Anyone who follows me knows Playing for Change is a movement close to my heart. Whenever the world gets me down, listening to this video smooths jagged edges of discontent. Sit back, crank it up, and smile knowing change and possibilities are attainable….
A few years ago I stumbled upon the HBO documentary Collapse. Utterly clueless on Michael Ruppert – I found myself powerless to turn away. Void of the slightest inkling of who or what he was, caught off guard and unprepared for his persona and unusual choice of film style – I let his hypnotic perspective shackle my full attention. Michael Ruppert blew my mind. Not able to shut up about the experience, sequestering visitors in front of Collapse, posting about him – all the while attempting to resolve why he left me hopelessly saddened and desolate.
On my way home from work tonight, I discussed Ruppert with a friend who happened to click on a link to Collapse in one of my comments a few days ago. Sideswiped by Ruppert much as I had been, we parted with my assurance to send him a link to Ruppert’s blog. What I discovered imploded reality – Michael C. Ruppert committed suicide in April 2014.
Still shaken, my request is that you click on the link below. If that proves daunting, at the very least read the eulogy below. RIP Michael C. Ruppert.
Here is a eulogy from a friend of Michael Ruppert, Sander Hicks
“Mike Ruppert was a friend of mine.
“He was an American prophet, a social critic, and a 9/11 truther. He had his enemies and he had his demons. He confronted the enemies. Not sure he confronted the demons.
But we can’t judge that now.
“His death this past weekend is a huge loss for the people. When I say ‘the people’ I mean anyone who cares about a political system out of control, blind to its own corruption, deluded by its sugar-free media.
“Ruppert was a trained investigator who sought to expose the shadow elements of the US government involved in drug trafficking and fake terrorism. He had the financial perception to alert the American people to the imminent economic crash, two years before the meltdown of 2008. Mike Ruppert was one of the first to point out the gross anomalies and obtuse leaps of logic in the Bush/Cheney explanations for the 9/11 attacks. In an authoritative book, Ruppert even accused Vice President Dick Cheney as the chief executor of the 9/11 attacks.
“We met in 1999 in New York City. Ruppert came into my life like a sentinel from a different reality. I had just gone through a kind of gateway, and he was like Morpheus in the Matrix, welcoming me in. My red pill had been the disruptive re-print of a certain controversial biography of then Governor George W. Bush. As an immediate result, an entire class of underground whistle-blowers popped up to welcome me into their world. Welcome to Zion. You are in. They introduced me to sets of facts and data that were verboten in the blue pill media. Ruppert was at the center of that gang.
“He explained that he had been an LAPD cop and narcotics detective. His Mom had been a Defense Intelligence Agency heavyweight in Moscow, so the CIA recruited him while he was at LAPD. He declined the offer. Why? He saw shit. He began feeding the LA Times info on CIA heroin trafficking as far back as 1979. LA Times sat on the story.
“The drug war was phony. Which meant that both the local criminal justice system and the national intelligence/military apparatus had zero credibility. Wall Street, the White House, and everyone on down needed the drug war like a junkie wants heroin. The system was using. The system was an addict.
“’The entire economy, and the entire political system itself, is currently hooked and dependent upon drug money’ wrote Mike in 1999, on his main site, FromTheWilderness.com
“In the mid 90’s, when Ruppert’s friend Gary Webb broke a huge story in the San José Mercury News, it documented how the CIA and the Nicauraguan Contra network facilitated the crack cocaine epidemic in the 80’s. The CIA sent DCIA John Deutch to spin the story in a public auditorium. Ruppert confronted Deutch and named three specific operations that showed the US agencies were up to their elbows in black market cocaine and heroin. Deutch sputtered, told people to phone the LAPD, and was laughed out of the room. He was swiftly replaced at CIA.
“According to Ruppert, in October, 1999, investigators from the House Intelligence Committee came to Los Angeles, and made copies 6,000 pages of his records.
“That same year, Ruppert asked me for a $10,000 advance to do a book on the US and drugs. I didn’t have the money, and it’s just as well. Two years later 9/11 happened, and Ruppert had a lot more to say.
“It turns out the same parties who pulled off the cocaine sales funding the Contras were at it again. (Those parties being namely, the Bush Family, the GOP, the Democrats, the CIA and other shadowy quasi-government black factions too numerous to list here.)
“The book Ruppert eventually brought out in 2004, was “Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil” (New Society Publishers).
“A reviewer on Amazon called it ‘The single most important book written in the last fifty years…. The Patriot Act, Homeland Security and the lies about WMDs in Iraq have created a growing sense of unease in the collective unconscious. As a result, a growing number of intellectuals and every day citizens are beginning to see the Truth and more and more people are beginning to wake up every day. “Crossing the Rubicon” is at the forefront of this new awareness.’
“At the end of 2004, however, tragedy struck. Ruppert’s friend Gary Webb, who had followed in Ruppert’s footsteps by taking on CIA drug trafficking, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
“Reading Ruppert’s heartfelt obituary for Webb today, I am struck:
“I would never have confronted John Deutch at Locke High had it not been for Gary Webb. I myself might have committed suicide in 1996 – broke, divorced and having given up all hope of making people listen — had it not been for Gary Webb. For some years now it has been the farthest thing from my mind.
“Ten years later, suicide wasn’t far away any more. Ruppert’s struggles with depression, [plus a variety of psychiatric drugs, in-patient psychiatric hospitalizations and nicotine addictions over the years – Ed. Note] alcohol, and isolation became insurmountable. He moved to Colorado. He did one final radio show last Saturday and then that was it. We are all so fragile.
“Wherever men and women of honor gather together from now on, your name will be spoken with reverence, respect and gratitude. Ruppert wrote that for Webb ten years ago. The same goes for him.
“I prayed hard today to understand why this happened now. What does God want us to know about why this happened? What can we learn? How can this man’s death and life give our lives a brighter, sharper focus?”
“I look at Ruppert’s life, his hard struggle, his victories and his short-comings. I wish we were closer in his final couple of years. I loved him. I say the following with love. I say the following because I don’t want to know any more great truth-loving writers to die this way. If you have a drinking problem, hit a meeting. Reach out. It worked for me, to stop flailing about, running from city to country to city, always moving, thinking a big move is going to change things. Get centered. Pray and meditate. Be still.
“Something snapped in Ruppert sometime later in that decade, after the book. He moved to Venezuela, in rushed effort to seek political asylum from the Chavez government. Ruppert probably wasn’t anti-imperialist enough for their tastes, at least not in a leftist way. Oh, and the CIA/DIA family background probably didn’t help.
“I wept. I felt rage today. I was mad at you, Mike, going out this way. It was too similar to Gary Webb, to Jim Hatfield the Bush biographer. I don’t want this pattern. Tell me it’s not the fate for writers of deep truth, to die, alone, shooting their brains out, because they went deep and hard after the invisible forces, the slithering stag. The hunter became hunted by the dragon.
“No. Mike will be remembered for his discipline, his writing, his development of a critical paradigm. Our society is stronger for the deep analysis. In the same way that Ruppert investigated Gary Webb’s death, it’s up to us now to do the scientific and careful analysis of the crime scene. To pick up where he left off, and wake up to a new view of the matrix.”
Apparently Bottlenose Dolphins use specific “whistles” to speak, greet or acknowledge other individual or groups of Dolphins. How cool is that? We knew they were clever, yet it never occurred to me specific and uniquely individual names were part of the equation.
Dr. Tess Gridley of the University of Pretoria and Namibian Dolphin Project and Sea Search listened to hours of hydrophone recordings (underwater microphone) – dolphins used “signature whistles” when approaching or calling for each other.
“We found that the number of different signature whistles recorded increased when group sizes were larger and when calves were present – something you might expect if signature whistles are used to address each other and help maintain contact between animals, particularly between mothers and calves.” – Dr. Tess Gridley
At first glance not a particularly earth shaking ponder. That said, and with polite hope you allow conventional perspectives to wander ever so slightly – who’s to say mankind takes home all the evolutionary blue ribbons. For all we know, Dolphins shake their heads while snickering “you poor misguided fools”. Would it be preposterous to consider extraordinary evolution amongst species other than ourselves?
I don’t even know what to write about this clip – haunting, disturbing, unnerving, ethereal, jaw dropping. Watch and figure it out yourself…..
We visualize our Moon as a lifeless constant. The polite ebb and flow of lunar cycles, familiar photographs of craters and desolate landscapes. Nary a thought to what might lurk beneath that comfortably stark surface. Does it have a hot core like Earth, or did it once froth with geologic intensity?
In 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts captured images of a lunar anomaly dubbed Ina- by all appearances, the aftermath of volcanic eruption. Science knows the adolescent moon was turbulent – much of the lunar surface is covered in basaltic flows, features of the “man in the moon” were created by seething lava. Science believed lunar vulcanism ceased a billion years ago – Ina raised eyebrows, presenting itself as mysteriously recent.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has identified 70 sites similar to Ina, anomalies called irregular mare patches (IMP’s). Lightly cratered, these features have rewritten the geologic timeline of conventional thinking. Consider the possibility of volcanic eruptions 50-100 million years ago. Lunar eruptions during the time of dinosaurs might not seem like a remarkable ponder – I assure you, the leap from a billion to 50 million years is an astounding geologic mind blower.
The next time you catch sight of the moon, smile and ponder the possibility of a churning molten core under all that moonlit familiarity.
Climate change, global warming, environmental devastation, fracking, burst tailing ponds, tar sands, pipelines, oil tankers, liquified natural gas, carbon credits, renewable energy sources – hot topics plagued by fervently distributed information, misinformation, propaganda, protest, and uncertainty.
For days now, local Vancouver news broadcasts have opened with updates on environmental protests against Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion – a project committed to tripling crude oil moving from Alberta’s tar sands to tankers in Burnaby – a suburb of Vancouver. Despite a court injunction obtained last Thursday allowing surveyors to drill bore holes deep beneath a conservation area on Burnaby Mountain – every day scores of concerned citizens peacefully cross police tape, knowing they’ll be “carried” to waiting paddy wagons. Tonight’s news highlight reported the arrest of a 87 year old woman – it’s been several days since accurate numbers of arrested individuals was reported as anything other than “well over 100″.
Immediately following KM protest coverage, a story broke warming corners of my tired oil sands heart. Hyundai made Vancouver the first Canadian city privy to their Tuscon Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle.
Not to be confused with Electric Vehicles that run on electrically charged batteries, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles generate their own electricity. Hydrogen fuel cells basically separate hydrogen atoms into positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons. Electricity happens when uninterrupted electrons are free to flow continuously – voila, your motor is running. Meanwhile the positively charged protons bonds with oxygen atoms, creating heat which escapes as steamy water vapor.
Critics are quick to trot out energy cancelling arguments such as ” energy needed to manufacture hydrogen fuel cells negate benefits of zero carbon omissions” – I don’t care. Scores of these very same dullards claimed a few years ago hydrogen fuel cells wouldn’t work in extreme hot or cold climates – absolutely not true.
Undaunted by the fact only one “refueling” station exists in Canada (Surrey B.C.) I prefer to be buoyed by the effort of marketing renewable energy vehicles. Hyundai is taking applications from people interested in a 3 year lease at $599 a month including free “charging” (required every 400 Km. or so, and taking about 5 minutes). The first computers, cell phones, flat screen televisions – how long did it take before demand made them affordable? Take that big oil.
Pondering tonight’s Grand Jury decision in Ferguson Missouri presents a quandary of suffocating despair. What should people do?
The decision wasn’t surprising, nobody actually expected another outcome. For days leading up to the “official” statement by St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch, media speculated on reaction, documented preparations, and reported on school closures tomorrow. Everyone knew what was coming.
Clicking back and forth between CNN, MSNBC and Fox News served as a lesson in perspective. My decision to briefly tune into Fox caused jaw dropping rage of epic proportions. President Obama hadn’t spoken, still in developing moments of coverage -Fox focused reporting on “a carnival atmosphere”, “crowds of smiling and grinning people who cared nothing for the decision”. Fox reported “the crime situation in urban America made confrontation inevitable”. Wow, I’m speechless.
I’m not advocating looting or violence. I have no doubt opportunistic looting erupted. With that I have to ask why the decision was read at night – what possible purpose was served by waiting until darkness? Would the cover of darkness make for better news coverage? Would “urban” unrest validate white America?
I can’t define my dismay. What should people do?
Almost a month ago Quora became somewhat of an obsession. I wrote of Quora with the giddy, naive and glowingly childish enthusiasm of an optimistic fool. First glance promised instant gratification delivered via an untapped source of critical thinkers. Oh man – not so fast notes.
It isn’t Quora’s fault – allowing myself to dabble in places fraught with the perils of unbending logic was an obvious exercise in futility. As with anything we reap what we sow – 3 1/2 weeks, and 100,000 views later – some things I learned on Quora….
First – I’m only human, I like stats, views, and upvotes. Hardly a surprising admission although one that never matters in my wordpress world. Allowing my “knee jerk” rantings to froth corners of better judgement was captivating. WordPress epitomized polite reason – Dr. Jekyll to Quora’s Mr. Hyde. Jeckyll knew better, Mr. Hyde threw caution to the wind.
A week or so in, I posed a question asking why Americans considered freedom of speech license to speak hate. Yikes – I’m either stupid, delusional, or hopelessly Canadian. I knew the answer, fully grasped America’s perspective, understood the fundamental stance of free speech in America, yet couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t understand it would bring 40,000 views, complete with a litany of arguably the most venomous personal attacks imaginable. Bottom line – 99.9% of respondents reacted without an iota of comprehension other cultures might see distribution of hateful propaganda as harmful.
Answering questions proved satisfactory. My answers to why Petra was a wonder of the ancient world, and contribution to a question on the most astounding “tricks” by armies or nations at war kept me out of trouble for a while. This was a place reserved for positive exchange of ideas – a place void of accusations, yet I wasn’t content to behave myself.
I knew better than to respond to preposterous religious stupidity, or ask those same people why they thought Atheists lacked morals or committed more crimes. Several weeks of hating myself for spouting sarcastic jabs finally ended with a self imposed intervention – it’s out of my system, along with sincere vows to be a better person.
A few minutes ago I asked (with http://geneticfractals.wordpress.com/ in mind) how someone would explain the 4th dimension. That was 15 minutes ago and with nearly 500 views, 6 followers, and 3 answers on the record – I’m back to seeing Quora as it was intended. For anyone curious, the first few “answers”…..
The Big Dipper needs no introduction – yet it crossed my mind, this celestial constant might deserve a little ponder. Often mistaken for a constellation, the seven stars – Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Merak and Dubhe – form an Asterism, or subset of stars within a constellation. in this case Ursa Major – the Great Bear.
In November, the Great Bear descends to the lowest point along northern hemisphere horizons. Micmac people of southeast Canada saw this as a sign “earthly” bears went into hibernation, and tree sap returned to the “womb of creation”. Ursa Major appears to touch the earth, winter takes full command. The great bear sleeps, her extremities falling below the horizon yet the Big Dipper manages to hover above the edge of perception.
The Big Dipper doesn’t come and go with seasons, it’s circumpolar, meaning it lies in the same direction as the celestial north pole. A line drawn outwards from the pole would pass practically through the Dipper, and intersect with Polaris (the North Star). Earth rotates on its axis around Polaris, stars that are circumpolar to the north pole travel in tight circles around Polaris, therefore visible all year, albeit with a few sways and dips. If the Big Dipper was a clock moving once around Polaris every 24 hours – the “bowl” would always face Polaris – at 6 o’clock it would appear flat, 3 o’clock standing on the handle, 12 0’clock upside down, and 9 o’clock standing on the bowl.
Lay eyes on the Big Dipper, finding Polaris becomes a simple matter of locating the two outermost stars of the bowl (farthest from the handle) – draw an imaginary line up and beyond for roughly 5 times the depth of the bowl – voila, the North Star.
Think of the Big Dipper as a celestial guide – take comfort in understanding it will never allow you to loose your way. If you see it, you can find north. You don’t need to panic if your GPS craps out – celestial navigation won’t let you down.
http://www.theskyscrapers.org/getting-to-know-the-big-dipper
Ancient history is tricky – a mine field of contradiction, biblical references, conspiracy and myth. History, easily misinterpreted or recorded with bias of the author, can’t always be trusted. Interpretation, often subjective, must be approached cautiously. Archeology, at least in terms of physical evidence is irrefutable. Over the years I’ve come to accept archeological evidence as the place to embrace wonders of our past.
The Sabaeans inhabited present day Yemen from roughly 1200 BC to 275 AD. For the sake of argument lets accept that approximation and move on. Biblical references to “Saba” or the Queen of Sheba – Old Testament ruler of the Sabaean people, hold little interest in this ponder. Mind bending feats of engineering magnificence obliterate dusty religious debate. Ponder the Great Dam of Marib.
Try to imagine a parched and dusty empire 750 BC. So many mouths to feed – so little water. Hey, lets build a dam. We’ll need to make it 2000 feet across, control the flow of water with canals, spillways and sluices, make certain it’s watertight, and proceed without concrete. No problem – we’ll just pack all this earth where we want it, and channel water as needed. The dam stood for 1000 years before a breach estimated at 600 AD returned Yemen to the desert.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marib_Dam
notestoponder 