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Colin Beavan, aka "No Impact Man", lives in New York City and wrote this thoughtful response after experiencing Hurricane Sandy last week (bold type added):
Dear friends,
I don't say this often but I am scared. Not scared to the point of paralysis. Not scared enough to run away. Not scared enough to stop trying to help. Not scared enough to think we're doomed. Just scared enough to feel worried for myself, my family, my friends, my community, my country, and my world.
I was lucky when Hurricane Sandy hit. My daughter Bella and I put on our waterproofs in the early hours and ran around Brooklyn's Fort Greene park in the wind and rain with Frankie–our dog–and our Occupy Wall Street activist friend/hero Monica Hunken.
That night, the lights flickered a couple of times. I lost my internet for three hours. Frankie the dog hid in the upstairs bathroom bathtub. That was the extent of it.
But when I woke up, lower Manhattan was flooded and without power. All the coastal parts of Brooklyn and Queens from Red Hook to Coney Island through the Rockaways and Hamilton Beach were hammered. The wind had driven a fire through Queens that destroyed so many houses. And the world's most amazing subway system was brought to its knees. To say nothing of poor Staten Island and coastal New Jersey.
We in the Tri-State Area didn't get Katrina. But we got a taste of her.
Yes, there are some good parts. New Yorkers have been showing up some of the emergency shelters in such numbers that they have been turned away. There are donation drives and volunteer efforts. And about a gazillion New Yorkers have taken to cycling.
But there is a lot of suffering. And a lot of fear not of what Sandy brought. But of what next year's storm will bring. And the year after that. And after that. First Irene, now Sandy, for how many years in a row can New York City withstand a "once in a century" storm, people are asking?
I hung up the phone with a friend just a few minutes ago. She said, "In some ways, this is way more scarey than 9/11, because you get the feeling that it could happen again and again and again."
In a coffee shop this afternoon, everyone at every table was talking about climate change. People are talking about where they will go next time. To an aunt's in New Hampshire. A friend with three cottages in Maine. People are talking about their escape plan for when New York stops functioning.
Katrina, Irene, Sandy, droughts all summer, busted corn crops, water shortages in the southwest: it's hard to believe we aren't seeing what the climate scientists predicted. But sooner. Way sooner than they said.
It feels ironic and sad. That the war in Iraq sparked by 9/11 may have got us what we wanted–control over more oil. But that burning that self-same oil has brought us another mini-9/11. Except that this one we are kind of doing to ourselves.
Fracking–the drilling for natural gas by injecting poisonous chemicals into the same rock formations that our drinking comes from. Fighting in the Middle East. Drilling in the arctic. Mountaintop removal in Appalachia. Mining the Canadian tar sands. Building the pipelines. This is bonkers.
Especially when the sun shines everywhere. The wind blows everywhere. The rivers run everywhere. We can generate our power in better, cheaper, safer ways.
Of course, there are reasons for resistance. Our economy is based on fossil fuels. Changing it would be a gargantuan effort. There would be a cost to a transition. But the costs of not making the transition will be much higher. Ask the NY Mass Transit Authority, which is still pumping out the tunnels. Or ask the citizens of New Orleans.
But this isn't a bitch fest. It's an appeal.
Years ago, when I did the No Impact Man experiment, I went on the Good Morning America show and I said it wasn't important that all Americans did as much as I did. "We must each just do something," I said.
I was mistaken. We must each do a lot.
We all–including me–have a tendency to think that shaking our fist at the TV news or leaving an angry comment on a blog or "clictivism" is some sort of an expression. We need to do more. Not just more at home, but more in our civic engagement, more in the citizen guiding of how our society moves forward.
In fact, I'd argue that we–all of us–need to find a way to dedicate at least some part of our lives to solving our problems. Climate change we need to fix, yes. But also we need to accept that the economic system we live in is driving that climate change. Consumption, as the basis for economy, has become like a winter coat that needs to be shed. It no longer serves us.
Now, I'm not going to claim that I know what each of us should do, how each of us should help to bring about the Great Transformation. I don't think anyone exactly knows. This, by the way, was the great criticism of Occupy Wall Street, back in the day. That they didn't say exactly what we should do. They didn't make their demands clear, the press kept saying.
That was Occupy's strength in my view. The willingness to bring attention to problems we don't quite know the solutions for. Occupy didn't have concrete demands because none of us quite know what we should be demanding quite yet. Occupy was saying "stop ignoring problems just because we don't know the solution!!!!!!"
You may disagree with me. You may say, we know the solution, it's renewable energy. But where is the political will to bring that change about when the fossil fuel industry has spent $150 million in this election cycle?
You may say, the solution is getting corporate money out of politics. But how do we do that when the politicians we need to vote for such a thing are the beneficiaries of that self-same corporate money?
You may say, the solution lies in measuring Gross National Happiness instead of Gross Domestic Product. But how do we get that done?
We have lots of ideas about what would fix things, but we have no idea how to actually get those ideas instituted. That's kind of where we are at a loss. How do we actually bring about the change?
It's not to say we can't bring it about. But it is to say that a lot more of us are going to have to join the search for the solutions and the effort to institute them.
In a way, what I am saying is the same as what Occupy said: "Stop pretending that you can't help just because you don't know exactly how to help!!!!!!"
We all have to start dedicating some of our lives to these problems. Not just voting for the right people. Not just leaving comments on blogs. Not just having intense conversations over coffee.
So what then?
Here's a thought. Decide to dedicate five to ten hours a week to helping figure out what to do. Then use those five to ten hours to bring your personal gifts to the search for societal solutions and the means of implementing them.
If you are political then, whatever side of the aisle you are on, start going to your party's meetings and insist that they address themselves to the major, new-world problems we are facing instead of grumbling over the same stuff they have for 50 years. Get them to try to be leaders instead of winners.
If you are an artist or musician or writer, use your talents to bring more and more attention to our problems and the quest for the solution. Be a constant reminder of the peril our society and world faces.
If you are a therapist or life coach, find a way to introduce to your clients the idea that the problems they face are the same problems all of us are facing. Financial insecurity, for example, is something we can fix together better than any one of us can fix alone.
If you are a banker, bring your personal values and your heart and soul to work with you. The expression "it's only business" has to be jettisoned. This idea that the free market will fix things so we can ignore the dictates of our conscience needs to be fixed.
If you have a spare bedroom, find an activist who can't drag themselves away from the work they are doing for all of us long enough to earn themselves some rent. Home and safety for those on the front line of social change is a wonderful service.
If you have two feet, march with my friends at 350.org whenever you have a chance.
All of us have our own ways to help.
One thing is clear, whatever our individual contribution, every one of us needs to be moving back into the political system and the democracy. We are all so disgusted by it that our instinct is to abandon it. In this case, our instinct is wrong. We totally need to Occupy our democracy. We need to flood it with people, with us.
Overall, though, my point here is that all of us have a role to play in our cultural healing. There is no leader who can tell us how to contribute. Each of us has to look around us and use our own minds and souls to see what needs doing and how we are best suited to do it. Each of us must contribute in our own way.
I began this piece by saying that I'm scared. Because I am. But my fear is just a sign that I need to do something. There is really only one thing I know how to do–to write. And so I'm doing it. I don't know if if will help. But it is the one thing I know how to do.
What is the one thing you know how to do? What is the one thing you can dedicate a slice of your life to?
We can't leave it to the politicians or the designers or the Occupiers or the activists. It's up to each of us.
Because–and I've said and written this many times–the question is not whether each of us is the type of person who can make a difference. The question is whether we are the type of people who want to try to make a difference. And Sandy has told us we all need each other to try.
PS I'd love to hear in the comments what you are doing or plan to do.
PPS If you want to let your Brooklyn friends know that I'm running for Congress and ask them to vote for me on Tuesday, that would be great too.
Colin blogs at No Impact Man.


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he said:
I can still remember the first time I tried sushi. It was a California roll and I was in college. That first bite was so different, so unexpected, so delicious. Back then, sushi was an exotic dish. But that was a long time ago and sushi quickly became ubiquitous.
At first I was happy that you could buy it in the grocery store. What I didn't stop to realize was that sushi just wasn't special anymore. Not when you can pick it up next to the Van De Kamps.
Uncommon Sushi
I thought I knew all that sushi had in store for me, until I ate at Tanoshii. It was one of my first dates in Chicago with the lovely woman who is now my wife. That experience went much like every subsequent trip: we ordered two Mike's Specials, told our waitress what kind of sushi we liked, and waited to see what we got.
The Mike of Mike's Special is the owner. He's also an amazing sushi chef. And when you order one of his specials, he creates for you whatever inspires him, based on the info you give him. I'll often say I like spicy tuna and never have I gotten the same thing twice. He'll do crazy things like add a chipotle mayo or a barbecue sauce, he'll dice the tuna into a fine puree, he'll add fried asparagus.
Same old unexpected
The last time we went, I indicated I liked spicy tuna, as usual. The dish that came back was unlike any sushi dish I could have ever dreamt of (not that I dream of sushi dishes). It was fashioned into rectangular pieces, with a bed of rice supporting fresh tuna, covered by shaved cucumber, caviar and a spicy, creamy sauce. Man, it was one of the best things I've ever eaten.
I'm constantly surprised, and not only because I don't know what he's going to do. It's because the flavors are so perfectly paired, the presentation so unique, the dishes so inspired. It's exactly what I believed sushi should always be, from my very first bite.
she said:
I went to Tanoshii the first week it opened – I lived around the corner at the time – and, like my husband, I experienced a sushi reawakening. Since then, all other sushi restaurants have been left shivering in Tanoshii's shadow. Sushi Mike is an artist, no doubt about it. I've never seen rolls prepared more artfully or presented more beautifully… and this is to say nothing of the way they taste. Have you ever eaten something so flavorful and robust that your jawbones hurt a little? It's a pleasurable ache and I experience it every time I visit Sushi Mike.
Not surprisingly, I'm particularly in love with his vegetarian maki rolls. At most places, I'm limited to two or three of the same snoozy choices. Not so at Tanoshii. I ask for vegetarian Mike's Specials and I've never been disappointed. At Mike's, I've come to expect the unexpected. My maki may show up flavored with Italian seasonings or looking more like chips and guacamole. The rolls may be created from finely shaved pear or mango. No matter what, they're always incredible.
If you've never been to Tanoshii, stop whatever you're doing and take off in a dead run towards Andersonville. First, though, while you're stretching, a few pieces of advice.
- Like an artist, Mike does take his time in creating his masterpieces. Don't expect things to be snappy at Tanoshii. You may want to order some miso soup while you wait.
- While I strongly recommend you order Mike's Specials rather than from the menu (which is composed of regular boring sushi choices), I must say that they don't come cheap. The specials range from $16-$22 and you don't know how much yours will cost until you get the bill.
- If it were up to Mike, soy sauce and wasabi would be illegal. Nobody will mind if you use them on the regular menu items, but if you use them on his specials, everyone will hate you.
- Don't forget to grab booze before you go. It's BYOB and the atmosphere is jolly, even if the ambiance is standard for a sushi establishment. Offer Sushi Mike a shot of whatever you're drinking. I promise you he'll accept and the plates will only get more creative as the night goes on.
Okay, that should to it. Ready, set, go.


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How Near-Death Experiences Transform People
PMH Atwater
Waking Times
My research has shown me that the near-death experience is not some kind of anomaly, but is, rather, part of the larger genre of transformations of consciousness. The clue most researchers miss is stress; specifically, the intensity which comes from that stress (known in shamanism as "high stress"). The entire pattern of aftereffects and the degree to which people change, can be traced to that factor. It's the intensity that shifts experiencers into what is called a "threshold experience" – one that straddles the boundary between this world and other worlds, between the brain and that which lies beyond what the brain can access, between reality and miracles, mind and spirit, life and death, heaven and hell, sanity and insanity.
Once we understand this shift, we can begin to unravel how the transformational process works. At the threshold of who we think we are and what lies beyond body and brain, is the core of ancient mysteries. We are transformed by the Oneness we find there.
My research of near-death states spans 33 years and covers nearly 4,000 adult and child experiencers. Not counted in this are the many sessions I held with significant others. Before my own near-death experiences in 1977, I was equally involved for over a decade studying and experimenting with altered and mystical states, psychic phenomena, and the transformational process, involving over 3,000 people. For some reason unknown to me, my research projects were never small. I have always preferred looking at things from multiple angles and differing views. Police investigative techniques have been my protocol throughout. Since this method relies heavily on observation, comparison, and analysis, it is never constrained by words, language, or culture. Numerous sources of verification are used, and this can include questionnaires for double checking previous findings.
This work has enabled me to recognise that near-death experiences are not some kind of anomaly, but are rather part of the larger genre of transformations of consciousness. We single them out as "different" because near-death states occur mostly at accident scenes, in hospitals, or in environments where devices are available to record vital signs thanks to trained emergency personnel. Contrary to the notion of how these episodes form, the scenarios they cover, and the pattern of physiological and psychological aftereffects that usually increase overtime – is the fact that near-death-like experiences (where death is not imminent) and impactual spiritual transformations (regardless of how caused) manifest the same patterning.
What links these types of in-depth transformational experiences is stress; more importantly the intensity of that stress.
Before such an episode occurs there are stressors, conditions in the experiencer's life, that point to either unrest or inattention. And these are present universally. What caught my eye with near-death and near-death-like states were episodes that occurred under these conditions:
- during major life junctures;
- when a decision needed to be made, and at times of deep dissatisfaction,
- disappointment, frustration;
- when feeling hurried all the time or excessively strained;
- while "running a tight ship," insisting on personal control;
- as lifestyle maintenance toppled one's ability to keep it going;
- alongside pushing limits – at work, at play, in everything;
- when demanding and strict rules limit one's beliefs and activities;
- without existence of meaningful goals, or when in strong denial;
- during "happy" times that were really a façade;
- when overly satisfied or complacent.
The common thread present in each situation is stress. Even with babes and the unborn. Mother's stress, as well as that of the father, can readily become the child's stress. Sometimes it's as if children have their experience for parents or doctors or significant others… to relieve or heighten their stress.
And the type of stress I recognised was the kind that pushes a person beyond his or her limits, beyond that which is "safe"… a threshold experience.
On February 29, 2000, the Daily Progress Newspaper in Charlottesville, Virginia, reported that Bruce Greyson, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and near-death researcher at the University of Virginia, was able to show a link between the phenomenon of near-death experiences and a natural physical response to trauma. He found that experiencers have more dissociative episodes – the normal kind, not the pathological kind – than those who were close to dying but did not have a near-death experience. Greyson was quoted as saying: "It's basically narrowing your focus so much that you block out things that are going on around you."
What he is describing is what shamans, spiritual, and mystical folk have for aeons of time referred to as the goal of "high stress"… what it takes to push one past the threshold or boundary of what is known.
Reaching the Stress Threshold
Through the ages sacred initiations of the greatest order demanded a "death" – seldom physical. They required the death of the ego. One had to "die unto the self," leaving behind previous desires and wants, to take on the trusted role of healer-guide who then dedicated the rest of his or her life in service to others. The core of shamanic vision quests ("calling for a vision" – or asking the spirits for guidance) still today consists of ceremonial rituals that mimic or come close to actual physical death. Probationers are prepared for this; still, there is no real preparation for that overwhelming, "over the top" fear that pushes one's panic button. Once that threshold is breached, the individual either passes into madness or breaks through the passageway into otherworlds of spirit that engender a transformation of consciousness.
Consider the mythological traditions of the "hero's journey" or the making of "wise ones." High stress was always the deciding factor: how the individual faced "the watcher at the gate" (fear at the stress threshold), overcame that fear (passed through/ascended), entered into the otherworlds of spirit (that null space where everything is said to converge/suspend/expand into the collective whole), and is imprinted from the aftereffects (bears the "mark" of ascension). This "journey" is what establishes the extent to which the individual changes or is transformed.
The formula then for a transformation of consciousness (the basic energetics) is: intense period of change, high stress that narrows one's focus, feeling driven or accelerated beyond states of fear/panic, encountering a threshold or boundary, maybe meeting a greeter of some kind, passing into a null space of energy convergence, becoming infused with knowing, imprinted or altered by null space exposure, returning as one who has been expanded or enhanced by the experience – as if forever "marked" by the pattern of aftereffects.
I've seen this thousands of times – experiencers who behave as if they have been punched, jerked, hit, pushed, or somehow spun around. Something physical happened to them, something separate from any mind play or otherworldly visitation or event that put them at death's door. And that "something" shifted their futures by pushing them into a unique arena of experience. The "something" that set them apart I call a "power punch." It is a force. It is an energy. It is intense.
This intensity, what narrows a person's focus in high stress, is the key, the hinge, to understanding near-death and near-death-like experiences and impactual spiritual transformations.
Of the 21% in my near-death research who claimed they did not have aftereffects worth mentioning, or any at all, these were the people whose episode seemed so superficial to them that they described it as if a fleeting dream. Sixty percent were openly expressive about how intense their episode was and how it had altered their lives in dramatic ways. These experiencers exhibited most or all of the aftereffects pattern. Many seemed stunned at how much they had changed once they compared "before" with "after."
The 19% who were so radically affected that it seemed as if they had become a different person or at least an altered version of who they had once been, bore the full brunt of the "power punch" – and showed it. Before and after photos illustrated the depths of what they had been through and how it had changed them. Almost to a person they displayed the full pattern of physiological and psychological aftereffects.
And, with the 73% in my research who had electrical sensitivity afterwards, I was able to establish that it was the intensity of their near-death episode that had been the determining factor in causing this condition – not how long or short their episode, or, how much light they had been exposed to during their scenario. No matter how I approached this, cross-comparing brief and longer near-death states, complicated and simple – regardless even of imagery or how it was described – I still reached the same conclusion: what mattered most in every respect was the intensity of the episode, not the episode itself.
The Colloidal Condition
Reaching the threshold, or boundary between realities, and then crossing through, compares almost exactly with what science calls a colloidal condition.
A colloidal condition is where forces suddenly collapse and then converge. This in-between state creates antiforce, which is antigravity. Particles caught in this unique state between implosion and explosion transmute, and remain forever changed by that transmutation. On a molecular level, these particles show evidence of enlargement and of having taken on different and enhanced characteristics. An example of this is what happens when water is stirred.
There are several ways water can be stirred. For the sake of this discussion, we'll rotate it. Spin the water. Round and round. Faster and faster. Really spin it. Stop suddenly and reverse the direction. When the spin stopped, the water collapsed into itself, creating an implosion. But just before a reverse spin could be initiated, where the water could explode back out again, conditions mysteriously changed. Both the water and everything contained within it were briefly held in suspension. This is called a colloidal condition; the particles caught therein are referred to as colloids.
The same thing can happen to the human brain if suddenly hit, jarred, or severely jiggled, especially during trauma or in an accident or fall. Typically, a colloidal-like suspension of consciousness will follow whereby the environment appears to expand out as time slows to a standstill. The individual feels somehow caught in-between realities, as if he or she slipped through a crack in time and space and suddenly became resident of a world neither here nor there. This peculiar feeling of being suspended in between realities affects a person so deeply that it can permanently alter the way the individual regards the world at large and his or her place in it.
The colloidal condition best describes what we can know of passing into and through a threshold experience. Once again, here's how it works:
- forces suddenly collapse, then converge;
- a momentary state of suspension results;
- everything caught in that suspension expands and enlarges as antigravity is created;
- inherent or unlimited potential is released;
- whatever is present is imprinted (becomes permanently altered by what happened);
- whatever is present then transmutes (takes on different characteristics);
- as reversal of motion is completed, forces are restored, suspension ends, but the imprinting (transmutation) remains.
The majority who go through such a process experience an enlargement and expansion of consciousness, exhibit the sudden surfacing of latent abilities, face a confusing array of psychological and physiological aftereffects, and are never quite the same again.
It is my belief that the reason this process of convergence and transmutation is universal, is because all of us, now and through the ages, are and have always been imprinted by the same creative impulse that originated us. The mark of our creation is what we display whenever our consciousness is set free to rediscover itself and the source of its being. After a threshold experience, we feel as if we have found "home" because the home we think we've found already exists within us – and always has. We recognise the place because we never left it to begin with.
High stress pushes us to where we must face that legendary boundary that separates worlds readily accessible (what we know), from those either infra or ultra to our sense of perception (what seems as if fantasy, imagination, or mystery). In mythology, fear is the "watcher" at the threshold gate. Intercessories who can act as guides are loved ones who have previously died, angels, religious figures, visitors from other worlds, special animals, maybe birds. The final arbitrator, though, is always the heart.
The Key Role of Our Heart
Tradition says that it is the heart that decides: if you make it through the threshold gateway, where you go once you pass, and if you can return to the life you left. Drawings from ancient Egypt illustrated this final step by showing a set of scales for weighing a person's heart at death. If the heart was weightless like a feather (indicative of a selfless life), the individual passed into the worlds of spirit. If heavy (indicative of being ego bound), the individual was rejected and had to face punishment or some type of abandonment.
How can the heart organ, unique as it is, be the final arbitrator of what happens at the passageway?
Let's take a moment to examine how this might be true. Research has shown that 60 to 65% of all heart cells are neural cells. This enables the heart to function in many ways like our brain does. Yes, the heart is the major glandular structure in the body, but it also produces an electromagnetic field 5,000 times more powerful than that of the brain. Shaped like a torus doughnut, the heart field busily converts one form of energy into another as it generates an infinite number of harmonic waves. These harmonics run throughout all bodily systems, and are so sensitive that they react to conditions four to five minutes before actual occurrence. This futuristic awareness tells the heart if what's coming is positive or negative so it can prepare. First the heart feels the coming event, then the brain is aware of it, then the eyes see it. The heart, literally, is our first responder.
Harmonic heart-waves come into coherence when you feel good, are in love, experience happiness, have bonded with someone in a positive way, or are in a supportive relationship. When the heart's energy coheres, it taps into higher energy fields to empower itself, while emoting feelings of love and connectedness. This feeling sense operates like a thinking mind and with an unbelievable memory. Heart harmonics entwine worldwide. Spiritual traditions claim this is so because our heart is the centre of our soul. A soul set free by these harmonics, serves – as foretold in ancient Egypt and from wise ones who recognise the power of the heart.
Love, or lack of it, dominates near-death, near-death-like, and spiritually transforming experiences. The fullness of love, being loved, and discovering the power of love appears to determine the overall effect transformational states have on experiencers, their significant others, and anyone who hears their stories. It is no exaggeration to say that the majority of threshold experiencers return "in love with love." Being bathed in love beyond measure, pales anything less. A challenge experiencers have afterwards is to "step down" this power a few degrees so as not to freak out people.
The heart's code is love: love of Source, love of others, love of self. To talk about threshold experiences is to talk about the heart's ability to expand, embrace, and include the fullness of waveform harmonics. Where does this take us? Always to the same place… Oneness.
All transformative experiences throughout what we can know of time reflect this… what is now termed "the perennial philosophy." All the great thinkers have spoken of this, going back to Plato and beyond. All native peoples draw pictures of this or speak of it in their songs and stories. All of those who successfully passed the "tests" of the hero's journey, who made it through the boundary and returned infused with a new wisdom and a new knowledge – described what they discovered as Oneness:
- One God.
- One people.
- One family.
- One existence.
- One law – love.
- One commandment – service.
- One solution to problems – forgiveness.
This, the perennial philosophy, is what many believe to be the only true religion. All religious thought, irrespective of denomination, creed, or messiah figure, takes its root from this type of experience. If threshold energy is intense enough, and affects experiencers deeply enough, individuals return as if "God instructed." This is why so many near-death researchers believe that religion itself sprang from individual narratives of near-death experiences.
In whatever manner this is debated, there is a wonderful corollary that comes from China. Historically, there is a lineage in China of Tibetan Storytellers, usually illiterate peasants, who are known as "Gesar Artists." These storytellers recount numerous lines of extraordinary sophistication – tales of their most venerated hero, Gesar, a Knight from the Kingdom of Heaven, sent to earth to save and protect Tibetans. Gesar's story has been passed from generation to generation, but not by memorising it! To be a true Gesar Artist (not just a story-teller), one must experience something akin to a near-death state or what shamans call "dying unto the self" (an ego death)… in order to achieve the personal experience of what Gesar came to earth to teach. They must become as if "God instructed."
There is no denying that the early teachers of humankind came from the otherworlds beyond the passageway. Shamanic beings, visionary images, spirit manifestations, near-death and near-death-like experiences, the dead come to life – what some label as paranormal occurrences – are actually more akin to spiritual awakenings than to what is often tossed off as paranormal or psychic phenomena.
We have endowments to assure life's continuance: procreation/birth. We also have endowments to assure life's evolution: renewal/rebirth. This is not imagination. The spiritual, what enables renewal and rebirth, is real.
Human Transformation & The Master Plan
After a total of 43 years researching, experimenting, and studying a gamut of historical and first-hand, spiritually-transforming states, I can say that there is a biological imperative not only for life to exist and to continuously evolve in form, capacity, and intellect, but to reach an even higher order as if following a "Master Plan." What happens as a result of transformational states feeds that plan because of how an individual's experience and the consequences of that experience, can be passed from parent to child, generation to generation, biologically. Many have suspected this, but thanks to the DNA research currently being conducted, the markers of how this happens have been found. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) was a French naturalist who argued that traits acquired in life by parents could be passed on to their offspring (in violation of Darwin and his theory of natural selection). His work was shunned in his time. Scientists have now rediscovered his work; naming what they have verified… "Lamarckism" (refer to www.qimr.edu.au/research/labs/emmaw/index.html).
Take a good look at historical patterns. Each sudden evolutionary lift and/or period of discovery, as well as each renaissance, was preceded by stories of people who described threshold-type experiences, and to the degree that, it appeared as if the masses were "waking up." These physical and spiritual energetics led to bursts of new ideas, creativity, invention, and healing. Each breakout period seeded generations to follow, as if a biological imperative existed to ensure that the human race could reach a greater potential. We know now that if the numbers of those who change are high enough, evolutionary adaptation – even of this magnitude – can happen in a single generation.
The science that puts this into perspective is the study of fluid dynamics.
Fluid dynamics shows how birds in flight maintain organised formations even when individual birds make mistakes, how rotating colonies of bacteria stay together regardless of challenge, how a herd of buffalo maintains order even in full gallop, how crowds of people pour out from an event as if "directed." Whenever an energetic wave pattern forms, a natural rhythm of movement emerges. Whatever is present when this happens functions as if "one mind."
Fluid dynamics tells us that it only takes 4 to 5% of any group, condition, or situation to change, for the whole assembly to follow. Once that tipping point of 4 to 5% is reached, energy excites and becomes highly charged. This creates what is called "superfluidity"… a state of energy that cannot be contained.
Currently the conservative estimate worldwide for people having had a near-death experience is 4 to 5% of the general population. This estimate does not take into consideration near-death-like and spiritually transforming experiences that are also intensely life changing. Counting them too could easily double or triple that figure, indicating that a realignment of global consciousness toward a higher order is well on its way to becoming highly charged.
Freedom tops that higher order, along with open communications, human rights, improved health benefits, equality in education, participatory governance, cooperative incentives for advancement, creativity and the arts.
The idea that near-death aftereffects constitute "a benevolent virus" is true. Regardless of whether one thinks in terms of a "Christ Consciousness" that can be achieved by anyone willing to follow the teachings of Jesus, or the act of becoming "god instructed" by practicing the disciplines of Gesar Artists, today's revolution bears all the markings of a "soulquake." Forget any linkage to the so-called "New Age" beliefs of the 1960s. This is more of a "New Thought," the validation of a higher order of existence, of reality.
The goal of every spiritual and religious tradition is to "release the soul from exile," to teach that no one is ever separated from his or her divine essence. It is the transformational process, though, that actually reconnects soul with Source. Near-death states model this, the reawakening we can all attain.
For further research, please read Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of The Story by P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D., Charlottesville, VA; Hampton Road, 2011.
P.M.H. Atwater, Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of the Story, Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Road, 2011
H. W. Dresser, A History of the New Thought Movement, New York, NY: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1919.
T. Hongkai, "Legacy of a Tibetan Storyteller", China Daily.
F. O'Brien, A Benevolent Virus, Norwich, England: John Hunt, 2010.
R. Rees, "Electrophysiology of Intuition", Paper presented at the ChildSpirit Conference, Chattanooga, TN, 2007.
A. Rogers, "Going With the Flow", Newsweek Magazine, 1998.
C. B. Schmitt, "Perennial Philosophy: From Agostino Steuco to Liebniz", Journal of the History of Ideas, 27, 505–532, 1966.
D. Williams, "At the Hour of Our Death", Time Magazine. Available at www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0, 9171,1657919,00.html. I originally picked up on the issue after reading the article, "The Sins of the Fathers, Take 2", written by Sharon Begley, Newsweek Magazine, 26 January 2009.
Daniel K Morgan & Emma Whitelaw, "The Case for Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance in Humans", Mammalian Genome: Official Journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society; 19 (6): 394-7, 2008.
About the Author
P.M.H. ATWATER, L.H.D. is one of the original researchers in the field of near-death studies, having begun her work in 1978. She has published numerous books on her findings. Atwater also conducted the first major study of the so-called Indigo children, published as Beyond the Indigo Children in 2005. On divination, she authored three books on Goddess Runes. For a complete biographical listing and information on how to obtain her books, DVDs and lectures, please visit her website www.pmhatwater.com.
This article is a feature of New Dawn Magazine.
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Thunderstorms and Other Noise Phobias In Animals
The spring, summer, and early fall herald the arrival of thunderstorms. They are also the seasons when fireworks displays and other noisy celebrations are common. Some pets, particularly dogs, can develop severe phobias to these loud noises. Left untreated, the phobias can become progressively worse or can generalize to all loud noises. Affected pets are capable of inflicting damage to themselves, to their surroundings, and in severe cases, to any people that try to comfort them.
If your pet is nervous about loud or unfamiliar noises, but has not yet developed a noise phobia, you should speak with your veterinarian about the problem before it becomes worse. In the early stages, common sense solutions, such as avoiding exposure to the fearful stimulus or providing distraction to the pet to relieve some of the anxiety, may be helpful. Once the fear has progressed to a general noise phobia, the help of a trained animal behaviorist is usually necessary.
Treatment of noise phobias often involves behavioural techniques such as desensitization and counter conditioning. If these techniques are done incorrectly, they can actually worsen the problem! Products that are available on the marketplace may or may not be effective. Sometimes, especially for intense phobias, your veterinarian will prescribe strong sedatives or anti-anxiety medications. In these cases, the medication will be used in conjunction with a behavior-modification program, with the aim of eventual withdrawal of the drugs. For some information about what is involved, see our handouts on Canine Fears and Phobias – Storms and Fireworks – Immediate Guidelines; Canine Fears and Phobias – Storms and Fireworks – Treatment; and Fears, Phobias and Anxiety.
The best treatment and solution for noise phobias is prevention. Pets that are exposed to emotionally traumatic or stressful situations at the wrong time in their social development are more likely to develop irreversible or persistent phobias that can become more generalized as they get older. Dogs are most sensitive to development of fears between 2 and 4 months, while the most critical period for cats is between 1 and 3 months. Therefore, when you welcome a new puppy or kitten into your home, it is very important that you book a consultation with your veterinarian to get specific advice on correct behavioural training and prevention of potential behavior problems. The advice you get from friends or some media sources such as television or the internet may be well-meaning, but may not be appropriate for the personality of your individual pet.
Caution: These news items, written by Lifelearn Inc., are licensed to this practice for the personal use of our clients. Any copying, printing or further distribution is prohibited without the express written permission of Lifelearn Inc. Please note that the news information presented here is NOT a substitute for a proper consultation and/or clinical examination of your pet by our clinic veterinarian.


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FlyAnglers OnLine
The fraternity of fly fishers
Since 1997
You have North Georgia listed as your location, I could use that also. I'm in Gwinnett County, close to Hamilton Mill / Dacula. I use Hog Mountain as a location from time to time but it's kind of a historic spot a couple of miles away.


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Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows experience for greater productivity. Inspired by the Windows 95 era PowerToys project, this reboot provides power users with ways to squeeze more efficiency out of the Windows 10 shell and customize it for individual workflows.
Note: PowerToys requires Windows 10 v1903 (18362) or newer.
Release Notes
Microsoft PowerToys 0.68.1


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- 1 loaf of good quality crusty Italian or French Bread
- 2 cups fresh, good quality ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup UP EVOO – Picual, Picholine, or Arbequina would go well here
- 1/4 cup Tuscan Herb or Garlic Olive Oil
- 3 cups super sweet cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 1 cup good quality sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained well
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
- drizzle of Traditional Balsamic
Preheat a grill, BBQ or oven to 425 F.
In a medium bowl, whisk the ricotta with 1 teaspoon salt and set aside.Toss the cherry tomatoes with 1/4 cup fresh UP EVOO, a teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste. Roast the cherry tomatoes in a cast iron skillet for 15 minutes until blistered and fragrant. Set aside to cool.Slice the bread into 1″ thick slices, drizzle the slices with 1/4 cup UP EVOO, and grill over high heat, on the BBQ or an indoor cast iron grill until golden, about 5 minutes per side. Using two of the garlic cloves, rub each side of the still warm grilled bread. Set aside.
Sundried tomato and basil pesto
In the bowl of a food processor or blender, add the sundried tomatoes, 1/2 cup basil, 1 garlic clove, 1/4 cup Tuscan Herb Olive Oil and process to a paste consistency.
For assembly
Spread 1 tablespoon sundried tomato pesto over over one side of the each slice of grilled bread. Top by spreading 1 tablespoon of ricotta. Then place 2 or 3 cherry roasted cherry tomatoes over the ricotta layer, and then add a basil leaf between each tomato (if you're feeling fancy). Otherwise just sprinkle the bruschetta with torn basil leaves. Finish each bruschetta with additional sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and a drizzle of UP EVOO, Traditional Balsamic, or infused olive oil of your choice. Serve immediately!


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Looking for things to do, events in Franklin, Brentwood or Williamson County. Maybe fun things for the family, kid events, date night or activities near you. Check out our calendar of events below.
- This event has passed.
Franklin Farmers Market
November 18, 2017 @ 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
An event every week that begins at 9:00 am on Saturday, repeating until December 16, 2017
The Franklin Farmers Market is a true TN farmers market.
The Franklin Farmers Market is a true Tennessee farmers market. From produce, fruit and dairy to baked goods and meats, you'll find delicious fresh food at the Franklin Farmers Market. And because it's all from local farms, the variety of goods increases and changes each week through the seasons. You can taste the difference, because it all comes straight from the farm to the market, ripe and ready to enjoy. It's Tennessee farm fresh food from real farmers, every Saturday morning at the Franklin Farmers Market. Plus, there are a select number of local crafts persons at the market too, with unique and beautiful goods for you to enjoy.
The Franklin Farmers Market is a year-round market in TN.
Market Hours: All Year Long, Every Saturday!
Jan thru March 9am – 12pm
April 9am – 1pm
May thru Oct 8am – 1pm
Nov thru Dec 9am – 1pm


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Good Learning Is Always Messy
So, just a quick post reflecting on Day One of our Minecraft project.
First off, from a technical standpoint, the program and the server worked perfectly. We didn't have any issues and the server practically yawned with boredom as we connected our 20 elementary and three teacher accounts.
Initially, I prepped the students with a brief introduction telling them they were literally pioneers and some of the first students in the world to ever do what we were doing. It's awesome to observe their facial expressions as they consider that. Our students' first experiences with Minecraft consisted of them logging into the world and learning the fundamental mechanics of the game (movement, breaking and placing blocks). They were also introduced the chat system and we quickly discussed some basic limits on how much information we should share about ourselves.
A few more observations:
The students were abuzz with excitement when they came into the lab. One particularly inquisitive student had spent quite a bit of time researching Minecraft on Youtube prior to Friday (See where they go to learn?).
Our 45 minutes flew by entirely too quickly and the kids realized it, too.
I think our administrators, who were there to observe, would agree that the speed at which the kids adapted to the controls was amazing.
Engagement was through the roof.
Students were very willing and eager to share what they were learning with their classmates.
In most cases, I refused to give them direct instruction about how to deal with the first problems they encountered, the most common of which was, "I've dug myself into a hole… How do I get out?"
I only used admin commands once to get a student who'd fallen into a deep and lightless cavern out because the glare of florescent lights on the screen made it nearly impossible to orient himself.
Adding the "shipwrecked explorers" element to the story helped provide a context for their overall challenge of cooperatively building a town.
One of the first thing that many of the students did was try to hit other players in the game. My advice to them was "Go ahead and get it out of your system and see that it's a waste of time so we can get on with our real challenge." This is normal gaming behavior. You test the boundaries, limits, and rules of the game world. That's probably really important in sandbox games, where those limits are not well-defined. I did, however, inform them that we won't be harassing or destroying another student's work and if they insisted on engaging in behavior like that, we could easily find a replacement. …I don't anticipate any issues there. 🙂
Especially due to our short time frame, a little more up-front guidance is going to be required if we are to achieve our end goals. This has caused my anticipated direction for the second class to shift slightly, so, I'll be headed to the store this weekend to pick up some graph paper and small composition notebooks.
Communication between schools will be a challenge if we limit it to in-world chat. We may integrate Skype in the coming weeks.
Feedback at the close from students was positive all around the room and they were reluctant to leave.
I felt really good about our initial outcomes. When you try something new like this, it's difficult to guess what it will look like. You have to be flexible. Having other educators on board can help you capture some of the "amazing" that's going on around you that you might overlook. My best advice, assume it will be messy. Good learning always is.


text: Date: Tue, 11/08/2011 Contact: Chris Wood, President and CEO - (571) 274-0601 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Trout Unlimited applauds appointment of Leslie Weldon Long-time regional forester well-equipped to step into leadership role Washington, D.C. — Trout Unlimited today applauded the federal appointment of Leslie Weldon as deputy chief of the U.S. Forest Service. "I've known Leslie for many years and you won't find a person with a better land ethic within the Forest Service," said Chris Wood, TU's president and CEO. "She has been an outstanding regional forester, was an important leader when Mike Dombeck was chief of the Forest Service, and will do a great job promoting partnerships that accelerate the protection and restoration of our national forests and grasslands." TU has a strong history of partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, which, with its 400,000 miles of streams and 3 million acres of lakes, has a central role in the future of our nation's water supplies and fisheries habitats. Weldon's appointment will enable her to work closely with TU on a number of issues vital to the organization's 147,000 members from coast to coast. "We look forward to working with Deputy Chief Weldon and the Forest Service to expand our partnership, and protect and restore thriving populations of trout and salmon on national forest lands," Wood said. ------ Trout Unlimited is the nation's largest coldwater conservation organization, with 140,000 members dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds.