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…Discover How Your Life Will Not Remain In The Same Place! Read Prophetic Word From Bishop Climate, Testimony Sent In To BishopClimateBlog.com & More Below!..
" Since praying with this ministry I feel God is answering our prayers. Me and my sister was behind on bills. After we prayed with this ministry all our bills due got paid! Thank you God and Bishop Climate Ministry and Team! " – Lisa Bellard
Hi Child of God,
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Thousands of testimony's and miracles are taking place every day by people activating there faith! its important for you to be able to worship in a place where God is! The Kingdom Church London is a place where the presence of God Lives and where the captives are set free! Continue to read the prophetic word shared from Bishop Climate for today and the blogs posted earlier this month! Do you need A personal prophetic word for this month? then send me a prayer request to firstname.lastname@example.com
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In this article an outline is given of the history of information and publishing in forestry, communications technology is described (including mobile computing, GIS and satellite observations), and the future exchange of information via the Internet and web-based services is discussed. Two examples show the use of computer technology and decision support systems to prepare a forest management plan and to purchase a hardwood table for the garden. A section is included on The Global Forest Information Service (GFIS), being developed by IUFRO, which is based on a distributed network of metadatabases which catalogue the information resources (digitalized or not) of contributing partners.
Topic: forestry,information technology,diffusion of information,information services,databases,internet,history,computers,communication
Publication Year: 2001
Source: Unasylva 52(204): 12-23

subset: commoncrawl


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Yesterday's game was one hell of a crazy game. Arsene took a massive gamble and decided to play both Wilshere and Merida from the start. It was also a surprise not to see Rosicky who most thought would start today's game, not even on the bench… the line up for the game was:
Sagna – Gallas [...]


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Hey guys,
So I did a post a while ago about life after uni and I thought because my actual graduation was only at the start of this month that I would share some photos and how I felt with you!
Technically I finished university in June but the University of Worcester can only rent out the cathedral in November so I had to have mine much later than everyone else's. It's crazy because I have been studying for three years and this is what it all builds up to, wearing the cap and gown.
I was a little bit nervous building up to it but I really was excited about it. It was one of the proudest moments in my life! My mom saw me come out in my cap and gown and cried which made me nearly tear up because I was the only one out of my brother and sister and I to go to university. The tickets were quite pricey though, around £18 each! Also Claire Balding received a honorary degree during my ceremony so was nice to see her speak about motivation and say how amazing we were for getting there!
It was amazing getting to share this moment with my parents, boyfriend and sister. They were all so pleased to see me get to this stage as university was so difficult at times.
Also, to my amazing friend who I carried out my final year study with I am so pleased that crazy stressful time brought us together as friends! You realise in these times who is really important and who is there for you when you are the most stressy you can possibly be.
Hope you enjoyed a little look into my life and what has been going on, this will be fun to look back on!
Thanks for reading,


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Are you wanting to straighten your teeth, but afraid it will be a hassle in your everyday life? If so, you are not alone. Traditional braces full of metal wires and brackets are hard to keep clean and can oftentimes be painful. However, thanks to Invisalign® you no longer have to worry about the inconvenience because life with Invisalign is very simple.
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Some of the conditions Invisalign aligners can correct in your smile are overbites, underbites, gapped teeth, open bites, overly crowded teeth, and crossbites. These conditions are common in people, making Invisalign helpful to thousands of people.
Invisalign is popular because of the discreteness of the system and the ease of care it takes for them. Because they are not made of metal, they simply snap on, over your teeth. This is helpful because you can take them off easily as you eat or brush your teeth. The aligners will need to be worn for at least 22 hours of the day. This will help keep your treatment time on track.
No more worrying about metal brackets or painful adjustments thanks to Invisalign! These are smooth aligners can adjust your smile through this simple aligner system. If you would like to know if Invisalign is right for you, please call us today at 626-458-8898 and schedule an appointment. Here at Beautiful New Smiles in Alhambra, California, our friendly team is happy to address any questions or concerns you have pertaining to your oral care.


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While we're tallying the dogs vs. cats votes (dogs are winning, cat lovers!) I thought it might be fun to look at some of
the reasons we love our feline companions. Following are the basic laws of physics as they apply to cats, which are not necessarily at all like those that apply to us
lesser beings.
Law of Cat Inertia – A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some
outside force – such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying mouse.
Law of Cat Motion – A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good
reason to change direction.
Law of Cat Magnetism – All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct
proportion to the darkness of the fabric. Additionally, dark fur will only be attracted to
light clothing and vice versa.
Law of Cat Thermodynamics – Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case
of a cat, in which case all heat flows to the cat.
Law of Cat Stretching – A cat will stretch to a distance proportional to the length of the nap
just taken.
Law of Cat Sleeping – All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as
uncomfortable for the people involved, and as comfortable as possible for the cat.
Law of Cat Elongation – A cat can make its body long enough to reach just about any counter top
that has anything remotely interesting on it.
Law of Cat Obstruction – A cat must lay on the floor in such a position to obstruct the maximum
amount of human foot traffic.
Law of Cat Acceleration – A cat will accelerate at a constant rate, until it gets good and ready
to stop.
Law of Dinner Table Attendance – Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served.
Law of Rug Configuration – No rug may remain in its naturally flat state for very long.
Law of Obedience Resistance – A cat's resistance varies in proportion to a human's desire for the
cat to do something.
First Law of Energy Conservation – Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and
will, therefore, use as little energy as possible.
Second Law of Energy Conservation – Cats also know that energy can only be stored by a lot of napping.
Law of Refrigerator Observation – If a cat watches a refrigerator long enough, someone will come along and
take out something good to eat.
Law of Electric Blanket Attraction – Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at
something approaching the speed of light.
Law of Random Comfort Seeking – A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable
spot in any given room.
Law of Bag/Box Occupancy – All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the earliest
possible nanosecond.
Law of Cat Embarrassment – A cat's irritation rises in direct proportion to its embarrassment times the amount
of human laughter.
Law of Milk Consumption – A cat will drink his weight in milk, squared, just to show you it can.
Law of Furniture Replacement – A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of said
Law of Cat Landing – A cat will always land in the softest place possible; often the mid-section of an
unsuspecting, reclining human.
Law of Fluid Displacement – A cat immersed in milk will displace its own volume, minus the amount of milk
Law of Cat Disinterest – A cat's interest level will vary in inverse proportion to the amount of effort a
human expends in trying to interest him.
Law of Pill Rejection – Any pill given to a cat has the potential energy to reach escape velocity.
Law of Cat Composition – A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-Matter + It Doesn't Matter.
Law of the Scratching Post – A cat will reject formal cat scratching posts in favor of the most expensive
piece of furniture in the house.
Law of Doors – A cat will not allow any particular door in a given room to remain closed. However, once said
door is opened it is of no interest whatsoever except as a place to stand half in and half out of.
Law of Hairballs – The necessity of a cat to regurgitate a hairball is directly proportional to the expense/difficulty-in-cleaning of the item upon which the cat is currently
Law of Humans – Humans exist for three primary reasons; to feed the cat, give the cat attention, and clean the litter
Law of Arrogance – Complete arrogance and indifference must be maintained at all times lest other, larger house dwellers
forget who is truly in charge.


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The only team for me
C-E-L T-I-C Celtic are the team for me, With a knick knack paddy whack, Give a dog a bone, Send dem Orange b*stards home...
Hold your head up high.
Заряд The Soldiers' Song (Irish National Anthem)
Thanks to Fionn for the lyrics
Song about Celtic winning the European Cup in 1967
A classic Irish folk song sang at Celtic and Ireland games, also at Ireland rugby games where it beats "Sweet chariot" hands down!
Sung by the green brigade. (Ed: The Original that spawned many copies - similar with a lot of Celtic songs actually)
This Celtic ringtone is chorus only. Ed: New better audio added 3/2012)
Thanks to Brad Aitchison for the lyrics, sorry the recording isn't the full song.


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Imbolc Blessings
February 2nd marks the ancient Celtic festival of Imbolc celebrating the midpoint between Winter Solstice (December 21) and Spring Equinox (March 21). Pagan/Wiccan believers honor this special day of hope between the frozen and dark longest night of the year and the promise of the virile fertility of Spring. Many of our contemporary religious and cultural days are deeply rooted within the annual rhythms of Nature… Imbolc, Ground Hog Day, Candlemas Day, St Brigid's Day… all interconnected within the season of lactating ewes.
Learn more about Imbolc and our sacred interconnections:


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Daily Archives: August 8, 2011
The Swans – Double Chocolate Ice Cream Waffle Cupcakes
Okay ladies and gentleman, lets start this week off right with something that will make you drool…and even better you can make at home! This recipe is amazingly easy, definitely something the kids would love to help with, but is so good and could easily be served to guests:
A waffle bowl with french vanilla cake baked inside, edge dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in toasted almonds, a layer of rich chocolate pudding and ice cream filling, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a strawberry and finished with chocolate sauce drizzle. Whew! …I normally prefer to avoid box mixes, but you will see my recipe below uses two: a cake mix and a pudding mix! This recipe uses only 6 base ingredients with numerous options for modification, an excellent example of how a dessert can be both easy and elegant! (Read more)


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Different team, same result for the Grandview Prep boys basketball team.
The Pride won its first-ever state championship last season in its seventh trip to Lakeland, and will go for two in a row this week with a new-look team.
Grandview returned just one starter this season – sophomore guard Juwan Frazier – but added added two high-scoring guards in juniors Jamal Palmer and Jordan Coblin and a tough inside presence in junior forward Abdul Dial and sophomore center Jack Marcelin.
None of the four newcomers has played in a state basketball tournament.
"Every year is different for us, this year especially," Grandview coach Joe Dawson said. "With four new starters that haven't experienced this, our kids are real excited. We're all excited about getting to play in that atmosphere and compete for the state championship."
The Rattlers (21-8) present a big obstacle for the Pride (24-5) in today's 10 a.m. Class 2A semifinal.
FAMU, which edged Winter Garden-Foundation Academy 43-42 in Friday's regional finals, features a pair of talented guards in seniors J.T. Escobar and Tre Anderson.
Escobar averages 30 points per game and Anderson averages 20, and containing them will be key for Grandview.
"We're going to have to make them work for every basket," Dawson said. "We have our hands full on defense trying to stop those guys, and that's going to be our focus. We know it's a tough challenge ahead of us."
John I. Leonard plays Winter Park Friday at 7 p.m. in a Class 8A state semifinal. I'll have a preview of that game later this week.


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Victoria Point and Redland Bay Tattoo Removal
Tattoos and body art are extremely common these days, estimated at 1 in 5 adults and over half of all women aged over 18, getting rid of undesirable tattoos has never before been more important. Practical and dependable techniques of tattoo removal have dragged the increase in the amount of tattoos until the development of the Picosure Laser. Research has shown that up to 30% of men and women with tattoos regret their selection.
Servicing you in Victoria Point and Redland Bay including Mount Cotton, Point Halloran, and Point Talburpin, QLD
Victoria Point and Redland Bay's # 1 Rated
Laser Tattoo Removal Clinic
Picosure Laser Tattoo Removal.
Let us prepare a new canvas for you. Victoria Point and Redland Bay Laser Tattoo Removal Staff and Facilities will offer you the best treatment available in the world for Tattoo removal.
Dermatologists and Registered Nurses and Medical Supervision.
Cosmetic Tattoo Removal.
PicoSure ® is the world's original and only picosecond aesthetic laser for a variety of aesthetic applications including tattoo removal, skin revitalization, acne scar treatment, removal of pigmented lesions and wrinkle treatment methods. This unrivaled breakthrough in laser technology delivers ultra-short pulse bursts of energy to the skin in trillionths of a second. Picosecond pulse width is 100 times shorter than nanosecond technology, enabling unequaled photomechanical impact for more effective clearance with fewer treatments.
It's game day ???! #Repost from Australian professional NRL player @andrewfifita in the midst of getting his tattoo removed with #PicoSure ? Fantastic results @vanish_skinclinic! GO THE BLUES ? ・・・ Big thanks to @vanish_skinclinic for the 2nd laser treatment on my neck. Picture saying it all, that's 1 treatment. #tattoo #grateful ・ #Cynosure #CynosureAustralia #LoveLookingGood #TattooRemoval #Results #StateOfOrigin #NSW
How Many Sessions Are Needed?
PicoSure laser is the greatest jump forward in tattoo removal treatment in the last fifteen years. Previous laser technology rely on different lasers for different colours as well as used thermal (heat) energy to get rid of tattoo ink. The PicoSure directs its treatment by a single laser it is also far more effective at tattoo removal. Tattoos can be cleared away in approximately half the number of treatments of other lasers. With approximately 6 to 8 weeks between treatments, we will save you time, a lot of money and offer you the greatest chance of complete clearance of any laser tattoo treatment available.
Victoria Point and Redland Bay Tattoo Removal Cost.
How Much Will Tattoo Removal Cost?
Our first consultations are free however your treatment will be quoted individually. Your quote will be based upon the area of the tattoo you want removed. You will be surprised at how reasonably-priced the price will be.
One point to keep in mind is the PicoSure Laser treatment is far more effective than older laser systems. The technology is more expensive per session, however, you will require approximately half the sessions. Picosure is more affordable for your tattoo removal in the long run.
Does Tattoo Removal Hurt? Can it be Pain Free?
The PicoSure laser does generate heat in the area being treated. To deal with this we cool the tattoo removal area a Zimmerman cooling system. This makes your treatment as comfortable as possible.We can also offer Local Anaesthetic injections if required.
How Many Sessions Will I Need?
Generally tattoos need around three and five treatments with the Picosure Laser. This fluctuates baseding on the style of ink, ink colour and the amount of ink is present in your tattoo. Unfortunately, as there is no standard for the ink used in tattoos , it isn't easy to know exactly the number of treatments . We can say however that for the same type of tattoo the Picosure laser is twice as quick as in removing tattoos as other laser technologies.
Picoway Laser Tattoo Removal.
Can I Tattoo Over a Removed Tattoo?
Yes . Many people doing so. In fact it can be very affordable to have your old tattoo completely removed and replaced with a fresh one of your choice.
Warnings for Tattoo Removal
We are not able to treat you if you are.
- Pregnant.
- Have seizure disorders triggered by light.
- Have or are receiving gold therapy.
- Have Lupus, an infection or open wound in the area being treated.
We provide the latest in laser technology and approved techniques to guarantee high quality tattoo removal treatment in Victoria Point and Redland Bay including Mount Cotton, Point Halloran, and Point Talburpin, QLD.
Victoria Point and Redland Bay Tattoo Removal Guarantee:
If your Tattoo isn't removed within the number of treatments you are quoted we will continue to treat your tattoo for another 12 months for free.
Call us today to book in for your first free consultation.
More Victoria Point and Redland Bay Laser Skin Treatment Clinics
Find more QLD Tattoo Laser Removal Clinics
- Picosure Laser Tattoo Removal.
- Dermatologists and Registered Nurses and Medical Supervision.
- Cosmetic Tattoo Removal.
- How Many Sessions Are Needed?
- Victoria Point and Redland Bay Tattoo Removal Cost. How Much Will Tattoo Removal Cost?
- Does Tattoo Removal Hurt? Can it be Pain Free?
- How Many Sessions Will I Need?
- Picoway Laser Tattoo Removal.
- Warnings for Tattoo Removal
- Victoria Point and Redland Bay Tattoo Removal Guarantee:


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Last week I shared with you some photos from the wedding we attended in Armidale
Here are some other photos from our trip.
We took the Bucketts Way/ Thunderbolts Way route to Armidale,
via Stroud and Gloucester.
After an early start, our first stop was morning tea at Stroud,
on Silo Hill.
It was a beautiful sunny morning
and an amazing spot.
After Gloucester, the road took many winding turns and we headed up the mountains,
the scenery was incredible.
We arrived at Armidale around 2.00,
well in time for the wedding rehearsal.
After such a strange wet and cool summer in Sydney,
it was good to get a sense of autumn in Armidale,
where the Autumn colours are everywhere.
Rain threatened just before the wedding,
but the clouds cleared and the sun shone.
On Sunday morning we woke to another beautiful Autumn day.
With a few hours to spare, we headed to the Arboretum
and enjoyed the sunshine, the colours,
the ducks
the tadpoles
and the trees.
The forecast for the weekend had been around the 20degC range,
so I had packed for wintery weather,
but it was more like 25degC
so after walking a while in the Arboretum
I had to go and buy some summer clothes
from the dregs of the sales!
We enjoyed a family lunch at the brides' parents home on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the dark clouds, the weather continued fine and mild.
On Sunday night the rain began to fall, and our trip home was misty and rainy.
We stopped at a few antique shops on the way and arrived home about 5.00pm.
We enjoyed being in the country so much,
but with the wedding and family commitments
there wasn't much time for relaxing on this little break.
Which hadn't been the purpose of the trip, of course!
It was lovely to be at the wedding
and to see more of our country was a bonus!
Having had a little "Autumn Holiday",
life does feel more like Autumn now!


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June has been a good month! For my birthday, my Father gave me the choice of one of two #5 planes he had purchased at an antique store recently. I didn't know anything about planes and made my selection based on my wife choosing a number between 1 and 10. :-)
I was excited to get my first plane and started researching immediately. What I got was a Stanley type 20 #5 in need of cleaning and tuning. Yes. The "dreaded" type 20.
Despite finding that it had a less than desirable reputation, I was still excited to have it. It was a gift from my father and my first hand plane. I have begun cleaning it up.The sole was not horrible as you can see below. This was after just a few minutes of 100 grit on top of granite. I don't have an updated pic, but the sole is now completely flat.
The iron and chip breaker have been cleaned up as well.
I still have some cleaning to do and I have to get the right tools to sharpen the blade correctly, but it's looking like a plane!


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the virus called Suffering
Slavoj Žižek. The Buddhist Ethic and the Spirit of Global Capitalism. 2012
- By : Oliver Santos
- Category : Articles, Blog
- Tags: and, Benjamin, Bodhisattva, Buddhism, capitalism, Churchland, Cognitive, Daisetsu, EGS, enlightenment, European, free!, Graduate, heidegger, ideology, kharma, King, Libet, lion, martin, metzinger, Neuroscience, Nirvana, Patricia, paul, psychoanalysis, psychology, Samsara, school, science, Slavoj, Suzuki, Teitaro, the, thomas, war, West, western, Will, You, zizek
[WOLFGANG] Nietzsche pointed out the most dangerous person
in the world is a philosopher because it comes in everything it was agreed on is no longer
clear, it confuses everyone and tonight we have a founding professor of EGS, he was here
on the first year and he has coming back every time he can. On his book one can read "the
most dangerous man in the world". [ZIZEK] Philosopher. [WOLFGANG] Now you have the most dangerous man in the
world. Please welcome Slavoj Zizek [ZIZEK] Thanks very much for the great number of you
here, just a couple of points before I'll begin, three points basically. First I must
publicly, I promised this to myself, to apologize to my good friend Christopher that I was not
here yesterday, I mean he is one of my absolute persons, the reason I'm here, and I was just
ehm I have my problems with… I was not in a good, yesterday… sorry I really apologize,
on the other hand, so you will not think something is wrong, I hope he is not here because I
formally prohibited Alain Badiou to come here. No, no, seriously because you know? He has
some health problems and he came yesterday tired and I saw him, we have lunch this afternoon
and with it the usual communist plotting against different persons and so on … he wasn't
here … ehm. Third thing, may it surprise you but I decided that, because we debated
it a lot in my class, that I will talk about buddhism and it is very open, so please don't
take this as a rhetorical point, I'm not sure how deep I'm into it, and
even if, I will be very critical, this is more kind of a series of remarks to provoke
you because I know that some of you are probably much more substantially in it than me, myself…So,
why deal with buddhism? Is it just the fashion so that we in the west feel more organic,
holistic or whatever? No, I claim that there are two features which account for the, let's
called naively, actuality of buddhism in our today's global capitalist, whatever we called
it, predicament. As we all know two features characterize our civilization today to put
it very naively: a global capitalism with its unheard dynamics; and second: science,
the role of science; and I claim in both domains buddhism, and I'm not going now into if it's
an authentic one or not? bla bla bla, but some references of buddhism, if not crucial
at least it plays a very interesting role. First I would like to begin with what may
be dismissed, but I don't think it is as simple as that, as some kind of a comical western
copy of authentic buddhism so called western buddhism, by this I mean groups in the west
who practice buddhism and so on and so on. Now if you follow this trends a little bit
you may have noticed something, how western buddhism presents itself as the remedy against
the stressful tensions of capitalist dynamics allowing us to uncouple from this frenetic
and frenzy rhythm and retain inner peace and enlightenment, but I claim, and do you know
what take me to think this? When I read, I don't know in what journal, an interesting
analysis of let's called it if not religious, spiritual trends among top managers, businessmen
of today, and to cut a long story short, 80% are what they claim tibetan buddhist or whatever
you called it, practicing so called, ehm, meditation, and I can understand it because
in so far as, if you are really engage in modern capitalism at its craziest you know?
like It is really as one of the top managers claimed, that when he studied buddhist ontology
the way he understood it, the idea of being, as you probably know, the fragility of existence,
all are fleeting phenomena everything can fall apart at every point… He said but that
this is our market today, you know? One rumor everything falls apart. So he got it correctly
this manager, sorry I forgot his name, he said if you really want to be fully engage
in this market you get crazy, so what you need is a kind of an inner distance which
tells you OK it's the crazy market, to teach you how to participate in it without being
fully existentially engage in it, that's why businessmen like this bullshit you know? even
if I speculate all day it is just a cosmic play for me, I'm aware of the nothingness
of it, it means nothing. It functions perfectly, which is why, to conclude this first point,
I think that if Marx Weber were to rewrite his legendary book on capitalist protestant
ethic and the spirit of capitalism today the title of the book would have been, I'm sure,
the taoist or buddhist ethic and the spirit of global capitalism or something like that. Now more seriously, no no no, wait a minute,
let me make one point, I cannot resist it, it's in my nature to make so called bad
taste jokes but I take buddhism extremely seriously, it's absolutely an authentic,
I don't like the term because it is itself western orientalist, let's called it subjective
existential experience. So the other reason, for me at least much more interesting is what
some people call the so called cognitivist breakthrough, the new stage of our understanding
of our brain, our thinking, provided by whatever you called them, brain sciences, cognitivism
and so on. Now I don't want to deal with the problem
like are they true or not? What I'm just saying is that more and more they are somehow
generally received, even those who should resisted it most, psychoanalysts, you know?
Often play the game of how you call this? If you can't beat them join them, you know?
They like to claim "oh but you see how cognitivist scientists are arriving up, this is just a
paraphrase of what already Freud knew and so on" you know? This kind of a join the
enemy. OK, but there is none the less one interesting point for me and here I agree
with, ehm, we have many problems with me and Wolfgang, but at one point I agree with him
and I will make this point that if we want to retain Martin Heidegger as a reference
it's crucial not to read Heidegger along the lines of some kind of anti-technological
or romanticism, you know? Heidegger walking in his stupid forest up there and cursing
all the technology bla bla. No, Heidegger was quite rational here, I read in one biography
of Heidegger that like, OK it is nice that authentic Todtnauberg, but at the end he wanted
air conditioning, full electricity and so on, you know? Ok, so what I'm saying is that
the question we should ask in this spirit is is a very naive one, if we really accept,
we don't have to but if the results of brain sciences which is … but this already to
be debated, but i don't want to enter it… that our subjective freedom or the unity of
our ego as a free and responsible agent is an illusion that in reality we are just a
well functioning neuronal mechanism? Whatever you put it. Ok, the problem is how to subjectivize this?
that is to say how should or does this affect your inner most, but not some deep metaphysical,
even everyday sense of an agent engaging in social life and so on and so on? So here I
think that buddhism to be vulgar is doing quite well without any irony because there
are three main attitudes the way I can see it, I mean only I'm talking only about those
who accept cognitivist breakthrough, and buddhism is the fourth one I think. The first predominant
attitude is simple to resign ourselves to the gap between the scientific view of ourselves
as neuronal automata, whatever you want, and our everyday self experience as free responsible
autonomous agents. The idea is that because off, you can be very materialist here, because
of how we were produced through evolutionary choice and so on so on, it we can not but
experience ourselves as free responsible agents and so on, so that we are simply condemned
to live in the gap. Scientifically we know but in everyday life, you know? It's like
the same, some of them like to use this metaphor, as we know very well how big moon is but you
cannot help perceiving moon as the small circle up there, that is the same, we cannot step
out. The second attitude, the worst if you ask
me, is the, I hope again we agree here we have many other reasons to kill each other
so here we can agree, this is my declaration of love if you didn't get it, you know? is
the habermasian position which is, he also fully asserts the duality but not as a necessary…
but the non-naturalist aspects, is for Habermas not simply as an illusion we should tolerate,
but a kind of a transcendental a priori which is necessary and even points to an immanent
limitation of scientific knowledge. No, this Habermas's reasoning is here a very transcendental
philosophical one, it's that science is a certain social practice, intersubjective
practice where, you know? we formulate universal statements, we confront them through experiments
in a debate bla bla, and in this practice the transcendental a priori of this practice,
is that we are free responsible being reasoning in a certain way and so on. So even if the
result for example of our scientific investigation is we are neuronal puppets, whatever, we should
not forget that this result is the result of an exercise of our transcendental freedom
of scientific thinking which is a priori you know? we cannot say no! that is false, if
you neglect that the result also disappears. Then we have an even more naive but in a way
sympathetic to me attitude, that of some radical brain scientists like the big couple from
La Joya I think California, Patricia and Paul Churchland, they claim, I don't think it works
what i'm saying, but it's a beautiful position… They claim that no! they claim that our term
among some brain scientists for this everyday attitude is as you probably know folk psychology,
no? this spontaneous idea, my god, I do whatever I want, we are free and so on, OK. They claim
that this folk psychology doesn't have such a deep status as some darwinists think, that
it's not a kind of a biological, evolutionarya prioribut simply a reflection
of our old naive ideologies. They say self like in old times when, I think this is even
by Patricia Churchland, an example, when so called primitive people saw a lighting they
thought God is sending us a message or there is a higher force behind and they claim when
we act, I think 'oh! I have a free self in me' which is the true source of it it's
exactly the same type of superstition and in the same way that even if you are scared
shit of a storm as I am I admit it, specially if you are in the plane when it happens, you
know? nonetheless at least mostly I succeed not starting to pray and claiming you know?
like you naturalize it, we no longer think like so called primitives … They, the Churchland
couple, they think the same thing is possible with even with our freedom of the will and
self and in a pretty naive way they described how such a society would had looked, that
it wouldn't be simply a society without punishment as some people think, mainly the
idea being, if I'm an automaton and there is no freedom of the will
what right do you have to punish me? I'm not responsible, no, for them punishment can nonetheless
be a regulative mechanism which works and so on, just a more kind, less oppressive society
and so on. The reason I don't agree with this solution is its implicitly naivety and the
one who is my good guy here, the german brain scientist, maybe you should invite him, he
didn't want to come or what? Thomas Metzinger, it would be really nice to get him,
maybe you can (refering to Wolfgang) if he has some son blackmail him like you know?
mafia, everything is permitted to get good people here to Saas-Fee, you know? maybe your
son will have an accident, who knows? if you don't come, no, he is very well how this type
of simple acceptance 'OK so what? we change our view' still leaves, even if in works,
it recognizes it 'yeah I admitted it , what's the problem? OK I'm an automaton what the
hell?' but thede factoin your activity you still treat yourself as the good
old free self, you don't really existentially accept it and here again we come to buddhism
because Metzinger, who is a serious scientist not some kind of a shitty new ager like those
who claim, you know? the tao of quantum physics, we are not talking about that, he is in but
at the same time for very precise reasons, although he is also totally materialist, he
is buddhist in the sense that he claims that although it may appear that we are, as the
first position which I described claims, that we are condemned to this duality, that is
to say scientifically we know we are neuronal automata but in your immediately self experience
you experience yourself as free agent and so on and so on, that there is nonetheless
possible as a limit case and this for him as you can guess would have been precisely
when you arrive at enlightenment in buddhism, when you accept so called Anatman that your
self does not have any substantial identity that… and this is beautiful thesis, I like
it in a way… that, and again he is not in that sense a mysticist, he claims that he
is totally a scientist, he just claims that if you go to the end in buddhist meditation
where you arrive a stage of, this is one popular book on buddhism by John Epstein I think which
is not so bad, the title is "Thoughts Without A Thinker", that literally you arrived at
a stage where you have thoughts but you no longer can say there is an I agent who is
thinking this thoughts and that he claims, although for large majority of us, he puts
it very nicely, we can't, he agrees with the first position, we can't scientifically objectively
accept as an object of study our brain, OK, we are automata, but he puts this beautifully,
his says we simply cannot really believe in it in our everyday life, even if you claim
'OK, so what? I'm so kind off automaton' in our innermost identity you cannot really
believe this except if you come to the end of buddhist meditation. I love this position although, and Metzinger
is aware of this, although, do you know that? and that is the beauty of all this debates:
cognitive scientists, buddhism; because you know? many of them are idiots but some of
them are really bright guys and they know it, for example… My God I forgot his name…
there is a scientist jewish, because this affects his notion of free will, he is so
well known in San Francisco, his name will come to me, who is the very author of the
crucial experiment… his name will come to me, i'm sorry… Benjamin Libet, you know?
the author of the crucial experiment demonstrating, allegedly, that there is no free will, you
know? is that famous experiment where… don't ask me how, i'm giving you a Reader's Digest
simplified version… that he wires your neurons and then he asks you to do some extremely
elementary gesture, for example, grab this pen and he tells you just to say now drop
it or whatever to somehow signal the moment you decided, OK you know the story, I don't
know how much part of the second before you decide your brain already knows it, signals
are already on the way, but now comes the beauty, this is why I like this guy, a big
shock to this common gang of morons stupid flat scientists is that they automatically
took this as a proof of there is no free will, because when you think you decide you just,
what's the term? take cognizance, assume what your brain has already decided it but this
is not, you see? this are intelligent guys, this is not Libet's position and he has,
that's why not of any anti-semitism or praising the jews, that is why I emphasises that he
is a jew because he makes here a very nice theological, but he is a materialist just
as spiritual point, reference to the ten commandments, prohibitions, and he claims, although it's
also very problematic topic, that we are looking for freedom of the will at the wrong point,
that the basic, he is very hegelian here negativity that the basic form of freedom is not I do
this, there we are overdetermined by neurons bla bla, but to stop it, in that split of
a part of a second when I do this (drops the pen) I can stop it and that is the form of
freedom, It's beautiful, then if you want a more complex counter-argumentation, Daniel
Dennett, who again he is like a mix, sometimes too stupid but sometimes bright, has also
a wonderful attack on this primitive reading of Libet, his point is, very Derridean almost,
a minimum of, he almost calls itdifferénce temporality of the brain, he says that
there is no freedom only if you presuppose what he wrongly I think Daniel Dennett calls
the so called central Cartesian self where ultimately things happen at the same point,
you know? if this, if you presuppose this then you can say I decided this but it already
happened, but you must first presuppose an homogeneous central agent with
basic temporality, if you renounce this then this primitive conclusion doesn't work. I'm
telling you this why? just to let you know that I'm not as if I were totally bluffing,
you know? that I know that things are more complex, but OK. Now, this is just the introduction, you know?
you've got the idea why I think buddhism is not just a kind of an amusing, exotic reference,
but it means something spiritually today in our own constellation because it, again, it
appears to be the ideal form of functioning in today's
crazy, frantic capitalism, at the same time it appears to be the proper mode of subjectivization
of the results of modern science, though how do things stand with it? now I'll go to an
even more problematic stance and then I will try to turn directly into buddhism, it will
be of course… here I have 45 min or what? very short, but please believe me I do bluff
a little bit but I know more than what's in here you know? OK. So as you all know,
let me begin with the beginning: buddhism, we all know, is concerned with solving the
problem of suffering so its first axiom, as it were, automatic presupposition is not only
we but known living being wants to suffer, OK, I will not go now immediately into it
but for me as a Freudian-Lacanian I will say here already problems began. I don't, I think
that if there is something which is from a Freudian standpoint not truth is that we don't
want to suffer and not only, I'm not going here in some obscure masochism or whatever,
I just would like to invoke to you, I will be very pathetic here even in the sense of
melodrama, imagine yourself passionately in love, isn't it that if you are truth to yourself
and you can be, no cognitive discordance here, you know very well or you suspect that at
the end it will probably end bad, that whatever will happen at the end it will be for you
terrible suffering, whatever, but nonetheless, and I've spoken with people to whom this happened,
passionately in love and then dropped and now I'm quite open and I was one of those
people whom I've spoken, heaven, but you know? when it ends in catastrophe, just suffering,
and then a friend ask me the usual question: now you probably regret it, my answer was
automatic: no! I will have done it again, you know? so I simply think that there is
in our passionate engagement certain logic where you are ready fully to buy final fiasco,
incredibly suffering, but you are ready to do it again, you know? but OK I will come
to this later. Now let's go through buddhist doxa, the source
of suffering lies in the unquenchable desire of people for things which even if they get
them will never satisfy them and it's this satisfaction which causes suffering. So, the
goal of the buddhist practice is, as we all know, is liberation from suffering, we can
called it reaching nirvana, enlightenment, awakening, whatever you want and everything
a buddhist does is ultimately for the attainment of this enlightenment. Buddhist practice first
as we all know focuses on a morality that will lead to enlightenment, you know how it
began for Buddha? He first establishes the fact life is this wheel of desire, it's
suffering, then he defines the causes of suffering and then the way to fight them and here, at
least the moment buddhism became an institution, it of course introduced a certain gradualism
in the sense that first it begins with a simple morality, everyday morality, which is supposed
to as it were paved, prepared the way, or put us on the path to enlightenment but as
they emphasise, buddhists, it's not enough just to regulate your conduct or how you act,
this should culminate in enlightenment, and the point of all this is enlightenment. This
is already interesting because you know why? I read recently in a book, I think is a book
of the guy, very interesting guy, I think… what's the title? Buddha's consciousness or
what? (The Bodhisattva's Brain) Owen Flanagan, one of the cognitivists scientists who is
also doing Buddhism, draws attention, and here begins ours western distortion, to an
interesting fact that for us in the west if you say i'm a buddhist it usually means I
practice some stupid transcendental meditation or whatever, it's automatically meditation,
while he draws attention to the fact that for the majority of the nations, I don't know,
Thailand, I don't know which others where real buddhism is a way of life for the majority,
the large majority of people don't meditate. For them being a buddhist means two things,
first to respect this ethic, moral rather than ethical, moral rules, you know? don't
be violent, don't cause suffering bla bla, and where does then meditation enter? it is
very interesting, it is just as a kind of an imagined presupposed point of reference;
you need, even if they don't exist to be cynical, you need to know that there are some
people who made it to the end, you know? so that it gives you hope, it is more, it's
kind of this subject to paraphrase Lacan subject presupposed to meditate, people need it as
a fix point of reference. OK, so let's go on. How do we then fight our enslavement to desires?
Here we have the first point of buddhism which is I think very nice materialist, there are
no higher powers, you should forget about those later religious misreadings of Karma
and so on and so on. The idea is simple that karma or faith triggered by your desires,
actions, is a kind of, is immanent today to the way we act, because as buddhists like
to point out, you know? they have this wonderful, no wonder even some stalinists-marxists like
it, the idea of codependent origination, you know? what Stalin called the 'dialectical
unity of all phenomena' to be slightly cynical, no? so the idea, I precisely try to give
you an idea of karma which is not some kind of a divine out there, it's simply that
our acts being part of a rich texture of the world leave traces, have consequences, some
consequences are good, wholesome, others are not and so on and in this way to deal with
your karma means to regulate, try to diminish negative traces, consequences of your acts
and, again, as you all know, i'll just quickly enumerate them just to give you an idea of
basically how, in a good sense, it's not a criticism, how common sense this first step
of basic morality is. You have this buddhist classification where they claim actions can
occur at three levels: body, speech and mind; and at each level, already Buddha but it was
elaborated later, proposes a whole categorization of bad acts as it were. First at the level of body there are acts
which are to be avoided: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, by misconduct is not meant
so much perversion or what, but this excessive passion, excessive attachment. Then at the
level of speech, four actions: lying, hard speech, slander, malicious gossip; and at
the level of mind: greed, anger, delusion. So, the idea is that this is widely the first
step as it were calm yourself down in what buddha calls the middle way, not the Tony
Blair's third way, but a more authentic middle way, you know? like neither excess of, I don't
know, gluttony, sex or whatever; but also not some kind of sadomasochistic radical renunciation
and so on and so on. The goal of all this is to acquire dispassion, as some translated,
for the objects of clinging to which we cling, that is to say, the point is your subjective
attitude of how much you cling, you attach yourself to objects, because, again, you all
know this, i'm just repeating it, this what in buddhism is called samsara is precisely
this wheel of life, of suffering, and the point, this is crucial I think without this
you don't get it, is not that from bad samsara we should get good samsara or karma, the point
is not if you do, this would be the western reading, if you do bad things you will have
bad karma so let's do good things to get good karma so when you die you will profit,
no no, here buddhism is not this type of bullshiting it's serious, the point is not to get good
karma, the point is to step out of it. But again i'm well aware how refine this is, stepping
out doesn't mean Melancholia, Von Trier, the End of the World; in one version of buddhism
even nothing has to change materially only your, let's called it although it sounds too
Californian, your attitude. Now I see slowly emerging problems which are
not imported by me, I registered this problems, the very ambiguities, conflicts, the way I
found them in the buddhists teaching itself, OK. The guy, sorry for the vulgarity, who
reaches this state of acquiring distance, maybe the term stepping out is wrong because
we have nowhere to go out, there is no transcendence in buddhism, that is the beautiful about it,
as you know it's called Bodhisattva, the one who is concerned with freeing all sentient
beings not just himself or herself, even not just humans from Samsara and it's cycle
of death, rebirth and suffering. But what makes it so difficult, so interesting here
is that, and this brings me to the first conflict that I see, OK, conflict tension, you know
that traditionally at least according to my informations, we get three levels or notions
of bodhisattva, they're called very nicely king-like bodhisattva, boatman bodhisattva
and shepard bodhisattva. King bodhisattva aspires to become buddha as soon as possible
and then help all others, like I do it myself, I try to reach nirvana, and the wager is by
doing this, either me as an example or by acting in a more gentle way, I will help others.
Boatman is already more communist, you know? the idea is yes but not me alone together
with others. Now the highests, according to some classifications, but for me I agree here
with critics with the other tendencies of buddhism, the lowest, the most dangerous,
where things go really wrong is sheperd-like bodhisattwa, the idea is the following one:
that the greatest ethical act is that you reach enlightenment but out of compassion
for all those who are, as they called it the greatest work of american literature, i'm
making joke, did you read the cycle of novels from, how are they called it? by Tim LaHaye
'Left Behind'? the lowests of the low, OK, what I want to said, I mean it's really
like Dan Brown is Shakespeare compared to them. But what I want to say is that, so again
that should will be the great ethical act, you are there eternal bliss bla bla but out
of compassion you go back into the wheel of suffering and so on and so on like, you know?
you give priority to others you say no I don't have the right to enjoy it myself, I'll
go back to help others, this delaying stepping it back. But some, I was told maybe i'm wrong
many of you must know it better, there are other buddhists made accounter, OK, in traditionally
buddhism there is a kind of a graduation here, you know? the lowest, the king bodhisattva
'I'll do it fuck you, you are following or not', you know? then the shepherd like
type communists, you know? and then the highest one, I was up there but uh I came in infinite
goodness, I came down to help you all. But some theravada guys and they are immediately
on their side, they make a nice argument, even if the core of authentic buddhism is
not, has nothing to do with this ridiculous European spirituality uh I move up there into
a higher domain, no, I stayed here, I'm fully here, I eat the same apples like you, whatever,
it is just my attitude totally changed, I'm still socially active, I even, it even doesn't
mean to attain nirvana that you meditated, that you are in a some kind of pseudo orgasmic
spiritual trance if this is true and authentic, buddhists always
emphasise this, you know? that this vision of buddhists saying of someone hiding in a
cave and just trembling bla bla bla that it's false, so, if this is true, why then the necessity
to step back? you can act like buddha and so on, you can attain nirvana and at the same
time be active here. The idea is, and I think again this is the origin of catastrophe, this
idea, you know? the moment somebody who wants to redeem you here we us nietzscheans should
agree, both how good he was that he sacrificed himself, don't trust the guy you know? OK. So, what do I mean by this? Now I'll come
to another, please I'm here openly exposing myself, I'm not kidding this is not rhetorics
do your criticism if you know more, I noticed another problem here, on the one hand some
radical buddhists, radical means I like them I'm sorry, describe in a wonderful way how
authentic buddhism deals with suffering, you first isolate the cause of suffering and blame
the others, for example 'oh I was deprived of that pleasure, fuck the world and so on,
why me? this is the eternal why me? question, you know? like children are starving in Somalia
OK I'll give them five dollars a month to make me feel good but why me? or my child?'.
The idea is that of course the first thing to do is to precisely stop blaming the circumstances,
blame your desire and then extinguish, although I don't like this term distinguish because
it's too violent in the wrong way, but here is a quote: "what has always been, what was
extinguished when you stepped out of samsara, cycle of suffering, it's only the false
view of the self, what had always been illusionary was understood as such, nothing was changed
but the perspective of the observant, so I know this and again correct me if i'm wrong,
I know this here the following tension which from my reading on my books on history of
buddhism, is all present there and it mirrors precisely this first tension in the notion
of bodhisattva, 'should I simple go there? and this way? is it the best thing for others?
or, should I play this sacrificial game? no no I love you so much I stepped back and so
on'. The problem is that on the one hand we have this radical description of nirvana
which is everything is different but nothing changes, you know? like 'it's the same
world out there and so on, just I'm aware of it's illusory nature and I assume this
illusory nature existentially'. Why? and this I call the minimalist attitude but then
you nonetheless have, especially attached to this notion of bodhisatwa as the one who
sacrifices himself, the opposite of what I call it the maximalist attitude 'I don't
want to reach nirvana before prior to all other sentient beings reaching it, so there
it's not just my subjective attitude, you are aiming effectively at some kind of a global,
as it were, global cosmic change. The next ambiguity I see is, and again I already
debated this in my class and some of you reproached me so I did as much of homework as I was able
to do and I still stick to my opinion, that there are serious debates among within buddhism,
I think this is the third level of the same tension namely, as you do remember how I described
it? first you do morality, you know? not too much sex, proper eating, don't curse,
don't be violent, as preparing the way for enlightenment; but the obvious point here
is, is there any link between the two? this is a great problem in buddhism, I read many
texts on this were they claim if we are really honest we have to admit that once you are
in enlightenment nothing imminently prevents you, for example from torturing people, you
can just say my acts leave no traces because I'm already at the nirvana level, no karma
and so on and so on. Now I know what you will say now 'but nonetheless where is here compassion
for others bla bla bla? I'm just making a typical western logical extrapolation totally
out of touch with existential reality of buddhism', no, I will give you immediately proofs, sorry. Before I'll go into this, the fourth debate
I encountered is the one where even the Dalai Lama has some wonderful statements like if
drinking, by drinking he means real alcohol, helps you, why not? you know? like the problem
is that many, if not all of the states, described as nirvana, can be if not totally it gets
pretty close to it, you know? like they say money is not all, my answer is usually but
it comes pretty close to it, no? Ok. That what if you can induce the experience which
imminently, inherently, fits nirvana in a biochemical way with some drugs or whatever?
how to distinguish? should we then distinguish the bad nirvana? 'I'll take a pill fuck
you I'm there' and then the good nirvana? 'i was torturing myself meditating for years
whatever', as some guys, but here I don't agree with them, try to introduce here an
ethical distinction, quote from Owen Flanagan "cases where happiness is gained by magic
pills or is due to false belief do not count because the allegedly happy person must be
involved in cultivating her own virtue. Happy states born of delusion are undeserved" but
I think this is totally non-immanent, once you are in you are in, who cares how you got
there? Ok, back to that problem of suffering, compassion
and so on, let me give you a little bit to shock you and then… yeah, yeah, I will stop
then, to shock you, some of my all stuff, a little bit of buddhism and war, because
you know? like buddhism did dealt with this problem, specially interesting is here the
relationship between japanese zen buddhism and war and it's interesting to know what
tricks this zen buddhism employed to justified taking part in war. First there are two main
strategies in zen buddhism, the first one to justified, participating in war, that is
to say killing people whatever to be clear; the first one is the standard teleological
narrative which is even well known in our western societies, a quote,
I think this quote is from Teitaro Suzuki the great popular writer: "even though the
buddha forbade the taking of life he also thought until all sentient beings are reunited
together through the exercise of infinite compassion there will never be peace, therefore
as a mean to bring this harmony those things which are incompatible killing and war are
necessary", you know? the usual trick, you know? like… My God i'm sorry to tell you
but Hitler would have argued you like this, he would had said 'I'm totally against suffering,
I want peace but fuck it, there will be no peace as long as jews are manipulating our
needs, so the only way to really fight for peace is to give to the jews, to be cynical,
one way first class ticket to Auschwitz', no? I mean, Ok. So again did you listened
precisely what this passage says, it's the very force of compassion which guilts the
sword, a true warrior kills out of love, and Suzuki was consequently here, you know? when
he wrote many texts supporting japanese war effort in China, he said "the chinese are
like stupid children, they cannot get that the sword which it's killing them now is really
the sword of love". He even proposed so much, fuck you if you even think you will squeeze
out by compassion. Suzuki and some other japanese buddhists introduced the wonderful term of
compassionate war like, you know? you do it precisely out of compassion to prevent further
att.. now comes the truth horror, OK this is the western bullshit also, we had it. But
Suzuki and others then add to this teleological, let's call it justification in the sense of
war is a necessary evil to bring about the greater good, no? and of course in a certain
way I agree with it, I mean I'm not going to bri… there is a much more radical line
of reasoning which is, I really find this one terrifying and OK, look into my book,
I think it's 'The Puppet And The Sword' but I don't want to repeat myself so I developed
this in detail; namely Suzuki also dealt with this problem, how to make the japanese military
machinery more efficient? he knew well that we have a certain elementary decency like,
lets say you are my love partner, I meet you Wolfgang in a battlefield and even if I hate
you I would find it somehow difficult to stab my knife or sword into you. Here Suzuki
enters and says 'I have this difficulty because I'm still caught in the false illusion
of my self, you know? because I still think I'm the agent of my acts I feel falsely responsible
and so on but, quote from Suzuki, a beautiful one: "if, the logic is that, if I
reach nirvana then I no longer experience myself as an acting agent responsible for
the act but, you know is this very beautiful? I admitted, this buddhist view of the world
as a free flow of phenomena where I whatever remains of me, I'm no longer an agent but
just a pure gaze, an impassive observer which meditates on this crazy dance. This makes
things easier because here, quote from Suzuki: "when I try to kill some of you it is really
not me, but the sword itself that does the killing, he (the killer) has no desire to
do harm to anybody but the enemy appears and makes himself a victim, it is although the
sword performs automatically its function of justice
which is the function of mercy". Now, are you? and please don't just tell me that this
are the freaky japanese and so on, all around you find this idea that, all around buddhism,
that reaching nirvana, getting rid of your false
self makes you a much better warrior. This is why you have this long mythology of, you
know? zen buddhists as perfect samurai because you can do it with proper distance and so
on and so on. So if you allow me now from here just to,
I mean I should squeeze it now, two concluding points. The one is that here I see, I cannot…
(a butterfly appears) My God I feel like a bad buddhist, let's squash that! take a sentient
being! good! he killed a sentient being! but you know this will worsen your karma, you
know? in the next life maybe instead of being an even greater philosopher you will be reborn
as that butterfly, who knows? Sorry, I'm not making fun, but I hope, let
me, you know why not? because, do not please misunderstand me and that's my, I'm open to
say this tragedy here, I'm not in anyway saying that
buddhist enlightenment is some kind of a joke to make killers or military better functioning,
it's an absolutely authentic existential experience, all I'm saying is that we have to accept the
gap and again Suzuki is here honest, he says buddhism is a technique of stepping out of
the karma and bla bla and he says you can be (his examples) a stalinist, a fascist,
a liberal, democrat, whatever, it doesn't matter, so I think to be a truly radical buddhist
you have to accept the minimal gap between all those ethical, you know why? because,
let me give you now a really brutal idea, if the point of acting kindly, the buddhist
moral injunctions and so on compassionate, if the true point of this morality is to teach
you to bring you this dispassionate attitude of seeing the illusionary nature of reality
and so on and so on. And when I, when I was in Korea a month ago, I debated there with
a buddhist and I laughed him, because he said yes what's the problem? when I told him wouldn't
then be logical to conclude that the true proof that you are in nirvana would have been
precisely that you can do horrible things without your acts leaving traces in your karma?
like, it's easy to claim I don't cause any suffering bla bla if you just, you know? eat
properly, don't swear, don't steal, don't have too much sex and so on and no guilt;
but wouldn't the true strength have been to do acts which usually involve a kind of a
crazy fanatical attachment, torture, killing, but to be able to do it in a zen way with
a distance? Here I go very depressed, when I read a biography of ha ha he was the one,
Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, and it is incredibly how many of his colleagues claim, people who
met him, that Pol Pot had such an absolutely breathtaking incredible in direct human relations,
his inner peace and kindness, even when he ordered you know what, that there was a kind
of a myth all around the Khmer Rouge leadership that he is in the highest state and so on. So, what I'm saying here are two things
to conclude. First: I claim that, and i'm not even taking sides here, both positions
are crazy but I claim that here we should grasp the gap that separates buddhism as one
radical condition from let's call it the western christian ethics
which is, I think there is an absolute abyss here and all those shitty attempts to claim
'no, we are all talking about the same God or this things we are wrong', mainly as
Chesterton and others emphasised, in western christian ethics the truth is as it were out
there, the whole point is excessive attachment, what buddhists see as evil is for us the good
itself, good means let's take our love, you fall in love means, Alain Badiou will probably
talk about too this later, which means you know you get this excessively attachment,
you throw yourself to the end into it. In other words, as Chesterton put it so nicely,
all other religions want to unite the world… how to unite with god? we are all one all
bla bla… Christianity separates, it is the religion of separation, Christianity is not
a religion of harmony, It's a religion which says yes there is some kind of homogeneous,
harmonious circle of life but this is bullshit, this is the pagan background. The Christian
gesture is to say no! I do something crazy, I chose this, I stick to this even if it turns
everything around. Ok, I will, if you allow me just to take this
next three minutes really to conclude, here also because some people try… this will
be the really concluding part, some people try to bring together Heidegger and buddhism
claiming again two paths towards the same and so on, no, I claim not, you know why not?
because for Heidegger what he calls Ereignis, this radical form of historicity, concealment,
unconcealment and so on and so on, and precisely this radically historical dimension is missing
in, for Heidegger Ereignis is not nirvana, Ereignis is an historical event, this dimension
I don't find. But now if allow me just to conclude and it is madness because this is
the speculative center of what I'm trying to prove, where I would have been at the same
time where I would have to entertained a certain distance towards Heidegger and towards buddhism
is in the following one, and this is not just ethical, it's much more radical distinction,
you know? as a guy called, if you want to get more on this there is an interesting book,
very, it's a modest book but very well written, I think the guy is Bret Davis, I forgot the
title (Zen After Zarathustra) but basically it's basically about Heidegger and zen buddhism
and he points to one, to a deep ambiguity in Heidegger, how Heidegger sometimes he is
radically historicists, you know? in the sense of like modern nihilism bla bla but somehow
here and there Heidegger locates, let's called it naively, the origin of evil of how things
go wrong, into the a priori structure of this closure of being itself, for example I will
read you this short passage from Heidegger's Der Spruch des Anaximander where he claims
something which sounds strangely buddhist, a quote "an entity may even insist bestehen
upon its while… strange translation, it means the way that goes on I think… solely
to remain more present in the sense of perduring, that which lingers persist in its presencing,
in this way it extricates itself from its transitory while (while is here substantive),
it strikes the willful pose of resistance no longer concerning itself with whatever
else is present, it stiffens as it is the only way to linger and aims solely for continuance
and subsistence". So here HeIdegger says something like the origin of disturbance is
when a thing, and entity, persists too much, doesn't want to just be part of circle of
life whatever, you know what is the circle of life? I hate it, it's, you know? I think
it's the most oppressive ideology that you can imagine, this is my old joke maybe you
know it, did you see , I hope you didn't, the Lion King, and you know when where you
find there the song the circle of life precisely when the son asks his father the obvious question,
is this right that we lions eat zebras? and father, it's easy when you are on the top,
sings the song wich is 'it's all a circle of life, we eat zebras but we will die, we
will turn into dust, our flesh will feed grass and grass will be eaten by zebras so it's
all one big circle of life' no? so all I'm tempted to say is imagine in Beautiful Life,
the movie by Benigni, the son asking him father but why are germans killing us jews? and I
can well imagine Roberto Benigni singing back 'it's all one big circle of life, you
know? jews are killing us but we will die and we will turn into food, our maneuver for
grass, grass will be eaten by cows and one of us will kill a cow and we will eat the
cow so it is a big circle of life, you know?' like, you know what's the point here? the
point, the point is yeah but what if there are differents circles of life, maybe let's
hope there is a circle of life where you exactly you don't have to do holocaust let's hope,
no. But seriously now comes my final thesis, I
will just try to hint it, if you want more read my big fat book. My thesis is that enlightenment
is an authentic position but comes afterwards that, lets say that at animal level immediately
we are simply fully emerged in life and there is no fall, we are there like animals but
how do you create the space for nirvana, void or whatever by acquiring a distance from being
fully immersed into ordinary life? and this distance is true obsessive attachment, that
is to say to be primitive how do, it's very naive, I developed it much more technically
in the book, how do animals become humans? when you say, no no sorry Mr. Lion King it's
not a circle of life, there is this woman, politically idea … I get fixated on that,
if the whole world drops, I want that, you know? this fixation de naturalizes you, throws
you out of the circle and in this way, that's my claim, creates the space for withdrawal
for nirvana, you cannot get into nirvana directly from full immersion into natural life, you
must fall, fall in the sense of excessive attachment and this fall creates the void
where you have to withdraw. Now really to conclude, look I don't even
have a paper, this brings me, and here I'm not kidding, I'm sincerely asking you if you
know more, I spoke with some guys here, this brings me to the crucial enigma that I find
in buddhism and again very respectfully this is not a critical remark, you know? Buddha
says the fact is people suffer, how to get them out? as a hegelian I like the opposite
question, not how to get out but how did we fall in? and here, and this is the question
I'm asking people, is simply samsara affected or was there some kind of, you know illusion
of maya? but, how did we get caught into this illusion? and I can make a report to you I've
got three answers. The first one is the totally pragmatist one: Buddha is a practical guy,
he is not, this is a concrete answer, I'm not mocking it, Buddha was a practical guy,
his problem was how to get out of suffering, he didn't care about this metaphysical questions.
The second answer is a version of the first one but it is more a tricky one, a little
bit of a sophism, it says to understand how this, how the follower, you have to be already
there in nirvana but once you are there you don't care about this, you know? it is a kind
of like a trick. The third one, and some tibetans that I met in Beijing half illegally told
me, I really like that, here I can identify with buddhism, they told me that, they gave
me a kind of a, the name is meant ironically but basically very seriously, you know in
star wars? now we are talking about real works of art, you know how they all the time mention
this dark side of power, you know? and this is I think very hegelian… so you don't simply,
we are caught into earthly confusion but then there is a higher domain of peace, but what
if something can go terribly wrong in this nirvana domain itself? what is you know? what
is we are here in deep shit not because, or to put it in more agnostic terms of Schelling
and so on, human evil is not because we fell from God, human evil originates in madness
reversal, something going wrong in God himself, I know in buddhism you don't have in this
sense God but what they told me this guys is that and they gave me a wonderful experimental,
experiential reason, they told me, my God just listen to and I do, it's really pure
horror, do you know that buddhist music… they told me this is the voice of evil and
no wonder, do you know who knows this? FBI, do you remember some 10 years ago they got
to Waco Texas, those fundamentalists who were encircled by FBI, do you know what music
FBI played to them to get them out to terrorize? this buddhist horns and so on and so on. So
this is I think some kind of a secret of tibetan buddhism witch, and again it is not rhetorics
what I'm telling now, if you know anything about me I would… (someone walks out of
the door) it is nice that you want to take a walk before I'll finish come back in half
an hour.. no, seriously, you see? this enigma speculative hegelian of how, it is not just
we are here in a world of illusions and then nirvana what if something can go wrong up
there. I'm very sorry if I was too long but on the other hand I'm not sorry, fuck you,
what can you do? Thank you very much.


text:
Pearl millet price will be static, estimates TNAU07 Nov 2016
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has predicted that prices of pearl millet also known as Bajra in India will be static.
COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has said in a statement that prices of pearl millet also known as Bajra in India will be static.
Price Forecasting Scheme of Centre for Agricultural and Rural Development Studies (CARDS), TNAU has analyzed the last 15 years prices of pearl millet that prevailed in the Viluppuram regulated market.
The result revealed that the farm gate price of pearl millet would be around $0.25 to $0.26 (Rs 17-18) per kilogram during harvest, TNAU statement adds.
The university also added that whole grain, greenish and clean pearl millet will fetch better price. Based on the above price, farmers are advised to take up sowing of pearl millet.
According to Fourth Advance Estimates of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, pearl millet is cultivated in 7.31 million hectares with a production of 8.06 million tonnes in India during 2015-16, which is 12 per cent lesser than the previous year.
The major states producing Pearl millet are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana representing more than 83 per cent of total country's production.
Pearl millet cultivation in Tamil Nadu
Pearl Millet is cultivated in 58,000 hectares with a production was 177,000 tonnes during 2014-15 inn Tamil Nadu.
Villupuram district has the highest production followed by Thoothukudi, Thiruvannamalai, Virudhunagar, Cuddalore and Vellore districts.
Recently, pearl millet is also used in alcohol industry for manufacture of potable alcohol. ICMV 221 and Co (Cu) 9 are the two major varieties grown in Viluppuram district.
The crop is cultivated twice a year, during May- June and October November based on the rainfall occurrence.
Fresh pearl millet arrivals will start at the end of January and the stored crop will serve round the year.
Arrivals of pearl millet from Vilupuram have decreased due to scanty rainfall. Imbalance on the demand and supply of pearl millet in the state is overcome through arrivals from Andhra Pradesh.
Primary food for breakfast & animal feed
Pearl Millet is primarily used for food comprising 73.4 per cent of total utilization and also used as breakfast cereals, puffed grains and porridge, used in poultry and animal feed and also as fodder.
It is one of major food, feed and fodder crop. It is drought resistant crop among cereals. It is used as important component in preparation of nutrient health mix.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it. For as little as INR 100, you can the AgriTimes™ and it only takes a minute. Thank you.


text:
Past Projects
Improving Riding Opportunities
A Taste of the Community
My Wrexham Art Project
National Eisteddfod in Wrexham
The Improving Riding Opportunities project was designed to promote safer riding by encouraging the riders of Rural Wrexham to participate in the BHS riding and road safety training and test which were run at local riding centres.
The project also aimed to raise the awareness of other road users to the needs of riders and the safety implications of not passing horses in a controlled manor, with the aim of improving safer road riding. AVOW in partnership with Wrexham County Borough produced riding routes, which were developed using the unclassified roads in rural Wrexham.
Routes can be found here: http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/leisure_tourism/prow/riding_routes/
The funding for the Improving Riding Opportunities project was received through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013, which was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Union and the project received funding until February 2011 through Axis 3 funds.
This project was based around the custom of older generations passing down cooking skills and recipes to younger members of their families or entire communities. It highlighted that in certain communities this is a slowly fading tradition. The project focussed on three Communities First areas: Hightown, Gwenfro and Plas Madoc.
These were areas which had received limited dedicated support from the department beforehand, however good working relationships had previously been developed between AVOW staff and Communities First Development Officers. Therefore this allowed us to build up this dedicated support that came with the project.
The project aimed to bring members of these communities together consisting of all different ages, different backgrounds, cultures, religion or belief with one common interest – cooking.
The participants not only learnt some new cooking skills, they also got to know and become friendly with members of their community that they would not have necessarily come across if it was not for the project.
The 'My Wrexham' Community Project was an arts and crafts project that aimed to bring together community groups from all over Wrexham, from youth and craft groups to sports clubs and community groups. They created art works that tell a story of 'What they do, and the area they live'.
The art works took any shape and form, some groups worked on photo collages, local history scrap books, digital storytelling and traditional craft works. After all of the art works were completed, AVOW held an Open Day at Ty Avow in Egerton Street. The winning piece was chosen out of all the entries and it was shown in August 2011, in Wrexham during the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
The Community Award was awarded to TEMPS, Marford and the young people award was awarded to Young Carers.
AVOW provided local community and voluntary groups the opportunity to join in with celebrations in the Community Stand at the National Eisteddfod 2011 in Wrexham. Sixteen groups and charities decided to take up the opportunity to promote their services and fundraise. Local people came along to find out more about the voluntary sector and local volunteering opportunities. A major attraction provided by AVOW was the coracle lagoon which was of particular interest for children and some adults.
Over the 8 days, from Saturday 30th July until Saturday 6th August 2011, AVOW and its partner organisations ran a host of activities and presented information to raise awareness of their work in the voluntary sector.
The weather held up for most of the week, and more than 950 children had a ride on the coracle boats in AVOW's straw bale lagoon. Organisations were pleased that AVOW had offered them the opportunity to attend the Eisteddfod in AVOW's marquee, as they would not have otherwise been able to be present. AVOW shared its stand with County Voluntary Councils from across North Wales, as well as Betsi Cadwalladr University Health Board Community Health Council and Wrexham County Borough Council Health Promotion Team.
One stallholder praised AVOW's initiative, saying that they hoped other voluntary councils follow AVOW's example.
To see photos from the Eisteddfod week please visit our flickr photo album here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvDxeRZ


text:
Staff Report, Daily Business Review
February 27, 2016 | 0 Comments
The Daily Business Review will recognize 14 legal industry veterans in its second annual Professional Excellence Awards.
The attorneys and judges were selected for outstanding service to the Florida legal community. They will be recognized at a May 19 event along with Rising Stars in the South Florida legal community at the Coral Gables Country Club.
The honorees recognized for their lifetime achievements are:
- Frank Angones, Angones McClure & Garcia
- Hilarie Bass, Greenberg Traurig
- Charles Baumberger, Rossman, Baumberger, Reboso & Spier
- Al Cardenas, Squire Patton Boggs
- Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade state attorney's office
- Philip Hubbart, Wetherington, Klein & Hubbart
- Robert Josefsberg, Podhurst Orseck
- James Lawrence King, U.S. District Court
- John Kozyak, Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton
- Elizabeth Maass, former Palm Beach Circuit judge
- Eugene Pettis, Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm
- Jim Scott, Tripp Scott
- Andrew Smulian, Akerman
- Howard Talenfeld, Talenfeld Law


text:
Feb. 22, 2018, 11:28 a.m.
Inside Ghana's Cocktail Community
I'm Chris Beaney, a Tales Attaché and President of the Bartender's Guild in Ghana. Around 6 years ago Ghana didn't have much of a cocktail scene. I was brought over from a cocktail bar in Notting Hill, London to train and develop staff prior to opening one of the first bars focused on classic cocktails. Hospitality, at this time, was one of the lowest paying industries, and bartending wasn't seen as much of a profession. I took a cleaner from a sports bar and 6 other students and taught them in all aspects of the cocktail in preparation for a new bar launch.
That cleaner, Tapatheo (Theo) became so good at his role, Absolut Vodka invited him to Sweden to see how their distillery, and then offered him a tv show to produce cocktails to a live audience! This inspired viewers and people wanted Theo to offer the same mentorship he had received from me. He began training from his house and found that there was a demand for this new skill set. This was the turning point for Ghana's entire cocktail industry. Theo had never left the country before, owned a passport or flew on a plane and now his profession was recognized and allowed him to do so. It also encouraged more bartenders to achieve at this level. In 2016, Theo was accepted to Tales' Cocktail Apprentice Program (CAP). I am also privileged to have had another student, Patience, represent Ghana as the first African female in the Cocktail Apprentice Program.
The demand for training became so huge, and the Accra skyline flourished. More and more bars were offering beautifully mixed creations and more staff were being mentored in the city. We are now at the point where the city is truly flourishing and is one of stronger cocktail communities on the continent. Ghana now has a bartenders guild and west Africa has its first reality tv show (created by another Tales Attache, Caesario de-Medeiros) highlighting the talents of these professionals: The Barman TV.
The most beautiful thing about living and working in Ghana, is watching the industry continuing to grow and flourish. EVERY idea you bring to the table seems fresh and exciting. The market still isn't over-saturated and everything seems possible. Making a cocktail in this environment becomes so much fun.
Being an Attaché is the perfect platform to highlight the countries flourishing cocktail landscape, keeping the global community informed about what we have to offer on this side of the planet. I shall be sharing interesting stories, keeping you up to date with the movers and shakers, popular cocktails, standout mixologists and flavors indigenous to the motherland.
Want to see more of Ghana's Bartending Community?
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