Messages

I am interested to see how the numbers stack up in here.  As my name implies, I am a peaceful person.  

I abhor violence and always try to look for the most rational and peaceful way out of any conflict.  I do, however, believe strongly that men and women have the right to bear arms and defend themselves.

I won't get into all the constitutional issues, but suffice to say that no matter how anyone feels, according to our current 2nd Amend. rights, we have the right to bear arms.

I myself own several firearms, which are stored safely out of the reach of children, and know how to use them safely and properly.  I enjoy the sporting aspect of firearms when I am at the target range spending time with my friends or my father.  I also have defensive firearms which are used primarily to defend my family at home or on the road.

I support certain gun control laws that attempt to keep guns out of criminals hands, but I am well aware that the truth is that even if guns were completely banned, criminals would get them anyway.

Where do you all stand on this issue?  

-Dan

fides quaerens intellectum

(The info found after my own comments here was all obtained from: Iwww.skepdic.com )

The first  entry (regarding AP) states that there is "scant evidence" that it's for real.  I KNOW it is FOR REAL, but why do you think so many are skeptical?  I actually think that the majority of people are NOT skeptical, only a little befuddled when we try to talk about OBE, etc. to them because they are so not used to discussing or thinking about spiritual matters, unless it's from some preacher who is cramming it down their throats after he waters it down.  

In my experiences talking with co-workers, church friends, etc. regarding NDE's, OBE's etc.  not only do people seem receptive and interested, many of them have actually experienced something.  

I think the following skeptical info reflects a "elitist" minority who are really nothing more than a doting group of ingorant zealots who attempt to undermine the truth but don't have a leg of their own to stand on.

____________________________________________________________
Skepdic.com

Astral projection:
Astral projection is a type of out-of-body experience (OBE) in which the astral body leaves its other six bodies and journeys far and wide to anywhere in the universe.  The notion that we have seven bodies (one for each of the seven planes of reality) is a teaching of theosophist Madame Blavatsky. On its trips, the astral body perceives other astral bodies rather than their physical, etheric, emotional, spiritual, etc. bodies. In an ordinary OBE, such as remote viewing or the out-of-body near-death experience, there is a separation of a person's consciousness from his or her body. In the near-death out-of-body experience, there may be   the experience of hovering above and perceiving one's body and environs,and hearing conversations of surgeons or rescue workers tinkering with one's body. In astral projection, it is the astral body, not the soul or consciousness, that leaves the body. The astral body, according to Madame Blavatsky, is the one that has an aura. It is also the seat of feeling and desire, and is generally described as being connected to the physical body during astral projection by an infinitely elastic and very fine silver cord, a kind of cosmic umbilical cord or Ariadne's thread.

There is scant evidence to support the claim that anyone can project their mind, soul, psyche, spirit, astral body, etheric body, or any other entity to somewhere else on this or any other planet. The main evidence is in the form of testimonials.

out-of-body experience (OBE)
An out-of-body experience (OBE) is a feeling of departing from one's physical body and observing both one's self and the world from outside of one's body. The experience is quite common in dreams, daydreams, and memories, where we quite often take the external perspective. Some people experience an OBE while under the influence of an anesthetic or while semi-conscious due to trauma. Some people have an OBE while under the influence of drugs. Finally, some people experience an OBE when they are near death. These are called near-death experiences (NDEs).

Susan Blackmore, a parapsychologist with heavy skeptical leanings, is considered one of the world's leading authorities on OBEs and NDEs. She had an OBE while attending Oxford during the early 1970s. By her own admission she "spent much of the time stoned, experimenting with different drugs" (Shermer). During her first year at Oxford she had an OBE while stoned on marijuana after several hours on the Ouija board. The experience also occurred during a period of her life when sleep deprivation was common for her. She describes herself as having been in "a fairly peculiar state of mind" when she had the OBE (Shermer).

In her OBE, Blackmore went down a tunnel of trees toward a light, floated on the ceiling and observed her body below, saw a silver cord connecting her floating "astral body", floated out of the building around Oxford and then over England, and finally across the Atlantic to New York. (Kay Redford Jamison, one of the world's leading authorities on bipolar disorder, a disease from which she suffers, describes a similar voyage to Jupiter while she was enjoying the manic phase of her mental illness See An Unquiet Mind.)

After hovering around New York, Blackmore floated back to her room in Oxford where she became very small and entered her body's toes. Then she grew very big, as big as a planet at first, and then she filled the solar system and finally she became as large as the universe.

Blackmore attributes her experience to peculiar brain processes such as might cause "neuronal disinhibition in the visual cortex," which is her explanation for hallucinations and NDEs. She did not consider investigating abnormal psychology, where she would find many similar cases of Alice-in-Wonderland voyagers. Instead, she says that she devoted her study to astral projection and theosophy, hoping to find an answer.Her experience with the silver cord is right out of traditional occult literature on astral projection.

Blackmore's experience is typical in that like all OBEs hers requires us to believe that consciousness is a separate entity from the body (dualism) and can exist without the body and the body without it, at least for short periods of time. It also requires that the disembodied consciousness can 'see', 'hear', 'feel', and, I suppose, 'taste' and 'smell' as well. Or perhaps it is the case   that the brain and the senses can operate over vast distances and perceive objects by some mysterious physiological power not yet discovered. Neither scenario seems plausible.

If OBEs were a common occurrence, one would expect that there would be minds out of their bodies everywhere. There are supposedly thousands of souls leaving their bodies every day and night. You'd think that there'd be a mix-up occasionally and one or two souls or astral bodies would come back to the wrong physical bodies, or at least get their "silver" cords tangled up. One would expect some minds to get lost and never find their way back to their bodies. There should be at least a few mindless bodies wandering or lying around, abandoned by their souls as unnecessary baggage. There should also be a few confused souls who don't know who they are because they're in the wrong bodies. Perhaps this is one of those topics that should not be scrutinized too closely.

Nevertheless, William Buhlman has dared to venture into the world of disembodied travelers. According to his promoters, Buhlman is "America's leading expert on the subject of out-of-body experiences." His book, Adventures Beyond the Body, and his OBE workshops justify these accolades, say his advocates. Buhlman, a certified hypnotherapist, promises that "we can use self-initiated out-of-body experiences to explore our spiritual identity and enhance our intellectual and physical lives." Astral travel, says Buhlman, can "expand your consciousness" and verify that you have a soul that has had past lives. Most importantly, OBEs can "enhance your daily life." Buhlman doesn't mention it, but it seems important to note that to have an OBE would be something meaningful to do while you are waiting to die.

See related entries on astral projection, near-death experiences and remote viewing.

near-death experience (NDE)
Near-death experience (NDE) refers to a wide array of experiences reported by some people who have nearly died or who have thought they were going to die. There is no single experience shared by all those near death. Nor do all those reporting near-death experiences share a single identical experience. Even those experiences of most interest to parapsychologists--such as the "mystical experience," the "light at the end of the tunnel" experience, the "life review" experience, and the "out-of-body" experience--rarely occur together in near-death experiences.

Two M.D.s who have popularized the idea that the NDE is proof of life after death are Elizabeth Kübler-Ross and Raymond Moody. The former is well known for her work on death and dying. The latter is an M.D. with Ph.D.s in philosophy and psychology but whose favorite title seems to be 'parapsychologist'. He has written several books on the subject of "life after life" and has comprised a list of features he considers to be "typical" of the near-death experience.  They are based mostly on liberal interpretations of testimonials and anecdotes from doctors, nurses and patients. The list of NDE features has been repeated by many of his followers. Characteristic of Moody's work is the glaring omission of cases that don't fit his hypothesis. If Moody is to be believed, no one near death has had a horrifying experience. Yet, there are numerous reports of bad NDE  trips involving tortures by elves, giants, demons, etc. Some parapsychologists take these good and bad NDE trips as evidence of heaven and hell. They believe that some people actually leave their bodies and go to the other world for a time before returning to their bodies. If so, then what is one to conclude from the fact that most people near death experience nothing? Is that fact good evidence that there is no afterlife? Such reasoning is on par with supposing that dreams in which one appears to oneself to be outside of one's bed are to be taken as evidence of out-of-body experiences (OBEs).

Moody focuses on OBEs by persons who nearly die. He also made popular the notion that the NDE is generally an experience of feeling extreme peacefulness and involves a buzzing or ringing sound, a passage into darkness and then a passage into the light. However, what little research there has been in this field indicates that these sensations are more likely if the conditions that set off the experience would naturally affect brain states, such as cardiac arrest and anesthesia. The conditions which lead to the NDE seem to significantly affect the nature of the experience. Furthermore, many people who have not been near death have had experiences which seem identical to NDEs. These mimicking experiences are usually the result of psychosis (due to severe neurochemcial imbalance) or drug usage, such as hashish or LSD.

Moody thinks that NDEs prove the existence of life after death. Skeptics believe that NDEs can be explained by neurochemistry and are the result of brain states that occur due to a dying brain. For example, "neural noise" and "retino-cortical mapping" explain the common experience of passage down a tunnel from darkness into a bright light. According to Susan Blackmore, vision researcher Dr. Tomasz S. Troscianko of the University of Bristol speculated:

If you started with very little neural noise and it gradually increased, the effect would be of a light at the centre getting larger and larger and hence closer and closer....the tunnel would appear to move as the noise levels increased and the central light got larger and larger....If the whole cortex became so noisy that all the cells were firing fast, the whole area would appear light (Blackmore 1993, 85).

Blackmore attributes the feelings of extreme peacefulness of the NDE to the release of endorphins in response to the extreme stress of the situation. The buzzing or ringing sound is attributed to cerebral anoxia and consequent effects upon the connections between brain cells. [p. 64]

Dr. Karl Jansen has reproduced NDEs with ketamine, a short-acting, hallucinogenic, 'dissociative' anaesthetic.  

The anaesthesia is the result of the patient being so 'dissociated' and 'removed from their body' that it is possible to carry out surgical procedures. This is wholly different from the 'unconsciousness' produced by conventional anesthetics, although ketamine is also an excellent analgesic (pain killer) by a different route (i.e. not due to dissociation). Ketamine is related to phencyclidine (PCP). Both drugs are arylcyclohexylamines - they are not opioids and are not related to LSD. In contrast to PCP, ketamine is relatively safe, is much shorter acting, is an uncontrolled drug in most countries, and remains in use as an anaesthetic for children in industrialised countries and all ages in the third world as it is cheap and easy to use. Anaesthetists prevent patients from having NDE's ('emergence phenomena') by the co-administration of sedatives which produce 'true' unconsciousness rather than dissociation.*  

According to Dr. Jansen, ketamine can reproduce all the main features of the NDE, including travel through a dark tunnel into the light, the feeling that one is dead, communing with God, hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, strange noises, etc. This does not prove that there is no life after death, but it does prove that an NDE is not proof of an afterlife. In any case, the so-called "typical" NDE is not typical of anything, except the tendency of parapsychologists to selectively isolate features of a wide array of experiences and fit them to a paranormal or supernatural hypothesis.

Finally, Quigg Lawrence (Blinded by the Light) thinks that NDEs are the work of Satan. That is at least as good an answer as that they are due to real visits to other planes of reality.

See related entries on astral projection, out-of-body experiences, and remote viewing.


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fides quaerens intellectum

OK, ok- I know I am taking it a little overboard, posting all of these tests, but I find them so interesting.  This one is rather famous:Keirsey Temperament Sorter II:If only you could know a book by its cover or people by their faces! Whether you're searching for romance, a more fulfilling career, or deeper communication with the people in your life, understanding your own patterns and preferences is the first step. AdvisorTeam.com can help by offering you the #1 online personality inventory.

You're invited to take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II, the fun, interesting, and revealing questionnaire that tells you if you're an Artisan, Guardian, Rational or Idealist. This is the same test used in career development programs at Fortune 500 companies and in counseling centers and career placement centers at major universities.

Go to:

http://www.advisorteam.com/user/login.asp

and then post your results if you feel inclined.


My results:
I was a little suprised by my results, but I feel it is a fair reflection of my personality:


Your Temperament is: Idealist (NF)

Your Free Keirsey Temperament Description


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All Idealists (NFs) share the following core characteristics:


Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom.  
Idealists  pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic.  
Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.  
Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.

Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self--always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

Idealists are rare, making up no more than 8 to 10 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.  

Excerpted from Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey Copyrighted © 1998-2002, all rights reserved

The four types of Idealists are:


Healers (INFP) | Counselors (INFJ) | Champions (ENFP) | Teachers (ENFJ)

fides quaerens intellectum

This is an interesting test, take it if you are curious and share it if you dare!  JK!
The survey can be taken at:
http://www.sric-bi.com/VALS/presurvey.shtml


My results:
Experiencer/Striver

Your primary VALS type is Experiencer, and your secondary type is Striver.

The primary VALS type represents your dominant approach to life. The secondary classification represents a particular emphasis you give to your dominant approach.


fides quaerens intellectum

Grabbed this from:
http://bboard.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/7/6/1546/55

Found it refreshing and interesting- an unbiased and obviously naive perspective on spontaneous OBE:

I don't know exactly were to begain because so much has happened before and after this event.I guess I can start by telling you I'm not crazy and I know what I've seen and felt.
For many years since my childhood I've been having these weird things happening to me while I'm triing to sleep.I didn't understand it for a long time until I came across a radio program called Art Bell.I tried telling my mom and dad what was going on,but with them if it's not normal the devil has something to do with it.So I left that department alone,I didn't want them to keep saying I was crazy or it was just a dream.But I tell you this,noway a dream could be this real because I felt the sound of wind and the bouncing on to the bed was also real.Here's my story.
Back in 1998 I went to bed about 11:00 p.m.nothing out of the ordinary,when it began.I told myself that I'm going to teach myself how to controll the motion in flight when I do have an O.B.E. It's hard to do if you don't practice.So this time as I was going into this state of fright,the tingling feeling came then the the stage of stiffness were you can't move.I pass this stage and slowly but surely I started my journey.I slowly lifted my soul (I guess that what you could it)out of my body and started going upwards.I told myself that I'm scared of going to the of the edge of space to see how far you could go and make back to your body.I tell you I was all over the place,up,down,sideways,crashing threw buildings you can't feel.It's kind of fun but when your triing to do something pacific it just don't happen the way you want it to.So after my stunt course I put my attention on the outter edge of space.I tell you this, the speed of sound don't have anything on the speed you can travel in O.B.E. MODE.So after getting there I had to put on the brakes because I didn't know if I was to far from my body.After stopping I looked into space and it is so bueatiful,so many stars.I turn around to take a look at our wounderful planet and I can you I can understand what the men in the spaceshuttle be feeling when they look upon the earth from that distance.I felt real good at this point,so I told myself if I'm going to venture out into space now is better then later.I focus in on one star.Focusing all of my attention on that on star.
I kept on telling myself I don't need to worry because I could just shake a part of my body and I'll wake...I hope. Slowly I began to proceed toward this star.In our time they say the closest star is millions of light years away...well I got news for them,not in O.B.E. MODE.just minutes (it seems) away.As I was traveling threw space it was so dark and lonely,but i wasn't affraid.I triied not looking back at the earth because I just didn't want to feel scared,leaving my body like this.I began to get closer to this star and my travel time was pretty short.If I could put a time on how long it took me to get there , I would probally say about 3 minutes.
Now getting closer and closer and now I'm on the outter limits of this planet.You probally think I'm crazy at this point.But I tell you when I got to the surface where the hills,what I've seen.................................................................I will stop my story because my wife is telling me "are you still talking about that stupid dream"noe you know why I don't tell people about this.So I will show her that it people that have and do want to hear my story.So please send me a E-mail stating that you want to hear the rest of the story....please so I could her once and for all ....IT'S TRUE...COREYSHANE@MSN.COM

THANKS....

fides quaerens intellectum

Hey, I thought this was kind of fun and interesting- I don't know how accurate it is, but go try it out and then post your results here as a reply (just copy and paste the results over here).

The test can be found at:

http://users.rcn.com/zang.interport/personality.html

My results:


Peaceful
Discreet
Non-Aggressive


You are easy-going yet discreet. You make friends effortlessly, yet enjoy your privacy and independence. You like to get away from it all and be alone from time to time to contemplate the meaning of life and enjoy yourself. You need space, so you escape to beautiful hideaways, but you are not a loner. You are at peace with yourself and the world, and you appreciate life and what this world has to offer.  


fides quaerens intellectum

I am writing a book.  You know, it feels good to say that!  My book may end up being horrible and boring, but I am going to write it regardless.  Anyway, I need some help from anyone out there who has written or knows anything about it.

My questions are not regarding style or tecnique but regard, instead, the formalities of writing.  Anyone know anything about writing manuscripts (my book will be fictional by the way).  My other question regards finding publishers and sending out manuscripts.

Believe you me, I am researching this stuff on the net and in books, but I want some practical knowledge.  Thanks!

-Dan



fides quaerens intellectum

I am currently reading this guys...anyone else a fan?

fides quaerens intellectum

I just thought this was fascinating...and well, cool:

Sneaky history at new spy museum
Genuine tools of spycraft on display Friday
July 15, 2002 Posted: 2:01 PM EDT (1801 GMT)


 
A letter Gen. George Washington wrote in February 1777 about setting up a network of spies is among items to be displayed at the International Spy Museum.    


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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Imagine a gun disguised as a silvery tube of lipstick, a camera hidden behind a coat button or a tree stump that's really an eavesdropping device.

Props for the next James Bond movie? Maybe.

They're also genuine tools of spycraft, used by real-life spooks around the world. These implements and hundreds of other items are going on display when the International Spy Museum opens Friday.

Organizers say it's the first public museum in the United States dedicated to espionage, and the only one to provide a global perspective on an art form dating back to biblical times, when Moses assigned 12 Israelites to "spy out the land" of Canaan, promised to them by God.

A particularly prized exhibit -- never before seen in public -- is a one-page letter Gen. George Washington wrote in February 1777. In it, Washington offers Nathaniel Sackett, a New York political activist and merchant for the Continental Army, $50 a month to set up a network to obtain "the earliest and best Intelligence of the designs of the enemy."

 EXTRA INFORMATION  
Gallery: Spies Among Us  


 


Museum officials recently bought the letter from a private collector. It had remained with Sackett's family until a few years ago and was reprinted in a newspaper in 1931.

"Espionage is as old as recorded time, and probably older," says E. Peter Earnest, a 36-year CIA veteran who spent two decades in the agency's clandestine service. He is now the museum's executive director.

Former spies who serve on the museum's advisory boards, including former FBI and CIA chief William Webster and retired KGB Gen. Oleg Kalugin, helped gather more than 1,000 spy tools from the United States and other countries, including England, East Germany and the Soviet Union. About 600 pieces will be displayed initially.

Range of gadgets
Among the gizmos:

-- The lipstick pistol was issued in the mid-1960s and used during the Cold War by operatives for the KGB, the former Russian secret police and intelligence agency. The 4.5-mm one-shot tube was called "The Kiss of Death."

-- The coat with buttonhole camera was issued in the 1970s and used by the KGB. When triggered by a device inside the pocket, the center of the false button opened to snap a photo.

-- The tree stump listening device was issued by the CIA in the early 1970s. The solar-powered device was stashed in the woods near a Soviet military base to capture secret military radio transmissions.

Throughout the museum, visitors get quizzed on the details of a cover they're asked to adopt -- name, age and reason for travel.

They can also create and break secret codes and test their ability to find examples of common surveillance, ordinary-looking spies or dead drops -- prearranged locations where undercover operatives and their handlers exchange messages, money or the goods.

Exhibitions director Kathleen Coakley says patrons can see whether they measure up as spies or the people who catch them.

"We hope that visitors keep asking themselves that question: 'Could I ever use that? Could I ever do that?"'

Includes 007
It was at a dead drop in suburban Virginia where Robert Hanssen was arrested last year on charges of spying for Moscow for more than 15 years. The 25-year FBI agent had just dropped off documents for his Russian contacts. Hanssen recently was sentenced to life in prison for his role in what authorities say was one of the most damaging espionage cases in U.S. history.

 
Organizers helped gather more than 1,000 spy tools from the United States and other countries, including England, East Germany and the Soviet Union. About 600 pieces will be displayed initially.    
His story, and that of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, who also fed secrets to Moscow, are among the more modern tales of rogue spying featured. The blue Postal Service mailbox that Ames marked with chalk to signal his handlers also is displayed.

"You won't go through the museum and become a spy, but you will be sensitized to a number of things that make up the world of espionage," said Earnest, the CIA veteran.

Hanging from the lobby's ceiling is an imposing sculpture of Feliks Dzerzhinsky, a Polish Communist and founder of the KGB's predecessor. On video, former spies describe life under cover.

Of course, no spy museum would be complete without a nod to Agent 007. This gallery has a replica of Bond's silver Aston Martin DB5 sports car from the movie "Goldfinger."

In development since 1996, the $40 million complex encompasses five historic buildings and includes the museum, a restaurant, a cafe and a gift shop. One of the buildings was a district headquarters for the U.S. Communist Party in the 1940s. Admission is $8-$11.

Other exhibits focus on women spies, World War II espionage and celebrity spies.

Among the star spies: chef Julia Child, who processed classified documents for the Office of Strategic Services, the CIA's forerunner, and Oscar-winning director John Ford, who ran the OSS photography unit.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



       



fides quaerens intellectum

Why do you think he had the sudden change of mine?  What is his punishmnet going to be?

Walker Lindh pleads guilty to aiding Taliban
President Bush briefed, approved deal
July 15, 2002 Posted: 3:44 PM EDT (1944 GMT)

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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- John Walker Lindh pleaded guilty Monday to two charges, including aiding the Taliban, in a deal with prosecutors that spared him from life in prison.

The deal sends him to jail for up to 20 years, guarantees his cooperation with U.S. officials and drops the charge of conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals that could have put him in prison for life.

The 21-year-old California native, captured along with Taliban forces late last year in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban and possessing explosives in the commission of that crime. In exchange, eight other charges were dropped.

He can be sentenced to 10 years in prison on each of the two counts.

"As part of the agreement Lindh agreed to cooperate fully with the government including to provide information and testify if necessary at trials or other proceedings, including military tribunals," said Attorney General John Ashcroft. (More on Ashcroft's comments)


 
John Walker Lindh has pleaded guilty to two charges. They are:
Providing material, support and resources to al Qaeda
Using, carrying and possessing firearms and destructive devices during crimes of violence

Federal prosecutors agreed to drop eight charges. They are:
Conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals
Conspiracy to provide material, support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations
Providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations
Conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda
Conspiracy to contribute services to al Qaeda
Contributing services to al Qaeda
Conspiracy to provide services to the Taliban
Providing services to the Taliban





The agreement, which was reached at 1 a.m. Monday, came before hearings were to start over a 10-count indictment.

The negotiations started six weeks ago and went on throughout the weekend, lawyers said. President Bush was repeatedly briefed about the negotiations and was satisfied with the results. (More on Bush approving the plea deal)

A key to his agreement was that Walker Lindh will have to serve 20 years in prison.

But Walker Lindh's attorney James Brosnahan said Walker Lindh would be eligible for release in 17 years, with good behavior.

As part of the deal, Walker Lindh must cooperate in continuing investigations into what he knew about the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, with whom he had met. That means he will have to take polygraph tests as requested, said U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty.

"He's happy to cooperate in any way he can," said James Brosnahan, Walker Lindh's attorney. "He doesn't know a lot, but whatever they want to know, he'll talk to them. And he's glad to do it."

In addition, should he associate with terrorists after he is released, he could be hauled back into court, where he would be considered an enemy combatant, McNulty said.

Walker Lindh was in the courtroom as the announcement was made. He turned and smiled to members of his family and friends.

He was taken into custody along with other Taliban fighters in Afghanistan last year. He was identified as an American citizen after a bloody prison uprising, which began in late November in Afghanistan. During that uprising, CIA agent Mike Spann was killed.

Among the dismissed counts was one alleging Walker Lindh was involved in Spann's death.

"I am very disappointed," Mike Spann's father, Johnny Spann, said after the plead agreement was announced. " My son and all those who are serving overseas have been let down by this decision."

Other charges against Walker Lindh included conspiring to kill Americans overseas, providing support to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and using firearms and other destructive devices during crimes of violence.

If convicted of all the charges, he could have received up to three life sentences, plus 90 years in prison.

"This is a great accomplishment for the United States government and justice has been well served," said McNulty. "We are quite confident, if we had gone to trial, we would have prevailed on all counts."

He added, "This is a major sentence and I think it proves the strength of our case."

As part of the deal, Walker Lindh has also agreed to forgo any profit from his role as a soldier for the Taliban. "All proceeds of his story would go to the federal government," McNulty said. Walker Lindh also has withdrawn any claims that he was mistreated by the U.S. military, he added.

 
U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty: "An important victory for the American people."    
"This is a tough sentence, this is an appropriate punishment, this proves the criminal justice system can be an effective tool in combating terrorism," Brosnahan said.

In a written statement, Walker Lindh's attorneys said, "The plea agreement makes clear Mr. Lindh never bore nor currently bears allegiance to al Qaeda, Harakat al-Mujahideen, or any other terrorist organization. In addition, Mr. Lindh bears no allegiance to the Taliban. ...

"All claims of mistreatment of Mr. Lindh have been withdrawn, and his continued cooperation is an indication of his lack of hostility towards our armed services."

Brosnahan noted with pleasure that the terrorism counts were all dismissed. "He has never had any animosity towards any American serving this country," the lawyer said. "He never hurt anybody."

"I think any father who knew John would be proud to claim him for a son, and I mean that," said Walker Lindh's father, Frank Lindh. "John loves America, and we love America. God bless America."

Brosnahan said his client will continue to study Arabic, the history of Islam and the Qu'ran while in prison.

Walker Lindh was surprised when he heard about the Sept. 11 attacks, and never supported them, Brosnahan said. "He wanted to leave shortly after September 11th, but he couldn't because of fear of death," the lawyer added. "When he heard that this had happened, he didn't know what to make, it was just beyond his comprehension."




fides quaerens intellectum

[I love little snippets of wisdom, love and humor. I thought it would be interesting and fun to start a collection of our quotes and ideas. Please share with everyone those quotes, stories, phrases, etc. that you hold dear.]

I love little snippets of wisdom, love and humor.  I thought it would be interesting and fun to start a collection of our quotes and ideas.  Please share with everyone those quotes, stories, phrases, etc. that you hold dear.
____________________________________________________

     Ralph Waldo Emerson

                           "None of us will ever
                           accomplish anything excellent
                           or commanding except when
                           he listens to this whisper which
                           is heard by him alone."
                           -- "Greatness," Letters and Social
                           Aims, 1835 ]

fides quaerens intellectum

This post goes along with the "Noon day devil" post and regards negative entities that take on the guise of advanced alien races when they psychically attack individuals:

I used to be curious about the chance that other beings were traveling to our planet from far away.  I would go to the library and check out dozens of books about UFO's etc and then skim through them and read about the various accounts and experiences people have had.  Then about six months ago or so I came accross a book entitled "Grand Illusions", the name of the author evades me right now, but I believe his surname is Little, anyway, this man- a renound scientist and writer extraorinaire, studied UFO's and aliens for decades and then wrote this book which explains what he calls the EMT- Electro-magnetic [Spectrum] Theory.   His basically explains how our reality, what we can physically see, is only a small peice of the larger electro-magentic/vibrational spectrum (something we all understand despite the different terms- whether they be new age terms or scientific).  Anyway, in his book he looks at the various classification of negative beings that have reared their ugly heads throughout history and in different cultures (ie. the elves, the incibus, witches and fairies of the middle ages, the creatures and devils of the native americans and then finally the aliens of our present generations).  He basically says that these are negs that take on whatever guise they feel is best suited for the current generation.  For the most part today people have progresses beyond the typical archetypal images that plauged mankind in the past (not to say these images/symbols, etc. are no less real or valid), therefore people are less likely to see/believe in and be "tricked by these type of beings.  Now a "neg" would appear as some advanced, technologically superior being in order to threaten and attack a potential victim- sometimes even "floating the unsuspected person" out of his or her body, all the while the individual not being familiar with OBE, etc. thinks he or she is being abducted by an alien...and not knowing he or she has the power to stop it they don't and WALLAH we have negs doing horrendous things to these helpess people.  Luckily most of the time they don't even download the memories back into their waking conscious---but sometimes they stumble upon them through hypnosis, etc.

Does any of this make sense?  (and please excuse my prose, I am typing fast and not giving much heed to the grammatical and mechanical errors I am no doubtedly making)


I copied the following info from  http://www.abductions-alien.com/   This site itself and the number of hits it and similar sites are receiving is proof enough that many people are being "attacked" and/or "abducted" by negative entities.  Anyway, take a look for yourself:


Alien Abductions, How To Prevent


We will not spend any time at all discussing "are abductions by aliens (or something that
resembles aliens) real", because, if you are currently being abducted, you know it is REAL!

Is this below happening to you?...

You are being abducted often by what seems like aliens. They come after you go to bed and soon after
(or just before) you begin to sleep, paralyze you and float you out of bed, maybe even through your
solid wall!

This free site presents, without hype and nonsense, methods that have worked for others in stopping what
seems to be alien abduction. This site is free. No fees, no membership. It's biggest use is as an
"idea-center" or "brain-storming" arena, but first...

If you are expecting another abduction soon, maybe tonight...
What you may not realize is chances are very good your "abduction" is of an "astral" type or spiritual
type, not real flesh and blood extraterrestrial aliens. The real aliens DO exist, but they really have no need
for this nonsense; they are not responsible. Okay, answer these questions quickly:

    Does the abduction begin with you waking up paralyzed and maybe with some kind of buzzing or
    other weird noise?
    Do impossible things happen like being floated out in any way?
    Are you floated through something solid like a ceiling, wall or closed door or window?
    Do the "aliens" seem to "fade in"; that is, materialize?
    Are they "classic aliens", that is, light grayish or maybe, bluish, small, spindly, have large heads and
    large slanted eyes? [They might also look like reptiles. OR... they could even be good looking
    blond-haired people (Nordic characteristics)?]

If you answered yes to even a couple of above, your abduction is not by actual UFO aliens (even if you
see a ship (UFO); another one of their tricks) it is being done astrally. Don't ask how or why, just follow
the emergency methods below to stop your abductions NOW!

                    - Emergency Anti-Abduction Procedures -
     Do not question why or how, just do them! You may be able to stop further abduction!
 Don't argue! Just do as many of these as you can! ...

      Leave bright light on; in your room, hallway, and other rooms where Children or others sleep. Or everybody sleep
      in same room. If you have a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) for use with computers, plug the lamp into that.
      (In case abductions include power disruption)
      Hurry and buy or rustle up fast, before tonight, some kind of warning buzzer that will alarm you if the power goes
      off.
      If you have floor fans and/or table fans, bring them into your room and turn them all on, air-stream directed away
      from you of course. It would be great if one or more fan could be plugged into a UPS.
      Keep a flashlight with fresh batteries beside you in bed (sleep with it!).
      If you have an attic fan, turn it on.
      Spread salt all around your bed; surround it entirely.
      If you have access or can buy quickly (by tonight) the essence of an herb called Yarrow (achillea millefolium),
      spread it around your bed-room.
      If nobody is pregnant in your house, also buy essence of an herb called pennyroyal (hedeoma pulegioides) and
      spread it around your bed-room.
      Sleep with iron bars nearby or preferably, next to you. A crucifix made of iron would be good too.
 Additionally If you believe in God or Allah or other Spiritual beings...

      Pray to God, earnest prayer, to stop the abduction. Get quiet, clear your mind and pray in a room by yourself to
      God who is unseen.
      You could also pray to an Angel, like St. Michael
      Sleep with a Bible or Quran next to you.
      Sleep with a big picture of Jesus seemingly watching over you. [Something like the "Sacred Heart" would be great!]
      After laying down to bed, go ahead and close your eyes then visualize:
      A source of White Light, coming from the heavens and concentrating, like funnelling, into the top of your head.
      Direct (imagine) the White Light filling your head, proceeding into your neck, into your shoulders, down your arms
      into your hands and fingers. Then direct the White Light down your torso, into your legs, and on into your feet and
      toes. Then "over-fill" and push the White Light outward. Finish up by picturing yourself surrounded by a cocoon of
      White Light the surface of which is a few inches out from any spot on your body.
      Keep this in mind: The beings doing the abduction are deep in sin, and you have a God-Given right, an Inalienable
      Right, to be left alone. ASSERT IT!!!
 If all else fails, or you fail to implement the above in time and end up abducted, retain this bit of knowledge and use the
 procedure below...

      When you are abducted, it is your energy-body that is taken, not your physical. This is similar to out-of-body
      projection except that it is forced. Out of body travelers get back simply by thinking "Go physical, now" or "Return
      to physical body" or similar. Return is always instant...
      If you find yourself in the middle of an abduction, remember above then think (say if you can) forcefully to yourself
      (not them; you don't care about them) with all the conviction you ever have mustered:
      "IN THE NAME OF GOD, CHRIST and the HOLY SPIRIT, I DEMAND IN MY PHYSICAL BODY!!!
      NOW!!!"

      The abductors (the greys, Nordics or whatever) may respond with "We don't care about your God! Resistance is
      useless!" or something like that.
      You could retort, "Aw shaddup! Who asked you!?"
      Be MEAN! Be a bad-butt mother-****!

      But anyway, best to just IGNORE THEM! No matter what they say or what kind of high-pitched noise they
      make; continue saying it or thinking it to the exclusion of everything else until it works. Say it ten times, a hundred
      times, a THOUSAND TIMES! DEMAND IT!!!



The rest of this site will first expand on the ideas above and introduce many other "Resistance Methods"
that are effective but require mental preparation.

Consider these a set of "starter" ideas; think of this site as a brain-storming center; an "idea repository" on
ways to combat abduction. This and following parts are merely a "starter-core". Many methods presented
             are based largely on Ann Druffel's book, How To Defend Yourself Against Alien
             Abduction.

             This book is refered to often.

             From here, it is hoped experiencers will write in with methods they have tried and their
             experiences in general. (Serious ones only, please. We are not fooling around here.
Superfluous or silly entries to the discussion page (below) will be deleted.) Hopefully, those that wish the
abductions to stop can do so.

The following kinds of entries are most welcome:

    Any kind of resistance method (and how did it work for you if you did try it yourself)
    ANY kind of abduction situation... AND...
    Self initiated (controlled) Out-Of-Body experiences. (Which is relevant to discussion here, details
    coming)
    The posting of dates and locations of any kind of Alien-Abduction-related meeting, workshop or any
    other function is welcome!

Contents

 1.Introduction to Out-Of-Body experiences and the "Second Body" (also called Energy-Body or
    Astral-Body)
 2.Just what are these creatures? and Jinns? (And Fairies, Brownies, Medveds and a host of other
    things?)
 3.Methods of Resistance to Alien Abduction!
 4.Yes, there ARE real extraterrestrial aliens, their ships, and even a handful of actual physical alien
    abductions. Read about what my Father saw!...
 5.Okay, so the alien abductors are Jinns... but are some of THEM extraterrestrial?

 6.On to the User input page! This is where you can share your alien abduction resistance method,
       alien abduction experience, out-of-body experience or date and time for alien-abduction-related
                               meetings, workshops and other functions.
                                          CLICK HERE!

 7.More Resources; Books, Websites or Radio shows that may have more material about Alien
    Abduction phenomenon

                                           EMAIL

LINKS to other related or related-interests sites
(Email us if you have a related site and it will be added here)


    Alien Observer.com
    Explore and Explain the Alien/UFO Enigma!
    (Old site, will soon discontinue) Zo's Lit and Artwork OR
    (New Site) Zo's Lit and Artwork, A fascinating site with accounts of out-of-body, encounters with
    non-physical Beings, UFO-related, reincarnation and more!

    Alien On The Run is a no-nonsense site actually dedicated to "Taking Back The Night!" from
    invasive... what-ever-they-are.
    It IS interesting to note, that no matter how much this phenomenon is ignored by just about ALL
    "news services" and laughed at by many common folk, it persists simply because IT REALLY
    HAPPENS! I guess the only way one can get serious about it, is if it is happening to YOU, or
    (usually) to someone close to you.
    Just what ARE those things!?!? Our site, the site below, and many others are a-buzz with just that
    question. It is anybody's theory!
    YESTERNITE is a site dedicated to intelligent discussion of unexplained phenomena.
    YESTERNITE tries to strip away the hype, the wild conspiracy theories, and the sensationalism of
    unexplainable stories to try to piece together explanations of what's going on around us.

    AlienPress.com
    What can be said about the alien and UFO phenomenon that hasn't already been said thousands of
    times? Not much. The bottom line is that, no matter the belief system - religion, science, or
    superstition - countless individuals (author included) have seen bizarre objects cross our skies. Click
    here for AlienPress.com and begin exploring!

    The Antenna Conspiracy...
    Covert Government Experiment or Alien Invasion? Check out: http://wakeup.to/antennaconspiracy

    stopabductions.com
    I have been working with 4 investigators and 15 abductees. My device works. My site tells you how
    to make it with 22 photos and step-by-step instructions, where to buy the materials and the tools
    needed.
    Michael Menkin

    The following article "The Jinn From A Scientific Viewpoint" by Chris Line issued by FSR Vol.34
    No.4 is quit informative, check it out...
    It is at: http://ufoinfo.com/news/FSR_scientific.html ...click here

    Please visit and check out: http://www.geocities.com/AliensWebsite/
    I have just started directing Project Resistance Texas so I am trying to gather information.

fides quaerens intellectum

Court rules Pledge of Allegiance 'unconstitutional'
June 26, 2002 Posted: 5:28 PM EDT (2128 GMT)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag cannot be recited in public schools because the phrase "under God" endorses religion.

In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that reciting the phrase was a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state and amounted to government endorsing religion.

If it stands, the ruling means schoolchildren -- at least in the nine Western states covered by the court -- cannot recite the pledge, according to The Associated Press.

"The recitation that ours is a nation 'under God' is not a mere acknowledgement that many Americans believe in a deity. Nor is it merely descriptive of the undeniable historical significance of religion in the founding of the Republic. Rather, the phrase 'one nation under God' in the context of the pledge is normative," the court said in its decision.

"To recite the pledge is not to describe the United States; instead it is to swear allegiance to the values for which the flag stands: unity, indivisibility, liberty, justice and -- since 1954 -- monotheism."

The phrase was added in 1954 through legislation signed by President Eisenhower. The appeals court noted that Eisenhower wrote then that "millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty."

Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  


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Although no child is forced to say the pledge, the judges said any child whose personal or religious beliefs prevented him from reciting the pledge was left with the "unacceptable choice between participating and protesting."

The case had been filed against the United States, the U.S. Congress, California, and two school districts and its officials by Andrew Newdow, an atheist whose daughter attends public school in California.

The government said that the phrase "under God" had minimal religious content.

But the appeals court said that teachers having classrooms reciting the pledge did not pass the coercion test. The court also said that an atheist or a holder of certain non-Judeo-Christian beliefs could see it as an attempt to "enforce a `religious orthodoxy' of monotheism."

The three-judge panel was not unanimous in the ruling.

Circuit Judge Ferdinand Fernandez, who agreed with some elements of the decision but disagreed with the overall opinion, said phrases such as "under God" or "In God We Trust" have "no tendency to establish religion in this country," except in the eyes of those who "most fervently would like to drive all tincture of religion out of the public life of our polity."

"My reading of the stelliscript suggests that upon Newdow's theory of our Constitution, accepted by my colleagues today, we will soon find ourselves prohibited from using our album of patriotic songs in many public settings. 'God Bless America' and 'America the Beautiful' will be gone for sure, and while use of the first and second stanzas of the Star Spangled Banner will still be permissible, we will be precluded from straying into the third. And currency beware!" wrote Fernandez.

The 9th Circuit is the most liberal and the most overturned appeals court in the country.



fides quaerens intellectum

ATTENTION- THE FOLLOWING POSTS MAY CONTAIN "SPOILERS" REGARDING THE NOVEL & FILM "WHAT DREAMS MAY COME"

I am about to finish this novel, has anyone else read it?  I would like to discuss some of the details in the novel.  Although it is fiction,. the authro claims to have gotten all of his info from research of real NDE's and OBE's.

-Dan

fides quaerens intellectum

Plus size policy:

I recently heard that Southwest Airlines will be charging "large" people twice the fee for a seat on their flights.  What do you all think about this?  Have any of you ever been inconvienenced when an overweight person has sat by you?  I don't know what to think...shouldn't they just build a few rows with larger seats?  Someone on the radio said they shouldn't be charged more and should simply get a first class seat for free...I definetly don't agree with that.  Anyway, I just wonder what you all think about this....

The following is an article I got from CNN.COM regarding this issue:

(CNN) -- Southwest Airlines says it will begin enforcing a 22-year-old policy next week when it routinely charges large passengers for a second seat on its flights.

Starting June 26, Southwest passengers who are booked on full flights and need seat belt extensions, or whose bodies extend beyond the 18 3/4 inch cushions, will be required to purchase a second seat, said Christine Turneabe-Connelly, a Southwest spokeswoman.

"It's a policy that has been in place since 1980," Turneabe-Connelly said. "Over the years, we allowed some flexibility with the agents at the time of check-in. As of June 26, we will be consistent."


After examining the impact of the policy during the last few years, the airline's managers determined the flexibility created inconsistency and caused more stress for passengers and gate agents than it eliminated, Turneabe-Connelly said.

Gate agents might not have asked large passengers to purchase second seats on their outbound, partially-full Wednesday flight, but then those same people would get slammed with an extra fee on the overbooked Friday afternoon return flight.

Scenarios like that exacerbated tenuous interactions between employees and "people of size," Turneabe-Connelly said. "It's already a very difficult and sensitive issue to address."

All of Southwest's flights offer coach-sized seating. Business and first-class seats do not exist. And the "people of size" policy only applies to full flights where a larger person would not have access to an empty seat.

If a larger person required a second seat on an already full flight, then the flight would go into an oversell situation, and the crew would ask for volunteers to give up their seats, Turneabe-Connelly said.

The policy does not necessarily mean large people will pay double fares. If a person bought a ticket within the 14-day advance purchase window and knew they needed extra space, then that passenger would buy two tickets at that discounted fee.

However, if a person was buying a full-price ticket at the last minute for business or bereavement reasons, one seat would sell for the higher, walk-up fare, and the second one at the 14-day advance purchase price, Turneabe-Connelly said.

If a passenger buys a second seat and the plane is subsequently not full, passengers may get a refund. That too, Turneabe-Connelly said, has been the airline's policy since 1980.

The policy is really to ensure the comfort of all passengers, said Beth Harbin, a Southwest spokeswoman. Complaints from people of size have been rare, she said. Most complaints have come from people who felt discomforted by sitting next to larger passengers.

Courtesy of CNN.com

fides quaerens intellectum

I just made the resolution to eat better and my new diet involves eating a lot of vegetables, problem is that I haven't been eating veggies very much and now I find myself running out of recipes and ways of preperation.  I would appreciate it if some of you healthy veggie eatin' people would share with me some detailed recipes or even just quick ideas.  I have a rice cooker and most other pots and pans, so don't be shy.  I love rice and pasta too, so if you know good recipes that combine these carbs with vegetables, please share them!

Thanks!
-Daniel

fides quaerens intellectum

Cinema of Dreams

metaphysical films of note — and some tv shows, too
(Titles are capitalized)


The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Beautiful Ladies! Zest for life and the power of untrammeled imagination counter the deadening effects of uninspired rationalism and business-as-usual. But can they stave off Death? A more optimistic take on these themes than Terry Gilliam's earlier, brilliantly dark Brazil.

Agnes of God Interesting study of full-scale neurotic dysfunction. Or was it a miracle?

AI (Artificial Intelligence) Relevant for several reasons, including, most obviously, an android that wants to be real. However, on a more subtle level, the film presents the truly disturbing spectacle of emotional programming taken to neurotic extremes. The poor "guy" is constitutionally unable to change his patterns, or even recognize them as such. Worst of all, he never dies. Try to imagine spending an eternity in the confines of dysfunctional ego — sheer hell. Spielberg worked hard to come up with a warmish ending, but it's not really convincing.

The Anchoress A peasant girl with mystical tendencies agrees to become an anchoress — a woman who lives out her life confined to an enclosed cell in a medieval church. The local priest doesn't know what to make of her ecstasies, or her thealogy. Really not as depressing as it sounds.

Andrei Roublev The first in a series of long, ponderous, brilliant art films by Russian maestro Andrei Tarkovsky; this one isn't so ponderous. The film follows monk and revered icon painter Andrei Roublev on his journeys through 15th century Russia. The harsh, primitive conditions of life only worsen with the Tartar invasion and the cruelties that ensue. What good is art in the face of such barbarity? How can one serve a God that allows such brutality?

Being Human Robin Williams stars in this little-known film. A soul reincarnates in several historical periods until he finally begins to get it right. Lots of interesting cameos.

Being John Malkovich Hidden in the recesses of a New York City office building is a tiny door leading into the mind of John Malkovich. This is of great interest to the puppeteer that discovers the door, but not good news for Malkovich himself. When the puppeteer learns how to pull Malkovich's strings, an already complicated love triangle becomes very complex.

Blade Runner If the robots that were created to serve humanity begin to dream of freedom, then what? A classic in the field.

Contact Besides a big pitch for SETI, this film, based on the novel by Carl Sagan, contains a reasonably developed (for Hollywood) dialogue between science and religion. If you can't demonstrate the reality of a thing, did it ever really happen?

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon A movie for the new millennium, drawn from a centuries-old literary tradition. Chasing Tiger centers around a young woman's dream of adventure and freedom. Reckless and willful, she only realizes the utter seriousness of her destiny long after she's acted to forge it. Often romantic and thrilling, at other times Chasing Tiger, Hidden Dragon is merciless in its depiction of a true warrior's life, but it's always visually gorgeous.

The Cup Several days in the life of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bhutan, as told by a real-life lama turned film director. The headmaster struggles to balance discipline and right behavior on the part of his young charges with their own enthusiasm for World Cup soccer.

Dancer in the Dark People either love or hate this film, starring pop singer Bjork, about a mother's sacrifice on behalf of her son. As her life takes a bad turn that only gets worse, the heroine escapes into a fantasy life informed by Hollywood musicals — or should we say that she creates her own reality? The film tends to drag in the second half.

Dangerous Beauty In Venice in the late 1500s, the only lives available to women were marriage, the convent, or, occasionally, to become a courtesan; courtesans were allowed to read. At its core, a sensual demonstration of the arts and boons of Aphrodite in a period when she had mostly been stamped out.

Dark City The city is asleep. One man finds himself awake after hours. Why is this, and what is going on? Similar to The Matrix in that it externalizes the agents of human ignorance.

Dead Man A western and an art film, at once. An effete CPA from the East arrives at the farthest edge of the American frontier, only to find that his anticipated job has fallen through. He soon finds himself on the run with a bullet lodged next to his heart. A Native American loner named Nobody takes him under his wing, determined to assist the poet (well, his name is William Blake) realize his ultimate potential before he dies. A shimmering, salty approach to death and transformation.

Dogma Never before has a film so resembled fruitcake to me. Imagine that you like fruitcake, but hate those green candied fruits. The cherries, yum; the nuts, delicious; the batter, divine. The weird green fruit, though—yucko. Same here. This is really an interesting film—chunky, substantial, humorous, open-minded ... if someone had just toned down the occasional flourishes of gratuitous bad taste! I think Kevin Smith might have been trying to say something with them, but... I just really hate those gross green fruity things! (The plot involves an attempt by two fallen angels to get back to heaven through a loophole in canon law. If they succeed, that would prove God to be fallible, and we can't have that, can we?)

Earth on Edge A PBS documentary by Bill Moyers, who rings the visionary alarm bell for humanity. Will we awaken in time? An incredibly well-documented view of the environmental impact humanity has had on this planet. What will the future hold for us who live here?

Emotions & Consciousness This PBS program examines the science of consciousness, perception and reality.

The End of the Affair Damn the Other Lover. An unlikely triangle underlies this examination of love, jealousy, and sacrifice in 1940s London. Based on the novel by Graham Greene.

ExistenZ "Which world is really real?" as presented through the device of virtual reality-style gaming, which also presents us with the questions "What are the rules of this game?", "What is my role is this game?", and "What the hell is the objective here?"

Fight Club Beginning as a sly manifesto about the superficiality of life in the consumer-age, Fight Club is about the search for vitality in the face of relentless cultural artifice, then it develops into something else entirely. A surprisingly complex film, by Hollywood standards, about cultural and personal Shadow.

The Fisher King Terry Gilliam reworked this archetypal Grail legend into a modern rite-of-passage for damaged adults — men especially. Opening the heart, the kingdom turns green again.

The Game A rich executive is given a once-in-a-lifetime birthday present, an invitation to the Game, an esoteric manipulation of a person's physical and psychological makeup designed to provoke to new realizations. Fascinating, but a violent introduction to the initiatory process. — CC

Groundhog Day In which Bill Murray is forced to undergo the same banal day over and over, again and again, until he begins to figure out how to shift the pattern.

Harry Potter Ah, what Muggles can do to magic. Riding the Nimbus 2000 to the big screen, the film is an eclectic mix of Mary Poppins and Star Wars (some of us liked Mary's parrot umbrella better — Ed.). Too true to the book, and lacking its imagination, the movie still has its benefits. Magic, wizardry, and varying levels of perception become the elixir of life to the world of Muggles. Still, traces of the Orphic Mysteries, the alchemists, and the hero's journey are better served in the book. — CC Click here to stimulate some interesting trains of thought.

Heavenly Creatures A real-life cautionary tale about imagination gone awry. Two unconventional teenage girls find each other in 1950s New Zealand. Their strong attachment to one another and to their make-believe world begins to scare their parents, with disastrous results. Beautiful and terrifying with intense renderings of an unusual imagined world.

Hideous Kinky Despite its hideous title, a nice little film about the spiritual search. Kate Winslet plays a hippie chick drifting through Morocco, desperate to find an anchor. She's certain she's ready for the annihilation of her ego; too bad she's brought her two young daughters along for the ride. Told from one of the girls' perspective.

Hi-Fidelity This film offers a glimmer of hope for the perpetual adolescent in your life. An unambitious record store owner begins to review his love life when his long-term girlfriend leaves him. Reestablishing contact with earlier girlfriends, he begins to realize that the story (and soundtrack) of his life thus far has had virtually nothing to do with the facts of it. A fun movie with a great soundtrack.

Highlander Oh those immortals! The student-Teacher relationship; the sacrifice of the Teacher (Obi Wan, anyone?); the classic conflict between good and evil. And a soundtrack by Queen to boot.

Household Saints Absolute faith and purity of heart lead to classic manifestations of sainthood in 1950s Little Italy. Of course, that's impossible...well, highly unlikely, anyway.

Jacob's Ladder 1990 take on the 'Mind Control by the Powers-That-Be' theme, played out with Vietnam vets. A cross between The Matrix and The Manchurian Candidate.

Jesus Christ Superstar PBS' Great Performances broadcast this revamped, updated version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice classic. Set against the neo-Nazi propaganda, Jesus progresses through relatively modern dress to those of Biblical times. The archetypal theme transcends time and the casting and setting made the production fresh and enlightening. A bit of Darth Vader, dog collars, and ultramodern lighting weave the historic myth repeating itself and the mystic's role within the world while maintaining an identity that transcends it. A must see - especially since it's free! — CC

Kundun This film takes frequent breaks from conventional narrative in its depiction of the early life of Tenzin Gyatso — more commonly known as the 14th Dalai Llama — until his forced exile from Tibet. Scorsese pushes the medium to express Buddhist principles such as the plasticity of spacetime. A truly beautiful, transcendental (& long) film.

Ladyhawke What God has put asunder let no man put together. Sun and moon, earth and sky, man and woman. The tantric dance of opposites set in the Middle Ages.

The Last Temptation of Christ What is this that burns inside me? The uncovering of one's destiny, and the regrets that might keep one from attaining it. Scorsese's underappreciated labor of love based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis.

Little Buddha A introduction to the essentials of Siddhartha Gautama's biography. In his search for a reincarnated lama, a monk arrives at the home of a American boy. Neither he nor his parents understand what this means or entails. Thus a child's primer on Buddhism unfolds in full cinematic splendor, while the boy travels to Bhutan and Nepal for further inquiry into his identity.

The Lord of the Rings Besides the fact that this is just a good old-fashioned movie-going experience, The Lord of the the Rings is significant here for its archetypically-loaded imagery and themes, its multi-racial backdrop of identity, interrelationship and destiny, and its examination of fate and free will in the face of epochal events.

The Matrix A contemporary variation on a familiar theme: There's more going on behind the scenes than most people ever imagine. Wake up...

Meetings With Remarkable Men 1979 adaptation of G.I. Gurdjieff's account of his quest for spiritual fire. The dancers at the end of the film were trained and choreographed by one of Gurdjieff's close students. The dance isn't simply for pleasure.

The Messenger The voices Joan of Arc heard — whose were they? Is there a difference between the real and the imagined? How do we distinguish between them? An example of the importance of self-examination — lest one mistake one set of operating instructions for another.

Mindwalk A failed U.S. presidential candidate, an expatriate poet, and a disillusioned yet philosophical physicist share views about the failings of modern civilization and the alternatives available to us. The politics of the possible, systems theory, and the music of the spheres are among topics discussed. Slightly dated, but aspiring politicians should watch it anyway. Adapted by Fritjof Capra from his book, The Turning Point.

The Mists of Avalon If you care for the book, don't watch this television adaptation which primarily focuses on the most superficial, salacious and embarrassing aspects of the story. The spirituality which imbued the book is missing, as are various subplots — which makes practical sense in adapting such a long work, but come on — Morgaine never even becomes Lady of the Lake in this! Marion Zimmer Bradley's estate should be ashamed of themselves. Not only will this disappoint the choir, it also makes paganism and Goddess-worship look ridiculous. What was the point, exactly?

Music from the Painted Cave A PBS extravaganza. Native America follows the Riverdance craze. Nevermind, native and modern music merge to bring the heart of the Native People into the consciousness of 2001. Great flute, drums, voices, and dances establish the return of the White Buffalo. And Robert Mirabel is easy on the eye, too. — CC

My Dinner With Andre Who would ever have thought that a dinner conversion would make such an interesting film? One man's inner doubts prompt a fascinating dialogue between two contrasting philosophies about meaning and existence.

1984 An interesting translation to screen of Orwell's classic novel. Another take on the quest for vitality and meaning in the face of an oppressive status quo.

Pi An eclectic, paranoid thriller about numbers, master codes, the stock market and Cabbala.

Ponette After her mother's death in an automobile accident, four-year-old Ponette tries to understand the totality of her loss. All the contradictory beliefs she encounters about death and religion are perplexing, but she finally manages to cobble together a cognitive map that works well enough for her. A heart-wrenching, yet sweet, film.

Princess Mononoke If you liked Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, try this fairytale in which the creatures and spirits of the forest struggle to maintain their way of life in the face of encroaching human civilization. While this sounds like a no-brainer (forest good; humans bad), this animated feature (yes, animated) is much more ambiguous, and actively searches for middle ground.

Rashomon A classic from Akira Kurosawa. In medieval Japan, four witnesses tell remarkably different stories about a murder to which they are all connected. An object lesson in the relativity of human perception.

Ravenous Dances with Wolves as told by an Anne Rice fan, with a little Silence of the Lambs thrown in. Elements of the mysteries abound in this bloody flick.

Restoration In which great talent is led astray. Through the misuse of his gifts, Robert Merrivel (played by Robert Downey, Jr., in a sad twist of fate) becomes a fool. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have something to live for — or the opportunity to rediscover it anew. Visually magnificent.

Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead Tom Stoppard directed this adaptation of his own play, in which two minor characters from Hamlet struggle to understand their place in the universe, both on-stage and off. Hapless and existentially confounded, Rosencranz and Guildenstern — or is that Guildenstern and Rosencranz? — eventually find themselves done in by a script they barely understand, much less have control over, despite hints from the Master Player that there may be a method to the madness.

Scientific Frontiers: Alternative Medicine This episode of the PBS series Scientific Frontiers offers thought-provoking challenges to conventional and alternative medicine with surprising results.

The Silence of the Lambs In case you've forgotten, the gristly Dr. Lecter provides young Clarice Starling with several gifts in this taboo-ridden film. Not the least of these is uncovering the source of her egoic motivations.

The Skulls An action-packed adventure about Yale's secret society. Everything is on the line for initiation, brotherhood, and survival. Interesting, though focused more on power and leadership than spirituality. — CC

Star Wars The hero's journey, perfectly encapsulated. What else is there to say?

The Thin Red Line Meditations in the face of Death. Beautiful, hallucinatory, extremely moving — but relentless in its final analysis. The film's ever-shifting points-of-view can be confusing, but this is exactly the point. In battle, it doesn't matter who you are; the meatgrinder of war requires bodies, not individuals. The grunts struggle to cope in the face of this grim reality. Those who've found some saving grace are the worst off; eventually they discover they've been deluding themselves all along. A long, meandering film.

2001 The stages of man as seen through the lens of Stanley Kubrick. What's not dated here is the subtext about the in/fallibility of logic and technology divorced from a holistic approach to existence. And the star child, of course.

2010 In the darkest hour, light. The star child returns with a completely new paradigm — just in time to avert an earthly catastrophe of human design. There seem to be some important clues in this film.

The Truman Show In which an affable young man begins to awaken to the truth: he lives a scripted, artificial life. Can he escape from the charade while the whole world watches?

The Turning Point Resolution of life's decisions against the brilliant tapestry of some of the world's finest ballet.

Waking Life A cross between Slackers and My Dinner with Andre. Although most reviews focussed on the unusual visual techniques employed in the film (it was shot with a camera, then each frame was animated ), it's the protagonist's dreams and the lessons within them that we would find especially notable.

What Dreams May Come The afterlife as determined by one's disposition in life — another reason to muck out one's psychological garbage. Despite a clunky script, a vivid representation of the astral realm.

Why Has Bodhidharma Left for the East? Three stages in the life of man, considered from a Zen perspective. A young boy is taken in by an elderly monk at his remote mountain retreat. While the child learns the ways of the novice, a young monk struggles to transcend the vagaries of samsara — consensual reality. The elderly monk oversees all this while preparing for his impending death. A long, ruminative film.

Wings of Desire While its sequel, Far Away, So Close is actually more metaphysical in theme — it focuses on the perils that attend divine beings when they walk the earth — Wings of Desire is the original, and the more beautiful of the two. An angel sacrifices his wings in order to taste, feel, experience color, and love. Loosely remade by Hollywood as City of Angels.

Wonder Boys With luck, you comes to a point when you realize you have a choice: remain as you have been, or reconfigure and move on, with all the sacrifices that might entail. Optimistically, Wonder Boys suggests that it's never too late to grow up and that it might be worth it after all.

X-Men In a not-so-distant future, apparently random individuals begin to mutate, developing superhuman abilities. As mainstream society struggles to understand and control the situation, the mutants themselves "debate" the proper approach to mainstream society: integration or survival of the fittest?

§§§


fides quaerens intellectum

Have any of you heard of or seen the television show "Crossing Over" with John Edwards.  Essentially he is supposed to be able to channel the spirits of individuals who have died.  He communicates what they say to their loved ones who are there in the audience.  I just saw it and I am not sure what to think.  The fact that the whole thing is so commercial makes me very wary, I wonder....the people for whom he does the readings seem astonished at the detail and correctness of the things he says.  Is it real?  Personally, I don't feel mediumship is something to be sought after.  If a being who has "crossed over" wants to speak to you, he or she will do so in their own way.  Anyway, I posted some info about this...

Info and links for those who want to research this themselves:
http://www.johnedward.net/
http://www.scifi.com/johnedward/

John Edward has brought a fresh, honest and thought provoking attitude to the world of psychic phenomena. As a psychic medium, author and lecturer, he has, over the last fifteen years, helped thousands with his uncanny ability to predict future events and communicate with those who have crossed over to the Other Side.

John embarked on developing his own abilities after an encounter with famed psychic
Lydia Clar. Lydia made him aware of his abilities and directed him to use them to assist others. Since then, his clientele has ranged from young to old, student to professor, people of the clergy, law enforcement agencies and people from everyday life. . . His clients wait over a year to sit with him for private sessions, and although John is anxious to share his ability with those that need him, he is unwilling to compromise the quality of his work for the quantity that seek him out.

His long awaited book, One Last Time, was released in November of 1998 and has received wide acclaim from reviewers and clients alike. In November of 1999, it hit #1 on the Los Angeles Times Bestsellers list. John was featured in the HBO Documentary, Life Afterlife, that debuted in October 1999 where he established a connection to the Human Energy Systems Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona. Professor Gary Schwartz and his partner in science and life, Professor Linda Russek, head up the laboratory, and are dedicated scientists that are studying the science of mediumship and the evidence of survival of consciousness. I personally applaud their efforts, tenacity, and dedication in seeking to explore this realm in a scientific manner. More information on this to come. . .

John has also appeared on Larry King Live, Leeza, Roseanne, Maury, Sally, Entertainment Tonight, The Crier Report, Charles Grodin and HBO. He recently released a series of new audio tapes that are key elements in raising awareness about psychic energy and mediumship. John is excited to host the new television show Crossing Over with John Edward on the Sci Fi Cable Network beginning in June 2000.

Born and raised on Long Island, NY, John exhibited psychic abilities from an extremely early age, and was deemed "special" by many in his family. The fact that he would uncannily know family history and events that took place prior to his birth solidified that fact. Because no fuss was made over these early experiences, he maintained as normal a childhood as possible. Since psychic phenomena was so accepted by his family, it was easy for his abilities to flourish. John graduated college with a degree in Public Administration and Health Care Administration. He maintained a management position in a leading health care facility in the Northeast, and always continued his research, lecturing, teaching, readings, and writing in the field of parapsychology. Due to the large demand for his time and ability, John now devotes his time to pursuing his psychic work full time.

John resides in Long Island, New York, with his wife Sandra and
their two Bichon Frises, Jolie and Roxie.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This website is the only official on-line source of information regarding John Edward, his schedule, tour dates, or other appearances. John and his office make absolutely no representations or endorsements of any web-sites containing information about him, crossing over, or his books.

Copyright © 2002 John J. Edward
All Rights Reserved

Crossing Over with John Edward moves to an all-new time on the "sci-Fi" channel, 11PM and 11:30PM ET/PT on Sundays, while continuing to air Monday through Thursday at 11PM and 11:30PM ET/PT.


fides quaerens intellectum

Has anyone got their hands on this and read some of it/all of it yet?  Let us know when you do, I am sure it's great but it's going to take me a while to get a hold of it.  Thanks!

fides quaerens intellectum

Forgive the coppy format, but I pasted it in and didn't have the patience or time to re-format by hand.  Suffice to say that this is a debate mainly between myself (Daniel) and Cainum Nazier.  I just wanted to see what others had to say about the origins of life and the existence of God.
Much love to all!
-Daniel


Cainum wrote:
                  "When I mentioned creation I really had to be delicate with it, as there was no beginning, there was just an alwaysness. Only the finite mind needs to cling to the idea that there was a beginning, but there was not. People will believe in
infinity from now on, but they cannot accept to have allways been. "
I do not believe that we have always been here.(big bang) And I do not believe that man was created or has always been
here. (evolution) But I believe in the possability that we, humans, have been aware considerably longer than what is
                  generally known. This being recent discoveries that have been made with in the last 5 years. That keep finding things that
                  date back long before what was orginally thought.

                  "So if you do not believe in a creator(s), do you believe in a static omnipotent force that holds everything together? ..in
                  part, where does your energy come from, or the energy force within your pencil? If you believe that there is some major
                  force holding us static and together (whats to keep our molecules from flying apart?) then just dig a little deeper.."


                  Simply life. Life creates life in all forms. I do not believe it was created but rather it just happened one day. Some thing
                  managed to crawl out of the primortal ooz. Maybe we came to be because of a meteor hitting the earth bringing with it
                  the first cells that became life on this planet. Spontaneous combution of a sorts perhaps. The growing and splitting of
                  cells creates energy in a form and hence the energy that binds all life.


                  David Rogalski
                  cainam_nazier@hotmail.com
                  I am he who walks in the light but is masked by the shadows.

                  Alert Moderator  
    steveb
    Active Member
       

    Australia
    85 Posts
                    Posted - 07 June 2002 :  12:54:56        

                  Greetings all,

                  cainam_nazier wrote ] [quote
                  Simply life. Life creates life in all forms. I do not believe it was created but rather it just happened one day. Some thing
                  managed to crawl out of the primortal ooz. Maybe we came to be because of a meteor hitting the earth bringing with it
                  the first cells that became life on this planet. Spontaneous combution of a sorts perhaps. The growing and splitting of
                  cells creates energy in a form and hence the energy that binds all life.


                  I used to prescribe to the Darwin way of things, but have since changed my way of thinking. The reason I changed my
                  thinking, the "wasp plant'. Well, I think it's called a wasp plant. A few years ago I was watching a documentary on plants
                  and they were talking about how different plants pollinate. They show a close up of the stemen ?(the centre of the flower)
                  , then they show a picture of this wasp that is the only thing that can pollinate this flower. The stenem was a near exact
                  replica of the actual wasp. So I'm looking at it and the what came first ?, chicken or egg conundrum came into play.
                  Did the plant look at the wasp and change to suit,or did the wasp change for the plant?. Now darwins theory works
                  inregards to things like Blind cave fish, there transparent, it's supposed that these fish were trapped in caves for a long
                  time with no light and adapted to suit.
                  I now hold a Darwinistic/Creationist at some point, view. People ask the question sometimes, if you were to die and
                  allowed to ask one question to which the answer will be given,what would be the question. My question , "whats the deal
                  with the wasp plant and the wasp". I've got an idea that when my time comes the question would be of little importance,
                  but if it's not, I hope i would be at the stage were I could comprehend the answer.

                  Regads steve



                  Alert Moderator  
    PeacefulWarrior
    Silver Member
         
             
    USA
    254 Posts
                    Posted - 07 June 2002 :  19:08:03                  

                  Hey Tyrone,
                  Before you enlist to enlighten our minds, could you please introduce yourself formally... What do you fo dor a living? IN a
                  nutshell, what are your beliefs? Where are you from? What ethnicity are you? Call me crazy orold fashioned, but I like to
                  know my teachers.

                  -Dan

                  fides quaerens intellectum

                  Alert Moderator  
    PeacefulWarrior
    Silver Member
         
             
    USA
    254 Posts
                    Posted - 07 June 2002 :  20:03:05                  

                  I also wanted to mention to David ("Cainam") that I think you are fooling yourself if you don't believe in a higher being. I
                  think if we look around at the organization of the earth, or even at our own physical bodies, and have in a basic
                  understanding of the laws of thermodynamics, etc. one can logically assume that there is an organizer...

                  If one walks down a beach how long would he have to walk before stumbling upon a fine swiss watch? Would a fine Swiss
                  watch ever simply organize itself out of the sand with time? I think not. Not even in a million yeas, nor a billion years, nor
                  a trillion years... How, then, do trillion cell organisms like us just appear from blue green algae?

                  The second law of thermodynamics states that all things run down, in other words everything naturally becomes less
                  organized with time. Nature fights against evolution...even the most die hard darwinian will admit that nothing in
                  evolutionary theory can explain this. The more physicists and biologists delve into the questions of existence, they find
                  that there must be some organizing force or energy. Soon they might even come up with a revolutionary theory that
                  involves....don't jump out of your seat!....GOD! What a revelation!

                  fides quaerens intellectum

                  Alert Moderator  
    cainam_nazier
    Silver Member
         

    USA
    301 Posts
                    Posted - 08 June 2002 :  01:32:36          

                  "If one walks down a beach how long would he have to walk before stumbling upon a fine swiss watch? Would a fine Swiss
                  watch ever simply organize itself out of the sand with time? I think not. Not even in a million yeas, nor a billion years, nor
                  a trillion years... How, then, do trillion cell organisms like us just appear from blue green algae? "

                  No naturally something like that would need to be made. However that which is alive and functioning does not need that
                  complex of a creation. You look around nature and everything seems to adapt for a perpose. This is simply seem in all
                  life. There became an over abundance of some kind of fuel (food) or what ever and some thing starts to minipulate it and
                  by doing so starts to change itself. Evolution takes its course and a few thousand generations later you end up with some
                  thing that is able to manipulate the fuel to a far greater extent than its predisessors.


                  "The second law of thermodynamics states that all things run down, in other words everything naturally becomes less
                  organized with time. Nature fights against evolution...even the most die hard darwinian will admit that nothing in
                  evolutionary theory can explain this. "

                  I believe this very simple to explain. Every thing will eventually out live its usefullness. This being as a form of life evolves
                  to manipulate its food source eventually it becomes so good at it there becomes an over abundance of that life form.
                  Then some thing else sees it, or a by product of it as fuel and learns to manipulate it and grow. The chain starts over. Or
                  even they become so heavily over populated that it simply comes to pass that there is no more fuel or food. Unless that
                  form of life learns to adapt if capable then it will die out, and hence become no more.

                  We as humans have probably severly out lived or usefullness but given our ability to adapt we have not perished and
                  continue to thrive. This being because we can and do evolve and continue to do so. But unless we learn a better
                  methode we too will eventually become much more over populated than we are. We will end up chewing up ever last bit
                  of the remaining natural resources and we will perish or be replaced by some thing else. Evolution in full cycle.

                  David Rogalski
                  cainam_nazier@hotmail.com
                  I am he who walks in the light but is masked by the shadows.

                  Alert Moderator  
    PeacefulWarrior
    Silver Member
         
             
    USA
    254 Posts
                    Posted - 08 June 2002 :  11:30:54                  

                  I disagree wholeheartedly. In regards to the Swiss watch theory, if you want to say, and I quote, "...that which is alive and
                  functioning does not need that complex of a creation" then I guess that I am not going to be able to persuade you. How
                  can you say that a living organism, a creation so complex that we still don't understand how it works nor how to create it, is
                  easier to form than a watch then I think you are percieving reality in an entorely different way than myself. We, as
                  humans, along with all other living life forms, are MIRACLES! Humans can procreate, but even in our most advanced
                  labratories we cannot create life int he true sense of the word. We cannot even come close to creating AI in computers.


                  fides quaerens intellectum

                  Alert Moderator  
    cainam_nazier
    Silver Member
         

    USA
    301 Posts
                    Posted - 08 June 2002 :  12:24:35          

                  Ahh, but how long did it take the human to figure out how to make a watch? Or a computer? It is only a matter of time.
                  Just because we can not do some thing now does not make it impossible. Eventually we will evovle and we will be able to
                  do this and then it will be common knowladge. If you told some one 100 years ago that we could fly in space they would
                  have thought you crazy. And now it is done. People used to think that if you went more than 25 MPH in a car you would
                  turn into to liquid. At that time they understood less. And now wecan travel hundreds of miles per hour. We learn more of
                  the human body every day. That is why we can live the way we do now. Medicine, surgery, vent machines, artificial
                  hearts, prostetic limbs, the more we learn the closer we become to being able to create life not just sustain it. We know
                  enough about the nervis system that we can re-attach severed limbs but it was impossible 10 years ago.

                  But I can tell things are starting to get touchy so let me say this. Yes it is possible that I am completely and totally wrong,
                  but you must accept that it is possible that so are you, and that it is possible that WE are all wrong. This all being the
                  wonder of abstract thought.

                  Now let us step back and see what else Tyrone has in store for us. Well Tyrone you wanted to stimulate thought and
                  debate. Well done.


                  David Rogalski
                  cainam_nazier@hotmail.com
                  I am he who walks in the light but is masked by the shadows.

                  Alert Moderator  

                  Edited by - cainam_nazier on 08 June 2002 12:28:06
    PeacefulWarrior
    Silver Member
         
             
    USA
    254 Posts
                    Posted - 08 June 2002 :  20:57:26                  

                  Don't worry friend, things aren't getting touchy, I promise. It takes a lot ot get me frustrated or angry, I can assure you that.
                  Anyway, I hear what you are saying. If there's a believer in human potential it's me! I believe man can do all things, there
                  is no limit to our potential...but everything we do is through the power, knowledge and light of the Source, which is God.
                  We can become like God and that's the main reason we are here in this life. I too believe in natural processes, but I
                  believe that's the way God works. I don't want to get into my theories of evolution, Adam and Eve, etc. but I do know that
                  God lives, it's not faith, but knowledge.

                  Like the line below, after faith comes knowledge...

                  fides quaerens intellectum

                  Alert Moderator

fides quaerens intellectum

Would there ever be an option to change/modify our user name?

fides quaerens intellectum

I would like to hear about some of the books you are all reading these days...anything interesting.  Any books that are really fun, different or simply great?  I recently read a very extraordinary book by an author name Denis Johnson entitled "Jesus' Son".  It's basically about a herion addict and his journey of redemption...sort of, it's very difficult to categorize or summarize a short novel like this.  It's very short and only took me a couple of hours to read.  They also made a film out of it...

Anyway, let's talk about books, that is if you are a reader (and I think most of you here are)

fides quaerens intellectum

I have, on many occasions, heard stories of an "old man" entity who is the eptiome of evil (ie. satan).

I shall briefly share one such story:  
Two young men, CHristian missionaries, were in a small town in either South America or Europe (I cannot recall).  Anyway, they are having phenomenal success and has helped out many individuals.  They did charity work gave blessings, healed, etc  At some point they declared, in effect, "We are no longer able to be tempted by the dark side.  We are beyond the powers of the evil one.  We dare satan to try anything he can against us...".  In other words they became very prideful and arrogant.

One day they met an old man on the street and he told them who would like to meet with them and start discussing Christianity with them.  They set up a meeting and about a week later they went to meet him.  They went to a lonely street in a desolate part of town and found a sharp looking man in a black suit waiting for them in the exact spot where they had promised to meet the old man.  They approached the man and then were filled with a dreadful feeling.  Something was definetly wrong and when the man's eyes met theirs they were filled with an inexplicable feeling.  The man looking through them and declared, "Don't you EVER tempt the powers of evil!  IF YOU DO YOU SHALL BE DESTROYED!"  At this the man turned and walked away and they did too.  When they looked back, they saw, instead of the sharply dressed man, an old man...limping along the street where they had just come from.

I also have a friend who, during heart surgery, had a near death experience.  While looking down at his body he saw an old man standing near his bed looking at his physical body.  He wondered "Is that an old man or is that the devil" and a voice from above, with authority, declared "That is old man death, that is the devil".  

What do you think about this old man entity???

fides quaerens intellectum

Ok- now that I have your attention, what do you all think about a psychic who professes to be able to tell future events, such as a sporting event...



fides quaerens intellectum

A few weeks ago I took a road trip and while I was trying to get some sleep in the back seat of the car I was I started staring up at the night sky and I began to wonder about a few things, ready? (and some of you may think these are silly questions, and maybe they are...one thing's for sure, they are curious questions:

1.  Could you go to the sun out-of-body?  I bet you could, has anyone every done it?

2.  Could you project while in a vehicle moving at a rapid pace?  Such as a car going 100 mph...or how about a jet going 800 mph?  I wonder how the energy body would react...

3.  When the Kennedy's had a personal psychic, what do role do you think the psychic played in the Presidency?  Kennedy was not the only Pres. who had a psychic, who else did?

4.  Has anyone heard about that psychic in L.A. who has a ton of regular clietns ranging from actors to multi-million dollar directors and producers?  He seems very legit...there was an article about him in Entertainment Weekly a month or so ago... many of his clients come in disguised as not to reveal their identities.

5.  What should I write here?

fides quaerens intellectum