(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

I'm jacked in to the corner of the metaverse known as Second Life Integral. I find it hard to meditate while surrounded by dazzling sensual artworks. But I think I'll stay here for a while as I read SL4Dummies.

(Note: Click image to see the detailed awesomeness. Sensual artwork by Michael Spezialy)

My inner fool is fooling around in virtual reality right now. I've always wanted to do Tai Chi while wearing an expensive silk kimono. It sounds foolish but it looks cool in-world.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

I just finished reading a long but very informative article on Edge, Modeling the Future: A Talk with Stephen Schneider. So, is the debate on Climate Change settled? Depends on what debate we're talking about.

"Before I start one of my talks, I love to ask the audience how many people in the room think the science of global warming is settled. About half the audience puts their hands up. How many think it's not? Maybe a third put their hands up. How many think it's a stupid question? They laugh and they finally all put their hands up. There's no such thing as all settled and unsettled. ....

"Warming is unequivocal, that's true. But that's not a sophisticated question. A much more sophisticated question is how much of the climate Ma Earth, a perverse lady, gives us is her own, and how much is caused by us. That's a much more sophisticated, and much more difficult question. In the last 20 years we learned to answer pretty affirmatively that for the last 30 to 40 years of climate change, it's very likely (which language imposed in the IPCC means more than 90 percent) that more than half of it is caused by us. This global warming science sounds pretty settled, doesn't it?"

Here's one of the many key points by Schneider.

"So the question is, how do you make deals where the over-consumers (us) work out a deal with the over-populated and the not yet fully consuming group (developing countries), so that they don't just repeat the Victorian Industrial Revolution with the sweatshops, dirty coal burning, internal combustion engine, etc.? The answer is that these economies in transition need to leapfrog right over it to high technology. Exhibit C: cell-phone. If you go into Central China, they talk to each other on cell-phones—well, so do we (we being the Europeans, Australians, Americans—the OECD type countries)."

"But how did we learn to communicate? We used mega tons of materials: copper wires, and we used energy to do it. China has not done that to our scale. Their cities are wired, but not the countryside. They literally leapfrogged over the Victorian Industrial Revolution to high-tech with regards to communication via cell phone technology."

 And like Schneider, I'm more worried about global economic fallout than climate change.

"Are we going to double or triple CO2—or go even further? Or will we get really lucky with technology breakthroughs and thus figure out a way to lower emissions at costs that are politically acceptable? Or, alternately, will there be a world depression, which would also decrease emissions. I guess I'd rather have climate change than a world depression." [read more]

It's Black swans all the way up, all the way down.

(Crossposted from Gaia Group: Second Life)

Happiness invited me to check out Etopia Eco-Village. Soon as I got the chance I put on my silk blue kimono and teleported to the location.

Upon arriving at Etopia I took the express train, explored the sustianability-themed housing and offices, dropped by Happiness' workplace at the second floor, met a wonderful resident who's managing the place, did some african drumming, and finally settled on a hammock underneath a tree.

What a cool and green place to visit! Very informative too. I'm impressed by the creativity of  the eco-conscious residents who built this small slice of virtual green utopia. Below are some snapshots I took from the trip. Check it out next time you're in-world.

The original 1983 video "The Global Brain" by Peter Russell. It's a powerful reflection -- stepping back and taking a much much bigger and more embracing perspective than we normally do in our every day lives.




Thanks to Siona for the heads up!

This is a follow up on my previous post, Exploring Etopia Eco-Village.

A few days ago I've decided to immerse myself more in Second Life. I've always been fascinated with the possibilities of the Metaverse. For me, the metaverse is an extension and expansion of consciousness in the digital realm -- a real-time communication in the shared mind-space, a subset of the noosphere.

The metaverse is still a bit clunky but the technology behind it is improving at an exponential pace. But even with the current "clunky" incarnation of the metaverse creative and visionary people could already share their visions and ideals using a richer and more interactive environment. One of the big benefits of the metaverse in general, and Second Life in particular, is prototyping.

Here's a case in point. I just received this message from Zev Paiss, the visionary behind the Etopia Eco-Village. I got his permission to share his message here on my blog.

Greetings C4Chaos!

I am so glad you had a chance to visit Etopia. The place is the culminatin of over 30 years of RL work helping to bring sustainable develoment ideas to the world. Iwas so nice tohave a place like Second Life to create it for thousands insteads of millons of dollars … smile.

Now it is ready for peole like you and Happiness to move in and make it your own. It will be very cool to have dozens of Gaians as residents and business owners to show what is possible and ohelp move the concepts of the 3-d web into the larger commuity.

Be well and see you in-world!

Zev (aka WilliamThe wise)

Exactly. Second Life enables people to create whatever is possible (in-world or the real-world) and share it with a larger community. And that's only the beginning...

Here is Etopia Island as featured on CNN SL iReports.

Big thanks to Zev for his warm welcome. To all Gaia Community members who have Second Life accounts, go ahead and drop in at Etopia Eco-Village. It's one of my favorite hangout places in-world. Noting beats relaxing in a hammock underneath a tree in a eco-friendly community.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

There are tons of creative practices that residents can do in Second Life. My favorite practice is to combine my passion in photography with my in-world exploration. This way I could hone my photography skills by practicing in-world. Check out this photo-illustration.

It's so easy to do. All you need to do is explore in-world. Once you find a place that tickles your creative eye just play with the camera angles and take a snapshot. Use Photoshop for additional effects, filters, and lighting.

For more tips on in-world photography, see SL Photography: The Basics. And for advanced snapshot magic, check out this video tutorial by Torley Linden. (Thanks to Happiness for the heads up!)

 

In-world photography rocks!

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

When I had my first grocery shopping experience in Ireland I was surprised that people bring their own bags in the supermarket. Cashiers at the counter don't even ask customers the classic "paper or plastic" question. I became aware that people were charged 20 cents (euro) per plastic bag. My first reaction was, "what the?! I have to pay for plastic bags? in euros no less!" But I soon realized that charging for grocery bags is an excellent approach at promoting sustainability awareness and lessening environmental impact.

"A tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has cut their use by more than 90% and raised millions of euros in revenue, the government says."[see Irish bag tax hailed success]

During my stay in Ireland I got used to bringing our own re-usable bags and even using my backpack whenever we take a trip to the grocery. The initial resistance was just my own knee-jerk reaction to change. Back then I thought to myself, "if this is such a good idea, then how come we're not doing this in the U.S.?"

Enter, Seattle! The success of the Irish bag tax attracted the attention of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and is now proposing to do the same in Washington.

"Next time the cashier says "paper or plastic," think outside the bags. Think about ocean pollution, giant landfills and global warming, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels says.

"Then think to next year, when you might have to either pull out a reusable tote or pay 20 cents a bag.

"Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin proposed a 20-cent "green fee" Wednesday on all disposable bags to encourage customers to carry their milk and eggs home in their own bags." [read more]

As expected, there are already knee-jerk resistance from different groups. But in the long run I see this as a beneficial strategy in lessening the pollution of non-biodegradable plastic and energy consumption of manufacturing and recycling of paper.

Based on my positive experience in Ireland and the proven success of the Irish bag tax, I fully support this policy and would love to see it implemented here first, and if proven successful, then in the entire U.S.

By now I'm already used to bringing my own bag to the store. The simple bag tax shifted my perspective. We have to take responsibility and bring awareness to everything we use and consume. It's just common sense to lessen our environmental impact, with our without the threat of global warming.

Very fluffy and inspiring.

"Yvon Chouinard, legendary climber, businessman and environmentalist, is the founder and owner of one of the world's most inspiring companies, Patagonia, Inc. In this talk before a sold-out audience at the University of California Santa Barbara, Mr. Chouinard talks about his personal history and how he created Patagonia and the philosophy that he runs the company by. He discusses how he has tried to minimize Patagonia's impact on the environment and gives several examples, including the fact that his company's famous fleeces are now made out of recycles soda bottles. He also talks about his " One Percent for the Planet" plan in which participating businesses contribute at least 1% of their net annual sales to groups on a list of researched and approved environmental organizations."

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

Second Life® doesn't have to be all about parties, sex, concerts, gambling, or hooking up with the opposite (or same) sex avatars. There are virtual places where residents can do virtual spiritual practice.

Here's a snapshot of my avatar practicing Tibetan Buddhist meditation.



Some meditation purists might say that doing meditation in a virtual world is ludicrous. Maybe. But I find it quite interesting. Why? Well, in the Tibetan tradition a big part of spiritual practice involves doing "visualization." For example, in the Tantra techniques, Tibetans use the mandala to aid them with their visualization. Tibetans are also known for using lucid dreaming techniques in their Dream Yoga. And to me, Second Life is like being in a lucid dream! If you explore SL enough you'll understand what I mean.

I used to practice lucid dreaming techniques. I've had some interesting experiences but it was a hit and miss. Sometimes I get lucid in the dream state and do amazing things in the dream world but more often than not I get lost in the dream. I find that SL is very similar to practicing lucid dreaming. You can be any persona, gender, creature in SL, fly around and teleport to the most profane and profound locations, create almost anything that you can imagine, and then settle on a meditation cushion in an environment created by residents who value spiritual transformation.

I'm not saying that SL meditation practice should replace actual practice in real life. But virtual  meditation practice could aid in the visualization process. It's also a good way of projecting consciousness into some other realm where everything is possiblle.

Using the principle of Mirrored Flourishing, I think it's possible that the good karma in-world would eventually spill over in the real world. It's all a matter of intention.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

I continue to immerse myself in the metaverse via Second Life for research purposes. The more I explore the virtual realm the more my childhood interests in graphics, programming, gaming, role-playing and 3D animation are rekindled. I feel like I'm back to my elementary days  the first time I tinkered with a BASIC program that rendered cool graphics on a RGB monitor. Ah, those were the days...

The success of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG), like World of Warcraft and Second Life, continue to push the boundaries of creativity. One of the many results is an explosion of a growing media called Machinima -- real-time computer-generated animation ripped and mixed from computer games or virtual worlds into a cinematic movie. For a funny (and violent) introduction, check out What is Machinima?

Machinima is already mainstream. In fact, the creators of South Park already had an Emmy-winning episode incorporating machinima. Check out Make Love, Not Warcraft. This episode cracked me up! It's the funniest South Park episode I've seen (see part 1, part 2, part 3). See also machinimas created in Second Life. There are tons of them out there thanks to the tools and support provided by Linden Lab for this emerging media.

The creators of Second Life envision a future when 3D computer graphics would be as realistic as what we see on films today. In the meantime, this short SL machinima set to a cool acoustic song makes you really think of a better life.

The metaverse is evolving slowly, but surely. We're still far from Neal Stephenson's vision of the metaverse, but the rapid technological advancements in hardware, 3D rendering and lighting, and collaborative editing tools continue to elevate the virtual world on a whole new level. Imagine a future when we can craft our own movies inside a virtual world, with virtual actors, unlimited camera angles and cinematography. Are we still going to watch movies created in the real world or will we "live" alternate personas in the virtual world instead? How will the metaverse impact our society, laws, economics, politics, and philosophy?

Sci-fiction gives us hints. But we'll never truly know until we get there.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

'After catching the first Matrix film with some RealNetworks colleagues, Rosedale left the theater glum, announcing to them, "But that's what I was gonna make!"'
- Philip Rosedale via The Making of Second Life

My avatar is already more than a year old but it wasn't until I attended virtual Conversation Week that my interest in SL was rekindled. Serendipitously, last week while I was browsing the bookstore at Dublin airport the book, The Making of Second Life by Wagner James Au, jumped right at me. I took it as a sign and devoured it during my 14-hour flight back home.

In one sitting I was educated with the history of SL, its ups and downs, its current impact on our culture, business, politics, economics, and its (almost sci-fi) potentials similar to Neal Stephenson's vision of the metaverse. I particularly enjoyed reading about the mirrored flourishing stories of in-world residents, the virtual revolts and cultural transformations of virtual groups and societies. From a psycho-social point of view, watching the history of SL is like witnessing the cultural evolution of humanity, in hyper-speed. Linden Lab (creators of Second Life) is akin to a group of benevolent dictators and Philosopher Kings who maintain order in a virtual world by allowing residents to do as they please within the bounds of SL's code of conduct. When viewed from an integral perspective, SL is a grand experiment on integral in-world governance. And when viewed from a psycho-spiritual perspective, explorations in SL can be used to aid in one's witnessing practice.  (I'll groove more on the topic of using SL for spiritual practice in future posts. In the meantime, check out a parallel discussion on Open Source Integral.)

During the past week I have immersed myself in the virtual realm of Second Life® before retiring to sleep. I've meditated on air at SL integral, explored the green and sustainable community at Etopia Eco-village, did Tai Chi in a silk blue kimono, dressed up as a Samurai wielding the "three buddhas" katana, drank unlimited cans of Red Bull, practiced Tibetan Buddhist meditation, took a crash course on machinima-tography, sat on a campfire near a pyramid in Mexico, all the while taking snapshots of my in-world explorations using my trusty old Macbook Pro.

So what did I get out my in-world explorations? I'm glad to report that I'm now up to speed with SL. I've become proficient with navigation and the basics of in-world content creation. But more importantly, I've forged new connections with like-minded creative people who are out there exploring in-world and dreaming up better worlds. (We've also started a Metaverse Pod @ Gaia for members who want to meet up and learn together in virtual reality.)

Second Life is only one of the big slices of the metaverse but its on a category of its own. It mirrors real life (and wonderland) more than any other MMORPGs. It's not a game, it's an experience. But unlike the web, SL is not (yet) for everyone. Its early incarnation is still clunky. It has a high barrier to entry, a steep learning curve, as well as a need for a shift in mentality to be able to embrace and welcome its possibilities.

I harbor no illusion that SL is an "escape" from for the "real" world (what is "real" anyway?). SL is just another medium. It's a tool to be used for rapid prototyping of one's vision, expressing individual and collective creativity, and experiencing a richer sense of community not possible in meatspace. In short, SL is an extension of consciousness projection.

In the meantime, I'll continue with my in-world explorations. SL made it possible for my blogging persona to have an avatar form. In essence, my SL persona is a "third-order reality." Technically, my SL avatar is not my "second" life because I consider my blogging persona as my "second." My SL avatar is a digital incarnation of this blogging persona, not my "first" life. Yet they're all inseparably connected and meshed together in a single conscious life-stream I call "I."

"Real" world blogging on real world topics resumes shortly. But expect to see in-world blogging from time to time.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

"SAN FRANCISCO — They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.

"A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

"Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly." [read more]

I could relate to this because I also work from home. And I blog a lot too. Thank goodness I don't get paid by the blog. There are other things I do on the job. Blogging is my creative and reflective outlet. It's like doing yoga for me. I actually do my blogging on my free time, or from time to time when I'm compelled to share information or reflect on something.

Working from home is a double-edged sword. If you love your job (like me) you're more likely to end up logging more hours than with a regular nine-to-five. The challenge is to organize and prioritize, and to not get lost in the stream of information bombarding us constantly online.

Oh rats! It's way past my bedtime already, again!

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

I just got this very disheartening letter from ScienceDebate2008.

---

Clinton and Obama will debate faith but not science      

Dear Friend,

I am sorry to send two emails in such short succession, but I thought you should know that after declining our invitation to debate science in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton yesterday agreed to attend "The Compassion Forum," a forum of "wide-ranging and probing discussions of policies related to moral issues."  CNN will serve as the exclusive broadcaster of the "presidential-candidate forum on faith, values and other current issues" at Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pa., April 13 at 8 p.m.  You can read more here.

Perhaps among the moral issues discussed should be whether they have a moral obligation to more fully engage on science issues, since the future viability of the planet may hang in the balance, for starters.  Is there a larger moral imperative?  How about the future economic health of the United States and the prosperity of its families?  Science & engineering have driven half our economic growth since WWII, yet but 2010 if trends hold 90% of all scientists and engineers will live in Asia.  Then there are the moral questions surrounding the health of our families with stem cell research, genomics, health insurance policy, and medical research.  There's biodiversity loss and the health of the oceans and the morality of balancing destruction of species against human needs and expenses, there's population and development and clean energy research, there's food supply and GMO crops and educating children to compete in the new global economy and securing competitive jobs.  Science issues are moral issues.

I would encourage you to write letters to the editor, emails to the campaigns, and blog postings pointing this out.  And if you can, support our ongoing effort to turn this country around.

Shawn Lawrence Otto

ScienceDebate2008.com

---

Wired also picked up on this story. See Clinton and Obama Talks Religion, Not Science. I think politicians got their priorities screwed up. Then again, election is a matter of popularity. Unfortunately, religion (still) trumps science in the U.S. Heaven help us all.

In the meantime, I'll settle for Charlie Rose.

via TEDBlog

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

Flickr now has videos! So I'm trying it out with this classic acoustic riff.

Check out this Gaiam Life video.

Eco Fabulous Loft Living - "Danny Seo visits an eco-friendly loft that features environmentally friendly products and recycled antique furniture." [watch it]

I could use some of the tips since I'm also planning to jazz up my comfy condo.

Oh, time is on my side, yes it is 
Time is on my side, yes it is

So goes that good ole' classic song. But what kind of time is it? Is it the relative or the cosmic? Who is the "I" talking whenever we say time is on our side (or not on our side)?

I'll lay down the philosophizing and leave it to one of my favorite physicists to groove on the nature of cosmic time.

Thanks to OrIon for the heads up!

This woman is the beacon in my life. 'Nuff said.

The Dalai Lama is here in Seattle.

"The visit by the Dalai Lama, who arrived here Thursday afternoon on a flight from Japan, is his first to the United States since the onset of international protests over the Chinese crackdown in Tibet. But the trip was planned long before the recent troubles, and few expect him to use it to begin making demands for Tibetan independence.

"Nor, for that matter, is he expected to guest on bass or bellow backup vocals when he joins the rocker and local organic parent Dave Matthews onstage here Friday evening.

"The expectation, instead, is that he will stick with what got him here, “dialoguing” about the importance of an inclusive kindness and compassion: pitch-perfect preaching for an area with one of the country’s lowest rates of church attendance and a notable lack of interest in mainstream American religion." [read more]

Too bad I still don't have tickets for the Seeds of Compassion event. I requested my tickets a few weeks ago but I didn't get a reply. So I'm assuming that the tickets had already sold out by then.

Anyway, it's still good to know that Seattle is experiencing some good collective karma this weekend. I know I am, because ~myDakini arrives tomorrow.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

Since I didn't get my tickets for the Seeds of Compassion event, I'm now here at home watching the event live on cable. You can do that too by checking out http://www.uwtv.org/dalailama/

I just watched the panel discussion on The Scientific Basis for Compassion wherein the Dalai Lama talked with a group of scientists to discuss the psychological and biological basis of compassion. I particularly liked Daniel Siegel's talk and his question to the Dalai Lama.

Siegel shared a story about a mother who had an accident which damaged the pre-frontal lobe of her brain. As a result, the mother had lost her compassionate and loving qualities. Siegel seems to suggest that the pre-frontal lobe correlates with our capacity to extend compassion and empathy, without it our reptilian brain would take over making us no different with animals. He then posed a question to the Dalai Lama on how we can extend our circle of compassion. The Dalai Lama went on to describe levels of compassion. According to the Dalai Lama our sense of compassion grows as our intelligence develops, from a biased and limited compassion to unbiased and unlimited compassion. Children seem to exhibit more unbiased compassion, but as we get older and our intelligence develops we pass through a biased and limited stage of compassion, our task is to keep on growing and develop unbiased and unlimited compassion by widening our circle of awareness and extending it to all human beings.

(For integral geeks: Note that this is not an instance of pre-trans fallacy. The Dalai Lama didn't say that we have to go back and re-capture our childhood. His opinion is for us to keep on developing our intelligence and go beyond it. It's a continuous developmental process as opposed to going back to our infantile or childhood stage.)

What I find most interesting is the Dalai Lama's high regard for science and secularism. His answer to Siegel's question -- on how to develop and increase one's circle of compassion -- is to have a more secular education in order to go beyond the boundaries of religion. From this context the Dalai Lama then said that scientists and the scientific community have more responsibility than a religious person like him. Very fluffy.

The Dalai Lama is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) spiritual figures in our time, yet I find him to be the most humble and least fundamental with his religion. His humility, openness, humor, and friendly attitude to the scientific community continue to inspire me.

For more live webcasts of the Seeds of Compassion event, watch here. I'm leaving my TV tuned in to UWTV for the whole afternoon to participate in the spirit of this event.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

I just finished watching National Geographic's documentary on the consumption of an average American. The documentary is called Human Footprint. It's not a preachy environmental program. But it's very effective in showing (as opposed to telling) how much each of us Americans consume in our entire lifetime. The program is a very powerful visual presentation of the scale and magnitude of our consumption from birth to old age. You have to be a very callous person not to care about the environment after watching this program.

Being aware of our individual and collective environmental footprint should be enough to convince us of our dire need to switch to more sustainable ways of consumption if we are to sustain our collective existence on this planet -- our only planet. There should be no need to get scared of global warming or worry about climate crisis for us to take action. But if it takes global warming for us to wake up, then so be it.

You can also watch National Geographic's Human Footprint on cable. If you have On Demand, check it out under the Earth Day section. Below is the trailer.

Speaking of which, here's another documentary with the same title and similar presentation, European style.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

~myDakini arrives in Seattle tonight. After two and a half years of long distance relationship (actually, it's less than that since I spent a total of nine months in Ireland back and forth to be with her) we're now together, in the same time zone, for good. She's worth every single second of waiting. Patience is, indeed, virtue.

A new chapter in our lives begins today. A chapter where long distance suck no more.

Depends on the nature of love that we are expressing towards another.

For Eros or romantic love, I show it by means of respect, constant reminder of admiration (cheesy as it may be, the words "i love you" still packs a powerful punch when delivered at the right moment when the other person least expect it), whispering sweet nothings about the past and the future, and a transcendent kiss to my beloved.

For Philia (or friendship love), I show it by being honest, loyal, and available when the person needs me; by being a good friend with no-bullshit. This means keeping my circle of friends small and cozy.

For Agape (or universal love), I constantly attempt to improve on this by being as compassionate and open-minded as I can towards other people's beliefs, but with minimal idiot compassion. This is where the Golden Rule (or Ethic of Reciprocity) comes in handy.

We're currently watching the live webcast of Children and Youth Day with the Dalai Lama via UWTV. Young minds awakening to a more embracing notion of compassion sending shivers up and down my spine.

"A day specifically for children with performances and programs designed to teach children about compassion. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be joined by 15,500 students and educators from 25 counties in Washington state." [watch it]

The Emerald City is basking in good karma right now, reverberating to all corners of this Kosmos.

Today is the final day of the Seeds of Compassion gathering. I'm watching the live webcast right now of the Interspiritual Panel Discussion with the Dalai Lama via UWTV.

"The Dalai Lama will be joined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and several other leading spiritual leaders will discuss themes common to all spiritual traditions." [watch it]

For the past few days the central message of the Dalai Lama is that love and (unbiased) compassion are secular values which come before (and beyond) religion. He also stressed the role of science in teaching compassion to the young generation through secular education. I dig that. His more-embracing world-centric attitude is what separates the Dalai Lama above and beyond other religious leaders who are still wallowing in their fundamentalistic belief systems.

I'm inspired by the Dalai Lama's presence here in Seattle. I could literally feel the outpouring of compassion and kindness here in the Emerald City even if I'm just witnessing the live event via cable. Majority of people in Seattle are not very religious but the essence of spirituality is overflowing during the 5-day celebration. The seeds of compassion had been planted here in the Emerald City. Looking forward to it to continue blossoming, and rippling on the surface and depths of our collective being.

NOTE: The moderator for the discussion is Roshi Joan Halifax. She also rides with Gaia :) Check out her Gaia Profile: http://jhalifax.gaia.com. I'm watching her being introduced right now.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

I have previously riffed and ranted on the issue of (universal) health care on my blog. See here, here, here and here, or check out my riff and rants on http://coolmel.gaia.com/blog/tags/health+care

According to Consumer Reports, "Americans have lost confidence in the U.S. health-care system and yearn for reforms that will free them from worry about losing coverage if their circumstances change or if they fall ill." That's not news, of course. Almost everyone in the U.S. agrees that the health care system is a f***ing mess. Politicians, business people, doctors, health care practitioners, and citizens still argue about ways of achieving true universal health care. The debates between free-marketers and "socialists" rage on. In the meantime, the U.S. is the only remaining industrialized country without some form of universal health care for its citizens. Go figure.

In the documentary movie, SiCKO, Michael Moore painted a bleak picture of the U.S. health care while presenting a rosy version of universal health care systems in Canada, France, Britain, and even Cuba. Some people were appalled by Moore's biased presentation and propaganda. For those who feel like Moore's presentation was biased, check out the FRONTLINE's journalistic take on this controversial topic. Looking forward to watching it tonight!

FRONTLINE presents
SICK AROUND THE WORLD
Tuesday, April 15, 2008, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS

"FRONTLINE TRAVELS TO FIVE COUNTRIES IN SEARCH OF A UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM THAT COULD WORK IN THE U.S.

"FRONTLINE teams up with T.R. Reid, a veteran foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, to find out how five other capitalist democracies--United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland--deliver health care and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures. In Sick Around the World, airing Tuesday, April 15, 2008, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), Reid turns up remarkable differences in how these countries handle health care--from Japan, where a night in a hospital can cost as little as $10, to Switzerland, where the president of the country tells Reid it would be a "huge scandal" if someone were to go bankrupt from medical bills." [read more]

Here are previews via Youtube.





So what is the U.S. waiting for when it comes to universal health care? Maybe this PBS documentary can inform us some more.

UPDATE: The program is now freely available online. See FRONTLINE: Sick Around the World. For a transcript of the interviews, see Five Capitalist Democracies & How They Do It.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

As a (non-practicing) Roman Catholic, I still have interest in the Pope's visit here in U.S. However, as much as I try to be open-minded, I find that I no longer resonate with the Pope's message. I see the Pope's visit as no more than a political move, and his religious language to be borne out of backward mentality. Consider this quote:

"From the dawn of the republic, America's quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the creator."

Note the phrase "moral order", and "dominion of God the creator." His language is so hierarchically Middle-Age. The Pope may just be stating a valid historical context, although some Atheists who think that America's Founding Fathers were Deists instead of Theists would disagree. There's also no room for science in the Pope's speeches.

GW Bush is more than ready to jump in the bandwagon while taking pot shots at relativism.

"We need your message to reject this dictatorship of relativism and embrace a culture of justice and truth. In a world where some see freedom as simply the right to do as they wish, we need your message that true liberty requires us to live our freedom not just for ourselves."

Bush and Pope Benedict XVI may have their differences when it comes to the war in Iraq but they seem to be inhabiting a similar world view when it comes to their  (absolutistic) religious values.

Compare that with the Dalai Lama's message during his recent visit to Seattle.

"You can't be compassionate only toward people you like or toward people who are the same as you. You must also be compassionate toward people whose ideas you don't agree with.... If you limit your kindness and compassion to people with whom you already have something in common, than you're weakening yourself."

What I find particularly inspiring about the Dalai Lama is his open and friendly attitude towards the scientific community (see Scientific Basis for Compassion). He's also emphatic in saying that love and compassion are secular values beyond any religion and that secular education is important for the young generation to go beyond the boundaries of religion. 

I may be biased with my preference here but compared with the Dalai Lama's more world-centric spirituality the (current) Pope's religious message seems shallow, empty, and politically savvy. But that's just me.

(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)

I watched the eye-opening FRONTLINE health care documentary last night. Very insightful. The program is now freely available online. It's a must-see. Also check out the interview transcripts and health care comparisons between other capitalistic democracies.

(Note: See also T.R. Reid's interview on Charlie Rose. I owe Charlie Rose a big one for alerting me on this documentary. Every American should see this to raise their awareness on the issue of health care.)

No health care system is perfect. But successful models for (universal) health care systems already exist. It's disheartening to see the U.S. trailing far behind, still debating on issues that other developed countries had already learned through trial and error.

Ok. Let's get real. Money makes people happy. That is according this article from International Herald Tribune.

"The two economists, Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, argue that money tends to bring happiness, even if it doesn't guarantee it. They point out that in the 34 years since Easterlin published his paper, an explosion of public opinion surveys has allowed for a better look at the question. "The central message," Stevenson said, "is that income does matter."

"To see what they mean, take a look at the chart that accompanies this column. It's based on Gallup polls done around the world, and it clearly shows that life satisfaction is highest in the richest countries. The residents of these countries seem to understand that they have it pretty good, whether or not they own an iPod Touch.

"If anything, Stevenson and Wolfers say, absolute income seems to matter more than relative income. In the United States, about 90 percent of people in households making at least $250,000 a year called themselves "very happy" in a recent Gallup Poll. In households with incomes of less than $30,000, only 42 percent of people gave that answer. But the international polling data suggest that the under-$30,000 crowd might not be happier if they lived in a poorer country." [read more]

See also Freakonomics: The Economics of Happiness part 1 and part 2.

Then again, everything is temporal. If money (or wealth) is the anchor of one's happiness then it's more fleeting than happiness anchored on non-material things, like sense of purpose, service to others, or simply being contented regardless of one's possessions.

As for me, I'd be lying if I say that I don't care about money. In fact, my dream is to have "f*** you money" someday, all the while avoiding the so-called affluenza virus.

Thanks to Paulo Coelho for the heads up!