New Civilization News: The Catastrophic Support Circle    
 The Catastrophic Support Circle16 comments
picture2 Jan 2008 @ 01:01, by Richard Carlson

When you meditate, invite yourself to feel the self-esteem, the dignity, and strong humility of the Buddha that you are.

---Sogyal Rinpoche

The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.

---Tennessee Williams

This year,
yes, even this year
has drawn to its close.

---Buson

The Opening of the Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse, 1610-14
El Greco

I had a night of foreboding last night. No, it wasn't the champagne. In fact I went to bed very early. I felt it when I awoke around 3 AM, with fragments of a dream still flickering. People were coming up the hill, closing in...and I needed to decide whether or not to shoot. Rather a moot question, since I didn't seem to have any guns.

Maybe the wind, which by then was battering the house, had shaken me up. The cold front had arrived, bringing the snow from further west that's falling now. We expect about an inch, and I've already put down the potash before the relatives arrive for a Hungarian New Year's feast.
It couldn't have been the hospitality I enjoyed yesterday at Kathy's remarkable home. She and her partner Constantine had invited a few people for a delicious lunch of soup, fresh bread, salad, deviled eggs, cheese and some Crumb's special crackers that I brought. The land is high on a hill of natural oak forest, with amazing outcroppings of huge boulders, possibly shoveled there by the glacier which chugged to a stop just north of there.

When Kathy first acquired the land, she found a cave among those rocks and there she lived until she could build a tepee, and eventually more comfortable shelter. What they have now is a model home, for me at least, that is self-sustaining and off-the-grid. You can see it here [link] and go there to find out more if you're close by. There are more and more energy-efficient and alternative houses showing up around here. People move here especially to try their hand at living this way.

That was the purpose of our lunch and the 2 hours of conversation that followed. The people who come here are often fiercely independent. They don't know anybody here particularly and aren't that eager to get terribly involved. But maybe it's time we began to open up more to each other. Oh not a lot necessarily. Not some big organization with meetings and committees and all that. There are plenty of those...and more splintering off all the time. No, what we were considering was a loose network of support...in preparation for emergency, catastrophe, even apocalypse. Not your cup of tea for after dinner conversation? Now you know why I woke up troubled in the night.

Of the few of us there, at least half seemed to have formal medical training, either in nursing or doctoring. Clearly they had branched out into other pathways, such as those of the shaman and midwife and into different kinds of bodywork and feedback. Constantine is interested in nutrition, growing and preparing food. While we all are fed up with the government's failure to provide care for the people in times of emergency, I still held up memory and hope for the citizenry to come to its senses and rebuild our society's responsiveness.

We came at the topic from 2 different but connected angles. Within the last decade the psyche of the nation has suffered 9/11 and Katrina. We are learning to live with attacks we call terrorism and the natural disasters perhaps caused by excessive carbon emission. We have federal Security agencies, lavishly funded, but strangely ineffective. Money is available, and obviously private contractors are out there getting it. But what of local communities? Are there groups downtown, politically appointed or otherwise, prepared with stockpiles of food and medicine...just in case? Are there evacuation plans?

What if there's a big earthquake? A series of hurricanes and tornadoes? What if Baltimore and Washington are flooded out by a sudden rise in sea level? We know that our town is designated as a "host" in the event of such a catastrophe. People will be told to come here---and maybe even given transportation. Is our town ready for this? What of all the WalMart people, a perfect herd of consumerism brainwash, who may not even think about what would happen if there's no gasoline or electricty for an extended period. Now you're on foot and hungry...and nothing stockpiled except your shotgun collection. Can we help those people? Can we count on any protection if matters become unruly?

What we were considering is whether among our individual friends and associates, there might be households that could share in emergency preparation. I can stuff my crawlspace with bags of rice and beans and some big bottles of water...but maybe one family could store rice, another beans, and somebody else canned goods. Within shouting distance of our house---across the "holler"---are 3 or 4 families whom I might be able to engage in this activity. Up the road apiece are a couple more places. We're talking about this kind of network...local to your neighborhood, whether in town or country. It means reaching out in ways maybe many of us haven't done in a while---or possibly ever.

When we closed out our gathering yesterday, we sort of reflected on how we felt. I said it was cleansing and healing for me to talk together this way. Often at work and in casual conversation, people resist conversation headed in this direction. People seem in denial or ignorance or dependence on some outside power to come with the care. It was a relief actually to address this topic as the whole reason for getting together. But later---in the middle of the night---it came to me there is a lot of work to be done. And it's urgent.

Oh...nearly forgot: if you need some extra motivation to get started in your neck of the woods, I read something this morning in the new Old Farmer's Almanac. An English businessman named Sir Richard Branson has started the Virgin Earth Challenge. It's a contest to come up with an effective way to remove billions of tons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. First prize is 25 million dollars. [link]


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16 comments

2 Jan 2008 @ 02:02 by bushman : Happy New Year :}
My little Bro Dan, is building one of those sand bag homes while he and his wife and kid live in a big tent, considering its something he never did before, hes got a good start., Although since hes doing it in Hawaii, not such a harsh enviornment to be in a tent in winter. He has this uncanny ability to get what he needs for little or no cost, can you believe it, he got 25, 55gal drums of veg oil to run his generator on for free. This Bro, when he was like 16 told this guy he wished he had a horse, and the guy gave him one right there on the spot, lol then in 2 years he trades the horse for a almost new Moped. Now hes a tire trader/broker, lol.

Anyway, point being, to change the world thought it takes drive and determination to want to make a change, being the roll model for all to see is the best way to do that. Like if these people can find ways to live off the grid then anyone can, and then maybe its just a calling to leave the system behind and do what you think is right, no matter the hardships you must endure. :}  



2 Jan 2008 @ 03:10 by swanny : A Vision
A Vision
Well not sure if its a vision or what it is....
link = http://reddeeralta.googlepages.com/indexagrocenter2007.html

it rather complex and hard to believe or see how it fits together and what it means

Well for lack of a simpler term
I would have to say its a wholistic comprehensive stigmergic global construct with a foundational historic reference to 300 AD that attempts to address the macro and micro realities and problems ie (the global warming of the planet due to the industrialization that started in 1700 with the invention and proliferation of the combustion engine) of the modern and postmodern world and temper them to a more natural or "agro" sentiment or reference, in short thus a "global agrocenter II" apart from the much simpler global agrocenter I one of 300 AD but I wouldn't quote me on it because it is a lot more complex or mysterious or wonderous than a simple soul like me can explain or understand.

but then again I don't know

"The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time"
James Taylor 1990s?

Works for me some times

swanny  



2 Jan 2008 @ 10:41 by swanny : Internet core?
Yo
well Hi and thanks I guess
I suppose in some ways it represents a pictorial representation of the core of the internet and its history and growth as well perhaps as a vision of how the internet might develop or could be and how perhaps too it is kind of how the internet is a gift to the world in the sense of "bringing the world together" in a comprehensive way.
Yet the complexity or verbage of it is somewhat baffling at the same time. I guess then its kind of a "guiding light" or mantra to keep from getting lost in the tremendous amount of info the internet engenders. A way or touchstone to return to that is at first confusing but can serve as a light house or "center" from which to build on to. Hmmmm maybe thats what it is then the "center of the internet. Hmmmmmmm
Interesting....???? The next level of developmental global integration.


ed  



2 Jan 2008 @ 16:29 by swanny : 3000 souls
Howdy
yes the vision
well it was a kind of response to the situation....
I sought look into the grief and sorrow and find the silver lining.... to say goodbye to the old and see the new seed that was born as a phonenix out of it...
The thing is or has a spherical and global sense so out of the collapse
of one perhaps misguided or incomplete construct the formation of a new level or ring on the tree of life that transcended it.
It was a quantum leap for humanity born and pay for by the sacrifice of 3000 innocent or more or less innocent souls.
The souls had to achieve something or the loss would have been total... so perhaps it is not my vision but the vision of those who gave their lives for a new purpose and beginning and way for humanity. In the center you see a cross in a glass pyramid.... It denotes and honors the peak of human experice as found in the spiritual. The manner in which day to day human activity surrounds it suggest that we have access to the spiritual but also to base nature on the perifery. We thus bring the spirit to nature or mitigate between nature and spirit by love law and justice in truth.
The use of the mammal connection is so we do not forget or humble beginnings tied to the class of the mammal/milk class. It honors those creatures as well.
Unfortuneately it is hard to explain in a simple way as it is or tries to be so comprehensive.... more than a million things involved.

anyway thanks for the chance to try to explain and yes the merkabah plays a role.... the true marriage of male and female souls in a relationship of mutual trust joy and love.


ed  



2 Jan 2008 @ 22:52 by jazzolog : It's Great
to get a few songs out of Ed while we await the Apocalypse, and of course who could be a better companion around a campfire than Bushman and his bro? It seems much of what needs to be done along these lines is local, and so I've been hearing from people in my area. Some already have neighborhood networks set up and are glad to offer help and advice. I like the attitude that we're doing this to help others rather than just take care of me and mine.  


3 Jan 2008 @ 05:13 by vaxen : Some quotes ++
"I have a right to nothing which another has a right to take away." -- Thomas Jefferson to Uriah Forrest, 1787. Papers, 12:477.

=
"The government is merely a servant -- merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them..." -- Mark Twain

=
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual."--Thomas Jefferson to Isaac H. Tiffany, 1819

=
"It's important to realize that whenever you give power to politicians or bureaucrats, it will be used for what they want, not for what you want."-- Harry Browne

=
"As government grows, its increased power to grant favors or inflict pain attracts more people who would abuse the system." -- John Fund

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq 1,139,602
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

The quotes are interesting but the below link is something to think about, jazzolog et al. Apparently quite cost effective with a few different plans. Speaking of local networks...


http://meraki.com/  



4 Jan 2008 @ 14:51 by mortimer : dreams are a reflection
Usually our dreams are a reflection of our everyday life. Perhaps your dream signifies that you’re now personaly going through a major spiritual transformation.

Peace  



5 Jan 2008 @ 10:23 by jazzolog : Dreaming The Everyday
Indeed Mortimer, that always has been true for me, at least of the dreams I remember, big spirit change or no. We had discussed that afternoon those consumers who have shrugged off talk of conservation and have few options for problem-solving except to fight. If people end up on foot, we must expect a visit from some of them eventually. (Are you a fan of both Elmer Fudd and Mortimer Snerd---or do you know who the latter was?)  


11 Jan 2008 @ 15:05 by mortimer : Mortimer Snerd?
nope never heard of him. Vaxen started the mortimer fud.  


11 Jan 2008 @ 16:21 by jazzolog : Mortimer Snerd & Dick Cheney: Connection
Well, undoubtedly Vax knows who Mortimer Snerd was/is...even though he's too young to have heard him on the radio. The ventriloquist Edgar Bergen created 2 very popular characters. The star was Charlie McCarthy, but Mortimer was more lovable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Bergen

This particular picture of Mortimer and Edgar is accompanied by an interesting comment~~~

http://www.karendecoster.com/blog/archives/Bush_and_Cheney_Mortimer_Snerd_and_Edgar_Bergen.gif

"And here's a scary thought: While reading an Amazon.com review of the book, Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency, by Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein, I discovered that Cheney's Secret Service code name is "Edgar" -- referring to Edgar Bergen, the famous ventrioquist who mastered and manipulated his idiotic yokel dummy, Mortimer Snerd (George W. Bush). If that's true, this says it all." http://www.karendecoster.com/blog/archives/002346.html  



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