New Article: Jupiter, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, and the Return of the Mongols - Laura Knight-Jadczyk

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13

Picture of the Day

Storm
©2004 Pierre-Paul Feyte

We enjoy getting feedback from our readers. They provide us with an opportunity to look at what we have written from different perspectives, allowing us to sometimes fine-tune our ideas, and, sometimes, to consider an idea we have presented in a new light.

Our recent commentaries on the apparent purposelessness of most of humanity, and our subsequent discussions of humanity as food, have provoked an intense reaction in some of our readers. We look at three of the more critical comments today.

Name: Frank
Location: Europe

"People are useless to life and creation". Not only harsh, but really showing a lack of the objectivity and open-mindedness that this site has for so long promoted !

Your site has served an excellent purpose over the past few years in adding a different perspective to the established media, education, religions. For that, I am very grateful.

However, increasingly you are simply being contrarian for the sake of it; pessimistic for the sake of it, negative for the sake of it.

No, you're wrong; there really is no hope; the world is worse off than we thought.

Unfortunately, we think we are "contrarian", "pessimistic", and "negative" because the facts on the ground point in that direction. We don't wake up every day and say, gosh, let's ignore all the good, positive, and optimistic stuff in the news today and only choose the worst to ram down our readers' throats.

The current Signs team has been doing the page now for almost one year. Every day (with only a few days off due to technical problems) we read news reports from the world over. Even Christmas day, a day we "took off," found us on our computers scanning the news as usual. We think that our increasingly dark view of the world is realistic, is a suitable reaction to the terror of the situation, and we are coming to a greater and greater understanding of the level of lies and how objective reality is in complete opposition to the reality created by the media and our own perceptions.

Our perceptual apparatuses are all wrong, full of reading errors. Until they are corrected for these reading errors, we think we are seeing things clearly, but we are not. We cannot correct these reading errors alone; it is too easy to deceive ourselves.

Two years ago I read here "keep an open mind" and "reality is what we make it ourselves". How very true, but my reality is not as pessimistic as yours has been recently.

Perhaps you are interpreting the idea that "reality is what we make it ourselves" somewhat differently than we do? We do not subscribe at all to the idea that if you only see negativity then you will live in negativity, but that if you have good thoughts, then your reality will be good. That is the kind of garbage that is floated around in pseudo-spiritual groups to keep you on the menu as lunch.

The ONLY WAY to make a new reality is to see this one as objectively as possible. That amounts to rubbing your nose day after day in the manure. Then, if you are consistent and pure in your outlook, meaning that you look hard at reality in all its truth in spite of whether that truth is wonderful or horrible, only then will you have the possibility of transducing the energies necessary for creating a new world upon the basis of truth, and not lies, when or if such a moment arises.

But, of course, the very idea that this might be possible is a hypothesis, so, ultimately, one does not look for the truth in order to get something later. One rejects the lies simply because that is who you are. One looks for the truth simply because some deep part of oneself will settle for nothing less, regardless of the effort or sacrifices that must be made.

Yes, there is World War 3 taking place right now, but there nevertheless are a lot of good and positive people around still making a difference.

Who? Where? What are they doing? What difference are they making?

On what level is their work making a difference? Amidst the 'A' influences or in matters of the Soul?

If you know of such people, please tell us about them, send us links, open our eyes to what we are missing. Unfortunately, to date, the links that have been sent to us as illustrations of what we are missing have proven to be illustrations of self-calming and a refusal to look reality in the face. Or band-aids being applied to alleviate certain suffering in our world. Fine for those who do it, if that is their calling. But that is not our calling. Our work is to see this world as it really is.

For Signs to reject most writers attempts for at least a glimpse of something positive, some hope at least, simply reflects that you are now locked in your own negative reality and that you are failing to see the wonderful universe and our world and its inhabitants for what it really is....

...A COMBINATION OF BOTH BAD AND GOOD, OF NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE, OF PESSIMISTIC AND OPTIMISTIC.

Just because the universe as a whole has a balance of bad and good, negative and positive, pessimistic and optimistic, doesn't mean that our little part of it has the same balance.

We see in people that there are different percentages, different ratios of good to bad. Not everyone is 50/50. How many people do you know who are 50/50? Why should the world be any different? Why should you expect that in THIS world, things balance out 50/50?

Is it so horrible to admit that this is the world of the Devil? That this is a fallen world. There is no way it can be a paradise. But if we look, we see that it is not even balanced 50/50. The horror far outweighs the good, unless maybe you can accept material success and sensual pleasures as all there is. Of course there is some "good" in the world. What effort would it take to learn to discern good from bad if everything was bad and was obviously presented as bad? What lessons would there be in working your way out if you were able to see everything as it really was immediately upon beginning to play the game? Isn't it more of a challenge when nothing is as it seems?

Believe us, we look for the "good stuff." We don't take this position simply "to be contrarian." We would love to find the hope, the goodness that you tell us is out there. But day in and day out, the facts don't back it up. But perhaps we don't see it. Perhaps you could begin your own daily news page and bring to light these positive and optimistic points that we miss. When you do, please let us know. We'll be your first readers.

Now too often you are just adding to the negativity of the official media, as if that was part of the Neocons strategy ! Surely you are not in their hands and control ?!

The "official media" is negative because it promotes lies. It is a major con job. That is its purpose: to obscure the real nature of things, to promote "good" as "bad" and "bad" as "good."

We are trying to peel back the layers of lying and obfuscation. We report the news from sources all over the planet. Yes, we have begun to write longer commentaries inspired by the facts. Our point of view in these commentaries is not very positive as regards the future of the planet. We tell our readers that the only thing to do is to make a commitment to the truth, and that begins with knowing the truth about yourself. Our experience tells us that very few people are willing to make knowing the truth the central axis of their lives. For some it is a hobby. Some start out sincerely, but, then, confronted with a few home truths about themselves, go scurrying back to the safety of the consensual hallucination. Very few are willing to go all the way.

Get back to being objective !

And you would like us to do this by pretending that this world is balanced 50/50 between light and dark?

Name: Dave
Location: Canada

Well, thought I'd break my long silence here to comment. I owe a lot to this site for its openmindedness, and its willingness to explore things that most people discount. This place really did open my mind, and it has become one of the only reasonable voices I can hear in the middle of this cacophony we call the Internet.

Objectivity is a slippery beast, however, and I have to give some support to Frank from Europe. I think that, here and there, the editors of the Times let their frustrations and personal agendas drive their words, and give the search for truth a second seat. Don't get me wrong, I'm as imperfect a creature as the next one. I just hope the Signs editors can admit as much also.

There are days when we feel extremely frustrated. We see the world careening towards chaos and, from what we can tell, this chaos appears to be the deliberate goal of The Powers That Be. Not only do the majority of the people on the planet not see it, they think that all is well, that is, there is no reason to change the goals and organisation of their lives. They believe that they will be able to continue living as they are now indefinitely. Or, at the best, they'll worry about any changes when it is forced upon them by events.

But the underlying question is whether our pessimistic view of things is due to an accurate reading of the situation, or due to our own blind spots and inability to see all the good around us.

... Well, guess I'd better back this up. :)

I understand the need to point out the lies of the public programming machine, and I know that biting commentary makes people pay attention, but if the "truth" is to be "truly" respected, then it must stand up on its own. In order to be objective, all sides of an issue should be given fair representation, and that just doesn't always happen here.

Here we are in fundamental disagreement with you. This is "bourgeois" objectivity, to use a phrase heavily laden with trigger potential. This is the type of objectivity we see in the legal system. Take the case of a disagreement between neighbors or business partners. There is a defendant and a plaintiff. The jury will most likely have a predisposition pushing them to accept that the truth is "somewhere in the middle."

But what if the defendant is an honest man and the plaintiff is a psychopath? What if the psychopath is incapable of telling the truth about anything and willing to do whatever he needs to do to "win." The defendant is what we would label a "good man." He thinks that everyone is basically honest. He thinks that all he has to do is present his case and other "good men" will recognise the truth, and he will win.

But if the jury is already predisposed to thinking the truth "is somewhere in the middle," then there is very little chance the defendant will have a fair settlement because he will have a hard time convincing the jury that he is entirely in the right and the plaintiff is entirely at fault, and if, at the start, he believes that "all men are good at heart," then he will be incapable of seeing his opponent for what he is, a psychopath.

The defendant's only hope is to see the plaintiff as a psychopath and then use the tools he has to convince the jury of this fact.

This is where your idea of objectivity falters. Just as the defendant must draw a line between a "good person" and a "psychopath" in order to show the jury the truth, we must drawn a line of demarcation between Creation and Entropy, between the ascending path and the descending path, between the path of the Soul and the path of the body. From the point of view of the Soul, the "truths" of the body are partial and outdated truths. They are subservient to the truths of the Soul.

We are attempting to report on the truths of the Soul on the Signs page. While we are feeling our way forward on this path, there are many "truths of the body" that we can reject. We do not need to consider them as part of this work. They do not need to be given "fair representation."

As an immediate example, I think that it was counterproductive to mock and poke fun at Tom Bearden's ideas to make a point...

We discuss Bearden elsewhere on today's page.

Let me expand on my point a little by bringing in another issue. I've always been wary of "absolutes". The Signs editors seem to have a very definite, "You are part of the problem or part of the solution", "sheep or shepherds", "soul/no soul" attitude. Frank may have already made my point: the simple fact that nobody can be fully one way or the other. We are all caught somewhere in between those forces of taking and giving, and attempting to become completely one of them distances us from our place here in this life. For each one of us, there are times when we must focus on our selves, and times when we can give our energies to larger things.

Here, perhaps, is the crux of our difference in perspective. You appear to accept your place here in this life; you do not want to be distanced from it. In such a case, then we might consider that you still have lessons to learn, you continue to derive some satisfaction from those lessons and from being here. Therefore you do not yet see this place as being the hell that we see.

That is fine. The world is perfect as it is. It offers its lessons to those who inhabit it. We do not wish to change it. But perhaps we are seeing it differently than you do because we have different lessons to learn.

An example: we no longer see a distinction between "focusing on the self" and "focusing on larger things." They are one and the same. As we consider this idea, it seems nonsensical, absurd. How can one make such a division? But that is how we see it. Obviously, for you, there remains such a distinction. Therefore, you will view the world differently than we do. You place an importance on the personality that we do not. This is not "better" or "worse." It is a simple constatation of difference.

If you still feel this internal split between "self" and the "larger picture," then it is perfectly consistent for you to continue as you do:

The idea that there is some divine polarity that we must align ourselves to, one way or the other, is an insult to my status as a greater-than-one-dimensional being. The alignments may indeed exist, but as long as we are "selves" among "others", the conflict between STO and STS energies is one we must learn to live with, and take each individual choice as it comes.

Yes, we do think that everyone is on one path or the other. If you are on the fence, you're still in the default, entropic position of this world. You have to choose to move from this default position to the opposite.

Obviously, if anyone were no longer "of this world," he or she would no longer be in it. But although we may still be alloys of the two paths, we are each moving in a definite direction. We are either becoming more of one or more of the other.

However, once you become committed to the ascending path, although the battle between the two paths is waged through you, and this can be extremely gut-wrenching, after each battle when the ascending path wins, you see the descending path as something foreign, it is no longer "of" you. After the decision is taken and the ground is won, you will later wonder why such a decision was so difficult. The defeated part is no longer internal. More internal ground has been liberated and your internal strategic enclosure is solidified.

Of course, there will be another, future battle that will demand an even greater level of discernment, and that battle will be waged through you.

You will continue to live this as an internal struggle until you become committed to your permanent, real 'I', and not your temporary Personality. Until you are committed to the path, you have no chance of building that strategic enclosure and all the internal struggle is for naught.

What you perceive as a "greater-than-one-dimensional being" may well only be the many small 'I's of your Personality. As long as you accept that you are multiple selves, that is, until you decide that this state of affairs has got to come to an end, you will live this conflict and will be unable to see the "divine polarity".

*slurp* Hmm. Tastes okay, but needs a pinch more perspective. Here's a slightly more dramatic angle along the lines of today's commentary.

When I look into the eyes of George W. Bush, I do see a light. It is the same light I see in the eyes of every person I really take a good look at. His light, however, is exceptionally distant. He closes it in and keeps it to himself. When he is proud of his work, some of that light shines for a moment. He has accomplished some "good work," as he sees it, and his being shines. But it's a dirty, selfish light. Starved of any greater illumination, he gorges himself on it. It twists and tightens his smile, but he hides it well to those who aren't watching closely. He doesn't seem to care where that feeling is coming from, he just absorbs it. Every time he artfully recites one of his manipulative appeals to the American heart, balancing his expression and his agenda like a trained seal, and the applause erupts around him, he seems to grow with that energy, becoming more confident in his art. The forces he has chosen to align himself with definitely reward him for his hard work. He seems quite addicted to that feeling of power.

This, to me, does not mean that he is soulless, or that he is incapable of things like compassion or empathy. His abilities to let his experiences connect him with those feelings are just extremely small. Such powerful and revealing energies are probably impossible for him to face in public, or any time he contemplates his past. He is a man behind a mask, and he wears it so much that he has practically become that mask. Like all people who use such a mask to hide away from reality, I weep for his loss. Well, actually, I don't, but I consider that my weakness.

To understand why we think that these two paragraphs are nothing more than a fancy excuse for psychopathy, we refer you to our pages on psychopathy and our free pdf download of Cleckley's The Mask of Sanity. We refer you to our pages on the Organic Portal. Until you understand the concepts of psychopathy and organic portals, you will be lunch, over and over again. Yes, you might be able to extract yourself from energy draining situations with some people, the obvious manipulators, but you will not see the world as it is and understand the depth of our problem without an in-depth understanding of these issues.

That may seem categorical, but we stand behind it.

As unpleasant as it may be for people to admit that there may well be some folks on this planet that do not have souls, we think the facts support this tradition. To be sucked into some fantasy about Bush's inner light, no matter how twisted or distant it might be, indicates that you do not understand one of the core points of our work. If there is any light emanating from Bush, it is either his mirroring of your own, or the final, glimmering spark of his last meal.

If you wish to weep for him, you'll find yourself someone's lunch.

But this will not make sense to you until you understand the dynamic that develops with the psychopath or OP.

We all have such a mask, to some degree. We all must choose which things we take upon ourselves to feel, and which sensitivities we leave aside for the sake of our own sanity. Dubya's mask is just bigger, more grotesque, and leaves him unable to see his own imperfections while he imposes them on others.

But deep down, he's just like you or me? No. We disagree. See our psychopath pages.

Nobody is beyond redemption, but I highly doubt that if George W. Bush ever had a glimpse of his "greater self", that he would be able to live with himself afterwards.

Why are you so certain that he has a "greater self"? Where does this idea come from? What data do you have to support the idea that everyone has a soul, or that everyone has a higher self?

Perhaps he has consciously chosen his path, like Ariel Sharon. Ariel Sharon knows very well what he is doing. He is willing to sacrifice the entire Palestinian people if need be to achieve his goals. However, Sharon still performs a function in the universe as a manifestation of the descending path. He has every right to exist and to make his own choices.

Gurdjieff and Mouravieff both talk about the necessity of growing your soul. It exists in potential in some of us. In others, in the organic portal, it is more likely to be a piece of a soul pool. There is no individuation. We think the state of things on the planet as well as our own experience as individuals offers ample data for this hypothesis. We work with it in that way. It is a hypothesis that has, we think, a very high probability of being true.

But we must also keep in mind that we are all machines, as this recent message to CassChat, our public discussion group, underlines:

> > The issue of knowing whether or not I have a soul
> > may not be important, but anyway it is a question
> > that early arose in my head, and often
> > comes back.
>
> It seems to me that all of us don't have souls
> because my observations have shown
> that we are all machines (including myself).

I agree completely. Because we do not have a sure way of answering this question (we do not even have a good definition of a soul!), it is better to stay on the safe side, and that means it is better to assume that we are soulless machines, and then try to IMITATE a machine with a soul as well as we can!

ark

Back to Dave's comments:

Unforgiving people are their own worst enemies, and that is really the sentiment that I am trying to speak up for today. Perhaps Tom Bearden, along with all those on Entropy's payroll - consciously or not - are severely misguided, but it does no good to blame them for their weakness.

Blame them for their weakness? No, we point out that they are walking on the other path. This is their choice, perhaps made through ignorance. We don't want to convince Mr. Bearden to change anything about himself. We simply offer up our take on what he says. We do not wish to change George Bush or Ariel Sharon, either.

If you are lucky enough to have regrets, you don't need anybody to punish you. You can handle that one alone. The last thing you need is a group of people standing around you, calling you names and saying, "We told you so" with that same smug light in their eyes.

...although, I guess, it might make you feel a bit more at home.

But if one is without the higher centres, then one can get away with murder without any remorse. Please read Cleckley.

Name: Tim
Location: Australia

In regards to Monday's (April 26) installment on the Signs of the Times Website...

I have an inkling that the 'Signs of the Times' team are anticipating a certain kind of fulfillment of the prophecy contained in the book of revelation, in which Armageddon, the Beast and the second coming of Jesus Christ are included. Am I right or wrong?

If you remove any and all Christian interpretations, then it is a definite maybe. We think that there is scientific evidence that indicates the globe suffers from cyclic cataclysms. The survivors have attempted to pass down warnings about these cataclysms in the form of myth and other stories, of which Revelations may well be one example. If time is cyclic, if these catastrophes are cyclic, then the description of a past event could also appear as the prophecy of a future event.

If I'm right, then let me ask, do you realize that you share such perspectives with some of the very influential groups of constituents represented by Bush and Sharon? Does this seem ironic to you, that you oppose the forces of Christianity and Judaism and yet share a similar perspective with them of the future?

You were not right, but we'll answer anyway.

Do you see a difference between:

"Ah, it is the end of summer, soon the leaves will fall from the trees, it will grow cold, the snow will fall. But after a short while, the snow will melt, the trees will bloom, and spring will be upon us."

and

"The trees are losing their leaves because you have sinned. You have ignored God, your Creator. He will afflict the Earth, hiding the sun, and causing his Creation to die. You will freeze and those who have sinned will die. But those of you who believe, those of you who repent, who worship your lord, will be saved. You will live to see the rebirth of the world."

I think you share something else, cynicism of people who are not sympathetic to your beliefs and your expression of that scorn. Your publishing of gruesome photographs on the Sign of the Times website in order to solidify your argument confirms my thoughts. You contribute nothing by exploiting the suffering of others in such a way.

Yeah. Bush and Sharon kill, maim, and destroy, yet we're the bad guys because we publish the pictures!

We offer to our readers the truth -- unvarnished. In this case, it was via pictures that the mainstream media refuses to show in order to protect you from the consequences of your inaction and your acceptance of the current state of affairs. Of course, the mainstream media says they are doing this out of respect for the dead and other lies like that. Do you believe those lies?

Go fish.

No thanks. Never liked putting the worms on the hook.

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US marines storming Falluja

26.04.2004, 15.15

AL-KUWAIT, April 26 (Itar-Tass) - U.S. marines are storming the northern districts of Falluja, which is situated 50 kilometers away from Baghdad. Despite the truce concluded on Sunday, fierce fighting was started on Monday in two districts of Falluja simultaneously.

According to the information of witnesses, the marines were fired at from grenade launchers, when they tried to enter the
Shuhada and El-Julan Districts, which are the main stronghold of the defenders of the city. After meeting strong resistance, the U.S. troops opened fire from artillery pieces and large-caliber machine-guns installed on the roofs of military cross-country cars. The fighting has been going on for about two hours. Shell explosions are rocking the city. According to Al-Jazeera TV channel of Qatar, the U.S. marines asked helicopters to help them, which started firing missiles at the positions of the defenders of the city. [...]

Another hotbed of tension appeared on the map of Iraq on Monday. It is the northern part of Baghdad, where a U.S. military patrol struck a mine in the morning. Witnesses say that at least five U.S. men were killed or wounded. U.S. military ambulances urgently evacuated them. The explosion destroyed four U.S. military cross-country cars, which patrolled the Bab al-Muazzam District. It was so strong, that a nearby house collapsed, killing an Iraqi family, including two children. [...]

Al-Jazeera has just reported that another U.S. military patrol struck a mine in the city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Monday. No details of the incident were given.

In this situation Iraqi Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulyum announced the opening of Al-Basra oil terminal for the export of oil. The port of Basra interrupted its work on Saturday night, after suicide bombers on three boats tried to stage an attack in the zone, where two largest oil terminals of Iraq – Al-Basra and Hur al-Amaya – are situated. “The oil terminals were practically not damaged by the explosions, with the exception of several electric generators. They were replaced by new ones, and oil export was resumed in the same amount,” said Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulyum.

The Hur al-Amaya terminal, whose capacity is smaller, resumed oil shipments on Sunday morning, but Al-Basra, whose daily capacity is one million barrels, stood idle for 27 hours.

The oil pipeline connecting the city of Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, with the port of Ceyhan, Turkey, is working at a small capacity because of incessant attacks of militants and acts of sabotage. Although it officially resumed its work early in March, Turkish oil transporters say that at present its daily capacity is only 300,000 barrels. Oil is being delivered with frequent interruptions.

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US kills tens of Iraqis on Najaf's doorstep

Tuesday 27 April 2004, 12:51 Makka Time, 9:51 GMT

US occupation forces have killed tens of Iraqis in overnight clashes near the city of Najaf.

Backed up with helicopter gunships, a spokesman in Baghdad claimed occupation forces had killed 43 Shia militiamen by Tuesday morning.

But hospital sources said of the 28 people seriously wounded in the clashes, only six of them appeared to be militiamen.

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Drugged US Troops Laughing In Battle

Muhammad Abu Nasr
Jihaad Unspun April 27, 2004

Mafkarat al-Islam’s correspondent in al-Fallujah reports that for more than 10 days the Resistance fighters in the besieged city have been remarking about a phenomenon that they find strange and surprising. Resistance fighters have frequently noticed that many of the American aggressor troops are laughing as they storm into districts in al-Fallujah. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent personally witnessed this clearly when he was close to the events as US aggressors tried to storm an-Nizal neighborhood in the besieged city on Saturday.

The correspondent wrote that he saw two American soldiers laughing, such as to arouse pity for them, despite all the Resistance gunfire being poured at their position and their comrades dying around them. Both of the Americans were later killed in the battle. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent writes that the Resistance learned later from interrogations of captured American Marines that the US military medical service distributes a type of halucinogenic pill to the troops that prompts laughter and reduces the sense of fear in combat conditions.

The reverse situation has been revealed in the despair and terror exhibited by the US troops when their lines of supply of food and medicine have been cut – a phenomenon that has been witnessed by nearby Resistance fighters.

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Clashes shatter faltering Falluja truce

Monday 26 April 2004, 12:51 Makka Time, 9:51 GMT

At least one American soldier and eight resistance fighters have been killed during the fiercest clashes in Falluja since a truce was declared more than two weeks ago.

Eight soldiers were also wounded in Monday's fighting while a mosque was damaged after US tanks and aircraft targeted fighters believed to be inside, said the occupation force's deputy operations director, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt.

A CNN journalist embedded with US troops in Falluja reported that at least 10 marines had been injured. Many of the American casualties reportedly came after more than 100 Iraqi fighters attacked a US patrol.

Aljazeera's correspondent in the besieged Iraqi city, Abd Al-Adhim Muhammad, witnessed a US helicopter attack on Falluja's Golan district. Muhammad said two residents were taken to hospital moments after the first attack.

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Iraqi Delegation Says US Used Cluster Bombs In Fallujah

26 Apr 2004 12:40 GMT

AMMAN (AP) -- A spokesman for an Iraqi delegation from the violence-gripped city of Fallujah Monday accused U.S. troops of using internationally banned cluster bombs against the city and said they had asked the U.N. to mediate the conflict.

Mohammed Tareq, a spokesman for the governing council of Fallujah and a member of the four-person delegation, said U.S. military snipers were also responsible for the deaths of many children, women and elderly people.

"In Fallujah, the American troops killed at least 800 people and wounded 1,800," Tareq told reporters. "We want to inform the world about the massacres and the human rights violations by the Americans in our city." [...]

Comment: And here we thought that the whole reason the US invaded Iraq was to locate and eliminate Saddam's illegal WMD's so that he didn't use them against anyone else. Ah, the hypocrisy...

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Mercenary killed in Iraq was apartheid assassin

by Julian Rademeyer
Sunday Times (Johannesburg, South Africa)
April 18, 2004

A security contractor killed in Iraq last week was once one of South Africa's most secret covert agents, his identity guarded so closely that even the Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not discover the extent of his involvement in apartheid's silent wars.

Gray Branfield, 55, admitted to being part of a death squad which gunned down Joe Gqabi, the ANC's chief representative and Umkhonto weSizwe operational head in Zimbabwe on July 31 1981. Gqabi was shot 19 times when three assassins ambushed him as he reversed down the driveway of his Harare home. [...]

Comment: Americans' tax dollars at work. If it was Iraq that had invaded the US and subsequently sent known assassins into America to help the Iraqi military, would there be a single American who would believe that Iraq's intent was to bring "freedom and democracy" to the US? Of course not. So how is it that Americans can still believe that their country's motivations are for the benefit of all Iraqis?

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10 U.S. Contractors in Iraq Penalized

By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer
Mon Apr 26,11:16 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Ten companies with billions of dollars in U.S. contracts for Iraq reconstruction have paid more than $300 million in penalties since 2000 to resolve allegations of bid rigging, fraud, delivery of faulty military parts and environmental damage.

The United States is paying more than $780 million to one British firm that was convicted of fraud on three federal construction projects and banned from U.S. government work during 2002, according to an Associated Press review of government documents.

A Virginia company convicted of rigging bids for American-funded projects in Egypt also has been awarded Iraq contracts worth hundreds of millions. And a third firm found guilty of environmental violations and bid rigging won U.S. Army approval for a subcontract to clean up an Iraqi harbor.

Seven other companies with Iraq reconstruction contracts have agreed to pay financial penalties without admitting wrongdoing. Together, the 10 companies have paid to resolve 30 alleged violations in the past four years. Six paid penalties more than once. But the companies have been awarded $7 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts. [...]

Comment: The penalties all seem to be just a part of the game. All it takes is a few small slaps on the wrist, and Americans believe that justice has been served regarding the US companies that are profiting handsomely off the mayhem and death in Iraq.

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'Qaeda tape' vows attacks on U.S. interests

Tuesday April 27, 12:17 PM

DUBAI (Reuters) - A purported audio tape from a senior Saudi al Qaeda leader says the militant group will carry out more attacks against U.S. interests this year and urged Muslims to avoid American civilian and military sites.

But the tape by Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, audible on Tuesday through a link on the Dirasat Islamist Web site, which carries statements said to come from senior Qaeda and Taliban officials, said last week's suicide car bombing of a security building in the Saudi capital Riyadh was not the work of al Qaeda.

"The Jews, the Americans and crusaders (Christians) in general will remain the targets of our coming attacks and this year, God willing, will be fiercer and harsher for them," said the voice on the tape which was clearly audible. [...]

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Jordanian TV airs al-Qaida gas-attack confessions

By Jamal Halaby
April 26, 2004

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Al-Qaida plotted bombings and poison gas attacks against the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Jordan, two conspirators said in a confession aired Monday on Jordanian state television.

Azmi al-Jayousi, identified as the head of the Jordanian cell of al-Qaida, appeared Monday in a 20-minute taped program and described meeting Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi in neighboring Iraq to plan the foiled plot. [...]

Comment: Sure. No doubt, there will eventually be chemical weapons courtesy of the "free world." After all, this will offer justification for more violence, without which there is no Armageddon and Bush's Jesus won't come. While waiting for this, why not again take good old al Qaeda from under the bed, after all, this fictional universal fall guy has thus far served its creators to perfection.

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Canada to Boost Security to Prevent Terror Attacks

By David Ljunggren
April 27, 2004

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada pledged Tuesday to spend more on intelligence gathering, increase port security and clamp down on bogus refugees as part of a new national security policy designed to prevent terror attacks at home and in the United States.

The document was unveiled a day after former U.S. counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke criticized Ottawa for not spending enough money on law enforcement and intelligence.

It will also be one of the main items on the agenda when Prime Minister Paul Martin meets President Bush in Washington later this week. [...]

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Amish man refuses ID photo, U.S. won't let him in

Last Updated Tue, 27 Apr 2004 11:54:40

KITCHENER, ONT. - A Canadian man has been separated from his wife and child because he refuses on religious grounds to let U.S. immigration officials take his picture.

Daniel Zehr, 29, of Kitchener, Ont., belongs to an Old Order Amish sect. He believes the Bible's prohibition against "graven images" includes photographs.

Zehr wants to live near Pittsburgh with his wife Ruth Anne, 22, and their child.

He entered the United States as a non-immigrant visitor following their June 2001 marriage.

Last December, the Zehrs travelled to Canada to visit his family in Ontario.

When they tried to go back across the border, Zehr was told he had "self-deported" and wouldn't be allowed to return to the United States without photo identification.

His attorneys say he is willing to be fingerprinted, but prosecutors in Pittsburgh say a photograph is necessary so Department of Homeland Security officials can check the background of people seeking alien status or citizenship.

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Hundreds of Thousands Protest Bush Abortion Policy

Sun Apr 25, 2004 02:38 PM ET

As the march wound from the Mall toward the White House and then turned onto Pennsylvania Avenue and moved toward Capitol
Hill, abortion rights groups encountered anti-abortion protesters.

These protesters carried posters showing photographs of fetuses at eight weeks gestation and signs reading "Abortion Kills Babies."

March organizers hoped for a bigger turnout than a 1992 abortion rights march, which drew 500,000, according to the National Park Police, which no longer gives official crowd counts. The biggest demonstration was an anti-Vietnam War rally in 1969, which drew 600,000.

Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood, said the numbers on the Mall may exceed 1992.

"There is a time to march and this is the time," Feldt said. "Women's right to self-determination is on the brink."

Though the march was billed as nonpartisan and included a contingent called Republicans for Choice, much of the day's rhetoric was plainly against Bush, a Republican who opposes abortion in most cases.

Comment: Why are we not surprised that the numbers are no longer published? Well, we can be sure they are counted though. It is also interesting that so many people are so concerned with the rights of a fetus, yet they readily support their military blowing up babies and children in Iraq.

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McNamara: Nuclear War Still Possible; NY No. 1 Target

Jon E. Dougherty, NewsMax.com
Tuesday, Apr. 27, 2004

The threat of devastating nuclear attack by Russia against the United States has not diminished, warns former Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara.

Writing in Monday’s Los Angeles Times, McNamara and co-author Helen Caldicott claim that the threat of a nuclear catastrophe remains real, “whether by accident, human fallibility or malfeasance.”

The Soviet Union collapsed on itself and the divide between Eastern communism and Western democracy disintegrated more than 13 years ago.

Because of that, the nightmare scenario is not on the minds of many Americans today.

Missiles Still Pointed at New York, Cities

Nevertheless, the threat remains serious, McNamara and Caldicott argue, because, despite the end of the Cold War in the early 1990's, thousands of Russian nuclear warheads are still pointed at the U.S. targeting many civilian population centers.

McNamara, defense secretary to presidents Kennedy and Johnson, U.S. and Caldicott, a pediatrician and head of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, say that Russian nuclear targeting strategies haven't changed much — and certainly not enough to reflect the thaw in relations between both nations.

The pair also cite a January 2002 document from the U.S. Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., titled, "Prototypes for Targeting America, a Soviet Military Assessment."

The study reports that New York City is the single most important target after military installations on the U.S. Atlantic coast.

In addition, a report commissioned in the 1980s by the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment is still as relevant today.

It said Soviet nuclear war plans called for aiming two one-megaton bombs at each of the following: The three airports serving NYC; Wall Street; each major bridge; all major rail centers; all power stations; four NYC-area oil refineries; and the NYC port facilities.

Also, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in a recent report on nuclear-attack preparedness, featured a map showing an obliterated New York City from nuclear blasts and the resultant firestorms and fallout.

It predicted millions of people would instantly perish, while most survivors would die shortly thereafter from radiation burns and exposure. [...]

Comment: The powers that be will always try to distract the masses so that they never discover just which levers are being pulled by the wizards behind the curtain. While it seems that Russia is the least of the American people's worries, it is rather interesting that FEMA prepared a recent report on the effects of a nuclear blast on New York City.

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"The agony of the mundane"

By John Brand, D.Min., J.D.
YellowTimes.org Columnist (United States)

I am not discussing Kudera's book [The Unbearable Lightness of Being] in this column. I merely use it as a spring board to think about the present state of affairs in America. It is a state in which millions upon millions live an existence of meaninglessness. The statistics speak for themselves. Our present population is about 300,000,000. Roughly 60,000,000 are children below the age of 14.

I assume that no children -- or hopefully only a very small number under the age of 14 -- are afflicted with the self-destructive conditions I am listing.

Reliable sources estimate that more than 18 million people are alcoholics or alcohol abusers. About 5 to 6 million are reported to be drug dependent. Six to eight million are counted as addicted gamblers or meet the criteria for "problem gambling." In 1998, 44.3 million people suffered from diagnosable mental disorders according to NIMH. A total of 77 million Americans are suffering from behavior seriously reducing their optimum capabilities. Furthermore, the effects of the listed conditions spread to the entire family. Assuming an average family of three, 221 million bear some brunt of the meaninglessness of the lives of those directly under the influence of destructive behavior patterns.

Democracy cannot survive when almost the entire adult population is infected with a significant degree of meaninglessness.[...]

The presence of massive self-destructive behavior evidences a serious psychological malaise. This sickness unto death results from the pressures of a cold-blooded, competitive, and utterly materialistic society. Internal stress caused by the hopes what life should be and the realization of what life is, builds up to unbearable stress. Escape from such stark reality is the only way open for survival. Drugs, gambling, and mental illness are techniques bringing momentary relief. Such a condition makes poor soil in which democracy can thrive. [...]

Why would someone exercising great power in the political arena, not use that power to build a nation based on peace, equity, and justice? Why would such a person grab more and more control overthrowing the most fundamental democratic principles?

Why would someone who dominates the religious allegiance of the masses not use that influence to actively promote love and light, learning and laughter? Why is so much venom and divisiveness thundering down from so many of America's pulpits?

I suggest that the answer in all three cases is that those who have amassed so much face an icy cold in their innermost beings. Their emptiness, loneliness, and sadness has not been confronted, faced, and solved. One can see it in frozen facades, vapid values, and meaningless messages. Their pain is an ever pervasive reality. Failing to accost the demon, escape is the only way of escape. But since that mechanism does not provide the healing balm, the escape becomes a way of life. [...]

Man does not live by bread alone. Yet, we have made "bread" our god. Subconsciously we know it to be a god with feet of clay, wearing a rusting armor. America is worshipping a golden calf that is without spirit, without life, without a vital force. The pain of our emptiness is evidenced in the ways in which we seek to escape the wounds that will not heal. [...]

Comment: Yes, society is materialistic and dumbed down, especially so in America. This is not by chance. Yes, the more the population engages in quick fixes and addiction and entropy, the more the leadership gets away with doing the same on a grander scale. The individual and societal levels are not separate, they enable and accelerate each other's decay into chaos, tyranny and, ultimately, non-being. We see this as a nodal point, the completion of a natural cycle. This downward, entropic direction is indeed the natural function of fully half of creation. The task is to recognize this and choose which aspect one will embody in one's life.

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Likud Activist Calls Sharon A Nazi

By Yifat Zohar
4-27-4

The atmosphere in the Likud has reached near boiling point, following a vicious atack on PM Sharon by Ohad Kamin, a leading activist of the extreme right wing "Jewish Leadership" faction headed by Moshe Faiglin.

"Sharon is not only an enemy, he is the most dangerous enemy of Israel", wrote Likud activist, Ohad Kamin in a fiery article against PM Sharon on the "Jewish Leadership" Website and went on to compare the PM to a Nazi.

In the article Kamin, a right wing journalist and columnist who also writes for Makor Rishon and Arutz Sheva, also issued
threats and incitement against Sharon.

Kamin writes, "What is the meaning of the statement that Sharon is our enemy? That negotiating with him, as with any true
enemy, only increases his power base, the threat he poses and the sensation surrounding him".

"The common thread of our enemies is that only force speaks to them. From their point of view- and this includes Sharon- whatever is said by an armed man is more just than what is said by an unarmed man. For the modern Barbarian (and Sharon is a prime example) power is justice".

The article has sent a shock wave through the party. Education Minister Limor Livnat was flabbergasted by the incendiary content, and has requested hearings to expel Kamin from the party. The party's general manager Arik Barmi and the movement's counsel have also filed similar requests to the partyís disciplinary court, which has the authority to rule on such measures.

"Only a sick mind would compare the Prime Minister to a Nazi criminal, and only an extreme and twisted one would call for
violence against him", said Barmi who went on to call for a police investigation of Kamin, to also check if his opinions
represent an entire movement.

The Likud director has ordered that security at the polls be increased. "Jewish Leadership" has removed Kamin's article from its Website.

Comment: Only a sick mind would see things as they are? That Sharon fully embraces the precepts of a Nazi-like doctrine? The Zionist state is in fact a direct consequence of Nazi policies, their ideological heir. The Nazi's killed the non-Zionist Jews, delivering the more aggressive elements to the "promised land," thus making a "master race"of sorts.

To the psychopath, truth is obnoxious and he would readily call pointing out objective facts a sickness.

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New Age or Ancient Science?

A Conversation Between a New Ager and a Gurdjieffian

"The human being is inherently good. It is his dark thoughts which separate him from the universal abundance of love, joy and life," said the New Ager, then continued: "It is by accepting disempowerment, by living in thoughts of fear, separation and negativity that man denies his God-given nature as a creator."

"How can man have free agency as a creator if man's actions are purely mechanical reactions to whichever way the wind may blow?" retorted the Gurdjeffian.

"But the wind blowing is the breath of God, a symbol of the interconnectedness and harmony of all things, the great resplendent web of life," affirmed the New Ager.

"Yes, there is interconnectedness, for example, the cat and the mouse merge in unity during the former's digestion of the latter." This happens. Automatically, without any higher consciousness, simply because this is the nature of that particular level of the "ray of creation." It is the same with man. Man operates according to programs and automatisms of personality that are not fundamentally different from the cat's hunting instinct, except in the regard that man may wreak greater havoc than a cat and is more versatile in his mental functioning, while remaining equally mechanical."

"You concentrate on negativity..." emoted the New Ager: "You look into the abyss and the abyss looks back at you. You are its prisoner and the unwitting accomplice of darkness, adding the energy of your attention to it. Turn away, for the sake of your soul!"

"Well, if you refuse to see the abyss, it engulfs you before you notice. This is the being the unwitting accomplice of darkness, by becoming its food." quoth the Gurdjieffian

"But I just feel all the good in the world! There are forces of light defending humanity." argued the New Ager.

"But if man is a sovereign creator of reality, then man needs no defense. And who are these forces claiming to work in man's best interest? If we evaluate them by their track record, what do we see? Take the forces who instigated the major religions, for one? What other fruit than blood and strife, in other words, food for the Moon did ensue? And did Yahweh ask Abraham's opinion about sacrificing Isaac?"

"But I feel my higher self, such a radiant light."

"How do you know what the thing you feel is? Certainly, you may feel many things, but what is the standard of objectivity to which you compare these? What makes you think that in astral worlds or even the subconscious there would not be entities or structures that will tell you whatever you wish?"

"But there is no objective truth! My own truth is beautiful, yours may be one of despair, mine is resplendent with love!"

"But by making a categorical statement about there being no objective truth, you contradict yourself because you speak as if you could make universally valid statements while in the same sentence you deny the very possibility of universally valid statements? See the fault of logic? Maybe you should say that for you there is no objective truth? That truth is whatever feels good. But then you disconnect from the creation which you so claim to embrace. Not to mention becoming the unwitting accomplice of whoever causes you to "feel good". This is called wishfulness and service to self."

And so the conversation proceeds, without progress towards a common understanding, as if the people spoke a different language. In a sense they do.

Still, Gurdjieff was, as demonstrated by his life, work and legacy, not a bitter pessimist but a proponent of man's capacity to evolve. If he had found man reaching the higher worlds of spirituality and freedom categorically impossible, he hardly would have devoted his life to teaching the Work as he did.

The problem of the New Age commerce of enlightenment is that it promotes concepts which may well be true at certain levels of creation but are ineffective and inapplicable at the present level of reality.

From where we sit, life is essentially a school. Perhaps we can all at least agree on that. As with all schools, they exist for the purpose of providing the opportunity for students to learn.

Take the example of a 3rd grade math student. On entering 3rd grade he knows little or nothing of the lessons of 3rd Grade. He will participate in the class, learn the lessons, and hopefully pass the tests. If he does not pass the tests, he will repeat the year until he does. Note, there are very definite lessons to learn in 3rd grade, but this does not mean that the lessons of 3rd grade encompass ALL there is to learn, but certainly 3rd grade lessons must be learned in order to progress.

In the process of learning lessons, it is possible that 3rd grade students could become somewhat aware of the topics that form the lessons of a higher level, say 6th or 7th grade. For example a 3rd grade math student, whilst attempting to understand 3rd grade lessons such as the understanding and application of positive and negative integers, could hear of something called "advanced mathematics" which forms part of the lessons of 7th grade. He may be discover that it is said that "advanced mathematics" can allow a student to perform amazing and complex mathematical calculations, calculations that make 3rd grade math seem limited and basic. The student may aspire to fully understand this advanced mathematics, after all, it is a real struggle to do the laborious work of 3rd grade, and the advanced math makes 3rd grade math seem so limited. Yet, in reality the student lacks the prior foundational knowledge to really grasp the concepts of the "higher grade" in a way that will allow him to apply them. This is natural.

Such a student essentially has two choices. He can use his inkling of the "higher learning" of the higher grades to understand that there is a natural progression to the lessons and grades and that it is essential to learn the lessons of 3rd grade to even be able to understand that which comes in the next. He may then realise that the sooner he learns the lessons of 3rd grade the sooner he will progress in his understandings.

Alternatively, he can begin to complain. He can let his extremely limited insight into the higher learning of higher grades make him egotistical. He can tell himself that he is "above" the pithy lessons of third grade, and that he should already be in a higher grade. He can reject the idea that he must do the work himself to extract the fundamental lessons and salient points of 3rd grade and he can convince himself that these lessons are irrelevant to him and, to further justify himself, he convinces himself that in terms of the higher lessons, the lessons of 3rd grade area actually wrong! Let us assume that our hypothetical student decides on this latter approach.

End of year exam time arrives:

The student sits down. He is asked the following 3rd density question:

You have five 9.9 ounce bars of gold in one basket and three 5.35 ounces of blue apples in another basket. I take away 6.666 ounces of gold from the first basket and leave the apples untouched. Choose the lightest basket.

The student answers.

"In reality there are no individuated ounces of gold or blue apples, because, according to what I hear of "advanced mathematics", there is in truth only one large gold/blue apple type construct from which the illusion of all other indviduated things proceeds. As such it is wrong of the examiner to even ask me such a question and I will not answer it since from a higher point of view it does not, in fact, exist.

Student fails exam. See you next year for another attempt.

Note, the student did not fail because his answer was wrong per se, but because he failed to answer the question that was asked of him. He was essentially asked, "What do you see"? Which do you choose? And in his egotism he refused or was unable to answer the question asked.

Getting back to real life. How does this apply to us in our daily lives? What is it that we are to learn in this 3D classroom? Well, what is it that anyone, anywhere, in any possible realm of existence is to learn? What is the point of existence? Is it to create our own reality and live within it? For sure that would be nice, but it appears that, as yet, we cannot do this. We share our reality with many other beings, all of whom have their own own subjective view of "what is", and all determined that theirs is the accurate view. All around us students are refusing to open their eyes and simply learn the lessons of this life in order for them to move on. At every opportunity they are avoiding the lessons that are to be learned.

Of course, ours is a unique "classroom". There is not one teacher, but many. Most are imposters who attempt to convince us that we are "too good", "too spritual" for this basic classroom called life - that we don't even belong here, that we are so much more advanced already. Others are telling us just to sit back and relax, that "work is for dopes!" That the classroom can be a nice place if you just kick back and take it easy. Of course, we all like to hear those words, they appeal to our ego, our false "I". That part of us that is lazy, cowardly, and 100% subjective, concerned only with "me".

The point is that these imposter "teachers" are setting us up to fail the exam. This in itself is one of the core lessons of 3rd grade.

Regardless of this, most people will continue to attempt to create and believe in their own subjective reality. In doing so, they represent the main contributors to the entropic decline of our world, and at present we are in the penultimate phase of "runaway train".

To pursue a path of attempting to enforce our own subjective view of reality on creation, we are by default choosing to condemn ourselves to an eternity of conflict with those that also claim to see the "truth". There can be as many levels of subjective "truth" as there are willful beings with the ability, conferred by some form of self reflective consciousness, to choose to attempt to create their own reality.

So what then is the real meaning of truth? Is it my truth? Your truth? Any of the infinite number of possible truths that could possibly be imagined? Is there even an absolute truth?

The new ager will tell us that "we are all one". This, in his opinion, is an absolute truth, because he has "felt it" as such, and he suggests that we too can "feel" it if we first of all accept his hypothesis that "all are one". We don't agree, so there is conflict. Like our reader today who just knows that there is a "divine spark" in George Bush. How does he know? Well, apparently he has "seen" it. He has perhaps meditated on it and seen the deeper reality and "truth". But we are not into or interested in "seeing" or "feeling" things that we want to see or feel. We have been caught in the trap of attempting to create our own reality before, we have even "seen" it and "felt" it, and we were equally convinced that our subjective reality was the "truth". These attempts and failures, while painful, taught us the crucial lesson that there does indeed seem to exist an objective reality that eventually intrudes on our subjective creations.

Take the Iraqi man that fervently believed George Bush when he said, "We are coming with a mighty force to liberate your people". One day recently, this man was sitting in his house, he heard the rumble of tanks approaching, he decided that he would like to welcome what he believed to be "liberating troops". In his enthusiasm he ran outside towards the troops waving his arms in anticipation of "freedom". The highly-strung, trigger happy troops mistook him for an "insurgent" and literally blew his head of.

What was the real truth in this situation. Was the Iraqi man wise to believe his own subjective reality, based on the lies of Bush, that the US troops would liberate him as Bush promised? Was he seeing "what IS"?

New agers who proclaim that we "see too much negativity" did not come up with this concept themselves, it has been around for many years. So why are they so sure that, like the Iraqi man, they also are not being fooled by the words of others? They feel it? Have you ever felt that your partner loved you, only to have them cheat on you? What of that feeling? Was it not complete and convincing? Yet it was WRONG! We can be fooled! Of course, there is the program that automatically runs when it is suggested that we could be being fooled. The ego jumps up and says "me?" "fooled?" "Never!". Still, it is fooled all the time, whether the ego likes to admit it or not. This is WHAT IS.

Our quest and love is for objective truth. That truth which exists outside and apart from our beliefs, wants and desires, all of which are not our own anyway, having been given to us through some apparent hereditary right to the process of "socialisation". We love neither our own subjective lies and illusions, nor those of our readers. We do understand however that the process cannot be rushed, that time is needed, but we also understand that nothing will be achieved if each of us does not DO. By default we live in a personal and global world of subjective lies and illusions. As such, we must Do in order to align ourselves fully with objective reality. This "Doing" involves making efforts to first See, and then divest ourselves of our lies and illusions. This objective reality of which we speak is indeed of a higher order. From the Signs, it is approaching, and it asks the question of all humanity, "what do you See"?

Gurdjieff said that as few as 200 truly and fully conscious people could change the course of history if they found this to be lawful and appropriate. The one hope of man is to become conscious of reality, in as close to an objective manner as possible. Only this will allow people to precisely understand each other, to think the same thoughts. This never occurs in the common life of man, not at least concerning any non-trivial subject. So, even if man does not deliberately lie, his vast subjectivity will separate him from both truth and other men. Only by overcoming this internal barrier can man become a creative agent. How can one create anything if one constantly works at crossed purposes, even within one's self, not to mention a group? This is further made difficult by man generally not being one, but a multitude of little "I's".

When the New Agers rush to speak of unleashing man's spiritual potential, they directly ignore all these barriers. By underplaying the difficulty and offering subjective effects instead of hard truth, the creative potential of spirit is neutralized, not enhanced. This is why the plethora of "stairways to heaven" sells well and enjoys the favor of "the powers that be". Opium for the masses for sure, and like most drug users, the masses will fight to feed their addiction and deny that they are addicts, even unto their own destruction.

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N Korea Stuns S Korea With Disaster Aid Rejection

4-26-4

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea stunned South Korea by blocking an offer from Seoul for swift aid to train blast victims in a signal that barriers remained to its embrace of international relief efforts.

The communist state turned down Seoul's offer to transport emergency aid directly through the tense inter-Korean border that would have brought early relief to victims of last week's explosion in which at least 161 people died and 1,300 were injured.

"North Korea rejected our proposed overland transportation of emergency relief goods," said Moon Won-Il, spokesman for South Korea's National Red Cross. "North Korea did not elaborate on the reason."

The border between the two Koreas is the world's most heavily fortified frontier, dividing some 600,000 South Korean troops from North Korea's 1.1 million-strong army. [...]

The decision came as a blow to many in the South who felt that North Korea had taken a decision to be more open and transparent in its dealings with the outside world as a result of the blast.

Pyongyang responded with unusual speed to the disaster, accepting aid from the international community and taking foreign
diplomats and aid workers on a tour of the site while making a rare public announcement about the explosion through its official media.

South Korea has pledged one million dollars worth of disaster aid for Ryongchon and acting president Goh Kun earlier Monday called for swift deployment of the aid.

Trucks carrying relief goods were arriving back-to-back at transport stops northwest of Seoul, ready to head into North Korean territory, a spokesman for Goh said.

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Driver Dies In Road Rage Shooting

Click2Houston.com
5:20 pm CDT April 26, 2004

HOUSTON -- The driver of a vehicle allegedly shot at by another driver in a fit of road rage dies as five other family members recover from shooting and accident injuries received during the northwest Harris County incident.

Jose Rogelio Cadena, 18, died Monday afternoon from a gunshot wound to the head.

Two other passengers were shot. They remain listed in serious condition.

Harris County officials told News2Houston that someone shot at the pickup truck carrying six people in the 10000 block of Veterans Memorial around 2:30 a.m., after the truck's driver reportedly changed lanes.

Authorities ruled the motive for the shooting to road rage. They believe the shooter got upset after the pickup truck changed lanes.

"Numerous shots were fired at this vehicle, striking several people inside," Harris County Sheriff's Office Sgt. T.E. Kiser said.

Three people inside the truck, including the driver, were shot, according to police. One passenger was grazed by a bullet. The truck then crashed into a ditch, injuring the other two passengers. [...]

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Scientists say rocks clue to meteor strike

Associated Press

WAVERLY, Wis. (AP) - The muddy brown hills and rolling farmland here look like others in Wisconsin. Tall grasses, cornfields and a bubbling brook yield to rocky outcroppings and rows of trees.

But scientists years ago saw something different about those rocks and concluded an ancient catastrophic event occurred here, although what type of calamity remained a mystery.

They believe they have finally solved the puzzle: A 650- to 700-foot meteorite crashed into the earth at speeds up to 67,500 mph.

The impact 450 million years ago dislodged rocks and created a massive hole in a 4-mile area called Rock Elm about 70 miles east of Minneapolis, three scientists said in an article published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin.

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Scientists discover new material on meteor

Knoxville, TN, Apr. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have found a new lunar mineral in a meteorite from the Moon that crashed to Earth in 2000, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Called hapkeite, after the scientist Bruce Hapke who predicted the existence of the iron and silicon compound on the moon 30 years ago, it likely was made when tiny particles impact the moon at very high speeds, said Mahesh Anand of the University of Tennessee.

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NZ capital faces increased earthquake risk

Scientists in New Zealand say a fault line near the capital, Wellington, poses a greater risk of earthquake than initially thought.

Our New Zealand correspondent, Gillian Bradford, says scientists believe the fault could also cause more tsunamis, or giant waves.

The 70-kilometre fault line runs from the South Island into the Cook Strait, which separates the two main islands.

It is much longer than scientists initially thought and has only just been mapped by sophisticated sounding equipment.

Analysis of the Boo Boo fault, named after a local stream, has led scientists to upgrade the likelihood of a strong earthquake in the Wellington region.

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California Sizzles in Record Spring Temps

By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer
Mon Apr 26,11:30 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - A spring heat wave blistered California with record temperatures Monday as firefighters kept a close eye on dry brush, power officials monitored electricity use, and residents sought refuge at beaches and in swimming pools.

Hundred-degree or greater highs were reported in coastal cities as well as through inland valleys and into the desert. Long Beach topped out only four degrees under Death Valley's 105.

The National Weather Service reported 99 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, shattering the record of 91 set in 1972. Other records included 100 in Santa Maria on the central coast, 91 in San Francisco, which usually averages 65 degrees this time of year, and 93 in San Jose.

Sacramento hit 98, the capital's hottest April 26 since record-keeping began in 1849. [...]

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Scientist found dead outside biochemical firm in Fremont

By Ben Aguirre Jr., STAFF WRITER
Saturday, April 24, 2004 - 3:58:46 AM PST

FREMONT -- A research scientist found dead Friday morning in front of the biochemical firm he worked for apparently died after inhaling a combination of potassium cyanide and acid, police said.

An employee arriving at Ciphergen Biosystems Inc., 6611 Dumbarton Circle, about 6:20 a.m. found the 29-year-old man, whom he worked with, lying on the sidewalk in front of the west entrance, and immediately called authorities, Sgt. Jeff Swadener said.

Early indications are that he died after inhaling fumes he created by mixing an acid with powder potassium cyanide, said Detective Bill Veteran. There were no signs of foul play, he said. Fire officials said cyanide attacks the central nervous system.

It is unknown how long the man was lying in front of the firm, but company records show he last entered the building about 11 p.m. Thursday, said Geoff LaTendresse, a Fremont Fire Department division chief.

Officials at the scene said they found a suicide note inside the building but didn't know why the man, whose identity has not been released pending notification of next of kin, decided to mix the two agents.

The chemicals used in the apparent suicide are used in small amounts in some research projects the firm does, said Jim Shunk, a human resources director for the company. He was unsure of the chemicals' availability or how much was kept at the site.

Ciphergen is a biotechnology company that studies proteins and produces protein chips for cancer research. [...]

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Egyptian antiquities official Zahi Hawass, left, and French archaeologist Guy Leguyot, center, examine a 2,500-year-old Ptolemaic sarcophagus.

Egyptologists find maze with 50 mummies

MSNBC
4:12 p.m. ET April 26, 2004

SAQQARA, Egypt - Archaeologists have found more than 50 mummies buried in deep shafts south of Cairo and dating from the first millennium B.C., a French-Egyptian team reported Monday.

Some of the mummies, wrapped in linen and sealed inside stone or wooden sarcophagi, are in an excellent state of preservation for the period, said Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Antiquities Council.

Hawass said Egyptians had used the network of shafts and corridors over several centuries, starting from the 26th dynasty (664-525 B.C.) and continuing into the Ptolemaic period, which ended with the death of Cleopatra in 30 BC.

“It’s a maze of corridors with mummies everywhere, right and left, up and down. When people came, there was no more space so they put the coffins in the wall, or they cut another shaft, or they put a mummy above a mummy,” he told Reuters. [...]

Comment: The reader may wish to read The Stargate Conspiracy to obtain a deeper understanding of how archaeology and Egyptology have been severely corrupted and controlled. The book contains quite a bit of evidence that may cause one to rethink Hawass' methods and motivations. See also the Adventures Series for more information.

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A note to our readers on Tom Bearden

Yesterday we received some criticism for the way in which we dealt with Tom Bearden's latest masterpiece posted on Rumor Mill News. We were accused of merely mocking him to make up for the fact that we had no real basis for dismissing or ridiculing his claims. Sarcasm is, as the saying goes, the lowest form of wit. We would like to apologise if we "let the horse get away from the driver" somewhat. However, we find that our sarcasm about Mr Bearden on yesterday's page was easily trumped by the sick joke played by Mr. Bearden on his own readers.

Mr Bearden bases all of his "shocking revelations" about the Japanese mafia and scalar weapons etc on, in his own words "impeccable sources" that he will not name. in our opinion this constituted a naked attempt on Mr. Bearden's part at promoting blind belief and denying his readers the chance to See and understand for themselves. We find this to be disingenuous in the extreme of Mr Bearden and believe he is trying to con his readers. At the time we were reading the article, we were one of those readers and we do not like being conned.

By talking up his sources in such a manner, Mr. Bearden employs the same tactic as people like George Bush, who use inflammatory language and radical ideas to evoke an emotional response in readers/listeners, which then leads to blind "faith" in the writer/speaker. Our work would be made a lot easier if we could count on continued exposure and increased readership simply as a result of claiming that we had "impeccable" or "high level" sources backing up what we said. On the contrary, we go to great lengths to research and dig for facts and we strive always to present reasonable arguments accompanied by references and sources wherever possible, and we do so because we understand that it best serves our readers. Not once have we asked our readers to believe anything, much less to believe something based on sources that "are really good, honestly, it's just we can't tell you who they are". The potential for lies and deceit in such a scenario should be evident for all to see. But we do not leave it there. Unlike Mr. Bearden, we hereby cite reader-verifiable sources for our opinion of him and his work. We name but two, a little investigation by those readers who feel so inclined will turn up more.

Tom Bearden - A Critical Examination of His Claim

Professor Arkadiuz Jadczyk on the "Science" of Tom Bearden and Richard Hoagland

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