Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Location: Earth

Zeitgeist: the spirit of our times, or if you ask me, the spirit of time itself. I'd like to think we as humans have a part in this unfolding of time and space, that humans have a deeper meaning. I'd like to think that we are the cutting edge organic technology, conscious matter capable creating the world around us. I'd like to have faith in a divine plan.

But if that's the case, look at what we're creating! At times, human nature looks to be a serious disaster ;-)

In the end, all we can do is make a choice of how we react to disaster, what we choose to tune into. We choose to either hold onto this 'manufactured' disaster paradigm, living in fear and hence supporting fear, or we choose to let go, and in doing so, perhaps return to an older way of seeing, and an understanding of nature and our place within it.

Our place within the natural ebb and flow of time is what I'm after.

I think most of us are pretty oblivious to the universal ebb and flow of things, we see it, but mostly ignore it, since we don't really want to know. Ignorance IS after all bliss, and why not enjoy your bliss?

I'd say, just make sure it's bliss you're actually living, not some form of commercial industrial bliss created for you and then served up, wrapped in plastic. I would say this isn't happiness, but rather an orchestrated distraction of the masses.

But hey, that's another pattern in and of itself, all a part of nature repeating itself. The question becomes what happens if we awake to the patterns unfolding around us?

Many ancient cultures (Blackfoot, Hopi, Maya, Sumerians, Egyptians to name a few) were familiar with this deeper understanding of the natural world. In ancient times these cultures mapped out the patterns and cycles of nature and our planet within the larger Milky Way Galaxy.

All these ancient beliefs or maps of time correspond to one another, even though they were separated by vast ages within history.

They all tell the same story.

It seems whenever we humans actually paid attention to the bigger picture, we always arrived at the same universal conclusions regardless of the culture or the time period. If we pay attention, it's all there, we just have to pay attention.

There are cycles within nature, patterns that we are all subject to, and like everything in the known universe, it runs full circle.
___
This film is a bit extreme and bleak at times, don't let your emotional responses get the better of you. I take serious issue with certain content, but nonetheless, watch it through. It touches on some interesting points, mainly that we have a choice, but first we have to choose to get out of our slumber. I guess it's all part of a dialog from which we pick and choose ;-)

Thanks to the creators for putting it out there online.


peace,
d

There are something like 70,000,000 blogs out there... it's facts like these, along with our 500 channel universe that make me wonder what the point of it all is. The answer always comes back that it's about the ripple effect... and choice.

This entry is really part of a marketing process, since there is code embedded in here for spiders to find... code you can't see, that will hopefully help me make a bigger ripple ;-)

peace,
d

Technorati Profile

And the beat goes on...

The thing about the U.S. economy is it has major implications for the rest of the globe. Since the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates, global markets have plummeted, they're still stable, but what happens if this is only the beginning?

There are many economic analysts out there saying the same thing, it's time to let nature take it's course and there's not much the U.S. Federal Reserve or Government can do about it.

Again perhaps it's a situation of economic warfare. For the players there's always a short-term cost to war, but in the long-run global economies may be trying to relocate consumption away from America in favor of other markets.

For too long the U.S. has been consuming and living the good life off borrowed money, and as a global investor, the increasing debt with little return is making far less sense than ever before, especially in a world of emerging viable global market alternatives. We have to remember that there is always an upside to every down, and as the U.S. economy falters, global investment capital feeds into other markets around the world.

The money always ends up somewhere. Power and influence usually follows.

Articles:
Recession Worries Roil Wall Street
Fed Slashes US Interest Rates to 3.50 Percent
US Rate Cut Fails to Halt Jitters
Indian Shares Hit by Global Fall
A Generalized Meltdown of Financial Institutions
The Coming Global Depression?

peace,d

It's quite simple really, it all goes back to fuel, and if we could simply reduce our demands, many of the worlds problems would be addressed. I fear we'll be driving to empty or over-priced grocery stores long before we realize the need to stop driving. But it's not only driving that drives the oil demand, it's the bigger is better linear growth paradigm itself. These articles demonstrate that it's all leading nowhere.

And, for those of us on the bio-fuel bandwagon, it's best we always consider the larger implications of our righteous causes. There is only one answer, which is to let go of the status quo, and re-design our system altogether, from the ground up. This will unlikely happen unless we find ourselves with no other choice, this unfortunately looks to be our future.

While reading these articles, keep in mind that the world consumes roughly 84million barrels of oil per day, a number expected to rise to 118million barrels by 2030. When you do the math 3.5 billion barrels of ethanol only equates 41.6 days of fuel: a drop in the bucket in terms of global fuel consumption, that perhaps comes at a heavy cost of world hunger and continued environmental degradation. But at least we're trying eh.

A New, Global Oil Quandary
"Demand Outstrips Supply

As the multiple conflicts and economic pressures associated with palm oil play out in the global economy, the bottom line seems to be that the world wants more of the oil than it can get."

Green Dreams
"The green line is what we think we can make on farms and from trees and switchgrass"–the equivalent of 3.5 billion barrels of oil.

peace,
d

Saturday, January 19, 2008
Location: Colorado Rockies

I was reading recently about the Prophet Daniel. I was led to this reading by a film in which he was mentioned, and being named Daniel, I was obviously curious. It turns out that the Prophet Daniel was told by an angel of the end of time, the final spiritual battle of these end times, and essentially the story of Armageddon.

All this reading got me thinking about how most of what I write on here is pretty similar to those ideas. I seem to most of the time be saying essentially that the world is about to end as we know it. But I also try to balance this notion with the idea that there is always an upside to every down.

I also read something about how the Prophet Daniel was said to be a false prophet and this got me thinking. Is all my harping about how messed up our world is just a fear-based, irrational, alarmist outcry that echoes from the past? Or, are we in a really serious predicament like never before seen in history? For me the answer remains, YES.

But as much as we're in deep trouble, there is always room for hope. So to make sure I ain't no prophet reincarnate ;-) and to throw a wrench into things, I want to talk, not about the end of the world, but the upside to down, and new beginnings.

I was thinking about specialization in an age of destruction. I am always telling people that the future is to go back to the land, to go back to local agriculture, to go back to simple and sustainable ways of doing things. I'm always telling people that the only way forward is to go back! Now most people I talk to agree with the idea, but sometimes I get these looks from people. A friend was saying recently in response one of my 'sermons', "Farming, ha, you'll never find me going back to farming, planting vegetables and stuff, no way, you might as well just shoot me!" I thought to myself, wait and see... but then maybe she's onto something.

Maybe my farming off the grid future reality is just that, MY REALITY. Maybe her future looks quite different, as does the future of everyone out there. There is a tremendous amount of room out there for specialization in an age of destruction. I have no doubt that our world is going to hell in a handbasket, but that doesn't have to equate a loss of all our individual talents, reduced to a world of everyone plowing fields.

I always say the reason we're F%$(ed is because in this technological world we've lost touch with nature and our ability to adapt. But at the same time, this technology itself is an adaptation, and if the world were to end, say tomorrow, we would probably find ourselves staring into our computer screens wondering what to do with ourselves. The point is, faced with a breakdown of the current paradigm, most of us would do something. And perhaps we would focus on our personal area of specialization/adaptation. Personally, my path would probably be to get off the grid and grow food, since that and filmmaking, is what I'm into.

Others would rebuild organizational systems, rewire technological infrastructure, practice medicine, find alternative sources of clean energy, and the list goes on. Imagine the world IS ending, but at the same time only BEGINNING! I always say to people, imagine what it would be like to live in the dark ages, but with our current technology. People would still die en mass since transitions are never easy, look at the fall of Rome. But for those who use their skills to build something the future may be quite bright. We have so much technological possibility: tidal, solar, wind, geothermal, and waste energy. We have the technology and the knowledge to build harmonious local economies that actually produce net energy, without any fossil fuels. We have come to a point in human history where we are able to manifest these solutions into reality almost overnight, all that's missing is wisdom, human will and the new paradigm into which it all fits.

I think a new paradigm is coming.

However, and this is important, we need to come to a place where we balance our technology with earth's natural systems. We need to work with nature versus working against her. And without a doubt, we need to move away from linear, capitalist, unsustainable, hell in a handbasket as quickly as humanly possible!

But, we can do it, and arguably we are.

All this comes back to my ruminations on the Prophet Daniel. It was said that he was supposedly a false prophet because the end of the world never occurred. This is interesting, since, perhaps the Prophet Daniel was sent to tell people what was coming, and only then in that knowledge did the people act, thus proving him wrong. The world of course didn't end but Rome did fall, which for many resulted in the end.

Perhaps Al Gore flying all over the world giving his global warming lectures is a similar archaic process? Perhaps the only way we change the course of history is by taking the time to look at where we're headed? Only when we see the end, do we try to avert it. I think that's probably the case, and again, it's all a matter of choice.

All I know is, for me, I'll continue with the choice to exhibit content about how we're headed towards the end. I'll do this until I begin to see overwhelming evidence that we're actually taking gigantic steps towards a brighter future.

For if we don't take these steps, our days are numbered ;-)

peace,
d

A follow-up relating to ideas of economic warfare. Look who's bailing out the U.S. banks.

Article.

peace,
d

An email from my earth scientist pal Grant Buffett in Spain.

In the end I think Climate Change IS a moot point, and we should really all get down to business slowing down resource development, environmental degradation, cleaning up our water systems (as the glaciers melt regardless of cause, clean water is becoming a major issue around the world), reducing industrial toxins in our atmosphere, and regenerating the tonnes of biologically dead soil caused by industrial agriculture... Global Warming solutions, regardless of whether or not Global Warming is real, address many of these issues, so let's get on with it!

It's similar to politics, we spend so much time debating liberal versus conservative, that in the end, we usually miss the boat completely.

Some days I fear the ship has already sailed.

I like this comment posted in response to Bjorn Lomborg's TED talk (previous post). THIS is how we should be thinking, holistically, looking at the big picture and redesigning this outdated industrial paradigm.

peace,
d

• Russell Austerberry – November 21 2007

  I would like to ask a few questions...
  
  1) WHAT IF... multiple problems have the same solution?
  Bjorn starts by assuming that each problem has a different solution, and of course with limited funds you must prioritise, as a matter of sheer logic. BUT if a raft of problems could be addressed with the same solution ... then we have a different kind of discussion.
  
  2) WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS IF ... a community grows it's own food, under a proven system such as permaculture? (I'll start the list...)
  * improve soils in the community (for farming)
  * increase carbon sequestration (good soil or humus absorbs carbon)
  * engage >50% people in primary production (full employment)
  * slash dependence on transport and transport infrastructure (food miles issue)
  * food grown for nutrition and taste rather than ability to travel well
  * health of community improves
  * security of farmers and citizens improves
  * malnutrition and hunger taken care of
  * very little need for trade
  
  3) IF this became a movement in developed countries... how many of the 'big problems' would this start to address? (list repeated here...)
  climate change, communicable diseases, conflicts, education, financial instability, governance/corruption, malnutrition & hunger, population migration, sanitation & water, subsidies & trade barriers.
  
  If any of this tickles your fancy, look up 'transition towns' on Google...
  I did just that:
  http://www.transitiontowns.org/
  http://transitionculture.org/
  http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/transition_town_1.php
  http://gaianeconomics.blogspot.com/2007/10/transition-towns-make-money.html

• 
  

• Thanks Russel Austerberry whoever you are!
  

http://www.snowballearth.org/

It is a quite plausible theory (in my opinion) about massive natural climate change. The earth is very dynamic and has gone through some major changes in temperature in the past, without a doubt.

Now, that is not to say that I am a climate change skeptic. As an earth scientist I am convinced that we humans are having a significant impact on the changing the biosphere. Nonetheless the media does a terrifically poor job at representing scientific thought. This is represented most effectively in peer reviewed journals. Rarely will a major media outlet cite a scientific journal. More often they just cite a scientist that is willing to give an interview that will make their segment on climate change all the more alarmist and sensationalized, thus improving ratings.

Science is a method, not a subject, as it is taught in school and as is nearly universally misunderstood. Scientists are inherently skeptics. So, in peer reviewed scientific journals one is likely to see a large swath of opinion on various subjects. This is good. This is healthy science. There are skeptics of climate change, then there are skeptics of those skeptics, and so on. Such is science. But, because of the potential impact, the public discussion and argument is becoming mainstream through the exposure in the media. There is much conjecture and pomp. But no answers, thus the debate heats up, and the ratings correspondingly.

Science seeks truth, but this truth is effectively made out of reach by the scientific method itself. That is, never does one truly "prove" a theory. At best, one can test and test and test and re-test theories until one can say that something is "highly likely to be true", or "we have a high level of confidence in such and such". Thus, such is the case made by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) about anthropogenic climate change. That is, yes we are observing changes in the climate and it is "highly likely" that this is a result of post-industrial greenhouse gases. But... but, ultimately we will never know definitively. There will always be someone who will argue that the changes are non-anthropogenic and if we are able to mitigate the observed warming (insofar as this is possible) and we seemingly reverse climate change, people will say, "you see, climate guy, the sea level didn't rise like you predicted, etc..." to which he may respond, "yes, but that's because we did something about it".

So, the debate continues as it will, and should. Such is the scientific method. There are still flat earthers out there of course. What does change in scientific opinion is the burden of proof. Now, there is a high degree of consensus among a broad range of scientists in the IPCC who don't answer to corporate funding. So, I would argue that the burden of proof is on the climate change skeptics now. Maybe that's why they are acting so frantically to "disprove" anthropogenic climate change, thus eleviating the responsibility to do something about it. In the meantime, why don't we adopt the precautionary principle, take the advice of the IPCC until we believe otherwise and...

1) slow down a bit
2) reduce our consumption
3) get back to our roots as an integral component of this planet, not just passive spectators who act with impunity

Otherwise, like you so aptly say, Dan, all this climate change discussion is just a "moot point".

Peace,
Grant

This is my anti climate change solution blog entry. I think it's interesting because these two viewpoints, more than anything, demonstrates the complexity of our global predicament. I think Bjorn Lomborg's talk misses some major issues, like he assumes everyone is simply going to be rich, I'd like to ask at the expense of what resources and environmental degradation, and he doesn't address the question of overpopulation. Yet it's still an interesting video either way.

As for the other article from predict weather.com.. well, you decide.

ARTICLE

Like I said, it's all about complexity, and when any civilization enters a period of over-complexity it usually spells trouble for the future. This mainly because in a space of over-complexity we as a species become unable to perceive the necessary adaptive moves.

peace,
d

Chk out TED for some other great lectures!
peace,
d

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Location: Colorado Rockies

A recurring theme for me lately has been that of human choices. What do we do with our time, energy, resources, and what choices do we make. I've spoken in the past about this notion that we are co-creators of our reality and thus every choice we make in daily life has a direct impact upon the fabric of space and time.

I don't think this is too hard to comprehend as there are obvious examples of such instances of cause and effect. If we speed, we are less likely to have control and are more likely to crash. And this of course all goes back to the choice of how we drive. I don't think most of us are really conscious of our choices and the effects of those sometimes seemingly insignificant decisions. I think most of us walk around feeling like we are being bumped around by reality without any real say in the matter, or any real understanding of our role in reality. I think, to put it bluntly, most of us, most of the time, are just simply unconscious.

But I also think, if we take the time to slow down on life's highway, the patterns of our actions begin to reveal themselves in plain sight. When you take the time, you don't need to be a guru to get it, it's all there, we just don't often take the time to see.

The more time taken, the deeper the layers of cause and effect penetrate. We begin to see the impact of even the slightest most insignificant actions. We enter a world where with every action of our daily lives we either create harmony out of chaos, or chaos out of harmony. When we penetrate down into this level of awareness, life becomes exciting since perhaps for the first time in our lives, we see ourselves as powerful, magical and holding sway over the fabric of our world. This is not to be confused with dominion or supremacy, but instead we become a guiding force making choices/adjustments where necessary.

Think of the woman having a bad day, and the coffee clerk who sees this, instead of getting angry himself, decides to offer her a free cup of coffee. Think of the ripple effect, her day, her co-workers, her husband, her family. The clerk has a choice, anger or compassion, to get carried away on the tide of the same energy as the woman, or to slow down with awareness and transform that energy into an opportunity for compassion and understanding. To let this woman know she isn't alone, and regardless of her morning, the rest of her day needn't be shit.

This is what I'm interested in, this idea of the ripple effect tied into individual intentionality. If we create our reality with every action, then I would postulate that every single one of our actions carries with it intentionality. If you consciously act in the world to create harmony, then your actions, down to the simplest act, will generate such harmony. To not be conscious is to leave it up to something else, to not take responsibility, and hence to oftentimes create random chaos.

I recognize that this is a paradox. I recognize that in any effort to create harmony you also find yourself creating chaos, but that's the fun of it all. Chaos of course can also be a healing process, for example, you hate your job, you suck at it, you quit, you find yourself doing what you always loved. Aye that's it! It's a question of how we react to the instances of chaos, and whether or not we choose to transform that energy into something beautiful. The act of quitting the job you hate is, in itself, the choice to create harmony.

I'm not sure if I even follow but all this leads to the choice of perspective. We have a choice to perceive things as either negative or positive. Now I do recognize that there are true evils out there in the world, but I would also argue that these spaces of darkness are prime spaces to infuse light. The big evils of the world can often, but not always, be reduced back to the coffee clerk analogy where it's a question of anger or compassion, taking the time to be conscious or being carried away by a river of discontent. I think every day we make these choices, whether we're aware of them or not.

Anyway, I've been thinking about choices, right ones, wrong ones, conscious ones, unconscious ones... and I think it's at the root of everything. I think we are at the root of everything. Whether we choose to be nice, whether we choose to remain ignorant, whether we choose to slow down, whether we choose to buy fast-paced packaged junk, every choice, every action holds within it a corresponding reaction.

We choose.

peace,d

Friday, January 11, 2008
Location: Lost in the Colorado Rockies

Ever since I've arrived in the U.S. I've been hearing Americans talk about how their economy is in serious trouble, and how many people feel that serious U.S. economic instability is just over the horizon.

Now I'm not an economist, but I can share what I'm hearing.

I hear the United States housing market is set to further collapse as Americans have simply borrowed too much money they don't have, and the mortgage balance of their homes is now far above the current actual value of their property. On top of all this, they borrowed money from major banking institutions that didn't really have the money either, so essentially the entire market has been propped up upon credit, credit and even more credit. U.S. Housing Bubble

This idea of a credit-based false economy is interesting, since individuals, companies, and governments are now able to invest and propel economies without any real money. Ever since we left the gold standard in favor of fiat currency it's as though we've all been playing make-believe. This on top of the fact that money is now digitally moving around the globe at rates impossible for humans to track. Money has become information in this digital age, and those who control the information, control the economy and hence control our reality.

I've heard this coming week some of the major economic players (Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Bear Sterns) are going to come out with some major announcements regarding how far up the debt creek they've floated without paddle. The people I'm hearing from think this will result in some of the major banking institutions either declaring bankruptcy or filing for chapter 11 reorganization. Now at this point it's purely speculation, but the writing is on the wall, and it seems to no longer be a question of IF, but a question of WHEN?

Regardless of the uncertain future, most of the Americans I've met are rapidly losing faith in the U.S. economic juggernaut, and this, in and of itself, is a very bad sign.

Has the U.S. outsourced itself to death, increasing it's dependence on foreign economies? China the biggest player is now in turn using it's economic wealth derived from outsourcing to buy up U.S. treasury bills, giving them huge influence over the American economy, the U.S. economy is growing at best 3% while China pushes on a 11%. This Chinese growth of course requires huge amounts of coal, water, and natural resources.

Others here are talking about the mortgage market and how everything, since the internet bust in the late 90's, has been built upon this continued extension of liberal credit: money that no one really has, including the banks.

"Think of the number of people and companies whose livelihoods are tied to the health of the housing industry - real estate agents, title company employees, interior designers, manufacturers of PVC plumbing pipe, lighting fixtures, and carpeting, and all of the people who distribute, sell, or transport the products - the list is close to endless."

The issue here is what happens when the major lending institutions come clean with the fact that the money lent isn't really there. And this in the wake of today's economy where people everywhere are struggling to pay mortgages, lines of credit, and even phone bills according to AT&T.

(LINK)"The US consumer has hit *yet another* new low. Besides mortgage defaults and astronomical credit card debt, the US consumer is stretched so thin that he can no longer afford to pay his phone bill.

That is what AT&T is reporting:

'AT&T Inc.’s stock slipped 4.5% yesterday after the phone company’s chief executive blamed the weak economy for a rash of landline and high-speed Internet customers not paying their bills."

What does it mean when people across the nation are defaulting on $50 phone bills, in favor of food and gas in the tank of their SUV (probably also purchased on credit)?

I'm not sure what any of this means, but if the U.S. economy gets into trouble, my biggest fear is where will the money then go. Will it head overseas to all the emerging markets that are trying to pull investment dollars out of the U.S., places like Hong Kong, Europe and Dubai? What would this mean for a country that is already up to it's ears in war-debt, mortgage debt, and individual personal debt?

Maybe while the United States is off in Iraq, the rest of the world is laying the foundation for this future of economic warfare. Are we entering an age of global economic warfare? I don't know, after all I'm no military strategist or economic guru, so it's all empty speculation, but we've definitely arrived at interesting times.

In the end, I can't help but wonder if it's all part of a global transference of power that is about to take place... or not.

And... it makes you wonder how safe your money is in the bank.

peace,
d




Spread the Love ;-)
1. The Mortgage Lender
2. Bank of America Credit Risk Increases on Countrywide Purchase : Bloomberg.com
3. Bear Stearns Companies: The New York Times
4. Bank of America boosts finance M&A: Financial News

A good blog entry regarding clean coal.
Click Here
peace,d

Source: De Smog Blog
DeSmogBlog exists to clear the PR pollution that is clouding the science on climate change.

An overwhelming majority of the world’s climate scientists agree that the globe is warming - the world's climate is changing - and that the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels is to blame. We know that the risks are incalculable and, increasingly, we understand that the solutions are affordable.

Unfortunately, a well-funded and highly organized public relations campaign is poisoning the climate change debate. Using tricks and stunts that unsavory PR firms invented for the tobacco lobby, energy-industry contrarians are trying to confuse the public, to forestall individual and political actions that might cut into exorbitant coal, oil and gas industry profits. DeSmogBlog is here to cry foul - to shine the light on techniques and tactics that reflect badly on the PR industry and are, ultimately, bad for the planet.

For more on us, you can click here for co-founder Jim Hoggan's manifesto "Slamming the Climate Skeptic Scam."

I heard murmurs of this when I was up on the Piikani Reservation in Southern Alberta. There is a global movement taking place among First Nations, backed by international, mainly South American Governments. It's all very interesting in this time of global instability.

Lakota Sioux Indians declare Sovereign Nation Status

I feel, when you consider the reality of history, white land-grabs, and the current living conditions, what do the Lakota Sioux really have to lose? The other question becomes, what natural resources lay in waiting within the landscape of the Lakota Sioux Nation?

"Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight."
- Bob Marley

peace,
d

An email from Ken up in Alberta, I was thinking about this today, how we all need to spread awareness regarding our reality, we need to spread awareness and love.

As a photographer and a filmmaker, everywhere I go I'm greeted by these cheery orange signs that read, NO TRESPASSING! It has me thinking about private and public land and the benefits of both.

I feel the idea of private land personifies our whole approach as conquerors and unstoppable accumulators of wealth. It's this idea of taking and then holding onto things.

Supposedly I come from a long line of land owners, tracing my genealogy brings me to Rainsford, landowning lords from England. Even now, my family is made up of landowners and upon our land we post signs that read, "Private Property". We do this out of fear that someone will come onto our land to hunt, camp, log, or maybe destroy the things we've worked so hard to build. It's funny, people still come onto our land, and usually when they do, we strike up a conversation to find out where they are from, while subtly hinting they are on our territory. It's really just a pissing match, where we want to make sure people recognize what is ours and clearly not theirs. We want them to be aware that they travel on our land only by our grace.

It's been like this for thousands of years, people defending territory, so I can't really place all the blame on a western paradigm. But at the same time it just seems to me we've taken it a step too far. We now live in a fenced in world, where only a few are fenced in, while all the others are fenced out. Where has our grace gone?

I feel sometimes that these signs confine me to the highway system, everything else is out of bounds. Every square inch of the continent claimed under someone's name, everything cordoned off to trespassers.

What gets me even more, is that most of the space is just that, space. It's not being used, or appreciated, it's just natural space sitting there, isolated and cut-off.

In Glenwood Springs I took these pictures of a large field behind a shopping mall. This just makes me mad. Here is a beautiful natural space probably slated for some development in a few years, but in the meantime No Trespassing! It's ridiculous, it's a waste, children from the local neighborhood could be playing here, building snowmen or laying in the grass staring at stars, or people could be enjoying this small slice of nature even if it's just to walk through it on their way to work. No way says the corporation, it's ours!

“So great moreover is the regard of the law for private property, that it will not authorize the least violation of it; no, not even for the general good of the whole community” - William Blackstone

What are the developers afraid of? If it's a legal issue I'm sure there are a multitude of other signs they could create, it's just a lack of creativity. They're probably going to rip it all up in time anyways, so before it becomes another mega-mall why not let people enjoy it.

Again, where has our grace gone?

In the end, I usually cross the fence regardless of what the sign says, I just hate having to look over my shoulder for some angry owner, armed with a shotgun.

"Was a great high wall there that tried to stop me, A sign was painted said: "Private Property", But on the back side, it didn't say nothing, That side was made for you and me."
- Woody Guthrie

peace, d

December 25, 2007
Location: Eagle, Colorado
Going backwards a little here, out of time.

As I was driving through the Rockies on my way to Jeff & Kats place I couldn't help but marvel at the ingenuity of the human being. I was awestruck by the highways as they twisted up and down through the mountains, Veronica was a little less impressed as the inclines caused her engine serious grief.

It led me to thinking about how if we put our minds to something we can accomplish feats of ingenuity that measure up there with the pyramids. Our ability to create the our world is truly wondrous. But at the same time, as with everything, it relates to choices of how we use our energy and ingenuity. Do we create a world of comfort and complacency or do we strive to keep adaptation alive, and push forwards towards something more holistic and sustainable. Do we make careful choices regarding what we build and why we build it, or do we just bulldoze mother nature because we can, because we want more empty novelty.

Either way, the highways of the Colorado Rockies are definitely a testament of our capabilities. We are co-creators in a very literal sense, if only we'd be more critical of our creative impulses, and if only they were driven by something other than brute economics.

Perhaps if we re-framed our creative impulses, we'd be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel ;-)

peace,
d

December 29, 2007
Location: Lost in the Mtns of Colorado
Rocky%20Mountain%20High.mp3

When I started out on this journey with Forbes, I was asked a question by a professor in Toronto. He asked me why I didn't intend to continue all the way to the southern tip of South America? I told him it was a matter of money. His response has resonated within me ever since,

"You don't need money, you just need friends."

I was lost and outside of Christmas until I dropped a line to my friends Jeff & Kat who are living in the Colorado Rockies. Jeff insisted I come up to his A-Frame hidden up in the trees on the side of a mountain. I couldn't refuse, it was either a cold Christmas in gas-station parking lots, or a mountain mecca with old friends.

Life has a way of running full circle, it's a long story but a few years ago, Jeff & Kat helped me save my brother's life, while at the same time my brother was undoubtedly saving mine. As I said it's a long story, but I feel those energies of the past have now come full circle and we are all somehow letting go of old patterns that have been with us ever since. It's nice to see how time takes care of things, and it's important to learn to observe nature's patterns as they run through our lives.

Our Christmas together was modest, and more about good friends than rampant spending, which suits me fine. For me after all, the gift of comfort is one of the most beautiful things I can be given.

It's interesting to be back in the 'real' world though. Jeff and I have been ripping around mountainsides of his ski-doo as he, a former videographer, is helping me find and capture content. It's nice to have a camera man again, to shoot me while I shoot, and just to lighten the burden of multiple formats.

I've mostly been capturing footage of old silver mines and enormous landslides. This footage fits in well with the themes of erosion, time and resource extraction that I've been capturing since the beginning of this pilgrimage. I don't know how it all fits together, but that's nothing new, as I'm continuing to simply trust the process.

I'm very grateful to my friends/family who have taken me in, and I'm doing my best to repay them in carpentry work upon the A-Frame, and anything else that adds to a sense of harmony in their lives.

peace,
d

In contrast to Christmas consumption, I think we should always celebrate the arrival of a new year.

Since, considering the collective choices we've made and continue to make, we're very fortunate as a civilization to have made it this far.

peace,
d

Haven't had time to blog, but will soon.
In the meantime, an article,

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