The Long and Hempen Road...

Back in the 90’s, I was featured in a News and Observer article on the potential for hemp to supplant, in part, the tobacco industry… which, in recent years has become less attractive to North Carolina farmers, and for many reasons. I stomped around in Greene County, and several surrounding counties, for two months in the spring of 1994, pitching my pro-hemp agenda, and educating regional farmers on the potential for hemp to replace their embattled tobacco crops. I used the Clinton administration’s threat (at that time) to raise taxes on cigarettes, as a catalyst to start a conversation about the greater potential for hemp farming. I suggested to the farmers, some of them family and friends from my childhood, that they should form a caravan and ride their tractors into Raleigh with signs saying: “WE WANT HEMP” and “NC FARMERS for HEMP.” I reminded them that (at that time) legalizing hemp (marijuana) was not something the anti-cannabis/hemp politicians wanted to talk about, really. On the morning when my article appeared, as a caravan of busses headed to DC with hundreds of farmers and state representatives to protest the proposed tax increase, I was told that the pro-hemp article, in the News and Observer, which was passed around during the bus-trip (pre smart phone), was the news of the day. Everyone was talking about the problems with tobacco taxes… and the future potential for hemp as a state agricultural resource. One of the farmers I talked to “in the field” was retired Maury farmer and State Agricultural Commissioner, Jack Edmondson. Jack, who is since deceased, was a bright-eyed old fellow who listened with great interest to my pro-hemp pitch. I went through the whole long story about how hemp was outlawed for political reasons back in the 30s. In time, He, his son, Jack junior, and numerous other Greene County tobacco farmers signed the my pro-hemp petition. I got kudos from all my friends, on the high-profile article in the News and Observer. Eventually I ran out of project funds (gas money) and decided I had done all I could for the cause at that time… Plus, the Clinton administration suddenly changed their tack and backed-off on the increased cigarette sells-tax initiative. I like to think the Clinton administration got a peak at the News and Observer article and saw the writing on the wall. Who knows? I did what I could when I saw an opportunity to get some attention on the issue of industrial hemp farming and production. Meanwhile… Six years later, I ran into Jack Edmondson Junior at a friend's home while visiting in Greene County. He was quick to tell me that since our several conversations about hemp, six years earlier, he and his dad had been researching and developing a plan to build a hemp processing factory near Snow Hill. He said they had some “Raleigh boys go to work on it”. He said he had, through his connections, raised 8 million dollars for the land and construction of a hemp-production plant. I was pleased as a coot to see that my small effort four years before had flowered into a real-world result. As it turns out, the “Raleigh boys” idea of a good-time was a little different than what I had in mind. That’s when I learned about a hemp-hibiscus hybrid plant called kenaf. The kenaf plant has many of the same properties as hemp, proper (less the intoxicating flower buds)… AND… there were no legal hurdles standing in the way of getting a crop in the ground. So Boom! There is was… on a fresh plot of land in central Greene County. An 8 million dollar investment in the future… of kenaf. (?) Next thing you know, folks are freaking-out, riding down the country roads and seeing acre after acre of “marijuana” plants. The first time I saw it was quite a visual treat… though I knew it was an illusion of what I’d prefer to be seeing. Kenaf, for all intents and purposes looks pretty much like cannabis. It really was a trip to stand in a field of it… and imagine. But alas, instead of sweet little buds hanging of the ends of the branches… each plant has one or two prominent white flower blossoms… an hibiscus flower to be precise. One day I was escorted through the kenaf processing plant. It was interesting to see how the kenaf plant is processed… in a long conveyor belt, dragging the greenery though several thrashing, shucking and drying stations, and on to being plastic-wrapped for shipping. It was explained to me that most of what was being produced was raw materials for pressing into fiber-board in the manufacturing of car dashboards. Also, there is a lively market for the hulls for use as an absorbent in place of straw, in stables and kennels. Kenaf farming: a thriving new enterprise for North Carolina farmers… with a factory, all set up and running… (presumably) contributing to the greater economy of the region. I felt strangely proud. But one thing stood out in my conversation with the plant manager that day. According to his understanding, kenaf was only the first step to what he perceived as the beginning of true hemp-production… in the long run. I think he said in six or eight years they hoped to be processing cannabis-hemp… but the politicians would have to catch up with the investors. (wink wink, nod nod …) So what could go wrong? Plenty! The pro-(cannabis) hemp forces lost out on the first round of political appeals… The plant management was replaced by a less hemp-friendly front office, The new manager visibly sneered when I mentioned the potential to easily switch the plant over to hemp production. He indicated mostly through posture that the plant was focused on kenaf production and cannabis-hemp was not in the picture for the plants future. And then… somewhere along the way, Someone paid some punks to torch a field of kenaf, behind the plant, that was being dried on large pallets stacked 12 feet high. A field of some 60 stacks of pallets burned, and the sparks got into one the four large on-site warehouses and burned it completely to the ground. It was then that I learned just how much some of the local rednecks didn’t like that “marijuana” growing all over the place. It was just that big of a deal over in Greene County. I remember seeing the coverage of the fire on the news and feeling depressed that someone had attacked “my hemp plant” (no pun intended). Then, on top of that, mother nature got involved and spoiled the party altogether. One of the stages in the processing of kenaf requires that it has to dry in the field… slowly and more or less totally. As it happens, eastern North Carolina, in the fall… is wet. So there were big problems with the crop being harvested in a timely fashion, allowing for maximum “ripeness”. After several years of disappointing returns for the effort, kenaf farming dried up as quickly as it had sprung up… at least around these parts. I have not been keeping up with the kenaf plant/factory saga here, lately. But the last time I stopped by there to visit, about two years ago, I was told that the facility had been bought out by the Diamond Tobacco Group… It was also indicated to me that hemp production was back on the menu… in due time, and as evolving politics will allow. I bought a plastic-wrapped square, labeled bushel of kenaf fiber (for the barn but still have it in the bag/souvenir). Today, news of the North Carolina’s General assembly’s official foray into the land of legalized-hemp production serves to validate my effort there to-wit… regardless of what happens at the Snow Hill plant. I did a (Google-earth) fly-by… and then a ride-by of the processing plant. I have posted some pictures. There are four buildings, but there should be five, remember one (where the space is) was lost in the fire. I am noting (and remembering now… etc) that the plant has a new name… “Bio-Tech Mills Inc. / Cellulous Products Division ” Exactly!! It’s been a long haul… but I’m at the end of my hempen road, in that respect. I’m just glad to see that my work to educate people and spook out the demons of greater prohibitions, way back then, was not a lost effort, after all. Maybe somebody owes me a comfy desk-job in a hemp processing plant, ha! But seriously, I’ll take the credit for sticking their (farmer’s and Raleigh-boys') noses in it… “like oil in the fields” … go get it boys…

~ Essay on the subject: “afterlife” (and the CAKE-walk theory ) ~

The choice is not simple… a) face the mortal fact that death is the end of our individual existence… forever… done deal… or b) indulge some (fantasy) ideas about post-mortal/afterlife (new-life) experiences to come… It is a difficult choice: to be realistic and purely logical and scientific in graciously accepting the death of the body as the ultimate end to our identity and our (perceptions of) self-awareness … or, on the other hand, to project fantastical (unrealistic) expectations onto our individual (extended) story-lines… to image that, after death, we might end up in heaven… to rejoin our families and friends… or that we might end up in a fiery, eternal inferno for our sins… or that we might be reincarnated into this world in any number of forms… the door to fantasy-land is wide open… come on in.

The choice is to stay real and go peacefully into the night… or resist the immutable facts in favor of some preferred projections of so-many eternal possibilities.

So I have to ask myself these questions… am I a fatalist, convinced of my eventual forever-death, or am I a misguided dreamer… preferring the unlikely and improbable (impossible?) premise that there is no final ending… and that individual immortality is assured in the due-course of things?

It quickly rolls around to the prime question… “is God real?” One might be tempted to imply that the existence of God is a requirement of the “eternal-life” proposition… contending (if eternal-life in any form could, somehow, be proven) that God/HIMSELF purposefully and with “conscious” intent, singularly provides (is?) the vector, or the mechanism/medium for the trans-migration of (extra-dimensional(?)/perpetual) life energy into the afterlife. Therefore God must be a fact. Oops… there are flaws in that supposition. Just because the science is not there (yet?) to support it (eternal life) as a fact, does not mean that it necessarily takes more than mere science to facilitate a condition of universal-eternal mortality.

I don’t like (accept) the idea that mortal death is the ultimate and final end to the universal-life experience… even in light of it’s immutability… I prefer to opt out from accepting the facts, as they seem to be. I prefer the absolute and un-abashed fantasy: that I will live/exist (consciously?) (in one form or another)… forever... which amounts to a selfish and scientifically un-founded declaration, I know… but I am not willing to (can’t actually?) accept that the universe will spin on forever without my being there to experience it… in one form or another (or that the universe has an end at all, for that matter).
I trust that the (extra dimensional?) science (that we have yet to learn?/may never know) is incorporate… to insure our safe passages across… into our future incarnations…

It is curious to note that people who profess a believe in God… will always say they believe in eternal-life. Many will say that heaven and hell are the only options… some say just heaven… some say there’s a purgatory… some say we are reincarnated, and with karmic dues and debts to be settled in subsequent lives and bodies… (Zen Buddhism, etc). But, virtually all who believe in (or experience) God believe: His very existence is part and parcel of the promise of eternal self-re-cognition… weather we are incarnated or simply re-incorporated (in a self-aware spirit-form (angel?) …back into the cosmos.

But, it is not true that you have to believe in God to imagine/fantasize that MERE SCIENCE alone might (co-)author life-eternal… as a function of cosmic balance. The Hindu religions, for instance, profess to believe that once we get it right, here on earth… we can then move on and not HAVE to be reborn into a body in the world… then becoming one with the universe… for eternity…

But, couldn’t it be true though, that God may be real (for what he has obviously authored, otherwise, etc.) and, that in the end, the promise of eternal life is the big hoax… ? God authored the universe (nature/science) and put it in motion… but does he play politics with mortality… and eternity?

As a professed follower of Christ… I have made a conscious choice to accept the FANTASY promise of eternal life (as opposed to the fact of the lack of proof of the existence of a afterlife at all)… for He said, “THIS is the way to eternal life… and THIS is how to get into heaven (paraphrased).” The Christ, Jesus, was a mortal man… science tells me this. In spite of the wisdom of The Christ founded in him… the man, Jesus, had no ideas about how mere science might get us into heaven (or hell)… he had (and offers us) faith, only… (in the guise of special knowledge?) to get him/us past the empty void of mortal death,… and into the promised/fantasyland of heaven (or other). It is in His (the) promise of eternal life that all inspiration is founded.

The insistence that we should enjoy additional life (lives) after we die is so incessant in our minds that we even entertain imaginative extraneous vectors for the passing-over into the afterlife… in the form of zombies and vampires, for example… the un-dead and the half-dead. And now… according to contemporary science fiction (as well as emerging science) we are now facing a future where the immortality vector du jour is a computer processing chip… or electro-plasma synapse processors… a melding of mind and machine that promises a godless (soulless?/bodiless?) immortality for all. (Dracula will have to wait)…
If zombies and vampires are your choice for potential after-life vectors… I would suggest, while you’re out there in fantasyland anyway, why don’t you quest for a more congenial solution to the eternal-death dilemma.

Supposing that we were born with the absolute knowledge that the end (physical death) IS indeed THE END… that is hardly an inspiring thought… Would such a world-realized suffer for the lack of a possibility of eternal life, and the fact of the loss of inspiration unto limitless dreams… or dreams with endless possibilities… and isn’t that what our selfish claims to the province of eternal life is entirely all about?

So given that there is much disagreement on exactly the fantasy vector of choice, I have endeavored to conceived my own thoughtful (but convenient?) theory on how life after death might somehow be a scientifically viable, supposition, after all… with or without God’s purposeful consent or instruction… but having some residual faith that He will guide (inspire) us… what ever our destiny…

Adhering, then, to the spirit of life-on-going/life-eternal, I have concocted one far-out fantasy about how the afterlife could (maybe?) work in accordance with the natural science of the universe.
I call it the “Cake-Walk Theory".
The theory allows that there are many (available) realities running parallel throughout co-existing multiple universes, virtually on top of one another (over lapping). For the sake of clarity… imagine that you are on a train… your perceived life moving forward along the rails... but there is an infinite number of tracks running side by side… into the linear future. At any moment, each of us has to ability to employ the rail switch (the miracle-shift) (instant-karma, etc.) and instantly, seamlessly jump to/a concurrent and (nearly) congruent track… thus changing our perceived reality and our associated destiny … through time. We literally choose our separate realities as we go… One unsettling aspect though… this model requires that our personal subjective reality must be totally disconnected from the subjective realities of “others”… we are truly alone, according to the law of specialized universes. And the entire universe(s) is a single phantasmal figment of our God-like (cosmic/spontaneously-creative) MIND.

And finally, Cake-Walk Theory (Cognition-Actuated Kinetic Exchange) (yeah, corny, I know…) employs an integrated telescoping time scale… (still working on this aspect) that “reflects/echos” a converse value in the shape of an endless kinetic energy loop… that perpetually returns the MIND back to it’s source in re-creation (rebirth… in heaven or hell or something in-between… as is your exclusive (karmic) choice… based on your active (actualizing) karmic/kinetic energy exchange; Ala the phantasmal rebirth of my/your Cake-Walk mechanism dynamically imposes repeated similar, consecutive, carnal experiences. In effect we live the same life over and over… until we consciously activate (actualize) the alternative-reality track switch (free will) along the way. By way of the telescopic-time aspect… no one ever actually dies, in terms of personal experiences… due to phased soul-migration/identification (back through time by way of kinetic re-cognition (soul-memory). Think of it like this: The body dies… but our soul-memory has reserved a path back to our birth… where we literally start all over again… but memories (in this science) can not be saved from the future… and so we must be babies and relearn the world anew… (but whose complaining?).

Okay, so I know my little theory here is totally self-serving and pre-concluded to suit my personal preferences of how I WISH things might be… but compared to the other popular fantasies, I think its as good as any. It doesn’t disagree with the God-as-creator premise… it supports the unlikely reincarnation premise… it allows that we will indeed see our families, friends and loved ones again… and it incorporates the idea that WE are in control our destiny; to be reborn in a heavenly world or a hellish world… or some in-between state of purgatory, based on (instant/actualized) karmic dynamics (kinetic energy exchanges, etc.) I know it’s a bit technical… my grand plan for immortality… but at least I won’t have to go blood-sucking and sneaking around for midnight snacks in my next life.

Many have experienced a sense that “I have been here and done this before” … Even so… I will resist claiming the common “deja vu” experience as being proof of any “we-have-all-been-here-before” theories. Then again… who can say.

Have a happy Cake-Walk into your next incarnation… see you in a neighboring universe… (in no rush though!).

~Coming: The great technological memory hole~

Worldwide, mankind is on the precipice of a great loss of accumulative knowledge. Brought on by fast-forward technological growth and, in particular, rapidly evolving manufacturing changes… in the design, materials, and (encoding) standards of newer data transfer/storage systems. Massive amounts of invaluable data that was stored on various, now obsolete, media will soon become irretrievable, forever. Formulas, designs, experimental research data of all natures… just slipping away... setting us back 50 years in some schools of knowledge. The base-level information that is becoming unavailable has implications for such varied areas of knowledge as nuclear physics/plasma science/quantum mechanics/aero-space science/electro-science/neuroscience/chemistry/medical-biological research/bionics/and more… even vast quantities of poetry and philosophical/religious materials are bound, soon, to be gone.

When it happens, it will likely be a very sudden realization that… “Oops, old Joe’s the only one who knows that combination/formula/ingredient (pick one)… and he’s dead!” And that (very important) machine/system/product he and seven hundred of his brilliant, (also-dead) co-workers designed/built is probably going to remain broken for a very long time. It seems they over-protected their classified “product knowledge”. Industry secrets… some irreplaceable ones, being buried along with the men who wrought them… This is bound to happen… maybe even by (ill?-)design… the last feeble laugh of a dying culture of technological geniuses that gave us every thing from automated manufacturing to “the bomb” to television, moon walks, microwave-popcorn, pac-man and ultimately cellular phones and ipads… closing the doors to some critical areas of scientific progress for future generations to come… Blame it on a few hundred, or some thousands of irresponsible nineteenth and twentieth century mega-maniac (mad) scientists; their knowing, and not sharing, or, perhaps, simply being careless with their fleeting universe of cumulative knowledge… in allowing their vast spheres of knowledge to slip-slip away into the nether land known as: the technological memory hole… forever…

Then, what happens when the “big one” breaks and nobody comes to fix it?

Notes...

~It is a fact that no one man has the knowledge to manufacture a simple CD/data storage disc. There are over 30 different technical (secret) processes involved in creating a CD... The core loss of any of that technological expertise could, in theory, threaten an entire industry.~

~If a seventeenth-century scientist could have ever awakened wearing a modern-day digital/liquid crystal wrist watch, He would have gone mad trying to figure out how it worked~

See: < The electronic age facing memory loss? > (copy,paste,search,etc.)

~ Malled ~

My generation, the “Boomers”, was the first mall-generation. I spent many hours of my youth and early adulthood shopping, playing and working in modern shopping malls.

Then I morphed into a typical thrifty-mart-type consumer-rebel; decidedly as happy with a pair of twenty-five dollar knock-off-sneakers, from El Shoe Horn, as a pair of one hundred and twenty-five dollar Nike’s from Upton’s Sporting Goods (names changed to protect the innocent).
I gave up the mall!
Then a recent incident at The Colonial Mall, here in Greenville, only served to remind me of, yet, another good reason not to do the mall-thing: mortal safety!

The shooting, there, of several teens by a rival teen left the community in shock, and bolstered my growing wariness for enclosed-mall shopping.
Then, on a more recent Saturday, I needed an item that I could only find at one of the mall retailers. I thought a quick in-and-out to make my purchase would be a simple enough affair… But, when I left the retailer’s I decided to give the place a walk-through, for old times sake.

I walked to the back-courtyard area, where there was a kiddy-ride. I noticed that there was no music… except for the barely audible strains of MUSAK in the background. So, having my trusty harp in my pocket, which I’m inclined to do, I played several children’s songs. The little children all grinned with pleasure… even Mom nodded her approval. Passers-by smiled and tolerated my impromptu performance.

I was in the middle of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner” (last tune) when I was interrupted by three mall security workers… one of them demanding, “ Excuse me Sir, but you can’t play that in here.”
“Not even THIS SONG?”, I joshed…”I turned and walked away, certain that the mall’s community-relations department had just taken another hit. And learning, yet again, the mall is still as soulless as fake granite tile and high-dollar tennis shoes, and I’m glad they ran me away. After all, they may have saved my life!

~CIVILITY SURVEY~

~I think a person should be allowed to play his/her stereo, in his/her personal vehicle as loud as he/she might enjoy it. If it bothers some people at the intersection or trying to rest in a nearby home, then that’s their problem.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I believe protecting the environment and natural beauty of the land is important and there should be better enforcement and more severe fines for litterers and polluters.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I think it’s okay for tabloids to publish personal and compromised photos of movie stars and politicians, without their permission.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree () strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I think policemen and other law enforcement officers should be required to shave their heads so they will look more intimidating, as a group.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I believe that slow drivers, who hold up traffic, in this day and age, should expect to be yelled at.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~It’s best to be cautious and not go out of your way to help people on the roadside. It’s safer to mind your own business and let them do the same.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~There is no need for any sport to ever be violent to the point of battering, kicking, and bleeding.

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~Soap operas are a distinctly modern and sophisticated form of entertainment.

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~As a rule… bigger is better.

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~Trying to rehabilitate prison inmates is, mostly, a waste of time and tax payer dollars.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Cock fighting is a cruel psuedo-sport and should remain outlawed.

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~The world would be a better place if there was only one church.

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~The term “Christian” usually denotes a person of higher moral values.

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~The term “Muslim” could translate to: hater of Jews.

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~Public nudity is always offensive and perpetrators should pay stiff fines.

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~It’s okay to park briefly in the “handicapped” space if there is nowhere else to park or if you are old.

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~Trying to be politically correct is tedious and pandering… one should always call it what it is.

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~When baseball teams clear the benches for a brawl… it hurts the image of the game and discourages me from being a fan.

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~Bums and drunkards who get beat up in the street are just getting what comes with the territory. Society shouldn’t have to protect and care for vagrants the same as taxpaying citizens.

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~Anti-social, violent or sexist lyrics, in popular songs, should be respected as artistic expression.

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~If you believe in heaven, you must go to church regularly to get there.

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~Violence on TV is okay because you know it isn’t real.

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~Sometimes it’s okay to be rude.

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~Consenting adults should be allowed to freely produce, purchase and use erotic materials and other adult products in the privacy of their own homes.

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~The explicit and realistic depiction of sexual violence, in a film, when you know the actors are professionals, and not being harmed, is legitimate entertainment.

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~In this day and time, no one really expects to have a door held open for them.

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~It doesn’t bother me to overhear half of a stranger’s private phone conversation while I’m eating-out at my favorite restaurant.

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~There have always been problems in the world… I have a lot of faith in people… I don’t think we’re living in the “End Times”.

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~The only thing more important than being a financial success, in today’s competitive marketplace, is looking successful at any cost!

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~Punk Rock marked a low point in human evolution.

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~Hitler was evil.

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~Hitler may have been a despot and a mass-murderer, but he was no worse than his typical countryman who willingly conscripted in service to his dark ambitions.

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~People make too big of a deal over violence in video games. I’m sure it’s a relatively harmless activity.

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~I can forgive... but I don't forget!

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Email answers to: ISOR@localnet.com

~ AUTOSAURUS ~

I like to think of myself as a bit of problem solver…

Like the time (1993-94) when I encouraged our NC tobacco farmers to start talking about commercial hemp as an alternative crop… not because I thought they would actually, necessarily, grow any hemp any time soon, but because I realized that just talking about it would make the Clinton administration, who wanted to raise tobacco taxes (and devalue the farmer's product, etc.) nervous, because they didn’t really want the salt of the earth, back-bone of America, farmers, to come out extolling the benefits of commercial hemp (read: marijuana)… This would pose policy problems, long ranging, for a host of government and BIG BUSINESS interests. (Read Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Has No Clothes”)

And, so, as soon as the word got out, what the farmers were talking about in the fields (growing hemp)… all of a sudden, you just didn’t hear anything else about any tobacco tax increases. Sometimes the best defense is, indeed, a good offense. Yeah, I’ll take credit for creative thinking there…

Little did I realize that a couple of those old farmer guys actually got to work researching and politicking… and, lo, 8 yrs. Later they had the NC General Assembly loosen laws prohibiting the growing of a hybrid; cannabis (hemp) and hibiscus, called KENAF… (Cannabis L). It looks just like cannabis growing in the fields, except it produces a large hibiscus-like flower, that is uterly un-smokable (of course). They built an 8 million dollar plant which produces several products…stable/kennel products (absorbent bedding etc.) and raw fiber for press-formed materials like dashboards. So, now the region has a budding commercial hemp/agro-industry that employs and profits hundreds (thousands?) of people a year in this region. Yeah you can go ahead and give me credit for saving the tobacco farmers, and incidentally, promoting a budding (don't you wish, ha!) commercial-crop industry… Well, let’s just say my hemp exploits were timely, at least. I got some statewide press and TV coverage, and sort of became the area “hemp activist”... a recognition I proudly own up to.

So, the long point is… I’ve been up-to-it again… Thinking about a problem…and trying to solve it with creative thinking… and, perhaps, just a little bit of gall!

And, the problem du jour?

> CARS, CARS, AND MORE DAMN CARS! <>MASS TRANSIT. And many people would love to be able to take the rails or busses… but only a small percentage of commuters, in most cities have mass transit systems to ride.

And then there are the millions of folks that just “aint going to ride a damn bus or train until they make Coupe Devilles (and Escalades) against the law!” And we all know that’s not going to happen. And as much as I’d like to see all the cars gone, I would be the last to vote for a blanket prohibition against the ownership and operation of a personal motor vehicle (check back on that one).

Truly, the best solution, of course, would be the development of clean burning engines like hydrogen and electric, etc. Don’t hold your breath.

Until that day comes, my solution is: everyone should VOLUNTARILY agree to give up their personal (gas-burning) vehicle, as mass transits systems are developed to handle, eventually, more or less, ALL of our transportation needs. (I can hear them laughing clear to the cornfields of Nebraska.)

So, to that end, I propose a contract… an agreement, among those (few?) who will, in the form of a pledge… that: we should all, voluntarily, give up our personal cars… (and here’s the catch) if… everyone else will agree to give up their car(s) too! Ha! E-Z out. I mean, really, what are the chances? Yeah, I know… I’ve got a better chance of getting people to change their religious ideas (see previous post) than to imagine that many people will volunteer to give up the daily gas and go. God, we love them cars!

Still, keeping true to the immaculate concept, I pose, as an example and invitation to all, the following pledge…
Please respond (post your pledge), in the comments section below. Or go to ISOR@localnet.com and let me know your thoughts!

The Cadillac Memorial Pledge:

I, (your name)_Mitch Bowen_ , having the benefit of understanding the wide range of detriments imposed upon the earth, and all its living creatures, by the overuse of millions of dangerous and environmentally intrusive personal automobiles… do, on this Date _ 7-08-06_ , pledge, myself, to voluntarily disown (or, otherwise, not use) my personal vehicle, when such a time may come that the greater majority of people might enjoin this pledge… to rid the world of the scourge of the ages: gas/oil burning automobiles, trucks and other combustion-engine driven vehicles.

Now… that wasn’t so bad was it?
So, lets all get signed up and put an end to this multi-million-headed monster!

Sign up now, and cure the world of car-mania!
We’ve got other problems to get on to!

FYI/ AUTOSAURUS: Extinct, beast of burden; circa late 20th, early 21st century internal-combustion engine-driven machine, designed for the transportation, primarily, of commuters and families by the tens of hundreds of millions.
Causes of extinction: neglect; impracticality; incompatibility with living systems and Earth’s atmosphere; simply put… the cars got tired. Ooo… sorry!

One last thought… DRIVE SAFELY… meanwhile!

~ The Christen Mind ~

The Christen Mind is preoccupied with thoughts of Love, for All, and Peace, Among Men.

The Christen Mind hears one message and follows One Unifying Principle: See your Self in every brother and sister, and cherish and respect all of nature and all the creatures on the Earth.

The Christen Mind reflects a world without the specter of human conflict… all conditions of war being undone by the One, Perfect Thought: Unconditional love and acceptance… for all. The Christen Mind applies This Perfect Thought, in relieving the world of fearful and conflicting conditions.

The Christen Mind sees One Purpose in the world, and for the world of things: That it be shared, in the realization of abundance, and given as proof of what is receivable and in endless supply and resource.

The Christen Mind uses The Rule of Abundance to relieve the world of conditions of lack and poverty… realizing that to be charitable is to share, and therefore, to MAKE REAL!

The Christen Mind uses The Principle of Forgiveness to release Itself, and, ultimately, the rest of the world, from thoughts of revenge and retaliation; understanding that only conflict can result from judgment and condemnation.

The Christen Mind has no need for the concept of right-versus-wrong and asked, only: What is True… Or, What is Real…

True = inclusive… untrue=exclusive
True = open-mindedness… untrue = fearfulness
True = unity… untrue = conflict
True = abundance… untrue = lack, limitation
True = free will… untrue = coercion
Real = sharing/giving… unreal = hoarding/stealing
Real = forgiveness/freedom/life... unreal = judgment/condemnation/death

The Christen Mind acts in and responds to the present and resists the idea that happiness is a thing that can be removed to some conditional future. The Christen mind refuses to delay a happy reality, by way of supposing a preferred reality, based on some pretensions about the future and upon some special conditions. Happiness, delayed, would be blasphemy.

The Christen Mind does not seek its potential for heavenly resolve in the future, but, wills to have heaven revealed, Here and Now. The Christen Mind looks upon heaven, now, and does not displace the potential for PEACE, NOW… by way of presuming some better time for the inevitable.

The Christen Mind is not burdened with thoughts of blame and retribution.

The Christen Mind cannot be victimized in the body, as a body, for neither is it contained in or limited to any body.

The Christen Mind abides safely in the Temple of The Body… The Vessel of Communication, and recognizes: acts of aggression, as perpetrated in the body would deny communication of His Perfect Thought!

The Christen Mind realizes fear is not communicable, and: Learning takes place, only in the presence of Love.

The Christen Mind is evident only in The Now which it knows not, as a moment-passing... but rather, as: The Continuum/Creation-ongoing. The Christen Mind experiences Creation as the ongoing state of things.

The Christen Mind forgives every miss-creation manufactured in the name of ego.

The Christen Mind recognizes that only the ego is capable of miss-creation.

The Christen Mind is Self-forgiving and guiltless, so that it is prepared and willing to release others from guilt, in the same light, always, and without hesitation.

The Christen Mind asks one question, only: “Who Am I?” And, hears one answer: “I am The Thought of Love”.

The Christen Mind shuns idolatry and vanity… in the Knowledge that all affects of the body are temporary and, ultimately, an investment in time-wasted .

The Christen Mind is not obliged to either except or deny the existence of God; The Christ’s faith is total and His atonement complete. This is the Salvation of The Christen… being among The Christen: all “sins” are undone, and all atonements secured, in and by His perfect faith. This is the saving power, and the Grace of His Understanding, despite the doubting of The Saved.

The Christen Mind regards “devils” and supernatural agents of “evil” as, purely, mythological and born of superstition and in ignorance of HIS TOTALITY, and further denies all province to despots and tyrants of the spirit, as well as, the rest of the world of things.

The Christen Mind resists the temptation to control and to fix, understanding: The choice to have a loving world revealed before you obscures any control aspect the ego might, otherwise, project onto the world… and, the world seen, though HIS PERFECT VISION, in no way, needs fixing.

The Christen Mind recognizes non-spirituals and ego-mongers as being temporarily distracted from their purpose, which is UNITY, and their source, which is UNIVERSAL LOVE.

The Christen Mind abides a natural wariness toward ritual and regards Truth and Salvation as presently and instantly available at The Alter of the Internal Self; realizing: neither, on bended knees or with folded hands can a distracted mind be saved.

The Christen Mind recognizes that: A unifying/universal philosophy, regardless of authorship, is Christen, in essence, and therefore TRUE, lest the Master teach the lie of separate purpose.

The Christen Mind recognizes any and all cosmologies and philosophies as Christen, in essence, if the central aim of the teaching is harmony, peace on earth and good will among all men, and reverence for the natural world.

The Christen Mind illuminates the commonality of being among the brothers and the sisters of the world, and looses sight of distractions from the reality of His Unifying Purpose.

The Christen Mind shuns special ness founded in the body… regarding all bodies and everybody in the same Special Light.

The Christen Mind regards no building or place or thing as sacred, in and of itself, but recognizes the sanctity of all places and things existing and under The Rule of PEACE.

The Christen Mind regards all political pretense as blasphemy, and all politicians as being temporarily distracted by a perceived need for laws and necessary resitutions and imprisonments; in demonstration of the false/ego-invested concept of separate purpose and supportive of the idea of divergent “realities”, not understanding: no law can stand in substitution for the Reality of PEACE, NOW!

The Christen Mind does not regard a world of laws, but reveres a world released from laws, and absolved from the pretense of necessary disorder and dysfunction. The Christen Mind understands: there are no laws, but only PEACE, NOW in His Perfect World Revealed!

The Christen Mind recognizes that physicians and psychiatrists requiring monetary resitutions for healing, should set a fee that will not burden the patient's mind with debt, in the name of healing his body, nor enslave his body to heal his mind; understanding: True healing is a gift that is multiplied and returned in the giving!

The Christen Mind responds, spontaneously, and in kind, to all acts of kindness and expressions of Love.

The Christen Mind understands the idea of humor through a sense of Self-realization and laughs, frequently, so as not to cry, at the ego’s vast world of pretense… the ego being the distracted-self; realizing: The ego laughs, always and only, at the expense of another. The Christen Mind finds no good-humor in humiliation and personal/character desecration, and realizes: attack-“humor” would reveal contempt for The Truth in Our Selves and the reality of Our Shared Purpose and Common Heritage. The Christen Mind rejects all forms of body-oriented “humor”, or, ridicule; understanding that attack, in any form, and solely for the ego’s entertainment, is unworthy The Peace Maker, Whom You Are! The Christen respond with laugher, only at the moment of Self-Illumination. Joy becomes of this!

The Christen Mind regards material wealth as, altogether, immaterial, until given unto The Reality of Unity.

The Christen Mind remembers an ancient song, enjoined by every voice. It is this song The Christen Mind returns to, being reminded of The Power of Unity. It is the Melody of Love, the ego cannot hear… The Rhythm of Togetherness, the ego cannot feel.

The Christen Mind looks to see: not, what should be done or not done, but, rather: What purpose is served? If the answer is not: “To unify the world…” Then, the doing will amount to time-wasted. The Christen Mind seeks to save time, always… and will have you not do things in vain.

The Christen Mind rejects the idea of competition and realizes that all war is founded therein.

The Christen Mind indulges only that sport which is time-suspended, or, playfully incurred, having found all players bound in spirit to The Rule of Forgiveness; and understanding that: this is how to appreciate temporary glory in the body and perpetuate a state of permanent goodwill and trust, among peoples and nations, while, still, you seek the Total Peace of Heaven.

The Christen Mind rejects the idea that time is a commodity which might be bought, sold, or rented, for the profit of some, and at the expense of some others; understanding that to sell, or rent time, one would have to, first, be able to own it; and understanding that the selling and renting of “time” is always attached to properties, goods and services, and that landlords and other, would-be, time brokers are misers, hoarders and oppressors, to the worst degree, who would impoverish their brothers and sisters, for the gorging of their own coffers; and, realizing, that all tenants, being equally distracted in blind aligience to their own empoverished beliefs, do, purchase nothing of real value, for all the investment they make in the wealth of their oppressors.

The Christen mind is wary of symbolism, by any design, and neither reveres, nor protects any trinkets of special ness, lest he bear the Cross of Sacrifice, or, wear the Star of Pride.

The Christen Mind realizes that the ego views the idea of Unity with fear and rejection, and that ego-manifest, which would rule the world of separate interests, is an unacceptable condition, which is only dissipated in the Light of Love and at the expense of all the world of ego-domination.

The Christen Mind realizes: Salvation is no complicated matter of enumerating and scoring the sins of the individual, but rather, Salvation is a simple matter of re-joining “individuals” unto ONENESS; Knowing that Unity, by definition, renders sin impossible, undoing the conditions that would tempt sin, in any form.

The Christen Mind regards special prayers, in special cases, to be re-enforcing of the idea of separate concerns and victim hood, founded in the body, and is reminded to pray for All, Always… that none be excluded from His Saving Grace.

The Christen Mind is wary belief… Knowing that: all belief is shaped to the contour of our fears. The ego establishes belief in what it thinks will keep it safe! That beliefs vary, from individual to individual, like fear, is evidence of their arbitrary nature, and an indication that beliefs can not be trusted… simply because beliefs do change, and then, again, are unchangeable and would become a cause for war. The Christen Mind, loosed from the constraints of belief, and associated dogma, symbolism and ritual, is now free to consider the Idea of Love; the simple idea that Universal Love dawns in the liberated mind and requires: Belief be gone! THE IDEA of LOVE is come to free every mind that would be enslaved to a world of available beliefs!

The Christen Mind, having become attuned to a world without ego-pretense, quickly develops an over-conscience that wards away all the world of ego-manifest, in all cases. The Christen, Whom, by definition, have asked to look directly on the Truth in Themselves, unfiltered and un-retranslated by the ego, stand, Together, in The Light of His Perfect Knowledge, and acquire insight into the ego’s pretensions; Knowing: This is the result of having removed the obstacles to clear vision, that the duplicitous ego would imposed upon the mind; the ego being: the mind that believes it is a body, in conflict, with other bodies.

The Christen Mind reckons, NOT, with death… understanding: that, which is unimaginable, must not be knowable. The Christen Mind, which Knows, only LIFE, has no means by which to assess the properties of the non-existent… who would be “the dead”; realizing: nothing, including the specter of death, is connective, in any way, to, let alone, follows LIFE! And, since there is no nexus “between” existence and non-existence… there is, in Truth, no escaping the promise of Eternal Life… by way of whatever vessel, may you be… forever, in His Eternal Mind! The Christen mind holds that there is but one alternative to life, in this world: ascension.

The Christen Mind, regards the projection of “death” onto the body, as respondent to the belief in time and the perceived need for rejuvenation; understanding: If bodies did not age, deteriorate and die, the passing of time would be of no concern! Else wise, there are clocks in heaven!

The Christen Mind denies the "death-experience" is possible, in any way; therefore, the question of re-incarnation is moot. The question is one of Re-integration… not, whether, or not,the Mind/Body Re-integrates…. But, when and where… When and where will The Continuum, being Creation-ongoing, express forth, and, in what form? The Christen Mind does not devolve, and Creation does not fold back upon Itself.

The Christen Mind is ever seeking to let Itself be known; in the Knowledge that The Truth does not fall on deaf ears, and no one can resist The Truth when made known to It! This is the beauty of It, and the release of all the world from right-versus-wrong aspects, and ego-rule.

The Christen Mind shines the light of special favor and charity upon the sick the meek and the helpless, that all are nurtured in spirit and healed in THE BODY OF LOVE.

The Christen Mind remembers, first, the innocence of Creation, as in the birth of all the brothers and the sisters of the world, and then, requires that you see them, as they are created… free of sin and safe from judgment. This is how we insure Salvation for Ourselves! The Christen Mind is Self-saving, in this sense.

The Christen Mind looks first, inward, to Its source, in HIS LOVING THOUGHT, and then, reflects Its clear vision outward, onto Creation’s Canvas, woven in time, and painted with the colors of His Mind.

The Christen Mind is not formed in isolation from other minds, and each mind is dependent upon all other's in the COMPLETION of HIS MIND!

The Christen Mind is prepared and preparing for THE DAWNING of HIS MIND upon the world… and will know it has come when all the people of the world agree: It is so… So, let it be!

The Christen Prayer: Let me, this day, and always, be… in touch with The Mind of Christ, in me. And let me, when my day is done, touch His Mind… in everyone.

So, let it be.