custody Detainee for now over eight months. The US government has harassed supporters of Bradley Manning, from seizing all their electronic devices and detaining them temporarily at airports to detaining visitors to Manning at Quantico brig and impounding their vehicles. The prison has also attempted to increase the severity of Manning's imprisonment, having elevated Manning from prevention of injury to suicide watch in late January for two days. This was punitive and improper procedure: only medical personnel are allowed to recommend suicide watch, and the psychiatric on duty said it was not warranted. It was carried out regardless by the Quantico Brig commander James Averhart, who was replaced by Denise Barnes a week after his decision to elevate Manning's security status (Former Quantico Officer David MacMichael letter provides additional perspective). Manning is still in solitary confinement, and his visitors continue to be harassed. (Bradley Manning, current situation February)
So: to Wikileaks and their spokesman, Julian Assange, and to whistleblower Bradley Manning, the US government, from legislative branches to judiciary, has:
Wikileaks
1. Prevented Visa, Mastercard, Discovery, AE, Amazon, Paypal, and other major corporations from doing business with Wikileaks.
2. Forced companies to not host Wikileak's website.
3. Arrested Assange and demanding extradition to the United States, even though he has not been charged.
4. Teamed up with major corporations to attack US citizens who support Wikileaks.
Bradley Manning
1. Kept in solitary confinement for almost 9 months without trial.
2. Punitively changed security status in order to put emotional, mental and physical pressure on Manning, against proper procedure.
3. Harassed and attempted to prevent any visitors to Manning.
The issue here is not the severity or illegality of these measures; it is that the US government is clearly attempting to suppress any political organ that exposes actions and decisions made by the US government to the public. Thus, the first objective of the global community should be to expose all of the US government, to all of the public. Each breach, like the one caused by Anonymous's counterattack against HBGary head Aaron Barr, teaches us the depth of the machinations constantly going on behind the scenes, and by exposing its moral corruption and ethical vapidity to the public eye, forces them to dissemble and recoil, creates more cracks. That's how the cookie crumbles.
Ovi kriminalci nedostajati klase,
The Dragon of San Marcos
This is the tip of the iceberg illustrating the inequalities between the majority of the US population and the small minority that possesses most of the country's wealth, and the US government, which is more and more becoming one and the same. To better understand the depth of the threat we face, one of the best examples in current events to examine is the United States government's response to Wikileaks.
I believe the best way to mentally approach the challenge we face is via imagery and symbology. Grouping concepts utilizing this approach allows for different organizational strategies, and will enable us to think on a different level from those who are, at their root, the cause of all this world's oppression. In that spirit, I want you to see 1. the ever-increasing US security state apparatus, 2. the main trades which corporations are currently monopolizing; pharmaceuticals, food (and importantly, seeds), health insurance, energy (Big Oil), telecommunications, and the Banking industry, 3. the neverending wars of the United States and the lobbying of the military-industrial complex, first brought to America's attention by President Eisenhower, as branches or arms of a single entity, a cancerous growth not only infesting our country, but every other country on Earth, draining natural resources without replenishing them and increasingly polluting land, sea and air via oil use and spillage, as well as skimming continuous increases in money from the majority of the world's population, forcing them to tighten their belts while its profits continue to skyrocket, and growing ever more prosperous as it continues to invent reasons to engage in war in distant countries and contributes to destabilization of governments around the globe. Imagine this cancer as a creature, a chimaeric monster with its own kind of intelligence which seeks to divide everything and create conflict, for it is only in that pursuit that profit may be infinitely focused in one individual.
Call it the Hydra, for it has many heads; corporate law firms like Hunton & Williams, which commissioned online security firms HB Gary, Palantir Technologies (oh fuck it's sauron), and Berico to find ways to attack and undermine "supporters" of Wikileaks, in an effort to destroy the aforementioned institution. While there are many enemies of Wikileaks, the US government one of the foremost among them, in this case Hunton & Williams was hired on behalf of... Bank of America. Wikileaks is preparing a big info drop on BoA, which they say has the potential to bring more than a few board members down. However, the Hydra's head is still connected to its body; Glenn Greenwald, who was one of the people targeted by Hunton & Williams' associates, reports,
"And perhaps most disturbing of all, Hunton & Williams was recommended to Bank of America's General Counsel by the Justice Department -- meaning the U.S. Government is aiding Bank of America in its defense against/attacks on WikiLeaks."
This is a perfect illustration of the interconnectedness of our opposition; just like the US government bailed out Wall Street for billions upon billions (and won't do the same for us!), the US government will serve as legal obfuscation and servile attack dogs for the Banking industry as well. That is because the Banking industry is the government, and the government is the banks, the pharmaceutical corporations, Monsanto, the oil industry, the electric giants, Comcast, and the rest. Old and decrepit, sluggish dinosaurs that they are, they control our means of communication, our means of transport, heating and cooling, our medicines, food, soon water, they even hold hostage our very housing. We must break ourselves free of these dependences, and provide them ourselves. Until we do, they also control our very lives. And their only goal is endless consumption, for their greed can never be satisfied. Recognizing this threat is the first step.
Wikileaks, as current center of Sauron's attention, should have some background provided. I will do so by listing chronologically the three major releases that have led to the US government to target and attack Wikileaks.
1. A video release of an Apache gunship attack on Reuters employees mistaken as insurgents, and subsequent shooting of a van that pulled up to aid the wounded, in which contained children.
2. The Afghan and Iraq War Logs release, which published some 391,000 military reports on events on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq.
3. The US Embassy Diplomatic Cables drop, which consists of 251,287 cables. Only 5011 of these cables have been published so far.
Wikileaks also published leaks on many of the dictators in the Middle East now in danger of frying alive (hopefully soon). While not the trigger for Tunisia's revolt, Wikileaks did open to the public eye of Tunisia the excesses of dictator Ben Ali for all to see, as well as the US government's knowledge of these excesses, neither of which were news to the people of Tunisia except insofar as it provided concrete evidence of criminal conduct that could be used to reinforce the moral position of the people.
That is what Wikileaks has done in the last two years. What has the US government done in the last year to Wikileaks? To put it simply, it has pulled strings with major corporations to prevent avenues of funding to Wikileaks, as well as initiating a number of attacks on their ability to maintain a web site, manhandled its relations with submissive European countries to initiate international manhunts for Wikileaks spokesman Julian Assange, and most likely pressured Sweden to detain Assange on unusual charges with unusual police handling. They have targeted US citizens who are affiliated with or voice support for Wikileaks.
This behavior has a parallel course in the US government's handling of detainee Corporal Bradley Manning, who is alleged to have leaked the Apache gunship video and the Afghan war logs (Charges against Manning, 7/6/10). Bradley Manning was arrested in late July 2010, and has since then remained in solitary confinement as a Maximum Custody Detainee for now over eight months. The US government has harassed supporters of Bradley Manning, from seizing all their electronic devices and detaining them temporarily at airports to detaining visitors to Manning at Quantico brig and impounding their vehicles. The prison has also attempted to increase the severity of Manning's imprisonment, having elevated Manning from prevention of injury to suicide watch in late January for two days. This was punitive and improper procedure: only medical personnel are allowed to recommend suicide watch, and the psychiatric on duty said it was not warranted. It was carried out regardless by the Quantico Brig commander James Averhart, who was replaced by Denise Barnes a week after his decision to elevate Manning's security status (Former Quantico Officer David MacMichael letter provides additional perspective). Manning is still in solitary confinement, and his visitors continue to be harassed. (Bradley Manning, current situation February)
So: to Wikileaks and their spokesman, Julian Assange, and to whistleblower Bradley Manning, the US government, from legislative branches to judiciary, has:
Wikileaks
1. Prevented Visa, Mastercard, Discovery, AE, Amazon, Paypal, and other major corporations from doing business with Wikileaks.
2. Forced companies to not host Wikileak's website.
3. Arrested Assange and demanding extradition to the United States, even though he has not been charged.
4. Teamed up with major corporations to attack US citizens who support Wikileaks.
Bradley Manning
1. Kept in solitary confinement for almost 9 months without trial.
2. Punitively changed security status in order to put emotional, mental and physical pressure on Manning, against proper procedure.
3. Harassed and attempted to prevent any visitors to Manning.
The issue here is not the severity or illegality of these measures; it is that the US government is clearly attempting to suppress any political organ that exposes actions and decisions made by the US government to the public. Thus, the first objective of the global community should be to expose all of the US government, to all of the public. Each breach, like the one caused by Anonymous's counterattack against HBGary head Aaron Barr, teaches us the depth of the machinations constantly going on behind the scenes, and by exposing its moral corruption and ethical vapidity to the public eye, forces them to dissemble and recoil, creates more cracks. That's how the cookie crumbles.
Ovi kriminalci nedostajati klase,
The Dragon of San Marcos
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Brave protestors in Wisconsin show the way
The unrest in the Middle East continues to expand, but it's important to call attention to the beginnings of our own fight for freedom igniting right here in the United States of America. The fight against the government by the public employee worker unions is one of the first stands the people will have to take to prevent their rights being stripped from them and their savings winnowed down to nothing to feed that fraction of the population above them pulling all the strings.
What the current situation is in Wisconsin is this; the 18 democratic senators have left the state to hold up legislation that would eliminate most bargaining rights from public workers unions (excluding protections for the police and firefighters unions). Fundamentally, this is the removal of rights from U.S. citizens on the part of the state government, disempowering a majority to empower a minority (a rich one at that). The many lose out for the few; we will see this attempted robbery continue, even more blatantly if Wisconsin falls. This shouldn't be a surprise; it is natural when one is continually victorious to pursue further conquests. In this case, the victories are the removal of rights from mass organizations, while continuing to confer benefits to those in the highest earning brackets. It is at its most basic the utilization of the laws and legislature to subjugate the many without using the threat of force. With an overall spineless or completely complicit democratic opposition, republicans know they will have no legislative opposition. Fortunately, public unrest can still hurt.
Currently, the protests in Wisconsin have gained the support of the police and firefighter unions, commendably standing in solidarity with other public employees. Most newsites have reported that firefighters and police were exempted from the bill's cuts, ostensibly because those unions voted for Walker. This is incorrect: according to Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Wisconsin Professional Firefighters Association, only the Milwaukee unions voted for Walker. Walker's reasons for excluding those public employees from the budget cuts were ideological, Mitchell says.
That aside, Mitchell explains, "I think that we have to be clear, that this is not just an attack on unions, this is an attack on the middle-class. We have over 200,000 public sector employees in the state of Wisconsin. There’s jobs, there’s families, that’s 200,000 employees. Now think about their wives and children, you could throw another 100,000 on top of that. This is a clear attack on the rights the middle-class has to talk to their employers about hours, wages and working conditions. We just cannot stand by and let that happen." (Mahlon Mitchell at Democracy Now)
It's important to note that the public sector employees have already accepted all of Walker’s proposed cuts, which would see them pay 12 percent of their health benefits and half their pension costs. What they are fighting to keep is their right to collective bargaining.
Because of similar legislation in Ohio, and taking inspiration from Wisconsin, protests are taking place in Columbus. This Tuesday, the Wisconsin assembly is set to begin debate on Walker's plan.
It is important to understand that the mainstream media, and media as a whole, is myopic; it concentrates its gaze on one subject at a time. Even the best news sites and aggregates are affected by this "focus of attention", as perhaps it should be. We, however, must keep in mind all the important events happening simultaneously around our earth. Whatever may be going on in the Middle East, as Wisconsiners plan their own surge of protest Americans must pay attention to the struggle going on in our own country at this very moment. This week should be pivotal in Wisconsin vs. Walker.
In solidarity with our protestors,
The Dragon of San Marcos
What the current situation is in Wisconsin is this; the 18 democratic senators have left the state to hold up legislation that would eliminate most bargaining rights from public workers unions (excluding protections for the police and firefighters unions). Fundamentally, this is the removal of rights from U.S. citizens on the part of the state government, disempowering a majority to empower a minority (a rich one at that). The many lose out for the few; we will see this attempted robbery continue, even more blatantly if Wisconsin falls. This shouldn't be a surprise; it is natural when one is continually victorious to pursue further conquests. In this case, the victories are the removal of rights from mass organizations, while continuing to confer benefits to those in the highest earning brackets. It is at its most basic the utilization of the laws and legislature to subjugate the many without using the threat of force. With an overall spineless or completely complicit democratic opposition, republicans know they will have no legislative opposition. Fortunately, public unrest can still hurt.
Currently, the protests in Wisconsin have gained the support of the police and firefighter unions, commendably standing in solidarity with other public employees. Most newsites have reported that firefighters and police were exempted from the bill's cuts, ostensibly because those unions voted for Walker. This is incorrect: according to Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Wisconsin Professional Firefighters Association, only the Milwaukee unions voted for Walker. Walker's reasons for excluding those public employees from the budget cuts were ideological, Mitchell says.
That aside, Mitchell explains, "I think that we have to be clear, that this is not just an attack on unions, this is an attack on the middle-class. We have over 200,000 public sector employees in the state of Wisconsin. There’s jobs, there’s families, that’s 200,000 employees. Now think about their wives and children, you could throw another 100,000 on top of that. This is a clear attack on the rights the middle-class has to talk to their employers about hours, wages and working conditions. We just cannot stand by and let that happen." (Mahlon Mitchell at Democracy Now)
It's important to note that the public sector employees have already accepted all of Walker’s proposed cuts, which would see them pay 12 percent of their health benefits and half their pension costs. What they are fighting to keep is their right to collective bargaining.
Because of similar legislation in Ohio, and taking inspiration from Wisconsin, protests are taking place in Columbus. This Tuesday, the Wisconsin assembly is set to begin debate on Walker's plan.
It is important to understand that the mainstream media, and media as a whole, is myopic; it concentrates its gaze on one subject at a time. Even the best news sites and aggregates are affected by this "focus of attention", as perhaps it should be. We, however, must keep in mind all the important events happening simultaneously around our earth. Whatever may be going on in the Middle East, as Wisconsiners plan their own surge of protest Americans must pay attention to the struggle going on in our own country at this very moment. This week should be pivotal in Wisconsin vs. Walker.
In solidarity with our protestors,
The Dragon of San Marcos
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Daoist Practice and Medicinal Marijuana
I have tried to find my own way with herb on how to use it for beneficial effects, as well as to analyse drawbacks. Much of what I've subjectively experienced I can tie to basic Daoist methodologies. My opinions on herb starts with some basic marijuana information. Herb has two main species, Indica and Sativa. Regular smokers know the differences and how they can be summed up; indica gets you stoned, sativa gets you high. In other words, indica has more of a physical effect, often inducing a state similar to tiredness or feeling weighed down, colloquially known as "couchlock", while sativa has a mental effect which for many can elevate mood and perceptional awareness. For others, sativa can induce paranoia, which I believe to be the result of overstimulation. The heightened mind under stiva in some individuals takes in more stimuli than it is used to and is unable to process it; unnecessary danger flags may be tied to a number of thoughts as a result and thus inducing panic or paranoia. It should be noted that there are individuals which, for these reasons, prefer one species over another.
There are countless hybrid breedings between sativas and indicas. What should be obvious from the body vs mind effects of the two species is that one can assign Daoist principles of yin-yang to Sativa and Indica as well as Mind and Body. Additionally, the hybrids serve as the third arm; Humanity to Heaven and Earth, Universe to Time and Space, and Events to People and Things. Thus, by utilizing sativas and indicas to variously do body work, mind work, and combinations thereof, one is using herb to improve oneself.
Returning to binary is a good way of describing the mind and body work. There is a passage in the Jingshen that reads,
"Heaven and Earth revolve and penetrate each other. The myriad things are collected and become One. If you are able to understand the One, then there is nothing that is not understood; if you are not able to understand the One, then there is nothing that can be understood."
My understanding of this passage is as follows; Heaven is 1, Earth is 0. The myriad things are every fraction from 0 to 1, in other words .1 to .999, which in the end results in 1. Without understanding this defining nature of the universe, nothing can be accomplished.
The next step is in understanding that 2 is Earth as well. Yin numbers are even, Yang numbers are odd. So, the process of counting, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, can be broken down into 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 (Thanks google!). Fine, so what is the point?
Excessive indica can cause couchlock; excessive sativa can cause paranoia. In both cases there are polar problems at play; the mind is overloaded on sativa, the mind cannot control the increased perception of body under Indica and acts as if tired or slow. What are the basic sativa and indica exercises?
While using indica, practice physical activities and staying awake. While using sativa, endeavor to keep oneself calm and collected, while being able to orderly carry out activities that require memory; "Oh right, I was going to clean the fridge (go and do it), put the laundry in the dryer (go and do it), annnddd return to that book I was reading... (go and do it)" Advanced level exercises are vigorous physical exercise even while extremely stoned on indica, and appearing normally in public with strangers on sativa. Start out slowly and proceed slowly; successful repetition is key. Mistakes are fine, too; that is how you learn. As you carry out these tasks and movements repeatedly you are imprinting those patterns within you and building upon them. The first time you do a new task, you acknowledge that you are capable of trying it; the first time you succeed at that new task, you prove that you are capable of achieving it. After those two stages are reached, one can begin refinement; either doing the tasks on higher quantities of sativa or indica, or increased complexity/success in carrying out that task at the same level. Fine tuning can be done by being able to carry out the activity competently at any level of altered state; from being heavily stoned or very high, to week-old sober, to one pinner of herb an hour ago.
There is a passage in the Taiyi Sheng Shui that reads as follows:
"Heaven and Earth, the style-name and name, were established together. Therefore, if one transgresses the other's boundaries, each fits with the other without thinking. When Heaven was insufficient in the northwest, that which was below raised itself through strength. When the earth was insufficient in the southeast, that which was above (pictographs missing). If there is insufficiency above, there is excess below; if there is insufficiency below, there is excess above."
What this passage expresses is best depicted with the yin-yang symbol; the meaning is the nature of heaven and earth in balance. Earth has substance while air lacks it; air can fill above or below but earth must be built upon itself. When there is a cavity in the earth, as a valley or canyon, it is filled by air; when there is a mountain what is displaced is sky. Exchanging Earth and Air for Earth and Heaven for Zero and One for Yin and Yang, and you now understand the unified principle of balance; that for all of these things, the rules of Heaven and Earth bind them. This is the case with your Indica/Sativa work as well, in addition to your sober/non-sober time. Understanding this can help you deal with the pitfalls and side effects of Daoist practice on marijuana.
The basic side effects are the result of the unified principle of balance; if you do too much sativa work, you may find your mind too active and out of sync with your body. If you do too much indica work, you may find yourself uninterested in trying new activities or getting out of routines; in other words, stagnant. There is also a word of warning for those who experience bi-polar symptoms or emotional changes. Particularly with bi-polar individuals, one has a yin state and a yang state to one's emotions; one being negative and one being positive, to simplify things. Utilizing herb in mental or physical exercises can cause shifts in the individual in accordance to the time of exercise, amount/strenuousness of exercise, and type of exercise. Think of it as a parabolic graph, with the peak point at the time of exercise, the height of the peak determined by the amount of exercise, and the peak's point positive or negative depending on the type of exercise and the individual's particular yin or yang state. This last paragraph is my working theory; I'm still in the progress of thinking it out. There are at least two common bi-polar yin-yang states; sadness/normal and angry/normal. Let us accept for the sake of the argument that sadness is yin and anger is yang. Yin is indica while yang is sativa.
In the case of a bi-polar yang individual taking 4 bowls of sativa on a Friday at 8 PM and doing mind exercises, that individual could experience polar shifts during that same time interval in ensuing weeks... like mental echoes. I believe that if the yang individual was doing mental exercises which involved heightening of reaction time and problem-solving, they would be more likely to experience increased feelings of anger or mania at the "echo point" next week. If they did mental exercises involving calming of the mind and concentration, I believe they would more likely experience absence of manic shifts around the echo point, but manic shifts instead on the outlying poles of the echo point. (in this case, two to three days before and after the echo point)
As you can see, this is following the unified principle of balance. With a mountain there is air to both sides; with a valley there is earth to both sides. What is in the middle of one is on the outside of another. Getting used to this type of thinking will allow you to see new ways of doing your exercises, whether mental or physical. Use yang medicine (sativa) with yin (body) exercises; work on increasing your speed while maintaining physical control. Use yin medicine (indica) with yang (mind) exercises; focus on staying awake, doing successive tasks, or doing one complex task. This isn't even going into hybrid strains of herb, in which there are limitless possibilities for variations in practice.
I will end this with a word for my friends who drink but do not smoke, or even use nothing at all (besides sugar and caffeine, the staples of life). All of the above can be adapted for sober life, or while inebriated to various degrees. I will suggest that you use only the amount of alcohol you think will lead to serious practice. Instead of using the indica/sativa dynamic, use the highly inebriated/slightly inebriated dynamic, with sober as the main neutral state. Highly inebriated/sober and slightly inebriated/sober exercises should also be done; I would suggest the former to be much more rare and infrequent than the latter, alcohol is not the same tool as herb. People from cultures that can traditionally stomach large amounts of alcohol, and personally can do so, should find the right balance for themselves; for them a greater quantity may be required. I will speculate more on the use of various psychoactive substances including alcohol in daoist practice in future articles.
Zbogom,
The Dragon of San Marcos
There are countless hybrid breedings between sativas and indicas. What should be obvious from the body vs mind effects of the two species is that one can assign Daoist principles of yin-yang to Sativa and Indica as well as Mind and Body. Additionally, the hybrids serve as the third arm; Humanity to Heaven and Earth, Universe to Time and Space, and Events to People and Things. Thus, by utilizing sativas and indicas to variously do body work, mind work, and combinations thereof, one is using herb to improve oneself.
Returning to binary is a good way of describing the mind and body work. There is a passage in the Jingshen that reads,
"Heaven and Earth revolve and penetrate each other. The myriad things are collected and become One. If you are able to understand the One, then there is nothing that is not understood; if you are not able to understand the One, then there is nothing that can be understood."
My understanding of this passage is as follows; Heaven is 1, Earth is 0. The myriad things are every fraction from 0 to 1, in other words .1 to .999, which in the end results in 1. Without understanding this defining nature of the universe, nothing can be accomplished.
The next step is in understanding that 2 is Earth as well. Yin numbers are even, Yang numbers are odd. So, the process of counting, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, can be broken down into 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 (Thanks google!). Fine, so what is the point?
Excessive indica can cause couchlock; excessive sativa can cause paranoia. In both cases there are polar problems at play; the mind is overloaded on sativa, the mind cannot control the increased perception of body under Indica and acts as if tired or slow. What are the basic sativa and indica exercises?
While using indica, practice physical activities and staying awake. While using sativa, endeavor to keep oneself calm and collected, while being able to orderly carry out activities that require memory; "Oh right, I was going to clean the fridge (go and do it), put the laundry in the dryer (go and do it), annnddd return to that book I was reading... (go and do it)" Advanced level exercises are vigorous physical exercise even while extremely stoned on indica, and appearing normally in public with strangers on sativa. Start out slowly and proceed slowly; successful repetition is key. Mistakes are fine, too; that is how you learn. As you carry out these tasks and movements repeatedly you are imprinting those patterns within you and building upon them. The first time you do a new task, you acknowledge that you are capable of trying it; the first time you succeed at that new task, you prove that you are capable of achieving it. After those two stages are reached, one can begin refinement; either doing the tasks on higher quantities of sativa or indica, or increased complexity/success in carrying out that task at the same level. Fine tuning can be done by being able to carry out the activity competently at any level of altered state; from being heavily stoned or very high, to week-old sober, to one pinner of herb an hour ago.
There is a passage in the Taiyi Sheng Shui that reads as follows:
"Heaven and Earth, the style-name and name, were established together. Therefore, if one transgresses the other's boundaries, each fits with the other without thinking. When Heaven was insufficient in the northwest, that which was below raised itself through strength. When the earth was insufficient in the southeast, that which was above (pictographs missing). If there is insufficiency above, there is excess below; if there is insufficiency below, there is excess above."
What this passage expresses is best depicted with the yin-yang symbol; the meaning is the nature of heaven and earth in balance. Earth has substance while air lacks it; air can fill above or below but earth must be built upon itself. When there is a cavity in the earth, as a valley or canyon, it is filled by air; when there is a mountain what is displaced is sky. Exchanging Earth and Air for Earth and Heaven for Zero and One for Yin and Yang, and you now understand the unified principle of balance; that for all of these things, the rules of Heaven and Earth bind them. This is the case with your Indica/Sativa work as well, in addition to your sober/non-sober time. Understanding this can help you deal with the pitfalls and side effects of Daoist practice on marijuana.The basic side effects are the result of the unified principle of balance; if you do too much sativa work, you may find your mind too active and out of sync with your body. If you do too much indica work, you may find yourself uninterested in trying new activities or getting out of routines; in other words, stagnant. There is also a word of warning for those who experience bi-polar symptoms or emotional changes. Particularly with bi-polar individuals, one has a yin state and a yang state to one's emotions; one being negative and one being positive, to simplify things. Utilizing herb in mental or physical exercises can cause shifts in the individual in accordance to the time of exercise, amount/strenuousness of exercise, and type of exercise. Think of it as a parabolic graph, with the peak point at the time of exercise, the height of the peak determined by the amount of exercise, and the peak's point positive or negative depending on the type of exercise and the individual's particular yin or yang state. This last paragraph is my working theory; I'm still in the progress of thinking it out. There are at least two common bi-polar yin-yang states; sadness/normal and angry/normal. Let us accept for the sake of the argument that sadness is yin and anger is yang. Yin is indica while yang is sativa.
In the case of a bi-polar yang individual taking 4 bowls of sativa on a Friday at 8 PM and doing mind exercises, that individual could experience polar shifts during that same time interval in ensuing weeks... like mental echoes. I believe that if the yang individual was doing mental exercises which involved heightening of reaction time and problem-solving, they would be more likely to experience increased feelings of anger or mania at the "echo point" next week. If they did mental exercises involving calming of the mind and concentration, I believe they would more likely experience absence of manic shifts around the echo point, but manic shifts instead on the outlying poles of the echo point. (in this case, two to three days before and after the echo point)
As you can see, this is following the unified principle of balance. With a mountain there is air to both sides; with a valley there is earth to both sides. What is in the middle of one is on the outside of another. Getting used to this type of thinking will allow you to see new ways of doing your exercises, whether mental or physical. Use yang medicine (sativa) with yin (body) exercises; work on increasing your speed while maintaining physical control. Use yin medicine (indica) with yang (mind) exercises; focus on staying awake, doing successive tasks, or doing one complex task. This isn't even going into hybrid strains of herb, in which there are limitless possibilities for variations in practice.
I will end this with a word for my friends who drink but do not smoke, or even use nothing at all (besides sugar and caffeine, the staples of life). All of the above can be adapted for sober life, or while inebriated to various degrees. I will suggest that you use only the amount of alcohol you think will lead to serious practice. Instead of using the indica/sativa dynamic, use the highly inebriated/slightly inebriated dynamic, with sober as the main neutral state. Highly inebriated/sober and slightly inebriated/sober exercises should also be done; I would suggest the former to be much more rare and infrequent than the latter, alcohol is not the same tool as herb. People from cultures that can traditionally stomach large amounts of alcohol, and personally can do so, should find the right balance for themselves; for them a greater quantity may be required. I will speculate more on the use of various psychoactive substances including alcohol in daoist practice in future articles.
Zbogom,
The Dragon of San Marcos
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