Disqus - Latest Comments for lishevita

Re: DAPL | Drone360 Magazine

lishevita — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 02:19:17 -0000

I know the man, the drone, and the camera on the drone. It was a zoom. These guys are very proud of their high resolution video and zoom abilities. This is not heresay or guess work. I'm here at Standing Rock, and I've talked to this drone pilot and others here on the ground quite a bit.

Re: If you’re straight you need to stop using rainbow profile pics

lishevita — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 03:42:56 -0000

If you live in a democracy and you are part of a minority, it does you no good to tell the majority that they should all shut the fuck up and stop showing their support for you.

Who are you to say that straight people don't know your struggles? Maybe they are allies because they have a kid or a sibling or parents who are gay? Maybe the people in the picture appear "straight" but one is trans and they have WAY more struggles than you do, by far. What do you know of that? And what do you know of empathy? It's a thing. Lots of humans have it.

And, "The worst kind of slacktivism"? Are you serious? There are far worse kinds of slacktivism. This was a case of lots of people being happy for people who are allowed to get married and have certain legal rights permitted to married people that are not permitted to non-married couples. No one that I know thinks that this is "the end of the fight" or any such nonsense. In the US there are still more than 20 states where you can get fired for having married a person of the same gender as you. There is SO much more to be done.

Can you not understand that a major battle was won here and that should be celebrated? Get over yourself. You are not a unique and special butterfly.

Re: Man learns amazing lesson in irony after mocking Caitlyn Jenner’s ‘bravery’ in viral Facebook post

lishevita — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 11:43:16 -0000

The funny thing here is that you say that a true bigot won't research any further, and then you say that you aren't going to research any further. Now THAT is irony!

Re: Anatomy of The Spirit of Place

lishevita — Tue, 26 May 2015 04:08:08 -0000

What is the unconscious but a consciousness that you are not in control of? Does the unconscious show signs of sentience? I would say that it does. Else, why would we want to analyze it? And how could we change its actions once we understood it if we weren't in some form of relationship with it?

No, I don't think that "mind may be conscious or unconscious". I believe that mind is conscious and "unconscious" is just what we call those parts of mind that we are aware of but not in control of.

If I am made up of many conscious cells, but I am not consciously aware of what they are doing or why, are they not still a part of me? And I am part of other, larger wholes, each with its own daimon or consciousness. I am not fully aware of the inner workings of those consciousnesses, either, though I am inside of them. I am a part of those consciousnesses, but not the whole of them, and therefor not fully privy to the impact of that consciousness.

Re: Where They May Be Found: The Dead

lishevita — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 04:55:22 -0000

I got news today that a friend of mine died last week. I don't know exactly what day it was. The last email I got from her was the Thursday before Labor Day. Seven months, almost to the day, since the death of another friend. I feel the spirits close to me tonight, like they're watching. I've never met Ghede, but maybe some of these spirits are relatives of his, in the grand scheme of things. I do not know. Autumn is coming. The scythe cut early. I feel hollow inside. It doesn't feel real.

Re: Ting Promo Codes

lishevita — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 14:40:56 -0000

I listen to a ton of podcasts. I know that I heard about Ting on one of those podcasts while I was out of the country, but I can't remember which, since it was a while ago and I haven't been listening to several of my old favorites lately. So, it's not *just* a question of looking for a good deal. It wasn't Joe Rogan (the code that comes next in the Google search). It was a security podcast or a linux podcast or... Hmmm... I just can't remember! Having a podcast of my own, I feel bad about not sharing the love with the podcast that turned me on to Ting in the first place! (Oh! I think I just remembered. I think it was the Linux Action Show. I'll go to their site and see if that was it.)

Re: Rites of A Winemaker

lishevita — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 02:52:10 -0000

The book Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation by Stephen Harrod Buhner is pretty fantastic. It talks about exactly what you are saying, among other things: how folklore shared knowledge about farming, wildharvesting and fermentation techniques. There are lots of good recipes in the book, too. :)

Re: The Train as Merkava

lishevita — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 02:46:06 -0000

You asked me this question 8 months ago, but I didn't see it until now. Maybe because I needed to answer it now. I used to always sense that threshold of travel, no matter which method I was taking. But these days it is all threshold and no solid ground. I am in a permanent state of journey work right now, both literally and figuratively.

And, huh! Look at that! I did need to answer you right now, because just thinking about your question made me realize that maybe I'm going through a very big threshold right now and that there is some whole new kind of stability on the other side of it. I wonder how big this chasm is between my last status quo and the next one. And I wonder who I will be when I get to the other side. This is definitely the longest initiation trial of any in my whole life!

Re: Buying Land

lishevita — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 21:28:26 -0000

I've thought about Vashon, but I haven't found inexpensive land there. There are smaller islands where you can find a quarter acre for less than $4000.

Re: Feeling Out of Place

lishevita — Tue, 13 May 2014 12:58:42 -0000

Scotland is definitely in a strange place right now. Strange and special. There is an approaching liminality you can sense with the upcoming vote for independence, the massive changes that have already happened under devolution, and the pressures of a thousand cultural shifts both internally and externally. One of the reasons that I love it here, is that it feels like we who are here right now have been invited to dream the future into being. While there are many places where upheaval is happening and various forms of Transition thinking (from Transition Towns to the work of the P2P foundation to Dark Mountain society and on and on...), Scotland is in the midst of deciding who it wants to be. Will this country stay in the Union and work to keep the UK from it's darker tendencies? Or will it peel away and try to do better on its own? If it stays in the Union, what strength will it need to be an example of good things that England and Wales might want to imitate in the future? If Scotland becomes independent, what will it take to live up to the best intentions of her people?

I haven't been any further north than Loch Katrine yet, but if I can feel the spirits here in Glasgow, I'm sure they are hiding out where you live, too! Maybe they have just gotten used to being ignored and abused. Maybe you can try heading out to a lonely spot one day, and just sitting quietly for 30 minutes. You could ask the spirits if they'll show themselves to you. Ask them if there is anything that you can do for them. Ask them how they feel about you moving away or staying put. Bring a song or a poem or a story. Sing it, recite it, or tell it out loud to the emptiness before you leave. Pay attention to the synchronicities and strange occurrences around you for a few days after.

Re: Our commitment to your rights and privacy

lishevita — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 08:20:14 -0000

I think that you've miss judged how much people distrust Dr. Condoleezza Rice and how much that distrust has now infected you. This is a huge mistake.

Re: My Wishlist for the Pagan Community

lishevita — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 11:12:34 -0000

Hmm... I hear your criticisms of Paganism, but I have counter arguments for most of them.

Fear and insecurity never grow anything by themselves, but when you choose to work through the fear and insecurity, figure out where they come from and what you need to make yourself courageous or safe, there is a lot of growth to be had. Those who have overcome fear are far stronger than those who never had it to begin with.

The diversity of Paganism is not alone. There is a huge diversity in Christian churches, too. For many Christians I know, they go to a specific church for a range of reasons that don't include believing everything the pastor believes. I have heard Christians say things like, "Christian by faith, Baptist by choice" to mean that they *choose* that community, but see the value in others, too. My point here is that the maturation of modern Paganism doesn't require anything so monolithic as a single agreed creed. We simply need to agree to work with the differences within our community. We're getting there as a religious community... in some places faster than others.

Re: Wide Angle Vision Part 2: Missing The Variables

lishevita — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 17:48:40 -0000

Thank you for your kind words.

Yes, kids have a way of knowing everything until they know enough to know that they don't know very much. It's like that joke about how much more intelligent your parents get as you get older. :)

Of course, adults fall into the same trap. (I catch myself believing I "know" things all the time!)

Re: A journey through place

lishevita — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:15:00 -0000

Odd, yes, but only because its a notion that isn't common in our current culture. I think that it's a true statement, however, that we belong *to* the land and not just belong *in* in it.

Re: Building Better Passwords

lishevita — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:12:15 -0000

You are quite right. Building something into your password creation method that includes something about the site itself helps make sure that passwords are both memorable and specific to the site.

Re: Bob Swartz: Losing Aaron

lishevita — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 13:27:41 -0000

Aaron didn't upload any of the files that he downloaded from JSTOR to any file sharing sites.

Re: Bob Swartz: Losing Aaron

lishevita — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 13:25:20 -0000

He didn't break any firewalls. Internet access, including library and JSTOR access is open to ALL on the MIT campus.

Re: A journey through place

lishevita — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 13:30:23 -0000

There are a lot of different sensations that make up that feeling of belonging *to* Israel. From the first moment I arrived in Israel when I was 17, when I got off the plane in the old terminal at Ben Gurion, stepping down off the stairs onto the tarmac outside, I felt a physical connection instantly. Like a connection to a mother, it was a sense of belonging and knowing. There are other lands where I feel a strong sense of welcoming, even the sense that it could be an adopted home, but nothing like Israel. Most dramatically, every time I've ever left the country, even for short visits away, I've been overcome by a sense of deep sadness a day or two before. I have found myself crying as if I were mourning a day before getting on the plane for a summer trip to the States.

I've tried to understand the reasons. Is it because of childhood "brainwashing" in a private Jewish school? Is it because of something inherent in Israel? Are ancestral connections to place that strong, living as some sort of ancestral memory in our cells? Is it some past life connection to the place, a memory of living there and being exiled? I don't know. I just know how it feels.

Re: Energy Signatures of Place

lishevita — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 02:35:04 -0000

I agree with what you say about chemistry. I don't think its an either or, but rather a both. Our bodies certainly communicate through chemistry, but also through electricity. We can't have feeling in our nerves without both of these.

As for the issue of precise language, I disagree with you there. There is a time for precise language and a time for carefully constructed metaphor. Don't use metaphor in a physics lab, but don't get over worried about mathematical precision in a slam poetry competition, either.

Re: This Israeli Ad Agency Figured Out a Clever Way to Combat Vandalism Against Billboards Featuring ‘Immodest’ Women

lishevita — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 03:05:54 -0000

Oh, this pleases me to no end. When I used to live in Petach Tikvah and work on the border between Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv, I used to see vandalized billboards nearly every day. I always thought it would be fun to just make it even, and go around covering up all the pictures of men on all the billboards. It's not that I didn't want the billboards, I just wanted to make a statement about equality. I never did it, but I'm glad that someone twisted the billboard vandalism in a positive way.

Re: Worlding the Earth

lishevita — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 14:30:50 -0000

Welcome to the blog, Rhyd! I'm looking forward to reading more.

Re: Healthcare.gov exposed as data-gathering honey pot to shamelessly harvest private consumer data and turn it over to the NSA

lishevita — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 20:41:53 -0000

Wow. This article is terrible. First, it conflates the CIA with the NSA. Not the same. Next, it ignores the fact that the NSA doesn't need Healthcare.gov to scoop up your private data. It already has access to all the metadata from your postal mail and your email, so it knows where you live and work and probably what nicknames you like to use, among other things. It also has access to social security databases, IRS databases, and a ton of other information that they've already parsed if they want your details.

Is the healthcare.gov website badly made? Yes.
Is the healthcare.gov website a complete breach of HIPPA rules? Yes.
Is the healthcare.gov website a front for the NSA? No. They already have your data.

Re: Here’s How to Unleash the Great Minds of Tomorrow

lishevita — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 14:34:47 -0000

What would help the US is if it paid attention to evidence instead of politics in education, and followed the lead of countries like Finland and Scotland.

Re: Evernote Food Debuts Features for Great Food Photography

lishevita — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 09:10:27 -0000

Totally disagree. Evernote Food has become the repository for our family cookbook which was previously only updated when our geographically dispersed clan met up every year or two with lots of traded 3-hole-punched recipes to go into the recipe binder. (We're a food loving family with a professional winemaker and a community baker among the lot.)

As for Evernote Hello, I personally have not used it as much as I'd like because the thought of asking people I just met to let me take a picture of them for my notes just feels a little awkward. I've been trying to figure out how I can use it in a less awkward way, but haven't come up with a good solution yet. However, I know some families with teens with special needs who find that app a complete lifesaver!

Re: Rituals for a 5-Year-Old

lishevita — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 21:24:27 -0000

This sounds like a powerful ritual for him AND for you. You and Adam were focusing on what this ritual meant to B, but have you had the chance to process how his changing times are meaningful to you? His ritual had ALL the elements in it!

Birth can be this uncomfortable struggle, and you'd hoped to heal his birth trauma through reenactment, but instead he healed his trauma by facing this really scary thing, completely losing it, and then realizing the next morning that the breakdown was not necessary. How many times do we go through experiences like that as adults? (Or maybe it's just me. I have had SO many of those experiences!)

On the flip side, you also had huge trauma around his birth. He was so fragile and you couldn't just snap your fingers and make it all better. The birth didn't go as planned. You couldn't be there for him every moment, and you couldn't hold him the way you wanted to. His ritual went awry, but really this time you all had the chance to take back some of the power that you'd lost in the birth and early days. B got to use his words, lash out, get the attention that he'd felt he wasn't getting in the hospital in those moments when you weren't there. You got to find a way to help him through all that, meet him in his moment of terror, and improvise a way through the rituals. It was a kind of marathon, maybe, but you didn't give up, and you all made it to the finish line and the cupcakes.

That is such an awesome and empowering story. I just want to hug all three of you! Thank you for sharing this experience with us.