The shocking part is that they relabel the dolphin meat as whale meat so they can sell it. And they even try to feed it to school children… even though dolphin is much higher in mercury than whale. Mercury has the most devastating effects on fetuses, infants and children. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning)
Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan in 1956. It was caused by the release of methyl mercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation’s chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which when eaten by the local populace resulted in mercury poisoning. While cat, dog, pig and human deaths continued over more than 30 years, the government and company did little to prevent the pollution.
Seems like the Japanese government would not want a recurrence.
In the new movie “Avatar,” James Cameron has a language created for the native people, the Na’vi (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na’vi_language). One of the most interesting lines from the movie in Na’vi was “Oel ngati kameie” loosely translated ”I See you.” But also explained that it means more than seeing you on a physical level, seeing “all” of you.
The saying reminded me of one of my other favorite words, Namaste. According to Wikipedia, it is “one of the few Sanskrit words commonly recognized by Non-Hindi speakers.” Wikipedia lists several attempts to translate the full meaning of Namaste.
“I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me.” …
“I salute the God within you.”
“Your spirit and my spirit are ONE.” …
“That which is of God in me greets that which is of God in you.”
“The Divinity within me perceives and adores the Divinity within you.”
“All that is best and highest in me greets/salutes all that is best and highest in you.”
“I greet the God within.”
This meshes with my belief that we are energy beings living in physical bodies. At the conclusion of our lives, we return to the energy form.
The extension is that this energy form, a higher consciousness exists during our lives, and we can possibly learn to connect to this other intelligence. Using logic, the way to connect to a non-physical intelligence is probably different than using our five physical senses. If one developed their sixth sense, and then turned this sense inward, what might happen?
I love looking for the kernels of truth in things. Why did older cultures believe in more than one god when newer cultures moved to religions with one god?
More ancient cultures had spiritual people akin to shamans or medicine men. Shamans people became aware of the collective consciousness. In that collective, different cultures pool into different “areas” of the Gaia mind (think different areas in the library also known as the Akashic records.) So they labeled these different areas, with their own unique “personalities” as individuals and gave them names (a very human way of interpreting this psychic information.) And since they were “greater” than man, they were labeled “gods.”
Then later in human history, greater masters come along… masters with a greater connection to the Force like Buddha, Jesus and Milarepa. The masters become aware of the greater and greater grids of conscoiusness… the solar grid… the galactic grid… and eventually the universal grid. One collective of consciousness… one universe/one God… hence monotheism.
I want to put this as plainly as I can. This film is so uniquely awful that it should be legal for me to enslave and neuter any movie critic who gives it a positive review…
I think Avatar is significant movie in the evolution of human consciousness. It is helping to prepare people for massive changes in technology in the near future.
Look into the new things from Google in 2009: Chromium OS, Android OS, upgrades to Google maps, Google wave, to name a few. Technology is accelerating. Conservatives fear the future.
We are never told why Unobtanium is so critical. The only reason given is financial…
The mineral is seen floating in air when released over a magnet. That means it is a room temperature superconductor, hence very valuable.
Speaking of marines, (spoiler warning) we are asked tobelieve that after years of engaging with the Na’vi the marines are finally done in by a full frontal assault by the primitivewarriors using spears and arrows. This is like asking us to believe the modern American military would be taken down by the Sioux…
It has been said that when sailing ships arrived in the New World, the native people could not see the ships. They had no experience with European sailing ships so their minds did not see the ships because they had not been exposed to the concept. Only the shamans had the sense that something was there and used their trained minds to pierce the fog and recognize the new presence in their lives.
A modern example might be if we were escorted on board a UFO or a spaceship from 1,000 years in the future. What would it do to our minds? How much could we see? How much could we understand?
The same may be said of Google wave (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Wave or http://wave.google.com). People who don’t seek out new technology or train their minds to see the possibilities may have missed the significance. I like technology because only technology has the power to change our future for the better. Segueway to SuperFreakonomics…
I have two other recent favorites of mind for thinking about things in different ways and expanding one’s mind to the possibilities. The first is “SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bomber’s Should Buy Life Insurance” by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. (see http://www.amazon.com/SuperFreakonomics-Cooling-Patriotic-Prostitutes-Insurance/dp/0060889578 ) I like the application of economic principals to areas outside of money. This application is often called micro-economics. The results can be unexpected and cause us to expand our thoughts beyond the traditional. {Hint: see the chapter on global warming/cooling in SuperFreakonomics.}
