from:"skymt...@yahoo.com \[FairfieldLife\]"

[FairfieldLife] Celebrating the Golden Age of FFL

2020-11-23 Thread Sky Vay skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]


With Yahoo Groups shutting down, a critical moment in the history of 
man/womenkind, a friend asked me to pass along a post (as she is no longer 
subscribed toFFL) as part of the global celebration of this new seismic global 
phasetransition. 

 The forthcoming post in a day or two hence, is a homage, celebrating the 
HallowedGrounds of the FFL Academy of Wisdom that stretched across the globe 
for 20 Goldenyears, exploring deep knowledge and mirth, simultaneously, at 
times spontaneouslycombusting into insight. To comment on the FFL Golden Years 
Celebration and the forthcoming guest post, we have assembled an allstar team 
of past FFL posters   

Wait. Excuse me, we seem to have a bit of scuffle in the Green Room with 
thesepast posters. Let’s take you live to the Green Room for a play by play 
analysis.

 Buck crossed out “Hallowed Grounds” and wrote Holy Grounds. Curtis, 
crossedthat out and wrote Hollow Grounds. Dr. Pete crossed that out and wrote 
Hollowand Empty Grounds. Vaj said, don’t be silly, the truth will only be 
revealed inthe next higher mandala initiation. Marek said that he used it 
analogy to gainan innocent verdict for one of his pro bono clients. Sparaig 
said the words hada unique EEG signature, then repeated himself. Turq whipped 
out (not that) 10stories before a two espresso breakfast at a canal-side café 
he biked to,examining the Bardo nature of Hallowed and Hollow. Emptybill sent 
some great books about it.SalSunshine made a nice joke about it.  Xenosaid 
something profound, that flew by most. LB Shriver wrote things too wise 
totranscribe. Judy said there was a logical error in the juxtaposition of the 
twowords. Peering down and reading from an obscure heaven, Andy Kaufman spit 
outhis soma latte in laughing response (including sometimes to serious posts) 
spewingit onto his celestial ghandarva GF cuddled next to him, who also 
laughed. Rorylaughed in love and light.  Rick silentlywitnessed the whole thing 
(the real thing). 

Ok, back to the anchor desk.

I apologize if my friend’s forthcoming post, due in the next day or two,  
offends anyone. Drink some honey water andfeel the body if it does. Something 
good is happening. It will soon pass. Or asone of the highest vaidya 
recommends, try some laughter, the deep ancient threerivers tonic healing 
medicine.

[FairfieldLife] Will FFL Still be Archived and Accessible on Mail-Archive.Com After Dec 15, 2020

2020-11-18 Thread Sky Vay skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Hi,
1) Will FFL Still be archived and accessible on Mail-Archive.Com after Dec 15, 
2020?
2) The FFL archives appear to only go back to about March 2005. Some great 
conversations occurred in the three or so years prior to that. Does anyone know 
of a way to access those?
Thanks.

[FairfieldLife] Tackle climate or face financial crash, say world's biggest investors

2018-12-10 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]



 

 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/10/tackle-climate-or-face-financial-crash-say-worlds-biggest-investors
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/10/tackle-climate-or-face-financial-crash-say-worlds-biggest-investors

 

 Global investors managing $32tn issued a stark warning to governments at the 
UN climate summit on Monday, demanding urgent cuts in carbon emissions and the 
phasing out of all coal burning. Without these, the world faces a financial 
crash several times worse than the 2008 crisis, they said.
 

 The investors include some of the world’s biggest pension funds, insurers and 
asset managers and marks the largest such intervention to date. They say fossil 
fuel subsidies must end and substantial taxes on carbon be introduced.
 

 “The long-term nature of the challenge has, in our view, met a zombie-like 
response by many,” said Chris Newton, of IFM Investors which manages $80bn and 
is one of the 415 groups that has signed the Global Investor Statement. “This 
is a recipe for disaster as the impacts of climate change can be sudden, severe 
and catastrophic.”

 

 Investment firm Schroders said there could be $23tn of global economic losses 
a year in the long term without rapid action. This permanent economic damage 
would be almost four times the scale of the impact of the 2008 global financial 
crisis. Standard and Poor’s rating agency also warned leaders: “Climate change 
has already started to alter the functioning of our world.”
 +

[FairfieldLife] Re: Nice random post of yore

2018-12-02 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

I see that the Search post function appears to no longer be available on Yahoo 
groups. Or am I missing it somehow?
 

 

 Text Search box hs reappeared. I must have had a temporary glitch in my 
browser. Or was at some intermediate state of Yahoo groups, with all features 
not fully loaded.

[FairfieldLife] Portrait of a planet on the verge of climate catastrophe

2018-12-02 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Some cheery Sunday morning news.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/02/world-verge-climate-catastophe

On Sunday morning hundreds of politicians, government officials and scientists
will gather in the grandeur of the International Congress Centre in Katowice,
Poland. It will be a familiar experience for many. For 24 years the annual UN
climate conference has served up a reliable diet of rhetoric, backroom talks
and dramatic last-minute deals aimed at halting global warming.
But this year’s will be a grimmer affair – by far. As recent reports have made
clear, the world may no longer be hovering at the edge of destruction but has
probably staggered beyond a crucial point of no return. Climate catastrophe is
now looking inevitable. We have simply left it too late to hold rising global
temperatures to under 1.5C and so prevent a future of drowned coasts, ruined
coral reefs, spreading deserts and melted glaciers.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/19/sign-up-to-the-green-light-email

One example was provided last week by a UN report
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/27/world-triple-efforts-climate-change-un-global-warming
that revealed attempts to ensure fossil fuel emissions peak by 2020 will fail.
Indeed the target will not even be reached by 2030. Another, by the World
Meteorological Organization
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/22/climate-heating-greenhouse-gases-at-record-levels-says-un,
said the past four years had been the warmest on record and warned that global
temperatures could easily rise by 3-5C by 2100, well above that sought-after
goal of 1.5C. The UK will not be exempt either. The Met Office said summer
temperatures could now be 5.4C hotter by 2070
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/26/uk-flooding-threat-people-moved-michael-gove-climate-change.
At the same time, prospects of reaching global deals to halt emissions have
been weakened by the spread of rightwing populism. Not much to smile about in
Katowice.
Nor will the planet’s woes end in 2100. Although most discussions use the year
as a convenient cut-off point for describing Earth’s likely fate, the changes
we have already triggered will last well beyond that date, said Svetlana
Jevrejeva, at the National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool. She has studied
sea-level rises that will be triggered by melting ice sheets and expanding warm
seawater in a world 3-5C hotter than it was in pre-industrial times, and
concludes these could reach 0.74 to 1.8 metres by 2100. This would be enough to
deluge Pacific and Indian Ocean island states and displace millions from Miami,
Guangzhou, Mumbai and other low-lying cities. The total cost to the planet
could top £11trillion.
Even then the seas will not stop rising, Jevrejeva added. “They will continue
to climb for centuries even after greenhouse-gas levels have been stabilised.
We could experience the highest-ever global sea-level rise in the history of
human civilisation.”
Vast tracts of prime real estate will be destroyed – at a time when land will
be needed with unprecedented desperation. Earth’s population stands at seven
billion today and is predicted to rise to nine billion by 2050 and settle at
over 11 billion by 2100 – when climate change will have wrecked major
ecosystems and turned farmlands to dust bowls.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/02/world-verge-climate-catastophe#img-2
Facebook
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https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Portrait%20of%20a%20planet%20on%20the%20verge%20of%20climate%20catastrophe=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2F2018%2Fdec%2F02%2Fworld-verge-climate-catastophe%3FCMP%3Dshare_btn_tw%26page%3Dwith%3Aimg-2%23img-2Pinterest

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Residents of Anaroro, Madagascar, paddle through the flooded streets in the
aftermath of a cyclone. Photograph: Gregoire Pourtier/AFP/Getty Unfortunately
many experts believe Earth’s population will actually peak well beyond 11
billion. “It could reach 15 billion,” said Sarah Harper, of Oxford’s Institute
of Population Ageing. “All sorts of factors suggest

[FairfieldLife] Re: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single bi gg est way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

2018-11-16 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]


 
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/16/theres-no-such-thing-as-humane-meat-or-eggs-stop-kidding-yourself
 
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/16/theres-no-such-thing-as-humane-meat-or-eggs-stop-kidding-yourself

 

  USDA data on the number of animals per farm in the US suggests that over 99% 
of US farmed animals live on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, commonly 
known as “factory farms”. Globally, that figure is probably over 90%.
 

 So 75% of Americans think they consume humane meat, but a tiny fraction 
actually do. The majority of consumers seem tragically wrong about what they 
eat.
 

 Take cage-free eggs, for example. Just because the birds aren’t in cages 
doesn’t mean they’re healthy or happy. Cage-free birds have around the same 
total space per bird; they just live in a large shed with thousands (often tens 
of thousands) of other birds.
 

 In this stressful environment, birds frequently peck each other so much that 
they lose feathers, bleed, and even die from what is effectively cannibalism 
caused by the birds’ high-density confinement. The air quality on cage-free 
farms tends to be worse due to the chickens walking around and kicking up dust 
and feces, which also threatens food safety.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single bi gg est way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

2018-11-11 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/06/taxing-red-meat-would-save-many-lives-research-shows

Taxing red meat would save many lives and raise billions to pay for
healthcare, according to new research. It found the cost of processed meat such
as bacon and sausages would double if the harm they cause to people’s health
was taken into account.

Governments already tax harmful products to reduce their consumption, such as
sugar, alcohol and tobacco. With growing evidence of the health and
environmental damage resulting from red meat, some experts now believe a “sin
tax” on beef, lamb and pork is inevitable in the longer term.

The World Health Organization declared processed red meat to be a carcinogen
in 2015, and unprocessed red meat such as steaks and chops to be a probable
carcinogen. However, people in rich nations eat more than the recommended
amount of red meat, which is also linked to heart disease, strokes and diabetes.

The new research looked at the level of tax needed to reflect the healthcare
costs incurred when people eat red meat. [for UK] It found that a 20% tax on
unprocessed red meat and a 110% tax on the more harmful processed products
across rich nations, with lower taxes in less wealthy nations, would cut annual
deaths by 220,000 and raise $170bn (£130bn).

The resulting higher prices would also cut meat consumption by two portions a
week – currently people in rich nations each eat one portion a day. This would
lead to a $41bn saving in annual healthcare costs, the research shows.

“Nobody wants governments to tell people what they can and can’t eat,”
Springmann said. But the healthcare costs incurred by eating red meat are often
paid by all taxpayers, he said: “It is totally fine if you want to have [red
meat], but this personal consumption decision really puts a strain on public
funds. It is not about taking something away from people, it is about being
fair.”

To cover the total healthcare costs, the tax rates would need to be hiked up
again to about double the optimal taxation rates.

The researchers calculated red meat taxes for 149 different nations, with the
rate depending on how much red meat those citizens eat and the costliness of
their healthcare system. The US would have among the highest tax rates, with a
163% levy on ham and sausages and a 34% levy on steaks.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single bi gg est way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

2018-11-11 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]


 

 
https://whttps://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/11/how-we-lost-our-love-milk-altww.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/11/how-we-lost-our-love-milk-alt
 https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/11/how-we-lost-our-love-milk-alt

 

 a quarter of us now consider ourselves “meat reducers”. In October, a major 
study on our food system published in the journal Nature advised that 
prosperous countries such as Britain and the US should cut their milk 
consumption by 60% (and beef intake by 90%).

 

 In most commercial dairies, calves are taken away from their mothers soon 
after birth; organic farms are required to keep them together for a minimum of 
24 hours. On the most intensive dairies, cows will be milked three times a day. 
In these industrial facilities many cows don’t survive to the age of five.

 

 In the UK, some estimates suggest that dairy consumption has fallen by 30% in 
the past two decades. While over-65s were found to drink milk 875 times a year, 
young people (aged five to 24) only did so on 275 occasions.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single bi gg est way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

2018-11-10 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]


 

 From the second article that Doug posted. That's sad -- having hiked daily in 
high Alp hillside pastures after lunch on courses in Switzerland, and seeing 
the beautiful herds.   
 

 In Switzerland, where the herds are led to the high pastures in summer to 
graze, the drought has stranded cows without water. Farmers have turned to the 
country’s helicopter association and the Swiss Air Force to transport tens of 
thousands of gallons of water every week to keep the herds alive.
 

 “The situation is very serious,” said Christian Garmann, a spokesman for the 
Swiss Helicopter Association. “For thousands of years, the cows could get water 
at small watering holes. Now they are dry in many places.”

 

 The last time the association undertook an aid mission was in the summer of 
2003, but this year “the situation is more extreme” with some farmers 
considering slaughtering their herds, Mr. Garmann said.
 

 Reto Rüesch, the managing director of Heli-Linth, a member of the helicopter 
association, said his company was running 30 to 40 trips a day, transporting 
250 gallons on each run

[FairfieldLife] Re: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single bi gg est way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

2018-11-10 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/calcium-and-milk/calcium-full-story/

A useful calcium article. Amngst other insights, higher levels of calcium
potentially can cause problems.

Additional evidence further supports the idea that American adults may not
need as much calcium as is currently recommended. For example, in countries
such as India, Japan, and Peru where average daily calcium intake is as low as
300 milligrams per day (less than a third of the U.S. recommendation for
adults, ages 19 to 50), the incidence of bone fractures is quite low. Of
course, these countries differ in other important bone-health factors as
well—such as level of physical activity and amount of sunlight—which could
account for their low fracture rates.

Possible Increased Risk of Ovarian Cancer

High levels of galactose, a sugar released by the digestion of lactose in
milk, have been studied as possibly damaging to the ovaries and leading to
ovarian cancer. Although such associations have not been reported in all
studies, there may be potential harm in consuming high amounts of lactose. A
recent pooled analysis of 12 prospective cohort studies, which included more
than 500,000 women, found that women with high intakes of lactose—equivalent to
that found in 3 cups of milk per day—had a modestly higher risk of ovarian
cancer, compared to women with the lowest lactose intakes. (15) The study did
not find any association between overall milk or dairy product intake and
ovarian cancer. Some researchers have hypothesized, however, that modern
industrial milk production practices have changed milk’s hormone composition in
ways that could increase the risk of ovarian and other hormone-related cancers.
(16) More research is needed.

Probable Increased Risk of Prostate Cancer

A diet high in calcium has been implicated as a probable risk factor for
prostate cancer. (17) In a Harvard study of male health professionals, men who
drank two or more glasses of milk a day were almost twice as likely to develop
advanced prostate cancer as those who didn’t drink milk at all. (18) The
association appears to be with calcium itself, rather than with dairy products
in general: A more recent analysis of the Harvard study participants found that
men with the highest calcium intake—at least 2,000 milligrams a day—had nearly
double the risk of developing fatal prostate cancer as those who had the lowest
intake (less than 500 milligrams per day). (19)

Clearly, although more research is needed, we cannot be confident that high
milk or calcium intake is safe.

[FairfieldLife] US has over 10% Meditators and Hatha Yoga Practitioners

2018-11-10 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

US has over 10% Meditators and Hatha Yoga Practitioners

 

 US population is 325.7 million, 35 million meditators is over 10%. 

 

 
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/8/18073422/yoga-meditation-apps-classes-health-anxiety-cdc
 
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/8/18073422/yoga-meditation-apps-classes-health-anxiety-cdc

 

 Yoga and meditation, two ancient practices, are now officially the most 
popular alternative health approaches in the United States, each used by around 
35 million adults.
 

 That’s the word from two reports from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention out Thursday, which looked at the changes in the use of yoga, 
meditation, and chiropractors between 2012 and 2017.
 

 In 2017, about 14.3 percent of US adults surveyed by the CDC’s National Center 
for Health Statistics said they had done yoga in the past 12 months, while 14.2 
percent had meditated, the reports show. That’s up from 2012, when 9 percent 
were doing yoga and 4 percent meditating.

[FairfieldLife] US has over 10% Meditators and Hatha Yoga Practitioners

2018-11-10 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

US has over 10% Meditators and Hatha Yoga Practitioners

 

 US population is 325.7 million, 35 million meditators is over 10%. 

 

 
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/8/18073422/yoga-meditation-apps-classes-health-anxiety-cdc
 
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/8/18073422/yoga-meditation-apps-classes-health-anxiety-cdc

 

 Yoga and meditation, two ancient practices, are now officially the most 
popular alternative health approaches in the United States, each used by around 
35 million adults.
 

 That’s the word from two reports from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention out Thursday, which looked at the changes in the use of yoga, 
meditation, and chiropractors between 2012 and 2017.
 

 In 2017, about 14.3 percent of US adults surveyed by the CDC’s National Center 
for Health Statistics said they had done yoga in the past 12 months, while 14.2 
percent had meditated, the reports show. That’s up from 2012, when 9 percent 
were doing yoga and 4 percent meditating.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single bi gg est way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

2018-11-06 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]


 a follow-up on calcium daily requirements ...
 

 Given the below more real-world daily calcium requirement of around 500 mg of 
calcium cited in the Harvard Health article, this can be fairly easily met with 
a vegan diet. 
 

 Good to keep in mind also that magnesium is also a very important mineral -- 
we require about 500 mg daily. Meeting your calcium requirements with dairy 
falls far short of providing sufficient magnesium. However, meeting calcium 
requirements on vegan diet will generally meet or exceed minimum magnesium 
requirements.   
 

 

 
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-much-calcium-do-you-really-need
 
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-much-calcium-do-you-really-need

 How much calcium per day is recommended? Like many women, you may have 
memorized the minimum daily calcium requirement—1,000 milligrams (mg) a day for 
women ages 50 and younger and 1,200 mg for women over 50—and followed it 
faithfully in an effort to preserve your bones. You'll probably be surprised to 
learn that many health authorities don't agree with that recommendation. Dr. 
Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan 
School of Public Health, thinks you're likely to do just as well on half as 
much calcium.
 

 "Essentially, I think that adults do not need 1,200 mg of calcium a day. The 
World Health Organization's recommendation of 500 mg is probably about right. 
The United Kingdom sets the goal at 700 mg, which is fine, too. It allows for a 
little leeway," he says.
 

 One thing the studies have taught us is that both calcium and vitamin D are 
essential in building bone. The question is how much of each. Dr. Willett 
recommends going lower on calcium and higher on vitamin D than the guidelines 
suggest—500 to 700 mg a day of calcium and 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D. At 
that rate, you can probably get all or most of your calcium from food, 
especially if you have a serving or two of dairy products daily. If you can't 
tolerate dairy, you should still be able to get 300 mg a day in your diet and 
can take a low-dose calcium supplement to make up the rest. By keeping your 
supplement consumption to 500 mg or less a day, you should avoid the possible 
risk of heart disease and kidney stones suggested by the studies.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single bi gg est way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

2018-11-05 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Yes, plant-based diet is good for the earth, climate change, ecosystems, 
bio-diversity, defense costs, national security, lifestyle opportunities, 
national/world medical costs, budget deficits and national debt, livelihoods, 
etc. 

 However, it is not a question of doing good for the earth by enduring an 
individual sacrifice of health.  There is a fairly strong consensus in health 
and diet research that a more / mostly plant-based diet is far healthier than a 
carnivore/dairy diet. 

 I am not really dabbling/ experimenting. I have been a vegetarian since I was 
18. No anemia.  My study of research/evidence-based nutrition, as a layman,  
throughout my life, continues to point towards the value of plant-based diets.

[FairfieldLife] Supreme Court Rejects White House Move To Block Teens’ Climate Change Lawsuit

2018-11-04 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/supreme-court-refuses-white-house-move-to-block-youth-climate-change-lawsuit_us_5bdcf6c7e4b01ffb1d025519
 
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/supreme-court-refuses-white-house-move-to-block-youth-climate-change-lawsuit_us_5bdcf6c7e4b01ffb1d025519

 

 Kavanaugh Court Blocks White House 
 

 The Supreme Court has refused a Trump administration application to halt an 
intriguing climate change lawsuit filed by a group of young people against the 
U.S. government.
 

 The suit, filed in 2015 by 21 plaintiffs now ages 11 to 22, argues that the 
failure of government leaders to battle climate change violates their 
constitutional right to life, liberty, property and to a “stable climate 
system” that will sustain human life.
 

 The lawsuit calls on the federal government to devise a plan to phase out 
fossil fuels and carbon emissions, and to stabilize the Earth’s climate.

 

 The Supreme Court refused Friday to halt the case. But it said that the 
government could present arguments against the case before the 9th U.S. Circuit 
Court of Appeals in the future. 

 

 
 The top court’s ruling acknowledged that the suit involves a number of 
“unprecedented legal theories” — including a “due process right to certain 
climate conditions” and an “equal protection right to live in the same climate 
as enjoyed by prior generations.”
 ... more

[FairfieldLife] Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth

2018-11-04 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth

Avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your
environmental impact on the planet, according to the scientists behind the most
comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet.

The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global
farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US,
China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world. Loss
of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass
extinction of wildlife.

The new analysis shows that while meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories
and 37% of protein, it uses the vast majority – 83% – of farmland and produces
60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. Other recent research shows 86%
of all land mammals are now livestock or humans. The scientists also found that
even the very lowest impact meat and dairy products still cause much more
environmental harm than the least sustainable vegetable and cereal growing.

A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on
planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification,
eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore, at the University
of Oxford, UK, who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on
your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, as these only cut greenhouse
gas emissions.

... more

[FairfieldLife] Re: Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations since 1970

2018-10-30 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]



 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/30/migrant-caravan-causes-climate-change-central-america
 
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/30/migrant-caravan-causes-climate-change-central-america

 

 And climate change is worsening the fate of farmers, and contributing to 
climate migration -- which could expand to 200-300 million people by mid- 
century.

 
 

 “The main reason people are moving is because they don’t have anything to eat. 
This has a strong link to climate change – we are seeing tremendous climate 
instability that is radically changing food security in the region.”
 

 Migrants don’t often specifically mention “climate change” as a motivating 
factor for leaving because the concept is so abstract and long-term, Albro 
said. But people in the region who depend on small farms are painfully aware of 
changes to weather patterns that can ruin crops and decimate incomes.

[FairfieldLife] Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations since 1970

2018-10-30 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/30/humanity-wiped-out-animals-since-1970-major-report-finds
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/30/humanity-wiped-out-animals-since-1970-major-report-finds

 

 The Living Planet Index, produced for WWF by the Zoological Society of London, 
uses data on 16,704 populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and 
amphibians, representing more than 4,000 species, to track the decline of 
wildlife. Between 1970 and 2014, the latest data available, populations fell by 
an average of 60%. Four years ago, the decline was 52%. The “shocking truth”, 
said Barrett, is that the wildlife crash is continuing unabated.
 Wildlife and the ecosystems are vital to human life, said Prof Bob Watson, one 
of the world’s most eminent environmental scientists and currently chair of an 
intergovernmental panel on biodiversity that said in March that the destruction 
of nature is as dangerous as climate change 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/23/destruction-of-nature-as-dangerous-as-climate-change-scientists-warn.
 “Nature contributes to human wellbeing culturally and spiritually, as well as 
through the critical production of food, clean water, and energy, and through 
regulating the Earth’s climate, pollution, pollination and floods,” he said. 
“The Living Planet report clearly demonstrates that human activities are 
destroying nature at an unacceptable rate, threatening the wellbeing of current 
and future generations.”

[FairfieldLife] ‘Hyperalarming’ study shows massive insect loss

2018-10-15 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/15/hyperalarming-study-shows-massive-insect-loss/?utm_term=.c1570d937213

By Ben Guarino https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/ben-guarino/

October 15 at 3:00 PM

Insects around the world are in a crisis, according to a small but growing
number of long-term studies showing dramatic declines in invertebrate
populations. A new report http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1722477115
suggests that the problem is more widespread than scientists realized. Huge
numbers of bugs have been lost in a pristine national forest in Puerto Rico,
the study found, and the forest’s insect-eating animals have gone missing, too.
In 2014, an international team of biologists estimated that, in the past 35
years, the abundance of invertebrates such as beetles and bees had decreased by
45 percent http://science.sciencemag.org/content/345/6195/401.full. In places
where long-term insect data are available, mainly in Europe, insect numbers are
plummeting. A study last year showed a 76 percent decrease in flying insects
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/10/18/this-is-very-alarming-flying-insects-vanish-from-nature-preserves/?utm_term=.646ed11d4999
in the past few decades in German nature preserves.
The latest report, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, shows that this startling loss of insect abundance extends to the
Americas. The study’s authors implicate climate change in the loss of tropical
invertebrates.
“This study in PNAS is a real wake-up call — a clarion call — that the
phenomenon could be much, much bigger, and across many more ecosystems,” said
David Wagner http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/people/dwagner/, an expert in
invertebrate conservation at the University of Connecticut who was not involved
with this research. He added: “This is one of the most disturbing articles I
have ever read.”
Bradford https://science.rpi.edu/biology/faculty/brad-listerLister
https://science.rpi.edu/biology/faculty/brad-lister, a biologist at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute in New York, has been studying rain forest insects in
Puerto Rico since the 1970s. If Puerto Rico is the island of enchantment — “la
isla del encanto” — then its rain forest is “the enchanted forest on the
enchanted isle,” he said. Birds and coqui frogs trill beneath a 50-foot-tall
emerald canopy. The forest, named El Yunque, is well-protected. Spanish King
Alfonso XII claimed the jungle as a 19th-century royal preserve. Decades later,
Theodore Roosevelt made it a national reserve, and El Yunque remains the only
tropical rain forest https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/elyunque/about-forest in the
National Forest system.
“We went down in ’76, ’77 expressly to measure the resources: the insects and
the insectivores in the rain forest, the birds, the frogs, the lizards,” Lister
said.
He came back nearly 40 years later, with his colleague Andrés García, an
ecologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. What the scientists
did not see on their return troubled them. “Boy, it was immediately obvious
when we went into that forest,” Lister said. Fewer birds flitted overhead. The
butterflies, once abundant, had all but vanished.
García and Lister once again measured the forest’s insects and other
invertebrates, a group called arthropods that includes spiders and centipedes.
The researchers trapped arthropods on the ground in plates covered in a sticky
glue, and raised several more plates about three feet into the canopy. The
researchers also swept nets over the brush hundreds of times, collecting the
critters that crawled through the vegetation.
Each technique revealed the biomass (the dry weight of all the captured
invertebrates) had significantly decreased from 1976 to the present day. The
sweep sample biomass decreased to a fourth or an eighth of what it had been.
Between January 1977 and January 2013, the catch rate in the sticky ground
traps fell 60-fold.
“Everything is dropping,” Lister said. The most common invertebrates in the
rain forest — the moths, the butterflies, the grasshoppers, the spiders and
others — are all far less abundant.
“Holy crap,” Wagner said of the 60-fold loss.
Louisiana State University entomologist Timothy Schowalter
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/tschowalter, who is not an author of this
recent report, has studied this forest since the 1990s. This research is
consistent with his data, as well as the European biomass studies. “It takes
these long-term sites, with consistent sampling across a long period of time,
to document these trends,” he said. “I find their data pretty compelling.”
The study authors also trapped anole lizards, which eat arthropods, in the
rain forest. They compared these numbers with counts from the 1970s. Anole

[FairfieldLife] New UN IPCC Climate Change Report

2018-10-08 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report

snips

The world’s leading climate scientists have warned there is only a dozen years
for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a
degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and
poverty for hundreds of millions of people.

The authors of the landmark report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) released on Monday say urgent and unprecedented changes
are needed to reach the target, which they say is affordable and feasible
although it lies at the most ambitious end of the Paris agreement pledge to
keep temperatures between 1.5C and 2C.

“It’s a line in the sand and what it says to our species is that this is the
moment and we must act now,” said Debra Roberts, a co-chair of the working
group on impacts. “This is the largest clarion bell from the science community
and I hope it mobilises people and dents the mood of complacency.”

At 1.5C the proportion of the global population exposed to water stress could
be 50% lower than at 2C, it notes. Food scarcity would be less of a problem and
hundreds of millions fewer people, particularly in poor countries, would be at
risk of climate-related poverty.

At 2C extremely hot days, such as those experienced in the northern hemisphere
this summer, would become more severe and common, increasing heat-related
deaths and causing more forest fires.

But the greatest difference would be to nature. Insects, which are vital for
pollination of crops, and plants are almost twice as likely to lose half their
habitat at 2C compared with 1.5C. Corals would be 99% lost at the higher of the
two temperatures, but more than 10% have a chance of surviving if the lower
target is reached.

“We have presented governments with pretty hard choices. We have pointed out
the enormous benefits of keeping to 1.5C, and also the unprecedented shift in
energy systems and transport that would be needed to achieve that,” said Jim
Skea, a co-chair of the working group on mitigation. “We show it can be done
within laws of physics and chemistry. Then the final tick box is political
will. We cannot answer that. Only our audience can – and that is the
governments that receive it.”

He said the main finding of his group was the need for urgency. Although
unexpectedly good progress has been made in the adoption of renewable energy,
deforestation for agriculture was turning a natural carbon sink into a source
of emissions. Carbon capture and storage projects, which are essential for
reducing emissions in the concrete and waste disposal industries, have also
ground to a halt.

Reversing these trends is essential if the world has any chance of reaching
1.5C without relying on the untried technology of solar radiation modification
and other forms of geo-engineering, which could have negative consequences.

Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, said the final
document was “incredibly conservative” because it did not mention the likely
rise in climate-driven refugees or the danger of tipping points that could push
the world on to an irreversible path of extreme warming.

At the current level of commitments, the world is on course for a disastrous
3C of warming. The report authors are refuseing to accept defeat, believing the
increasingly visible damage caused by climate change will shift opinion their
way.

James Hansen, the former Nasa scientist who helped raised the alarm about
climate change, said both 1.5C and 2C would take humanity into uncharted and
dangerous territory because they were both well above the Holocene-era range in
which human civilisation developed. But he said there was a huge difference
between the two: “1.5C gives young people and the next generation a fighting
chance of getting back to the Holocene or close to it. That is probably
necessary if we want to keep shorelines where they are and preserve our coastal
cities.”

“Climate change is occurring earlier and more rapidly than expected. Even at
the current level of 1C warming, it is painful,” he told the Guardian. “This
report is really important. It has a scientific robustness that shows 1.5C is
not just a political concession. There is a growing recognition that 2C is
dangerous.”

[FairfieldLife] The strange science of melting ice sheets: three things you didn't know Melting ice sheets are a major cause of sea level rise, but they might not work in the way you expect

2018-09-14 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2018/sep/12/greenland-antarctic-ice-sheet-sea-level-rise-science-climate
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2018/sep/12/greenland-antarctic-ice-sheet-sea-level-rise-science-climate

 The strange science of melting ice sheets: three things you didn't know
 
 Melting ice sheets are a major cause of sea level rise, but they might not 
work in the way you expect
 

 You might expect that sea levels would rise most where the ice melts. However, 
a range of complicated influences mean this isn’t the case.
 

 A number of factors can bring about regional variations in sea level, such as 
changes in ocean circulation or changes in land water storage.
 

 But the ice sheets are set to play an increasingly big role over the next 100 
years and beyond. The way they interact with gravity, the Earth’s crust and its 
rotation mean they affect the oceans in a counterintuitive way.

[FairfieldLife] Re: The Uninhabitable Earth

2018-09-11 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/07/is-the-earth-really-that-doomed/533112/
 
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/07/is-the-earth-really-that-doomed/533112/
 Are We as Doomed as That New York Magazine Article Says?

[FairfieldLife] WHEN THE END OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION IS YOUR DAY JOB -- Interviews with Climate Scientists

2018-09-09 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a36228/ballad-of-the-sad-climatologists-0815/
 
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a36228/ballad-of-the-sad-climatologists-0815/

 WHEN THE END OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION IS YOUR DAY JOB
 
 Among many climate scientists, gloom has set in. Things are worse than we 
think, but they can't really talk about it.
 

 Good article interviewing a number of leading climate scientists and their 
struggle to balance the vision of devastation that they know may happen with an 
optimism that we can still mitigate much future damage if we act strongly now.
 

 He also shrugs off the abrupt-climate-change scenarios. "The methane thing is 
actually something I work on a lot, and most of the headlines are crap. There's 
no actual evidence that anything dramatically different is going on in the 
Arctic, other than the fact that it's melting pretty much everywhere."

 

 scientists are problem solvers by nature, trained to cherish detachment as a 
moral ideal. Jeffrey Kiehl was a senior scientist with the National Center for 
Atmospheric Research when he became so concerned about the way the brain 
resists climate science, he took a break and got a psychology degree. Ten years 
of research later, he's concluded that consumption and growth have become so 
central to our sense of personal identity and the fear of economic loss creates 
such numbing anxiety, we literally cannot imagine making the necessary changes. 
Worse, accepting the facts threatens us with a loss of faith in the fundamental 
order of the universe. 

 

 Maybe it is true what the ice-sheet modelers have been telling us, that it 
will take a thousand years or more to melt the Greenland Ice Sheet. But maybe 
they're wrong; maybe it could play out in a century or two. And then it's a 
whole different ballgame—it's the difference between human civilization and 
living things being able to adapt and not being able to adapt."

 

 The big question is, What amount of warming puts Greenland into irreversible 
loss? That's what will destroy all the coastal cities on earth. The answer is 
between 2 and 3 degrees. "Then it just thins and thins enough and you can't 
regrow it without an ice age. And a small fraction of that is already a huge 
problem

 

 Long before the rising waters from Greenland's glaciers displace the desperate 
millions, he says more than once, we will face drought-triggered agricultural 
failures and water-security issues—in fact, it's already happening. Think back 
to the 2010 Russian heat wave. Moscow halted grain exports. At the peak of the 
Australian drought, food prices spiked. The Arab Spring started with food 
protests, the self-immolation of the vegetable vendor in Tunisia. The Syrian 
conflict was preceded by four years of drought. Same with Darfur. The migrants 
are already starting to stream north across the sea—just yesterday, eight 
hundred of them died when their boat capsized—and the Europeans are arguing 
about what to do with them. "As the Pentagon says, climate change is a conflict 
multiplier."

[FairfieldLife] The Uninhabitable Earth

2018-09-09 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans.html
 
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans.html

 The Uninhabitable Earth
 
 Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could 
wreak — sooner than you think.
 

 This detailed article pulls together a wide range of mainstream science 
painting a clearer picture as to why extensive and comprehensive action on 
climate change is needed now -- not tomorrow, not next decade.

[FairfieldLife] Mitigating Climate Change -- Net Negative Carbon Technologies

2018-09-02 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/04/carbon-emissions-negative-emissions-technologies-capture-storage-bill-gates
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/04/carbon-emissions-negative-emissions-technologies-capture-storage-bill-gates

 “A2F is the future,” says Holmes, “because it needs 100 times less land and 
water than biofuels, and can be scaled up and sited anywhere. But for it to 
work, it will have to reduce costs to little more than it costs to extract oil 
today, and – even trickier – persuade countries to set a global carbon price.”
 

 Meanwhile, 4,500 miles away, in a large blue shed on a small industrial estate 
in the South Yorkshire coalfield outside Sheffield, the UK Carbon Capture and 
Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC) is experimenting with other ways to produce 
negative emissions.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Jefferson County Supervisors Pass Large Hog Confinement Master Matrix

2018-08-27 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Why You Don’t Want More CAFOs in Jefferson County
 

 1. Property Values Plummet Near CAFOs
 

 Property values of residences drop up to 40 percent near factory farms. 
(Colorado State University study of Iowa properties).
 

 2. People Living Near CAFOs Experience Health Problems
 

 Neighbors living within two miles of a CAFO (confined animal feeding 
operation, or factory farm) have experienced wheezing, chest tightness, 
shortness of breath, excessive coughing, nausea, diarrhea, sore throat, eye 
irritation, headache, runny nose and weakness. (Numerous University of North 
Carolina studies)
 Children who attend schools near CAFOs suffer higher incidences of asthma. 
(Study in Pediatrics journal)
 Neighbors living near a hog confinement experienced more depression, tension, 
anger, fatigue, and confusion and less vigor. (North Carolina study)
 Factory farms emit over 200 gases and particulates. Here are just a few that 
you will breathe in: ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, particulates such as fecal 
matter and skin cells, volatile organic compounds, methane, and viruses. A 2002 
report by Iowa State University and the University of Iowa determined that 
hydrogen sulfide and ammonia emissions from CAFOs are a health risk for humans.
 Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 
known as MRSA), is found in Iowa hogs and CAFO workers. (University of Iowa 
study) MRSA is difficult to treat, can be fatal in people with weakened immune 
systems, and is becoming more common because of the heavy use of antibiotics on 
factory farms.
 3. CAFOs Stink
 

 Confined hogs generate three times the amount of raw waste as humans. (EPA). 
The liquid manure goes into concrete pits below the confinement where it sits 
and putrefies for 6-12 months. Huge fans blow the poisonous air out of the 
confinements, and residents breathe it in. If you live within 3-4 miles of a 
CAFO, your air is going to stink. If you live near a field where manure will be 
applied, it will stink there, too. Breathing in this air can make you sick.
 

 4. Your Quality of Life Will Diminish
 

 People who live near factory farms report that they don’t enjoy their homes 
any longer. Some experiences people report include:
 

 No longer opening windows to get fresh air into their homes. (There is no 
fresh air anymore.)
 Living in basements to get away from the smell that seeps through closed 
windows.
 Coping with overwhelming fly infestations. Flies may also contribute to the 
spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
 Ending all outdoor entertaining with family and friends.
 5. Your Community Will Deteriorate
 

 Increased traffic from tractor-trailer feed trucks breaks down community 
roads, and local tax money pays for repairs. Fuel taxes don’t come close to 
covering costs. Taxes often rise, and local community services get reduced to 
keep up with maintenance. It’s common to see businesses close and people move 
out when factory farms move in.
 

 6. The Environment Suffers
 

 Iowa has some of the worst waterways in the nation. Over 800 manure spills 
have occurred in the last 10 years. Fish kills are common. Children can’t play 
in streams without concerns of exposure to E. coli or other bacteria.
 

 JFAN works to keep CAFOs out of Jefferson County, safeguarding your health, 
property values, quality of life, and the environment.
 

 Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc

[FairfieldLife] Re: Jefferson County Supervisors Pass Large Hog Confinement Master Matrix

2018-08-27 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]



 

 The Explosion of CAFOs in Iowa and Its Impact on Water Quality
 and Public Health

https://www.iowapolicyproject.org/2018docs/180125-CAFO.pdf 
https://www.iowapolicyproject.org/2018docs/180125-CAFO.pdf

Re: [FairfieldLife] Fairfield Water Supply and Climate Change

2018-08-26 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Great! That's my favorite kind.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Fairfield Water Supply and Climate Change

2018-08-26 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a22627850/global-water-crisis

Excellent article on growing water problems across the world

[FairfieldLife] Fairfield Water Supply and Climate Change

2018-08-26 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Does anyone have current assessments of FF's water suppy over the next 20 
years, particularly given potential accelerating effects of climate change?
 

 FF Water Department
 1.Where does our water come from?

 
 We have three wells that are tapped into the Jordan Sands Aquifer.
 https://cityoffairfieldiowa.com/faq.aspx?TID=14 
https://cityoffairfieldiowa.com/faq.aspx?TID=14

 

 

 Growing water use threatens to strain Jordan aquifer

 
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2014/11/15/water-use-jordan-aquifer-restrictions/19040407/
 
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2014/11/15/water-use-jordan-aquifer-restrictions/19040407/

 

 The Jordan aquifer provides drinking water to about a half-million Iowans, as 
well as water that is critical to industries that range from data centers to 
food processing and ethanol production.
 The recommendations are designed to warn users that Iowa's now-rich water 
levels could decline enough in the years ahead that they could hinder job 
creation and economic development efforts if not managed carefully.
 "We know at some point we can't keep pumping it down and pumping it down," 
said Todd Steigerwaldt, manager of the Marion Water Department and leader of 
the task force looking at the issue. "We know there is additional cost — it's 
more energy, which is money; and at some point, the lower we pump that water, 
the poorer the water quality would become."
 Some major metro areas outside of Iowa that use the Jordan aquifer are already 
running into trouble. In the Minneapolis area, for example, signs of shrinking 
groundwater already have appeared, from declining lake levels to wells running 
dry and damaged trout streams.

 
 "Here it's like we've gotten a note that we need to change our oil. In other 
states, the red check-engine light is flashing," said Michael Anderson, a 
senior environmental engineer at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "We 
want to deal with this before it becomes a big problem."

[FairfieldLife] Climate Change Tipping Points

2018-08-25 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2017/11/01/everything-you-need-to-know-about-climate-tipping-points/
 
http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2017/11/01/everything-you-need-to-know-about-climate-tipping-points/

[FairfieldLife] Effects of Climate Change

2018-08-13 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/halfway-boiling-city-50c
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/halfway-boiling-city-50c

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/heat-next-big-inequality-issue-heatwaves-world

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/28/we-have-different-ways-of-coping-the-global-heatwave-from-beijing-to-bukhara

Imagine a city at 50C (122F). The pavements are empty, the parks quiet, entire
neighbourhoods appear uninhabited. Nobody with a choice ventures outside during
daylight hours. Only at night do the denizens emerge, HG Wells-style, into the
streets – though, in temperatures that high, even darkness no longer provides
relief. Uncooled air is treated like effluent: to be flushed as quickly as
possible.

School playgrounds are silent as pupils shelter inside. In the hottest hours
of the day, working outdoors is banned. The only people in sight are those who
do not have access to air conditioning, who have no escape from the blanket of
heat: the poor, the homeless, undocumented labourers. Society is divided into
the cool haves and the hot have-nots.

At 50C – halfway to water’s boiling point and more than 10C above a healthy
body temperature – heat becomes toxic. Human cells start to cook, blood
thickens, muscles lock around the lungs and the brain is choked of oxygen. In
dry conditions, sweat – the body’s in-built cooling system – can lessen the
impact. But this protection weakens if there is already moisture in the air.

“We must hope that we don’t see 50C. That would be uncharted territory.
Infrastructure would be crippled and ecosystem services would start to break
down, with long-term consequences.”

The blast of furnace-like heat ... literally feels life-threatening and
apocalyptic

‘How can this city operate under these conditions? What can we do to ensure
that the city continues to provide important services for these conditions?
What can we do to reduce temperatures in the city?’”

Currently, 354 major cities experience average summer temperatures in excess
of 35C; by 2050, climate change will push this to 970, according to the recent
“Future We Don’t Want” study by the C40 alliance of the world’s biggest
metropolises. In the same period, it predicts the number of urban dwellers
exposed to this level of extreme heat will increase eightfold, to 1.6 billion.

As baselines shift across the globe, 50C is also uncomfortably near for tens
of millions more people. This year, Chino, 50km (30 miles) from Los Angeles,
hit a record of 48.9C, Sydney saw 47C, and Madrid and Lisbon also experienced
temperatures in the mid-40s.

But with extremes creeping up faster than baselines, Niyogi says this adapting
will require changes not just to the design of cities, but how they are
organised and how we live in them. First, though, we have to see what is coming
– which might not hit with the fury of a flood or typhoon but can be even more
destructive.

“Heat is different,” says Niyogi. “You don’t see the temperature creep up to
50C. It can take people unawares.”

Dying in a heatwave is like being slowly cooked. It’s pure torture ... this
heat can kill soldiers, athletes, everyone

It was the poor and isolated who quietly suffered the most in the heat – a
situation echoed in overheated cities across the world. In the US, immigrant
workers are three times more likely to die from heat exposure than American
citizens. In India, where 24 cities are expected to reach average summertime
highs of at least 35C (95F) by 2050, it is the slum dwellers who are most
vulnerable. And as the global risk of prolonged exposure to deadly heat
steadily rises, so do the associated risks of human catastrophe.

Last year, Hawaiian researchers projected that the share of the world’s
population exposed to deadly heat for at least 20 days a year will increase
from 30% now to 74% by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are allowed to grow.
(It will rise to 48% with “drastic reductions”.) They concluded that “an
increasing threat to human life from excess heat now seems almost inevitable”.

The year 2018 is set to be among the hottest since records began, with
unprecedented peak temperatures engulfing the planet, from 43C (109F) in Baku,
Azerbaijan, to the low 30s across Scandinavia. In Kyoto, Japan, the mercury did
not dip below 38C (100F) for a week. In the US, an unusually early and humid
July heatwave saw 48.8C (120F) in Chino, inland of Los Angeles. Residents
blasted their air conditioners so much they caused power shortages.

“Urban heat islands, combined with an ageing population and increased
urbanisation, are projected to increase the vulnerability of urban populations,

RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Guru Purnima: the Raja class..

2018-08-11 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Many spiritual organizations have "back room" stuff that is sanitized, kept out 
of sight of new members -- but can be disarming when revealed. For me it's an 
ethical question that should be addressed in non-dual orgs ethics efforts such 
as Rick is pursuing. Organizations should be encouraged to provide full 
disclosure. 

 Some orgs a bit more on the fringe than others
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAfdPFWiF9U 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAfdPFWiF9U

[FairfieldLife] Re: Guru Purnima: the Raja class..

2018-08-07 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

They only have part 1 posted covering 5 questions (first one, "describe 7 
states of consciousness"). 

 On video, Haiglin said more than tens of thousands are learning TM in US each 
month, with many more world- wide. Sounds high. Does anyone have monthly or 
annual US and world TM course numbers?

[FairfieldLife] Re: In Satsanga Fairfield, Iowa

2018-08-02 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Excellent post.  

 It's this sort of vision of FF that has prompted me to resettle in FF.  It 
would be wonderful if the person conveying these thoughts, and friends, could 
participate in FairfieldLife and help illuminate further how things are 
unfolding in the community.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Irreversible Climate Change -- Newsroom Clip

2018-07-31 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/31/chinas-most-populous-area-could-be-uninhabitable-by-end-o
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/31/chinas-most-populous-area-could-be-uninhabitable-by-end-of-centuryf-century
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/31/chinas-most-populous-area-could-be-uninhabitable-by-end-of-century
 

 "The most populous region of the biggest polluter on Earth – China’s northern 
plain – will become uninhabitable in places if climate change is not curbed 
 

 The deadliest place on the planet for extreme future heatwaves will be the 
north China plain, one of the most densely populated regions in the world and 
the most important food-producing area in the huge nation.
 

 New scientific research shows that humid heatwaves that kill even healthy 
people within hours will strike the area repeatedly towards the end of the 
century thanks to climate change, unless there are heavy cuts in carbon 
emissions.
 

 “This spot is going to be the hottest spot for deadly heatwaves in the 
future,” said Prof Elfatih Eltahir, at the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, US, who led the new study. The projections for China’s northern 
plain are particularly worrying because many of the region’s 400 million people 
are farmers and have little alternative to working outside."

[FairfieldLife] Irreversible Climate Change -- Newsroom Clip

2018-07-28 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc1vrO6iL0U 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc1vrO6iL0U

 

 Fro the HBO series the Newsroom from around 2014

[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Non-Dual Teachers and Organizations

2018-07-28 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Some research on the effects of meditation on cognitive biases.
 

 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797613503853 
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797613503853

 In the research reported here, we investigated the debiasing effect of 
mindfulness meditation on the sunk-cost bias. We conducted four studies (one 
correlational and three experimental); the results suggest that increased 
mindfulness reduces the tendency to allow unrecoverable prior costs to 
influence current decisions. Study 1 served as an initial correlational 
demonstration of the positive relationship between trait mindfulness and 
resistance to the sunk-cost bias. Studies 2a and 2b were laboratory experiments 
examining the effect of a mindfulness-meditation induction on increased 
resistance to the sunk-cost bias. In Study 3, we examined the mediating 
mechanisms of temporal focus and negative affect, and we found that the 
sunk-cost bias was attenuated by drawing one’s temporal focus away from the 
future and past and by reducing state negative affect, both of which were 
accomplished through mindfulness meditation.

 

 

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513203/ 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513203/

 Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of 
meditation to improve cognitive performance, emotional balance, and well-being. 
As a consequence, research into the psychological effects and neural mechanisms 
of meditation has been accumulating. Whether and how meditation affects 
decision making is not yet clear. Here, we review evidence from behavioral and 
neuroimaging studies and summarize the effects of meditation on social and 
non-social economic decision making. Research suggests that meditation 
modulates brain activities associated with cognitive control, emotion 
regulation and empathy, and leads to improved non-social and social decision 
making. Accordingly, we propose an integrative model in which cognitive 
control, emotional regulation, and empathic concern mediate the effects of 
meditation on decision making. This model provides insights into the mechanisms 
by which meditation affects the decision making process. More evidence is 
needed to test our explanatory model and to explore the function of specific 
brain areas and their interactive effects on decision making during meditation 
training.

 

 

 
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/three_ways_mindfulness_can_make_you_less_biased
 
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/three_ways_mindfulness_can_make_you_less_biased

 Today, prejudice against people who don’t share our race, ethnicity, gender, 
religion, or political persuasion is creating an atmosphere of distrust and 
hostility that is dividing the United States. Citizens and researchers alike 
are desperate to understand where these divisions come from and how to heal 
them.
 Some answers might be found in the scientific literature on mindfulness.
 
 For those who don’t know, mindfulness is a state of being—often practiced 
through meditation—that involves an increased awareness of our emotions, 
thoughts, and surroundings, accompanied by a sense of acceptance and 
non-judgment. Several studies have suggested that practicing mindfulness can 
reduce prejudice and bias.
 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias_modification 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias_modification

 "Cognitive bias modification (CBM) refers to the process of modifying 
cognitive biases in healthy people and also refers to a growing area of 
psychological (non-pharmaceutical) therapies for anxiety, depression and 
addiction called cognitive bias modification therapy (CBMT). CBMT is sub-group 
of therapies within a growing area of psychological therapies based on 
modifying cognitive processes with or without accompanying medication and talk 
therapy, sometimes referred to as applied cognitive processing therapies 
(ACPT). Other ACPTs include attention training,[1] interpretation 
modification,[2] approach/avoid training,[3] imagery modification training,[4] 
eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy[5] for PTSD."

[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Non-Dual Teachers and Organizations

2018-07-28 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]



 Some research on meditations influence on Five Factors of Personality. Some 
changes (not huge or transformational), particularly in reduced neurotic trains 
(anxiety, etc) which make sense given other studies that show that meditation 
tends to dampen activity of the Default Mode Network (which has been correlated 
with rumination, monkey mind tendencies, anxiety).
 

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25904238 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25904238

 

 Abstract Meditation has been associated with relatively reduced activity in 
the default mode network, a brain network implicated in self-related thinking 
and mind wandering. However, previous imaging studies have typically compared 
meditation to rest, despite other studies having reported differences in brain 
activation patterns between meditators and controls at rest. Moreover, rest is 
associated with a range of brain activation patterns across individuals that 
has only recently begun to be better characterized. Therefore, in this study we 
compared meditation to another active cognitive task, both to replicate the 
findings that meditation is associated with relatively reduced default mode 
network activity and to extend these findings by testing whether default mode 
activity was reduced during meditation, beyond the typical reductions observed 
during effortful tasks. In addition, prior studies had used small groups, 
whereas in the present study we tested these hypotheses in a larger group. The 
results indicated that meditation is associated with reduced activations in the 
default mode network, relative to an active task, for meditators as compared to 
controls. Regions of the default mode network showing a Group × Task 
interaction included the posterior cingulate/precuneus and anterior cingulate 
cortex. These findings replicate and extend prior work indicating that the 
suppression of default mode processing may represent a central neural process 
in long-term meditation, and they suggest that meditation leads to relatively 
reduced default mode processing beyond that observed during another active 
cognitive task.


 

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222947112_Mindfulness_Big_Five_personality_and_affect_A_meta-analysis
 
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222947112_Mindfulness_Big_Five_personality_and_affect_A_meta-analysis
 "Mindfulness is purposefully and nonjudgmentally paying attention to the 
present moment. The primary purpose of this study is to provide a more precise 
empirical estimate of the relationship between mindfulness and the Big Five 
personality traits as well as trait affect. Current research results present 
inconsistent or highly variable estimates of these relationships. Meta-analysis 
was used to synthesize findings from 32 samples in 29 studies. Results indicate 
that, although all of the traits display appreciable relationships with 
mindfulness, the strongest relationships are found with neuroticism, negative 
affect, and conscientiousness. Conscientiousness, in particular, is often 
ignored by mindfulness researchers; results here indicate it deserves stronger 
consideration. Although the results provide a clearer picture of how 
mindfulness relates to these traits, they also highlight the need to ensure an 
appropriate conceptualization and measurement of mindfulness. 

 

 Mindfulness, Big Five personality, and affect: A meta-analysis. Available 
from: 
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222947112_Mindfulness_Big_Five_personality_and_affect_A_meta-analysis
 [accessed Jul 28 2018]."
 

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146707/ 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146707/

 Mindfulness meditation (MM) has often been suggested to induce fundamental 
changes in the way events in life are experienced and dealt with, presumably 
leading to alterations in personality. However, the relationship between the 
practice of MM and personality has not been systematically studied. The aim of 
this study was to explore this relationship and to investigate the mediating 
role of mindfulness skills. Thirty-five experienced mindfulness meditators (age 
range, 31–75 years; meditation experience range, 0.25–35 years; mean, ∼13 
years) and 35 age-, gender-, and ethnicity-matched controls (age range, 27–63 
years) without any meditation experience completed a personality (NEO-FFI) and 
mindfulness (KIMS) questionnaire. The practice of MM was positively related to 
openness and extraversion and negatively related to neuroticism and 
conscientiousness. Thus, the results of the current study associate the 
practice of MM with higher levels of curiosity and receptivity to new 
experiences and experience of positive affect and with less proneness toward 
negative emotions and worrying and a reduced focus on achievements. 
Furthermore, the mediating role of specific mindfulness skills in the 
relationship between the practice of MM and personality traits was shown.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Non-Dual Teachers and Organizations

2018-07-28 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Rick’s ethics article raises the question as to whether non-dual awakening 
results in spontaneous perfected, ethical actions. Some teachers and 
organizations have claimed this, or some variation of it, though there appears 
little empirical or even anecdotal evidence supporting such claims.  
  
 That seems to be a premise with a rather steep hill to climb. Ethics is a 
rich, complex, interesting, nuanced, interrelated to many fields, area of 
knowledge. Develop a comprehensive ethical framework for one’s own life in a 
complex changing world, is a long journey. To further explore ethical 
frameworks issues relevant to whole societies and the world is a career task.  
Upon awakening, one doesn’t suddenly become adept at quantum physics (even 
though one is grounded in the vacuum state, ha.) Why would one become fully 
adept at ethical nuances and perfected behavior? 
  
 Yet Pure Consciousness in activity does light up one’s life, pettiness, 
stressed behavior and reactivity diminish from day one of starting a good 
practice, compassion and empathy grow.  And these qualities grow over time (and 
sometimes slinks away for a while).  This points towards better behavior by the 
Awakened compared to where they began, however, it does not imply or 
necessarily mean perfected ethical behavior. 
  
 There is a broader question: to what extent does the broader spectrum of 
behavior change upon awakening?  If the ethical awakening hypothesis is valid, 
should there also be other large changes in behavior upon awakening?  
  
 Let’s step back for a moment. What other areas of behavior change might change 
upon awakening? 
 Current psychological theory and research commonly use a Five-Factor Model 
(FFM) of personality (Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extrovertism, 
and Neuroticism). These five factors have been found universally across all 
cultures, ages, genders, races, etc. and taking their five dimensions as a 
whole, describe the most salient features of most peoples’ personalities.  For 
a wide range of behaviors, they have been shown to have strong explanatory and 
predictive power. And after youth, these factors have found to be relatively 
stable. They are resilient to change, though one can train to extend the range 
of each dimension, for example, introverts can learn more extrovert behaviors, 
though extrovertism typically still does not become part of their natural 
comfort zone. Do these five factors change upon awakening? Probably not, but 
it’s a ripe area for interesting and important research. If these five pillars 
of personality which underlie much of our behavior do not change upon 
awakening, why would a complex, nuanced set of skills such as perfected, 
spontaneous ethical behavior unfold?
  
 Cognitive biases are another set of powerful factors which substantially 
affect our behavior and are also quite resistant to change. Substantial 
research on these biases has significantly influenced a number of academic 
disciplines (into fields of “behavioral this and that” such as behavioral 
economics, and several Nobel prizes have been granted to researchers in the 
behavioral fields.   
 Here is a link describing some of the more prominent cognitive biases. 
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
  
 It would be fascinating to see if the awakened have significantly less 
cognitive biases – which if true, would be a major finding. I believe that 
studies would not show a significant change from the norm, may some minor 
reductions. Such a finding of little change in cognitive biases would go a long 
way in explaining the quirks of the awakened and realized teachers – that is, 
they all still are subject to the evolutionarily ingrained cognitive biases 
embedded in the human nervous system and this will result in a number of 
imperfect decisions and outcomes.  Thus, the premise of a “life without 
mistakes” claimed by some teachers may be dubious. And in a similar vein to the 
FFM, if awakening does not affect cognitive biases, a major driver of behavior, 
why would awakening bring about a radical shift in ethical behaviors?

[FairfieldLife] Spurious Correlations

2018-07-28 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

There is a lot more randomness in the universe than we realize. Its common to 
be "fooled by randomness" as our minds seek to see patterns and connections 
that do not in reality exist. 
 

 
https://www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Markets-Incerto-ebook/dp/B001FA0W5W
 
https://www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Markets-Incerto-ebook/dp/B001FA0W5W

 

 Here are some pretty funny spurious correlations -- graphs of two phenomena 
that are highly correlated but laughably not rationally, causally connected. 
 

 https://hbr.org/2015/06/beware-spurious-correlations 
https://hbr.org/2015/06/beware-spurious-correlations

 http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations 
http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

 "We all know the truism “Correlation doesn’t imply causation,” but when we see 
lines sloping together, bars rising together, or points on a scatterplot 
clustering, the data practically begs us to assign a reason. We want to believe 
one exists. Statistically we can’t make that leap, however. Charts that show a 
close correlation are often relying on a visual parlor trick to imply a 
relationship. Tyler Vigen, a JD student at Harvard Law School and the author of 
Spurious Correlations, http://www.tylervigen.com/ has made sport of this on his 
website, which charts farcical correlations—for example, between U.S. per 
capita margarine consumption and the divorce rate in Maine. 
http://www.tylervigen.com/view_correlation?id=1703;

 

 

 It can be quite a challenge to establish causality, even for "obvious" 
correlated phenomenon such as global warming whereby heatwaves seems to be a 
natural and logical result of global climate change. However,  the causal link 
between global warming and specific extreme weather events has only recently 
been established, despite extensive climate studies and modeling by top 
scientists over the past decades.   
 

 

 

 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/27/heatwave-made-more-than-twice-as-likely-by-climate-change-scientists-find
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/27/heatwave-made-more-than-twice-as-likely-by-climate-change-scientists-find

 "Fingerprints of global warming clear, they say, after comparing northern 
Europe’s scorching summer with records and computer models"

 

 
https://www.skepticalscience.com/heatwaves-past-global-warming-climate-change.htm
 
https://www.skepticalscience.com/heatwaves-past-global-warming-climate-change.htm

 "the growing risk from heatwaves is ignored by some who argue that heatwaves 
have happened in the past, hence current heatwaves must be natural. This line 
of argument is logically flawed, using a logical fallacy called a non sequitor 
(Latin for 'it does not follow'). This is a fallacy where your starting 
statement does not lead to your conclusion. For example, this is like arguing 
that people have died of cancer long before cigarettes were invented, hence 
smoking can't cause cancer."

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Spiritual Teaching

2018-07-26 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

I am simply suggesting that some better levels of validation would be useful 
when teachers make claims about their attainments and the effectiveness of 
their methods to enable students to achieve the same. 

 If a teacher is not making such claims, then validation is not an issue. 
 

 Using Batgap interviews as a large sample of teachers, most are making claims, 
at least implicitly, about their attainments and the effectiveness of their 
teaching.So I think validation is a legitimate issue in the larger non-dual 
community.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Spiritual Teaching

2018-07-26 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

"However, clearly Science does not yet have a measurement handle on shakti in 
the human psycho spiritual body. MRI’s, EEG’s, blood chemistry and such as 
tools are yet way too coarse"
 

 People can have lots of shakti and not be enlightened. Measuring shakti is not 
the primary objective. fMRIs can measure remarkably subtle brain activity. Many 
related and other technologies and methods are emerging. While there may be 
subtle changes and phenomenon that are currently beyond measurement, there 
clearly are a vast number of factors that can be measured and studied. Advanced 
states of awakening clearly must have neurophysiological correlates, for 
example, new or more developed brain networks which can be "viewed" and studied 
with fMRIs. Much can be learned from comprehensive studies on practitioners, in 
deep meditation and during active tasks, who have cultivated their nervous 
systems to sustain such states. Clear models of enlightened neurophysiology do 
not yet exist, but will emerge and become clearer over time. However, there are 
a number of markers common in advanced practitioners. Beyond neurophysiological 
studies, in-depth cognitive studies should identify a myriad of changes in 
performance tasks, memory, sensory acuity, fluid intelligence, etc. 
 

 Relying on a teachers' followers for evaluations has serious limitations. 
Followers tend to be biased, both in the evaluation of their progress, their 
teacher's capabilities and what they share with others.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Spiritual TeachingHowever, clearly Science does not yet have a measurement handle on shakti in the human psycho spiritual body. MRI’s, EEG’s, blood chemistry and such

2018-07-26 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

"However, clearly Science does not yet have a measurement handle on shakti in 
the human psycho spiritual body. MRI’s, EEG’s, blood chemistry and such as 
tools are yet way too coarse"
 

 People can have lots of shakti and not be enlightened. Measuring shakti is not 
the primary objective. fMRIs can measure remarkably subtle brain activity. Many 
related and other technologies and methods are emerging. While there may be 
subtle changes and phenomenon that are currently beyond measurement, there 
clearly are a vast number of factors that can be measured and studied. Advanced 
states of awakening clearly must have neurophysiological correlates, for 
example, new or more developed brain networks which can be "viewed" and studied 
with fMRIs. Much can be learned from comprehensive studies on practitioners, in 
deep meditation and during active tasks, who have cultivated their nervous 
systems to sustain such states. Clear models of enlightened neurophysiology do 
not yet exist, but will emerge and become clearer over time. However, there are 
a number of markers common in advanced practitioners. Beyond neurophysiological 
studies, in-depth cognitive studies should identify a myriad of changes in 
performance tasks, memory, sensory acuity, fluid intelligence, etc. 
 

 Relying on a teachers' followers for evaluations has serious limitations. 
Followers tend to be biased, both in the evaluation of their progress, their 
teacher's capabilities and what they share with others.

[FairfieldLife] Ethics and Non-Dual Teachers and Organizations

2018-07-25 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

I submitted this over 12 hours ago and it did not post. Retry.
  
 A core ethical issue for the non-dual community is whether teachers are 
offering something of value, if they are delivering what they promise, and if 
they can speak with high veracity and confidence supporting these claims.  
 That is, 
 a) have they achieved the states and live the attributes that they claim to be 
able to teach others, 
 b) are they able to effectively teach others to attain them, 
 c) if so, what time frames are required, how much commitment is necessary 
(time and money), and 
 d) are all, or only a subset of students, able to attain these states.   
 

 It seems reasonable that there may be a correlation between teachers and 
organizations pursuing unethical actions and the degree to which they are more 
bluster than bliss, more talk than performance.  Addressing performance could 
in turn address unethical actors in the community. 
 

 A strong objective framework for evaluating a teacher’s attainments and their 
method’s effectiveness is testing and measurement by the tools of cognitive 
science. For example, a lot could be gained if the teacher, along with their 
top 10 or 25 students offered to undergo a standardized set of evaluation 
measures (fMRI, advanced EEG, blood work, comprehensive sophisticated batteries 
of cognitive tests, etc.)  While the results of these tests do not, at least 
per current models of consciousness, provide definitive proof of any 
Enlightened state, they can provide insight into whether the practitioners have 
achieved various markers of achieved by other advanced practitioners. And 
possibly exceeding thresholds or prior studies, and or novel brain activity or 
cognitive responses. 
 

 If on the other hand, the results of the test showed nothing special or unique 
of the normal non-practicing populace, one would question what the practice is 
achieving. If no change in brain, cognitive, neurotransmitter or other activity 
is observed, then claims of refined mental, cognitive or emotional capabilities 
would be in doubt.
 

 I would think that a group called Science and Non-Duality would be 
aggressively seeking to validate non-duality states with state-of-the-art 
research (and help identify / weed out, non-performing teachers and 
organizations.) Yet I don’t see any research agenda on the SAND website. SAND 
or other non-dual groups could become a powerful conduit of advanced 
practitioners to the many university and research centers doing research on 
meditative methods.  How to facilitate and fund such research is a larger topic 
which I may try to address in a separate post. 
 

 At a minimum, core ethical values and codes of conduct revolving around full 
disclosure and a culture of transparency would be of value. Some useful areas 
of for consideration:  
 

 1) Encourage all non-dual teachers and organizations to provide evidence of 
the teachers’ attainments and the effectiveness of their teaching methods. 
 

 2) Guidelines as to what to do when witnessing or experiencing ethical 
breaches by spiritual teachers and/or organizations. Possibly implementation of 
hotlines or database of unethical reports.
 

 3) Full disclosure of possible adverse effects of the practices.
 

 4) Financial transparency. Ability to audit the financials.
 

 5) Ethical considerations of requesting or promoting “Surrendering to the 
Teacher”
 

 6) Disclosure (or some indication of) what’s in the back rooms
  (the esoteric teaching, the weird and wild stuff that may not become evident 
for several years after the student has made substantial time, effort, identity 
and financial investments in the teachings, practices, etc.)
 

 7) Seva -- work/study/service practices. 
 A time-honored and useful tradition in many circumstances and implementations 
where students work at ashrams, retreat centers, teaching centers, etc. for 
room and board and often reduction of tuition and fees for courses and 
instruction. However, over time, in some situations, this may evolve into a 
type of indentured servitude or guilt-driven labor bondage. Some ethical 
guidelines would be useful in this arena.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Ethics and Spiritual Teaching

2018-07-25 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

A core ethical issue for the non-dual community is whether teachers are 
offering something of value, if they are delivering what they promise, and if 
they can speak with high veracity and confidence supporting these claims.  That 
is, 
 a) have they achieved the states and live the attributes that they claim to be 
able to teach others, 
 b) are they able to effectively teach others to attain them, 
 c) if so, what time frames are required, how much commitment is necessary 
(time and money), and 
 d) are all, or only a subset of students, able to attain these states.   
  
 It seems reasonable that there may be a correlation between teachers and 
organizations pursuing unethical actions and the degree to which they are more 
bluster than bliss, more talk than performance.  Addressing performance could 
in turn address unethical actors in the community. 
  
 A strong objective framework for evaluating a teacher’s attainments and their 
method’s effectiveness is testing and measurement by the tools of cognitive 
science. For example, a lot could be gained if the teacher, along with their 
top 10 or 25 students offered to undergo a standardized set of evaluation 
measures (fMRI, advanced EEG, blood work, comprehensive sophisticated batteries 
of cognitive tests, etc.)  While the results of these tests do not, at least 
per current models of consciousness, provide definitive proof of any 
Enlightened state, they can provide insight into whether the practitioners have 
achieved various markers of achieved by other advanced practitioners. And 
possibly exceeding thresholds or prior studies, and or novel brain activity or 
cognitive responses. 
  
 If on the other hand, the results of the test showed nothing special or unique 
of the normal non-practicing populace, one would question what the practice is 
achieving. If no change in brain, cognitive, neurotransmitter or other activity 
is observed, then claims of refined mental, cognitive or emotional capabilities 
would be in doubt.
  
 I would think that a group called Science and Non-Duality would be 
aggressively seeking to validate non-duality states with state-of-the-art 
research (and help identify / weed out, non-performing teachers and 
organizations.) Yet I don’t see any research agenda on the SAND website. SAND 
or other non-dual groups could become a powerful conduit of advanced 
practitioners to the many university and research centers doing research on 
meditative methods.  How to facilitate and fund such research is a larger topic 
which I may try to address in a separate post. 
  
 At a minimum, core ethical values and codes of conduct revolving around full 
disclosure and a culture of transparency would be of value. Some useful areas 
of for consideration:  
  
 1)  Encourage all non-dual teachers and organizations to provide evidence 
of the teachers’ attainments and the effectiveness of their teaching methods. 
  
 2)  Guidelines as to what to do when witnessing or experiencing ethical 
breaches by spiritual teachers and/or organizations. Possibly implementation of 
hotlines or database of unethical reports.
  
 3)  Full disclosure of possible adverse effects of the practices.
  
 4)  Financial transparency. Ability to audit the financials.
  
 5)  Ethical considerations of requesting or promoting “Surrendering to the 
Teacher”
  
 6)  Disclosure (or some indication of) what’s in the back rooms
  (the esoteric teaching, the weird and wild stuff that may not become evident 
for several years after the student has made substantial time, effort, identity 
and financial investments in the teachings, practices, etc.)
  
 7)  Seva -- work/study/service practices. 
 A time-honored and useful tradition in many circumstances and implementations 
where students work at ashrams, retreat centers, teaching centers, etc. for 
room and board and often reduction of tuition and fees for courses and 
instruction. However, over time, in some situations, this may evolve into a 
type of indentured servitude or guilt-driven labor bondage. Some ethical 
guidelines would be useful in this arena.

[FairfieldLife] We’re not far from the collapse of reality -- Maya goes Mainstream

2018-07-24 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Mind-warping Potential of Fake Video
And the technology is evolving quickly
https://gizmodo.com/deepfake-videos-are-getting-impossibly-good-1826759848 —
via face-swapping software — a puppeteer [is realistically faked] for Obama’s
face. Not too long ago, this type of software was limited to transferring
simple facial expressions and mouth movements from an actor to a fake video.
Now ... the software can account for wide-ranging head and eye movements
without much obvious distortion.
Combine fake audio with fake video and it’s not hard to imagine a future where
forged videos are maddeningly hard to distinguish from the truth. Or a future
where a fake video of a president incites a riot
https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/the-terrifying-future-of-fake-news?utm_term=.feWkrAPWWk#.nqNAkL0NNAor
fells the market. “We’re not so far from the collapse of reality,” as Franklin
Foer summed up
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/05/realitys-end/556877/ at
the Atlantic.

But I fear it’s not just our present and future reality that could collapse;
it’s also our past. Fake media could manipulate what we remember, effectively
altering the past by seeding the population with false memories.
The human mind is incredibly susceptible to forming false memories. And that
tendency can be kicked into overdrive on the internet, where false ideas spread
like viruses
http://psych.wustl.edu/memory/Roddy%20article%20PDF's/Roediger%20et%20al%20(2001)_PBR.pdf
among like-minded people. Which means the AI-enhanced forgeries on the horizon
will only make planting false memories even easier.

Doctored photos can change the way we remember history. And not just our
memories for facts, but possibly even our recollections of what we saw with our
own eyes. It means that bad actors may be able to prey on our political biases
to change our understanding of world events.

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/4/20/17109764/deepfake-ai-false-memory-psychology-mandela-effect

[FairfieldLife] Re: Carnivore diet changed his life!

2018-07-21 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

It's changing all of our lives, globally its devastating the planet. 

 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth

 

 . 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/03/eating-less-meat-curb-climate-change
 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/03/eating-less-meat-curb-climate-change
 

 " 'A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on 
planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, 
eutrophication, land use and water use,' said Joseph Poore, at the University 
of Oxford, UK, who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on 
your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, 'as these only cut greenhouse 
gas emissions.' "

 

 "The new analysis shows that while meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories 
and 37% of protein, it uses the vast majority – 83% – of farmland and produces 
60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions."

 

 "The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global 
farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, 
China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world. Loss 
of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass 
extinction of wildlife 
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn.;

 

 " 'The report builds on recent scientific studies which show that soaring meat 
demand in China and elsewhere could tip the world’s climate into chaos. '
 "Appetite for meat is rocketing as the global population swells and becomes 
more able to afford meat. Meat consumption is on track to rise 75% by 2050, and 
dairy 65%, compared with 40% for cereals. By 2020, China alone is expected to 
be eating 20m tonnes more of meat and dairy a year."

[FairfieldLife] Obviousness

2018-07-09 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Interesting article, particularly if you are familiar with the "didn't see the 
gorilla" psych experiments.  
 
https://aeon.co/essays/are-humans-really-blind-to-the-gorilla-on-the-basketball-court
 
https://aeon.co/essays/are-humans-really-blind-to-the-gorilla-on-the-basketball-court
 "In the experiment, subjects were asked to watch a short video and to count 
the basketball passes. The task seemed simple enough. But it was made more 
difficult by the fact that subjects had to count basketball passes by the team 
wearing white shirts, while a team wearing black shirts also passed a ball. 
This created a real distraction. (If you haven’t taken the test before, 
consider briefly taking it here https://youtu.be/vJG698U2Mvo before reading any 
further.)
 The experiment came with a twist. While subjects try to count basketball 
passes, a person dressed in a gorilla suit walks slowly across the screen. The 
surprising fact is that some 70 per cent of subjects never see the gorilla.* 
When they watch the clip a second time, they are dumbfounded by the fact that 
they missed something so obvious. The video of the surprising gorilla has been 
viewed millions of times on YouTube – remarkable for a scientific experiment. 
Different versions of the gorilla experiment, such as the ‘moonwalking bear’ 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4, have also received significant 
attention."
 
 Based on such experiments, not "seeing the obvious"  is often deemed a human 
flaw cognitive bias.  The article, however, raises the (somewhat obvious) 
counterpoint that "obvious" depends on what we are looking for -- that most 
active sensory fields have many possible relevant factors -- depending on our 
intent and focus of attention of our attention. 
 

 Seems relevant to several TM, and more broadly, a number of non-dual themes: 
  That which you put your attention on grows stronger in your life.  
  The mistake of the intellect (seeing boundaries instead of unity and 
wholeness)
  The often stated report of the awakened that, paraphrasing, 
   "pure consciousness had always been there, I just was not aware of 
it. 
  Self-inquiry of Ramana Maharishi ("Who am I?:" )
  The Mahavakayas of the Upanishads ("You are That" etc)
 

 That is, deciding what is relevant and meaningful is a key factor in seeing 
what is "obvious". Without it brought to our attention, and/or some diligence 
on our parts, we can miss the "obvious" even the Obvious! For example, (it is 
said) one can be living Unity, but without it being brought to one's attention 
(via Mahavakayas), one could still miss the Obvious.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Consciousness Communities

2018-07-06 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Its good to hear that the broader spiritual community remains vibrant / 
growing.  Beyond the TM community, what sort of groups and interests are 
becoming more popular and prominent?

[FairfieldLife] Re: Something rotten in the state of...

2018-03-20 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Something is rotten, not sure its Sweden
 

 This clip is posted by Paul Joeseph Watson, editor at large of InfoWars -- 
owned by Alex Jones. The site is notorious for disinformation.
 

 https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/infowars 
https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/infowars

[FairfieldLife] Re: Rajneesh Documenatary

2018-03-20 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Trailer 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBLS_OM6Puk 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBLS_OM6Puk

[FairfieldLife] Re: Multibillion-Dollar Corporation Is Controlled by a Penniless Yoga Superstar

2018-03-18 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

I was not predisposed to look for an angle to criticize -- or to extol. 

 The article covered a number of points, many promising, to explore further.  I 
am hopeful that the reality of Ram Dev's work and his enterprises live up to 
the promise.  However, there may also be some cautionary tales as is the case 
in many fast-growing enterprises that start out idealistically but in time lose 
some of the initial vision.
 That in itself does not nullify the benefits to the millions that he has 
apparently created.  

 For example, I thought it interesting that a sanyasi started a $6 billion 
enterprise -- based on Ayurved.   I thought it a good example, an interesting 
case study, if he maintains a modest life consistent being both sanyasi and 
with running such a large enterprise.  And his enterprise certainly is more 
successful than MAPI. There may be some interesting things to learn in that.  
 

 Other things interested me in the article, but perhaps best for later 
discussion.

[FairfieldLife] Multibillion-Dollar Corporation Is Controlled by a Penniless Yoga Superstar

2018-03-18 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

https://www.bloomberg.com/search?query=ramdev
https://www.bloomberg.com/search?query=ramdev

Excerpts:

Twenty-three years ago, when he was a poor young yoga instructor living at the
foot of the Himalayas, Baba Ramdev pledged to spend the rest of his life as a
sanyasi—a Hindu ascetic. He forswore possessions and renounced the material
world.

But today he can be found in the most material of places. Turn on an Indian
TV, and there’s Ramdev, a supple yoga megastar in saffron robes, demonstrating
poses on one of the two stations he oversees. Flip the channel, and there’s
Ramdev in commercials selling shampoo and dish soap. Walk any city on the
subcontinent, and there’s his face in stores selling the wares of Patanjali
Ayurved Ltd. https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/0491151D:IN; style="
border-top-color:initial;border-right-color:initial;border-left-color:initial;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;
line-height:inherit;, the multibillion-dollar corporation he controls.

Ramdev has said his goal is to sell an ayurvedic item, based on India’s
ancient medical traditions, for every household need: toothpaste made from
cloves, neem, and turmeric; hand soap made from almonds, saffron, and tea tree
oil; floor cleaner made from the “natural disinfectant” cow urine. Since 2012,
Patanjali’s revenue has climbed twentyfold, from $69 million to $1.6 billion.
It’s the fastest-growing company in Indian consumer goods, and Ramdev predicts
he will overtake the subsidiaries of multinational giants such as Nestlé SA
https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/NESN:SW and Unilever NV
https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/UNA:NA as soon as next year. “The ‘gate’ in
Colgate will shut,” he once gloated. “Pantene will wet its pants, the lever of
Unilever will break down, and the little Nestlé bird will fly away.”

It might seem like an impossible arrangement—observing an oath of poverty
while also being one of India’s top entrepreneurs. But Ramdev is a master of
contortion. Patanjali is an omnipresent brand in India, and though everyone
refers to it as Ramdev’s company, he’s not technically its owner or chief
executive officer. It would be scandalous for a sanyasi to profit from a
corporation, and Ramdev neither owns shares nor takes a salary. He says his net
worth is zero. The company calls him merely its “brand ambassador,” a title
that belies his power.

“If you had to choose the top five living extraordinary Indians, people who
have changed the landscape,” says Chiki Sarkar, publisher of New Delhi’s
Juggernaut Books, “Ramdev would make the list.”

Ramdev’s behavior also started to trouble Karamveer, his fellow yoga
instructor. “Idealism is easy when you have nothing,” Karamveer told
Pathak-Narain. “It’s what you do when you have fame, money, or power that
matters.” He left the ashram in 2005. Ramdev had promised he would teach yoga
for free, but he began charging people to sit closer to the stage, according to
Bhakti Mehta, a TV executive. She traveled with Ramdev to Britain in 2006,
where, she said, he required an £11,000 (then $20,000) donation for a home
visit and stood on a cloth that could be rolled up to easily collect the money
people threw at his feet. “We saw how power-hungry he really was,” she told
Pathak-Narain. (A Patanjali spokesman declined to discuss this or other aspects
of the book.)

...

Ramdev said his noodles were healthy, but India’s Food Safety and Drugs
Administration found they had an ash content triple the legal limit. Customers
didn’t much care. “Whatever he produces, nobody thought that it is shit,” Patra
says. “They thought it is a god-given product.”

“We have had no quality cases or quality problems,” Ramdev told me. But
Patanjali products have been dogged by such concerns. In April, the Indian
Armed Forces stopped selling a popular Patanjali juice to soldiers after it
failed lab tests. The next month, the Hindustan Times reported
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/baba-ramdev-s-patanjali-products-fail-uttarakhand-quality-test/story-bXo4XySEajw7ZDby4GISML.html;
title="Ramdev’s Patanjali products fail quality test, RTI inquiry finds"
style="border-top-color:initial;border-right-color:initial;border-left-color:initial;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;
line-height:inherit; that a Patanjali health product, shivlingi seeds, had
also failed tests. In June, Nepal forced the recall of six products over
microbial concerns.

...

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, an Indian trade
organization, has called Patanjali “the most disruptive force in the
fast-moving consumer goods market.” In 2016, Credit Suisse Group downgraded its
rating for Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd.
https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/CLGT:IN;

[FairfieldLife] Re: Jerry Jarvis Drops the Body

2018-03-16 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

It's sad to hear of Jerry's passing. However, I imagine he might be the first 
to gracefully recast his insight and reality -- that "there was never a time 
when I or you did not exist, there will never be a time when we cease to 
exist", crafted in an uplifting and mirthful way -- with his inevitable glow, 
grin, and soft chuckle.   

 I searched for obituaries -- though finding none, assuming that he would get 
at least modest mention by some notable media.  That may unfold in next few 
days.  He is worthy of such I suggest -- he made a significant impact on 
America and the world, from the mid-60s to mid -70s. Perhaps that was too short 
a period, too long ago, for much current notice of his passing. If so, that's a 
shame.
 

 Arguably, by creating and effectively managing the rapid expansion of SIMS, 
taping the latent energy of, inspiring and guiding tens of 1000's of students, 
he helped usher in an impressive leap forward in the acceptance of meditation 
in the world's mindset, opening the door wide for the plethora human potential 
programs and practices flourishing today.  That is a notable achievement, 
though I am sure he would have preferred a more TM-centric outcome -- TM 
centers as prevalent as Starbucks ("a better jolt of wakefulness", he might 
joke).   
 

 It was a wild and untamed time, an un-trodden path, a bumpy, twisty ride at 
times.  However, I sense few if any could have pulled it all together and held 
it together as well and as long as he did -- beaming with his extensive grace, 
knowledge, gentle yet pervasive wit, and remarkable calmness.

[FairfieldLife] Re: "Leavers"

2018-01-29 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]


 

 Doug wrote "Always latent though is a fear of a possibility that someone else, 
another ‘spiritual teacher’, might come along and take members off in some 
theatre of moral panic, a narcissism, that might be larger than their 
administrative state can hold back." I find this a paradox. Following are some 
general points, in the abstract. The specifics of the case are ouside of my 
current knowledge. Administration through fear points towards an administration 
from duality. And at least in the abstact,  administration from Unity / Brahman 
/ All LoN, would not contain fear. And on a practical personal level, my 
experience has been that fear appears to restrain progress on the path in 
moving beyond duality. Thus, to the extent fear can be bypassed / transcended, 
the spiritual progress may be enhanced. It seems to be a type of positive 
feedback loop: transcending reduces fear, reduces fear transforms duality 
towards unity, transcending becomes deeper, more prolonged, more fear dissolves 
 If an organization administers from fear, where does this fear come from 
if administrators are regularly transcending and presumably reducing fear? And 
does an administration from fear create fear in its members, thus retarding 
their progress?

[FairfieldLife] Re: "Leavers"

2018-01-28 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Duality is born of fear.

Corollary perhaps is Unity is born from a  state of no fear.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Voices of the TM Future

2018-01-23 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Nice.  

 Gives me a better sense of current MUM student body. (though I realize this is 
not a random sample, but a selection of students who make a good impression.)  
 

 Are the students much involved in FF community life -- or more isolated to the 
campus?
 

 I noticed post or link to new initiatives at the MUM secondary school. Seems 
to reflect significant progress, softening, integration into the real world.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Ideal Life Assembly/Campus

2018-01-14 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Thanks. This and prior post on ILC are helpful. They confirm my sense of ILC. 
It may be good for at some later point for a retreat period. However, for now, 
I want to get to know the community and explore FF. Living in town works better 
for me for that.  

 For housing rentals, I have been looking at Craigslist/SE Iowa and 
HomeShareFairfield, the Facebook  group. Does anyone have other good sources of 
rental listing?
  
 Anyone know of  good sites or blogs for information pertinent to relocating to 
FF. Sites like 
https://www.fairfieldinfocenter.org/fairfield-tm-information-center/ 
https://www.fairfieldinfocenter.org/fairfield-tm-information-center/transportation-ground/
 are useful but general. 
 

 I have looked for, but not found, any feet-on-the-ground type of guide, with 
the knowledge locals all know and very relevant to newcomers -- the nitty 
gritty of functioning in a new location.  I have been plugging away, finding 
bits and pieces here and there. I may compile such on a blog or site for other 
potential newcomers.  It could speed up the process of figuring out if FF is a 
viable option for them -- and ease their transition if they decide to take the 
plunge.

Re: [FairfieldLife] FF Meditating Community Meeting

2018-01-14 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]


 This is wonderful stuff.  
 

 (I ask constructively and with optimistic interest and intent), how much 
progress is being made on these themes and initiatives? I appreciate that 
people may enthusiastically brainstorm good ideas at a meeting. How much is 
being systematically thought through, researched, plans being developed, 
communicated and reviewed by the community?   For exmple, is there a project 
plan being developed with the same scope and detail as a business plan for 
which one is seeking funding. 
 

 I sense that they are still in the idea realm.  For example, I don't see any 
websites, blogs, discussion boards articulating and refining these visions. 
Maybe too soon for such. 

 

 Are the TMO, university, town governent, community  working together on these 
initiatives? Or is it more a sense of "ho hum, a new grand initiative that will 
fade as have many others?'  
 

 I do think there is a lot of potential in many of these ideas that may appeal 
to some significant demographics, mindsets and valuesets.  
 

 

 ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 Super-Radiance – What Will It Take
 To Bring Us Together, To Rebuild Common Purpose
 To Restore Group Program Attendance?
 

---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com,  wrote :

 Meeting 5, Community Forum, Fairfield, Iowa

 Subject:  Super Radiance and the Fairfield Dome Meditation Numbers
 December 13, 2017
 Scribed Minutes of an Open-microphone for expressing communal Intentions...

 An advertised public meeting held at the meeting hall of Phoenix Rising in 
Fairfield, Iowa

 


 Intending For Super Radiance and numbers meditating in Fairfield..

 That Fairfield, Iowa be known as a Meditation Meccah without limit.

 Intention that there be a feeling of welcome, freedom. 

 That we are together in this alternative community all over town.

 Intend that there be a sense of family with heartfelt commitment to community 
and family.

 That there once again be a feeling of group accomplishment, 
 like before with the 2.5 k meditating in the Domes.

 Encouraging meditators too. (vs. Sidhis-centric super radiance).

 Encourage a healthy environment for children and families, more sidhas, more 
entertainment in the presentation. Spaciousness. 

 Intend that the entire community can be proud. 
 
 Intending a community goal of having a top lifestyle, an affirming goal in our 
collective consciousness.

 Finding Friendliness, Compassion, Happiness in community. 

 Intending dedicated enthusiasm for drawing on and promoting the resource of 
our students, all ages, and all generations.

 Intend to promote the asset of the gold coming from the silence of meditation 
here, that people come to Fairfield for respite of the silence and the value in 
life of this.

 Intend that the leadership of the ™ movement themselves be in the Dome 
meditation with the group.

 Intend that we stop the teaching (pedagogy) by rote but that there be a new 
narrative with engagement.

 Intend to become a model for other communities.

 In the economy here, that we have Dome friendly jobs again.

 That we support each other going to the Domes.

 That we are having fun as a community.

 Intent on making everyone whole in their relationship with the TM .org.

 Creating better partnerships between the campus and the meditating community 
in processes by which we will create progress.

 Beyond peace and invincibility, market spirituality to the ‘young yogis’ of 
the new generations, in particular. That they come to Fairfield for the 
cultivating spiritual experience we have here.

 That the ™ .orgs be open to adaptability and flexibility themselves (SCI steps 
of Progress)

 These Scribed Notes on expressed intentions from the meeting are 
 transcribed here by Doug Hamilton


 The larger meeting progressed on in sequence after the introduction and this 
open ‘intentions’ part of the meeting to officials of the ™ community 
discussing general policy and processings for specific membership in the Dome 
meditation, ending with an open microphone addressing considerations for action 
on how to increase the numbers meditating collectively in Fairfield, Iowa.  

 Towards expanding numbers in the Domes, a long and short of it..

 Encourage people to join conditionally.  People can read the guidelines and 
decide if and how they would want to apply and be part of the group.
 .
 .

 

 A fifth Communal Meditatiing Fairfield Meeting tonite, 

 ..substantial presentation and short discussions considering the long term 
adversity within the collapse of numbers attending the daily group meditations 
in the Domes in Fairfield by the affect of the TM movement’s ongoing 
administrative monitoring of people’s private lives.
 


 

 
 Community Forum
 Wednesday December 13th, 7:30 pm – all invited
 Super-Radiance – What Will It Take?
 To Bring Us Together, To Rebuild Common Purpose
 To Restore Group Program Attendance
 Phoenix Rising Hall, 207 W Burlington

Re: RE: [FairfieldLife] RE: Fairfield’s Cr isis of Meditating Numbers in the Dome

2018-01-12 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Thank you for your responses. The information and insights that you provide are 
helpful.  

 Regarding the administration's areas of concerns, such as non-MV Yagyas, I 
assume these are present tense concerns -- and not concerns for some minor 
things in the past. 
 

 I understand the admin concerns if an applicant is currently sponsoring 
yagyas, or actively practicing or promoting some other self-development 
methods. However, I assume that it is not an issue if one is not currently (nor 
for many years) involved with any other program or practices. 
 

 For example, if this is the policy, then some type of limited yagya 
sponsorship 20 years ago would be irrelevant to participating in ILC and/or 
Dome programs. I know you don't speak for the course administration, but any 
insights that you may have on the experience of contemporary IAA and ILC 
applicants would be helpful. 
 

 I do notice that the ILC application appears distinctly gentle and 
considerate.  I assume this reflects a newer, kinder and mature approach 
compared to some more rigid admin guidelines and policies that may have existed 
in the past. For example, the application asks, 
 

 "Please let us know the names of the two TM Teachers you are most well known 
to, so we can give one or both of them a call. ... This is not a compulsory 
question. If you don't know two TM Teachers, that's okay. ..."
   
 Thanks.

Re: RE: [FairfieldLife] RE: Fairfield’s Cr isis of Meditating Numbers in the Dome

2018-01-11 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]


 Doug H wrote:
 

 "guidelines for Dome group meditation membership were not directly taken up or 
responded to at the Phoenix Rising meeting.  
 In the preliminary meetings leading up to the Phoenix Rising meeting it was 
summarily expressed that the leadership feels for the status quo, that people 
‘made promises’ and therefore should not be in the Domes for practicing other 
competing systems to MVS, and then it was qualified a little in the process of 
meeting to be more particularly around those who ‘work against’ the movement. " 
 

 What are the current guidelines for Dome Group meditation membership?
 What promises are being referred to, above, "made promises" ?
 What practices are considered "competing systems to MVS" ? 

 Is there a timeframe for this? That is not practiced for x years?

[FairfieldLife] Ideal Life Assembly/Campus

2018-01-11 Thread skymt...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]

Hello,
 

 In browsing posts on FFL, I came across a link to ILA. I have some questions 
and hope to engage in a conversation about ILA.
 

 The ILA site shows artist rendition of future campus.  The "future campus" 
makes it sound like something planned.  However, other material on the site 
make it sound like an active program.  So my first question, what is the 
current status and size of the ILA program?
 

 Anyone on FFL participating? If so, how do you like it? 
 

 What is the program? -- hours, general schedule / practices, etc.
 

 Site says acceptance in IAA and current Dome Badge is required for governors 
and sidhas -- though not meditators.  
 What are the current requirements for Dome Badge? (and is IAA acceptance the 
same as having Dome Badge). I understand, at least in the past, (relatively 
strict) good standing in TMO is required, including not seeing other teachers. 
Is review of Dome Badge qualification dealt with on a case-by-case basis, a 
total situation appraisal, or is it a rigid checklist?  (See background below.)
 

 Do original Governor courses still qualify one as a Governor?  If not, what 
additional courses are needed? 
 

 And it appears meditators can participate in ILA. If I don't still qualify for 
governor programs, can I participate simply as a meditator. What is the daily 
program for meditators?
 

 Are all the direct fees for ILA included in the housing fee (I understand food 
and transportation are participant's responsibility)
 

 Some background to help put my questions in context. I am a meditator, teacher 
(not recertified), governor (from original courses) but have not been active 
with TMO for a long time. The last TM center I visited was probably 1995  to 
see some visiting pundits and a week at (former) AV clinic in Pacific Palisades 
in late 90's before it was sold. I lived in FF for a few months when it first 
opened. I taught full time for several years in mid 70's and part-time for 
several years prior. I have done long programs. I participated in three TM 
courses lasting six months and various shorter ones.  I lived with a group of 
Sidhas in first few years of the program doing group program regularly.  I 
attended various large assemblies in the early years. I had good standing in 
TMO when I was active for over 10 years.  I am not active with any other 
self-development / spiritual groups, though over the years I took a few courses 
here and there. My participation was quite limited and I am not currently 
active with any group or other practice.   And I have read a number of posts on 
FLL. And participated in FFL somewhat in its early years.
 

 Thanks.
 

 Sky

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