Kiwi on the Move

Today I resigned from my job. My boss is genuinely sad to see me go and the people I work with have been saying nice things to me. I have booked flights and will be arriving in NZ about 7 or 8 June. But first I’m going to Panama to visit Ray for a few days.

I look around here and look at all the great things that this place has to offer. I like the people I work with and the people I know from around town. I like the lifestyle and the food and the long-awaited summer.

I came here for an education, not so much a degree. I feel I have got my education and that it is time to move on. As they say, a rolling stone gathers no moss and travelling people should not be stopped.

I’ve been here nearly two years and it has been a great experience. But more and more I am feeling the American consciousness seeping into mine and it is very subtle and a bit disconcerting. So now it’s time to return to Aotearoa for a while.

See you soon….

Cat and Dog

Mars is Warming Too

National Geographic News
February 28, 2007

Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet’s recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human-induced—cause, according to one scientist’s controversial theory.

Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

In 2005 data from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide “ice caps” near Mars’s south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

Books are Fun

This week I sold a bunch of my books. Instead of listing 40 separate books on Amazon and getting a few bucks each for them, I put them all into one box, took a photo of the box and listed it on eBay. It sold within 24 hours for $80.00. It was a pinch selling my books. They have given me a lot of enjoyment and I wanted to keep them for my library. But I decided it wasn’t worth shipping all of them home – so I sold the ones that I could part with.

I still have a pile of books that I will keep. Some of them are amazing. There is one that I am still reading, but already want to recommend:The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida. This book is a must-read – especially for men.

With all the rampant PC bullshit swirling around us today, it rare to find such an honest and straight-forward book like this. Considering how much I have read, I am stunned that I have never heard any of this before. It should be a part of high school curriculum. It states very simply what men want and need and what women want and need. The review below is taken from the author’s website:

The Way of the Superior Man – A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire

What is your true purpose in life? What do women really want? What makes a good lover? If you’re a man reading this, you’ve undoubtedly asked yourself these questions—but you may not have had much luck answering them. Until now.

In The Way of the Superior Man, David Deida explores the most important issues in men’s lives, from career and family to women and intimacy to love and spirituality, to offer a practical guidebook for living a masculine life of integrity, authenticity, and freedom. Join this bestselling author and internationally renowned expert on sexual spirituality for straightforward advice, empowering skills, body practices, and more to help you realize a life of fulfillment, immediately and without compromise.

“It is time to evolve beyond the macho jerk ideal, all spine and no heart,” writes Deida. “It is also time to evolve beyond the sensitive wimp ideal, all heart and no spine.” The Way of the Superior Man presents the ultimate challenge—and reward—for today’s man: to “unify heart and spine” through the full expression of consciousness and love in the infinite openness of the present moment.

“I keep giving this book away; I think I’ve owned thirty different copies already. I tend to pass it out to anybody, man or woman, who has made a commitment to—or even has a passing interest in—the art of loving. David Deida gets it—like no one I’ve ever read and he writes about it forcefully, honestly, and downright poetically.”
–MICHAEL TUCKER Actor, author

“The Way of the Superior Man is quite wonderful. Finally, a guide for the noncastrated male. This book will offend and infuriate some, inspire and test others, but challenge virtually everybody. Few are the books that discuss strong sexuality within strong spirituality, instead of tepid sexuality diluted by a mediocre spiritual stance. This book steps straightforwardly into the challenge. Love it or loathe it, it is a shout from the heart of one perspective of the eternal masculine.”
–KEN WILBER Author of Sex, Ecology, Spirituality; No Boundary; and Grace and Grit

“At last! A book that explains the heart and soul of a woman to men. As a woman, I’ve never felt so understood and validated. This book is a key to helping men and women take their relationships one step further. Finally, a clear and brilliant guide to unraveling the mystery of relationships.”
–MARCI SHIMOFF Co-author of the New York Times #1 bestseller
Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul

“The Way of the Superior Man lays out a challenge before all men to fulfill their true purpose and to be authentically masculine. It will guide you on your journey to a successful and spiritually complete way of life. I invite you to live in the moment, to love openly, and to step up to the plate with this book in your hand.”
–TONY ROBBINS Author of Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power

TABLE OF CONTENTS

part one: A MAN’S WAY

1 Stop Hoping for a Completion of Anything in Life
2 Live With an Open Heart Even If It Hurts
3 Live As If Your Father Were Dead
4 Know Your Real Edge and Don’t Fake It
5 Always Hold To Your Deepest Realization
6 Never Change Your Mind Just to Please a Woman
7 Your Purpose Must Come Before Your Relationship
8 Lean Just Beyond Your Edge
9 Do It for Love
10 Enjoy Your Friends’ Criticism
11 If You Don’t Know Your Purpose, Discover It, Now
12 Be Willing To Change Everything in Your Life
13 Don’t Use Your Family As an Excuse
14 Don’t Get Lost in Tasks and Duties
15 Stop Hoping for Your Woman to Get Easier

part two: DEALING WITH WOMEN

16 Women Are Not Liars
17 Praise Her
18 Tolerating Her Leads to Resenting Her
19 Don’t Analyze Your Woman
20 Don’t Suggest That a Woman Fix Her Own Emotional Problem
21 Stay With Her Intensity––To a Point
22 Don’t Force the Feminine to Make Decisions

part three: WORKING WITH POLARITY AND ENERGY

23 Your Attraction to the Feminine Is Inevitable
24 Choose a Woman Who Is Your Complementary Opposite
25 Know What Is Important in Your Woman
26 You Will Often Want More Than One Woman
27 Young Women Offer You a Special Energy
28 Each Woman Has a “Temperature” That Can Heal or Irritate You

part four: WHAT WOMEN REALLY WANT

29 Choose a Woman Who Chooses You
30 What She Wants Is Not What She Says
31 Her Complaint Is Content-Free
32 She Doesn’t Really Want to Be Number One
33 Your Excellent Track Record Is Meaningless to Her
34 She Wants to Relax in the Demonstration of Your Direction

part five: YOUR DARK SIDE

35 You Are Always Searching for Freedom
36 Own Your Darkest Desires
37 She Wants the “Killer” in You
38 She Needs Your Consciousness to Match Her Energy

and more….

Guns in America

I’ve been reading the feedback on the NZ Herald site about the shooting here in America and it is amazing the amount of America bashing that is being espoused by some people. Americans are good people, but their culture is out of control.

My first thought when the shooting happened was “This is what you get when guns are easily available.” And it is true. Guns are harder to come by in NZ and so fewer people die by gunshot. But here in America the situation is different. America is already saturated with guns. Given that this is the case, then there is a good argument for being allowed to carry guns for protection.

If I lived in New Orleans where all the good people, like the police, have left and the government is more interested in rebuilding Iraq than my own town, then I’d probably be wishing I had a gun to defend me and mine against the tidal wave of lawlessness.

My objection is to the types of weapons that are available to the public. There is a big difference between a small 6-round pocket-pistol and a fully automatic assault rifle. I read some stats that said there is a disproportionate amount of murders with assault weapons. That is to say people who want to kill people choose weapons that are designed to kill people and not weapons that are designed for sport or protection.

Here is a video of a man who went berserk at cops with an AK-47: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/158562/cops_vs_ak_47/ You will note that the cop’s handguns were no match against an AK-47 rifle. Handguns aren’t very effective for targets more than a few metres away. They have a short barrel so they are not very accurate and they are hard to aim. An AK-47 is easy to aim, accurate over a longer distance, can fire 600 rounds per minute, is easy to reload and you can get a new one for $300.00.

Recently a famous NRA hunter spoke out against assault rifles saying they were for terrorists. He lost his job and has been fiercely criticized and is now probably in hiding and going by a different name.

The gun advocates say that if people were allowed to carry guns freely, then they’d be able to shoot back when they get shot at. Sounds reasonable to me. They say 9/11 wouldn’t have happened. Giving guns to everyone may solve one problem, but it will just create other problems. However, I’m told that a county in Florida changed their laws allowing concealed guns and they found that certain types of crime disappeared overnight.

So while I do not think that NZ should change its gun laws, I do feel that there is a case for self-protection here in America. Guns are already here. I read that most high school students can get their hands on a weapon within 24 hours and 5% within one hour.

Before I came to America, I didn’t really understand why Americans wanted guns. I’m told that they want them to keep their government honest – so they can’t be oppressed and pushed around like they were back in Europe. Considering the current government and all the foolishness that is going on (as outlined by Lee Iococca below) I think they need more than guns to protect them from their government.

The thing about America is that there are plenty of good people here who are just like us. The problem is that the culture is blind and out of control in many ways. I can’t help but think that one day the fruit of their actions (both domestic and international) will come back to them in an avalanche.

Black Sheep by Weta Productions

This is a trailer for a horror film made by Peter Jackson’s Weta studio about genetically modified sheep. Very funny. I enjoyed hearing the Kiwi accents.

TVNZ Eyewitness News 1987

This is fun to watch. News from 20 years ago. You have to get past the David McPhail ad first to get to the news.

Excerpt from Lee Iacocca’s new book

Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, “Stay the course.”

Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I’ll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you?

I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and willing to have.

My friends tell me to calm down. They say, “Lee, you’re eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people.” I’d love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I’m going to speak up because it’s my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I’ll tell you how I see it, and it’s not pretty, but at least it’s real. I’m hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don’t vote because they don’t trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.

Who Are These Guys, Anyway?

Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them—or at least some of us did. But I’ll tell you what we didn’t do. We didn’t agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn’t agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that’s a dictatorship, not a democracy.

And don’t tell me it’s all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That’s an intellectually lazy argument, and it’s part of the reason we’re in this stew. We’re not just a nation of factions. We’re a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.

Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?

Why We Fight

I just watched an excellent documentary called Why We Fight. It was very interesting and full of interviews with credible people – like Senator John McCain. Basically it was about how capitalism dominates democracy.

President Dwight Eisenhower warned the public about this when he left his office in 1961. He was a five star general before becoming president and from what I gather was a very wise man.

Watch this little clip of Eisenhowers departing speech to get the idea:

Brad’s new yacht

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are treating themselves to an Italian luxury yacht fitted with a swimming pool, a heliport and a submarine.

The yacht will be built in the shipyard of Civitavecchia, a port town north of Rome, by luxury shipbuilder Privilege Yard SpA, which said on Wednesday that the couple had commissioned an 85-metre-long yacht for $325 million.

Delivery is set for July 2009.

The passenger cabin will include two 300-square-metre apartments, plus two guest suites of 150 square metres each.

Other features include a swimming pool, a heliport, speedboats and a small submarine that will allow guests to explore the sea up to a depth of 300 metres.