On Death

Here is a lovely post from Michael Prescott's Blog about how two very famous individuals, John Wayne and Arthur Conan Doyle, faced their own deaths, titled "A Tale of Two Deaths."



The story of Wayne's futile struggle with cancer and his refusal to even acknowledge the possibility of his death is heartbreaking. Benevolantly, MP presented us with the wonderful and uplifting tale of Doyle's final days afterwards. When I got to the point where I saw Doyle's last words, to his wife, my eyes nearly teared up.



Michael ends with the following:



"Cicero, as quoted by Montaigne, said, "To study philosophy is nothing but to prepare oneself to die." We moderns have forgotten this ancient wisdom. We ought to remember. "



I couldn't agree more.



-Dee

The Empire of Spirit

Michael Wood, tactful British historian, presents us with a brief look at the history of India from his 1992 documentary series "Legacy: A Search for the Origins of Civilization." Bear in mind he does use the Aryan invasion theory heavily. He mentions the Soviet Union (I remember that; people thought it would last forever). This is not as good as his 2007 series "The Story of India," but it was made a lot earlier, so that can account for this episode being less refined. Runs approximately one hour in six videos. The sound quality is not that great as well.

Near Death Conference

You, my valued couple of readers have probably seen this before. It has been sitting in my pit of perpetual ignorance (TM) for two and a half years, waiting for me to find the time to edit another page of The L (page S05, which will be a day late), while listening to the wonderful presentation. Dr Bruce Greyson gives a presentation on NDEs at the IANDS Near Death Experience Durham NC Conference in October 2008. The presentation mentions the difference between prospective and retrospective studies, briefly mentions the AWARE study (that had just begun at the time), and mentioned in passing mediumship, OBEs, apparitions, why temporal lobe seisures can't account for NDEs, and a whole bunch of other things. The video is pocked-sized, so you will gain nothing extra by watching instead of just listening, except a cute cartoon of snow people. Listening is highly recommended, even if you have listened to it before. Run time just over one hour.

The World Gone Mad

In December I began writing a thriller about the New World Order titled 7 Days. I have read well over 2,000 pages researching this book. Most of the book is well planned out, so you would think this would be an easy writing experience. Unfortunately, the events in the world have escalated much faster than I expected, so I'm finding I have to update the book frequently, and often wonder whether it will be too late by the time I have finished to make any difference.



The beginning of the book begins with a character, a rather cynical fellow trapped in a cabin with other refugees, talking about the "madness" that has consumed the world. Quoting from Steven Pressfield's novel Gates of Fire, he says "madness is contagious." This character, Scott, mentions the riots that began in Greece in late 2010 and how political unrest spread throughout Europe before coming to America.



As soon as I completed a good deal of research for the book I took a short break to write my 16 page dissertation on Bob Couttie's book Forbidden Knowledge (You can get the free PDF here), and when I got back to writing 7 Days the entire Near East explodes! The Muslim Brotherhood has overthrown the government in Egypt, people are being killed by government crackdowns in Libya, and a whole list of other problems arise all within days of each other. Here is a list (serious threats to global and/or US security listed in red):



Afghanistan: Ongoing US war

India: Ongoing Maoist insurgency

Pakistan: Ongoing serious unrest; Benazir Bhutto assassinated; Pervez Musharraf stepped down; Afghan rebels endemic

Mexico: Drug war; cartels effectively control entire country

North & South Korea: Korean War heats up, most likely future North Korean dictator trying to look macho

Greece: Socialist uprising/riots

France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain: Economic protests/unrest; economic collapse immanent

Sudan: Country poised to split; ongoing genocide in Darfur

Russia: Moscow, Chechen terror attack

Tunesia: Government overthrown

Egypt: Government overthrown

Libya: Government killing protesters

Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen: Severe political unrest/rioting

Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia: Moderate political unrest; could turn serious any minute

Iraq: Moderate political unrest, Al Qaeda insurgency under control at the moment

Somalia: Moderate political unrest; ongoing pirate problem

Thailand & Cambodia: Border struggle

Persia/Iran: Government crackdown on protesters, US government turns blind eye on democratic uprising for the third time (2009, 2010, and 2011) but welcomes Islamist uprising in Egypt; Iranian warships en route through Suez Canal to Syria



Is it just me or are you really frightened as well? Nuclear Pakistan is falling apart, the Mullas of Iran are trying to get Syria and Egypt on their side so they can surround US controlled Iraq and Israel and begin the Third World War (which I predicted in 2006 would begin in January 2011, and we may be seeing the Franz Ferdinand moment in Egypt), the Ayatollah is claiming to be in communication with the Mahdi, who has returned after 1100 years (where did he go and what was he doing that whole time?) and is telling everyone to drench the world in the blood of the heathens (non-Muslims), Muslims who won't kill heathens, and especially the Jews. Israel has warned the world that they won't sit back much longer while the Mullas make annihilation threats. Hell, Iran is sending warships to secure for themselves the Suez Canal and to aid Syria, probably in a blockade of Israel. I think there is a strong possibility (70+%) of a nuclear exchange before the end of the year, and if that happens it really is the end of the world.



There is a near certainty that the US will send troops into Mexico because the drug cartells have basically annexed most of the border states.



I have created the following map, which is by no means extensive, to get a general overview of the situation.





But I keep forgetting, Israel and capitalism are evil, the United States needs to be taught a lesson for its imperialism, the Mullas of Iran are good people, and so are the Egyptian protesters who just want democracy, and the Muslim Brotherhood is really very secular, not Islamist at all, and that the New World Order does not exist and you should just keep taking your Xanax and watch idiots from New Jersey cuss and do jackass things.



200 of the good people of Egypt gang raped CBS reporter Lara Logan, but as NYU former professor Nir Rosen said, it's funny because she deserved it. There was a huge backlash and he resigned, but don't forget he's a good person, and so are the people of Egypt. If I was there when he said that I would have knocked his fucking teeth out, but that's just me. Oh, and the Egyptian people "democratically" want Sharia law. Here are two videos detailing what that means.








Let us not forget, Adolf Hitler was "democratically" elected, but the motherfucker who hosts the Muslim Brotherhood world radio show says Hitler was a good person for putting the Jews in their place.



It appears as if madness is indeed contagious, and it has spread far faster than I could have imagined. Let us pray cooler heads prevail. Let us pray the US wakes up before world war starts and the Jews are eliminated.



-Dee

The Myth of the Chemical Imbalance

The myth that schizophrenia is caused by a neurological imbalance and that drugs work by correcting this imbalance is demolished in this video. Runs nearly 9 minutes.

Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Future of the Near East

Harvard professor and economist Niall Ferguson trounces president Obama's view on Egypt, and warns of the grave dangers facing Egypt and the world as a result of Mubarak's downfall. From the Glenn Beck program (I don't think I've ever cited Beck before).



Runs 5:21








P.S. I've wanted to watch Mr. Ferguson's "Ascent of Money" program for over a year now but have never gotten around to it. A quick search reveals it is available online for US ISPs, and so I will make time to watch it within the week.

Forbidden Knowledge 2011 Part 1

At last, your salivation is at hand! I have completed my review on Forbidden Knowledge, and present all 8,028 words of it here for you, my valued couple of readers. It is 16 pages long (roughly one page for every ten pages of the book), with 20 references and two images. Creating an HTML version will take hours, if not days, and may even exceed the size limit of a single page on The Urban Mystic, so for now I will present you with a PDF version, completely free of charge.



Forbidden Knowledge: A Dissertation on Debunking, Parapsychology, and the Psychology of the Paranormal

Faith

Shoshana Garfield writing for The Guardian has a wonderful article on the faith of people who have been tortured. The message is clear:



"I believe that they are telling the truth.... beyond displaying typical impacts of deep trauma, 100% of the clients who reported such miraculous interventions in my clinic room were perfectly sane. I can therefore only come to the professional conclusion that these reports are, to the best of our knowledge, generally true."



This article is fantastic. It is very short, and although you will finish it in a few minutes the uplifting feeling that comes from reading it remains long after you are done.



-Dee

Autobiography of a Yogi

February has been a pretty negative month, hasn't it? Trying to improve the situation, more in line with the Ananda villages video, here is a brief introduction to one of the most influential books of the past century (at least as far as my readers should be concerned). Paramhansa Yogananda wrote his Autobiography of a Yogi in 1946 (an updated version was published in 1952, shortly after he took mahasamadhi). According to the other wiki (take that with as much salt as Bloomberg will permit), Autobiography of a Yogi has been translated into 25 languages and sold more than one million copies. Yeah, it's a real shame that complete and utter shit like Twilight, lacking in any literary, artistic, political, or scientific value (it's about the author's fantasy of a geriatric psycho killer who stalks and wants to rape a teenage girl), has sold a hundred times more copies, but, as Scary Dave says, I ain't bitter.



The video is narrated by Yogananda's disciple, Kriyananda, and includes photographs of many of the locations mentioned in the book and original music performed by Kriyananda. Runs 27 minutes.

Psych Wards

Here is a video from someone who was involuntarily committed to a psych "hospital." It's a real horror story. The entire video is text (with some pretty background music), so you'll have to be doing some reading.





Oh, and Mubarak is gone. In his place is the new vice president, the guy who tortured people for the US, "secretly."

Ananda World Brotherhood Colonies

Swami Paramhansa Yogananda's great wish was to establish world brotherhood colonies, communities devoted to plain living and high thinking, where people could practice Dharma away from the negative atmosphere of the modern world, while still being a part of it. These colonies embodied the ideal preached by Jesus of being in the world but not of it. They also embody Sri Aurobindo's* ideal of Integral Yoga, combining the best advances made east and west.



Yogananda's disciple, Swami Kriyananda, helped to set up eight of these colonies (several in USA, Asisi, Italy, and Pune, India). I looked into the economic model practised by the Ananda villages, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. They are not some hippie, take handouts from the government, socialist orders. Everyone in Ananda is responsible for their own income and they have to pay for their own housing. If anywhere is a good example of responsible living, it seems to be the Ananda villages.



Here is a wonderful video on the history of Yogananda in America, his disciple Kriyananda, and the Ananda villages. Run time 23 minutes.





*Aurobindo also set up an intentional community, Auroville, in Pondicherry in India, which was then governed by the French because, as a political dissident, Aurobindo was a criminal in British India.\

The Hamosque

You all know about the hamosque that the terrorists want to build at Ground Zero. Here are two videos on the topic, first with Pat Condell (the man said to be beyond the help of both Rogaine and Viagra), the second by someone calling himself Acts17Apologetics. Basically, they both say that whenever Muslims conquer a place they destroy the main symbol of that culture and replace it with a giant mosque. The same thing is going on in America (and was stopped in Britain).

Egypt : A Call for Restraint

Egyptians have no history of self governance. They have lived under absolutist rulers for 5,000 years. Any government that is created in the heat of the moment will either be one ruled by a tyrant or will soon fall to tyranny. We must let cooler heads prevail, end the protests, and begin the long process of negotiations in which a realistic solution can be reached. This can best be done by letting Mubarak serve out his term.



Run time 13 minutes

Obama Is Not To Blame For Everything (Neither Is Bush)

Radio personality Mark Simone's stupid political commentary is not more important than what the President has to say. Him blaming Obama for everything is no different than the news people on the left blaming Bush for everything. They are both completely wrong and their behaviour is completely uncalled for. You can hate the man, but you must respect the office of President of the United States.



Today, Sean Hanity was out and Mark Simone guest hosted his show. Some time into the show the President gave a press conference and Simone made rude comments during the whole thing, insulted the President's intelligence, and said he mispronounced a word when he did not.