Dear DK,

What can one say?
One’s heart turns around by watching so much devastation and suffering. It really hurts!
But that is also true when a disaster like an earthquake or a Tsunami happens.
It is also true when a small disaster in one’s own environment or in one’s family happens.

There has been a struggle between positive and negative energy throughout history.
Human beings have the fortune but also the misfortune of being aware of this.

And there have been asked questions over and over again. Answers and solutions have been given which evoked new questions with answers and solutions and so on.

Maybe we are living at the moment in a kind of twilight zone that will force us in one way or another to go and approach everything from a totally different angle.

And that is something that has to do with evolution.

But to me it is very clear that by blaming ourselves over and over again for everything negative that is happening in our world is not the way to go.

By nature we have become aware of ourselves; it will be by nature that we will find our way out of this so-called ‘mess’.

And nature is slowly but surely pushing us in that direction, to start from scratch from within, each and every human being.

And the first thing to do is start to accept and to love one self. Start to have peace inside and radiate this outside. It is the toughest thing to do because you will have to stay untouched in the middle of chaos and turmoil, holding the peace in your heart.

And to be prepared; be always prepared that this may be your last minute on this earth.

I know we have this peaceful witness inside, everybody has, so start developing your awareness of it, each in one’s natural own way.

Hello DK and Everyone,

I think recognition that there are very motivated individuals who are now putting on the so called "terrorist cap" as an expression of their alligence to whatever cause and then simply dealing with it professionally, efficiently, with the understanding that there is no room for tolerance when it comes to those who will throw reason to the winds in favor of downright bloody rampages on any street corner they wish to attack.

World wide terror has become a business at this point in time, the need to recognize the who, what and where of those who benefit the most by nurturing these gangs of criminals is essential.

The terrorists acts are like mini big bangs happening in the most stable of environments, usually....so their effect is really a rock and roll event....but the actual number of individuals participating in this activity is truly small compared to those who do not..The world can handle this, can handle them, and eventually they will pull the straw that will ultimately break their camel's back....

When it comes to our World, globalisation IS and cannot be contained, nihilism was and it's last remaining remnants are throwing their tantrums in their utter despair.

Truly this kind of activity cannot be tolerated in any home, community, city, state, or nation, it will be stopped.....

have a great day everyone...ruth

I was rereading on my website some inspiration I received some time ago, walking my labyrinth. It is so up-to-date for this moment in time.

Therefore I would invite you to read it.

http://www.heartphone.org/meandering_thoughts_about_the_la.htm

Dear DK,

You mention the endless speculations of "who", "why" and "what next". You speak about symbols...

I would suggest that if we keep looking at the world out there for answers, we will miss that the symbols are pointing to realities and solutions in here.

The symbolic clash, I would say, is between opening up and closing down. If we realize that the world out there is the result mirroring the inner causes, we will understand that our inner opening or closing our doors to our spirit and each other will decide what happens next, not anyone or anything out there.

The world is holding up a huge mirror of something infinitely subtle inside. What is there, in us? Contraction or expansion, welcoming or rejection, love or fear? Spirit or ego? Unity or separation?

Let us not look out there for answers. We now see the image clearly, we have to. The cause is inside, let every one of us decide where we want to go from here.

Dear DK,

I think what is said may be true in one context and false in another. Globalism and nihilism are just two labels and to depict the two labels as having a clash creates an illusion. To simply use these two labels obscures all the detail, which is the reality underneath.

Globalization has not been properly implemented. In the body every cell has a voice and it is heard by the body and the body responds to it. We do not have that yet on this planet many voices are not heard and the body does not tend to the needs of all the cells.

The brain of the world body is deficient. In fact we might ask ourselves who or what is the brain of the world? I would venture to say it doesn’t really have one yet or perhaps it is in it’s infant stage and some might claim it has reached puberty and is going through emotional swings and in the body it’s hormones are raging.

We have a dysfunctional signaling system that needs to be corrected, so that balance may be achieved in the body. Which is why I think the Universal Information System and the architecture I propose is crucial for the success of all.

Violence could be looked at as a pain signal; perhaps a call for love, an infection needing to be healed, and love is what is lacking. As many of us realize it is the feminine that provides that nurturing compassion and the masculine is not balanced with the feminine which is oppressed in many cultures and ideologies. We simply need to look at the places were the feminine is most oppressed to find the most disharmony, and where it is least oppressed the most harmony.

The thought comes to mind.

One cannot align themselves with only a part of the body; they must align with the body as a whole.

For myself I think it best I spend less time defining things in my mind, which is using the division operator, and more time simply being, with the act of creating which is using the multiplication operator.

It was written that some supreme being had suggested that we should go forth and multiply. I would point out in the story that it did not suggest that we should go out and divide. So perhaps it would behoove us in out daily affairs, decisions and intent to ask ourselves,

Am I multiplying or Am I dividing?

Since we don't need to be told to have sex, I suspect that multiply would mean to create.

To create value in the world. When we create value, we create wealth, and this should be reflected on our own balance sheet in a properly designed system. Since there is virtually no one that cannot create value there should be no lack of money, in a properly designed and executed system.

If each of held the following to be true, we would evolve.

The world reveals to me what I need to correct in myself.

The world reveals to me what I need to correct in myself.

The world reveals to me what I need to correct in myself.

I agree with Aurora, the terrorists are a reflection in the mirror.

A strong signal sent to the brain of humanity, how will the brain respond?

And nobody wants to take ownership of the passive violence that is committed which sometimes has a multitude of contributing factors.

The challenges before us seem daunting, the changes needed overwhelming, but that is from the individual perspective. An enormous task becomes a simple task when it is taken on my millions.

I hope my words are not wasted here.

should be - taken on "by" millions and we might as well say billions...

“The assault on freedom, democracy and globalisation continues . . .”

This word “freedom” sounds very nice, but what exactly is, speaking as an American anyway, what exactly is this “freedom” we endlessly exclaim is the world’s salvation? Is being “free” forcible taxation or prison, is being “free” paying the banker or a sheriff assisted removal from the premises, is being “free” laws against the homeless panhandling and laws against giving the homeless some change? That “freedom” word sounds nice on paper, but in practice, it does not exist!

“Democracy”. Americans know nothing about democracy, all we know is that we can vote for either a republican or democrat who spend billions of dollars on political campaigns to represent us: Americans know nothing of “democracy”!

“Globalisation” [sic]. I am not so sure international corporations (backed by U.S. and assorted other western nations’ military forces) running roughshod over 6 billion people is a good thing . . .

Globalization versus nihilism you say. In the eyes of the Crown were not Americans such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, etc., violent insurgents, nihilists in other words, in contrast to persons such as Gandhi who practiced non-violent insurrection against ‘the Crown’. It is horrifically unfortunate that these “terrorists”, “freedom fighters”, or whatever we label these people who have perpetrated these violent acts, have to resign themselves to violence to problem-solve, but then again, look at how much money and resources the United States alone uses for “defensive” purposes; in other words, violence is truly the human universal language. Did not the British justify their violence towards Indians, and a great many African nations, by saying they were only bequeathing enlightenment values unto the world, an over-familiar justification the United States has used ceaselessly throughout the entire 20th and early 21st centuries.

Is not one man’s, or tribe’s, or nation’s, wealth “creation”, another man’s, or tribe’s, or nation’s economic deprivation?

I do not see this as a war between globalism and nihilism, but as a war between globalism and those who do not want to participate. Yet as western nations, primarily the United States, have garrisoned the entire world, and most recently, and quite forcefully, the entire Middle East: we are, literally, the firestarters of the oil kingdoms, and this has nothing to do with globalization but everything to do with militarily securing our energy needs.

And India has allied itself with the invaders . . .

Peace

"We offer our sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the Mumbai atrocities and pray for the well being of humanity and all sentient beings across the world." ~DK

Amen.

Nihilist believe in nothing.

What we are facing in terrorism today is ideologies. Ideologies which have their purpose in economics of sustaining the desolates of North West frontier province,POK,JK and so on.

All of us are a part of Nature.Nature appears to have a reason for everything. Nihilism does not make sense. Purpose drives the minds which culminate in actions.

The modern definition of terrorism is inherently controversial. The use of violence for the achievement of political ends is common to state and non-state groups. The difficulty is in agreeing on a basis for determining when the use of violence (directed at whom, by whom, for what ends) is legitimate. The majority of definitions in use have been written by agencies directly associated with a government, and are systematically biased to exclude governments from the definition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism

to me, the word "terrorism" as we use it in the United States seems to have come to mean acts of sudden, unexpected, and terrifying, often fairly large-scale, paramilitary violence against civilian targets

this type of violence has in recent years often been directed against the West or Western-initiated international trade and commerce (World Trade Buildings in New York City, internationally oriented Indian hotels and other Indian establishments catering to international businesspeople)

in other words, "terrorism" can mean a kind of war against Western beliefs and interests, a kind of war that takes place in the streets against targets that represent those Western beliefs and interests in ways direct and indirect

some of the crap that the United States exports (smokestack industries, toxic manufacturing, sweatshop salaries for expensively educated local people, violent video games for kids, violent movies for adults, cigarettes, etc etc etc) would make ANYONE mad

who needs Kentucky Fried Chicken? It kills us Here, why should we export it? Ditto Macdonald's, although to be fair, must note that MacDonald's is improving, offering salads, apples, yogurt, juice, milk, sugarless tea, etc)

but these issues need to be addressed peacefully, and of course a lot of the stuff that the United States exports is very very good...computers, farmig methodologies, medical techniques and cures, etc)

so here in the Taj Hotel massacre, we have anti-world trade sentiment plus who knows what other undercover financial and political sponsors from what outside nations (mixed in with the not uncommon politics-disguised-as-religion bloodbaths forming India's list of Muslim-Hindu conflicts ---

the terrorism in India fits into a history of some dramatic religious conflict

but OF COURSE we need to remember that most adherents to religions there and anywhere else in the world are NOT FANATICS

....what statement has the Indian Muslim community issued about the massacre? certainly the massacre does not represent the desires and intentions of the typical Indian Muslim. India is traditionally a land of religious tolerance, despite the showy bloodlettings that occur occasionally, under cloak of religion, but most often politically inspired

i do find it worrisome that some parts of Islam and of Christianity believe fervently that they should try to make people switch over to their brand of religion

to me, religion is simply another product that you buy. Is this interpretation wrong?

Wikipedia has interesting and VERY detailed info on religious conflict in India

INDIA's religious composition

HINDUISM - 82 percent
ISLAM - about 12 percent
CHRISTIANITY - 2.5 percent
SIKHISM - 2 percent
BUDDHISM - 0.7 percent
JAINISM - 0.5 percent
ZOROASTRIANISM - 0.01 percent
JUDAISM - 0.0005 percent

Religious violence in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_violence_in_India

Conflicts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_India#Politics

Communal conflicts have periodically plagued India since it became independent in 1947. The roots of such strife lie largely in the underlying tensions between sections of its majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities, which emerged under the Raj and during the bloody Partition of India. Such conflict also stems from the competing ideologies of Hindu nationalism versus Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism; both are prevalent in parts of the Hindu and Muslim populations.

http://www.jamatdawah.org/

website of the guys that lots of people are pointing the finger at

.
.
.
.
.
this website says it was an inside job, pre-election, carried out by Indian Hindus to help Indian Hindus become more entrenched politically in India

this website says that most Indians do not participate in religious violence

an aside: interesting to note that India Muslims and Pakistan Muslims apparently do not like each other

the one perpetrator they captured alive claims he is from the group sponsoring the above-linked website, but maybe we will never know for sure. In this crazy world, sometimes the guys in black hats are not really the bad guys. Especially when so many factors are so sensitive and interests are so interconnected globally and not always in linear fashion. Maybe the responsibiklity is conjoint. Maybe the appearance of terrorism can be used by others not traditionally thought of as terrorists. The possibilities are endless. Now it looks as if Indian Hindus, power-mad Pakistani military against the current Pakistani president (too peace-oriented), Osama haters, haters of peace between India and Pakistan, probably arms vendors, and nearly everybody else in the world gained something self-serving, ideology-wise and/or strategy-wise, from the massacre How much more complex can the trail of responsibility become? why did all these innocent people have to die because, ultimately, i bet, of someone's greed, on whatever scale? i believe that the US needs to refrain from taking sides in local conflicts (saying we will help Pakistan grab Kashmir from India if Pakistan will help US grab Osama), because when the GIANT United States moves or plans to move, then everyone else gets activated and has to wiggle around also.... when the big actors move, the little people in hotels get smeared all over the sidewalk

mourning the dead
and waiting foir the next installment in this international who-done-it

no one can dispute the brutal savagery of the attack

one man's terrorism is another man's war

my conclusion is that the world is very complex, people simply do not like each other, and good manners in all regards, including not murdering, must become the absolute order of the day for all sentient beings everywhere

how many other species besides the human species
sit around in their dens, lairs, trees plotting to kill each OTHER?????
.
.
.
.
.

interesting piece from today's washingtonpost.com

AN INTERROGATOR SPEAKS
I'm Still Tortured by What I Saw in Iraq

By Matthew Alexander
Sunday, November 30, 2008; Page B01

I should have felt triumphant when I returned from Iraq in August 2006. Instead, I was worried and exhausted. My team of interrogators had successfully hunted down one of the most notorious mass murderers of our generation, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the mastermind of the campaign of suicide bombings that had helped plunge Iraq into civil war. But instead of celebrating our success, my mind was consumed with the unfinished business of our mission: fixing the deeply flawed, ineffective and un-American way the U.S. military conducts interrogations in Iraq. I'm still alarmed about that today.

I'm not some ivory-tower type; I served for 14 years in the U.S. Air Force, began my career as a Special Operations pilot flying helicopters, saw combat in Bosnia and Kosovo, became an Air Force counterintelligence agent, then volunteered to go to Iraq to work as a senior interrogator. What I saw in Iraq still rattles me -- both because it betrays our traditions and because it just doesn't work.

Violence was at its peak during my five-month tour in Iraq. In February 2006, the month before I arrived, Zarqawi's forces (members of Iraq's Sunni minority) blew up the golden-domed Askariya mosque in Samarra, a shrine revered by Iraq's majority Shiites, and unleashed a wave of sectarian bloodshed. Reprisal killings became a daily occurrence, and suicide bombings were as common as car accidents. It felt as if the whole country was being blown to bits.

Amid the chaos, four other Air Force criminal investigators and I joined an elite team of interrogators attempting to locate Zarqawi. What I soon discovered about our methods astonished me. The Army was still conducting interrogations according to the Guantanamo Bay model: Interrogators were nominally using the methods outlined in the U.S. Army Field Manual, the interrogators' bible, but they were pushing in every way possible to bend the rules -- and often break them. I don't have to belabor the point; dozens of newspaper articles and books have been written about the misconduct that resulted. These interrogations were based on fear and control; they often resulted in torture and abuse.

I refused to participate in such practices, and a month later, I extended that prohibition to the team of interrogators I was assigned to lead. I taught the members of my unit a new methodology -- one based on building rapport with suspects, showing cultural understanding and using good old-fashioned brainpower to tease out information. I personally conducted more than 300 interrogations, and I supervised more than 1,000. The methods my team used are not classified (they're listed in the unclassified Field Manual), but the way we used them was, I like to think, unique. We got to know our enemies, we learned to negotiate with them, and we adapted criminal investigative techniques to our work (something that the Field Manual permits, under the concept of "ruses and trickery"). It worked. Our efforts started a chain of successes that ultimately led to Zarqawi.

Over the course of this renaissance in interrogation tactics, our attitudes changed. We no longer saw our prisoners as the stereotypical al-Qaeda evildoers we had been repeatedly briefed to expect; we saw them as Sunni Iraqis, often family men protecting themselves from Shiite militias and trying to ensure that their fellow Sunnis would still have some access to wealth and power in the new Iraq. Most surprisingly, they turned out to despise al-Qaeda in Iraq as much as they despised us, but Zarqawi and his thugs were willing to provide them with arms and money. I pointed this out to Gen. George Casey, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq, when he visited my prison in the summer of 2006. He did not respond.

Perhaps he should have. It turns out that my team was right to think that many disgruntled Sunnis could be peeled away from Zarqawi. A year later, Gen. David Petraeus helped boost the so-called Anbar Awakening, in which tens of thousands of Sunnis turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and signed up with U.S. forces, cutting violence in the country dramatically.

Our new interrogation methods led to one of the war's biggest breakthroughs: We convinced one of Zarqawi's associates to give up the al-Qaeda in Iraq leader's location. On June 8, 2006, U.S. warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs on a house where Zarqawi was meeting with other insurgent leaders.

But Zarqawi's death wasn't enough to convince the joint Special Operations task force for which I worked to change its attitude toward interrogations. The old methods continued. I came home from Iraq feeling as if my mission was far from accomplished. Soon after my return, the public learned that another part of our government, the CIA, had repeatedly used waterboarding to try to get information out of detainees.

I know the counter-argument well -- that we need the rough stuff for the truly hard cases, such as battle-hardened core leaders of al-Qaeda, not just run-of-the-mill Iraqi insurgents. But that's not always true: We turned several hard cases, including some foreign fighters, by using our new techniques. A few of them never abandoned the jihadist cause but still gave up critical information. One actually told me, "I thought you would torture me, and when you didn't, I decided that everything I was told about Americans was wrong. That's why I decided to cooperate."

Torture and abuse are against my moral fabric. The cliche still bears repeating: Such outrages are inconsistent with American principles. And then there's the pragmatic side: Torture and abuse cost American lives.

I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The large majority of suicide bombings in Iraq are still carried out by these foreigners. They are also involved in most of the attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me -- unless you don't count American soldiers as Americans.

the article continues at washingtonpost.com

so all is not lost for us Americans....we still have folks who understand the meaning of our Constitution....and live by it.....ruth

btw...this is becoming the biggest pain in the sass as far as trying to post a comment...I think this is my fifth attempt.....crossing my toes!

typepad sucks

If people really sit around plotting to kill each other, if they really don't like each other, we would not have an overpopulation problem. But we do. So neither can be true.

Conspiracy-of-hatred theories are temporary (usually) reactions to unimaginable hurt.

well, lots of people who really do not like each other sleep together and procreate such as my parents.... LOL

but your point is well taken

I agree that most people would not plot all the time, but most of us Have had at least the occasional fleeting fantasy of revenge