For transparency and documentary reasons and on a personal level as my life insurance I forwarded the hidden missing link to the digitalprinciple.
On Jan 20, 3:59 am, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > If I could just drop everything and go traipsing about the world > helping others I would but truth is I am busy helping many people in > my general locale as it be so the funds will suffice, besides I always > find that there are enough people showing up to aid in these > situation, people with the real know how, the ones that most likely > will be telling me I'm just in the way. I don't know much about the > Gab to make comment but perhaps she is planning a trip to Australia > and needs the Yoga to help her get along down under. > > On Jan 19, 8:35 pm, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I can only ask Slip, why Gabby is doing Yoga - she must have > > information we are going to have to live upside down. Unless it was a > > typo and she's already taken to the hills with the bears? I tend to > > avoid the money route and just go and do what I can if I have time. > > > On 20 Jan, 01:52, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > People like to live on the edge never thinking that anything is going > > > to happen until it actually does. > > > > On Jan 19, 10:09 am, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > I'm with Vam on this one - I even see climate change drivel as piss- > > > > witter intended to stop us just seeing what's wrong and doing > > > > something about it. Why does so much of our population live so close > > > > to natural disaster with little or no protection against it? > > > > > On 19 Jan, 15:13, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > That may happen but the predictability is sketchy, tectonic activity > > > > > is fickle. I'm also wondering, and you might speculate on this, if in > > > > > fact disasters are a way to cull the population of human habitation on > > > > > planet Earth. I mean there are other forms of natural culling such as > > > > > predator and prey and disease. So could these disasters be a Divine > > > > > plan to maintain population levels. Basically what I'm seeing here is > > > > > thousands of years for the population to reach half of what it is > > > > > today and the short period of time in which it has doubled. The > > > > > ramifications are serious famines in a broader sense, ie; once > > > > > prosperous regions will fail to accommodate the needs of the > > > > > population. As it stands today we are not feeding the world; where > > > > > are we going to be in another 50 years?. > > > > > So next time you talk to your God ask if this is part of the plan. > > > > > > On Jan 19, 7:16 am, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > On 19 Jan, 12:45, Slip Disc <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > Some Food for Thought > > > > > > > > Editor's note: Elizabeth McAlister is a professor of religion at > > > > > > > Wesleyan University. > > > > > > > > (CNN) -- We are all sick at heart to witness the unfathomable > > > > > > > suffering in Haiti. Why do bad things happen to innocent people? > > > > > > > Why > > > > > > > Haiti, again? Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said > > > > > > > recently, > > > > > > > "It is biblical, the tragedy that continues to stalk Haiti and the > > > > > > > Haitian people." > > > > > > > > How we make meaning of this suffering will be crucial to how we > > > > > > > respond, in the long term, as a global community. > > > > > > > > My Haitian in-laws, visiting from Boston, Massachusetts, to take > > > > > > > some > > > > > > > comfort with us, announced that the verse of the day on their > > > > > > > favorite > > > > > > > Bible Web site is from Revelation 16:18. "And there were voices > > > > > > > and > > > > > > > thunders and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such > > > > > > > as has > > > > > > > not been since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake > > > > > > > and so > > > > > > > great." > > > > > > > > The word "earthquake" appears sixteen times in the Bible. It was > > > > > > > clear > > > > > > > to them -- and many other Christians -- that the earthquake was > > > > > > > part > > > > > > > of God's plan. Why God ordains such disasters is a mystery that > > > > > > > is not > > > > > > > ours to question. It is only our job to have faith. > > > > > > > > A friend who barely escaped the collapse of her house in the quake > > > > > > > writes that people in her Port-au-Prince neighborhood are living > > > > > > > this > > > > > > > time as the apocalypse. They are gathering en masse, singing > > > > > > > hymns and > > > > > > > praying nonstop as they wait for disaster aid -- and Jesus. > > > > > > > > For them, the meaning of their suffering is clear. How else to > > > > > > > interpret the collapse of their entire world, earthquake, famine, > > > > > > > death, disease and drought? They are God's children living out the > > > > > > > last chapter of the Bible. > > > > > > > > Fundamentalist Pat Robertson says that the earthquake is the > > > > > > > devil's > > > > > > > work. Haitians are cursed by a pact with Satan that their > > > > > > > ancestors > > > > > > > made, he says. Distorting a Haitian national myth, he is > > > > > > > referring to > > > > > > > a famous Afro-Creole religious service said to have sparked and > > > > > > > launched the Haitian War of Independence in 1791. Ironically, > > > > > > > historians tell us that such a single ceremony never happened -- > > > > > > > although surely there were many slave gatherings, and many > > > > > > > Afro-Creole > > > > > > > religious rituals in the region. > > > > > > > > Haitians do not mistake African religiosity for Satanism as > > > > > > > Robertson > > > > > > > does, so for them the ceremony was a spiritually charged political > > > > > > > rally. Slaves gathered to plan and inspire themselves for the > > > > > > > outrageous feat they would succeed in performing: a slave > > > > > > > revolution, > > > > > > > the abolition of slavery, and by 1804, national independence. > > > > > > > > Afro-Creole religion, known as Vodou, still underpins the > > > > > > > philosophy > > > > > > > of many Haitians, though by no means everyone. A spirit-priest I > > > > > > > know > > > > > > > reads the earthquake as an allegorical message from the spirits > > > > > > > who > > > > > > > infuse the land. "The land is our mother," he said. When you > > > > > > > abuse the > > > > > > > land -- deforest her, plant only one crop, overpopulate her, > > > > > > > erode her > > > > > > > soil -- she explodes, searching for a way to rebalance. > > > > > > > > The spirit of the land had become sick with abuse. Her children > > > > > > > -- the > > > > > > > eldest ones, the ones in charge, the Haitian government -- had no > > > > > > > policies, no laws to protect the land or use it wisely. The > > > > > > > spirit- > > > > > > > mother exploded with fever. "We know this has a scientific cause," > > > > > > > said the spirit-priest. "But look how the government buildings > > > > > > > caved > > > > > > > in. This tells us something." > > > > > > > > In the last several years there has been a saying among Haitians > > > > > > > that > > > > > > > "the country is finished." "Peyi-a fini," they say in Creole. It > > > > > > > has > > > > > > > been called a dying land, a failed state, a product of > > > > > > > irreversible > > > > > > > environmental degradation. > > > > > > > > For social scientists, there is nothing metaphysical about the > > > > > > > question "Why Haiti?" Longstanding structural reasons have > > > > > > > produced a > > > > > > > dysfunctional system long in crisis. Beginning as a French slave > > > > > > > society, the nation was founded at a severe disadvantage. France > > > > > > > demanded enormous payment for abandoned property after the > > > > > > > revolution, > > > > > > > starting a cycle of debt that was never broken. > > > > > > > > Deep and abiding racism prevented the U.S. and Europe from > > > > > > > recognizing > > > > > > > Haiti for 60 years. Trade was never established on even terms. The > > > > > > > military ruled the state, culminating in the brutal Duvalier > > > > > > > dictatorship, which the U.S. supported. > > > > > > > > No robust civil society developed -- there's no vigorous > > > > > > > tradition of > > > > > > > PTAs and town planning boards. A brain drain evacuated top talent > > > > > > > from > > > > > > > the country, while the U.S.-subsidized farm industry sent surplus > > > > > > > crops to Haiti, undercutting local prices there. Farmers abandoned > > > > > > > their lands, flocked to the capital, and built the shanty towns > > > > > > > that > > > > > > > have now collapsed into rubble, burying the innocent and > > > > > > > vulnerable, > > > > > > > strong and powerful alike. > > > > > > > > The suffering Haitians are enduring is a natural disaster > > > > > > > worsened by > > > > > > > human-made conditions. It is a spiritual crucible. But it is also > > > > > > > a > > > > > > > crisis of meaning. For Christians it is to have faith, hope, and > > > > > > > charity. For fundamentalist Protestants, it is to convert all > > > > > > > souls, > > > > > > > give aid, and wait for Jesus' return. For Vodouists, it is to > > > > > > > regain > > > > > > > balance with the land and the unseen spiritual world. > > > > > > > > For many social scientists, it is to strengthen Haitians' > > > > > > > capacity for > > > > > > > self-government, to relieve the debt Haiti owes, to reforest the > > > > > > > land, > > > > > > > and to figure out how to divorce aid from dependence. > > > > > > > > How we interpret the suffering of the good people of Haiti will > > > > > > > lay > > > > > > > the groundwork for how we walk forward. > > > > > > > > The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of > > > > > > > Elizabeth > > > > > > > McAlister.http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/18/mcalister.haiti.faith/index.htm... > > > > > > > What worries me is that there was a 6.0 earthquake, yesterday, in > > > > > > Guatemala, some 65 miles deep (that's 10 times the depth and one > > > > > > tenth > > > > > > the strength of the Haitian quake, so no real damage done), i.e., > > > > > > just > > > > > > below the crust in the subduction zone where the Pacific plate is > > > > > > moving under the North American plate. That coupled with the > > > > > > Haitian > > > > > > quake makes me think that North America is going through a slight > > > > > > 'turn'. Which might mean that Mexico City, LA or San Francisco is > > > > > > next, as they lie further up the line from Guatemala. Time will > > > > > > tell, > > > > > > I suppose. Tectonic movements are tricky to predict, but they do, > > > > > > usually, move in circles around the plate boundaries. If an 8.0 > > > > > > were > > > > > > to hit Mexico City, the world would soon forget about Haiti as the > > > > > > population variance is some 13-fold, i.e., there would be 13 million > > ... > > read more »
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