Saturday, January 30, 2016

Wild Los Angeles: We had Grizzlies (video)

Xochitl, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; "Lost L.A." (kcet.org)
With only a 3% vacancy rate and exorbitant rents, teepees in L.A. are looking good.

Bear on state flag, Hollywood sign over L.A.
The premiere episode of "Lost L.A." on KCET (PBS) is Wild L.A. It unwraps the complicated relationship between the city and its natural environment.

Los Angeles once had an amazing diversity of wildlife in a place that is not a desert, as we are so often told, but a semi-arid region with marshlands, woods, rivers, lakes, and a magnificent ocean with many beaches.

Why did you kill me after centuries?
This program explores the Native American origins of Tongavar, "the world," to the Tongva Indians who were the original inhabitants of the area for ten thousand years before invasion and displacement by genocidal Europeans.

Before gun-toting fortune seekers became a blight on the land, a friendly and frolicking giant roamed wherever it listed, down from the mountains and foothills to play in the sand, swim in the bay, and gorge on washed up whales.

(National Geographic) "How Wolves Change Rivers" shows the need for apex predators.

Sasquatch, European, black and brown bear.
What led to the demise of the grizzly bear in Southern California? It was once the apex predator, an animal revered by indigenous peoples but soon targeted by Europeans as a threat to safety and security.

Grizzly bears are now EXTINCT in California; the last one, "Big Bear," was killed in 1908 near San Diego and the Mexico border. They do not exist even in Yosemite National Park.

Extinct here, let's hitch to Alaska.
The infamous "Santa Ana winds" of Los Angeles, an infamous weather phenomenon that triggers allergies, frayed nerves, and terrifies fire-prone communities.

The series "Lost L.A." continues on local PBS stations like KCET Los Angeles.
  • Mudjekeewis: Spirit keeper of the west winds (native-american-totems.com) Grizzly bear (Mudjekeewis) is the Spirit Keeper of the West and is also Chief Council of all Spirit Keepers and Animal Totems. Its power is strength and introspection due to the West being the season of Autumn. West wind represents a time of strength gained from knowing oneself and a time of stability. The totem colors are blue for spiritual strength and black for looking within. The time of day represented is evening...

Thursday, January 28, 2016

US Poet Laureate in Los Angeles (CSULA)

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; CalStateLA; Take Two, 1-22-16 (scpr.org)

The former California Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, a Mexican-American activist and professor at UC Riverside, has been promoted. He is now the US Poet Laureate (USPL). And he is coming to Cal State University Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, next to the massive 10 Freeway.

This means the Los Angeles PL and San Francisco PL, and now the USPL are all Latinos from the Los Angeles area. They were once activists in the Chicano movement, at one time a very controversial thing.

Their voices are rising along with the largest ethnic minority in the country, although Asian-Americans are now the fastest growing group, and many Latinos are in fact exiting, contrary to what Don Trump would have his angry followers believe.

USPL Herrera will meet and greet well wishers at a free luncheon at 5:30 pm and speak at 6:30 pm on the CSULA campus.

Juan Felipe Herrera, recently named Poet Laureate of the United States, will read from his works at the 2016 Jean Burden Poetry Reading to be held on Thursday, January 28, 2016.

This event will be held in the Golden Eagle Ballroom at the California State University, Los Angeles. Doors will open at 5:30 pm for a buffet reception and the program will begin at 6:30 pm. This event is free and open to the public.There will be book sales and signing following the reading.
 
This event is made possible by the College of Arts and Letters, the Department of English, the CSULA Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, the Cross Cultural CentersStatement Magazine, the Statement Unbound Literary Society, City Lights Press, and Poets & Writers, Inc.  More
 


Talk about poetry when we don't know the true identity of the legend we call "William Shakespeare"? He was not a simpleton from Stratford on Avon but the Earl of Oxford DeVere.
Poetry for learning (Take Two)
SCPR.org, Jan. 22, 2016
Poetry can be used for pre-college learning. English learners are flourishing, and high school kids from Muir in Pasadena are...More

Friday, January 22, 2016

"Perfection of Wisdom" (Lancaster lectures)

CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Hsi Lai Temple (hsilai.org)
UC Berkeley and UWest Buddhist University's Prof. Lancaster will give lecture series.

Perfection of Wisdom (PRAJÑĀ PĀRAMITĀ)
Prof. Lewis Lancaster
This course will consider major aspects of Buddhism through the lens of the Prajnaparamita Sutras

Twelve lecture periods of three hours each will encompass subjects of the nature of the Buddhist canonic texts and how they define and describe:
  • The Buddha
  • Bodhisattvas
  • Mara
  • Meditation
  • Rebirth
  • Merit
  • the Cosmos
  • Enlightenment
  • Nirvana
  • Compassion
The classes will be held for four periods, that is, Friday nights and Saturdays, each ending with an open discussion forum. For those who attend full courses will be presented a certificate of completion by Hsi Lai Temple.
  • Hsi Lai Temple, San Gabriel Valley
  • 3456 Glenmark Dr., Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
Via YouTube
Prof. Lancaster lectures at Hsi Lai (Official temple site)


Instructor: Dr. Lewis R. Lancaster, Professor Emeritus, University of the West and UC Berkeley

Dr. Lewis R. Lancaster is professor emeritus of Religious Studies at University of the West and professor emeritus in the Department of East Asian Languages at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served as the Chair of Buddhist Studies at UC Berkeley and Editor of the Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series.

Dr. Lancaster has published over 55 articles and reviews and has edited or authored numerous books including Prajñāpāramitā and Related Systems, the Korean Buddhist Canon, Buddhist Scriptures, Early Ch'an in China and Tibet, and Assimilation of Buddhism in Korea.

PART ONE
Lecture One, January 22, 2016, 6:00-9:00
“Roots of the Wisdom Literature of Mahayana Buddhism”
Lecture Two January 23, 2016, 9:00-12:00
“The Bodhisattva Ideal: Social and Spiritual Action”
Lecture Three January 23, 2016, 1:30-4:30
“Buddha: Bodily Manifestations”
Open Discussion Forum, January 23, 2016, 4:30

Lecture Four January 29, 2016, 6:00-9:00
“Mara: Negative Energy”
Lecture Five January 30, 2016, 9:00-12:00
“Endlessness: Spiritual Possibilities of Infinity”
Lecture Six January 30, 2016, 1:30-4:30
“Rebirth: Causal Transmigration”
Open Discussion Forum 4:30

PART TWO
Lecture Seven April 1, 2016, 6:00-9:00
“Nirvana: When, Why”
Lecture Eight April 2, 2016, 9:00-12:00
“Meditation: Embodiment of Endlessness”
Lecture Nine April 2, 2016, 1:30-4:30
“Perfections: Dangers and Rewards”
Open Discussion Forum 4:30

Lecture 10 May 6, 2016, 6:00-9:00
“Enlightenment: A Map: A Surrounding
Lecture 11 May 7, 2016, 9:00-12:00
“Merit: Transfer or Transform”
Lecture 12 May 7, 2016, 1:30-4:30
“Compassion: Indifference Shifted”
Open Discussion Forum 4:30
  • Venue: Hsi Lai Temple (on site)
  • or study at home remotely through youtube.com broadcast.
  • Fee: $80. (Please make check payable to I.B.P.S.)
  • Address: 3456 Glenmark Dr., Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
  • Attn. Venerable Man Kuang
  • Registration: Apply Now
  • Phone: (626) 961 -9697 extension 116

2016 Master's Letter to Dharma Protector and Friends
Dear Dharma protectors and friends...


The Great Compassion Repentance Ceremony 1/15, 2/5     7:30pm


2016 Hsi Lai Temple New Year Schedule
Special Dharma services to be held beginning
1/24 - 2/28..


The Beauty of the World through Good Deeds” Drawing Contest
It is promoted by Venerable Master Hsing Yun


BLHLS Saturday Chinese School Program
Based on student's Chinese level...Apply Now


Buddha's Light Youth Symphony Orchestra
It is a unique musical group that
Apply Now


2015 Fall session Core Teachings
The Buddha's teachings are contained
Date: 3/6/2016 - 4/24/2016


Gao Huilan's Paper-cutting Arts Exhibition
Her meticulously executed movements ...1/12 - 2/22


2016 Spring session Meditation Classes
For both beginner & intermediate
Date: 3/6/2016 - 4/24/2016


The Beauty of Buddha’s Light
Venerable Huei Yan Photography Exhibition
2/6 - 2/21, 10am - 5pm everyday


Dharma School for Kids
The school will provide stories ...
3/6 - 5/29     Apply Now


F.G.S. International Translation Center
dedicated to translating and distributing quality translations of classical Buddhist


Hsi Lai Buddhist Cultivation Program
This program is open for those who…Apply Now


BLHLS Saturday Adult Chinese Program
Mandarin Chinese is Now offered
Apply Now



Hear Me Out
Fo Guang Shan International Translation
A Spiritual Gift for Humanistic Buddhists ...


BLHLS After School Program
BLHLS is offering After School Program
Apply Now
 

Thursday, January 21, 2016

SEX: Rapist-cop gets 263 years, mass rape at Bushs' school, Pres. Putin/Pres. Bush pedophiles

Wisdom Quarterly; Associated Press (ap.org) via mail.com; BrietBart; DailyMail; BIN
C'mon, you guys do it, too. It was only black chicks! Is it because I'm only half-white? That's racist! Oklahoma police officer Daniel Holtzclaw led away after conviction for rapes (AP).

I'm just going to relax on this warm rockk for a second to get my bearings (TC).


OKLAHOMA CITY - (AP) A half-white on duty police officer convicted of multiple rapes and sexual assaults of black female victims while on his beat in a low-income Oklahoma City neighborhood was ordered Thursday to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I'll rape blacks in prison.
(Jan. 21, 2016) Jurors recommended that [policeman] Daniel Holtzclaw be sentenced to 263 years in prison for preying on women in 2013 and 2014. District Judge Timothy Henderson agreed, said Holtzclaw will serve the terms consecutively and denied his request for an appeal bond...
 
My father is Aleister Crowley, and I'm 1st Lady Babs Bush.

Sex abuse scandal rocks exclusive New England prep school
Stuff happened. I did stuff.
MIDDLETOWN, Rhode Island - (AP) For more than a century, St. George's School has been part of the pedigree of some of America's richest and most influential families. Astors, Vanderbilts, and Bushes have attended the exclusive boarding school [/rape camp], where students can go sailing, play on world-class squash courts or simply enjoy a sweeping view of the sea from the hilltop campus. More
 
I'm bi, father Prescott a Nazi, father-in-law's a Satanist (MM)
Pres. George Bush is a homosexual pedophile, war criminal, pimp (beforeitsnews.com)

[It doesn't surprise me at all coming from this school. They are all molested.] (AP)

Daniel Holtzclaw, left, talks with his attorney, Scott Adams, right, in a courtroom in Oklahoma City, Monday, Nov. 2, 2015. Holtzclaw is a former Oklahoma City police officer facing dozens of charges alleging he sexually assaulted women while on duty (AP).

I'm just going to look over these useless notes and oh, wait, typo. Better get that.

Putin is gay child molester, murderer, and president
MARY CHASTAIN(brietbarrt.com, Feb 2015)
Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin accosts young boy in public and tastes his lint.

Ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being a pedophile a few months before he was poisoned in 2006. He gave Putin the nickname “The Kremlin Pedophile” after he kissed a young boy’s stomach in public:

A few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin walked from the Big Kremlin Palace to his residence. At one of the Kremlin squares, the president stopped to chat with the tourists. Among them was a boy aged 4 or 5.

"What is your name?" Putin asked.

"Nikita," the boy replied.

Putin knelt, lifted the boy’s T-shirt, and kissed his stomach [with tongue in belly button probably].

The world public was shocked. Nobody can understand why the Russian president did such a strange thing as kissing the stomach of an unfamiliar small boy [except the members of NAMBLA who thought it was reasonable and are surprised he stopped there].

Yu'r a gay, too, rite, Black Man? Iz naturel! - Yeah,  but not with no kids, Vladi'!
.
Litvinenko claims people who knew Putin at the Andropov Institute, a training ground for future KGB agents, said Putin was a pedophile. This is the reason why bosses did not accept him into foreign intelligence, which “was a very unusual twist for a career of an Andropov Institute’s graduate with fluent German.” Then Litvinenko wrote that Putin destroyed all evidence against him when he was the Federal Security Service (FSB) director, the organization that replaced the KGB after the Soviet Union fell. He “found videotapes in the FSB Internal Security Directorate, which showed him making sex with some underage boys.” Litvinenko provided no direct evidence to prove his accusations before his death.
.
There is currently a public inquiry in London into Litvinenko’s death. On Monday, his widow Marina testified in court. From The Daily Mail:
In her evidence at a public inquiry into her husband’s death yesterday, Mr Litvinenko’s widow Marina said: ‘It was written in 2006 after everybody saw how Putin behaved when he met a little boy in a Kremlin tour group. He went under his t-shirt and kissed his stomach.’
Duz no vun remember Boris Nemtsov? (AP)
Litvinenko fell out of favor with Putin after he accused his superiors of trying to assassinate tycoon Boris Berezovsky. In 2000, he took his family to London, where he was granted political asylum. On November 1, 2006, Litvinenko fell ill due to radiation poisoning.

He told the press he met with ex-KGB agents Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoy on the same day. He passed away on November 23. Kovtun and Lugovoy are the prime suspects in Litvinenko’s death. The United Kingdom opened a public inquiry over Litvinenko’s death at the end of January. More

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

What it's like to KILL (video)

The Look of Silence by Joshua Oppenheimer, Werner Herzog, Errol Morris



Uh, mm, OK, maybe we did
Wisdom Quarterly reporters were in the field to interview Joshua Oppenheimer last night at the Hammer Museum last night. They uncovered the remarkable story of the making of three films. The first to be made was "The Globalization Tapes," the documentary that inspired Oppenheimer to make first "The Look of Silence then "The Act of Killing." He released the latter first.

The Vatican, Inc. backs Big Business (AP)
It all began with corporate American (Goodyear, etc.) abuses in formerly Buddhist and Hindu now Muslim and Capitalist Indonesia. Workers in a modern-day slavery scenario were being killed prematurely due to pesticides they were forced to use on the plantation. When they complained, rather than taking out the culprit chemical, the corporate big wigs decided to hire paramilitary thugs and police to go in and beat workers. This was followed by mass arrests then an "anti-communist" campaign.


(Senyap) Fullmovie is available to all Indonesians; for English subtitles see YouTube

How can an LLC be to blame?
Everyone who complained or was a landless-farmer or was an intellectual was labelled "communist" and was subject to arrest by the military and execution by neighbors in militias with the help of the military. It was ordinary citizens doing the killing because the military did not want to earn a reputation for mass atrocities. This was bragged about in the US and world media, mentioning what a boon it was to business and how "communism" was being handily defeated in Southeast Asia.

Church and State = Empire
Those killings -- gory, in the jungle, inspired by the CIA and its operatives, and reminiscent of the mass executions visited upon Cambodia's "killing fields," Laotian innocents also dubbed "communists" and "communist sympathizers," Vietnamese rice farmers standing in the way of US Empire, and countless other countries all the way down to the present US-instigated murders in Afghanistan, always built on an honorable and patriotic pretext, always engaged in with the help of corrupted officials in those countries, and always with the backing of our CIA and other clandestine agencies -- have become the stuff of legend. The legends are real.



Republicans and Democrats both!
Oppenheimer is well aware of American complicity and backing for all of these crimes, for although these two movies and the one that preceded it are confessions of the living perpetrators and fearful victims and their families, the real instigators -- the US "military-industrial complex," that is, partners in the marriage of state power and private industry -- the instigators need their own movie. Alas, they are too old now, most of them passed away (the Dulles Brothers, etc.). But the culture that motivated them is alive and well and growing. We are in more wars, committing more atrocities with no end in sight.
The source of inner-peace is US.
Who is doing the killing? American militants and the people they train to oppress, torture, and kill.

Why are they killing? It supports American and multinational corporations, war profiteers, and the surveillance state apparatus (NSA, NSC, CIA, FBI, DARPA, ALEC, etc. with ALEC perhaps being the worst thanks to the devious work and tentacles of the Koch Brothers as well as tech companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, and other names we take for granted, leaving us holding the bag: we are partners with the killers). What's it like to kill?
 


THE ACT OF KILLING, the 2013 documentary about the US-instigated genocide in Indonesia and still unchecked abuses of power by a military-ruled government, has achieved international recognition. Its 2016 companion is THE LOOK OF SILENCE. They are some of the most haunting films of all time. They were made at the same time. In fact, The Look of Silence was the first to be finished. LipTV discusses the filming and social factors surrounding the genocide, impact, and making of the film (featuring footage) with director Joshua Oppenheimer on this full-length BYOD interview.
GUEST: Oppenheimer worked for over a decade with Indonesian death squads, government-supported militias, and their victims to explore the relationship between political violence. Educated at Harvard and Central St. Martins School, London, his award-winning films include THE GLOBALIZATION TAPES (2003, co-directed with Christine Cynn), THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE (1998, Gold Hugo, Chicago Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival), THESE PLACES WE'VE LEARNED TO CALL HOME (1996, Gold Spire, San Francisco Film Festival), and numerous shorts. Oppenheimer lives abroad and is Senior Researcher on the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council's Genocide and Genre project and has published widely on such. 
  • Buddhism's Five Precepts say take not the life of any living being; furthermore, under "Right Livelihood" in the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path we find the injunction on any kind of "flesh trade," avoiding human trafficking (slavery) and animal butchering or raising for butchering. So abandon killing whatever the excuse made for doing it.

NEWFLASH: Nibiru is real, like the ancient Sumerians told us, and now science begins to admit it, too, in a very slow disclosure process just like Dr. Steven Greer and Wisdom Quarterly have been reporting:

(The findings are based on mathematical and computer modeling, but two Caltech researchers anticipate discovery of so-called Planet 9 via telescope within five years.
 
  
2015 hottest on Earth by wide margin: NOAA, NASA
Save earth from the Koch Brothers!
() The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and [the remnants of the Nazi Party that was brought to the U.S. in Project Paperclip to create our space program called] NASA announced today that 2015 was by far the hottest year in 136 years of record keeping. More

The Koch Brothers insists that we add allegedly to appease the climate deniers who do not think anything is wrong with out pollution levels, rate of forest destruction, burning of renewable-but-toxic fossil fuels (yes, the earth makes oil and it keeps make more, not rotting dinosaurs, just as the Nazis discovered and published many years ago; petroleum of carbon-based).

Although all planets in the solar system are warming, we are getting it worse because of what we allow business and government-backers of business to do to our environment and planet for the sake of immediate profits and what other sinister ends we can only imagine, like replacing earthlings with beings in need of homes and biodiversity after ruining their previous planets.