Searching.

I feel like I'm always searching for something deeper. Something that means more than my everyday life. And while I have yet to find anything that fills the void, sometimes, I stumbleupon something that makes me think about my position in the world.
I came across a website today that listed a "code of conduct." It's certainly interesting and worth a second to read through.
Here are the rules they posted:

A few rules.

1.Never stop thinking. This is important. If someone ever says to you ‘You need to stop thinking so much,’ call them ignorant in your head and keep thinking deeper. It is this mentality that breeds stupidity and sheeple. Your mind is the most important tool you have, if you stop using it, it will atrophy. Question everything.
2. Stare into space blankly and don’t mentally punish yourself for doing it, even if it is for that split second. If you have a problem with staring blankly, think of it as daydreaming.

3. Root Beer sucks after having spicy food.

4. Everything is going to be just fine. If you worry about acne, you’re going to get a fucking pimple.

5. Don’t be afraid to talk about anything. You shouldn’t be afraid of reality.

6. Everyone is a hypocrite.

7. You are all original. Every life experience is case sensitive and unique. Every time you wake up or go to the bathroom or quote someone else, you are becoming more you than anyone has ever been.

8. Do pointless things. Don’t actively restrain or hide yourself from the redundant.

9. Stop rushing. Shut up and embrace the sound of silence.

10. Religion shouldn’t be taught, it should be found. No one should tell you what to believe except you. And while were on the subject…

11. Don’t be restrained by one religion. People change every moment of everyday. Minds grow and evolve. Religion has no law so feel free to mix and match. Make your own.

12. Going to the bathroom is not a right nor a privilege. it’s an act of nature.

13. Talking to yourself is healthy. Is there anyone that you have more in common with?

14. There is no such thing as time. The sun never sets or rises. Days and years don’t exist. There is only your life. Earlier today you were born and death is predicted later in the evening.

15. We will always be in a transitional phase. Look outside and know that everything will be replaced at some point. This existence is temporary.

16. Its not half empty or half full. Its half a glass.

17. Every now and then take something that you see everyday and try to see it in a different light. Renew its existence.

18. Be happy, but don’t force it.

19. You will always succeed in trying.

20. We are all crazy. Every person you read about in the history books had some kind of ‘disorder’, they just knew how to use it.

21. We are all about as similar as we are different.

22. Ideas are just as valuable as people. Why do you think we keep making people?

87. Numbers don’t have to go in order.

24. Words will always be just words. Love is just another four letter word, only the feeling is real.

25. Ask a child for advice. They may not know much, but they know what is important.

26. Prove you’re alive. Do anything from dancing in the supermarket to screaming ‘Fuck’ during a moment of silence. Remind the world you are still here.


27. Don’t take anything, even this, too seriously.

Anne Frank

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Anne Frank

More about the polar bear.

The Telegraph posted an article about a study that followed a female polar bear as she swam for 420 miles between ice floes. The bear swam for nine days straight in search of food.
“The extraordinary long distance swimming ability of polar bears, which we confirm here, may help them cope with reduced Arctic sea ice. Our observation, however, indicates that long distance swimming in Arctic waters, and travel over deep water pack ice, may result in high energetic costs and compromise reproductive fitness."
The story is very impressive. And sad. I'm surprised at the amount of energy a bear can expend trying to find food. Hopefully, this swimming behavior will help the species survive as more ice melts in the future.
Articles like these provide hope as well as express the urgency to change the habits we humans have created. I'm hopeful that maybe the polar bears (and other beings affected by the destructive human lifestyle) can adapt and learn to survive. We also need to learn how to change our ways and respect all life.

Religion

“Religion is the human response to being alive and having to die.”

Forrest Church

Follow-up: "Aflockalypse"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/usda-admits-role-in-large-bird-kill

This article is a follow-up to the post where I discussed the massive amounts of birds and fish that are dying around the world. It seems that the USDA played a role in the deaths of some birds. But, what about the other die-offs? And, if the USDA is responsible for that, what else are they doing and not admitting to?

For some more information on the "aflockalypse," check out: http://www.universetoday.com/82263/aflockalypse-mass-animal-deaths-now-mapped-on-google/
Someone took the time to google-map the locations where the die-offs occurred.

"Why Should We Save Coastal Louisiana?"

This a video I made for work. Bayou Grace Community Services Inc. is trying to inform the nation about the huge issue of coastal land loss that is occurring in Louisiana.
This area is unnaturally losing land fast than any other part of the world. If we dont act fast, it will be lost forever.
Check out the video, and submit your own answer to the question at photoproject@bayougrace.org.

We are all Earthlings.

I'm disgusted. Appalled. Reminded why I am angry with humankind and our ignorance.
I just watched the documentary, Earthlings (2007).
Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, this documentary discusses humankind's blatant disrespect for animals. From puppy mills,  CAFO's, slaughterhouses, and medical laboratories, this movie shows the horrors of how we treat animals and look the other way. The amount of suffering is unfathomable and disgusting. I gagged after viewing several scenes, and occasionally had to veer my concentration away from the screen. Some scenes were just too intense, too painful to watch.
Much of this documentary was captured by hidden cameras. It showed animals being thrown around, tortured, having their throats slit, and being hung until they died. You can see animals being driven crazy, being starved, and being housed in cages that are much too small for them. It's heartbreaking, to say the least.
The idea that the filmmakers constantly return to is that we are all earthlings. We all deserve to exist, with minimal pain, on this planet. Humans are not superior or the only sentient beings on earth. Numerous animals have their own form (and degree) of intelligence and ability to feel pain. We shouldn't capitalize on their pain to make our lives more comfortable.
I would also like to recognize that small, family-owned and organic farms are trying to fight against the system of animal cruelty. The big corporations, seeking monetary profit over all other things, seem to be the biggest culprit to the animal cruelty. Maybe the answer is either vegetarianism or to buy locally and figure out where your food comes from.
Be aware of the types of suffering you are inflicting indirectly, because of the decisions and lifestyles you choose.

Population Growth.

Followup:
Here's another link for you to check out:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/8258167/How-can-we-feed-9-billion.html

Population (Crash).

The population keeps growing, and growing, and growing.
I fear we've over-exceeded our carrying capacity. We're draining our non-renewable resources at an exponential rate. Humans are transforming the landscape and poisoning our water, air, and soil. And we just keep reproducing.....
The (late 18th and) 19th century thinker, Thomas Malthus, predicted a population crash but it seems like technological advances postponed any large scale crashes.
I'm not going to suggest ways to limit or slow our population growth (at least in this post), but I do think we need to be aware of the force and impact humanity has on the planet. We are not living with infinite resources. We are not living in infinite space. We are finite creatures living in finitie spaces with finite amounts of stuff available to us.
We are living beyond our means. Recognize.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/seven-billion/kunzig-text

“Aflockalypse”

Lots of animals all over the world are dropping from the sky or washing up on beaches. What are we to think about the massive die-offs that are occurring?

Is it a sign that the bible predicted?

Is it natural?

Or, does it point to something that we humans are doing to our environment?

A former professor, in a discussion on facebook, said "Large solar magnetic pulse hits the magnetosphere of the Earth over the course of a few days, pushing the normally spherical protective magnetosphere into an oblong shape. The "thin" side then allows increased radiation from the Van Allen belts to reach the surface of the planet. As the planet rotates, different areas get the radiation pulse. Wonder if anyone is measuring incident radiation at various spots over the past few days??"

I'm not sure what to think, but it's interesting to follow all these reports.