Turn on your light (an excerpt) by Ben Okri
The new era is already here:
Here the new time begins anew.
The new era happens every day,
Every day is a new world,
A new calendar.
All great moments, all great eras,
Are just every moment
And every day writ large.
Thousands of years of loving, failing, killing,
Creating, surprising, oppressing,
And thinking ought now to start
To bear fruit, to deliver their rich harvest.
Will you be at the harvest,
Among the gatherers of new fruits?
Then you must begin today to remake
Your mental and spiritual world,
And join the warriors and celebrants
Of freedom, realisers of great dreams.
You can't remake the world
Without remaking yourself.
Each new era begins within.
It is an inward event,
With unsuspected possibilities
For inner liberation.
We could use it to turn on
Our inward lights.
We could use it to use even the dark
And negative things positively.
We could use the new era
To clean our eyes,
To see the world differently,
To see ourselves more clearly.
Only free people can make a free world.
Infect the world with your light.
Help fulfill the golden prophecies.
Press forward the human genius.
Our future is greater than our past.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
I can see the future
Maverick psychologist Daryl Bem (see here) is about to publish a paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see here) entitled, "Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on cognition and affect". When translated into English, this paper provides evidence that we can see into the future. New Scientist covered this story in November 2010 (see here).
In summary, it describes a series of experiments involving more than 1000 student volunteers. In most of the tests, Bem took well-studied psychological phenomena and simply reversed the sequence, so that the event generally interpreted as the cause happened after the tested behaviour rather than before it. In one study, Bem adapted research on "priming" – the effect of a subliminally presented word on a person's response to an image. For instance, if someone is momentarily flashed the word "ugly", it will take them longer to decide that a picture of a kitten is pleasant than if "beautiful" had been flashed. Running the experiment back-to-front, Bem found that the priming effect seemed to work backwards in time as well as forwards.
The effects he recorded were small but statistically significant. In another test, volunteers were told that an erotic image was going to appear on a computer screen in one of two positions, and asked to guess in advance which position that would be. The image's eventual position was selected at random, but volunteers guessed correctly 53.1 per cent of the time.
That may sound unimpressive – truly random guesses would have been right 50 per cent of the time, after all. But well-established phenomena such as the ability of low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attacks are based on similarly small effects, notes Melissa Burkley of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, who has also blogged about Bem's work at Psychology Today.
Obviously the jury is still out on this controversial, yet fascinating study, but kudos to Bem for devising such an ingenious way of exploring the topic using true scientific methodology in a field that has been notoriously in the fringe. Even if this study isn't the smoking gun on precognition, it's acceptance for publication and peer review in such a reputable journal is nothing short of a ground-breaking achievement.
In summary, it describes a series of experiments involving more than 1000 student volunteers. In most of the tests, Bem took well-studied psychological phenomena and simply reversed the sequence, so that the event generally interpreted as the cause happened after the tested behaviour rather than before it. In one study, Bem adapted research on "priming" – the effect of a subliminally presented word on a person's response to an image. For instance, if someone is momentarily flashed the word "ugly", it will take them longer to decide that a picture of a kitten is pleasant than if "beautiful" had been flashed. Running the experiment back-to-front, Bem found that the priming effect seemed to work backwards in time as well as forwards.
The effects he recorded were small but statistically significant. In another test, volunteers were told that an erotic image was going to appear on a computer screen in one of two positions, and asked to guess in advance which position that would be. The image's eventual position was selected at random, but volunteers guessed correctly 53.1 per cent of the time.
That may sound unimpressive – truly random guesses would have been right 50 per cent of the time, after all. But well-established phenomena such as the ability of low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attacks are based on similarly small effects, notes Melissa Burkley of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, who has also blogged about Bem's work at Psychology Today.
Obviously the jury is still out on this controversial, yet fascinating study, but kudos to Bem for devising such an ingenious way of exploring the topic using true scientific methodology in a field that has been notoriously in the fringe. Even if this study isn't the smoking gun on precognition, it's acceptance for publication and peer review in such a reputable journal is nothing short of a ground-breaking achievement.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
England is a third world country
Back in September 2010, one of the Pope's aides referred to England as a third world country (see here). I thought this was quite funny as we Brits take a lot of pride in our country. But if you look at the facts, England is falling down the listings as a desirable place to be!
So what constitutes a third world country? One definition is this:
...they are often nations that were colonised by another nation in the past. The populations of third world countries are generally very poor but with high birth rates. In general they are not as industrialised or technologically advanced as the first world...
So England has long enjoyed a 'special' relationship with America. So much so that we followed blindly into a war where there was no evidence of any wrong doing... In fact the 'war on terror' is a holy war...but that is the subject for another discussion... China and India are the future of the planet and we are already finding that businesses are being brought by companies from these nations and the number of skilled employees appearing on these shores from these future super-powers is growing at a phenomenal rate! Sounds like collonisation?
Economics. The glorious pound is now worthless and the subject of jokes across the world. Leaving these shores is extremely expensive. The pound is a useless currency. Plus wages have not grown with inflation for a decade. Combine this with spiralling house prices - and we are all very poor.
High birth rates... I'm not sure on the statistics so can't comment...
What about industrialised / technologically advanced? Well, the country's infrastructure cannot cope. Take transport for example. The tube does not work and cannot cope with the number of people who use it. Aviation - one, word...snow (ha ha ha - see my previous entry here).
Basically, England is a poor servant to anyone who is bigger and it doesn't really work very well... I went to Heathrow during the Snow crisis in December 2010 and saw people lined up in corridors, covered in blankets eating fruit. This reminded me of scenes I saw in India 20 years ago. Sorry England...we're a third world country and there's no sign of a change coming soon...
So what constitutes a third world country? One definition is this:
...they are often nations that were colonised by another nation in the past. The populations of third world countries are generally very poor but with high birth rates. In general they are not as industrialised or technologically advanced as the first world...
So England has long enjoyed a 'special' relationship with America. So much so that we followed blindly into a war where there was no evidence of any wrong doing... In fact the 'war on terror' is a holy war...but that is the subject for another discussion... China and India are the future of the planet and we are already finding that businesses are being brought by companies from these nations and the number of skilled employees appearing on these shores from these future super-powers is growing at a phenomenal rate! Sounds like collonisation?
Economics. The glorious pound is now worthless and the subject of jokes across the world. Leaving these shores is extremely expensive. The pound is a useless currency. Plus wages have not grown with inflation for a decade. Combine this with spiralling house prices - and we are all very poor.
High birth rates... I'm not sure on the statistics so can't comment...
What about industrialised / technologically advanced? Well, the country's infrastructure cannot cope. Take transport for example. The tube does not work and cannot cope with the number of people who use it. Aviation - one, word...snow (ha ha ha - see my previous entry here).
Basically, England is a poor servant to anyone who is bigger and it doesn't really work very well... I went to Heathrow during the Snow crisis in December 2010 and saw people lined up in corridors, covered in blankets eating fruit. This reminded me of scenes I saw in India 20 years ago. Sorry England...we're a third world country and there's no sign of a change coming soon...
Monday, December 20, 2010
BAA snow team ready for action
This press release from BAA is too funny (see here).
As their airports come to a massive stand still, I cannot believe they still have the gaul to keep this press release on their home page. It goes like this:
TITLE: Heathrow's army of snow ploughs stretch their wings as snow bites
DATE: 29 November 2010
The cold snap may have only just bitten but Heathrow's snow team has been working for months to ensure the UK's hub airport will once again be prepared for the onset of winter.
With an extra half a million pounds invested in equipment this year, Heathrow’s airside department run constant checks of runway and taxiway areas, applying de-icing and of course clearing any snow and debris away.
Heathrow's specialist teams - which includes 50 highly trained staff and more than 60 hi-tech vehicles - have been preparing since the end of last winter to do everything they can to minimise delays in the face of wintry conditions.
The airport employs a fleet of snow ploughs and de-icing vehicles to clear and prepare runways and taxiways at the airport's specialist snow base which sits in between the two runways. Heathrow's airside operations teams have spent the summer refreshing their training with plans being discussed with airlines, baggage handlers and air traffic control to ensure a coordinated response.
While London may have run out of grit last winter, Heathrow is determined that it doesn't run out of the highly concentrated de-icing fluid it uses on the runways (grit is not used as this could get into engines). That's why the airport now has an innovative computer system that remotely measures how much de-icer is left - to ensure restocking can take place when required. To minimise the impact on the surrounding greenery, the chemical bi-product - glycol - is also recovered by a host of new recovery vehicles, ensuring more waste de-icing liquid can be removed effectively from the airport.
To ensure it has the most up-to-date weather predictions, Heathrow uses the Met Office’s OpenRunway system which offers 24 hour access to measurements including air and runway temperatures, wind and visibility, all vital in determining the right time to apply anti or de-icer.
Key Heathrow snow facts:
•Heathrow was the only major airport in the UK to not close last winter
•There are over 60 vehicles and 50 staff keeping the runways clear
•An extra £500,000 has been invested this year in snow-fighting technology
•Heathrow has storage for 500,000 litres of de-icing fluid
•Each de-icing vehicle can hold a massive 60,000 litres and it takes around 25 mins to de-ice each runway
•Liquid de-icer used on the runway and taxiways is effective for longer and ensures that grit doesn't cause damage to engines.
Colin Wood, Director of Airside, said: "As the world’s busiest international airport it's absolutely vital we are well prepared and our team do an excellent job often in quite severe conditions. While we stayed open last winter, we won’t rest on our laurels and promise that we'll be ready, waiting and doing everything we can to make every journey better for our passengers."
As their airports come to a massive stand still, I cannot believe they still have the gaul to keep this press release on their home page. It goes like this:
TITLE: Heathrow's army of snow ploughs stretch their wings as snow bites
DATE: 29 November 2010
The cold snap may have only just bitten but Heathrow's snow team has been working for months to ensure the UK's hub airport will once again be prepared for the onset of winter.
With an extra half a million pounds invested in equipment this year, Heathrow’s airside department run constant checks of runway and taxiway areas, applying de-icing and of course clearing any snow and debris away.
Heathrow's specialist teams - which includes 50 highly trained staff and more than 60 hi-tech vehicles - have been preparing since the end of last winter to do everything they can to minimise delays in the face of wintry conditions.
The airport employs a fleet of snow ploughs and de-icing vehicles to clear and prepare runways and taxiways at the airport's specialist snow base which sits in between the two runways. Heathrow's airside operations teams have spent the summer refreshing their training with plans being discussed with airlines, baggage handlers and air traffic control to ensure a coordinated response.
While London may have run out of grit last winter, Heathrow is determined that it doesn't run out of the highly concentrated de-icing fluid it uses on the runways (grit is not used as this could get into engines). That's why the airport now has an innovative computer system that remotely measures how much de-icer is left - to ensure restocking can take place when required. To minimise the impact on the surrounding greenery, the chemical bi-product - glycol - is also recovered by a host of new recovery vehicles, ensuring more waste de-icing liquid can be removed effectively from the airport.
To ensure it has the most up-to-date weather predictions, Heathrow uses the Met Office’s OpenRunway system which offers 24 hour access to measurements including air and runway temperatures, wind and visibility, all vital in determining the right time to apply anti or de-icer.
Key Heathrow snow facts:
•Heathrow was the only major airport in the UK to not close last winter
•There are over 60 vehicles and 50 staff keeping the runways clear
•An extra £500,000 has been invested this year in snow-fighting technology
•Heathrow has storage for 500,000 litres of de-icing fluid
•Each de-icing vehicle can hold a massive 60,000 litres and it takes around 25 mins to de-ice each runway
•Liquid de-icer used on the runway and taxiways is effective for longer and ensures that grit doesn't cause damage to engines.
Colin Wood, Director of Airside, said: "As the world’s busiest international airport it's absolutely vital we are well prepared and our team do an excellent job often in quite severe conditions. While we stayed open last winter, we won’t rest on our laurels and promise that we'll be ready, waiting and doing everything we can to make every journey better for our passengers."
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Snow wars - where is the military?
In case you have missed it, the UK has come to a halt due to the snow (see here). I am fine with the fact that we only get ‘hit’ by bad weather for two or three weeks a year and therefore should not invest too heavily to counteract the impact of bad weather. We are economically constrained and I would rather my tax be spent on education, police and other critical public services. But I would have expected some pre-emptive measures. Did you know that modern science actually allows us to observe and predict weather patterns – I fear this is news to the government. I would also like to know why the army are not out with shovels at the major airports, helping to move snow and why they are not also providing the essential man-power and resources to support the thousands of people who are stranded. Surely they are well skilled for dealing with situations like these? Why has no one thought to ask for their help...or the MoD mandated it? Surely I cannot be the first person to think about involving the military? Would they not do this in North America under similar circumstances? Did I miss something?
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