Relapse 2 – A Musical Watershed
By now anyone familiar with the music scene will know that one of (if not the most) anticipated albums of 2009 is Eminem’s Relapse 2 which, if rumours are true, should mark a defining moment in the modern music scene. We can expect some major hits to come from this album going by the reviews coming out from the privilaged few who’ve actually heard it. In addition to staging his dramatic return from rehab with three nearly continuous months of studio time with Dr Dre, Denaun Porter and Just Blaze (to name a few), Em is also purportedly working with Elton John and some other big names outside the hip-hop industry. The reason as to why this should be music to any Eminem fan’s ears is because Relapse 2 will pick up from where the Slim Shady LP left off and infuse his maniacal streak (if DJ Whoo Kid’s comment’s are anything to go by) with the deep and introspective genius that we saw in Relapse (1). It’s no surprise that by pulling out the big guns Em is brewing something spectacular with his November 17 release.
The Slim Shady LP and Relapse, when put side by side, are like two albums from two entirely different artists. One could say, a drug-crazed teenager and a wise responsible parent. Of course, we could argue that some of Em’s content isn’t exactly what’d you’d call “responsible”, but by releasing Relapse and Relapse 2 he is showing the world that he is a changed man who has overcome his addiction to drugs and sleeping pills through taking responsible steps, and that said it is clear that the wise and responsible parent (rather than the debauched Slim Shady) has achieved the huge metamorphosis that many thought he could not do.
So what direction will he take Relapse 2?
That’s anyone’s guess! But by infusing Slim Shady and his newly detoxed self it appears that Relapse 2 will be heavily emotional but also laced with his often twisted imagination. His recent guest appearances on Drake’s “Forever” and 50 Cent’s “Psycho” indicate he is at his best (perhaps his best ever). The Maria Carey diss track “The Warning” certainly turned heads for its bold no-holds-barred quips (even by Em’s standards!) and for those of you who have heard “Taking My Ball”, need I say more? Eminem is back, better than ever and ready to blow Jay-Z and Lil Wayne out of the water with the biggest album of 2009, and probably 2010.
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Tags: Drake, Elton John, Eminem, Eminem Relapse, Eminem Relapse 2, hip hop, Jay Z, Lil Wayne, Relapse, Relapse 2, Slim Shady, The Relapse album
Where To From Here?
I’m a 27 year old male that, despite society’s objections, doesn’t care much for the house/kids/SUV culture. I mean, I’d love to own a house of my own and one day I will, but over the years I’ve come to realize that more than anything life is about doing what makes you happy. The problem sometimes is that those around you may look down upon your choices. Thankfully, there is no set ‘rule book’ that dictates what an “acceptable” and “non-acceptable” life choice is, so we are free to do what we want, when we want and however we want. Understandably, this is all within the confines of the law and not harming others, but the truism sticks. I personally want to be a respected writer (and earn my money this way). In addition, there are several other projects that I enjoy (music, art and volunteering to name a few) that my heart is in. Between spending my time with friends and family these are some of the things that make me who I am. As for writing, I like to explore the “Bigger Picture” rather than small and localized issues. I love to dabble in the human condition, metaphysics, spirituality, how to make life more enjoyable, how to make the world a better place in which to live (and die). My ultimate goal is to publish en masse, help diversify the perspectives of other people and encourage new thinking. And I want to be remembered for it. I feel that I’m an old soul already. The least I could leave behind is a book or two.
At this stage of my life I guess you could say that I’m trying to get myself together. It’s been a rocky last few years and many of my projects have been sidelined, but never cancelled. In this unique time of my life I’m poised on the brink of traveling new lands and exploring not just the world but also myself on a much deeper level than ever before, and the reason I’m doing this is to help myself appreciate what I don’t know, help myself enjoy the experiences that may not ever come around again, and finally help myself understand the things that I am fearful of so that I may conquer those fears and live a fuller life. In having said all that, this is why the Two M’s (mortgage & marriage) don’t factor in my thinking at the moment and into the forseeable future.
Now given that they are societies two most pushed products where does that leave me? Am I a consumer of a lesser product if I choose my own spiritual and existential journey over the Stay Put & Pay Debt one? Sometimes it seems to me that we’re living on Earth Pty Ltd and the board of directors are doing whatever they can to dissuade us from the competition. But it’s a monopoly, isn’t it? For those of us who choose a simple path in life, the rest of society often seems hostile to our choices. Of course this is due to years of conditioning through media, but it’s no excuse. I am sick of being ridiculed for not owning and driving a car, not buying a house, not being in a relationship, not having kids, not wearing the latest fashion, not always keeping a clean-shaven face, not being neo-liberal, not accepting everything I hear and read as fact, not owning a television, the list goes on longer than I have time to divulge in full.
Rewinding to the start, I am at a stage in my life where I am fast approaching my 30’s and I’m not going to be as young as I am now, obviously. The older one gets, the more society expects of him. As I’ve made clear (and have evidenced through my own life choices), I’m not particularly concerned with what society thinks, or expects, of me, but I am concerned that life is short and there is much I want to do. My question is, with all that I endeavour to see and do, to learn, experience and teach, what will be the spiritual, universal meaningful product of this labor? And will it matter?
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The Room Was Alive
Two of the most classic metal bands of the 20th century, Megadeth and Slayer, performed last night at Sydney’s Horden Pavilion, and I can say proudly that I was there to experience it. It’s needless to say that the venue was packed out with thousands of fans, many of them fanatical long-time supporters. I myself am not what you’d call a ”metalhead” but I’d recommend a metal concert to anyone.
The initial long line-up is alleviated by the atmosphere itself as the swarms of black clad fans buzzing with manic anticipation talk (and shout) excitedly about the impending festival of explosive energy, knowing exactly what to expect. Once the crowd moves into the venue itself the gravity kicks in. The power of all that energy in close proximity together in the one room stirs the emotions of the people in it and oozes into the static air. There is an undeniable tension that wraps like vines around your nerves and pulls you down under into a zone where you are merely part of a larger organism in motion, swaying and wading through the human sea that coils around the stage harbouring the source of the energy – the band.
At once, the double bass kick-drums explode out of speakers that are about twice the size I am (I’m 6′4″) and lightning fast tremelo picking tears through the air like a billion daggers. Frontman Tom Araya’s vocals are then unleashed into what is now a firey riot of collective celebration of the raw moment. Untamed. Uninhibited. I suddenly don’t care that my head is pounding and my eardrums are at breaking-point, or that I’m in danger of sustaining one hell of a cruel injury in the mosh. I don’t care. No one here cares about any of that. They’re just in the moment, letting loose and absorbing the experience in all its electrifying grandeur. Every inch of my body tingles incessantly. My heart mimics the kick-drum. The entire room and everything in it is vibrating from the sound that travels through the walls, down through the floor, up into the feet of the crowd and into their bodies like a drip of battery acid into their veins, exploding out of their mouths in the form of frenzied cries for more, more, more! A constant state of eruption that could even be likened to sexual gratification cements itself in the room as I move through crowd and closer to the centre-front, as close as I can get without being spat on inadvertently by the lead singer, and it’s at this sacred position that I get to see the source of the madness. Behind Slayer the entire back of the stage erupts in flames. This pre-planned display of sudden and terrifying pyrotechnics only adds to the apocalyptic atmosphere that is engulfing the room. Suddenly I realize I am there. Middle-centre. Both performances, Megadeth and Slayer, I was able to experience everything I’d hoped for after reaching this magical territory. Unscathed even! No cuts. No bruises. No blood. A bit sad in way.
The only scar I have to remember the experience by is when I nearly left the house without my ticket!
-BJH
Filed under: Music | 1 Comment
Tags: concerts, energy, gigs, heavy metal, Horden pavilion, Megadeth, Megadeth concert, metal, metal music, Music, rock, Slayer, Slayer concert, sydney
Now I’m no expert on foreign affairs but I do know enough about the dynamics of what would happen if Israel (or anyone for that matter) attacks Iran.
Firstly, it pays to understand what you’re up against when you’re going to war.
Iran is a huge country with over 74 million inhabitants. It is home to one of the worlds oldest continuous major civilizations, dating back to 7000BC. It is probably the proudest and most independent nation in the region, also being that it is considered Persian and not Arab (as is the case with the majority of other nations in the Middle East apart from Israel). Iran is also one of the most peaceful countries in the world, having not waged war in more than 300 years.
However, anyone seeking to attack it should understand that it possesses one of the most formidable armed forces in the Middle East region.
They over 540,000 active battle-ready troops, along with more than 30 million potential troops in manpower availability (fit-to-serve males between 15-49 years of age).
Their army has over 1,600 tanks that can roar up their engines and roll into battle at a moments notice. It’s also worth noting that Iran’s forces aren’t exactly the old Iraqi Soviet-style rustbuckets that were blown to smithereens in the first and second Gulf Wars. They may have been a third-rate army in the 1980’s during their war with Iraq but today Iran has a modern army by any standards.
Iran’s air force is also worth noting. Amongst its 450 combat aircraft are F14A-Tomcat’s, SU-24’s, SU-25’s, Dassault Mirage’s and F-4D/E Phantom’s. Anyone familiar with Iran’s eight-year long war with Iraq will know that they don’t fair too badly in dogfights. They may have the short end of the straw when going toe-to-toe with the Israelis in the air but they have some of the most sophisticated surface-to-air weaponry in the world, which would greatly complicate Israeli sorties in Iranian airspace. In many respects that may very well compensate.
Iran’s missile forces aren’t to be laughed at either. Their Shahab-3 long-range missile can hit any target in Israel, including their Dimona nuclear plant located in the Negev desert. If given the word, Iran could launch thousands of medium to long-range missiles at thousands of targets simultaneously, nearly anywhere in the Middle East region.
As for Iran’s navy, it’s the smallest of their three military branches, but it does have one catastrophically powerful card in its hand – the ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with this Strait, it is the gateway through which 25% of the entire world’s oil has to travel through. Iran has categorically stated that it will close this gateway if it is attacked. The economic fallout from that would be instant and global. The price of oil would skyrocket to over $290 per barrel, sending most markets into total panic mode.
I’m sure that most people would not feel too happy about paying three times as much per litre at the pump.
Moreover, the measures that Israel and the West would take to forcibly repoen the Strait of Hormuz would be complicated by the fact that it rests between a heavily fortified area of water, where Iran’s Chinese-made Silkworm missiles are trained. You wouldn’t go wandering into an area like this without a Carrier battle group.
And that’s where things can get very messy.
Israel doesn’t have Carrier battle groups. The US and Britain do – and if either (or both) of these world powers become involved, the conflict becomes a widespread regional war. US and British military bases in the region become targets. These bases are in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Afghanistan.
To make matters even uglier, Syria’s wartime military pact with Iran would be activated. Syria is a major military power in the region with 400,000 active military personel, including 4,700 tanks. Syria also has a wild card, being Russia’s nuclear fleet based at the port of Tartus (in Syrian waters). Any provocation of this base by Western or Israeli forces may tempt the Russians to dispatch a few of those ships. In layman’s terms, that could mean the difference between a limited regional battle and World War Three.
Hezbollah would certainly also be involved. Hezbollah’s 1,000 well-trained fighters (including their 10,000 volunteers) would also be swung into action. Hezbollah’s Zelzal-1 missiles can reach the Israeli capital Tel-Aviv. In total, they have over 40,000 rockets capable of hitting Israel.
Any Israeli moves to preemptively deal with Hezbollah and Hamas would entangle their operations in northern Lebanon, buying time for the Iranians and Syrians to mobilize and acquire the upper-hand strategically before the battle begins.
Finally, anyone familiar with Iran’s role in Iraq won’t be surprised to know that the Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani oversees Iraq’s Shia population which numbers at about 60% of the entire Iraqi population. The Shia army and militias would rise up in the event of an attack on their Iranian allies (at the behest of al-Sistani) and create such upheaval across the country that the term “civil war” would be be a gross understatement. Even if Sistani appeals for calm and does not call for an uprising, the odds of the militias listening to that would be slim at best.
This isn’t pessimism, it’s realism. The facts on the ground are clear and unequivocal.
The US and Britain are well aware of the impact that a war with Iran would have on their operations in Iraq and have repeatedly sited it as a part of their strategic objection to war with Tehran.
But the clincher? Well that’s the most disturbing part of all. The reasoning that Israel has given for such an attack against Iran is Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program. A program that in all likelihood doesn’t even exist (just as Iraq’s didn’t in 2003). Iran does have, however, several nuclear reactors that are operational and “hot” (hot meaning radioactive). Should anyone attack these reactors, they would cause an environmental calamity.
So, let’s recap.
At the least, Israel would be dealing with a three to four-front war, which it would have little chance of winning alone. With the US and Britain also involved (should that be the case), the conflict would spiral beyond what military planners would be able to control and contain. The geopolitical and diplomatic fallout from an attack on Iran would dwarf that created by the Iraq war. In short, the world would witness a crucial economic and political turning point.
In the end, the human and economic cost from such a war would be incalculable and staggering.
A clear winner in such a war would be doubtful, even if just for the complexity that such a battle would demand. Multiple armies, multiple economic impacts, multiple theatres of battle, multiple consequences…multiple outcomes.
Attacking Iran is not only ill-thought, it would be a catastrophe.
-BJH
Filed under: Foreign Affairs | 1 Comment
Whatever Happened to Regulation?
Reading about the frequent and seemingly unfettered on-air anarchy of 2DayFM I’m compelled to ask a simple question:
Whatever happened to regulation?
Surely after displaying such blatant insensitivity to a 14 year old rape victim (ON NATIONAL RADIO) and recommending a concentration camp for Magna Szubanski you’d think that the powers-that-be would step in and say “Okay mate, time to go.”
Unfortunately, they gave him a small slap on the wrist (temporary counselling) and a four week suspension. It is a travesty that Kyle Sandilands hasn’t had his broadcasting license permanently revoked.
Now I understand that our good old “shock jock” has had his own share of hardtimes, particularly growing up. As a kid he didn’t exactly have a sheltered life. He has deep-seated emotional issues that probably haven’t been much consideration, but this article isn’t about Kyle’s childhood so I’m not going to go into it.
The point I’m making is that no one can use such things as an excuse to be disrespectful and arrogant, especially when it involves an innocent caller (who is participating in good faith) being publicly humiliated before millions of listeners.
If that 14 year old girl had resorted to self-harm as a result of such a traumatic experience, what then? Would the regulator still keep Kyle on-air?
If the Australian Jewish community had decided to sue 2DayFM en-masse as a result of the concentration camp gaffe, what then? Would the regulator turn a blind eye to that?
The broadcasting authorities have to draw a line in the sand before they let their renegade jock cause an irrepairable leak on their ship, which should by all reason already be sinking. After all, every apology Sandilands has ever made after causing public outrage he has made void by repeating the exact same mistake again. And again.
The regulators have to take a look in the mirror and realize that this behaviour is a reflection of them.
What they keep, they condone.
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Tags: 2dayfm, broadcasting, Kyle Sandilands, media, radio, regulator, sandilands
Everything Is Better With Music
I don’t know about you, but when I try to imagine a world without music……
I can’t.
Frank Zappa once said: “Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.”
And I have to agree.
Music is something so deeply ingrained in who I am and what I do that I could not possibly envisage a normal life without it.
It nourishes a deeply mystical cavern of my conscious, illuminating it with a wonderful beacon of light so that however I’m feeling, whether it be dark, introspective, happy or playful, I am nonetheless nourished when in its presence.
And I think this goes for just about everybody to an extent. Since the beginning of recorded time, every culture in the world has had music and has rejoiced in it. It has mysterious properties that we are yet to fully understand and appreciate. Music helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration for Independence. When he became stuck on the wording of a particular part, he’d pick up his violin and begin playing it to clear his mind. Music helped him get the words from his brain out onto paper.
Einstein even attributes music to his genius. In his own words, he said that music alone helped him figure out most of his problems and equations!
Music is medicine for the restless soul. We sing to it. We dance to it. We make love to it. Whenever we observe something beautiful, it can always be interpreted through an existing lyric or melody. In fact, just about everything on this green earth has a song written about it, probably including you.
When we draw inspiration from something, we sometimes sing about it, and this is our way of showing our appreciation for it. Of course it’s not just the good times we sing about, but also the bad, the strange and the indescribable. We can appreciate the soulful magic of Nina Simone, the hypnotic introspection of Leonard Cohen, the explosive genius and angst of Marshall Mathers or the beautiful tear-pouring innocence and honesty of Daniel Johnston. All of us have a story to tell, and some tell it in song.
For the latter, a world without music could not accomodate them.
Music has a special place in the world that could not possibly be replaced with anything else. For the artists and musicians among us, its absence would starve us of the key ingredient to our inner peace and sanity. For everyone else, it serves as an irreplacable social lubricant and one of the most powerful instruments (excuse the pun) of love. Some of you may know what I mean, but many of you will not. All of you will realize it at some stage.
Many of us will put music on when completing menial tasks such as ironing, vacuuming, studying, cooking, etc. They seem to be easier when accompanied with music. It is the soundtrack to our lives, forever playing in our heads, on the radio, on the television, people on street corners, in concert halls, stages, in kitchens…everywhere.
In closing, the power of music is such that if it were to be removed altogether, we would be (as Frank Zappa envisioned) a dull and clinical society of robots. We would not dance. We would not sing. And the flowers may as well be made of plastic.
Observe the following quote from Boethius:
“Music is so naturally united with us that we cannot be free from it even if we so desired“
Thank God for that.
-BJH
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Worlds Within Worlds
If the similarities evidenced in the two pictures above don’t startle you, then you’re not looking closely enough.
The bright blobs you can see at the left in the picture of the brain cell are neuron cells. The ones shown in the picture on the right are clusters of galaxies. By any measure, the similarities between the two are staggering. Each appear to be nested within a vast “web”, one of brain matter and the other of “dark” matter. In the first, electrons are orbiting a nucleus. In the second, planets are orbiting a Sun.
The icing on the cake perhaps is the discovery by physicists in 2005 that the structure of a brain cell is the same as that of the universe.
So let us consider this following proposition.
We are living within one enormous cosmic brain cell. One could say, within the mind of God. God could simply be the universe at large. It may even be a ”He” or a “She”. But for the sake of this theory, I want you to think of God as nothing more than a Process.
Deep within this cell, amongst what we call “star systems” and “galaxies” is our little earth. Just a tiny speck orbiting around this grand cell. As we move around hurridly on our tiny planet, anyone holding a giant microscope up to it would observe us like a scientist observes an atom, or molecule – nesting billions of busy electrons.
As we go about our daily lives we forget what we are – pure energy encased in flesh and bone. Our mind the map and our heart the engine, and each of us sharing a collective subconscious. We dream, create and inspire, bouncing off each other’s energy. Assuming that we are in fact living inside God’s brain cell, whatever it is that collectively concentrate on, we are drawing ourselves to it, because we are his conscience, collectively influencing God’s will. We’re the influence God is under, thus creating our own reality – and as our minds expand, so does Gods, and therefore so does our universe. Do you follow?
That is the big picture. So let us look at our individual picture.
We are welcomed into this process from the very moment of conception. The act of love by man and woman. The passion. The orgasm. The impregnation, nature’s most wonderful process. And the beginning of your new life. You’re floating, at total peace. Everything is calm and tranquil. You’re bathing in a divine warmth. There is a light that you find yourself moving towards. As you reach this light, you move out of the warmth, out of the peaceful floating, and before you know it, you’re in a new world altogether.
You gradually reach the growth process, the observation and learning process. Human interaction. Interaction with the wild earth and its creatures. The discovery of our amazing creativity and warmth. Our experience of life and love and pain. Teaching others of our lessons learned. Our discovery of self and purpose. Our passing of the spiritual torch as we find our own love and procreate. Our beautiful seed grows, blooming into a miniature version of ourselves, soon becoming their own master with time. We glide into old age as time seems to speed up.
When we’re reflecting on it all in the short time before we pass, we hope that our legacy honours this truly amazing experience we’ve shared with our fellow sparks of unique energy in human form. Our friends. Our family. Our species. All Things we observe and appreciate. When we try to think of a solitary unified “meaning” to our lives, a part of us chuckles. There never was any meaning. Life was simply a process (albeit a fascinating and eventful one!)
Now we accept our the arrival of our departure from the physical world. Our breathing slows. The heart stops beating, and gives the go-ahead for the real you, that flicker, that spark, that energy to transfer from our shells, our bodies into the quiet realm of tranquility and peace.
Once again, you feel like you’re floating, and once again, you are. Everything is warm. And there, you wait. You wait and re-energize. Then when you are ready for the next human experience, so is your conduit. At once, it happens… a cry of ecstacy from so far away it may as well be another world. And technically speaking, it is. The mission of two lovers complete. Your conduit prepared, as you appear in the womb of your conduit, a new life with a new heartbeat. Slowly, you grow. Surely enough, you soon see that light again. This is the strange and familiar invitation into the new world.
The tunnel is the womb. The light is its opening.
You’re being born.
And just as new life is blooming in the outer reaches of space in the form of star systems and planets, a baby’s life begins to bloom within the world. Worlds within worlds. It goes down to the most minute and microscopic of levels. You only have to look at an atom through a high-power lens to see proof of this. There is life, movement and energy inside everything at every conceivable level. One thing dies, and passes into something else. It is simply one continuous transfer of energy.
Take Dr Duncan MacDougall’s controversial experiment back in 1907. MacDougall weighed six patients while they were in the process of dying. He took his results to support his hypothesis that the soul had mass, and when the soul departed the body, so did this mass. In each and every case, it weighed an exact 21 grams.
We’re eternal and unique spirits of pure energy on a universal carousel. Our brilliance recycled as infinately as it is deliberately, working in a beautiful sequence with nature itself. All is as it should be, however chaotic, colourful and crazy.
After all, that’s the nature of our minds, and as we are slowly finding out, of the entire universe.
And that is by no means coincidence.
-BJH
Filed under: Food for Thought, Humanity, Science | 4 Comments
Tags: 21 grams, 21 grams experiment, Astronomy, brain cell, brain cell universe, carousel theory, casuality, douglas macdougall, energy, human, planets, rebirth, Science, soul, spirit, transfer of energy, universe, universe brain cell
Think back to when you first met someone you fell for.
I remember my experience vividly.
On the first few occasions we met, I was a right mess. My heart was racing. My mouth was dry. I was nervous, excited and bewildered all at once, a feeling as profound as it was indescribable. When I was in her company a certain orb would form around us, and everything outside that orb paled into a strange insignificance. I’d wake up smiling. Come home dancing. I’d get intoxicated from her scent on my clothes. I’d go to sleep singing. Happiness was swimming through my veins.
When the initial butterflies settled and the dating started in earnest, other more curious things started happening. I lost my appetite, for food and my normal social life. I didn’t care much for sleep, preferring instead to lay on my back under the covers at night just thinking about her. I spent most of my waking hours daydreaming about her. I had become a zombie, bitten by Cupid.
This is the stage at which my much neglected friends shook their heads and laughed, preferring to bite their tongue and not use the famous metaphor involving a feline and a whip when in my presence, because the next stage of my relatioship with this girl was perhaps the most hard to drag me away from - Tarzan Grip attachment.
This is something that we’re all familiar with. The overwhelming desire to spend as much of our time as possible with our significant other. I was wholeheartedly devoted to her, and found that I developed strong protective instincts such as possessiveness and jealousy, which were more curses upon me than anything, but served to demonstrate just how crazy I really was about her.
Well…there’s actually quite a sane explanation for all this madness that straps us into the emotional rollercoaster ride we call being “in love”, and what’s more – it’s staggeringly logical.
Perhaps the first thing worth looking at is the very hormones that act as neurotransmitters in our brain and cause all of these feelings, which in turn lead to all these kinds of behaviour. This is extremely important, because it shows us what is chemically happening inside us during these first meetings, dates, first kisses, etc.
The three stages usually involved are lust, attraction and attachment, and each have corresponding hormones working away rigorously during each stage.
The first stage (lust) is induced primarily by testosterone in men and oestrogen in women. This is when we’re “scoping” our prospective partner. We like what we see, and our neurotransmitters seek to emotionally make a good link to that person, and if the connection is made then usually some flirting is in good order and the sparks start flying. But the rest certainly isn’t history yet.
The second phenomenon (attraction) is kicked off by a trio of adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin. This is when your heart starts racing, your hands might shake a little and your mouth will get dry. Sound familar? The metaphor of ‘butterflies in the stomach’ often sums it up pretty well. This is all a result of our “stress responses” triggered by the combination of these hormones coming into play, which ultimately affect the way we act around the person we’re attracted to. The adrenaline is what makes the heart race, hands shake, the “butterflies”, etc. The dopamine is the culprit that’s to blame for our enhanced energy and lack of sleep and appetite during our “puppy love” phase, and finally the serotonin is to thank for all those lovely feelings of euphoria and obsession while we’re thinking of nothing but their smile, voice, laugh, etc.
The third and perhaps most important stage (attachment) is ensured by two very curious hormones, being oxytocin and vasopressin. Oxytocin is what gives us the intense and deep feelings of emotional attachment, and thus we form a strong bond with our partner. Oxytocin is often called ”the cuddle hormone”, because it inspires the desire for regular intimacy with our mate. We find ourselves preferring to spend a night under the covers with our other half rather than out on the town with our friends. The vasopressin hormone activates our protective/possessive instincts, especially when a newborn is involved. Interesting studies on the male prairie vole have revealed that vasopressin is definitely a key part of the ‘devotion’ factor. For example, when scientists gave male prairie voles a drug which suppresses the effect of vasopressin, the prairie vole’s bond with their partner deteriorated immediately and they lost their protective instincts completely when around their mate. Reading this kind of thing breaks my heart, but is still a very interesting thing to learn when juxtaposed with vasopressin’s effects on the human brain.
In summary, the process of falling in love is purely scientific, which may be a plain truism for many, but the reward of understanding (and remembering) it can sometimes mean the difference between happiness and heartbreak.
Above all else, this intriguing little science lesson serves to remind us that there are forces at play inside our bodies, creative and mischievous little Gods, if you like. Forever seeking to wrap around our emotions like strong vines, twisting and contorting what we feel and percieve. We become slaves, starry-eyed and willing. We fall, swim, come ashore, get back up on to our feet, brush ourselves off and then do it all over again. And most curiously, we ask ourselves why.
Well here’s your answer 
-BJH
Filed under: Food for Thought, Health & Wellbeing, Humanity | 2 Comments
Tags: adrenaline, hormones, love, men, oestrogen, oxytocin, relationships, Science, serotonin, sex, testosterone, women
Logging on to social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter in this part of the world is usually a very casual novelty. We check our inbox, scroll around to see what witty remarks our friends or co-workers have made, then log off and end our little sojourn into cyberspace to return to our more tangible lives.
But while we here in the West facebook and ”twitter” for our creative and communicative kicks, others elsewhere are using these social networking sites to mobilize for national upheaval and revolution.
Such is the case currently with hundreds of thousands of Iranians who are rallying across their country to protest the recent re-election of their ”pariah president” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and demand a recount due to allegations of electoral fraud. Since the result of the election was announced, an international chorus of protest has swept the media, beginning (in part) with the apparently disenfranchised Iranian voters who logged on, said their piece and spread the word - with the click of a button.
Within hours, every major news source had galvanized around the first-hand accounts that poured into twitter from the voters, and the headlines began appearing everywhere. CNN, Fox, BBC, you name it, the headlines screamed the banners and picket signs of the Iranian people.
Consider the following article, which provides a good example of how the Iranian demonstrators bypassed blocked satellite channels and certain websites to get the word out:
Online Networking Tools ‘Beat Iran Censorship – Link http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/06/19/2009061900687.html
The most amazing thing perhaps was the speed at which their voices reached the world, and this exemplifies the power and influence that the internet wields in mainstream media. In addition, it exposes Iran as a certain society in paradox; a state ruled by a religious order under a Supreme Leader who enforces a rigid Islamic law and also a democratic republic wherein its citizens can surf the internet, vote and freely protest. A very different Iran from the one portrayed by the Bush Administration as the Axis of Evil slave-state.
Never could this kind of popular revolt be possible in a regime like North Korea.
It is interesting to note that unlike Iran, the other remaining “Axis of Evil” nation strictly forbids its people access to free information, and with it the rest of the world. In this sense it is exposing the myth that the Iran is not a democracy. As this historic event takes place across the country, it is clear that the tools of democracy are being put to amazing use in the pursuit of justice. By the people, for the people.
Another important thing that is being demonstrated is that the information monopoly exercised by mainstream news broadcasters is making way for an even more dynamic and omnipresent media force, that is the very people who are making history, spreading the word to the outside world and actually making a physical change to the circumstances they’re in.
There must be no mistake about this. As is being evidenced while you read this, the internet is proving to be a powerful tool in mobilizing a war cry into action. This kind of resourcefulness being witnessed by the Iranian people may create an interesting precedent for disgruntled voters elsewhere. Below is an excerpt from an interview with an Iranian professor that I read in a CNN article today.
“I am absolutely convinced that what we are witnessing is a turning point in the history of the Islamic Republic,” said Dr. Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City.
“Even if the Islamic Republic survives this crisis, it will no longer be as it used to be,” added Dabashi.
Indeed.
What is intriguing to me is this. With the rapid global spread of online resources will too, logically at least, come the rapid global spread of change.
-BJH
Filed under: Food for Thought, Foreign Affairs, Humanity | Leave a Comment
Tags: information technology, internet, Iran, iran rally, iran revolution, online, protest, twitter, uprising
Beware The “False Flag”
The above photo depicts two British SAS operatives in Iraq who were arrested on conspiracy charges in September of 2005. The photo was taken whilst they were in the custody of Basra police who had detained them after the two men, dressed in Arab garb and head dress, drove toward a group of Iraqi police and began firing. One police officer was killed in the attack, which was obviously made out to look like an act of sectarian violence (not uncommon in Iraq). But when they were stopped and subdued, their true identities were discovered to be that of two British SAS operatives – undercover in Basra on a “false flag” mission to stoke the flames of religious hatred in Iraq. In their car, explosives were found along with assault rifles and an anti-tank weapon.
Those last two sentences beg many questions in the rational brain, among them, why would British troops be dressing up like Arabs with the intent of inciting religious hatred between Iraq’s ethnic groups? Some of you who are familiar with the well-known British and US policy of “divide and conquer” in the Middle East are probably not surprised that this incident happened.
But anyone who needs to ask why these things happen should first learn what a “false flag” attack really is.
False Flag: Operations that are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is, flying the flag of a country other than one’s own.
To give a historically recent (and compelling) government sanctioned example, take the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the pretext for much of the Western world’s armies becoming involved in the Vietnam War, initially an internal and localized Vietnamese conflict.
On the 2nd August 1964, the American destroyer USS Maddox engaged three North Vietnamese P-4 patrol boats, resulting in damage to the three boats. Two days later, on 4th August, the Maddox (having been joined by the USS Turner Joy) reported a second engagement with North Vietnamese vessels.
The only thing wrong with that is that there was no second engagement - and, after nearly 2 million deaths later, the entire report was eventually claimed to be in error.
Below is a more specific description of this “error”.
The outcome of the incident was the passage by the United States Congress of the Southeast Asia Resolution (better known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution), which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian government considered to be jeopardized by “communist aggression,” including the commitment of US forces without a declaration of war. The resolution served as Johnson’s legal justification for escalating US involvement in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). It gave the US president the exclusive right to use military force without consulting the US Senate. It was based on a false pretext, as Johnson later admitted.
Now we’re talking about nearly 2 million lives having been taken as a result of a deliberate false flag operation - by the US government.
Initially the conflict involved only Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, but drew in six other countries. Now I’m not one of those one-sided yankee-bashers who ark up about a wrongdoing here and there whilst ignoring those done by other governments, but speaking as an Australian citizen who’s country is perhaps the most stalwart ally of the United States, it concerns me deeply that such blatantly reckless and deceitful acts could, in the current political environment, easily provoke a war so large and widespread that World War Two would pale in comparison.
As bluntly proven in the first two examples, these government-sanctioned terrorist attacks do actually happen. Perhaps the most chilling element of these false flag attacks is that upon learning about such inconcievable acts of betrayal, public opinion can quickly swing against the government (and with dramatic effect).
The September 11 2001 attacks on New York and Washington are widely believed to have been false flag attacks following the release of information attained by the New York firefighting teams who were at Ground Zero which cited evidence of thermite (residue from plastic explosives used in controlled demolitions) that was found in dust samples taken during the clean up effort in the days after the attack. A renowned architect recently appeared on mainstream Fox News and spoke openly about this disturbing find, challenging the authorities to investigate further (something they’ve flatly refused to do).
The famous quote “Truth does not fear investigation” comes to mind here, especially when considering this in conjunction with the above false flag revelations. This is important because it involves peoples lives.
Not just the lives that were taken, but also the ones that are yet to be as the more sinister elements within these governments work to decieve, stir and provoke; and although we cannot initially ascertain whether or not an incident is a false flag, we must remain cautious and forever keep opened minds.
After all, these are increasingly decieving times.
-BJH
Filed under: Food for Thought, Foreign Affairs, Humanity | Leave a Comment
Tags: 9/11, Britain, False Flag, Iraq, SAS
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