Attention Organic And Local Food Consumers, Livestock And Horse Owners:

I am posting here straight from StopAnimalID.org, because this issue is so important, and I don't want to miss anything.
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The USDA plans to make every owner of even one horse, cow, pig, goat, sheep, chicken, or pigeon register in a government database and subject their property and animals to constant federal and state government surveillance, and the animal owner will have to PAY for the privilege of owning animals!

To learn more about the ramifications of this Government decree and how it will affect everyone, not just farmers and animal owners, navigate our site and visit our forum.

The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is a national program to identify and track livestock animals, including poultry, horses, cattle, goats and sheep for the purpose of disease containment. NAIS plans to use RFID and GPS technology to track animals, and requires every farm or “premises” be registered with government agencies, even if that premises houses a single animal. While NAIS’s purported goal of disease containment appears to be beneficial, the requirement for American citizens to register privately-owned property for tracking and monitoring purposes has very serious implications for our privacy, rights and freedoms.

StopAnimalID.org is the online manifestation of a grass roots refusal to submit to the latest grasping for control of what was once a government of We The People, but has now become a government of Them, The Agri-Conglomerates. This website is a means for like-minded individuals to band together and discover they are not alone in opposing this abuse of privacy and property rights.

Our agenda, perhaps obviously enough, is to stop the National Animal Identification System. We hope to do this by first raising awareness among the public. To do this we will compile a wealth of data regarding the NAIS in an easy to peruse format online. We will also provide printable materials to put the basics of this issue and what it means into places where it will count most, such as feedstores, farm supply stores, farm auctions, etc.

Secondly, we will facilitate communication and interaction via our forum, email and contact lists. We will seek to build an online community where like-minded individuals can go to review current events, their current personal and group tactics and actions and analyze both our successes and defeats.

Finally, we will provide the information needed to effectively combat the juggernaut that is the NAIS, which bears down on us. From editorials to links to analysis of the law and meetings and public hearings. We will seek to publicize the names and addresses of people in positions that make them important to contact. We will push this data into as many hands as we possibly can and fight this issue at the grass roots, online and if needed eventually in the courts.

But to succeed StopAnimalID.org needs the particpation of every single Citizen of these United States who still values freedom and the use of their private and personal property, not to mention their own privacy. Whether you own livestock or not your help is needed. We must have your participation, contribution and effort to succeed in spreading the word, raising consciousness and empowering this movement. Join the fight today. This may be one of the biggest issues of your life.

James Brown is Dead.

I'd like to take a moment to remember the Godfather of Soul, who passed from this plane yesterday. We've lost a legend.

To James Brown: God Bless ya for all the funk.
Even if we still can't understand what the hell you were saying.

RIP

Time, space, and maybe why African Americans have such great rhythm...

My brain likes to find ways to explain things differently to the general public. It’s why I’m an artist.
What follows is just an explanation of something that is not a break-through. It's just me thinking.
If you mistakenly find that you believe you are reading something racist, I implore you to read it again. It is rather a possible explanation as to why African Americans may be more in tune than Americans of European descent in the ways of spirituality, rhythm, and time. It is a neutral, leaning towards positive, statement.
I'm not the best writer, so I hope it all comes across properly.

It uses points from http://www.13moon.com 's Mayan prophecy explanation to illustrate my point.
(Because people need data, proof, etc. in order to believe that something is true...)


I was thinking today about stuff I read about time and x,y,z coordinate systems stunting our thinking.
From http://www.13moon.com/:
"The presence of the clock gave birth to the notion that time lies outside our bodies - that it can be tracked by a machine, and that we can sit and watch it "fly" by tick-tock as though it is something linear, containable, and separate from the organic, flowing process of life. The adherence to the clock for our sense of time and timing is noted as the greatest obstacle to allowing the full telepathic abilities of the human to flower."

"Next came the Cartesian Coordinate Rectilinear Grid System (1637) which went on to establish the foundational platform of all modern math and science. Thanks to Rene Descartes (the man infamous for his quote "I think therefore I am,") the ceiling of perception validated only the reality of the 3 dimensions of physical space. The coordinates of X,Y, and Z rendered the fourth dimension obsolete from our worldview.

At that moment, time became reduced from its qualitative essence to that of a quantity. The mind who adopted the lens of the linear grid also adopted the limited perception of time as a 3rd dimensional linear progression of pure duration.

Our societal paradigms have continued to operate with these limitations in place. Thus if something can not be seen, touched, or proven with measurements, it does not, in effect, exist."


I personally think that this is also evidenced in the mass adoption of religion over spirituality, whereas no physical proof is needed for the faithful, but gestures are instead the measurement of an impercievable faith, which meshes with the aforementioned societal paradigms and replaces spirituality, which is not measurable.

I've been thinking about the people that I know who seem to have somewhat avoided this fate in their thinking, and I think of African Americans.

African American slaves were shut out from learning these predominantly Euro-centric systems of measurement for a longer period of time than white Americans. They were forbidden to learn them as slaves, and most likely did not have the same systems in place in Africa, the way that the English, etc. did before coming to America. So, it has most likely not been a part of their culture for as long as is has for Americans of European descent.

It is often said that there is a grain of truth in stereotypes, which is why they seem amusing or ironic.
We've all heard the stereotypes about how black folks are always late.
While this is largely an offensive and demeaning slur, I have experienced an actual difference in the way that many American blacks relate to the passing of time. Time seems to move slower, and more in tune with natural rhythms, rather than the clock.
It has also been my experience that many people of African origin seem to have this inherently. It is not learned, but rather exuded naturally. It is a sort of faith in the universe that they possess. More recently in history, I think that this faith has been superceded on many occasions by a learned faith in Jesus instead, but it seems to not have disappeared entirely among Christian American blacks.

When I think about the fact that slaves were kept from learning the predominant systems of time, reading, writing, and "modern mathematics", I think that this may be the hidden blessing in slavery, if we look at the very long term view of our existence in the universe, rather than the shorter-term crippling effects it has had on black American life.
It kept blacks more in tune with the natural systems, while the rest of the world around them got caught up in inaccurately measuring things and eventually lost the ability to connect with natural rhythms and spirituality. Perhaps this is the basis of another stereotype- "white boys can't dance and have no rhythm".
This loss of connectivity in the dominant population is what I perceive to be the cause of most of today's "broken" or impaired infrastructures.

If you understand the possibilities that time may not be linear, coupled with the idea of vibration as an important effecting force in the universe as evidenced in quantum physics and string theory, and relating to the possibility of dimensions beyond three, then the idea that African Americans, in staying true to their natural tendencies for time and vibration (rhythm and sound), have been living in a way that is more cooperative with the true cycles of our universe, than white Americans who have been studying it for a lifetime using the inaccurate methods that are still widely accepted today.



Feedback encouraged.

dredg show; Anticipation

Caught the dredg show last night in Philly. Ambulette and Ours opened for them.
They were all fantastic! I really liked Ours, and bought the EP from Ambulette. I spent WAY too much money on shirts and cds.
Haven't done that for a while.
Took my daughter and we had such a good time. :)
I am now deaf in one ear, and we both have the culmination of a weekend cold/sore throat thing. I'm sure I'll get over it soon.

Looking forward to seeing Ralph Nader on Wednesday in Solebury! Yes, I voted for him once. I really am interested in hearing his take on things at the moment; post-war.

Also looking forward to signing up for a workshop in September - converting a diesel Mercedes to run on veggie oil, and there's a ton of solar workshops coming up, too.

In August, my kid wants to see Dir En Grey when they come around with Korn. (read: great opening band, with the beer-guzzling block-heads coming out for the headliner). Looks like J-Rock is becoming popular in the states. I warned my daughter: "Just wait, you'll soon see everyone wearing t-shirts for Malice Mizer, Moi Dix Mois, Gackt, etc., and it will become popular and mainstream, and you'll hate it. Then you'll understand why people like me and the stepdad complain about Hot Topic and reminisce about Ministry, real safety pin ear-piercings, and fishnet that we ripped OURSELVES."

:)

Saul Williams

Last night I had the chance to hear Saul Williams read his poetry in a small setting. I HIGHLY recommend this experience to ANYONE and EVERYONE.
PLEASE, for the love of god, if you can, GO.
I also had the good fortune to get his autograph on his new book, which, although it really means nothing in the end, made me happy.

This is one of those experiences that has registered so deeply that I find myself having a hard time recalling it. I think it's more subliminal/subconscious than anything. I heard a lot of what I've been learning/screaming about for some time, but the subtlties are what make all the difference.

I think what registers for me the most is that deeper understanding really is not a lot more than the realization of the limitations of my prior and current understanding.

This is true in all things.