An interesting documentary on cosmologists search for God. In 5 parts on Youtube.

Recently governments have been talking about “greenhouse gas reduction targets” and other well-meaning things, for the purpose of preventing ecological collapse within the next century, but in reality, it could well be that if we don’t take very drastic measures in short order, we’ll push the planet into ecological collapse. Scientists from all over the world are stating that climate change estimates have been vastly understated and that we may only have 5 or ten years in which to make changes. Even if you’re a skeptic, can one really ignore numerous respected scientists saying the same thing? Is this something we want to gamble on? The result will be, quite literally, the death of millions of people.

Finally people in the right places are starting to take notice of the world’s biggest polluter, livestock grown for meat consumption. I fear the industry will do its utmost to preserve itself, however, taking us down with them. They don’t realise that they aren’t going to have many customers to sell to in a few years.

According to the U.N. report, the livestock sector internationally generates 18 percent more greenhouse gas emissions, as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, than the transport sector.

Furthermore, the livestock sector also damages the ecosystem, as it is a major contributor to land and water degradation. And the problem is expected to get worse. The U.N. noted that global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tons in 1999 to 465 million tons by 2050.

The livestock sector now uses 30 percent of the Earth’s land surface. Most of the use consists of permanent pastures. But 33 percent of the global arable land is now used to produce livestock feed, the report said. One result is deforestation, as old-growth forests that absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide are cleared to create new grazing areas.

In Latin America, some 70 percent of forests in the Amazon region have been turned over to grazing, the U.N. said.

The livestock sector accounts for 9 percent of carbon dioxide deriving from human-related activities and 65 percent of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Most of this comes from manure.

The sector is also responsible for 37 percent of all human-induced methane, which is produced largely by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 percent of all human-induced ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain, the report added.

[…] something that has concerned me is the notion of foreigners as Gaijin. Your reply has partly quelled my presumption of the Japanese people’s fear or disrespect against foreigners, however I still have mixed reactions concerned to this notion and wonder if the same sentiment about foreigners is unique to that particular place in Japan. Do the Japanese feel threatened by foreigners? Are Japanese girls attracted to foreigners? (Probably saw this question coming)
 
I’m currently studying for my year 12 HSC and at the stage of my life where I begin making decisions, my imagination is quite short.
[…]
At this stage of my life, a lot of people are telling me to do what I want, but in order to do this, i’m just trying to learn off others who have taken the path.

If you could briefly describe these aspects of Japanese life, it would be very valuable to me.

- Work schedule
- Leisure time
- Overall happiness factor compared to Syndey (Is it as laid back as Sydney?)

Thank you in advanced,
Have a nice day tomorrow

There are definitely many Japanese girls attracted to foreigners.  But are they really just wanting something different to a normal life?  Japanese men, after university, become salarymen, dedicated to their work, a tradition based on samurai culture, where you gave your life to your retaining lord.  If the boss finishes at 10pm, so do you.  If the boss goes drinking, so do you.  It burns the family.  I really need to insert here a book’s worth of knowledge, almost completely ignored in any modern society, about marriage and its spiritual meaning and how its spiritual depth is almost completely lacking.  A friend of mine thankfully did here .

That aside (the article linked will probably be more useful than anything you’ll ever read again in your life by a long stretch) Japanese people work 9-5, or as I said above, 9 until whenever they get to go home.  Foreigners get paid quite well for teaching English, so for example, it’s not impossible to work part-time for full-time pay. You go home when your classes finish too, so none of what Japanese salaried workers have to suffer.  Since many companies don’t want to have to pay for compulsory health insurance, they often only give teachers part-time hours, under the limit where it becomes compulsory to pay it.  This only after a number of companies were fined heavily for not paying it for their full-time foreign workers.

Leisure time - it’s the same as being a foreigner in any country, you do the same kinds of things, such as travel, go drinking or whatever you enjoy.

It’s not as laid back as Australia.  Japan is very rigid in its ways.  Everything has a place, and while foreigners making mistakes is tolerated, once you’re in a workplace, you’ll have to tolerate often totally insane decisions from managers, junior staff having no other attitude other than to do as instructed.  The upside is that there is less uncertainty (you know the trains will be on time, almost all the time).  I’m not going to say that Japan is better or worse than anywhere else, because the good and bad are different here.  Everything in the world is only how you see it or accept it.

I sympathise with your position at the end of yr 12.  Culture doesn’t really give us anything useful to decide our direction in life outside of study and work.  In my life, the only things that ever had anything other than a superficial meaning were helping others and self-realisation.  The latter goes against the world that wants to make one a prisoner to the superficial and material.  At your stage in life, I’d say don’t be afraid of your choices or of failure.  I highly doubt you’ll ever end up homeless or sleeping on the street, the rest is just experience.  What you learn from your experiences and the choices you make is more important. When you die, that’s literally all that you’ll take with you.

You will not find any guide like this anywhere else on the internet or in any religion. Anyone on a dedicated spiritual path should read this article:

While the pattern for a successful marriage is quite simple, marriage can and usually does become one of our greatest challenges, particularly in the context of today’s culture. Overcoming these challenges requires a deep understanding of the differences between the sexes, the necessity of marriage, the forces that hinder marriage and the pattern that people must manifest in their every thought, word, action and desire to create a marriage that is fulfilling at every level of being.

Man, woman and the union of the two in what can be called Divine Marriage is the most fundamental pattern of our creation. Further, since ALL of our creation is holographically imbued with this pattern, understanding marriage and working within the dynamics of male/female interactions is key to bringing about a condition within your body mind to understand and experience your true nature. If the dynamic of Divine Marriage is truly understood and lived in the flesh, it serves to allow a man and woman to become a holographically complete physical image and likeness of their Source, which permits the flesh to join as one with our Inner Spiritual Nature in the pure conscious balance of the Mental Mind, or the Soul Self, which is a Being of Light.

Read the full article here .

Picture this - mid ’80’s and a boy goes into a coma in hospital.  His parents bring him toys, including a Mr T doll.  However, whenever someone mentions Mr T, the unconscious boy twitches. The doctors happened to hear that the real deal, Mr T himself, was in town and managed to track him down.  Mr T visits the hospital and the boy wakes up. ‘That was my supernatural moment.’

The Guys’ Rules

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down. Finally, the guys’ side of the story.
(I must admit, it’s pretty good.)

We always hear “the rules”
from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules!
Please note… these are all numbered “1″
ON PURPOSE!

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You’re a big girl. If it’s up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don’t hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports. It’s like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

1. If you won’t dress like the Victoria’s Secret girls, don’t expect us to act like soap opera guys.

1. If you think you’re fat, you probably are.
Don’t ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say nothing,” we will act like nothing’s wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don’t want an answer to, expect an answer you don’t want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine…Really.

1. Don’t ask us what we’re thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don’t mind that? It’s like camping.

Pass this to as many men as you can - to give them a laugh.

Pass this to as many women as you can - to give them a bigger laugh!!

The observer has the frightening story of Howard Dully , who at age 12 was forcefully lobotomised by Dr Walter Freeman, famous for using the treatment on thousands of patients to cure their mental issues. Most frightening is the recollection of the doctor’s son, who recalls his father doing the treatment with an ice pick taken from their kitchen, which was driven into the skull above the eyes and wiggled around to damage the frontal lobes of the brain.  NPR also has pictures of Howard , including one taken during his lobotomy.

When I was, oh, quite young, the family cat we had at the time used to like sleeping amongst my mother’s clothes and whatnot. One time, upon finding him I thought it amusing to put one of my mother’s hairpieces on his head, making for a sight that left me laughing uncontrollably. That memory came rushing back to me as I discovered my childhood amusement had been turned into a business. Yes, that’s right, I present to you, Kittywigs and their accompanying Flikr Gallery.

I miss having a cat. I’m not a dog person really. It doesn’t bother me what weirdness people bring upon their pets as long as it’s done with Love and doesn’t harm them. Possibly the greatest example I’ve ever seen for the love of animals is that shown by the Supreme Master Ching Hai in her book The Dogs in My Life. Pained to see the suffering of any animals at all, she rescued a number of dogs from being put down at shelters and has been looking after them since. As well as starting the Alternative Living project (see The Top Ten Reasons To be Vegetarian top left) she herself created this books to show the world how wonderful and full of Love animals are and how they deserve to be treated with as much Love as we are capable.

Cracked has a great article on how the internet and communication has changed for the worst this century. From the article, “Scientists call it the Naked Photo Test, and it works like this: say a photo turns up of you nakedly doing something that would shame you and your family for generations. Bestiality, perhaps. Ask yourself how many people in your life you would trust with that photo. If you’re like the rest of us, you probably have at most two. Even more depressing, studies show that about one out of four people have no one they can confide in.”