Dove, the beauty-soap maker, has released a short film called
"Evolution" with the aim of turning the traditional concept of female beauty on its head. "Evolution" shows an ordinary woman being transformed by hair, makeup and lighting teams.
Her picture is then digitally retouched, and finally, the shot pulls out to show her face on a billboard.
The film ends with the words, "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted. … Every girl deserves to feel beautiful just the way she is."
click here for video in flash format
click here for YouTube video
Campaign for Real Beauty Website
Porla Belleza Real, Argentina
Read more!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Campaign for Real Beauty
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Global Warming: WHAT THE F*CK IS GEORGE W. BUSH THINKING, OR IS HE THINKING AT ALL???
The United Nations Climate Change Conference began this week on Monday. This two week meeting is the thirteenth conference to be held by the 192 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change and is the third meeting by the 176 parties of the Kyoto Protocol. Of key importance in this conference is the negotiation of standards on climate change for the post 2012 period which marks the expiration of the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol.
"The scientific debate has been conclusively laid to rest by the latest scientific findings from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - climate change is unequivocal and accelerating" noted the Indonesian Environmental Minister and President of the conference, Rachmat Witoelar.
Of particular note the new Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd and his team were sworn in the same day this conference began. Putting global warming and other environmental concerns at the forefront of his list of priorities, Rudd signed the Kyoto Protocol that day reversing the decision of the former conservative party that has controlled Australia the last eleven years.
Yet in spite of this good news the United Nations acknowledged that this is not enough. They went on to add that no meaningful agreement can be reached without the participation of the United States, the last of the world’s industrial powers to refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. "There is no doubt that the U.S. has to play a key role in the post-2012 agreement," noted Artur Runge-Metzger, the European Union’s climate chief. "I think what the rest of the world would like to see is a credible effort, a credible commitment from the side of the U.S. to resolving this major challenge."
The key stated objective of the Kyoto Protocol is to achieve "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." The United States' ratification of this treaty is vital to its success as the USA is the world’s largest carbon emitter and contributor of roughly 25% of the world’s greenhouse gasses. The USA is rated as an Annex I country (like the European Union) and as such the USA would be expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 5% less than 1990 levels.
To me at least this hardly seems unrealistic in the face of the consequences if we do not make a meaningful effort at compliance. As noted above, the reality of climate change is both “unequivocal and accelerating”. In the United States alone we have seen radical shifts in normal weather patterns the last few years that can only be attributed to the effects of global warming. Flooding in some areas, droughts in others, erosion, hurricanes, and more such weather events are becoming more common every year.
All this begs the question: WHAT THE F*CK IS GEORGE BUSH THINKING? Or maybe the better question is WHEN IN THE HELL IS HE GOING TO BEGIN USING HIS BRAIN??? To put this into perspective let us look for a moment to just one example of the effects of global warming on the United States.
At the end of June of this year leading researchers in North Carolina issued a report noting that the coastline of that state would continue to experience significant loss in land area during the course of the next 30 to 75 years due to the effects of projected changes in climate (global warming). Those findings appeared in the report “Measuring the Impacts of Climate Change on North Carolina Coastal Resources” which assessed the impact of rising sea levels on property values, recreation, and quality of life issues. The study was conducted jointly by researchers from Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, University of North Carolina Wilmington and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Among other things this study found that:
"The scientific debate has been conclusively laid to rest by the latest scientific findings from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - climate change is unequivocal and accelerating" noted the Indonesian Environmental Minister and President of the conference, Rachmat Witoelar.
Of particular note the new Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd and his team were sworn in the same day this conference began. Putting global warming and other environmental concerns at the forefront of his list of priorities, Rudd signed the Kyoto Protocol that day reversing the decision of the former conservative party that has controlled Australia the last eleven years.
Yet in spite of this good news the United Nations acknowledged that this is not enough. They went on to add that no meaningful agreement can be reached without the participation of the United States, the last of the world’s industrial powers to refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. "There is no doubt that the U.S. has to play a key role in the post-2012 agreement," noted Artur Runge-Metzger, the European Union’s climate chief. "I think what the rest of the world would like to see is a credible effort, a credible commitment from the side of the U.S. to resolving this major challenge."
The key stated objective of the Kyoto Protocol is to achieve "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." The United States' ratification of this treaty is vital to its success as the USA is the world’s largest carbon emitter and contributor of roughly 25% of the world’s greenhouse gasses. The USA is rated as an Annex I country (like the European Union) and as such the USA would be expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 5% less than 1990 levels.
To me at least this hardly seems unrealistic in the face of the consequences if we do not make a meaningful effort at compliance. As noted above, the reality of climate change is both “unequivocal and accelerating”. In the United States alone we have seen radical shifts in normal weather patterns the last few years that can only be attributed to the effects of global warming. Flooding in some areas, droughts in others, erosion, hurricanes, and more such weather events are becoming more common every year.
All this begs the question: WHAT THE F*CK IS GEORGE BUSH THINKING? Or maybe the better question is WHEN IN THE HELL IS HE GOING TO BEGIN USING HIS BRAIN??? To put this into perspective let us look for a moment to just one example of the effects of global warming on the United States.
At the end of June of this year leading researchers in North Carolina issued a report noting that the coastline of that state would continue to experience significant loss in land area during the course of the next 30 to 75 years due to the effects of projected changes in climate (global warming). Those findings appeared in the report “Measuring the Impacts of Climate Change on North Carolina Coastal Resources” which assessed the impact of rising sea levels on property values, recreation, and quality of life issues. The study was conducted jointly by researchers from Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, University of North Carolina Wilmington and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Among other things this study found that:
- North Carolina’s coastal topography makes it especially vulnerable to sea level rise and hurricanes;
- That the impact is both economic and ecologic;
- The expected one- to three-foot rise in sea level along four North Carolina coastal counties could mean billions of dollars in private property losses over the next 75 years;
- Recreational fishing and beach trips will also become vulnerable to increased erosion from sea level rise and expected hurricanes.
The thing to consider here is that this is just one study dealing with one small portion of the United States. To frame this issue in a more complete international context one need merely look to the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In accordance with current research, global sea levels are expected to rise significantly the next 25 to 75 years with the IPCC’s estimates places sea levels at 1 to more than 2 feet (0.3 to more than 0.61 meters) within that time frame.
Looking to costs to North Carolina alone business interruption losses from hurricanes could increase by as much as $157 million per weather/storm event by 2080. In that same time frame it is estimated that 14 of 17 recreational beaches could, without adaptation, see erosion all the way to the roads which would eliminate the possibility for beach recreation in those areas. Recreational economic losses the next 75 years for southern North Carolina beaches are estimated in the range of $3.9 billion. Losses in property value in just four key counties are projected to reach $6.9 billion.
Okmyung “Paul” Bin from East Carolina University’s Department of Economics studied the impact of rising sea levels on North Carolina property values. “The amount of developed property along the North Carolina coastline has steadily increased over the last several decades due to a strong preference for coastal locations,” Bin said. “The number of building permits in Carolina Beach during the last four years alone exceeds the number of permits issued over the previous 20 years, and the average selling price for residential properties in Wrightsville Beach has increased more than 200 percent since 2001. This growth, coupled with soaring property values in North Carolina, has created greater vulnerability to rising sea levels.”
So again, one has to ask WHAT THE F*CK IS GEORGE BUSH THINKING? Of course in all fairness we cannot put all the blame on George II, the boy king. In his eight years in office Sir Bill (Clinton) failed to even bring the matter of ratifying the Kyoto Protocol before congress for consideration for ratification. The thing that gets me though it that Boy George has managed to ignore even domestic policy and law regarding global warming.
Just this year he received a healthy spanking from no less than the highest court in the land. On Monday, April 2nd of 2007 the Supreme Court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the statutory authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles and that its stated reasons for not doing so were inconsistent with the Clean Air Act. The EPA and Bush administration have argued against the EPA's assertion of its authority noting a number of reasons: that it would hinder the President's ability "to negotiate with 'key developing nations' to reduce emissions", that it would in fact be too small a step in addressing concerns of global warming, and that voluntary regulation is preferable. In ruling against these assertions, the court went on to rebuke President Bush by noting that:" while the President has broad authority in foreign affairs, that authority does not extend to the refusal to execute domestic laws."
And it is not like there is an absence of mounting pressure at the grassroots level to address this issue because there is every indication that this is a subject of serious concern. Of particular interest to myself is KyotoUSA. On their website found at www.kyotousa.org they refer to themselves as “an all volunteer, grassroots organization that encourages U.S. cities and their residents to reduce the global warming greenhouse gas emissions for which they are responsible.”
On February 16th, 2005 the Kyoto Protocol became law for the 141 countries that had ratified it to date. On that very same day Seattle Mayor Gregg Nickels launched the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to advance the goals of the Kyoto Protocol through leadership and action. Two years later, The U.S. Conference of Mayors launched the Mayors Climate Protection Center to administer and track the agreement and by November 1, 2007, there were more than 710 signatories to that Agreement.
Under this Agreement, participating cities committed to take the following actions:
- To strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns;
- To urge their state governments, and the federal government, to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol -- 7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012; and
- To urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system.
So to me a simple man, the question remains the same: WHAT THE F*CK IS GEORGE BUSH THINKING????? Or maybe is he thinking at all remains the key question. Or maybe what the hell were we thinking when we allowed this tyrant to steal two elections? WHAT THE F*CK ARE WE THINKING AND WHY ARE THE FRENCH THE ONLY ONES WHO GET TO STORM THE BASTILLE??? I always heard they were sissies. So what does that make us?
p.s. I hope you take not offence my French friends. It is called American satire, deal with it. Please!!!
Sources and further reading:
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1997/global.warming/stories/treaty/
http://www.kyotousa.org/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/30/bali.climatechange
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/kyoto.htm
http://www.kyotousa.org/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/30/bali.climatechange
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/kyoto.htm
Read more!
Monday, October 1, 2007
What the F*ck ! ! ! (In Search of Bush’s Brain)
From Bushisms to outright lies one has to ask the question: Where the Hell is George W. Bush's Brain??? I find his presidency to be like the paradigmatic example of the Yiddish word chutzpah wherein a child murders his parents and later throws himself on the mercy of the court declaring: "You cannot throw me in prison, I am an orphan".
So anyway, I thought I would assemble a collage of his more noted quotes, Bushisms, in the form of a question and answer session. Hope you enjoy.
Q: Can you briefly explain the rationale for going to war in Iraq:
A: "Iraq is a very important part of securing the homeland, and it's a very important part of helping change the Middle East into a part of the world that will not serve as a threat to the civilized world, to people like -- or to the developed world, to people like -- in the United States." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2007
Q: I am a bit confused by that answer, could you elaborate?
A: "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." --as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002
Q: Go on.
A: "I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." --Washington, D.C. June 18, 2002
Q: And you are sure you want to go on the record saying this?
A:"I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." --as quoted in Bob Woodward's Bush at War
Q: What about your resolve in Iraq?
A: "When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Sept. 19, 2001
A: "When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Sept. 19, 2001
Q: Where do you see yourself ideologically?
A: "The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope -- an ideology of hate -- excuse me --with an ideology of hope." --George W. Bush, Fort Benning, Ga., Jan. 11, 2007
A: "The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope -- an ideology of hate -- excuse me --with an ideology of hope." --George W. Bush, Fort Benning, Ga., Jan. 11, 2007
Q: What do you think about Iraq's greater role in the Middle East?
A: "I understand that the unrest in the Middle East creates unrest throughout the region." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002
Q: You have any thoughts regarding security in North America?
A: "Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better." —George W. Bush, in a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Sept. 24, 2001
Q: And what about our chances of winning the War on Terrorism in general?
A: "Can we win? I don't think you can win it." --after being asked whether the war on terror was winnable, "Today" show interview, Aug. 30, 2004
Q: So if you think that is true why wage war to begin with?
A: "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." --Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000
Q: Well what happens if people disagree with you?
A: "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." --Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005
Q: What do you say about not finding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction?
A: "They could still be hidden, like the 50 tons of mustard gas on a turkey farm." --George W. Bush, on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Washington, D.C. , April 13, 2004
Q: Do you have any thoughts on possible casualties during the war?
A: "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties." --discussing the Iraq war with Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson in 2003, as quoted by Robertson
Q: And what do you have to say to those who do not support the war?
A: "I will not withdraw, even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me." --talking to key Republicans about Iraq, as quoted by Bob Woodward
Q: What would you say to the American public about how to support the war on terror?
A: "People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002
Q: Do you have any words for Saddam Hussein?
A: "F*ck Saddam. We're taking him out." --to three U.S. senators in March 2002, one year before the Iraq invasion, as quoted by Time magazine
Q: And for the Iraqi troops?
A: "My answer is bring them on." --on Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003
Q: And what about Osama bin Laden?
A: "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." --Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001
Q: And how is the search for bin Laden coming?
A: "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." --Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002
Q: What do you think about Tony Blair?
A: "We both use Colgate toothpaste." —George W. Bush, on what he had in common with Tony Blair, Camp David, Maryland, Feb. 23, 2001
Q: And what about God's role in all this?
A: "I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job." --to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004
Q: Umm hmm.
A: "I've got God's shoulder to cry on. And I cry a lot. I do a lot of crying in this job. I'll bet I've shed more tears than you can count, as president." --George W. Bush, as quoted by author Robert Draper in Dead Certain
Q: And how would you summarize your role as president?
A: "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." --Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000
Q: And how do you think the war in Iraq has been going?
A: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." --speaking underneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003
Q: But sir, we are still there.
A: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." --Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004
A: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." --Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004
Q: So you really believe we can win in Iraq?
A: "I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe -- I believe what I believe is right." --Rome, Italy, July 22, 2001
Q: Well but that fails to answer my question; can we win?
A: "Either we'll succeed, or we won't succeed. And the definition of success as I described is sectarian violence down. Success is not no violence." --George W. Bush, on Iraq, Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007
Q: You really think so?
A: "We're kicking ass." --George W. Bush, on the security situation in Iraq, to Australian Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, Sydney, Australia, Sept. 5, 2007
Q: You sure you want to go on the record saying that?
A: "It's bad in Iraq. Does that help?" --George W. Bush, after being asked by a reporter whether he's in denial about Iraq, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006
Q: So what is the solution then?
A: "The only way we can win is to leave before the job is done." --George W. Bush, Greeley, Colo., Nov. 4, 2006
Q: If you really think that, then explain to me your views on staying the course?
A: "We're never been stay the course, George." --George W. Bush, attempting to distance himself from what has been his core strategy in Iraq for the last three years, interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Oct. 22, 2006
Q: Do you have any comments regarding claims we are bombing innocents in Iraq?
A: "The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 12, 2007
Q: What about comparisons between Iraq and the Vietnam War?
A: "More than two decades later, it is hard to imagine the Revolutionary War coming out any other way."—Martinsburg, W. Va., July 4, 2007
Q: Do you have any words for our wounded troops?
A: "As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself -- not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch. As a matter of fact, the Colonel asked if I needed first aid when she first saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for your compassion, Colonel." --George W. Bush, after visiting with wounded veterans from the Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 1, 2006
Q: Any words for the wounded in Iraq?
A: "I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 25, 2004
Q: How do you think history will remember you?
A: "I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is -- my point is, there's a strong will for democracy." --George W. Bush, interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Sept. 24, 2006
Q: What about your own legacy?
A: "I have a record in office, as well. And all Americans have seen that record. September the 4th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers. It's a day I will never forget." --George W. Bush, Speaking on the September 11th attacks, Marlton, New Jersey, Oct. 18, 2004
Q: Do you have any final thought you want to express?
A: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004
A: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004
Read more!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Plagiarizing my Own Story??? Give me a break!!!!
I had a rather interesting situation arise this week concerning an article I had written. A client called me complaining that I had posted an article on my blog that I had written for him/her. I was accused of all kinds of things: plagiarism, theft, betrayal. I was also informed that the original idea for the subject of this article had come from this individual which meant that their rights on the idea superseded my own copyright on the creative expression of that idea (the article itself). There were the usual threats implied and otherwise.
I had a few ideas of my own on the matter, after picking myself up off the floor in disbelief. First of all as I had spent several days researching the subject and about half a day writing the article (alone I might add), there was no way to accuse me of plagiarism*. (It was my own article for heaven’s sake!!!) Second, unless I sold the exclusive rights to that article or otherwise disclaimed them (which I had not done) I retained all creative rights to that article. It matters not that someone else used that article on a “so called” copyrighted blog. (In fact as the author of the article I should have been credited on that blog, a requirement I did not invoke at the time nor will invoke.) The simple fact of the matter is that as a writer I posted the article as representative of the kind of work that I publish. It was a well researched and written piece and I was proud. There was no opportunity for personal gain other than as a writer as I in no way was involved with the target audience for that article.
With all that in mind, I began to wonder myself about artistic control, editorial control, and the like. So off I go again, this time to research a subject and to write an article about intellectual property rights, something that interests me as a writer and artist and should interest anyone involved in the expression of creative ideas.
I want to first define intellectual property and copyright and secondly I want to address the concept of idea-expression dichotomy before going into actual intellectual property rights themselves.
Noun: intellectual property
Intangible property that is the result of creativity (such as patents or trademarks or copyrights) 1
Intellectual property
n.
A product of the intellect that has commercial value,
including copyrighted property such as literary or artistic works, and
ideational property, such as patents, appellations of origin, business methods,
and industrial processes. 2
Intellectual property
Computing: Intellectual property (IP) The ownership
of ideas and control over the tangible or virtual representation of those ideas.
Use of another person's intellectual property may or may not involve royalty
payments or permission, but should always include proper credit to the
source.
Economics: Non-tangible property that is the result
of creativity such as copyrights and patents. 3
Noun: copyright
A document granting exclusive right to publish and sell literary or
musical or artistic work 1
Copyright n.
The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical,
dramatic, or artistic work. 2
Copyright
noun
A document granting exclusive right to publish and sell literary or
musical or artistic work. 3
This takes us to the subject of ideas. In short copyrights provide protection for the expression of an idea and not the idea itself. This is known as the Idea-Expression Dichotomy. This doctrine has held in literally hundreds of cases and is one of the most commonly used principles regarding copyright. Idea-Expression Dichotomy means that an author’s ideas go into public domain while their creative expression of those ideas remain the author’s to control. 4
A perfect example of this doctrine can be found in the United States Copyright Act 5 which was itself modeled after TRIPS and Berne, discussed below. A relevant portion of this act reads as follows:
In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend
to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept,
principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described,
explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work. 5
This specific distinction is at the heart of the issue between patents and copyrights. Were ideas to be protected under copyright law, then all inventors would have to do is create a copyrighted piece and then they could circumvent governing patent law.
In turning my attention to intellectual property rights themselves, I came across two important international agreements regarding intellectual property that govern world standards: what is known as the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 6 and the Berne Convention 7 . Both of these agreements control nearly every country in the world and even developing nations such as Brazil, India, Korea and Thailand now recognize the automatic rights of authors over their own writing as a result of TRIPS and Berne.
In 1994 the World Trade Organization negotiated what is called the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Ratification of the TRIPS is a compulsory requirement for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and any nation seeking to obtain access to world markets opened by the WTO must enact the strict intellectual property laws mandate by TRIPS. A few of those rights include:
- Copyright must be granted automatically and immediate to creation of material with no requirement for registration or renewal.
- Copyright terms for authors are for the term of their life plus 50 years after death.
- Copyright terms for films are set at 50 years and photographs at 25.
- National exceptions to copyright rights are to be tightly constrained.
- TRIPS rights must be equal for all persons in a member state with no benefits enjoyed by local citizens not available to nationals from any TRIPS country.
The Berne Convention of 1886 upon which TRIPS was based was an international treaty that is still in place to protect intellectual property rights. As with TRIPS, under Berne copyrights for creative works do not have to be declared, asserted, or registered. They are instead immediately in force upon creation (as soon as a work is “fixed”, that is, written or recorded on some physical medium). At that time the author is automatically entitled to all rights of copyright to include any derivative works until such time as the author explicitly disclaims those rights or until fifty years after his or her death.
I also found myself interested in the rights and privileges afforded to authors in particular. Authors under TRIPS and Berne have the right to:
I also found myself interested in the rights and privileges afforded to authors in particular. Authors under TRIPS and Berne have the right to:
- display their work publicly,
- import or export their work,
- produce and sell copies of their work,
- create derivative works,
- sell or assign any of these rights to others.
In conclusion, I have found in life that the old clique that there are not any problems, only solutions holds true. I have additionally learned that any situation can be turned into a positive learning experience. Through the travails of dealing with a disgruntled client asserting ridiculous claims to my own writing I have learned a valuable lesson in copyright law and international treaties governing intellectual property. In the future I will not be so quick to entertain absurd claims that someone else owns my writing in the absence of a disclaimer by me of those rights.
Footnotes:
http://www.wordwebonline.com/
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/intellectual+property
http://www.edwardsamuels.com/copyright/beyond/articles/ideapt1-20.htm
http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/copyright.table.html
http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips_01_e.htm
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/trtdocs_wo001.html
Author’s notes:
Footnotes:
http://www.wordwebonline.com/
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/intellectual+property
http://www.edwardsamuels.com/copyright/beyond/articles/ideapt1-20.htm
http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/copyright.table.html
http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips_01_e.htm
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/trtdocs_wo001.html
Author’s notes:
- I might note here that I still have the core research for this article and I uploaded the article onto my client’s blog from my own computer at my own home, a fact verifiable through internet records.
- And I had a friend proofread the article providing an e-mail record of creation superseding any blog’s claim to ownership.
- I might add this is all rather odd to have to get into considering the fact the client was and may still be a friend.
Additional Reading:
- Works Unprotected by Copyright Law, i.e. titles, short phrases, IDEAS http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/unprotected.html
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Humanitarian Mission: Santa Fe Argentina Toba Community
The Pay it Forward Project (PIFP) was established to assist in rebuilding the lives, self worth, and spirit of individuals living in developing nations. The PIFP works in countries that have fallen victim to natural disasters providing assistance so that people can pursue gainful livelihood following such crisis. The PIFP uses donations to provide sewing machines in furtherance of this goal while also addressing needs associated with clothing, food, and adequate housing.
The PIFP is currently working on such a project in the “Las Lomas” neighborhood of Santa Fe, Argentina with an indigenous group of people known as the Toba. The 133 families of this community were part of a larger group of over 70,000 people who were temporarily displaced during recent flooding in April of this year. Their economic survival depends heavily on the success of this project and the need for financial assistance is great.
The Toba, sometimes referred to as the Toba-Pilagá, are an indigenous group that originally inhabited the Gran Chaco area of Argentina. The Toba are a traditional, nomadic people that up until the 1930’s were a hunter-gatherer group. Economic activity was seasonally dependent with the men traditionally bringing meat, fish, and honey into the community while the women provided fruit, vegetables, wood, and water. The women were also charged with maintaining the household and tending the children.
In 1875 a campaign known as the “Conquest of the Desert” was initiated by Argentinean General, and later President, Julio Roca to pacify the Argentinean indigenous peoples and take over their native lands. Although groups like the Toba fought back, this military campaign made way for the influx of colonists, missionaries and cattle ranchers that settled on traditional Toba land. This settlement by foreigners severely affected the mobility of these nomadic people and eventually led to difficulty in making a living from the land. This situation was worsened with the introduction of agriculture by Anglican missionaries in the 1930’s.
An additional goal of the “Conquest of the Desert” campaign was to organize surviving indigenous people such as the Toba into a cheap labor force for timber companies and sugar plantations. The Toba were ripe for such exploitation by the 1930’s as a lack of mobility and increasing dependence on foreign goods created a need for seasonal agricultural work. Unable to hunt for extended periods, the Toba eventually settled into communities and outside agricultural work replaced traditional tribal economic activity.
Urban Toba settlements began to appear in the 1950’s in cities such as Resistencia, Rosario, Santa Fe, and even Buenos Aires. Those communities lay on the periphery of those cities and were locally referred to as villa miseries, or miserable villages, due to their high level of poverty. Unprecedented flooding beginning in the 1980’s and mechanization in the 1990’s left many Toba unemployed and in 1996 any Toba willing to migrate to the Santa Fe Province were bought one-way tickets by the Gran Chaco provincial government. In 2001 a survey undertaken of households with at least one member recognizing indigenous ancestry showed that only about 1,516 Toba individuals followed a traditional lifestyle and community. In 2004 a complimentary survey taken (with involvement in design and data gathering by indigenous people) indicated an overall estimated Toba population of 47,591 individuals.
Today the economic practices of the Toba population of Santa Fe, as in other cities, are subsistence oriented with both men and women engaged in trying to find a way to make a living. The Toba Community of Santa Fe lacks any land, thus cultivation is unavailable and virtually all the inhabitants participate in the mainstream economy. The cacique, or community leader of this group, Carlos related to a PIFP member that: “We have no land to plant on. Precisely because of this, there is misery and hunger in our land... We are driven to suicide because we don’t mean anything”. Although work opportunities are greater in these urban environments than they are in Gran Chaco, most jobs are low paying, require no specialized skills, and provide little job security. In this setting the Toba are marginalized and discriminated against for being indigenous. In spite of this fact, they remain an easily exploited source of cheap labor to the benefit of the general populace of Santa Fe.
It is in this cultural and economic climate that the PIFP recently began its work co-jointly with the leadership council of the Toba of Santa Fe. While the PIFP has brought all the resources necessary for initiating the project, additional funds and resources are necessary to see this project actualize its full potential. Currently the project includes plans to create an industry based on the design and manufacture of clothing utilizing traditional Toba design in the style itself and fabric patterns. The use of Toba artisans in the manufacture of accessories such as handmade wooden buttons is also being studied. The PIFP is also working on the creation of training shops to assist the women in learning the design and manufacture of that clothing, and to teach them effective marketing strategies. The initial purchase of machinery as well as planning for this project has been achieved, but there is much yet to be accomplished.
The economic, cultural, and social survival of the Toba depends heavily on the success of this project and the need for outside assistance is great. Enhanced self -sustainability is the long range goal of this program and the PIFP and Toba leadership council believe this project is a good beginning.
The PIFP is currently working on such a project in the “Las Lomas” neighborhood of Santa Fe, Argentina with an indigenous group of people known as the Toba. The 133 families of this community were part of a larger group of over 70,000 people who were temporarily displaced during recent flooding in April of this year. Their economic survival depends heavily on the success of this project and the need for financial assistance is great.
The Toba, sometimes referred to as the Toba-Pilagá, are an indigenous group that originally inhabited the Gran Chaco area of Argentina. The Toba are a traditional, nomadic people that up until the 1930’s were a hunter-gatherer group. Economic activity was seasonally dependent with the men traditionally bringing meat, fish, and honey into the community while the women provided fruit, vegetables, wood, and water. The women were also charged with maintaining the household and tending the children.
In 1875 a campaign known as the “Conquest of the Desert” was initiated by Argentinean General, and later President, Julio Roca to pacify the Argentinean indigenous peoples and take over their native lands. Although groups like the Toba fought back, this military campaign made way for the influx of colonists, missionaries and cattle ranchers that settled on traditional Toba land. This settlement by foreigners severely affected the mobility of these nomadic people and eventually led to difficulty in making a living from the land. This situation was worsened with the introduction of agriculture by Anglican missionaries in the 1930’s.
An additional goal of the “Conquest of the Desert” campaign was to organize surviving indigenous people such as the Toba into a cheap labor force for timber companies and sugar plantations. The Toba were ripe for such exploitation by the 1930’s as a lack of mobility and increasing dependence on foreign goods created a need for seasonal agricultural work. Unable to hunt for extended periods, the Toba eventually settled into communities and outside agricultural work replaced traditional tribal economic activity.
Urban Toba settlements began to appear in the 1950’s in cities such as Resistencia, Rosario, Santa Fe, and even Buenos Aires. Those communities lay on the periphery of those cities and were locally referred to as villa miseries, or miserable villages, due to their high level of poverty. Unprecedented flooding beginning in the 1980’s and mechanization in the 1990’s left many Toba unemployed and in 1996 any Toba willing to migrate to the Santa Fe Province were bought one-way tickets by the Gran Chaco provincial government. In 2001 a survey undertaken of households with at least one member recognizing indigenous ancestry showed that only about 1,516 Toba individuals followed a traditional lifestyle and community. In 2004 a complimentary survey taken (with involvement in design and data gathering by indigenous people) indicated an overall estimated Toba population of 47,591 individuals.
Today the economic practices of the Toba population of Santa Fe, as in other cities, are subsistence oriented with both men and women engaged in trying to find a way to make a living. The Toba Community of Santa Fe lacks any land, thus cultivation is unavailable and virtually all the inhabitants participate in the mainstream economy. The cacique, or community leader of this group, Carlos related to a PIFP member that: “We have no land to plant on. Precisely because of this, there is misery and hunger in our land... We are driven to suicide because we don’t mean anything”. Although work opportunities are greater in these urban environments than they are in Gran Chaco, most jobs are low paying, require no specialized skills, and provide little job security. In this setting the Toba are marginalized and discriminated against for being indigenous. In spite of this fact, they remain an easily exploited source of cheap labor to the benefit of the general populace of Santa Fe.
It is in this cultural and economic climate that the PIFP recently began its work co-jointly with the leadership council of the Toba of Santa Fe. While the PIFP has brought all the resources necessary for initiating the project, additional funds and resources are necessary to see this project actualize its full potential. Currently the project includes plans to create an industry based on the design and manufacture of clothing utilizing traditional Toba design in the style itself and fabric patterns. The use of Toba artisans in the manufacture of accessories such as handmade wooden buttons is also being studied. The PIFP is also working on the creation of training shops to assist the women in learning the design and manufacture of that clothing, and to teach them effective marketing strategies. The initial purchase of machinery as well as planning for this project has been achieved, but there is much yet to be accomplished.
The economic, cultural, and social survival of the Toba depends heavily on the success of this project and the need for outside assistance is great. Enhanced self -sustainability is the long range goal of this program and the PIFP and Toba leadership council believe this project is a good beginning.
Read more!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Photos from my humanitarian mission
Hello everyone. As most of you already know, I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December of last year. I am working as a photographer, doing some freelance writing, some website design, and with a humanitarian organization. I recently returned from a mission with that group to the Santa Fe Province to work with an indigenous community there called the Tobas. They are only in Argentina and number less than 50,000.
Anyway, here are some photographs from my trip there if interested in checking them out:
Among other things the children there were remarkable. Even in such extreme poverty they seemed even happier than most children I find elsewhere in the world. I felt like the Pied Piper once I showed a couple of children the photographs of themselves on the screen on my digital camera. Before I knew it I had an entourage of about fifty to sixty children following me everywhere. I would take a couple of photos of a group of them and then kneel to show it to them and I would be immediately surrounded by the entire group. It was amazing…….. I would look up and literally only see a crowd of little excited faces……..no sky…….nothing but those dear faces.
So, I hope you all enjoy the photographs and that you all have a wonderful week.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Maginations
Let me sing to you my song of love.
Thoughts emotions …
Vague in the instant
Yet clear in eternity.
Crystalline teardrop prisms fall,
A kaleidoscope of color, meaning…
He sits in his room, his asylum
Pondering, feeling, reaching out…
Has it all been a dream he wonders. I feel so great, so right, so true…
Echoes of the past…
Thoughts real in the moment
Yet untrue upon reflection.
Yes,
True,
Pure.
In an instant he tastes mortality.
Dreams unrealized
Fear, emotion, impotence…
He remembers a dream,
Not of this world yet real.
Broken thoughts
Impossible concentration.
A child is so fragile.
Swirl of emotion
Clear, yet out of reach.
I awoke to fear one day!
Not from self…of self
Yet
Real
Painful.
A presence looms over the child.
"is this real?"
"I don't know".
"Am I safe?"
"Illusion".
Memories, the echoes of his mind crowd him now.
I think
See
Feel
Am.
Is that all?
Is too much ever enough?
Impossible concentration…
Connection
Sudden.
Striken by emotion he rests
All becomes clear, yet…
Too much.
It grows within
Wanders without
Enfolding in mystery.
The end.
Is that all?
Whispers now……………..
yesss….
Read more!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
The end of divine rule by George W. Bush
Follow up: The Greater Ramifications
There are ramifications to yesterday’s decision regarding the Clean Air Act that surpass a mere decision regarding the issue of global warming and the role of the EPA. I consider this a significant casein that it has much to do with the system of checks and balances created by the framers of the U.S. constitution.
What has happened in this case, and in the greater arena of U.S. politics in general, is that the executive branch has overstepped its boundaries regarding the realization of the legislative intent of the clean air act. As the Supreme Court notes, the intent in enacting the Clean Air act was both exact and unambiguous. If you take the time to read the full published opinion in this case, the Supreme Court mentions on more than one occasion that the intent of legislature, or “Congressional design” , was stated clearly in this act. At one point it refers to the act’s “clear statutory command” and goes on to state that ”There is no reason, much less a compelling reason, to accept EPA’s invitation to read ambiguity into a clear statute”.
What we have here is a President, acting in his capacity as the head of the executive branch, trying to usurp the authority of Congress by directing the EPA to ignore their statutory mandates. This is in full defiance of the separation of powers in the U.S. and in this case the President was called on it.
One of the primary functions of the Supreme Court is to set forth guidelines for the judiciary in reviewing questions of law. In this instance the court has issued an opinion clearly rebuking this president for violating the law and the powers of congress. In this context I see this decision as having implications that permeate nearly every department and agency within the executive branch of government.
George W. Bush (or George II, the boy who would be king, as I refer to him) has since arriving in office attempted to control the government and media through fear tactics and abuse of his power over the agencies, divisions, and departments falling under his command. This behavior is clearly violative of the basic rules of government enacted by our founding fathers over two hundred years ago. I see this as the first significant step in taking our boy king off his throne. This opinion and its clearly stated warning to the EPA pave the road for other departments to act in defiance of executive manipulation and control over their lawful exercise of authority in a manner consistent with the laws of the land. The following months are likely to prove interesting indeed.
And in conclusion there is yet one more issue to present. Why has the mainstream press in the U.S. completely ignored the greater implications of this opinion? It seems that while Bush’s stranglehold of power over government is coming to its end his assertion of control over the media remains ever strong.
Read more!
Bush, the EPA and the Environment: NEW HOPE?
On Monday, April 2nd of 2007 the Supreme Court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the statutory authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles and that its stated reasons for not doing so were inconsistent with the Clean Air Act. The EPA and Bush administration have argued against the EPA’s assertion of its authority noting a number of reasons: that it would hinder the President’s ability “to negotiate with 'key developing nations' to reduce emissions”, that it would in fact be too small a step in addressing concerns of global warming, and that voluntary regulation is preferable. In ruling against these assertions, the court went on to rebuke President Bush by noting that:” while the President has broad authority in foreign affairs, that authority does not extend to the refusal to execute domestic laws."
The relevant portion of the Clean Air Act in this decision reads as follows:
The relevant portion of the Clean Air Act in this decision reads as follows:
“The [EPA] Administrator shall by regulation prescribe (and from time to time
revise)in accordance with the provisions of this section, standards
applicable to the emission of any air pollutant from any class or classes of new
motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines, which in his judgement cause, or
contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger
public health or welfare…”
The court looked to this act and went on to note that the Clean Air Act "and common sense...demand regulatory action to prevent harm, even if the regulator is less than certain that harm is otherwise inevitable."
In looking to its authority to hear the case the court stated the following regarding injuries:
"The harms associated with climate change are serious and well recognized. ...a
number of environmental changes that have already inflicted significant harms,
including the global retreat of mountain glaciers, reduction in snow-cover
extent, the earlier spring melting of rivers and lakes [and] the accelerated
rate of rise of sea levels during the 20th century relative to the past few
thousand years ...."
The EPA's main defense for its inaction seemed to be that any attempt at regulation would be futile as there are many other countries contributing to global warming ("because predicted increases in greenhouse gas emissions from developing nations, particularly China and India, are likely to offset any marginal domestic decrease”). The court failed to agree with this assertion noting that: "Agencies, like legislatures, do not generally resolve massive problems in one fell regulatory swoop. ... They instead whittle away at them over time, refining their preferred approach as circumstances change and as they develop a more-nuanced understanding of how best to proceed." The court went on to note that:
"To put this in perspective: Considering just emissions from the
transportation sector, which represents less than one-third of this country's
total carbon dioxide emissions, the United States would still rank as the
third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, outpaced only by the
European Union and China. Judged by any standard, U.S. motor-vehicle
emissions make a meaningful contribution to greenhouse gas concentrations and
hence, according to petitioners, to global warming."
The EPA itself argued that "a number of voluntary executive branch programs already provide an effective response to the threat of global warming, that regulating greenhouse gases might impair the President's ability to negotiate with 'key developing nations' to reduce emissions, and that curtailing motor-vehicle emissions would reflect 'an inefficient, piecemeal approach to address the climate change issue". In looking to at these arguments the court stated that "EPA has been charged with protecting the public's 'health' and 'welfare' ...." and went on to add that: "EPA has refused to comply with this clear statutory command. Instead, it has offered a laundry list of reasons not to regulate."
In its concluding findings the court held that
“Although we have neither the expertise nor the authority to evaluate these
policy judgments, it is evident they have nothing to do with whether greenhouse
gas emissions contribute to climate change. Still less do they amount to a
reasoned justification for declining to form a scientific judgment....If the
scientific uncertainty is so profound that it precludes EPA from making a
reasoned judgment as to whether greenhouse gases contribute to global warming,
EPA must say so. That EPA would prefer not to regulate greenhouse gases because
of some residual uncertainty....is irrelevant. The statutory question is whether
sufficient information exists to make an endangerment finding. In short, EPA has
offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse
gases cause or contribute to climate change. Its action was therefore
'arbitrary, capricious, ...or otherwise not in accordance with law'.... We hold
... the EPA must ground its reasons for action or inaction in the statute."
This decision is a resounding defeat to the Bush administration’s policy of complacency and laissez faire governmental policy when it comes to the environment. As the court duly noted, the EPA has been entrusted to look after the health and welfare of the country, its citizens, and the environment. This opinion sends a clear signal to the lower courts and legislatures that no longer is it acceptable for agencies to stand idly by while the future of the citizens of this country and indeed the world live in peril. Courts and legislatures nationwide have awaited this decision in anticipation of the application of its finding to their own affairs. And now they can move boldly into the twenty-first century with both clarity and authority.
Read more!
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Story of Edwyn and Airiel
Chapter 1
I.
I.
He awoke to a world he had not dreamt in or of. Most believed that the waking world, the one created by the vision of the collective, was the true world and the one of dreams merely the construction of individual imagination. He was not so sure at this point. All alone, clearly this was a world of his own but yet… But yet it seemed somehow more real and more relevant than the other place where he labored and suffered along with everyone else.
Looking around he was stunned at the sensation of it all. The air held a lofty sweet aroma akin to gardenia or maybe some other such flower. He could very nearly taste the delicate sweetness of the air as his lungs took it in one breath after another. Reaching down to touch the ground he felt the coolness of the grass glistening still with its morning sprinkling of dew. Then reaching further to feel the ground he sensed the pulse of the earth as if it were a living thing.
“What a wondrous place” he said to himself. “It seems so much more alive that that other place I call home.”
Looking around he found himself high on a mountainside that looked like it had been part of some ancient war amongst the planets, or maybe the gods themselves. The mountains were high and covered with beautiful lush green grass. Here and there however was an outcrop of huge boulders that seem almost as if they were thrown by something. Maybe Aries himself, Edwyn’s own deity, had thrown them in some fit of rage over a war gone wrong. Or maybe Bacchus had tossed them after running dangerously low on wine.
Looking around he was stunned at the sensation of it all. The air held a lofty sweet aroma akin to gardenia or maybe some other such flower. He could very nearly taste the delicate sweetness of the air as his lungs took it in one breath after another. Reaching down to touch the ground he felt the coolness of the grass glistening still with its morning sprinkling of dew. Then reaching further to feel the ground he sensed the pulse of the earth as if it were a living thing.
“What a wondrous place” he said to himself. “It seems so much more alive that that other place I call home.”
Looking around he found himself high on a mountainside that looked like it had been part of some ancient war amongst the planets, or maybe the gods themselves. The mountains were high and covered with beautiful lush green grass. Here and there however was an outcrop of huge boulders that seem almost as if they were thrown by something. Maybe Aries himself, Edwyn’s own deity, had thrown them in some fit of rage over a war gone wrong. Or maybe Bacchus had tossed them after running dangerously low on wine.
II.
Not knowing immediately what to do next, he elected to explore this wondrous new land. Walking a little further up the hill he began to take in the expanded view of this world. Trees were sprinkled all around amongst the rocks, boulders. They each seemed like the storybook trees he imagined as a young child, each one rich with the possibility of lazy afternoons spent in reading or imagination. Looking at them he sensed that each on had its own story to tell if one were to merely tune in to them.
After a while he came to a stream and introduced himself by first putting his hand into it feeling its cool crispness playing over his sore fingers. He next took a sip and then a more generous draught of the water tasting its own sweetness lightly tickling his tongue.
It was then that he spied her. She seemed only a vague shadow knelt down on the other side of the stream with her head on her knees and arms spread around them. It was funny, in this world of vivid sensation she seemed almost dim to him as if she had yet to fully come into focus. It seemed that while she was not of this place, had not helped create it, that somehow she belonged here if only for a time.
Walking closer to her she seemed to come more into focus the more his gaze fell upon her. Reaching out he tenderly laid his hand upon her shoulder and immediately felt a flow somewhat like electricity bonding them, binding them through that touch. She seemed familiar to him yet he knew not from where. It seemed as if he had imagined her in yet some other dream so long long ago. Looking down upon her, he noticed the stark contrast between her fair skin and rich dark hair cascading in curls upon her shoulders and beyond.
Suddenly a flicker of recognition came upon him and then passed just as quickly. She seemed for a moment to be his Kym as he saw her so many years ago in another waking dream. She had been sitting in a stool before a mirror and he had walked up behind her and brushed her hair gazing into her brilliant blue eyes in the mirror. This new vision couldn’t be Kym, she was far too young, in her mid twenties he would guess. As she slowly turned towards him the resemblance was unquestionable.
After a while he came to a stream and introduced himself by first putting his hand into it feeling its cool crispness playing over his sore fingers. He next took a sip and then a more generous draught of the water tasting its own sweetness lightly tickling his tongue.
It was then that he spied her. She seemed only a vague shadow knelt down on the other side of the stream with her head on her knees and arms spread around them. It was funny, in this world of vivid sensation she seemed almost dim to him as if she had yet to fully come into focus. It seemed that while she was not of this place, had not helped create it, that somehow she belonged here if only for a time.
Walking closer to her she seemed to come more into focus the more his gaze fell upon her. Reaching out he tenderly laid his hand upon her shoulder and immediately felt a flow somewhat like electricity bonding them, binding them through that touch. She seemed familiar to him yet he knew not from where. It seemed as if he had imagined her in yet some other dream so long long ago. Looking down upon her, he noticed the stark contrast between her fair skin and rich dark hair cascading in curls upon her shoulders and beyond.
Suddenly a flicker of recognition came upon him and then passed just as quickly. She seemed for a moment to be his Kym as he saw her so many years ago in another waking dream. She had been sitting in a stool before a mirror and he had walked up behind her and brushed her hair gazing into her brilliant blue eyes in the mirror. This new vision couldn’t be Kym, she was far too young, in her mid twenties he would guess. As she slowly turned towards him the resemblance was unquestionable.
III.
She was stunning in her beauty, yet she seemed to him incomplete. Looking deeper at her he noticed that her own beautiful blue eyes were gazing upon him without comprehension that when he spoke her ears heard him but sensed not words. She could feel his touch upon her shoulder yet did not understand. In that instant it seemed obvious that she came neither from this world nor from his other one, the so-called waking one. At that same moment he began to understand that this was his untimely child, lost so long ago. That would explain why she could not sense in the usual fashion. Her time had been too brief to fully comprehend what her body and spirit and mind were telling her.
Struggling with his own incomprehension, he felt that surely there must be something he could do for this child, his child. Suddenly it came to him: maybe he could lend her his own experience for a time so that she could develop her own. Sensing her own confusion and fear he reached out to her slowly and embraced her face in his hands. Indicating to her to close her eyes he did the same and slowly he began to concentrate on the connection between them.
Once he could experience the flow of energy passing from him to her through his hands he imagined all the wonders of his own experience. He gave to her the gift of sight spectacular in its wonder the greatest in many ways of the senses of the body. He gave to her sound and taste, smell and touch. He then looked deeper into himself and he gave her intellect and emotion and finally he gave her his own sense of spirit, ever changing along with his realm of thoughts and feelings.
Suddenly he felt tired of body mind and spirit. Turning his gaze upon her own he sensed she was experiencing the same sensation and he motioned to her to sit down with him for a while.
Struggling with his own incomprehension, he felt that surely there must be something he could do for this child, his child. Suddenly it came to him: maybe he could lend her his own experience for a time so that she could develop her own. Sensing her own confusion and fear he reached out to her slowly and embraced her face in his hands. Indicating to her to close her eyes he did the same and slowly he began to concentrate on the connection between them.
Once he could experience the flow of energy passing from him to her through his hands he imagined all the wonders of his own experience. He gave to her the gift of sight spectacular in its wonder the greatest in many ways of the senses of the body. He gave to her sound and taste, smell and touch. He then looked deeper into himself and he gave her intellect and emotion and finally he gave her his own sense of spirit, ever changing along with his realm of thoughts and feelings.
Suddenly he felt tired of body mind and spirit. Turning his gaze upon her own he sensed she was experiencing the same sensation and he motioned to her to sit down with him for a while.
IV.
They sat there on their mountainside for what seemed the longest time taking in the wonder of the world around them. After a while their gazed fell again upon each others. He began to speak to her the name that she had given for herself in the time before her untimely birth. She immediately motioned him to silence delicately placing one finger upon his lips. She spoke to him then for the first time more in his head that with her lips.
“No father, I am no longer her. I am known as Airiel now.”
“Airiel” Ariel he thought to himself letting the sound of it pass through his mind. “I like it” he said to himself. “Your mother would have liked it too” he very nearly said out loud.
Ariel asked him of her mother, startling him with her ability to read his mind his thoughts even as he just experienced them himself.
“Your mother is in the land where people discover themselves” he told her knowing that she would not understand.
“Will you be with her again?”
“Of course my child”
he replied.
“How could it be otherwise? One cannot truly know where one of us ends and the other begins. I think sometimes that we just met too early and now we are taking time alone to complete our own individual journeys before coming together again for our shared one.”
Airiel looked upon him totally confused now and laughing aloud he exclaimed:
“Come child, that is a long story and I am too weary for such discussion now. We will speak of her and of us some other time. Let’s sit for a spell and I will tell you some other story, something shorter.”
“No father, I am no longer her. I am known as Airiel now.”
“Airiel” Ariel he thought to himself letting the sound of it pass through his mind. “I like it” he said to himself. “Your mother would have liked it too” he very nearly said out loud.
Ariel asked him of her mother, startling him with her ability to read his mind his thoughts even as he just experienced them himself.
“Your mother is in the land where people discover themselves” he told her knowing that she would not understand.
“Will you be with her again?”
“Of course my child”
he replied.
“How could it be otherwise? One cannot truly know where one of us ends and the other begins. I think sometimes that we just met too early and now we are taking time alone to complete our own individual journeys before coming together again for our shared one.”
Airiel looked upon him totally confused now and laughing aloud he exclaimed:
“Come child, that is a long story and I am too weary for such discussion now. We will speak of her and of us some other time. Let’s sit for a spell and I will tell you some other story, something shorter.”
Chapter 2
I.
I.
“So Airiel let me now tell you the story of The Metaphor of the Tree. A while back I was studying in the wilderness for a few days. Each day that I was there I took a walk along a foot path to reflect upon myself and the things I was learning. The first day I was walking through the wilderness I saw some beautiful and unique trees. I later learned from your mother that their name is They were rather short for trees but dramatic. They had beautiful red bark that was more like skin than what one usually imagines as bark. These trees came from a single trunk but almost immediately above the ground they had branches that spread out in all directions twisting in turning in a unique and beautiful fashion. I thought to myself that these were beautiful and wondrous trees like none I had ever seen before.”
“The very next day I went walking on that path and I noticed this time that the trees were peeling. There were curls very much like pencil shavings all along the trunks of these trees. I thought to myself, aha what a parallel to my own life. With each season of my life, my development, I shed pieces of my old life to make room for the new. My life is a process wherein I am constantly changing and in order for the new to emerge the old must sometimes fall away, be shed off.”
“Again I went walking and my gaze once again fell upon those very same trees. This time I noticed that the branches were not completely red. There were portions of the branches that were the color of grey more common to trees in this area. It seemed as if the areas of grey were emerging from within the portions of grey and it set my imagination wandering. I began to think of the wonderful metaphor of these trees of how we each of us have this inner being that is struggling to come outside of ourselves. That just as these trees are a twisted maze of red and grey our own lives are a menagerie of our inner being intertwined with our outer more public selves with each side contributing to the totality of our being. I then went about my affairs proud of myself for this new revelation concerning the trees.”
“The very next day I went walking and yet again I noticed something different about the trees. I noticed that the grey part that I had earlier conceived of representing one’s inner being was actually a dead part of the tree and that it seemed to be in the process of being either enveloped by or shed off by the living part of the tree. I thought to myself again, what great lessons this tree has to teach me. Like with the shedding of the bark there are parts of us that die along the way of our life, yet they continue to threaten the living and thriving parts of our being, our soul. That life and death is a war that is waged within us each and every day that actually the grey and red represent that which is good and creates new life within us and that which is bad and creates dying or death within us. That a very large part of our struggle in life is to not give into that which brings us darkness, blandness, grayness, but to step into that which brings life rich with color and possibility. Again I went on content that I was continuing in my learning from the trees.
Finally, I came to take another walk in the wilderness and as usual I felt my gaze fall upon the trees. This time I paused to truly look at them and I felt my head going over all the stories I had learned from the trees. I thought about change, renewal, struggle, good and bad, and life and death. And suddenly I began to laugh softly at first and then it turned into near hysterical laughter. I found myself amused at my own ponderings. These are trees and not teachers. The very first day I went walking I had seen and experienced the trees as they were. These trees were no metaphor for my own life or the lives of mankind. They were living creatures in their own right and quite simply to my kind, to me, they were wondrous and beautiful in their own unique fashion.
I had developed this long story of twisted and ever changing meanings trying to make sense of my own life and looking ever for symbols from without to explain that which lies within. I wondered if I do the same thing when I look within myself. Is my story ever changing to fit that which I perceive each day? And if so, do I ever remember to just take in the beauty and wonder of my life and to appreciate its own unique growth?
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“The very next day I went walking on that path and I noticed this time that the trees were peeling. There were curls very much like pencil shavings all along the trunks of these trees. I thought to myself, aha what a parallel to my own life. With each season of my life, my development, I shed pieces of my old life to make room for the new. My life is a process wherein I am constantly changing and in order for the new to emerge the old must sometimes fall away, be shed off.”
“Again I went walking and my gaze once again fell upon those very same trees. This time I noticed that the branches were not completely red. There were portions of the branches that were the color of grey more common to trees in this area. It seemed as if the areas of grey were emerging from within the portions of grey and it set my imagination wandering. I began to think of the wonderful metaphor of these trees of how we each of us have this inner being that is struggling to come outside of ourselves. That just as these trees are a twisted maze of red and grey our own lives are a menagerie of our inner being intertwined with our outer more public selves with each side contributing to the totality of our being. I then went about my affairs proud of myself for this new revelation concerning the trees.”
“The very next day I went walking and yet again I noticed something different about the trees. I noticed that the grey part that I had earlier conceived of representing one’s inner being was actually a dead part of the tree and that it seemed to be in the process of being either enveloped by or shed off by the living part of the tree. I thought to myself again, what great lessons this tree has to teach me. Like with the shedding of the bark there are parts of us that die along the way of our life, yet they continue to threaten the living and thriving parts of our being, our soul. That life and death is a war that is waged within us each and every day that actually the grey and red represent that which is good and creates new life within us and that which is bad and creates dying or death within us. That a very large part of our struggle in life is to not give into that which brings us darkness, blandness, grayness, but to step into that which brings life rich with color and possibility. Again I went on content that I was continuing in my learning from the trees.
Finally, I came to take another walk in the wilderness and as usual I felt my gaze fall upon the trees. This time I paused to truly look at them and I felt my head going over all the stories I had learned from the trees. I thought about change, renewal, struggle, good and bad, and life and death. And suddenly I began to laugh softly at first and then it turned into near hysterical laughter. I found myself amused at my own ponderings. These are trees and not teachers. The very first day I went walking I had seen and experienced the trees as they were. These trees were no metaphor for my own life or the lives of mankind. They were living creatures in their own right and quite simply to my kind, to me, they were wondrous and beautiful in their own unique fashion.
I had developed this long story of twisted and ever changing meanings trying to make sense of my own life and looking ever for symbols from without to explain that which lies within. I wondered if I do the same thing when I look within myself. Is my story ever changing to fit that which I perceive each day? And if so, do I ever remember to just take in the beauty and wonder of my life and to appreciate its own unique growth?
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Man's Realm Between Spirit and Creature
I would start out by first offering this disclaimer: I am not a Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Baptist, Methodist. I am however a person of faith and spirituality a man who love philosophy and accordingly have an interest in one of its many applications: theology.
People often consider God’s greatest gift to man to be that of free will. They often then go on to say that through the act of sin man has turned his or her back on god through that act. First off, I don’t think that is quite as simple a situation as that. I believe that sin falls into two categories. Reinhold Niebuhr called those two divisions: historic sin and natural sin. In his model historic sin is always predicated by man’s abuse of the gift of free will while natural sin has more to do with events such as the untimely death of a child.
Sin itself is not an easy concept to wrestle with. There are typically three issues that must be addressed and understood in considering sin: first man’s unique position between nature and spirit as a free being, second the presentation to man by the devil (metaphoric or literal) of the idea that man can reject the position given to him by the creator, and third is man’s anxiety to secure his own position in contrast to the order created by God. This anxiety is requisite for the emergence of sin. As to whether it remains a catalyst or something more remains a subject of debate. Sin in this particular model is not inevitable but man seems by his nature to have a compulsion towards anxiety through his inability to dwell between worlds.
Read more!
People often consider God’s greatest gift to man to be that of free will. They often then go on to say that through the act of sin man has turned his or her back on god through that act. First off, I don’t think that is quite as simple a situation as that. I believe that sin falls into two categories. Reinhold Niebuhr called those two divisions: historic sin and natural sin. In his model historic sin is always predicated by man’s abuse of the gift of free will while natural sin has more to do with events such as the untimely death of a child.
Sin itself is not an easy concept to wrestle with. There are typically three issues that must be addressed and understood in considering sin: first man’s unique position between nature and spirit as a free being, second the presentation to man by the devil (metaphoric or literal) of the idea that man can reject the position given to him by the creator, and third is man’s anxiety to secure his own position in contrast to the order created by God. This anxiety is requisite for the emergence of sin. As to whether it remains a catalyst or something more remains a subject of debate. Sin in this particular model is not inevitable but man seems by his nature to have a compulsion towards anxiety through his inability to dwell between worlds.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Unwitting Keys
Loneliness, self-pity, and despair are the gateway to the demon that lies within or just beyond each of us. Either knowingly or unwittingly we bring the creature through - becoming a temporal key, borne from this triad of spiritual disconnection.
Even in their ascension from worldly affairs wise men, learned men, scholars, poets, spiritual men, and men of god can each lend comfort and assistance to the forces of corruption.
Aspirations of transcendence from possibility eventually become our weakness. Our vanity our ignorance and our conceit grant entry to conditions where doorways become open if only in a crack for an instant. We must ever remain mindful that those dark things that dwell do not do so in quiet repose but rather are a springboard of tension ready in an instant to leap forth. Our inherent human weakness embraced by our arrogance becomes their opportunity. Therefore it is not small wonder that so much rhetoric has been passed along over the centuries regarding the sin of pride.
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Reflections on Suffering
There is a picture that was published in National Geographic Magazine back in 1985 of an Afghan girl. Her name was Sharbat Gulu, and she was and is a Pashtun, one of the more warlike tribes in Afghanistan. The picture was taken by Steve McCurry.
The Afghan girl's eyes? I think that they have witnessed much suffering but to me that is the beauty of the photograph. It has substance, depth of character, feeling. While I am not allied with any particular belief structure I have a fondness for borrowing from a variety of sources in developing my own perspective on life and its many challenges.
Siddhartha, the Buddha, wrote of four noble truths which in short deal with the concepts of the five aggregates of clinging that ultimately lead to all suffering. He also spoke and wrote of the noble eightfold path which is designed to facilitate the alleviation of suffering. Panna, or wisdom, sila, virtuous behavior, and samadhi, concentration, are three aspects of that pathway. I think that most people misinterpret Siddhartha's teaching to the extent that they belief that the noble eightfold path actually leads one to a state wherein they no longer experience suffering. I think rather that what he had in mind was a method by which one might grow beyond their attachment to suffering. I think he believed that suffering was part of the human condition. Siddhartha defined suffering itself in his four noble truths and he went on with his noble eightfold path to give us means by which to cope with that condition. We are born from suffering, live in suffering, and die in suffering and that is simply part of life, or of our existence. Siddhartha believed that craving was requisite to suffering and to me among other things cravings and compulsions are biological functions at their root level and not simply an emotional or spiritual response to external stimuli.
Vipassana meditation itself is a method the Buddha taught to teach people how to understand these cravings and compulsions at their basest physiological level……. Stimuli. On a mental,spiritual and emotional level these longings can be either subjective or objective in nature (meaning from within or from without). I think that the eightfold path is a method of teaching one to transcend to the drama that is so often associated with suffering.
Along with other tools such as mediation one learns of the mutability of live in general and suffering in specific. We need not become too consumed with our misery today because surely tomorrow will bring with it either redemption of a new batch of woes to ponder. I also think of it as a system of utilizing suffering as a tool of enlightenment instead of an excuse to wallow in our pain or lack of fulfillment at the moment. As with most things in life, suffering is transitory. If there is any great truth that lays within the human condition it is that all we experience is but a transitory illusion to some extent. With discipline one can learn to see through our own suffering, or to gaze beyond our sorrow.
So what is the point of all this rambling you might ask. Well when I see pictures such as those of the Afghan girl, I immediately pause to consider not just her suffering, which is so clear in her eyes, but also I think of her as representative of the suffering we all embrace/endure as a species.........as philosophic and emotional and spiritual creatures. I am a bit of an existentialist and feel that when one suffers...........well we all do to some extent.
We are all a part of all experiences either through our involvement or our lack thereof. I believe in Carl Jung’s concept of shared memory and would go on to elaborate that as a species we endure collective suffering as well as memory. We can either turn our back on the suffering of the world insulating ourselves from the experience of any emotional response, or we can embrace suffering in the hopes of ultimately arising as people, as a culture, as a divine experiment ... and taste of all that life has to offer in hopes of attaining some sense of the aesthetics of beauty that life can bring even in the midst of our suffering. When I look upon those incredible green eyes of Sharbat I see the beauty of a living breathing and feeling woman not just carrying all the suffering of the world, her world, but inversely also experience along with her all the love of history reflected in her gaze.
There are many things to consider when lost in a moment of hardship and suffering. Albert Camus wrote: "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer". And to me this is an important aspect of life to consider. Embedded deep within all of us there resides that ray of sunshine ... that spark of hope of courage that remains invincible. If there is ever a moment you doubt me on that idea, then I would challenge you to explain to me why it is you get up every morning.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Soul Relationships
To first understand what is called soul relationships, one should first consider three concepts regarding the human experiment: first, man has a unique position between nature and spirit as a free being. Second, free will presents to man the idea that one can reject this position given to one by the creator. And the third point to consider is man’s anxiety to secure one’s own position in contrast to the order created by that which governs all. This anxiety in turn leads to pride which is requisite to sin, or in this article let’s say disorder or disconnection (bad choice could equally be substituted here). This disorder in this particular model is not inevitable but man seems by one’s nature to have this need to create anxiety though an inability to dwell between worlds.
The next analysis involves the idea of man as a free being. William James, an innovative American psychologist and philosopher wrote: “The god whom science recognizes must be a God of universal laws exclusively, a God who does a wholesale, not a retail business.” The point being that the universe and more specifically human beings were designed in mass [wholesale] with the laws of nature [retail] tending to the more mundane details of existence. Why one might say: “how can this be so”? And to this the answer is that for man to indeed possess free will the creator must step outside his labors and let nature take its course (be it mother nature or human nature). Free will cannot coexist within humans in a reality where the creator or initiator participates. In this model soul relationships become an instrument by which the creator empowered the spiritual to help guide the material. And to be more specific this is exactly the framework from whence soul relationships were born.
There are theories galore regarding soul relationships the most prevalent ones concern themselves with the concept of soul mates. While there remains a wealth of contradictory information regarding the subject for some reason one rarely finds the concept joined with other spiritual relationships. There are several levels of soul relationships and the rest of this discourse will cover but three of them.
Twin flames soul mates and kindred spirits are the three divisions to be covered here. Twin flames are typically that which most refer to as “soul mates”. To distinguish these concepts simply one can imagine twin flames as one spirit in two bodies, soul mates as a spiritual family, and kindred spirits as spiritual friends or relations.
Creation or reality is determined by various methods of polarity of duality: north and south, male and female, yin and yang are but a few examples. Indeed the creator itself is often defined as Father/Mother God. Shortly after their creation spirits divide into two aspects, mirrors of the one so to speak. Often times these are defined as the masculine and feminine aspects of the collective “one”. Through a series of individual incarnations these beings reach a level of enlightenment enabling them to come back together as one. Thus true love, agape, is simply a reunification of that which had previously been divided. There is one distinct characteristic that separates Twin Flames from other soul relationships: there is only set of partners that can be twin flames and that relationship remains ever immutable.
Soul mates are at once distinguishable from twin flames in that one will often share many lives with soul mates and one can have several soul mates over the span of existence and often at the same times. Soul mates come together often as friends or lovers and generally speaking have tasks or various karmas to resolve while in that particular incarnation. Many theorize that soul mates have additional tasks derived to assist the collective.
Kindred spirits are typically those that come into one’s life at a particular time and for a specific purpose. While their time together is typically short lived the experience and learning of that union is significant and typically carries from one live to the subsequent ones. The functions of kindred spirits as well as of Soul mates can on occasion be fulfilled by one’s twin but this is rare.
In the grander scheme, all souls and creature come from the same source. So as the reunions and mixing of spirits occurs over the eons, the intention is ultimately for the collective of all that is to reunite. But for what purpose is all this? The writer leaves that to you to determine for yourself.
Read more!
The next analysis involves the idea of man as a free being. William James, an innovative American psychologist and philosopher wrote: “The god whom science recognizes must be a God of universal laws exclusively, a God who does a wholesale, not a retail business.” The point being that the universe and more specifically human beings were designed in mass [wholesale] with the laws of nature [retail] tending to the more mundane details of existence. Why one might say: “how can this be so”? And to this the answer is that for man to indeed possess free will the creator must step outside his labors and let nature take its course (be it mother nature or human nature). Free will cannot coexist within humans in a reality where the creator or initiator participates. In this model soul relationships become an instrument by which the creator empowered the spiritual to help guide the material. And to be more specific this is exactly the framework from whence soul relationships were born.
There are theories galore regarding soul relationships the most prevalent ones concern themselves with the concept of soul mates. While there remains a wealth of contradictory information regarding the subject for some reason one rarely finds the concept joined with other spiritual relationships. There are several levels of soul relationships and the rest of this discourse will cover but three of them.
Twin flames soul mates and kindred spirits are the three divisions to be covered here. Twin flames are typically that which most refer to as “soul mates”. To distinguish these concepts simply one can imagine twin flames as one spirit in two bodies, soul mates as a spiritual family, and kindred spirits as spiritual friends or relations.
Creation or reality is determined by various methods of polarity of duality: north and south, male and female, yin and yang are but a few examples. Indeed the creator itself is often defined as Father/Mother God. Shortly after their creation spirits divide into two aspects, mirrors of the one so to speak. Often times these are defined as the masculine and feminine aspects of the collective “one”. Through a series of individual incarnations these beings reach a level of enlightenment enabling them to come back together as one. Thus true love, agape, is simply a reunification of that which had previously been divided. There is one distinct characteristic that separates Twin Flames from other soul relationships: there is only set of partners that can be twin flames and that relationship remains ever immutable.
Soul mates are at once distinguishable from twin flames in that one will often share many lives with soul mates and one can have several soul mates over the span of existence and often at the same times. Soul mates come together often as friends or lovers and generally speaking have tasks or various karmas to resolve while in that particular incarnation. Many theorize that soul mates have additional tasks derived to assist the collective.
Kindred spirits are typically those that come into one’s life at a particular time and for a specific purpose. While their time together is typically short lived the experience and learning of that union is significant and typically carries from one live to the subsequent ones. The functions of kindred spirits as well as of Soul mates can on occasion be fulfilled by one’s twin but this is rare.
In the grander scheme, all souls and creature come from the same source. So as the reunions and mixing of spirits occurs over the eons, the intention is ultimately for the collective of all that is to reunite. But for what purpose is all this? The writer leaves that to you to determine for yourself.
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