Primary tabs
Posts
Posts
All articles from all albums, full content, latest on top,
not including Doodles
not including Doodles
Page 121 of 133, posts 601 - 605 of 664
The cover of the original mini-comic Head Shop #2.
•
•
•
•
•
[It may be necessary to widen your browser window to see the text in the format intended.]
About a quarter of a century ago, someone asked me the difference,
and rather than think about the question, (or why I was being asked), I wrote the following.
Detached . . . Attached You must realize You must realize where you are where you are in you. in you.
Most of the You aren't your
sensory inputs you have body or any of its
are situated in your head sensory organs
(tongue, nose, eyes, ears) or internal organs
which makes sense, because you use them.
because where all Lose an eye and
these inputs are registered where are you?
is in the brain, Lose all five senses
and if you have and where are you?
only a short distance to go, Stop thinking
the less problem and where are you?
with garbled information Your thoughts,
and cut circuitry like your eyes,
you will have. are tools you use.
"Where are you" If you try to
"Right here." think yourself
The body in which to that point
you presently reside, it will be like
you usually mean. swimming up a waterfall...
because your thoughts
emanate from that point.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Science says
I was somewhere else." a nerve-synapse takes
How? In your head? a certain amount of time,
You can't go anywhere, some fraction of a second.
but there are times... How many nerve synapses
where are you when are there to a thought?
you're dreaming or asleep? How long does it take?
Time.
Usually, in a dream,
your sensory inputs You're at least that
are less detailed, time and distance away
but you don't stop from the point you are.
to think about Time and space prevent
how "unreal" it was your touching your self.
until you "wake up." But this delay is hardly
Well, WAKE UP!... preventing you from living.
alt="Mindful Webworks" width="150" height="25"> /
/ Detached ... Attached, page 2 of 3
Oh, you're not dreaming? Living goes on
How do you know? even if that SELF
When I dream, of which you are aware
and when I realize ceases to be
it was a dream, aware of itself.
I wake up.
The animal processes of
Oh, you're not dreaming? Living go on
How do you know? even if that SELF
When I dream, of which you are aware
and when I realize ceases to be
it was a dream, aware of itself.
I wake up. The animal processes of
Dreaming is another seeing, sensing,
state of consciousness reacting, surviving,
that you play around in and propagation
while your body rests. are continued.
Wakefulness is the Any bush or cow
state of consciousness does that much.
utilizing the Mind is what?
"rational" levels Even plants seem to react
of your mind. to violent intent.
When dreaming, There are levels
you're detached where the border between
from your body. living and non-living
You aren't using seem to dissolve.
your normal senses, Where all this leaves us,
but sometimes as an existent
sound and feeling, and experiential
and sometimes light, physical being,
from the "real" world is a set of
will cross electrical, chemical,
into your dreams. and mechanical reactions
which can be reproduced
in a well-equipped laboratory.
But wakefulness:
is it any more real This makes
than a dream? every physical thing
How real is something you sense or do,
you see in a dream including your thoughts,
while you're dreaming? inextricably bound to
Perhaps as valid and real the physical plane.
as what you see
around you right now.
alt="Mindful Webworks" width="150" height="25"> // Detached ... Attached, page 3 of 3
But if you accept
But you don't use your eyes that that SELF is not
to see that dream world. your senses
If light and senses or body or thoughts,
and thoughts of this where can you possibly be?
state of consciousness Either self-awareness
are affecting your is just thoughts,
dream-consciousness, and natural animal nature
how much does is all there is,
your dreaming world and this page is a
affect this one? useless diversion from
Which of these reacting, surviving,
are you living in, propagating,
really? or self-awareness,
If they affect each other that self-aware point
constantly, is something
we are living in both outside space and time
states of awareness which therefore
all the time. sets man free
It's just more of one of his mortal animal nature,
and less of the other (or rather gives him
depending on the freedom to be free of it)
how you're attuned. and makes him a human being.
Ever been deep in thought
and fall into a dream?
Now, if you are not
your body, or your senses,
Now, what if or your thoughts,
there are other or your emotions,
states of consciousness... or your desires,
just that close, if you aren't any of that,
just that real, what good are you,
all the time? and what are you up to?
•
•
•
•
•
The following were designed thinking of the changable-letter street signs that churches and businesses use. Go ahead and use any of these for any purpose you find fit. I would appreciate it, though, if you would let me know of any use you make of them.
Use is a right
Abuse a med prob
Actions governable
Do you want
drug warriors
or peace officers?
If God wanted us
to enjoy ourselves
we'd have pleasure
God planted here
good things to please us
Prohibition is
anti-Jesus
This evil so-called
war on drugs
Makes our good law
a tool of thugs
The war is all
inside your head
A change of mind
drug peace instead
Prohibition is
no solution
Give us back
the Constitution
Citizens!
We should be free!
Prohib
is anti-family
Let's end this
evil prohibition
Smoke or drink,
Let's just go fishin'
The One who made all
flora and fauna
gave us the gift
of marijuana
Justice has
become a joke
When I can booze
but cannot toke
Drugs may be used
in moderation
All prohibition
kills the nation
Repeal!
Lord set our country loose
from prohib
which is law abuse.
Booze is legal
So's tobacco
Pot is not
The law is wacko
God gives us chocolate
pot and wine
and life and love
all gifts divine
•
•
•
•
•
The so-called war on drugs is utterly unwinnable and in its very conception perverts the purposes of good government.
Repeal!
[Published in the ![[*]](/toolshed/new-window.png){kind=small}
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise 1997 Mar 25.]
1997 March 16
Editor, the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
P.O. Box 1278
Bartlesville, Oklahoma 74005
Editor:
I write to take issue, respectfully, with a recent Examiner editorial opinion. We are not by any reasonable measure winning the war on drugs, and whatever statistical blips may so indicate cannot compare with decades of continuing social self-destruction. Indeed, not only is the so-called war on drugs utterly unwinnable, it is in its very conception a perversion of the important purposes of good government, an approach more suited to totalitarian governments we have always opposed than to our bastion of liberty.
Drug abuse is an individual, personal, and medical problem with social repercussions, but it should never have been made a criminal activity in and of itself. Whether the drugs in question are relatively soft like coffee and marijuana, or relatively hard like alcohol or heroin, we will never be able to stop their acquisition and use, and a government ostensibly of personal liberty and social responsibility should not even try!
The hypocrisy, dangers, corruption, and social destruction caused by Prohibition is written in our very Constitution, and in the dark history between the 18th and 21st Amendments. Although you can see it even right there in such as the historic-reprint pages of the Examiner and the Tulsa World, Americans have refused to learn this hard lesson of history. Many evil and powerful vested interests are allied with the misguided well-intentioned successors of Carrie Nation to give us an era of modern equivalents to the rum runners, poison bathtub gins, speakeasies, and all a hundred times worse than back then. Prohibition inevitably magnifies, rather than alleviates, the social problems which drug abuse can create.
We have learned the proper approach to the problem of alcoholism is to treat the alcoholic, and adjudge the drunk driver or public inebrient, without making a criminal of the individual drinker. Repeal did not do away with the problems of alcohol abuse, but society suffers infinitely less from legalization and regulation than it does from prohibition, which is tantamount to law abuse.
We must abandon the "win the drug war" prohibitionist propaganda which supports gangsterism, invites corruption, undermines drug-awareness education efforts, and criminalizes non-threatening private adult behaviors. We must embrace the legal models we have evolved for dealing with alcohol and tobacco and apply those models to all these currently-illegal substances. Turn our "drug warriors" back into peace officers, end the obliteration of our precious Constitutional rights, end the threat to personal privacy and to familial and social stability, and release us from the burdens of a perverse, protracted, unwinnable civil conflict. As families stood up and protested in a previous generation, let our cry be: REPEAL!
Repeal Heals
1997 March 27
Editor, the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
P.O. Box 1278
Bartlesville, Oklahoma 74005
Editor, it's humbling to have one of my many swelled-headed opinions see print in our esteemed local paper, but my writing skills are poor if my call for repeal deserves the depressing headline "Lost Cause." Folks are weak, the toll of substance abuse terrible. Yet, in the spirit of the original editorial, I do see that we are making continuing progress in education efforts, franker and better-informed health-care approaches. Family, community, and congregation should continue to employ every tool in the arsenal of our families, educators, doctors, ministers to heal the sick in habit and educate for healthy spirits. In our "crusade for health," the social reform of repeal abandons a weapon which backfires. Repeal heals, amending the law to be just, consistent, conforming with the Golden Rule. History and faith both teach: the way to personal or social health is positive, peaceful yet powerful. This week most especially, I'm reminded that the best health habits come from strength of faith. Say not lost, but just cause!
Related Mindful Webworks:
Prohibition fuels gangsterism —It's not drugs but PROHIBITION which provides the fuel for the modern equivalent of rum-runner profits and Al Capones.
Independent Religionist's Liberty — Are USA Constitutional liberties not being extended to non-aligned religionists?
The Golden Rule and Prohibition — Countering common erroneous arguments for prohibitionism and applying the Golden Rule
A run-in with Officer Green — "WHAT'S THAT SMELL??" scowled Officer Green, and ordered me out of my car.
Head Shop — Cartoons, songs, and more regarding the appeal of indulgences and the consequences of desire.
Prohibition fuels gangsterism —It's not drugs but PROHIBITION which provides the fuel for the modern equivalent of rum-runner profits and Al Capones.
Independent Religionist's Liberty — Are USA Constitutional liberties not being extended to non-aligned religionists?
The Golden Rule and Prohibition — Countering common erroneous arguments for prohibitionism and applying the Golden Rule
A run-in with Officer Green — "WHAT'S THAT SMELL??" scowled Officer Green, and ordered me out of my car.
Head Shop — Cartoons, songs, and more regarding the appeal of indulgences and the consequences of desire.
•
•
•
•
•
Cause for Despair, or...? On the evolution, status, and future of news reportage and the public interest.
Are you distracted about the news or about the media's handling of it?
"What's the news, across the nation?
We have got the information
In a way we hope will a - muuuusssse yooooou...."
-from the old Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
If you live in Cape Cod, the major all-columns headline and the large full-color photo on the front page is Rose Kennedy's death. All you mentioned, Bob, and this, just shows to go ya that the news is there for its infotainment value.
Originally, or at least in colonial America, weren't "newspapers" more like the editorial pages, mostly opinion sheets? News came by word of mouth. So I think the concept of "journalism" newspapers, as allegedly objective reportage, came later. (I'm open to correction on my history here.) But while the good reporters, also artists, statesmen and businessmen, were looking the other way, the salesmen took over their worlds. The point of your local newspaper may be to influence opinion in the editor's mind, to report nobly on human doin's from the reporter's point of view, but the real reason for both is to sell ads.
Same with videonews. Now, I'm not decrying making a buck, and I make more if I can, but when marketing, sales, being the biggest and charging the most, becomes the driving force rather than a supporting function, then you have news that is shaped by ratings weeks and by which vidclip best goggles the rubes. What's the biggest selling newspaper in the nation? The National Enquirer, I believe. Even if it's USA Today, that's not such a significant difference [grin — now I'm sure to hear from some hardworking, journalistic USA Today reporter who's right here on line]. They serve those selfsame shoppers as your local "news."
National network news, CNN Headline News, these broader markets still try to maintain an air of journalistic quality, or so I guess since I haven't watched a broadcast network news report in many years and even on CNN, with some of the dopey stories and sensationalist approaches, it's hard to see how these people can think of themselves as being much above tabloids. All products of the public school system no doubt, like their audience. :)
You complain about your local news readers (where is you at, anyway?) hardly covering Kobe; CNN did some good extended reportage, but an awful lot of that "lingering on the mourning victims and heart-breaking individual examples" stuff. Yes, I know what pain is like, thanks. What's the news? (I'm not saying there should be none of this, only that they dwell on it far too much.)
So, what've we got? The locals don't have to deliver ze big news (didn't he work for Nixon?) because the networks take care of that, so they can focus on pumped-up local-interest stories that boost ratings and sell ads. But in all cases, cheesiest local to best network, we've got a public that's too much entertainment-gluttonous and news-disinterested. The media cater to the market, and the market shape the media. A downward spiral of quality of expectations and goods shapes a mediocre system. I recall folks addressing this very problem 'way back in the '60s, and how far the media have fallen since then only seems to bear the problem out.
But there's a (I hate this phrase, don't even really know what the heck it's supposed to mean, but having seen it several times in the past few days, I guess it's a fad and I want to be among the first to jump on a bandwagon for a change) sea change going on in your news access. If you know how to pump the web, you can get news right here on this screen you're looking at (and — heh — please don't tell me you printed this out), faster and more complete than your local newshounds even know about it. Besides the various newsnet feeds (like AP, Reuters &c. which CompuServe carries), just tapping into various forums on CIS has often brought me news long before it hits the papers. I've sometimes seen some news story, not the latest hard news of course but not all that soft either, printed in a newspaper days after I got the same story off CIS, as if it had just happened. And I've more than once read major news from people it's happening to right here on the nets before the media have had the story. It's back to word of mouth, with a worldwide ear. And with some of the problems of the "coloring" of the news of those days. Would you like to subscribe to my vidtext opinion sheet? [kidding]
This is only an embryonic stage, of course. For that word-of-mouth, you have to dig, and that's not as cozy as Joe Blow turning on his tube. So we have a problem here on the front end of stratification — the lazy media catering more and more to an undereducated and lazy market with an interactive media demanding intelligent application. And news providing, which has for years been aggregating into a few major sources, is getting thrown open as well. You can't yet get a CIS menu of today's video newsclips, download them, and view them, the way you can AP text copy, but we're very close. When both regional and world news are available in such customizable form, news provision will still be market-driven, but you won't have the mass choices dictating the arrangements. Joe Blow can catch his big basketball story (and Joe's not such a bad guy for being more interested in the local team than a distant tragedy, is he?) first up if he wants, and you can punch up your congressperson's activities of the day. (Something about the image of punching up a congressperson that I'll bet appeals to a lot of people.)
As the technology becomes more accessible to the ordinary person, as we become less oriented toward "running computers" or "watching television" and more oriented toward being able to get out of them what we want, we may be able to reduce the stratification. I have great expectations about the educational value of this evolving "new" medium, as well, because I've got to have something to lend me hope that the attitudes of Joe Blow will transcend the local and the mundane and the trivial. Otherwise, we'll have fifty thousand channels of I Love Lucy reruns. Hey, I started out trying to cheer you up and I end up getting depressed? Forgive my rambling. Been under the weather the past few days.
Did you ask for this?
Another Mindful Webwork about mass media:
TV or Not TV — Yes, Virginia, there is an 'off' switch.
TV or Not TV — Yes, Virginia, there is an 'off' switch.
•
•
•
•
•