My Life as a Message

MY LIFE IS MY MESSAGE.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Of Note: The Chinese government is at it again. This past week, police in China arrested a prominent blogger in a deepening crackdown on dissent. What was the crime? Ran Yunfei had the audacity to challenge the ruling Communist Party. Many bloggers had advocated a "Jasmine Revolution" based on what is currently happening in the Middle East. Ran joined the call and was charged with inciting subversion. A former Chinese legal scholar said: "Basically, it's the crime of expressing your opinions. In this case, too, prosecutors will probably use essays that Ran has published on the Internet." More than 100 activists have been detained, been subjected to intimidation or merely disappeared since February 2011. These dissidents and the ones arrested before them could be the forerunners, who history will show lighted the fire of radical change in China. Because the energy of freedom is afoot, we can help by telepathically "sending" our lighted energy to those who languish in jail or prison for speaking out against an oppressive regime. They do not have to carry the burden alone.

The Eternal Quest for Knowledge

THE QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE IS ETERNAL.
THE WORSHIP OF KNOWLEDGE IS INFERNAL.

~Robert Stirniman

Of Note: One day science will look different than it does today because it will be coupled with art and culture. The art and science of relationships will be a kingly pursuit with the art and science of livingness coming in a close second. Children will be taught from an early age about the universal laws of cooperation, attraction and economy which underlie all cosmic action. The spiritual values of sharing, truth, personal responsibility, unselfishness, and service to the common good will be second nature to an evolved Humanity, who will have outgrown the need to pursue science for money. Our future selves will know happiness, joy and peace through a deep knowledge of the interconnectedness of all to all. And oh, what energy that will unleash!

Today's Weather Report: Flitting around the garden today, I contemplated that the long, cold winter has been just about forgotten. How quickly we forget when we see a few green shoots emerge from the soil! Though, I have to admit, there are not many yet, just a few crocus and daffodils. The crocus come in all sizes from large to tiny and are surely welcome this time of year. The daffodils show some promise as they peek from the soil an inch or two but have a long way to go before blooming.

Watch for Change Snippet: The Dalai Lama might be playing his last hand. In early April, on the 50-year anniversary of his flight to India, His Holiness urged China to let the media freely into Tibet. If news correspondents found that Tibetans were truly happy under Chinese rule, he announced that he would abandon a 50-year pursuit for autonomy. The Chinese show no inclination to take the request seriously and will not likely lift the special permit required for foreign journalists. After all, according to the Director of the Tourist Administration in Tibet: "Tibet is harmonious and safe now" and open for business--although not to inspection by media outsiders. We can only assume that the Dalai Lama, being the wise man he is, made the strategic offer for some particular purpose, and we will have to watch the story unfold to see what that might be.

Flames Alive and Dead

China is attempting to keep the Olympic flame alive in its trek around the world. In France, the flame was extinguished by protesters five times along the route through Paris. The beleaguered torch was finally put on a bus for the final leg of its trip, while in San Francisco the route was shortened when things turned ugly. London was no better, nor does it appear the rest of this usually peaceful trip will be different. It would appear that the Himalayas going up in flames has had the decided effect of trying to put this symbol of peace out.

Have you noticed the blue-uniformed men in a phalanx surrounding the torch? Their official name is the "29th Olympic Games Torch Relay Flame Protection Unit." Turns out these are top cops from China chosen from The People's Armed Police. The job requirements? According to the state run China News Service, these guys had "to be tall, handsome, mighty, in exceptional physical condition similar to that of professional athletes." Training included "daily mountain runs of at least six miles and lessons in protocol. They also learned basic commands in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese."

Apparently, commands are the only words they learned in these languages, and these elite troops have been described by the Olympic organizers as thugs and robotic. In their defense, the reception in the various countries may have exceeded their expectations and training and thus put them at a strategic disadvantage--especially when they speak only Chinese.

Ironically, as this Olympic flame makes its way on a tortuous path around the world, the Chinese have ordered other national flames extinguished before the games. On May 1st, a ban on smoking will go into effect for most public places in Beijing, which will then join 150 already smoke-free cities in this previously smoke-filled nation. What's more, on May 31st smoking will be banned at all schools--kindergarten through high school. China is the home to a third of the world's smokers at 350 million, who consume 2 trillion cigarettes a year. That's a lot of inhaling.

Speaking of inhaling--one morning as I was inhaling my daily ration of oats, I had a novel, potentially enlightening idea that could foster a feeling of unity that is woefully lacking in the world today. To wit: if everyone on Earth lived in one Time Zone, the feeling of being separated might disappear. Time is an artificial, separating construct anyway, so why not? Greenwich could be the official time--so, if it was 5:00 there, it would be 5:00 everywhere. Military time would work even better.

OK, I can hear you say, "But, but, but that wouldn't work." Well, play with it, and you might find that it actually could. If nothing else, think of it like an exercise in jumping way out of the box or stepping into a future that hasn't happened. Stay tuned, because in the next few blogs, other ideas will be put forth that could prove to be as revolutionary.


Of Note: Marie spotted this en-flamed sky at her house one March evening and beautifully captured the essence of burning. The photo symbolizes China's schizophrenic problems at the moment with fire.

Today's Weather Report: Lower forties and cloudy, but not nearly as oppressive as yesterday for some unknown reason. One day of sun would do in the rest of the lingering snow. We can only hope!

A Couple of Firsts

Milestones are often an important indicator of change. Therefore, when watching for change as I do, tracking firsts is one means of doing that. 2008 might go down as a banner year for first time events. Here are a few.

--The Vatican announced Monday that Muslims outnumbered Roman Catholics for the first time as the largest religious denomination in the world. The Vatican's statistician, Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, placed the Catholic number at 1.13 billion, which represented 17.4% of the world's population. Muslims stood at 19.2%. The monsignor noted that while the Catholic figure were fairly stable, the Muslim percentage grew because of an escalating birth rate (WSJ, 3-31-08.)

One wonders if the statistics were inflated with non-practicing Catholics and Muslims. If that were the case, a significantly smaller number of Roman Catholics might be the result, although the Muslim figures would most likely stay the same. If this was true, the number of Muslims would have overcome the Roman Catholics before now.

Not a big deal to some, but a worry for many nations like France. In that country non-practicing, secular Catholics no longer fill the Church's coffers and have low birth rates; a situation that is unlikely to change. On the other hand, the Muslim population is increasing greatly--so much so that there is talk that someday minority Muslims could become the majority in Europe. Europeans tremble at the thought.

--A newly released United Nation's population study revealed that by year's end, more than half the world's population would live in cities for the first time. Most of this shift has taken place in Asia, particularly China, although newly emerging India has contributed its share of city migration. By the year 2025, 27 megacities with 10 million plus inhabitants will have sprouted in such places as Lagos, Nigeria, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Paris, France.

These behemoths will join Toyko which was expected to have reached 36.4 million by then, and 20.6 million will call Kolkata, India home. By the year 2050, not too far down the road, the world population will have mushroomed to 9.2 billion people with 6.6 billion of them living in cities. At that point, 70% of Chinese will live in cities compared to 40% currently. Even sleepy Africa is expected to follow the same tend. By 2050 half of it's population will live in cities (AP, 3-31-08.)

The question of resources is obvious; therefore, I wonder if these predictions will come to fruition. Thomas Malthus was famous for his theories about non-sustainable populations. In 1798, he was famously quoted as saying:"The power of population is so superior to the power of Earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race." To date, he has been proven wrong because technology and new resource discoveries have always saved the day (WSJ, 3-24-08.) Whether this techy salvation will continue is open to speculation. Some believe that Mr. Malthus may have been a prophet before his time, and that now is the time of which he was speaking.

--In 2008 China will produce more carbon monoxide than the United States for the first time. It was expected to take place later this year, but may already have occurred. China's growing economy has also allowed China to overtake America in number of cell phones this year as well.

It's not so much that America was overtaken on these two accounts, but that it took China so long to catch up. But catch-up they have with avengeance this year. There will most likely be a long list of firsts for China as the next few years unfold. I expect even more firsts this year such as the Beijing Olympics. Who would ever have thought when the Olympic Committee awarded the summer games to Beijing all those years ago, that China would be where it is today. Amazing, really.

--Cuba opened its previously foreigner-only stores to its citizens for the first time this week. Not only were they allowed to buy cell phones as previously mentioned in this blog, the excited shoppers gauked at DVDs, TVs and other consumer goods imported from China and other friendly nations. Since the average pay in this communist enclave is $19.50 a month, most didn't have enough money to buy the goods, but enjoyed looking none-the-less. That situation is expected to change for the better as more people begin to participate in a more normal living environment post Fidel Castro.

Even more importantly from a production standpoint, was the government's new policy on land use announced this week as well. Up until now, 51% of the arable land remained fallow, and the Cubans were itching to till that unused soil. Now, they will get their chance. Exportable goods such as coffee and tobacco for cigars were mentioned as produce of choice rather than food, but it showed a promising start to reforms (AP, 4-2-08.)

--And lastly, technology experienced a first with the demonstration of a $299 headset that allows users to "control simple actions within games using their thoughts." The device works by measuring electrical activity in the brain and is fairly primitive. However, the first phase of these futuristic headsets will be delivered to gamers by the Emotiv Company later this year.

What's even more fascinating is the company's collaboration with IBM which could lead to thought controlling headsets for use in virtual worlds. You've heard about these make-believe places that are described by those in the know as "free-form on-line environments in which players assume the roles of characters called avatars." Didn't I see that in the sci-fi movies somewhere? Well, the "some time in the distance future" might be right around the corner starting quietly in 2008. Stay tuned. I would imagine that this potentially news provoking discovery will not stay quiet for long.

Of Note: This watchful Indian photo was taken by me last year. I admire the little guy because he keeps an eye on our expansive yard year-round. He seems a good mascot for this blog about watching for change, don't you think?

Today's Weather Report: Partly cloudy but a balmy 41 degrees. The road has gone to mush again. Jim and I always have a bet on the day the ice goes off the lake. I always lose, but told him this year I'd bet on April 11th. Why? For the last two years, that's the exact date the ice broke up. Looking outside today, that doesn't seem possible. But I'll let you know what happens..

World Plus 70,000,000

Chevron ran an eye-catching full page ad in the WSJ (12-18-07, p. A5) that began: "The world is growing by more than 70 million people a year. So is that a problem, or a solution?" Not knowing how adding 70 million people a year could be any kind of a solution, I actually continued reading the small print. The tiny text went on to say that the need for energy would increase by 50% over the next 25 years and could be one of the greatest challenges our generation will face. Hum, what else is new, I thought. But then came the real meat of the matter: "The key to insuring success is found in the same place that created this need: humanity itself. When the unique spirit we all posses is allowed to flourish, mankind has proven its ability to take on, and overcome, any issue. It's a spirit of hard work, ingenuity, drive, courage, and no small measure of commitment. To success, to each other, to the planet. The problem becomes the solution. This human energy that drives us to succeed has been there every day since the beginning. And it will be with us to shape many tomorrow's to come. So join us in tapping the most powerful source of energy in the world. Ourselves. And watch what the human race can do." Indeed it is challenge and striving that pushes humanity's evolutionary envelope both physically and mentally, a fact that these words captured most compellingly. That a huge oil company printed this ad showed real enlightenment--it could almost have been written by one of the Tibetan Masters.

And now back to China where we spent much of yesterday: in a page before the enlightened Chevron ad was the headline "China's Environmental Agency Gets Teeth." No we are not referring to dentures here, rather a sea-change in attitude regarding the environment in that rapidly growing economy: "China's environmental controls, long criticized as weak and ineffective, are starting to have real economic bite. This year, officials have rejected billions of dollars of new factories and other investment projects for failing to meet standards." The article emphasizes the fact that from 1995 to 2005, the state agency who controls the environmental rejected only 2 proposals; last year it rejected 110 and this year 187 representing $91 billion in spending that will not happen. In fact, the agency is showing the world that China can and will tackle tough problems when confronted by economic realities and outside pressure to change. Of note was a requirement for public comment, which had always been in place and routinely ignored, on the building of an impending nuclear power plant. This enlightened trend is worth watching.

And finally, this blogger will be on the road for the next four days, probably thinking and composing future messages the whole time. After all, there are those 100 SCIENCE stories to cull through. See you in a few days.....

Enemies at the Firewall

Enlightened change does not always have to be "good" from the standpoint of the general public. As a matter of fact, it can be alarming if one does not stand back and take in the larger picture. Case in point is the article in TIME (12-17-07, p. 56 - 58) entitled "Enemies at the Firewall" which describes China's latest efforts to hack into government computers worldwide: "Chinese computer hackers are allegedly breaking into high-security networks in the U.S. and other countries. Is Beijing creating an army of Internet warriors?" The writer concludes "yes" of course and describes a network of work-a-day hackers being clandestinely supported by the Chinese military through hacker competitions. . .Chinese newspaper articles suggest that the establishment of a cybermilitia is well underway. In recent years the military has engaged in nationwide recruiting campaigns to try to discover the nation;s most talented hackers.The campaigns are conducted through the competitions that feature large-scale prizes. . advertised in local newspapers." In that case it would be hard to miss--or deny. However, the Chinese government is indeed denying the allegations of the recent and widespread hacking adventures including those against the US government, the German government, other western governments and major corporations.

The article goes on to say: "China has long regarded cyberwarfare as a critical component of asymmetrical warfare in any future conflict with the U.S. From China's perspective, it makes sense to use any means possible to counter America's huge technology advantage. The current wave of hacking attacks seems to be aimed mainly at collecting information and probing defenses, but in a real cyberwar, a successful attack would target computer dependent infrastructure, such as banking and power generation."

Why I might observe this as enlightened change is the use of cyberwarriors in warfare, which shows an evolution from use of physical force to that of mental prowess. While I'm NOT advocating warfare, most likely, humans are going to have to evolve from the use of physical force to the use of mental means before they will get past the need for warfare at all. Thus, from the Observer's standpoint, this is progress.

Speaking of China, the Olympics in Beijing next year was certainly a catalyst for change. That a communist-ruled country could be transforming so rapidly is a marvel to watch. I initially wondered how long the people, given their introduction to the outside world through the internet and other sources, would tolerate its central government But, from all reports, many of the young people are quite satisfied with their lives and are more interested in their newly acquired cell phones and other consumer items than the government, human rights issues or Tibet. After all, they are embedded in their culture just as we are.

In the story of the tortoise and the hare, China is the tortoise and Ukraine is the hare. China might have it more right. That's one nice thing about being an Observer, history tells the tale, not our various opinions.

On another note, I made the prediction to my environmentally disappointed daughter a few years back that corporate America would catch the social responsibility bug when it paid to do so. Well, apparently it is now paying in several different ways including the fact that international companies like GE and Microsoft, for example, were forced by the EU and the Kyoto Agreement to embrace environmental causes. Force might be too harsh a word, but persuaded doesn't quite touch my view as to how it came down. Al Gore's prodding, which has added a shame factor to everyone's plate, hasn't hurt either. And although his science may not be spot on, politically he knew where to manipulate the sensitive, emotional areas to get his point across. Brilliant, really.

Even the WSJ has gotten into the act in a full page ad (12-17-07, p. R11) announcing an Executive Conference sponsored by them called ECO:nomics--Creating Environmental Capital to be held in Santa Barbara CA in March: "A unique conference , ECO:nomics takes a CEO-level view of the rapidly developing relationship between the environment and the bottom line. New business opportunities are materializing thanks to regulation, new technologies, and a growing sense that a world reliant on finite resources must adapt. But the risks are high, and both winners and losers are emerging. Who will end up in the lead?" This kind of gathering would only be organized at a time when the groundswell was so great that CEO's would find it advantageous to attend. The time is apparently now.

This is in the same paper that reported on the front page and further on page A3 that in Bali, Indonesia "nearly 190 nations approved a pact to combat climate change. The agreement paves the way for developing nations to take a more responsibility in fighting the global threat, a departure from the Kyoto Protocol. The accord hammered out at the end of a 12-day U.N. conference stops short of requiring binding cuts." The passage goes on to say meetings will take place over the next two years on a global treaty to replace the Kyoto Agreement. "The leader of the U.S. delegation called the accord 'a new chapter in climate diplomacy' and said the U.S. is 'very committed to developing a long-term global greenhouse gas reduction emission goal.' " Now, that is truly lighted change and proves that the U.N. can be an international leader in such weighty matters.

And a final note on the labor watch (yes, we have a labor watch as well): unions' best days may now be past, and they don't know it yet. Take for example the current writer's strike. If this goes on too long, people may decide they no longer need network TV, particularly when they have found new, more entertaining sources. Again, time will tell whether the writers were enlightened or unenlightened to go on strike over an issue that has little meaning with their audience, the man on the street. Of course, this does not count the groupies who bring donuts and other food to the strikers in order to brush shoulders with this illustrious crowd.

This coming week, I will host a SCIENCE blogathon event. DISCOVER magazine recently reported the 100 most newsworthy scientific events of 2007. Those stories will be highlighted that have shown world wide illumination, transformation or trends of science for a better tomorrow. Stay tuned.