ICELAND ~ A PICTORIAL ODYSSEY (Part One)

The Midgard Serpent drinks from the River of Eternity

Skógafoss in South Iceland is where I spotted the Midgard Serpent

Hraunfossar, a series of waterfalls streaming out from the Hallmundarhraun lava field

... after a volcano erupted below the Langjökull glacier in the Reykholt region

Hvítá River into which the Hraunfossar feeds (hraun is the Icelandic word for lava)

Barnafoss, where two boys drowned while crossing a natural bridge, 
later destroyed in an earthquake

Faxi (Horsemane Falls) or Vatnsleysufoss on the river Tungufljót. 
The island looks like a replica of Iceland 

Goðafoss, Waterfall of the Gods, in the Bárðardalur district of North-Central Iceland 

Hvannadalshnúkur, the highest point of Iceland in the Vatnajökull National Park.
You can see the edge of the Vatna Glacier peeping out between the hills

Atop the steel monument in memory of those who perished in the glacial flood of 1996, when a subterranean volcanic eruption melted part of the glacier, turning it into a massive torrent 
of cold black apocalypse 

This section of twisted steel was salvaged from a bridge destroyed by the glacial flood. 
Note the cosmic serpent graffito

British students Ian Harrison & Tony Prosser went missing on a sunny day in August 
1953 while doing field work on a glacier near Skaftafell. They were caught in a sudden 
blizzard. Despite an intensive search-&-rescue operation, their bodies were never found. 
But 50 years later in 2003, melting ice uncovered their camping gear

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lake & a Grumpy Iceman

Blocks of ice melting on the beach

Where glacier meets the open sea

Rapid meltdown as summer approaches

Clambering around the loose scree of a moraine hill

Kirsten from Austria with a tiny piece of melting glacier

Icicles on the mudguard of our Mercedes mini-bus

The road across the frozen North with Captain Palli at the wheel

Monochrome landscape

Still snowcapped in the first week of May

Snow melting on the lava fields

We saw so many waterfalls I have no idea where this one was & what's it's called!

The Icelandic horse is prized for its gentleness, robustness & steadiness on the gallop

Icelandic winter snack plate of Harðfiskur (dried fish), smoked lamb & rotting shark

PHOTOS BY ANTARES

courtesy of his Huawei Ascend P6

PART TWO

Permatang Pauh Revisited (Yet Again)

Anwar Ibrahim plays the crowd like a maestro at the Kelana Jaya Stadium, 6 July 2008 (photo by TV Smith)

I salute and thank Sessions Court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah for releasing Anwar Ibrahim on a personal bond of RM20,000 this morning after recording his plea of innocence. From all reports, the judge performed her duty fairly, honorably, and with all the courtesy due to a Prime Minister elect. There is a glimmer of hope yet in the Malaysian Judiciary.

My heart was heavy last night, pondering the possibility that Anwar might well be detained and forced to contest the Permatang Pauh by-election from behind bars. He himself had steeled his resolve for such a possibility, quipping that in that eventuality his songkok and sarong would have to represent him. So it was a profound pleasure to learn today that Anwar is free to campaign in person and be in the loving company of his family, colleagues, and friends. The pleasure was doubled by the simple fact that the judge acted compassionately, humanely, and wisely by letting Anwar walk out a free man. This is evidence that there are still a few members of the judiciary capable of doing their job without fear or favor and who refuse to be browbeaten into subservience to political puppetmasters.

Anwar & Azizah bask in the glow of his freedom after his sodomy conviction was overturned in September 2004 (photo courtesy of AP)

PERMATANG PAUH DECLARATION REVISITED

Being conscious of the Quranic injunction which urges striving towards betterment;

And inspired by the Asian traditions, which all encourage renewal for the individual and for society;

And acknowledging that Malaysia is in the grip of a terrible crisis and requires recourse to its inner strengths in order to rise again,

We the citizens of Malaysia of all cultural and religious backgrounds are determined to launch a movement for comprehensive reform:

A reform movement shining with a light radiating from aspiring and pure hearts; from the awareness that man is truly noble and free, with rights and responsibilities, that it is a sacrilege to abuse and denigrate any man or woman, to bind and restrict any man or woman without following the due process of just laws;

A reform movement to establish justice for all, the weak and strong, the rich and poor, to preserve the institutions and processes of law from the defilement of graft and abuse of power;

A reform movement to sanctify the power of the people through democratic means, for democracy is an imperative: man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary;

A reform movement that champions economic justice, one that advocates fairness in economic growth and distribution so that the rich do not get richer at the expense of the poor, for the world has enough for everyone, but too little to satisfy everyone’s greed;

A reform movement to eradicate graft and abuse of power, to strip the opulent and greedy clique of their power to manipulate the market;

A reform movement to reinforce a dynamic cultural identity, where faith in our noble cultural traditions is intact, but there is openness to all that is good in all traditions;

A reform movement to launch the Malaysian nation into the information age and the borderless world, encouraging wisdom, self-assurance and openness towards a global friendship based on the principles of truth and justice.

We launch this reform movement as a peaceful movement, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and in observance of the principles of the rule of law.

The time has come. Unite for Reformasi.

Permatang Pauh
12 September 1998

[First posted 7 August 2008]

FLASHBACK TO JUNE 2007: The infamous Mongolian murder trial

Altantuya's letter: Razak wants me dead

By Soon Li Tsin | Malaysiakini                                                                                           
28 June 2007

Murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu had written an ominous letter before her death that she believed her ex-lover, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, wanted to kill her.

The undated letter, written before she disappeared, was addressed to the 'Malaysian government or police or Embassy of Mongolia or newspapers'. 

The letter, which was revealed by the prosecution team, took the packed courtroom by surprise and was read out by the deceased's cousin Burmaa Oyunchimeg in the Shah Alam High Court today.

Burmaa, 26, who is also known as Amy, said she found the two-page letter in a white Guess bag among other belongings left behind by Altantuya in the hotel on Nov 20.

In the hand-written letter bearing Hotel Malaya's letterhead, Altantuya said in poor English that she was going to commit suicide before Razak's private investigator P Balasubramaniam and his assistant K Suras Kumar get to her.

Earlier in the trial, the murdered woman's two Mongolian companions - Namiraa Gerelmaa and Uuriintuya Gal Ochir - hadtestified that Balasubramaniam and Suras had threatened to kill them and throw them 'out of the window'.

"And before I write (this) letter I'll (kill) myself, because I have no choice, he (Altantuya's PI Ang Chong Beng) told (me) that they (Bala and Suras) have my letters so they kill me and say (it was) suicide," she wrote.

In the letter, she had expressed her fear over the threats from the duo and described how they have been harassing her at 5am in Hotel Malaya where she was staying.

"They have been following me for four to five days. Even my hotel where I staying, workers know."

She wrote that Razak had allegedly promised to help her when she was in Mongolia and that was why she came looking for him.

She called him her boyfriend but Ang testified yesterday that she said they were married.

In the letter, Altantuya also conceded it could have been a mistake to 'blackmail' the analyst and wrote, "Maybe I (was wrong) to have bothered and blackmailed him.

"But if he didn't promise me, I would (have) never come from far away to Malaysia," she wrote in black ink.

Altantuya disclosed that she did ask Razak for money but she had her own reasons.

"Mr Razak Baginda promise to help me when I was in Mongolia. That's why I came to see him and for help but he trying to kill me.

"I'm nice person. I can't hurt someone but (Razak) is a powerful person, he (has) money (and) he (has) connection (to the) police (and the) government," she stated.

Altantuya also revealed that she had gone to his residence in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, on several occasions and knew that he was married and had a daughter named Rowena.

Like a couple 
Earlier on, Burmaa told the court that she had met Razak on three occasions since 2004 in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.

"Altantuya was always there with him," she answered in Mongolian and translated through by her interpreter, Enkhjargal Tsetsgee.

Asked by DPP Manoj Kurup to describe how they looked when they were together, Burma said: "They looked like boyfriend and girlfriend."

Burmaa (right), who studied English in Hong Kong, told the court that Altantuya would visit her and they had a very close relationship.

She said that Razak would contact her mobile phone to speak to Altantuya when she was in Hong Kong.

Burmaa also revealed that she had received a text message from Razak last year saying: "Amy, can you let Altantuya know I don't want to see her again."

"I told Altantuya about it but she said there was a little misunderstanding and told me that she would go to Malaysia, meet Razak and sort it out," Burmaa said.

The management graduate said she knew Razak had sent Altantuya money because she was asked to relay information of the transfer of some money through an agency by the former to the latter.

"He told me 'the reason I called you is because I've transferred money to Altantuya by Western Union. I have a reference number so I'll let you know and you can tell her'," she testified.

Manoj then proceeded to cross-examine Burmaa about the letter and said there were another two documents allegedly bearing Altantuya's signature for her to identify.

Judge Mohd Zaki Md Yasin then broke the session for lunch and told Manoj to resume his questioning at 2.15pm.

Razak has been charged with abetting the murder of the 28-year-old Mongolian national.

Two police officers - chief inspector Azilah Hadri, 30, and corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 35 - are charged with the murder.

Prosecutors allege that Abdul Razak and Altantuya met in 2004 and began a whirlwind affair, during which he gave her money.

After they broke up a year later, he allegedly continued to give her money whenever she demanded it. But the payments stopped last year, prompting her to become dissatisfied and travel to Malaysia in October, the prosecution said.

Prosecutors say Abdul Razak planned her killing and ordered two police officers - members of a special unit charged with protecting the country's leaders - to carry it out.

Altantuya was killed by "probable blast-related" injuries in a clearing in Shah Alam after she was driven away from outside Abdul Razak's house in mid-October.

Abdul Razak is close to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has vehemently denied any involvement in the case, which is seen by observers as a test of Malaysia's judicial and political integrity.

The high profile trial continues tomorrow with a new witness.

A sordid case of déjà vu: Thanks, Jibby, for making Anwar look better than ever!

Courtesy of Malaysiakini

By doggedly pursuing the ludicrous sodomy charge against Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Razak and his co-conspirators in Umno have given the Opposition Leader's public image a massive boost and made him look like the Prime Minister we all deserve after 45 years of parasitic and piratic misrule.

Indeed, Sodomy II has given Anwar unprecedented international media attention and the moral support of a huge upswelling of sympathy from Malaysians of all walks of life, even those normally apathetic about local politics. Anwar has never looked better - at least Malaysian taxpayers didn't have to fork out hundreds of millions in professional fees to a Jewish PR company named APCO Worldwide - while Najib has never looked worse.

Pic by Jack Ooi for The Malaysian Insider

Nik Aziz, late spiritual leader of PAS, arrives at the High Court in a show of support for Anwar Ibrahim as his trial commences (Pic by Jack Ooi for The Malaysian Insider)

Anwar hugs an elderly supporter who broke through the crowd to bless his hero (Pic by Jack Ooi for The Malaysian Insider)


Malaysia itself is in the dock ~ Wall Street Journal

2 FEB 2010 — More than a decade after he was beaten, tried and jailed, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will once again face a Kuala Lumpur court today on charges of sodomy. The accusations are highly dubious and raise a serious question: Is this moderate Muslim democracy becoming a nation with no real rule of law?

The circumstances surrounding Anwar’s prosecution are suspiciously familiar to most Malaysians. In 1998, he was arrested as he was mounting serious arguments against the increasingly erratic government of United Malays National Organisation chief Mahathir Mohamed. Anwar’s former aide Munawar Anees describes being tortured and forced to confess to sodomy, a criminal offense in Malaysia. Anwar was convicted of sodomy and abuse of power and served six years in jail before the sodomy ruling was overturned in 2004. He was allowed to run for political office again in 2008, which he did, in earnest.

Anwar was arrested again in July 2008, a day after participating in his first nationally televised debate in more than a decade—an event that showcased his political skills and highlighted the growing momentum behind his three-party opposition coalition. He was accused of sodomy with a 23-year-old former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Saiful was taken into protective police custody after he made his allegation and has since rarely been seen in public. The government denies any political motivation for the charges. Saiful himself has not been charged.

As in 1998, the evidence in this case is thin at best. The police made a show of arresting Anwar, put him in jail for a night, and forced him to undergo a humiliating medical “examination.” The government then passed a bill in parliament to give the police expanded powers to collect DNA in criminal cases. Anwar’s lawyers claim they have a hospital report that shows no sodomy occurred.

Also troubling is the public involvement of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was deputy leader at the time of Mr Anwar’s 2008 arrest—and the man most politically threatened by Anwar’s popularity. Najib acknowledged that he was photographed with and spoke to Saiful (pictured right) after he was allegedly sodomised and before he went to the hospital for tests. Najib says he didn’t influence Saiful’s decision to press charges. Saiful couldn’t be reached for comment.

This story would sound familiar in a tin-pot dictatorship. But Malaysia isn’t one. Along with Indonesia, it forms the backbone of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Its citizens today have far more access to news and information through the Internet than they did 12 years ago. They also have the power to vote.

And that may be the mechanism that keeps Malaysia free and honest. Ordinary citizens—including the majority ethnic Malays—increasingly support Anwar’s secular platform of religious tolerance, economic liberty and modernisation. The opposition won five of 13 states in national elections in 2008, and it has since won seven of nine by-elections. Anwar was re-elected to parliament in a by-election the month after his arrest in 2008. There will likely be protests in front of the courthouse to show support for him.

The trial that begins today threatens domestic political unrest and undermines confidence, at home and around the world, in Malaysia’s rule of law. ~ Wall Street Journal

"Although things remain calm on the surface, civil society is traumatized by such a naked display of power and crude perversion of justice. The trust between the government and the people is broken and the government’s respect and legitimacy bleeds away. Deep undercurrents of discontent are created which must eventually manifest in some ways. Anwar’s fight to clear his name will be a defining moment for Malaysia. This is not about one man’s fight for justice but an indicator of the path the nation is taking." ~ Bruce Tan, Harakah

[First posted 2 February 2010. Reposted 7 March 2014]

Statement on the Selangor Dam (revisited)

TECHNOLOGY WILL NOT SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS. ONLY HUMILITY AND TRUTHFULNESS WILL DO THE TRICK.

Selangor River rapids (Antares)

I issue this statement on my own behalf, and not as a representative of any group or organization. I am resolutely against any attempt to solve our serious environmental problems - of which recurring smog and water shortages (despite worsening floods) are merely symptoms - through heavy-handed bureaucratic schemes and club-footed technological ploys.

Never mind the goddam EIA. These multi-million-ringgit "professional" reports are a wordscreen for a lot of nasty unspeakable projects that I prophesy will soon be totally banned from this precious planet, as more and more of us awaken to the terrible truth.

What an EIA does is to soften the crushing impact of reckless "development" projects. The EIA is very much like an inventory of potential damage caused by warfare: you might lose a few toes, half your brain, most of your vision, your hearing, your sanity, etc - BUT if you follow certain SAFETY PRECAUTIONS, you might escape with only half the above injuries!

The point is: WE DON'T WANT TO GO TO WAR AT ALL! What industrialization has done to the environment is essentially a declaration of war against natural beauty and simple, honest values. That way lies a dead-end future of merciless grey grimness unfit for organic lifeforms, only state-owned androids.

Building yet another colossal dam to feed our insatiable appetite for "growth" is definitely a sign of derangement. We have been forcefed - and a few have greedily swallowed - Mahathir's "vision" of unfettered industrial development and economic expansion. But how many have dared to publicly question the sanity or wisdom of this management policy? And when a few voices in the wilderness cried out in warning, were they heeded or even heard amidst the clamor of the stock exchange and the growing traffic jams?

When water catchment areas have been rudely denuded and despoiled, and hills carved up for high-rise housing, do we expect to live happily after on this earth? Surely Mother Earth will seek ways in which she can rid herself of this terrible infestation called humanity, surely she will find ways to alert us to the grave errors of our perception, so that we can return to a loving, cherishing relationship with her (instead of exploiting her and robbing her of resources meant for all living things, and seeing her beauty as no more than booty for our taking).

KL flash flood, March 2009 (Ahmad Asmadi/The Star)

My friends, the inclement weather changes - wet months getting wetter and hot months getting hotter and cold countries getting colder - are part of the phenomenon called Global Warming. It is largely caused by human insensitivity to the miraculous spectrum of life that constitutes our biosphere. "Modern Man" suffers from acute anthropocentrism - a viewpoint focused exclusively on human need and greed - and acute anthropocentrism will eventually destroy the whole earth. Our needs are amply provided for by Mother Nature, as the wise ones say, but not our greed.

So our recent plague of environmental problems is basically an indicator of our excesses. To further abuse and exploit the environment certainly will not help - no matter how clever or inventive or EXPENSIVE the technology may be.

What will help is to reassess our management policies and national aspirations with complete truthfulness. We would immediately recognize that we have reached the point where national ego pride could ruin us and genuine humility just might save us.

Humility means acknowledging how little we know about the universe; and humility comes from realizing that nature's beauty and mystery are worth infinitely more than our perverse obsession with illusory fame and fortune.

Being able to breathe clean, fresh air and admire the distant hills every day may not get us into the Guinness Book of World Records or the Who's Who of the Banana Republics- but it will certainly get us closer to regaining heaven on earth.

Road to Heaven by Emily Mueller

So stop midway through this frantic and futile feast of fools and look up at the ethereal clouds in the sky, and remember why we chose to be born on this exquisite and unique gem of a planet. Was it to puff ourselves up with toadish pompousness and amass a hoard of dragon's gold we could never bequeath to our grandchildren? Because our grandchildren would be too busy turning into cockroaches, rats, and other lifeforms that can survive or even thrive in ugly and polluted environments.

Or did we come here to experience the separation of matter from spirit, and to learn how they can be harmoniously fused again? For this lesson would teach us that the outer reflects the inner. Where there is drought in the external reality, it means our souls are parched of feelings, love has dried up. Where there are landslides and flash floods, it means our integrity is decaying and our emotions are murky and raging out of control, bursting the banks of tranquility. And where the air is thick with greasy crud and black with factory soot, it means our thoughts are indecent (i.e., mechanical, pornographic) and our spirit is exhausted.

These are not - as an official propagandist might have you believe - the essential hallmarks of progress, the few broken eggs of omelette-making. Material comfort and spiritual distress are not the sine qua non of success. If truth be told, these are the unmistakable symptoms of acute mismanagement pulling the wool over the eyes of - or, rather, shearing the wool off - a woefully disinformed and misguided citizenry.

Don't be fooled or bullied by businessmen and politicians into believing that ideals and principles are for lily-livered dreamers and bleeding-hearts. Ideals and principles are our navigational beacons through the foggy night of never-knowing-for-sure. Businessmen and politicians prefer to bandy about FACTS and FIGURES. They call it being REALISTIC, being PRACTICAL, being LOGICAL, being RATIONAL.  "Hey, don't be so emotional," they're fond of admonishing individuals like me.

Well, my friends, if you think the world is run by walruses and carpenters... oops, I mean, busynessmen and appalliticians... and there isn't much you and I can do to change the situation - you're dead wrong! In the first place, they are not running the world - they're RUINING it! And in the second place, every bit of POWER they appear to wield they STOLE from YOU.

Now, to reclaim your POWER - and your FUTURE - and your SENSE OF MEANING and PURPOSE - all you have to do is stand your ground and say: NO WAY! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BUILD ANOTHER STUPID BLOODY DAM JUST TO COVER UP YOUR INCOMPETENCE, YOUR INEFFICIENCY AND YOUR INBRED CORRUPTION. YOU ARE GOING TO START LISTENING TO THOSE WHO CAN STILL TALK STRAIGHT - INSTEAD OF THROWING THEM ALL IN JAIL! - AND CARRY OUT THE TRUE WISHES OF WE THE PEOPLE.

We no longer desire to be permanent debt-slaves of an inaccessible power elite ("Boss ada meeting!"). We shall no longer pick up the bill for your deadly sins. We are prepared to give you ONE LAST CHANCE to admit your mistakes (go on, say "Sorry lah!" just once with feeling) and then call for suggestions from the public as to what needs to be done about everything: our air, our water, our legal system, our police force, our news media, our housing policy, our hideous track record of moral duplicity, and our utter contempt for truth, never mind the environment!

I'm absolutely sure the very first suggestion will be: DO AWAY WITH OBSOLETE LAWS FROM THE DARK AGES LIKE THE ISA AND THE OSA. Then we can feel free at last to discuss decent, intelligent, eco-friendly and non-destructive ways to resolve our problems without being harassed by zomboid goons.

In fact, you may find we actually have very few problems in this country. I'd venture that they can all fit into a single courtroom and be tried for conspiracy to befuddle and bamboozle the public! And the most fitting "punishment" would be for the entire cabinet to live for two whole years in an Orang Asli village on RM500 a month. They will each be issued a 20-year-old 80 c.c. motorbike - and no petrol allowance.

The Orang Asli, of course, will be paid ministers' salaries during the exchange period to make up for the inconvenience of having to teach a bunch of back-biting batik-shirted baboons the basics of honest living.*

Antares

Magick River

6 March 1999

*Twelve years have elapsed since I wrote this. Regrettably, I have had to revise my earlier, overly romantic view of the Orang Asli and their role as guardians of "indigenous wisdom." This may have been true of past generations, raised on grandmothers' stories instead of low-grade TV. However, the new generation of Orang Asli - and I refer specifically to the Temuan of Ulu Selangor - are hardly in a position to teach anybody "the basics of honest living." Indeed, I'm inclined to think only a tiny handful these days have any grasp of the notion of honesty. The rot from Putrajaya has spread all the way down to the roots. To rehabilitate BN ministers we will probably have to outsource the contract!

[First posted 6 November 2011]

It's official: Malaysia is now a Kakistocracy!

LEARN A NEW WORD!

Kakistocracy: Governance by a clique representing the worst elements of society, from the Greek, kakos, meaning foul, or filthy.

In the case of Malaysia, the word kakistocracy may derive from kaki - the colloquial Malay word for "crony" or "accomplice in crime."

Meet the new Najib-appointed Attorney-General!

Don't you think we deserve better?

Musings of a Memorable Prime Minister, Minister Mentor & Tormentor

Kuan Yew the 
Dog Trainer

“If you can select a population and they're educated and they're properly brought up, then you don't have to use too much of the stick because they would already have been trained. It's like with dogs. You train it in a proper way from small. It will know that it's got to leave, go outside to pee and to defecate. No, we are not that kind of society. We had to train adult dogs who even today deliberately urinate in the lifts.” ~ Lee Kuan Yew, 2013

On Racial Integration

"I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came, and if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration – friends, inter-marriages and so on – than Muslims... I would say, today, we can integrate all religions and races, except Islam." 

~ Lee Kuan Yew, 2011

On Migrants

"According to history, Malays began to migrate to Malaysia in noticeable numbers only about 700 years ago. Of the 39 percent Malays in Malaysia today, about one-third are comparatively new immigrants like the secretary-general of UMNO, Dato' Syed Ja'afar Albar, who came to Malaya from Indonesia just before the war at the age of more than thirty. Therefore it is wrong and illogical for a particular racial group to think that they are more justified to be called Malaysians and that the others can become Malaysian only through their favour." ~ Lee Kuan Yew, 1964

On Succession

“That was my intention. If the new PM fails, I have failed… Mahathir never thought that way. He undermined his successors.” ~ Lee Kuan Yew, 2011

On Rule By Fear

"If nobody is afraid of me, I'm meaningless." ~ Lee Kuan Yew, 1997

Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 ~ 23 March 2015)

Swami Beyondananda’s State of the Universe 2015

Cosmic Comic Pundit Swami Beyondananda Calls for Evolutionary Upwising

“Either we will have an awakening, or there will be a wake.”  ~ Swami Beyondananda

Greetings, Mirthlings!

Welcome to the state of the Universe — which is of course, everchanging, same as always.

Here we are once again in the here and now, just like last year at this time.

So … are you finally ready to live in the now?

Good.  We have been waiting for you.  What took you so long?

With time rapidly becoming a thing of the past (the calendar’s days are numbered, you know) people are living in the now like never before. Listen, I know. I was a futurist in a past life. But now, I have no time for time. I am living all the time in the Timeless Now. I think they call that All-Timers.

Meanwhile, here on Earth — or as it is known throughout the galaxies, the Comedy Channel — a critical mass of the heretofore uncritical masses are awakening to a serious truth.  There’s something funny going on.

Take politics — please.

America’s two political parties spent $4 billion on the last election and it worked — the American people were soundly defeated.  Once again the Golden Rule was overruled by the rule of gold, and the Constitution overrun by the prostitution.  The result is government in greedlock and rule by a one-party system where we the people haven’t been invited to the party.

We don’t exactly have a name for this new system, although I think Futilism describes it pretty well.  Thanks to government for hire, voting has devolved into an act of futility.  Whether we vote Democratic or Republican, we seem to end up with Dempublicrats running things.

Now some mystics — pessimystics they are called — would look at this shituation and see a glass 95% empty.  As an optimystic I take the exact opposite position. I see a glass 5% full.

Yes, there is good news.

An evolutionary upwising is afoot, and left and right are coming front-and-center around a new common sense consensus.

In Colorado and now two other states, this has meant legalizing cannabis.  So what does this mean, other than in the Mile High State you can now legally get a mile higher?  For one thing it means a blooming economy selling transcendental medication.  Science is now finding that humans have THC receptors in the part of the brain called the “hippiecampus”.  When this area is stimulated, people see farce fields and laugh at invisible jokes.

There’s an old saying — and I know it because I myself made it up many lifetimes ago — the truth shall upset you free.  Once again in 2014, inconvenient truths exposed convenient lies. For example, now everyone knows our government is spying on us, and Public Enemy Number One appears to be none other than — the public.  Maybe the NSA needs to be balanced out by another three-letter organization, the ICU — Independent Citizens United, where citizens who intensively care about the rule of law can say, “I see you” and begin to oversee what we have until now chosen to overlook.

From Monotheism to Stereotheism, and a REAL Conspiracy

There was another sign of the upwising in 2014.  Pope Francis took a stand for social justice, making the Catholic Church more non-dominational.  And boy, are those purebred dogma breeders upset!  It just goes to show that maybe you CAN teach an old dogma, new tricks.

Maybe monotheism is evolving into stereotheism, where the same truth comes from multiple speakers, in many different languages, and some with no language at all.

After all, there is no harm in harmony, and no sin in synergy.  And in the end, every dogma must answer to the same Master.  Maybe if religions evolve in this way, John Lennon could imagine “no religion too” becoming “all religions true.”

And for those of us who want peace in the Middle East?

Let us first try peace in the Middle West.  A first step is to quiet our own barking dogmas, and listen to the silence.  Instead of just following the herd, follow the unheard … right into your own heart.  Imagine, Americans from all tribes coming into the same space of silence, and breathing together.  Now that would be a REAL conspiracy, and could expose and help us overgrow the con’s piracy we have now.

The evolutionary upwising calls on people everywhere to rise above the identity issues that each side serves up as dogma chow, and instead focus on the identical issues we face now — like being passengers and crew on Spaceship Earth, citizens and denizens of Gaia.

So, come on you Gaians!

Time to show your species’ pride.  And time to evolve from children of God to adults of Good.  Yes, I know.  We are collectively in this awkward tween phase called addled-essence.  Our essence has been addled by obsolete myth-conceptions.

A Three-Step Plan to Launch the Upwising

So, how do we un-addle our essence?  How do we launch this upwising to turn the funk into function, and leave the junk at the junction?

I’m glad I asked that question.

I have created a three-step program that is mathematically proven to work four times faster than 12-step.

If we want to have an upwising, we must wake up … wise up … and show up.

We must wake up to the awful truth and the awesome opportunity.  Yes the world is in serious condition, largely due to our conditioning to be serious.  Seriously.

And if the problem is serious, then the solution has to be humorous, right?  So we wake up laughing as we recognize that we’ve been running around in circles, chasing our tales.  These tales usually tell us that happiness is somewhere “out there”. It’s a sure sign of the upwising when those who’ve been in hot pursuit of happiness get struck by enlightening and realize, “Gee, I must have run right past it.”

And in this moment of fool-realization, we fully realize our foolishness and laugh in our own face.  This is called self-facing laughter, and it helps us illuminate our world from the inside out.  People ask me all the time, “How can I uplift humanity?” I take one look at their doomy and gloomy expressions and I say, “You can begin by uplifting the corners of your mouth in a smile.” When you feel the levitational pull giving you a natural face-lift, you are literally overcoming gravity.

Hearty laughter brings us from the static of the head to the ecstatic of the heart, and we take the second step to upwising — we wise up loving.  It has been said that the more we expand our hearts the less we will need to shrink our heads.  Beliefs lie in our head, love lives in our heart.  So … are you going to believe those lies?  Or live that love?  When you sacrifice being happy for being right, you know what they call it?  Smartyrdom.

With laughter and love helping us wise to the occasion, we take the third step.  We show up, living and giving.  Each of us has been given a special gift, just for entering.  So you are already a winner.  We are all here to let our light fully shine — the enlightened ones call this full-filament.  It is true that the unexamined life is not worth living, and equally true that the unlived life is not worth examining.  To “show up” means to live life fully, and foolly, laughing all the way.  Make a bucket list of all the undertakings you wish to undertake before being overtaken by the undertaker.  Express your unique love in the world, and make your life a work of heart.

Bring your gift to the party, and show up for the greatest show on earth — REALITY!  You know, reality.  That’s reality TV without the TV.  What a movie we’re in!  A cast of 7 billion, and all of humanity is in the hero’s role.  And the whole world is on the edge of its seat.  Will we achieve critical mass before we reach critical massacre?  Will there be an awakening, or a wake?

As the great baseball player / philosopher Willie Mays once said, “That’s what we’re going to play the game to find out.”

I end this 2015 State of the Universe with good news.  When it comes to transformation, we have all the time in the world. And that time is now.

May we wake up laughing and leave laughter in our wake.

© Copyright 2015 Steve Bhaerman.  All rights reserved.

If you’d like to wake up laughing, why not enroll in the Wake Up Laughing class?

Swami Beyondananda is a noted social uncommontator and spiritual political pundit (If anyone punned it, Swami punned it first) and is the alter ego and brainchild of author and humorist Steve Bhaerman.  Steve and Swami can be found at www.wakeuplaughing.com and on Twitter @swamibe.

THE GOD OF NO MERCY (revisited)

A 45-minute documentary on Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore and one of the world's remaining political strongmen. The film was seized by government officials (on orders of the home ministry) when it premiered at a private screening on 17 May 2008. Directed by Seelan Palay.

After viewing this well-researched and passionately produced doco on Singapore's Mr Hyde side, and figured it was high time Malaysians took a good hard look at the unwholesome aspects of Singapore's toy-townish tinsel and glitter image - especially those who express envy when comparing per capita incomes.

While Lee Kuan Yew's 31-year iron-fisted authoritarian rule - which, in truth, never ended since he created an advisory post for himself as "Minister Mentor" to the government - facilitated a prosperous, efficiently managed city-state whose dynamic economic growth far outshines all its Asean counterparts, Singapore's impressive status as a developed nation has been attained at an extremely high cost to other far more important human values.

Values like the ability of its citizens to think and feel and act freely and independently - rather than behaving like well-disciplined ants in a high-rise, multi-tiered, 24/7-monitored colony. Indeed, anyone who has seen The Matrix will easily identify with the predicament of the protagonist Neo after he swallows the Red Pill and begins to see beyond the glossy façade of life in the gigantic discount emporium that represents Singapore's public image.

Seelan Palay exposes the cold-blooded, ruthless cruelty with which Lee Kuan Yew systematically destroyed his challengers, detractors and rivals in order to establish the Lee Dynasty, propped up by an obsequious bureaucracy of well-paid mandarins - while keeping the lower echelons of society eternally chained to a relentless and soulless economic juggernaut.

I'm reminded of an excellent joke I once heard wherein a foreign tourist visits a Chinese temple in Singapore dedicated to two deities, female and male. The tour guide explains that the Chinese strictly adhere to the concept of balance symbolized by the Yin-Yang. Pointing to the female deity statue, the guide says: "That one Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin... and over there the God of No Mercy, Kuan Yew."

It would appear that a very large worm has begun to turn in Singapore and a new generation of civil society activists has arisen who are demanding an end to Singapore's oligarchical plutocracy, modeled after the dystopian society portrayed in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.

Radical change is definitely in the air, on both sides of the Causeway!

[First posted 28 June 2009]

DEVAN NAIR'S LETTER TO LEE KUAN YEW (DATED 8 JULY 1988)

Is this how you plan to rule the country, Mr Najib? (yet another reprise)

[Reposting for the fifth time. That Pink-Lipped Poltroon and his Witch-Queen with the Toxic Hairdo are rather dense, it appears, as are all their pompous, parasitic ilk...]

AT GUNPOINT.....?

How long before your hand gets tired?

You won't get any sleep at night...

You'll be much too stressed to service your voracious wife.

She'll soon be sending for some toy boys...

Isn't this a much nicer and healthier option? You have enough cash stashed away to live in the lap of luxury the rest of your lives... far, far from your political foes in Malaysia!

THE LIE WE LIVE ~ a short film by Spencer Cathcart

Published on 27 Jan 2015

Exposing the truth about our corrupt world and what humanity has become.

This is a short documentary film I made and wrote questioning our freedom, the education system, corporations, money, the American capitalist system, the US government, world collapse, the environment, climate change, genetically modified food, and our treatment of animals.

My name is Spencer Cathcart and if you want to contact me email freshtastical@gmail.com