#nature onservancy

[anxious-witch]

Part two of me analyzing Damon Baker's photoshoot, this time, Kris' pictures.

As in the first post, this is my subjective opinion, you don't have to agree with me. Text under the cut, because this one is going to be REALLY long

Edit: I should have posted this one yesterday and Bojan's today but alas. Bojan will probably get another post for additional pictures at soke point today or tomorrow

So, starting off strong

Right from the get go, we get very unconventional way to portray a man. Damon clearly loves playing with gender roles, which showcases here by putting a headscarf and makeup on Kris. Interestingly, Kris is not looking into the camera here. He is being observed, but is not observing back just yet, as if letting us get used to this way of seeing him.

Another thing that I find interesting about this picture is how he appears almost messy? His hair is messy as well, the only thing the only peace of clothing we see him wear here is the headscarf. Like "look at me, I am naked exceot for this. Onserve it and feel it". It makes me recall that interview where he said he was called a girl a lot when he was younger and before he cut his hair. It's like here, he, it's a callback to that and this time, he is impassive to the reaction. He is simply letting himself be observed.

I think these two, are meant to focus on making Kris come to terms with the fact that he is allowed to be vulnerable. He is not in his full confidence yet, in the bigger picture he is once again, not looking into the camera, and his pose doesn't look entirely comfortable. His arm is bend in a way that looks more like he is hiding his hand than that he is using it to lean on something. His shirt is partially unbuttoned and we see a bit of his necklace, but we can't see the heart on it.

In the smaller picture, he looks more natural. As if he was caught mid-movement while talking, his gaze focused on the the person he is talking to. His pose is more masculine here as well, in comparison. His chin is up and he is taking up more space.

This one is so good. Kris has his arms wrapped around himself, but not completely and he isn't tense. It gives off a sense of someone doing something out if their comfort zone, but still trusting the person to not let him get hurt in such a vulnerable position. Much more comfortable position than the two pictures above, as if he is slowly relaxing into his role.

Perhaps an even more open show of vulnerability, Kris is looking directly into the camera, his eyes half lidded, as he is about to fall asleep, lulled in a sense if safety.

His legs and feet are bare, he is only wearing his underwear and a light white shirt. There is no makeup here, either, all that is shown here is Kris, in a almost childlike manner, especially in this pose.

Even the flower, despite suspecting it's ranunculus flower, that means charm and attraction, takes on a more innocent role here. This pictures is very soft, and I got the vibe that it almost represents Kris' inner child that never got to be vulnerable in his femininity. That he could not be a man and still be feminine, but here he gets to experience it without judgment.

So these four I paired up because they communicate a lot with one another, which is also why I think Kris put them in a separate post.

In these four, I feel like Damon really wanted to play with androgyny of Kris' features. In the first picture, Kris has a stockier pose, his chin is positioned higher and he is looking away from the camera. His stare is more sensual here, almost flirty. He definitely embodies more masculine, energy in which he is more comfortable due to him being used to being seen that way.

In the second one, it's a similar pose, but Kris' hand moved lower, so it almost looks like he is playing with his hair. His eyes are more open and vulnerable and he is also looking away from the camera. It reminds me of the picture "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog", not because they look similar, but they kind of give me a similar vibe, if that makes sense? Someone gazing into something far away, out of their reach.

Also Kris' eyes are so expressive here, I almost feel like I am seeing something private that I shouldn't be seeing.

Important to note that his heart necklace is at full display at the first three pictures.

In the third one, he has the most feminine pose. His chin is positioned lower, and his arm is more in the shadow than in the first picture, making him appear smaller. He is gazing directly at the camera, and one can practically feel his vulnerability.

It feels like these three are a progression of one another. Of Kris subtly shifting from his more masculine to more feminine expression, like he is lowering a shield of what we are expected to see vs what he wants to show.

This doesn't feel childlike like the picture with the flower, though. This is Kris showing he grew enough to know being vulnerable is fine, even when one is grown and I think that's beautiful. I love the way Damon played with how subtle difference in poses, light and expression can change sm.

The fourth picture I feel is truly a balance of masculine and feminine energy from the previous three. Kris isn't hiding his hands, which we have seen a lot in this photoshoot, they are on clear display. He is showing his hand, so to speak, but also, his hands are those of a guiarist and of a man and that doesn't make them any less beautiful.

His hair is messy and covering his eyes, hiding the most vulnerable part of him, but he also seems much more relaxed, almost as if he isn't posing. His chin is lowered and his head is titled to the side, coding it as a more feminine pose.

Despite the hair hiding his eyes, I am pretty sure they are open? Or at least, it's giving the effect of him gazing back at the viewer, observing them as much as they are observing him.

And last but not least, Kris' picture in color. And my god, what a picture to finish off with.

We have the element of water, which is very often associated with feelings. Water flows freely, but it also cleans and cleanses of anything stagnant left on us.

The closeup of Kris' face with a golden eyeshadow is just beautiful. It's messy, but we can now see that it's messy on purpose. As I said before, it reminds me of the makeup trend young girls used to do, where they would experiment with makeup before a shower. That way, they could let themselves be as creative as they liked and try more unconventional makeup, because they would take a shower immediately after and no one but them would see it.

This gives me the similar vibe, with Kris letting himself experiment with femininity again, the water running over his face representing his letting his feelings flow freely again.

All in all, I absolutely adored this, Kris is certainly an amazing model and I love that Damon was very creative with his photoshoot. If anyone wants to add any other thoughts they have, feel free to, I love hearing other people's opinions on this!

[bunlai]

BURMESE STIR-FRY DE LAS EVERGLADES Pythons have slithered in and out of my life, starting even before the first decade of my life, again as a teenager, then as the old man I am now. Today, my brother, Ted, breeds them, and as children we hunted snakes and lizards and practically any living thing we could catch. But we never thought to eat them, unless they were fish. Nobody ever taught or encouraged us to hunt or fish. That's why I strongly suspect the urge to chase down and catch an animal comes from somewhere ancient, written in our D.N.A. With the establishment of the Burmese python, native rabbit and raccoon populations have plummeted.  Largely due to the pet trade, invasive species are the top cause for biodiversity loss in Florida - making the state the epicenter of invasive species in the world. Last fall, I spent over a month in the Everglades hunting, gathering, and fishing for edible invasive species. In the Everglades, I met people who love hunting pythons and other reptiles more than anything. They call their hobby "herping." I asked my friend Wei to join me on the trip, because he's killed and eaten more animals than Noah had on the Ark; and I just knew I just didn't have the drive or the skill to kill like he did. And I asked my friend Andrew, a New York Times photographer, to come along, too, to record the whole thing. We followed the herpers around like happy but confused beagles. After a light rain, Quinton, , Jeffrey, a master helper along with his wife - they both worked at Bob's wild animal refuge, off and on - and now he was leading me and his friends along dirt back roads that were dangerously full of knee deep water-filled pot holes. Jeff drove Bob's tank-like open air swamp buggy; all of us with flashlights in hand - and lights strapped to our heads too.  After couple hours of driving, my ass bone felt deeply bruised. For everyone else, these bumpy rides were obviously no big deal. I like to think of myself as an a rough and tumble outdoorsy person but ass told me otherwise. Quinton, a teenage snake hunting prodigy, spotted a python crossing the road. The vehicle stopped and we all jumped out. It was as long as half the road and Quinton stepped up to it and redirected it with the snake hook. "Bun, grab it by it's neck quickly and don't hesitate." I snapped the snake up by it's neck and I was high on adrenaline and relieved I didn't get bitten. Python teeth are curved and the only way of getting your hand out of their mouths are to push your hand deeper into it to dislodge their teeth - this wasn't something I wanted to experience. I lowered the python into a pillow case and twirled it around and knotted it. A few days after catching the python, Dylan the film crew arrive. Dylan, who I grew up with, a fellow environmentalist and actor, was my co-host of the show I had been working on for years. It was finally happening but I never imagined I'd dread killing so much, and especially of an invasive species. We kept the python in a chest freezer for a couple of hours to slow it down and make it sleep. We were now filming the cooking scene. Dylan and I pulled it out of the bag and onto a wooden outdoor bar top  - it slowly pulsated in our hands. It didn't have much fight left in it and it was bigger and more beautiful than I remembered. I had reached out to a couple of scientists who specialize in humane ways of killing farm animals before my hunting trip to the Everglades; and they told me that one of the most humane ways of killing animals are to club them in the head. I couldn't bring myself to club the snake - and I hate killing animals. At Miya's, like most chefs, I took for granted that the animals I used were already dead. If people had to kill what they ate, I'd betcha we'd have millions more vegetarians. As I raised the cleaver to cut the snakes head off, my arm FROZE high above my head. After what seemed like hours, Dylan, whose always the calm one whispered "do it Bun." I slammed the heavy knife over it's neck and it's severed head seemed to gasp for breath. The rest of the body seemed to come to life too. It was heartbreaking and revolting to kill with my own hands. Soon Dylan and I were pulling it's skin off. I was emotionally drained. Python, like big predatory fish, are not the kind of food you should eat all of the time; these apex predators have been found to contain high amounts of neurotoxic mercury. That said, the way to prepare python is to slice it's milky-colored lean flesh into paper-thin bite-size pieces. Cut into thicker pieces and cooked for too long the flesh became as hard as tire rubber that only a gnawing dog might appreciate. Sliced so thin that the flesh is translucent and passed quickly through smoking hot peanut oil in a wok - I seasoned the snake Cantonese-style - with garlic, ginger, scallions, hot peppers, soy sauce, sherry, and fish sauce.  The flesh had the pleasant chewiness of squid and easily took on all the flavors of the seasonings. This was the first-time any of us - including the herpers - had ever eaten a snake. The only thing that would have made this meal better woulda been a bowl of rice. 飲杯! Yámbūi!

[bulek-tante-bibi-baba-paklek]

Jotaro x Half Foreigner Student (Tomboy)

Female reader with 3taro, part 1

Plot

You go to the same high school with Jotaro, who also half foreigner.

Setting

Different country brings different culture, different nature, different figure, different accent and so on. Your mother was abroad student, end up married a Japanese. You have your common motherland traits. You have distinct look and voice, but always confident. With your valiant character, everybody admires you.

Appearance

You wear masculine clothing for upper uniform and feminime clothing for lower uniform. Usually blue coat, black midi skirt and black stogging (stocking-legging). You have short hair cut, very thin across the ear and over nape, little spiky on front. You wear double side stud pearl earrings. You have green birthmark on the left cheek.

Other

Your hobby is writing stories. Sometimes you draw your characters and slowly learning for it. At school, you are famous as the great story teller, well respected, always being asked for advice by peers. Classes never quiet if you join, maneuver as many discussions as ever. People like you since you have a way with words that every interaction with any audience feels engaging. It makes you known by everyone and knows how everyone will respond (also onserving their behaviour).

Since your school only support sports and a few kind of arts, you are free from clubs and organizations. You like to spent time alone. Even if you dont like too many people around you, you became the bridge among people.

Although you have high interest for science research, you have bad grades at mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology.

Sorry for the weird writing, here we go!

"Portrait"

For weeks, you heard about a dozen girls stories asking you the same thing. How to gain Jotaro's attention, especially after he gone for who knows. Where did he go actually? What did he do actually? You usually don't get surprised if other talks about romance. Boys and girls come to you, if they have crush on each other, you only hint a little that they could work for their feelings together. This time, you never heard anything from Jotaro himself. You don't know what he thinks. You two never really have strong friendship, only through glances at corridors and roads. Now, about Jotaro, he seems doesn't even care.

One morning, you look him on the way to school, a bunch of girls around him. He pretty much looks annoyed, shouting them to stop, but didn't work. You see that is the problem, he also likes being alone, but can't afford peace in daily basis. You know people call him a delinquent, you didn't care. You approach him and giving cold gaze to those girls. They got freeze a bit and move back. Now, you just walking with Jotaro in silence. He is tall, even when you are the tallest girl, you just about his shoulder. No words until you two get near the main door. He stopped. You turned to him.

"How did you do that?" He finally asked.

"Do what?" You don't give much importance to what was happening.

"The girls, they stay away, when you come."

"I hope I know too, then. See you around, Jotaro-san."

Now he looks at you, studying your expression.

"Yare yare daze."

After you reach your class, out of his sight, he mumbles, "(Y/N) (L/N), the people person yet so cold in demeanor."

This is something you always carry, a poker face, shout a pout whenever you are serious. You laugh the loudest but hardly smile the fullest. You prefer bow instead, waves, or shaking hands as a nice replacement.

Class begin and you let out some curious thoughts that never runs out your energy. The teachers do favour you and intrigued by your questions. But they just can't believe why you always fail in some exams with that brilliant mind. Unexpected.

After school, you spent the time in the library doing homeworks. You like studying there and feel joyful when you can entirely enjoy some quality time at home free from school tasks. You truly hide the activity of learning, just nobody watch you study, makes you feel relaxed and help with concentration.

On afternoon, you visited your grandmother on previous day, so you get tired. You like to travel but don't like sitting on train or car for long. You always got dizzy. You also hate airplane since your ears felt like already exploded. Except ship, you can bear with the vast view.

Sitting in front of the window, you began losing focus on the text and try tilting your head on the wall. You close your book and doze. Your heavy eyes didnt open until about almost 50 minutes later. The sun is near the horizon when you finally open your eyes. Surprisingly, Jotaro sits across you, observing your works, (your handwriting). You got up and look at the sky, it's already bright orange. You see his reflection on the window. Eyes on you.

"What's the matter, Jotaro-san?"

"It's Jotaro. Just call me Jotaro, or whatever. We also the same age".

"Oh, when exactly is your birthday?"

"(D/D) (M/M)."

"Year of (Y/Y/Y/Y)?"

"Yes."

"So, I actually I am older than you, Jotaro. I was born on (M/M), (D/D)."

"(Y/N), come on, it's getting late."

Was he waiting for me? Was he looking for me? And I end up sleeping here? What is he doing? What am I doing?

Again, we just keep quiet along the way. Almost no student in sight. I look at our shadows.

"So, what were you looking in the library, Jotaro."

"It's obvious."

"What?"

"Library is no place for loud girls."

"Oh"

You don't remember Jotaro participating in any club or anyone mention him so perhaps he looking for somewhere nice to spent time alone studying. He doesn't look so expressive either. So, why would a so called delinquent attracted to books?

"What do you like, Jotaro?"

"What do I like?"

"Yes, I am asking you, what would you like or is there anything you like in particular?"

"I hope I know too."

He answers the way you answered his question before. He had a reputation for being laconic. You choose to recognize his attitude instead.

He is calm, I don't know about his habit but from his expression he has an exceptional perseverence. Like it flashes around his clear blue eyes that I rarely see before.

"Stop looking at me."

"Oh sorry, you just, high, I mean tall, you know. Of course I need to direct my gaze to look at you."

"You don't need to do that, I could already look at you, fairly."

"Pretty properly, I guess."

We go silent for a bit longer until we reach near the Kujo's residence. The sky is already purple.

"See you around, Jotaro-san."

[First person POV]

I contacted my mother and she said she is waiting for me in hospital. I still need to see my grandmother there so I go to the station.

Mother also brought dinner and some clothes for me, I can manage a trip every two days without train hectic. Anyway, I already slept. Safe and sound.

It is almost weekend, grandmother still need extra medication from lung condition. She continuously cough and getting weaker. She struggle so much. My parents always busy working so she take care of me, teach me, or morelike I absorp her knowledge over time. Now I have years to achieve at least a scholar graduate, hopefully I can go through with my grnadmother too. To became independent like her, having strong mentality and resilience, I wish so.

"Oi. I thought you were studying."

"Ah. I just remember things."

"Things?"

I show Jotaro some doodle of me and my grandmother stories.

"Where is she?"

"At hospital."

"What happened?"

"Lung treatment. "

"You visit her everyday?"

"Just once in two days."

"You always sleep here once in two days."

"You right."

"So, you also spent this weekend at hospital, right?"

"I think so."

"What are you going to do?"

"Maybe drawing."

"Drawing?"

"Yes, drawing."

"What do you like to draw?"

"I think I like to draw you, Jotaro."

He look down grabbing his hat.

"That's not what I mean."

"But that's what I mean. I want to draw you. Let me do it."

"Whatever."

"If you want to get a nice portrait, you should look at me and pull the hat up a little."

"Yare yare daze."

"Don't try to look until I finish."

He finally look at me, but didn't move his hat. His gaze piercing, but it gives me a clear sight to his eyes. For the rest of the head, I can manage.

"Jotaro, can you move here? You are blocking the sun."

He didn't reply and just move, now not across the table, but side to side with me. I move my direction to him. Accidently nudge his knee with mine.

"Sorry!" I said spontaneously.

He still quiet. I proceed the image. After some shadow lines and a lot of hair textures, it really difficult but I'm satisfied.

"I think it's enough, for now."

I show him the paper. He didn't say anything. I began to not sure so I start packing my bag. Holding it with two hands, he look with deep inspection, I think his eyes just sparkle. He then grab other paper and a pencil. His hands cup my cheeks and he whispers.

"Close your eyes and do not move until I told you."

He look at me menacingly, so I oblige.

"What happen if I open my eyes?"

"You will see."

Jotaro uses Star Platinum to draw you in detail. He gently trails your facial features from eyebrows, eyelashes, nose, lips, ears, hair. His hands stop on your shoulders.

"What are you doing exactly, Jotaro?"

"Shut up. I'm watching you closely so don't try to peek."

Silence falls between us, I can hear pencil scratching. Is he drawing me? For real? I let out a heavy exhale but automatically grab my nose. That was rude of me! His hand reach mine, one still rest my shoulder.

"Relax, (Y,N). Hold just a little bit."

But how he draw when both hands didn't carry the pencil?

He takes my hand from my face and put the paper on it.

"Now, you can see."

"Jo-Jotaro?!"

His drawing is more realistic than mine! And he is so fast doing it!

"How could you?"

"I could only do it when your eyes closed, while you give an amazing touch for my eyes, so we are even now."

"Um- is that the real deal?" I get curious.

"No, the final thing, is which portrait you will take home?" He points them.

Oh no, I don't like this kind of selection.

"How about we find a make a copy for each other?"

"Good deal."

I chuckled, he noticed, tilting his hat again.

"One thing I can tell you is you have hidden mark on your eyelids."

I have never told by anyone and can't see it in the mirror so I startled.

"But the portrait is clear!"

He put his finger under my eyebrow, and kiss my eye, then the other side. WHY DID HE JUST KISS MY EYES?

"Ignorant, oblivious, are you even sentient?"

"Coming from you, I take that as a compliment."

He puff a chuckle.

"You have clarified my determination."

"What?! Why I make your judgment? You can let your own emotions affect your decisions. Don't depend on me."

He kisses my hands.

"What we will become, depends on us."

I hestitant to kiss his hand back, since I'm older than him. While he still facing down, I press his temple with my thumb, he looks up and I kiss his forehead.

We back home quitely that evening.

[zwiowiuoie]

What changes me (or you)?

A small download but my 8th house starts at 24° virgo and ends at 2° scorpio. The full portion of the house of libra falls into that space. Also, my sun is 22° libra, mercury 5° libra, and mars 0° libra.

So the answer to the question, "what changes me?" is;

1. the topics of 3rd decan virgo degree (you could take it ad a 3rd decan virgo asc characteristics/concepts/topics).

2. Also it's a taurus degree (venus related) to keep in mind.

3. virgo is ruled by mercury. What i think day to say, the people who tend to see/interact with everyday, my day to day relationships, interactions... you see, it's almost anything that happens day to day. It's a routine, not one that we always able to notice (you know that "you'd think 'there comes a tree after tree', not realizing you are walking deep into the forest" kinda term? It's that kind of a "routine.")

4. Just to stop and onserve the big picture; mercury is related to the way we connect, and (since the whole portion of the zodiac sign libra falls into my 8th house) im considering libra's ruler venus, which is about our intimate relationships, and (with the taurus concept, which is venus's second sign) where we "settle". My mercury is also in libra, and my venus is in scorpio. I can say that my relationships, either small or big ones, control me a lot.

(Further explanation: 8th house shows me "what changes me", which means, if i don't control what changes me, it will keep changing me according to its own way; all the houses exist and happen at the same time, whether or not we become conscious of ourselves and the world around us; we live according to our pattern <can be considered as the 'astrological pattern'> as long as we are alive. To mention the fact that 8th house's most popular meaning is the secrets and hidden things, so, it's meant to be that way <unconscious> normally, but "a secret" or "a hidden thing" would always have a witness.)

Well anyways i actually got tired, if there will be a question, i could maybe explain the idea more. But you see, you could apply this method to yohr own chart to figure out what controls/changes you. As an example, i know that if i change the dinamic of my close and/or day to day relationships and interactions, my life can change in a way that can't be compared to its previous look/situation. 8th house is the skeleton. Walking around as a badic skeketon would be— it wouldn't be, you need muscles and all that human body complexity lol, but i mean, it would be "awkward". That doesnt mean the concept of skeleton is awkward, right?! We need them. It's not advantageous or disadvantageous to have a skeleton, it's just the nature of the system of a body. And it's meant to stay hidden. Unless you need a surgery. Or maybe you are already walking arpund with an open arm, showing your skeleton, you SHOULD face the fact that you are able to see your own skeleton and send yourself into the nearest hospital please. And do you control your skeleton? Yes. And can it control you? Yes! You are living with it. Also know that just because your arm is broken, that doesn't mean you should cut your arm off and live that way. Though you can do it, but i myself wouldn't suggest it.

That's the relationship between us and what controls us. If your 8th house starts at Sagittarius, you should realize that the common beliefs and religions around you and your own ones control you. The antidote is gemini, which means, you should learn more, get educated, think more if you want to change your life from its core. Whether or not it's good or bad, it would just stop you from being able see the life from that same old perspective again.

I hope the idea is generally understood.

Good day, people!

💕

[red-dyed-sarumane]

idk what to think of it knowing all of it now. i feel like i understand so much & also absolutely nothing at the same time. like. so that world is both falling apart and not at the same time until they're observing it, then its dying, disappearing. would it be okay if they forgot about it, stopped onserving it, left it alone? would it continue to fall to all the disasters? is it even possible to save them in the first place? although that line about the old world continuing in a "triodal direction". thats basically a donut, so its just happening all over again?? that stuff about camouflage, is any of it really happening? what parts of the bg info are from the teachers perspective and what from the scientists? surely she died but whats in what world. do they have their own people on the other world are they affecting it from there?? are they just simply viewing it?? but they have to be interacting in some way if theyre trying to save it... the giant moon they said they saw. is that before that world disappeared like a signal of the end or is that a consequence of letting it die again?

BUT ALSO i have. made a connection. the kanji that start parts in aru sekai. it starts with past, which would make sense i guess, bUt kyuuyaku starts with the same kanji & in the video this is emphasized to the point it covers the screen repeatedly for a second. so i would think. kyuuyaku is the description of this "past". which could mean, if im right, any future songs would start with, or at least have, the other kanji in the title ( 終, 凹, 封, 命, 十, 盲, 永) & would elaborate on thise parts of aru sekai. aru sekai & kyuuyaku are definitely connected & talking about the same content just different parts of it. kyuuyaku more so talking about the extent of the damage its self and the "promise" here is probably the scientists deciding to do what it takes to save it.

if i were to guess 「今刻んだ」 is probably referring to the connection with "that" world meaning its gone, theyve lost it. 「今拓いた」 would then be them working to reconnect with it, or reopening the path to "that" world. 「対自核は/繰り返した」 the first part here is supposed to be read as fractal & the nature of fractals is repeating so that makes sense but im thinking maybe its also a metaphor for "that" world, the infinite possibilities ending in essentially the same result, or no matter how they interact with "that" world the end is inevitable.

i also think in regards to kyuuyaku it's interesting that the "mata ashita" gets cut off, but its not just replacing the ta for the begining of the next word. the end kanji is different, making it incomplete, like if you were interrupted from writing it, or perhaps a computer glitch. so im thinking the first "good bye see you tomorrow" is from someone in "that" world, that it ended before they could finish. maybe theyre aware of the people on the outside trying to help i dont know. the second goodbye see you tomorrow is complete. its a full sentence and its sung as one of the longest notes. which makes me think rather than ur casual farewell its meant as "we'll do the same thing tomorrow/continue to try tomorrow". not to mention on of the first lines is about waiting for tomorrow. maybe they only get one try per day? maybe thats how long it takes to establish a connetion.

[dannyphannypack]

hi ladieds! i just got my wisdok teeth out and someone asked me to talk anout this danny phantom lore idea i had so! i feel pretty notmal so idk if this wikl be funny or mot but that might just be the drugs talking ok so ya’llknwohow thr ghost zone is shit ? likr whay is UP with everything judt floatung atound? and then theres clockwork, whi literally IS THE GHOST OF TIME, and nocturne is the GHOST OF SLEEP, etx. i think we all prettymuch agree that some ghosts in the gz were never human (the far frozen citizens, pandora, etc) and i’m proposing that they were born through human beliefs/concepts. so like clockwork: time is ahuman concept, and so he was “born” in a fairly new ghost zone (bc time has been an idea since ... well since the beginning of time) so if clockwork exists ... it would make sense for other human concepts to exist toorigjt ???? so like what other human concept ghosts are there? and then i had anither idea ... what ifthere was lime ... a council of the first concept ghosts that reign in the ghost zone (or did). but then what happened? why did they disband? and why is clockwork constantly watched over by these observant eyeball weirdos when he’s obviouslt more powerful than them? and how did the ring of rage and crown of fire come to be anyway? WELLL, you could look at it like a green lanternthing, like “we could harness it for good” and then it just madeeverything worse. or maybe it’s something else ... maybe the council didn’t MAKE the ring and crown,,,, maybe someone else did, someone who somehow gained more knowledge (and therefore more power) than the council itself .... here’s where i bring in uglyface bithman but hear me out

that looks like its formatted weird but whatever

SOUJOURN !! who mapped the entire ghost zone (or a great deal of it, the gz might be infinite for all we know) OBVIOUSLT HE HAS MORE KNOWLEDGE THAN RVERYONE ELSE. what if he challenged the council? and there was a huge fight? or mayne there was some other war for some other reason .... but nevertheless this gz “war” ... stay with me here .... almosr completelt destroyed the ghost zone. like ... the entire dimension is cracking and breaking up and could cause the entire dimensions to EXPLODE, and the surrounding dimensions should ALSO BE RIPPED OPEN AND EVERYONE WOULD DIE .... so listen ... soujourn enlists (or imprisons?) cockwork to freeze time i. the ghost zone so that it stops cracking and breaking apart, but the cracks have already caused damage that bring about more natural portals in our world. and and the observants? work for sojourn. think about what the onservants look like. now look at sounourns belt and staff. YOU CANT TELL ME THWYRE NOT CONNECTED. YOU CSNT. IVR CRACKED THE CODE LAIDIEDS !!!!! someone told me to make this post and idk who i dont remember but i’ll tag them in it later so they can see my drygged ramblindw like they wanted to 🤪 i dont think i was bery funny in this but im sure ima look back at it when im not drugged and be like HAHAHAHAHAHHAA ,,,, have a good day ladies

[thesleepinbeauty]

Onserving Nature, Being Minful

Onserving Nature, Being Minful

Ms Tiny’s radio is playing loudly. 5 stray dogs are gathering outside. I’ve rescued their target, which is a young, brown female pup. She is in her heating stage as wimm soon be ready to mate. My 1 year old shitzu is jittery. Hunger pains flood my lower stomach. There is nothing cooked and in the fridge to eat. The stray dog has finally mate my newly adopted female pup. I am now…

[thechitchatbar]

What was that ?

Hi Guys, Please Join the interesting discussion and share your views...and experiences.

Discussion by :  Conservative Not Republican

Incident one....

We live on several acres of land, and our house and property backs up to what is probably about a hundred acres or so of wooded land which is owned by another family down the road. Their side is woods. Our side is pasture land.

About 10:30 one night, (three years ago), I was taking some garbage out to put in a compost bin which is located next to our barn. I am directly facing the border of our property and looking across our pasture into the woods owned by the family down the road.

The distance from where I'm standing, to the edge of our property bordering the woods, is probably 70 or 80 feet...give or take. The total border line length of woods between our two properties is in the neighborhood of 1000 feet wide...give or take.

It is pitch black outside, (either it was overcast or no moon, I don't recall which) with the only illumination coming from lights inside of our house. My trip to the compost bin is a mostly flat, easy walk from the house and has no obstacles to speak of. As such, I don't need a flashlight to do something I've done hundreds of times before.

On this particular night, when I reached the compost bin and look out into the woods, a red light comes on... and appears to be just at the edge of our property line. I've lived here 24 years, and I have never seen any kind of light in those woods...except for one time, (which is later in the story.)

There are no trails or roads on the border of our two property boundaries, and as I would discover the next morning, there was in fact a large pile of brush, an old fallen tree trunk, small tree saplings growing, sticker bushes, not to mention the barbed wire fence, which would have been right about the spot where I saw the light.

Imagine what a tail light on an ATV or motorcycle would look like in the dark if you stepped on the brake pedal. The light came on, stayed on for perhaps four, maybe five seconds, and then blinked out. I could see no kind additional reflection...the kind which should have at least illuminated a tail light mount, fender, or some other part of the vehicle ....if it was on a vehicle. There was nothing.

The size of the light, however, appeared to be much smaller...about half the size....of what you would imagine a tail light on a vehicle to look like, but was almost, without question, electrical in nature. When the light came on it was solid and steady. Just like a tail light on a vehicle would look.

In other words, if someone had been sitting on a motorcycle, they would have to be dead still in order not to show any side to side motion. A rider in the woods, in pitch black, on uneven ground, would almost have to have circus act balance capability to hold that steady. There was no movement.

If it was an ATV, it only had one tail light. Sure, it's possible that some ATV's only have one light or that the other was burned out, but that still doesn't account for the small size of the light, nor the placement of the light in a bushy area where there would be no reason (or at least not any legitimate one) for a vehicle to be at 10:30 pm at night.

I go back into the house to get a flashlight, listening as I'm going, for someone to start up an engine. I hear nothing. I'm in the house for no more than 15 seconds and back outside with the flashlight.

I shine the light where the red light was....but see nothing. Hear nothing. If it was a vehicle, there is no way they could have gotten out of that area that quickly without making a fair amount of noise. If it was a vehicle just sitting there, my light would have illuminated it. Nothing.

I don't know of any animal which would display that bright of a red eye shine with the amount of light which was available, not to mention, there was only one light (or eye). It appeared electrical in nature and had absolutely no movement to it at all. An animal could not replicate that I don't believe. Also, while it would have been small for a tail light on a vehicle, it would have been HUGE for an animal in terms of eye size.

I know that there is some hunting done in those woods, so I asked a neighbor who is a pretty avid hunter, if it was possible that I could have seen the eye of a deer, or if a red flashlight is part of any kind of night hunting. He was not aware of any such circumstances.

Oh, I mentioned that I had only seen lights in those woods on one other occasion. You see, about 5 years ago, in those woods, a member of the family who owns that property, was killed in an accident, when the ATV he was riding, turned over on him.

The only other lights I have ever seen in those woods, were the lights from the searchers (and the helicopter spotlight) who were looking for him the night he went missing. I understand they found him about 4 in the morning. He had been dead for several hours.

If you want to consider possibilities a bit more "out there", then perhaps I was seeing a ghost light from the ATV he rode that fateful day.

In any event, I have pondered this for over three years now...with the possibilities I described....but still have no logical explanation for what that light was. You tell me.

Oh, and one other thing....ever since then, whenever I have taken something out at night to throw in the compost bin, I'll stand there and linger for a few seconds....waiting.

I have never seen it again.

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Today In History : 

1962 - U.S.A. Telstar Launched1962 : Telstar, the world's first communications satellite a privately sponsored space launch was launched into orbit .

1964 - Beatles "A Hard Day's Night" Released1964 : The Beatles release the "A Hard Day's Night" album as the soundtrack to their first film of the same name.

1999 - US Women's Soccer Team Wins World Cup1999 : The U.S. women's soccer team wins the final between the U.S. and China beating the Chinese team in a penalty shootout

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Recommended Discussion: 

TV Show On:  Landing Spot. by Vampire Jesus.

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Update: 

Click “Welcome “ to enter the disqus discussions.

[roseinrapture]

Why is Pidge the one in fics who immediately knows gossip and shit. You could probs literally rant for hours abt ur problems with pidge and she turn to you and be like "You know i cant listen and work at the same time jeez" Allura literally gossips with her mice and is the nosiest fucker and after her is Hunk. Like please. Please. Hunk goes on suer long ass tirades on how he knew those two were getting together. And Allura just like "Yes help me fill my hair with secret young paladin. Love getting to know my human friends through onservation and speculation. Feels good feels natural"

[maxwellyjordan]

Friday round-up

Yesterday afternoon, Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in as the officer charged with presiding over the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Kal Golde covers the court’s answers to some frequently asked questions about the chief justice’s role for this blog. For USA Today, Richard Wolf reports that “[f]or the next several weeks, Roberts will hold down two of the most prominent and difficult jobs in America[:] The impeachment trial will consume his afternoons and, possibly, evenings;[; b]y morning, he will continue to help decide Supreme Court cases heard last fall, choose others to hear next spring, and preside over oral arguments.” At AP, Mark Sherman reports that Roberts “is likely to play a modest role when he presides over the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, in keeping with his frequently repeated insistence that judges are not politicians.” At National Review, Kevin Williamson pushes back against suggestions that Roberts’ role in the impeachment could threaten the chief justice’s reputation.

Briefly:

At Bloomberg Environment, Ellen Gilmer reports that”[c]onservation groups are calling on the Supreme Court to reject efforts by the Trump administration and Dominion Energy Inc. to build a natural gas pipeline across the Appalachian Trail,” in U.S. Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association. [Disclosure: Goldstein & Russell, P.C., whose attorneys contribute to this blog in various capacities, is counsel on an amicus brief in support of the respondents in this case.]

At the Idaho Statesman (via How Appealing), Ruth Brown reports that “[a] Canyon County woman asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to rule whether police acted appropriately when they threw tear gas into her home and destroyed her belongings while they were searching for her ex-boyfriend.”

Charlotte Garden analyzes Wednesday’s argument in Babb v. Wilkie, which asks whether federal employees suing under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act must prove that age discrimination was a but-for cause of an adverse employment action, for this blog.

At Reason, Damon Root writes that although “[e]arlier this month, 207 members of Congress … filed a friend of the court brief [in June Medical Services v. Gee] urging the Supreme Court to take a second look at one of the most famous precedents in American law, the abortion rights-affirming decision Roe v. Wade (1973),” “[a]t least for now, the Court’s abortion rights precedents are likely to remain on the books.”

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Michael Helfand weighs in on Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, “which tests the constitutionality of state laws that exclude religious organizations from government funding,” arguing that “[w]hile it may be true that religious schools are not the only ones now denied the benefit of the tax-credit program, the Montana Supreme Court still gave effect to a religiously discriminatory rule,” and “[s]triking down a program that would benefit religious schools on that basis should be enough to trigger First Amendment protection.”

In the latest episode of Law360’s The Term podcast, Jimmy Hoover and Natalie Rodriguez “break down what to expect from Chief Justice John Roberts in his role presiding over President Trump’s impeachment trial; where the justices stand after oral arguments over the New Jersey Bridgegate scandal; and what caused Roberts to refer to the “OK, Boomer” meme in court.”

We rely on our readers to send us links for our round-up. If you have or know of a recent (published in the last two or three days) article, post, podcast or op-ed relating to the Supreme Court that you’d like us to consider for inclusion in the round-up, please send it to roundup [at] scotusblog.com. Thank you!

The post Friday round-up appeared first on SCOTUSblog.

from Law https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/01/friday-round-up-506/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[alanafsmith]

Trump is dead-set on ending 'chain migration' in the immigration deal — here's what it is

President Donald Trump wants to end "chain migration" as part of any immigration deal that Congress makes ahead of the next impending government shutdown.

Conservatives and immigration critics point to examples of terror suspects using the family-based immigration category as a reason for why it should be eliminated.

Advocates say the program is a proud part of American history, and takes far too long to be considered a threat.

Immigration is the central issue Republicans and Democrats have to resolve if they're going to prevent another government shutdown February 8, and President Donald Trump is dead-set on ending "chain migration" in any deal they make.

His administration and other conservatives have been trying to end the family-based immigration category for years. Their arguments often cite incidents of terror suspects sponsoring family members to come to the US, such as the attempted suicide bombing in New York City in December.

Some immigration critics have argued that the attack could have been prevented under the provisions of a proposed bill known as the RAISE Act, which seeks to cut legal immigration to the US by half.

Democrats, and those on the other side of this debate, say bringing family members to the US is how American immigration has worked since the country was founded, and accuse conservatives of over-blowing the harms.

"It has to be a bill to end chain migration," Trump said during a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers on January 9. "Chain migration is bringing in many, many people with one, and often it doesn't work out very well. Those many people are not doing us right."

Here's what the program is, how it works, and how many people can actually use it.

What is chain migration?

Chain migration is a term almost exclusively used by immigration hardliners when referring to the family reunification part of the US immigration system.

It lets US citizens or lawful permanent residents (people with Green Cards) to sponsor close family members to join them in the US.

Prominent groups that advocate for stricter immigration policies — like the Federation for American Immigration Reform and NumbersUSA — have frequently denounced chain migration, describing it as a process that admits "indefinite" numbers of unskilled immigrants based on family connections alone. They say it prompts foreigners to view US immigration as a "right or entitlement."

But those criticisms ignore the country's history of immigration, which has always allowed Americans to bring in their relatives, according to Stuart Anderson of the National Foundation for American Policy, a non-partisan think tank.

They're not gladiators or something. They're going to have family members.

"The term 'chain migration' is a contrived term," Anderson told Business Insider. "It's just part of every single immigration category in every country in the world, that when the principal person is sponsored, they're allowed to bring their spouse and minor child with them. They're not gladiators or something, they're human beings. They're going to have family members."

Immigration proponents typically describe family-based immigration as essential in helping new immigrants assimilate into US society. The American Immigration Council, for instance, argues that newcomers who can bring family members with them when they immigrate to the US have stronger social and economic support.

"It would almost seem opportunistic to use the case of one person out of the millions of people throughout US history who've come in by being sponsored by a family member to try to eliminate a particular category," Anderson said. "Particularly when this individual, from everything we know, did not present any problems at the time they came into the country but became radicalized in the last few years."

How chain migration applies to the NYC bomber

Family-sponsored immigration allowed Akayed Ullah, the 27-year-old suspect, to legally enter the United States from Bangladesh in 2011.

Authorities say strapped a makeshift pipe bomb to his chest and partially detonated it in a passageway in the heart of midtown Manhattan, mildly injuring three and causing thousands of commuters to flee before authorities found him lying on the ground at the scene of the explosion. Federal prosecutors charged Ullah with supporting a terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction.

Ullah received permanent residency under an immigration program known as the fourth family-based preference, Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton said December 11.

In 2017, most foreigners immigrating to the US under the fourth preference category waited in line for 13 years to come. But wait times can last as long as 23 years, depending on which country the immigrants are originally from.

It's unclear when exactly Ullah's family first petitioned for their immigrant visas, but it's likely they, too, waited in line for years before their 2011 entry. State Department data show that people who are currently being issued immigrant visas for that same fourth preference category have been waiting in line since at least 2004.

The "preference" in this case refers to the four family-based immigration categories, the last of which allows foreigners to apply for immigrant visas if their sibling is a US citizen.

Because those immigrants are allowed to bring their spouses and minor children, which is how Ullah gained entry, the process is often viewed by critics as allowing a "chain" of extended family members to immigrate to the US.

Millions of applicants and years-long backlogs

Immigration hardliners' theory that scores of newly naturalized US citizens are sponsoring endless strings of family members has been roundly criticized by immigration experts.

The US's visa and green-card backlogs alone ensure that many prospective immigrants face painstakingly long waiting periods before being admitted to the country or given permanent residency — a significant barrier in trying to get more family members to join them.

Family-based immigration is not an immediate process, and it can take years or even decades for immigrant visas to be made available and processed.

This is because the federal government applies strict numeric quotas to most family-based preference categories, resulting in years-long line-ups that eligible immigrants must wait in before their applications are approved.

For instance, the fourth preference category that Ullah's family waited in currently only allows 65,000 people to enter per year. Yet there's a backlog of nearly 2.5 million applicants, according to an upcoming NFAP report viewed by Business Insider.

Beyond the issuance of immigrant visas, once an immigrant arrives in the US on a visa, it takes additional time to receive a green card that denotes permanent residency. After that, permanent residents typically have to wait five years before they may apply to become US citizens.

The ongoing debate over family-based immigration could signal a bump in the road for any immigration deal between Republicans and Democrats.

The bipartisan Dream Act, reintroduced in Congress in September by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, includes a pathway to citizenship for young unauthorized immigrants, whose protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will be phased out over the next six months.

Immigration critics have argued that any pathway to citizenship offered to those immigrants would inevitably allow them to sponsor relatives — in some cases that could include their parents who first brought them to the US as children.

SEE ALSO: The New York bombing suspect wrote 'Trump, you failed to protect your nation' on Facebook right before the attack, feds say

DON'T MISS: Trump assailed the diversity visa lottery after the NYC truck attack — here's what that is

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A Georgetown professor explains how Martin Luther King Jr. 'has been severely whitewashed'

from All About Law http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-chain-migration-nyc-bombing-suspect-akayed-ullah-2017-12

[consciousowl]

What Karl Marx Got Right

If you are looking at the American political scene from outside, you can’t escape the feeling that the United States is now deeply schizophrenic. It continuously alternates ever more conservative and ever more progressive candidates. Who can forget the juxtapositions of George Bush, Sr. to Bill Clinton to George Bush, Jr. to Barack Obama to Donald Trump?

Clearly, the U.S. is deeply divided, as indicated by Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote, only to lose the electoral vote, a throwback from the States Rights’ compromise that made possible the consensus behind the U.S. Constitution. Are we committed to tackling climate change? How many Administrations did it take to get us to the Paris Summit, only to have Donald Trump walk out?

What few people would suspect is that a debunked economist, really a social critic, foresaw it all, even though most of his predictions failed to materialize. Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto is the second most popular book ever to be written, next to the Bible, itself. What? How so?​

Why a Resurgence of Interest in Karl Marx?

Capitalism as we know it today is not true capitalism, and socialism is no longer true socialism. We measure the difference primarily between free market and planned economies, and libertarian and totalitarian civil liberties. Americans who take a close look at how much better Sweden and France care for their citizens will be deeply distressed, as Bernie Sanders pointed out. However, youth in America, France and Sweden are equally disenchanted.

Globalization has spread the free market to almost every single country, with a boost for civil liberties to varying degrees. Along with it, the safety net has continuously eroded. Nothing can mitigate that less than 1% of the world’s population control the wealth of the bottom half. A Wall Street executive can earn 6,000 times the wages of his lowest employee.

The millennials have grown up a deeply compromised generation. They have to go back to living with mom and dad after finishing school until they can afford a house, or even an apartment that they can call their own. The workplace has moved from farm to factory to office. Now Starbuck’s provides office space for a new generation of contractors and would be entrepreneurs, using their laptops and tablets, with broadband courtesy of Google.​

Why Karl Marx’s Dialectic Has Never Been More Relevant

Karl Marx brilliantly encapsulated the logic of our lives in his formula of Thesis – Antithesis – Synthesis. We live in a world where every action produces an equal, but opposite reaction. We live in a world of polarity, of constant flow. There are no straight lines, only curves.

When you take a progressive view, you inspire others to take a conservative view. A conflict of some kind invariably ensues. Out of the contest of ideas and insights, a higher view emerges, containing parts of the previous positions, but with a unique twist. Thesis – Antithesis – Synthesis.

Think of father and mother begetting a daughter, let’s say “Sandy,” who is like each of her parents, and yet somehow different. Sandy is her own person. She mates and produces a son. That son is like both her husband and herself, and yet somehow different. So with people. So with ideas. An evolutionary progression, a gradual enfoldment… forever.​

We now find ourselves in an era of ever accelerating change, much as Ray Kurzweil observed with his vision of the Singularity. A generation of 20 years is now reduced to 18 months with high technology. Living in Silicon Valley for most of your life is for technology the equivalent of living for centuries in ordinary life. The only thing we can count on is change, itself. Thesis – Antithesis – Synthesis.​

Related article:  Is There an Upside To Setbacks?​

How Reductionism Ruined Marxism

Karl Marx grew up in an age where industrialization made a huge footprint on European and American society. The steam engine had been invented way back in 1790, but already in the early 1820’s, the world witnessed the first railroads and steamboats. By the time that Marx with Friedrich Engels wrote The Communist Manifesto as a young man in 1848, the movement from farm to factory was irreversible. Child labor was the norm, as were 12-hour days, six days a week. Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol wasn’t that much of an exaggeration.

As a consequence, Marx developed a masculine perspective, without being a sexist. He was preoccupied with the nexus of politics, economics and society. Could it all be explained in terms of power? The golden thread in this was economics. He saw that the rich and the powerful were not about to give up their privilege; hence the need for revolution.

The real problem with Marx was that he got so enthralled with using the dialectic from an economic standpoint that he minimalized everything else. Religion was the opiate of the people. The things that make life truly worthwhile, the divine, the creative and the intellectual, were simply distractions from getting on with material progress. Ironically, Marx, himself, seemed conscientious as a person, a very good father and husband. Perhaps he saw a higher truth in his private life.​

Don’t Thank Marx; Thank Socrates

Socrates, the father of philosophy, pioneered the dialectic for humanity, being influenced by Heraclites’s observation that you never step into the same river twice. Everything is in flux in the world of appearance. Socrates postulated that the truth could be found only in the world of pure forms or ideas. He focused on debunking his fellow Athenians of their conventional thinking. He ended up being accused of corrupting the youth and was given the choice of banishment or drinking hemlock. Socrates chose hemlock.

George Friedrich Hegel in the early 19th century picked up on Socrates concept of the dialectic, and developed it from a historical perspective. He saw civilization emerge from the creative tension of ideas that found their way into forms and everyday events. He looked at history from a multidimensional perspective. Living in the early romantic period, Hegel was not caught up in a realistic perspective of fighting exploitation in the big cities.

Karl Marx popularized the dialectic, but wedded it with his personal perspective, dialectic materialism. He rejoiced in standing Hegel on his head, moving from idealism to realism.​

In principle, the only things that really counted for Marx was bread and butter. The worker must take off his or her chains and own the means of production. Strangely, with quantum physics, the solid “real world” has become increasingly abstract, more like ideas than things. Marx would have been shocked.

How the Dialectic Informs the Big Picture

When Adam and Eve plucked the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, it was sweet to the mouth and bitter to the stomach. They awoke from primal unity as food gatherers, to polarity, becoming hunters and ultimately famers. They realized that they would “certainly die” in the big world out there as they got increasingly caught up in the survival game.

As we look at social, economic and political development, we notice constant swings, as in conservative to liberal positions. In culture, we notice perpetual oscillations from classical to romantic and then back again. When we take a jet halfway across the world, we will likely to fly an arc over the poles, as that route is faster than a straight line on a 3D sphere, such as Planet Earth. Straight lines work on paper, not in nature. The only straight lines in geography are manmade. Follow any brook, stream or river and be convinced.​

Related article:  Dancing on the Edge of Uncertainty​

We can never really take things at face value. Nothing is as it appears. We live out a story within a great dream where we are both the dreamer and the characters. In order to have a good story, you must have suspense, sudden turns, reversals, and above all, surprises. The last thing we suppose about life is that it could be God having fun, that the entire universe is one gigantic celebration of pure being. The Hindus have a Sanskrit word for it, Lila, or divine play.​

How the Dialectic Plays Out in Our Private Lives

If you remember learning to walk, or ride the bike, you will notice that you move to one direction, and then to its opposite, and then back again. A jet plane and an oceanliner both are constantly adjusting their trajectories with gyroscopes to stay on course.

We go from infancy to elementary school to college to military service or career to mate to children to contribution and retirement. Each time we finish one phase, we have to start all over again, and learn it all on a higher level. If we are perceptive, we will notice a spiral, rather than a circle or a straight line.

We don’t go straightforward without obstacles, and we don’t perpetually go around in circles. We go through this spiral where the bottom of one cycle is higher than the top of a previous cycle.

We celebrate a great breakthrough, such as finding the perfect mate, only to lose our job, to finding a new career, to finding more fulfillment from starting a business, and so on. If we are smart, we begin to realize that there is always something to learn, that this is all really a form of play. True, consequences are built in, but what game is worth playing without a clearly defined sense of rules.

The journey is always the reward.

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How the Dialectic Can Bring You Peace of Mind

On Karl Marx’s deathbed, he reminded his friends that he was NOT A MARXIST. Neither should we be. Yet we all owe him, his atheism not withstanding. Marx had the courage to challenge the established order and suggest there was another way. He gave us progressive taxation and the impetus for social progress around the world.

The dialectic is the game plan, but the story is up to you. You were put here as creator to create. You know this is ultimately a playground, and yet it is still precious to you. You realize that you are no longer “a spec of protoplasm on a dirt ball hurdling through space,” as Werner Erhard once put it. You are all of it. You can define your life as a progression of love and enlightenment, as opposed to an endless pursuit of more for the sake of more. You can then see how it is, indeed, more blessed to give than to receive.

May we together redefine our world, both in the private arena and in the public domain.​

What Karl Marx Got Right appeared first on http://consciousowl.com.

[stephanielisatara-blog]

OVER 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD: Double-gold medalist begins simply in baby sea turtle's voice: "I'm coming Mama, I'll see you soon, I know just how, I'll follow the moon..." Celebrating the love between child and parent comes an achingly beautiful story that has captured hearts around the world. *Donates to charity: every book saves a turtle!

"[G]orgeous watercolors chronicle the journey of a baby sea turtle from its hatching to its first swim in the sea." --Kirkus Reviews "[C]aptivates children with poetry..." --New York Times "[A] tiny one-inch hatchling teaches the world about courage...utterly magnificent..." --San Francisco Chronicle "[B]aby turtle wins hearts everywhere, expect your kids to hug you tight after the first read...expect to be asked to read again and again and again..." --USA Today "[I]'m coming Mama, I'll see you soon, I know just how, I'll follow the moon...we can't get baby turtle's song ut of our heads...you wont be able to either...achingly sweet little bedtime book for wee ones." --Huffington Post "[N]o surprise at all that this book has a world widetoddler-cult following...baby turtle serenades us all so sweetly with his song ofhome. Proceeds to turtle charities too!" --National Geographic "[H]ats off to this turtle hatchling who has garnered millions of fans acrossthe planet...a tiny activist who is saving his own kind...bravo." --World Wildlife Fund "[B]aby sea turtle is avatar for his cause, we salute him and are honored by his courage...sea turtles are endangered, one species, leatherbacks, are critically endangered. Only world awareness and the tireless efforts of activists can change this...bravo baby sea turtle,w eare all behind you!" --Monterey Bay Aquarium - Monterey, CA "[O]f theworld's seven species of sea turtles, five are found along Georgia's coast: loggerhead, green, leatherback, Kemp's ridley and hawksbill...I'll Follow the Moon is our bible and we sell out regularly here at the aquarium...magnificent turtle tome for all. " --Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta GA "[A] sand-to-sea struggle that tugs at everyone's heart...all the world cheers for baby sea turtle..." --Miami Seaquarium, Miami FL "[H]onu, or sea turtles, are considered holy in Hawaii...central to our culture and the old religion of Polynesia...that a baby Honu could have captured the world's heart as Ms. Tara's turtle has, just makes us so proud and happy...bravo!" --Waikiki Aquarium, Honolulu HI "[M]yrtle, our green sea turtle, draws fans from all over the world...where do these fans go after visiting Myrtle? To our other turtle star, baby green sea turtle who lives in our bookshop. You can't take home Myrtle, but you can take home Ms. Tara's turtle." --New England Aquarium, Boston MA "[C]onservation is a cornerstone of our mission here in North Carolina, we are dedicated to sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation and proudly involve our communities in releases...I'll Follow the Moon is a celebration of all we stand for, sea turtles have been on our planet for hundreds of millions of years, yet today they are listed as an endangered species,itis vitalwe all work together to change this..." --North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores "[S]tephanie Lisa Tara and Canadian illustrator Lee Edward Fodi have teamed up to create a lyrical rendition of a green sea turtle's first glimpse of life. Hatched on a moon-washed beach, the baby turtle finds its way by instinct across the expanse of sand to the sea and a rendezvous with its mother. Written in simple verse in the first person,  the rhythmic text is full of action and sensory detail and loaded with  alliteration and onomatopoeia for an enjoyable read-aloud. The refrain,  "I'm coming, Mama.....," repeated on each double page spread, is  soothing and reassuring of the joyful reunion to come. The atmosphere of  a quiet but determined struggle to break free of the egg soon gives way  to growing excitement as the turtle mingles with fellow hatchlings and  catches his first tempting sensations: the smell of salt air, the sight  of the moon's glow, thegentle touch and beckoning sounds of the waves  rushing toshore. Once he's free of the land, new motions take over:  gulp, spin, float, swim...The final happy refrain is new and  satisfying: "I'm here, Mama - here with you. I know I'd find you, Moon  did too. "[F]ramed by endpapers of soft, limitless,underseagreen,Fodi'sdelightful illustrations feature an animated and engagingbaby emergingfrom an egg buried in golden sand. With other tinyturtles, he is shown plowing through the damp sand, sampling the saltysea air and marching unerringly toward the moonlight glimmer, his guide  to the ocean. Once afloat, he soon comes face to face with "eyes like  mine" in his new watery home. The gold of sand, blue of sky and green of  thesea repeated throughout the book bring a sense of harmony. The  turtleisthe focal point of all the pictures, with few background   detailsadded.Theillustrator has carefully integrated the turtle's actions with Tara's verse which relies heavily on verbs: roll, slide,tumble......crawl, scoop, shove. Young children will be propelled through the story in the illustrationsaswell as the text. This attractive book is an enjoyable way tointroduceyoung listeners to a fascinating cycle in nature." Highly Recommended. Gillian Richardson, who lives in BC, is a former teacher-librarian and freelance  writer. --Canadian Materials Magazine, Gillian Richardson "[I]n  this tranquil bedtime story, a baby sea turtle hatches on the beach and  wants to find his mother. And he knows just how -- he'll follow the  moon! From his gentle struggles to break free of his egg to his determinationtodig his way out of the sand nest and his eager shuffles  towardtheocean, we follow the baby sea turtle on each step of hisinstinctivejourney back to his loving mother who awaits him in the sea.StephanieLisa Tara's gentle verse along with Lee Edward Fodi's soft, earth-toned illustrations capture the gentle natural beauty of this nocturnal beach migration." Very highly recommended. --Books of Wonder, New York City                                        

"One night in 2001, about a month after I brought baby Madeline home from the hospital, I noticed something quite strange on the beach in front of our south Florida home. It was late and Momwas tired, doing a last-one-of-the-day bottle feeding on the deck after along day of new mom activities. As Maddie slurped down the final ounceof her formula with that familiar glup, glup, glup sound, I noticed dark, tiny shapes scurrying across the sand. What was this? I wondered and went down for a closer look. There they were! Baby turtles streaming out of hundreds of small nests, gentle rises in the sand were their markers. The babies made fanciful patterns in the sand as they dashed onlittlegreen legs in a remarkable race to the sea. I watched them hop,one byone, into welcoming waves that sparkled under the beautifulmoonlight. "I'm coming Mama..." they seemed to be saying, and I realized that I was witnessing one of nature's sacred events, the love bond between mother and child.It is this precious feeling that inspired me to write I'll Follow the Moon, that came into being a few years later." Love, Stephanie Lisa Tara