I watched my favourite Science magazine show last night and something i had not considered before was made clearer to me.

Toxoplasma tachyzooites!!  they are worrying...

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s2050191.htm

For those not willing to follow the whole thing I'll give you the basic idea.

Rats have been found to have a unique kind of parasite ( well not really all that unique actually - but what it does is extraordinary!)

The parasite ensures it's life cycle continues by getting rats to adopt suicidal tendencies.

It does this by living in the little rat brains and neutralising that part of the brain that makes rats terrified of cats!

So, when faced with a cat that can rip the rat to shreds it does not follow it's basic instinct to turn and run away - it hangs around and waits for the cat to follow it's instincts and rip the rat to shreds ( if it is a hungry or merely bored cat looking for something new to kill). This serves the parasites need for a cat to infect to enable it to become a fully fledged adult parasite which it does not do in the rat.

The frightening part?

40 % of humans carry the same parasite, thanks to either their cat or eating some kinds of uncooked meat.

Here's a little tid-bit you may find interesting:

Other parasites are much more common in human populations. Some may have the ability to enact subtle, but long-term, changes in behaviour – to the extent of changing personality. The most notable example is Toxoplasma gondii. This parasite is primarily of concern because it can cause pathology under some circumstances. Obstetricians warn expectant mothers that this parasite can pass through the womb and blaze through an immunologically immature fetus (resulting in blindness, permanent central nervous system dam-age or death). Toxoplasmosis is also a significant mortality source of the immune suppressed. Nevertheless,clinical cases are rare compared with latent toxoplasmosis that occurs, on average, in 40% of adults (average estimates vary). Although the medical profession treats these latent cases as asymptomatic and clinically unimportant (Webster, 2001), accumulating evidence indicates that the infected 40% behave in subtle, but statistically different ways from the uninfected 60%.;

"Look What he Cat Dragged in"; Kevin D Lafferty.

www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/eemb/labs/kuris/pubs/Lafferty_05_BP.pdf

Just what the parasite does to human brains or their fear response  is not fully researched just yet but one study has shown people (women actually) with the parasite have a 250% greater chance of being killed in a car crash than those ( women) who don't!!!

You still think cats are better pets than dogs??

Every one of us has at least one thing in common... we prefer being 'right' to being 'wrong'.

That is, even if other's believe that something is 'right' and we believe differently (truly believe so) we will tend to believe that our view is the right one over the possibility of us being 'wrong'.

Unless we make a huge effort of will (not a thing most of us are wiling to do all that often) we will automatically conform our thinking to this tendency so that anything we consciously attend to or observe inherits a definite bias, known as Confirmation Bias, with the result that we give more credence to things that confirm our existing views of 'right and wrong' and reinforce the 'fact' that we are 'right' to think the way we do while denying or diminishing those facts that point to any potential error in our thought/belief.

Any rational observer should be able to see that this could lead to problems and is something we need to take account of and, whenever possible,  Avoid! 

Sadly, many of us are not even aware of this fact and so remain blissfully ignorant, and therefore likely to be ever-increasingly wrong when we believe ourselves to be 'right'.

One of the most obvious examples of this (in a group setting), and today one of the ones with the greatest consequences for the Human race, is in our belief about 'our' religion. Only slightly less of an example is in the political belief we hold. (Which party we vote for, for those 'fortunate' enough to have a vote).

So become aware that your mind is most likely doing it's best to make you happy by adding weight to what you currently think is 'right' and denying you as much as is possible the ability to take note of things which would mean that you are actually slightly 'wrong' - even when it is very likely that you are in fact incorrect in your belief of the validity of any given thing.

Once you can accept that you may just have a better chance of seeing 'reality' for what it is and not what your brain wants to tell you it is.

If you can do that it increases the chance of elimination of misunderstandings and may even help bring peace into the world (or your world at least).

But it will likely take a long time to improve your current 'reality' (firstly your mind has to overcome your present life's accumulated biases)... and it will take a hell of a lot of effort.

It seems to me that most of the world doesn't think the effort is worth it and it is preferable to just go on being biased and not viewing a more real 'reality'.

With the result that a few of us are so certain that we are 'right' and the World is 'wrong' that we are willing to die to prove it. Even worse some fools take others with them when they do.

That Confirmation Bias sure can be a bitch sometimes.

Understand this well

What follows is intended as a way to bring all those humans of good Spirit closer together, not to further divide them, by way of revealing just where true evil resides – and it is not in those who follow a different set of beliefs to yourselves, at least not those you have been tricked into believing they are.

Where Man is concerned, “Power Tends to Corrupt and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely”.
- John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton (Lord Acton 1834 –1902),

Here are other words of his Great Wisdom:

“The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.”
 “Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favorites.”
 “And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

And finally:  

"The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks."

As America has most recently proven to be the True Case – it is all about winning Hearts and Minds of the Populace – particularly by those who wish to remain in a position of Wealth and/or Power.

Power tends to corrupt….

People who come into power may not initially have corrupt motives, but as any observer of history can attest to, it is virtually inevitable that anyone who remains in a position of power for any length of time will grow more and more distant from the realities of those upon whom they depend for their continued reign - making it ever harder to do what is in the majority’s best interests. Society’s where this has not been the case are in extremely short supply throughout history and our current societies are no exception.

It can be argued that many of today’s societies have large numbers of people who, by some measure, could be considered ‘better off’ than previous ancestors. It is Universal, however, that a very tiny minority in those society’s have gained significantly more than those majorities and it is their (the minorities) interests who have been given the highest consideration by those in power. Benefits gained by the majority are an insignificant by-product of the desire by the Ruling Elite to ensure their personal wealth and power continues either unabated or actually manifestly increased.

We should not be fooled by a singular increase in our personal ‘wealth’ that we are the ones for whom our leaders are actually working.

Again, I have no doubt that some in leadership/management positions actually do have altruistic intentions initially and some may manage to hold onto those motivations longer than some others, however, ANYONE who is endowed with power over another sooner or later will succumb to the demands made by that power – moreso when there is little, if anyone, to whom that person must pay an allegiance. Absolute power means that you do not owe anyone allegiance and it is in this case that corruption ultimately becomes absolute.

This applies equally to secular governments as well as to religious organisations.

Democratic leaders try to convince us (win our hearts and minds) by perpetrating the lie that they owe allegiance to those who ‘vote’ for them – that anytime the majority wishes a change in leadership they can vote for someone else.

Where this lie breaks down is in the form of the power that cannot be changed – you can vote for another President or Prime Minister but you cannot change the fact that the President or Prime Minister’s office will have the same powers over you as it had before you voted. You do not actually get to choose who you want to rule you – that is decided by unseen ‘others’ – you just get to pick between the two who have been selected (if you are lucky – some societies only get to ‘choose’ between one candidate/party).

Revolution has been the only effective way a populace is able to make it’s leaders truly accountable and few if any revolutions have ever provided a long term benefit to the majority – they merely replace one corruption for another form.

Religious leaders, while in the main are subject to succumb to similar causes of corruption as their secular counterparts, can also be subject to one other particular corruption: that of the good of the Religion being put ahead of the good of an individual (or group of individuals – even up to the total congregation).

A specific example of this is the treatment of clerics in positions of power who have abused that power (in a sexual way). All too frequently throughout history those in the elite of a Church or Religion have elected to hide such abuse under the carpet rather than cut it out completely. I believe the primary motivation for such corruption is the need to maintain the Faith of the population in the value of the Religion. If it becomes evident to a majority that those in Authority in the Religion do not practice what they preach this could lead to far greater loss to the Religion as a whole than any pain or suffering caused to a relatively few victims of any abuse of power by a (hopefully) limited number of the clergy. The ‘good’ for the many outweighs the ‘good’ for the few.

At the very heart of such corruption lies the desire for leaders to retain their grip on power (and the mechanisms that enforce that power over a majority), even if it means the expense of the sacrifice of other lesser beings.

Just how many wars we know of in today’s world would be initiated or allowed to continue for anywhere near as long if our leaders (Secular or Religious) were the one’s placing their lives at the front instead of those who have little else but their lives to sacrifice? Would Israel remain a flashpoint for the world’s terrorists if the UN meetings were held in Jerusalem instead of 5 000 miles away in the luxury and relative safety of New York? Frankly, I doubt it greatly.

So what is the answer to this corruption?

Primarily it involves awareness. Awareness that power in the hands of a few over the many cannot be trusted to bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number – it will ALWAYS result in a disproportionate benefit to those who lead at the cost of those who actually work (and are then taxed to maintain a bureaucracy).

Once a majority obtains this awareness it is then necessary to determine a form of organisation within such a society that retains order, but at the same time shares wealth equitably, not concentrates it in the control of an elite few. Taking personal responsibility for our actions and determining a set of rules we can all agree to (perhaps based upon Cause and Effect or the consequences of our actions/inactions) are key to providing the harmony and stability necessary for a successful continuity of societal relationships.

Once that can be achieved mankind has the chance to reach it’s true potential.
If it can be spread worldwide it might even manage to achieve Peace and an end to war.

Awareness that our greatest enemy is the enemy within – those who become corrupted by the power they and they alone wield over us and not some fictitious group of people we are told hate us and our way of life - has to be achieved by the majority.

This will be difficult as those in real power contol vast reserves of wealth and power, both legal and military, as well as in the ability to spread their propaganda that ensnares many of us through the rule of ‘Divide and Conquer’ to ensure their power continues unchallenged and unabated in any meaningful way.

Reading this and understanding the truth behind it just may ensure we have a chance.

How can anyone watching Sydney's collapse into utter military dictatorship and massive denial of freedoms and democracy while preparing for APEC's annual collection of Heads of State, believe that George Bush (for whom all of this is considered 'necessary', if not outright essential), or his crony John Howard, truly believe their pathetic propaganda sound-bites regarding 'liberty' and 'freedom' in a world of 'Democracy'???.

Here's a comment on the subject of how to treat your enemies  (like all those rabid anti-globalist demonstrator 'vermin', or the demonic, goodness-killing, Muslim fundamentalists) by one of those George wants us to believe he is hand-in-hand with... one Jesus Christ - the founder of Bush's much-vaunted 'christianity'.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

...and here's another one of J.C.s most famous quotes ( "It's In the BIBLE PEOPLE!!!" - just look for it for yourselves (hint: Try Matthew, Ch 5):

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

All you heroes and Bush/Howard followers who want to kill those who challenge you and your fragile beliefs - by all means break God's sixth commandment and do the work of Satan if that is your true belief, but for GOD's sake stop trying to pretend you are 'good' Christians while you do it!

Wake UP Australia!... and in doing so lead the world towards Truth.

Be Afraid Australia - Be Very Afraid.

John Howard and his great friend, the American President who would be world ruler, have done their best to make all Australians afraid - afraid of those demonic, evil, Muslim fundamentalists who we are constantly brainwashed into believing want to destroy all freedom and western beliefs and liberties (If you want to see liberty in action look at downtown Sydney - and not a real fundamentalist in sight).

So afraid in fact that we will think nothing of spending $150 million for super over-the-top- beefed up security to protect the American leader (just how much security does Russia or China's leader demand while here?)

So afraid they hope we will not notice when that security is made to look completly pointless when an unauthorised group can get within ten metres of the President's hotel with three vehicles that were not inspected for anything like, say, a great big bomb! Fortunately for everyone concerned the bomb they chose to deliver was the publicity one that destroyed any credibility Johnny or George have in perpetuating this massive fraud on the suckers who are paying for all this - the US and Aus tax-paying, Muslim-fearing public.

To all you denigrators of this joke out there take a good long hard look at what a farce this security cordon actually is - and thank the Chaser for proving it to your irrational fear-blinded faces.

One of the greatest truths and finest realisations Religion has ever revealed to Man is that 'Virtue Is it's Own Reward'.

It is therefore more than a little hypocritical of them to recognise that the rewards thusly obtained are insufficient to send missionaries on nice overseas holidays to ensure the word of Their God gets spread to all and sundry or to build the massively over the top and ornate 'Homes of God' ( not to mention their own slightly less ornate homes like say, The Vatican) as befits the leaders of a group of millions and that therefore it was necessary to pass the collection plate around for the poorer people to give what they could and to ensure that on their deathbeds the servants of Mammon (massive wealth) handed over portions of estates to the church who could ensure the salvation of their eternal soul.

In other words, being virtuous can only get you so far then ya gotta hustle some money!

The logical conclusion of which is anyone who hustles better and more than you do controls more than you can - if you wanna be the best ya gotta hustle the most. If at all possible enter into a cartel - assuming you can trust those who enter into it with you.

Problem!   It becomes fairly easy to spot the bastards who have control over you and resentment, ultimately ending in violent revolution to overturn those in power, results.

Solution?  Get as many of the little people as you can to hustle just like you are doing then what you are doing becomes ever harder to spot. Thus was the reasoning that created the Advertising Company.

Be virtuous ( if you can).

Accept that those who can't will want to turn you into one of them to make themselves feel better about their lack.

KNOW that you are better than that and deserve more than what they choose for their selfish selves.

Spread the word to as many others as you can in as many ways as you can.

(the word being that materialism is a very poor and unsustainable substitute for personal moral growth)

If you have a differing view I should like to hear it.

1. I don't do backups.

2. They sometimes crash - fatally! (the first time this happened to me in twenty years of computing was using the 'new-improved' Windows Vista)

3. Some support guys are stupid brain-dead overworked jerks who either cannot read a customer's instructions or don't have the time to.

4. Bill Bloody Gates and Micro - lets make it even MORE complicated - soft!

5. The little bastards are doing things you don't know about behind your back - at least those using Windows XP and Vista are!