If the world is a mirror of those who inhabit it, what can the issue of climate change tell us about ourselves?

Everybody talks about the weather. It is the one safe topic when you meet a stranger or are stuck next to a colleague you don't know very well waiting for a meeting. If you live in a rural area, the weather has a direct affect on people's lives as a year's crops depend upon how much or little rain may fall, an incident of hail that wipes out young fruit, or how early or late a frost may come. If you are in a city, with only your weekends off, then whether or not your free days are rainy or sunny can assume a grand importance.

In short, everyone has something to say about the weather.

There is a lot of talk these days about climate change and global warming. We hear predictions of everything from the melting of the ice caps leading to a rise of the ocean level enough to flood New York City and other low-lying areas, to a sudden change in the Gulf Stream that would usher in a new ice age, to complete silence. Some give timelines of a thousand years' transition. Others tell us it could happen much more rapidly in two to five. Some say it isn't going to happen at all.

The Bush administration continues to insist there is not enough scientific data in hand while the "Peak Oil" apologists use climate change as another argument in favour of massive population reduction and the end to an oil-based economy.

SmokingMirrors: And Down Will Come Baby, Cradle and All.

Reading the above linked blog nearly made me cry. Why? Well, because I have heard the same frustration and despair expressed by other sincere activists for World Peace in the past couple of weeks. The despair of the front line is setting in. Yes, it looks like COINTELPRO is winning. The depression is spreading among those who have been keeping up the good fight for so long; we are succumbing to the disease. But is that really true?

Perhaps with understanding we can find a remedy, a Bridge Over Troubled Water.

When you're weary, feeling small, when tears are in your eyes, I'll dry them all. I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough and friends just can't be found, like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down. When you're down and out, when you're on the street, when evening falls so hard, I'll comfort you. I'll take your part, oh, when darkness comes and pain is all around, like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.

Sail on silver girl, sail on by. Your time has come to shine, All your dreams are on their way. See how they shine, oh and when you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind. Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind. [© 1969 Paul Simon]

Just in case you forgot, in March last year, the presidential commission concluded that Saddam had no WMDs and that the widespread belief to the contrary was due to the US intelligence community's inability to communicate intelligence.

Gold and oil prices continue to climb while the markets in Japan and the US begin to shake. Precursors of a larger crunch?

Yesterday, the BBC, along with many other mainstream news sites, ran a story about Bush's backing of the plan for Iran proposed by the Russians. The story was essentially the product of a White House press conference yesterday morning and most mainstream news outlets directly quoted Bush's words from the conference.

The BBC Article stated:

"Iran wants further talks amid some reluctance to give up control of a key part of the nuclear cycle.

'The Russians came up with the idea and I support it... because I do believe people ought to be allowed to have civilian nuclear power,' said Mr Bush.

But he added that he did not believe 'non-transparent regimes that threaten the security of the world should be allowed to gain the technologies necessary to make a weapon'.

Russia should also collect nuclear waste of use in weapons, he added.

'The Iranians have said We want a weapon and it's not in the world's interests that they have a weapon,' Mr Bush said in Washington.

It was not immediately clear to what Iranian statement the US leader was referring."

In his latest fireside chat with the western world, Osama has, yet again, gone to great lengths to support the "war on terror" propaganda of the Bush government.

Let's have a look at some excerpts:

[...] "I plan to speak about the repeated errors your President Bush has committed in comments on the results of your polls that show an overwhelming majority of you want the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. But he (Bush) has opposed this wish and said that withdrawing troops sends the wrong message to opponents, that it is better to fight them (bin Laden's followers) on their land than their fighting us (Americans) on our land."

Indeed, Bush did say that the invasion of Iraq was about fighting the "war on terror" and that al-Qaeda is in Iraq. So we would of course expect Osama to counter such claims and tell us the real reason for the US invasion of Iraq, right? Think again, this guy isn't getting paid to contradict the Bush government!

Osama: "I can reply to these errors by saying that war in Iraq is raging with no let-up, and operations in Afghanistan are escalating in our favor, thank God"

In a riveting display of modern technological efficiency that undoubtedly thrilled the editors of Popular Mechanics magazine, last Friday, by way of a Predator drone aircraft, the CIA fired missiles at a group of houses in a village on Pakistan's north-western border with Afghanistan. Eighteen Pakistani villagers, including women and children, were either blown to pieces, burned to death or crushed as their homes collapsed on top of them as they slept in their beds.

Ask the average American citizen or citizen of a 'Western' country for their opinion on Afghanistan and they will likely offer thoughts along the lines of: "cruel treatment of women, brutal, fundamentalist Islamic Taliban regime, no education, no music." Followed by: "U.S. military, under the command of President Bush, liberated the Afghan people who now enjoy many more Western-style liberties."

Of course, this opinion did not magically spring from humanity's collective unconscious but was implanted into the mind of the average citizen by the U.S. government by way of the mainstream media. It should come as no shock therefore that such beliefs about the history of this Central Asian country are, at best, an extremely subjective interpretation of the facts, and at worst, an outright lie.

In 2005, Laura Bush graced Afghan soil and, referring to the previous Taliban regime, declared:

"It's very hard to imagine the idea of denying girls an education, of never allowing girls to go to school."

The only conclusion that we can draw from such a comment is that Laura is not much of a history fan, particularly the history of the latter part of the 20th century which concerns US foreign policy in Central Asia. If Laura had bothered to delve into the harder-to-find history books, she would have discovered the real reason that Afghan women were treated like cattle throughout the 1980's and 90's.

In our latest podcast, we discuss one of the more interesting cases of "Spirit Release Therapy" (SRT) from the early days of the Cassiopaean Experiment with Laura Knight-Jadczyk. Laura describes a real-life exorcism she conducted during her years as a hypontherapist, complete with audio clips from the session itself. This is our more most hair-raising podcast yet! (Part 2 of 2)

Running Time: 00:33:07

Download: MP3




Here's the transcript of the show:

In our latest podcast, we discuss one of the more interesting cases of "Spirit Release Therapy" (SRT) from the early days of the Cassiopaean Experiment with Laura Knight-Jadczyk. Laura describes a real-life exorcism she conducted during her years as a hypontherapist, complete with audio clips from the session itself. This is our more most hair-raising podcast yet! (Part 1 of 2)

Running Time: 00:33:07

Download: MP3


Here's the transcript of the show: