Forestluv

Angell Deer, Shamanic Breathing 7-9pm Saturdays NYC time (limited free spots, donations accepted) https://www.thesanctuaryheal.com/about-angell-deer Breath Church (not religious), various styles and facilitators, every night 6-7pm (I like Sun-Thurs best). https://breathchurch.carrd.co/ Alchemy of breath. Various styles. Sundays 9:30 and 17:00 GMT. https://alchemyofbreath.com/breathwork-webinar/ The Breathing Space meets Tues, Thurs, Fri. I've done it with Lisa on Thursdays. https://www.makesomebreathingspace.com/online-breathing-spaces-1

Boomers gonna Boom

This is part of what I'm saying about how Dems don't play hardball. If McConnell needed votes from Murkowski and Collin to push a conservative SCOTUS judge through he wouldn't say "Oh well, we are two votes short. At least we gave it a try". Of course not, he would put enormous pressure on Murkowski and Collins make their life miserable until they surrendered. How many times has Collins said how "concerned" she is and then cave to McConnell? Pelosi and Schumer could put enormous pressure on Manchin and Sinema and make their life miserable. They could be stripped of committee positions, no longer get pork for their states and the DNC could fund primary challengers. And this stick can be coupled to carrots. If they vote with Dems, they would get elevated power positions, more money for their states and campaign funding. There is a low chance either would leave the Dem party. I'm not saying this is the best way to act, I'm saying it could be done. Dems always start off with the assumption that we can't do it and give tons of excuses why they can't do it. Republicans start off with the assumption that they can do it and start asking whose arms they need to twist and what norms they need to break to get it done.

Privilege doesn't just mean well-off and having power. It doesn't mean having an easy life with no problems. In the context of bigotry, privilege means immunity is granted or available only to a particular person or group. A poor white man may have all sorts of problems and suffer greatly - yet he doesn't have to worry about being raped like women do. A heterosexual man may be subjected to all sorts of abuse, yet he doesn't have to worry about getting beat up because he held his girlfriend's hand in public like a homosexual man does. As a white person, I don't have to worry about being subjected to racism like black people do. I can have a discussion about racism and leave the room anytime I want and leave that behind for black people to worry about. I have the privilege of leaving that room. Black people do not. During my travels through South America, most people assumed I was trustworthy and deserved respect. I did nothing to earn that trust and respect. It was given to me because I'm white. Black people I encountered did not have that privilege. They were often perceived with skepticism and they had to earn people's trust and respect. As well, you seem to be conflating individual and population levels. At an individual level, there is an equivalency - yet not at a population level. At the population level, there is asymmetry. For example, at the individual level rape is just as bad regardless of whether a woman was raped or a man was raped. It is equally bad. Yet at the population level, there is asymmetry. Many more woman are raped than men. At this level, it is unfair to create a false equivalency and tell women "Well, men get raped too". If we had 1 million dollars to invest in rape prevention and care, it would be unfair to split the money 50:50 because over 90% of rape victims are women. Similarly, at the population level racism is asymmetric and it is unfair to create false equivalencies. It would be inaccurate to say 100% of racism is directed against black people and 0% against white people. Yet it is also unfair to suggest that both black and white people face racism equally. That is a common tactic to undercut efforts toward greater equality. It also obfuscates racism at a person level and racism at population / systemic levels.

Of course there is government corruption in the U.S. That is not the issue. At issue are claims of election fraud that have been debunked by Trump's own lawyer's, attorney general, justice department, judges, cyber security team, and republican state election officials. Corruption is when people act inappropriately in their own self interest. The claims of widespread election fraud would require that Trump's own officials and conservatives conspired against their own party and self interest. It would be like accusing a football team of cheating so that the other team would win. This is conflating absolute with relative. Yes, every idea is equal in the sense that every idea is an idea. Just like every animal is an animal. Yet this does not mean that every animal is equal. Of course you have read about it. You didn't make it up yourself. You read about a three headed lizard from the planet Xenon creating the corona virus on this forum. Then you yourself have written about it. And you are now reading about it for a second time right now. Notice how "reading about" something is equivalent in the context of "Reading about = Reading about", yet not all reading about is equivalent. Reading about how a three headed lizard creates the coronavirus on a forum is not equivalent to reading about the coronavirus life cycle in a scientific journal. I never said that you are a conspiracy nut. It has nothing to do with you personally. I have been discussing the structure of conspiracies. In my view some of your statements are binary and you are not seeing nuances. For example, you seem to be using a binary construct of governmental corruption. Binary constructs have value in some contexts. yet they are also very limiting. If a football team is known for cheating, is it more likely that they cheat so they win or cheat so the other team wins? If Chelsea beats Arsenal in a football game, how likely is it that Arsenal cheated so that Chelsea would win? Very unlikely. If there was evidence that Chelsea cheated, how likely is it that Arsenal would hide this evidence so that Chelsea could remain the victor? Very unlikely. If Democrats committed widespread fraud, why would Republicans in various agencies work together to cover up the evidence so that Democrats would win the election? It doesn't make sense.

If there was ever a time to go for it, now is the time. The capital riot in Washington DC caught the attention of all Americans and most Americans can see that something isn't right. Democrats have a justifiable narrative on their side at the moment. If the situation was reversed, McConnell would use every tactic available to ram through DC statehood and try to limit the backlash with spinning frames. We know this because he broke norms and used every tactic possible to block Obama's justice pick for a year and used every tactic possible to ram through Trump's justice pick a week before the election. Yet democrats don't play that way. They could play hardball, break norms and use every tactic possible to ram through DC statehood. They have a justifiable narrative and could ram it through. And I think it would actually help them. They have a plurality or majority of Americans on their side (at the moment) and most media. Democrats lose in midterm elections because they play nice and don't get anything done. If they rammed through DC statehood, they could frame that as a major achievement and how strong they are to get shit done. It would inspire Dem and Progressive voters. If Dems also did well with covid, they could still likely maintain control in 2-3 houses. The long-term effect would be to eradicate the filibuster. At times, this would be bad for Dems (when Rs are in power), yet Dems are asymmetrically hurt worst by the filibuster than Rs. The filibuster re-enforces the unfair representation in the Senate electoral college that favors Rs. And if the Dems are going to bust through the filibuster they need to do it now, quickly and for something big. After years of Trumpism and the capital riot, there is an anti-MAGA, anti-fascist sentiment. The iron is hot. And if they do it quick, they would have two years to work with simple majority votes. If they wait until 2022, they would only have months to work with. And DC statehood is big. Even without the filibuster, it would make it much harder for Rs to get simple majorities in the future. Yet I don't see it happening. I don't see Dems wanting to fight that fight. The Dem leadership doesn't like to rock the boat regarding norms. I don't see Pelosi and Schumer ramming through DC statehood. Yet I could see AOC and Bernie going for it if they were the leaders.

@EternalDream What is most effective, depends on the person. Some people respond well to psychedelics, other respond well to therapy and breathwork. Or a combination. Whichever route, I would suggest including some type of facilitator or community (to some extent). Solo work is great, yet there is also value in facilitators and community. For example, there are free facilitated breathwork groups online. It is a great way to uncover and release repressed/suppressed emotions and trauma. And it carries very little risk.

We can create all sorts of constructs of "Real" and "Imaginary". We can say real and imaginary is the same thing. Or we can create all sorts of ideas of what "real" and "imaginary" is. It's easy to get caught up conceptualizing real and imaginary. These concepts can have practical value, yet they ultimately break down to Nothing / Everything. One thing I find helpful is to go 'prior' to labels of "real" and "imaginary". Before those labels are added, there is no "real" or "imaginary". There is simply actuality, pure experience.

Being open-minded has degrees as does the object of open-mindedness. Consider these two situations: 1. Being open-minded to the possibility that there are microscopic living organisms that we cannot see with the naked eye. 2. Being open-minded to the possibility that a three-headed lizard on the planet Xenon created the coronavirus to transform humans into bugs that he can eat. We can be open-minded to both, yet both scenarios are not equivalent. Which of the above would you entertain as plausible? Which of the above would you actually invest your time into considering? Any construct we create is colored by assumptions. You seem to be falsely equating and saying "let's be open to any idea" as if every idea was equal. That is your assumption and portrayal onto me. I don't see government through rose-colored glasses. I can see that government has aspects of corruption. Yet you are perceiving through a binary lens, not a nuanced multi-perspectival lens. Just because government has corruption does not mean government is 100% corrupt. Government can have people that are non-corrupt, partially corrupt and extremely corrupt. Some governmental agencies could provide some value while other agencies don't offer much value. I don't start off looking at a situation with the assumption that government is 100% corrupt or that government is 100% non-corrupt. In the claims of widespread election fraud, there are too many data points that it is BS and not enough data points that it's credible. Entertaining the idea that Trump's own law firm, Trump's own justice department, Trump's own judges, Trump's own election security officials and republican election officials are all conspiring to hide widespread election fraud against Trump is ludicrous. The idea that the Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan communists are conspiring with George Soros and republican election officials is ludicrous. Is it possible? Sure. And so is a three-headed lizard on the planet Xenon. . . Just because government has aspects of corruption, does not automatically make any claim credible. By definition, the possibility of widespread election fraud would require a a conspiracy of many people secretly covering up the widespread election fraud. This coordinated team of conspirers would include: --Trump-appointed judges -- Conservative judges -- Lawyers at the law firms representing Trump -- FBI agents in Trump's justice department -- Trump's attorney general Bill Barr -- Trump's entire cyber security team -- Republican state election officials that voted for Trump Is it possible all of these people are conspiring against their own political party to hide widespread election fraud so that their own leader loses? Sure it's possible, yet it is extremely unlikely. Exactly. A claim is distinct form the evidence supporting that claim. Trump, Sydney Powell, Giuliani et. al. made lots of claims. They can say Venezuelan communists under the Hugo Chavez regime stole the election. Yet that claim is not supported by evidence. That is the whole point. Trump's own law firms, judges, justice department, attorney general and republican election officials have all determined that the claims are merit-less. Similarly, the claim that you are a pedophile is meritless. You are going beyond simple open-mindedness and creating false equivalencies. You are saying we should be equally open-minded to the possibility that I am a potato and that I am a human.

@sleep It seems like you are looking for an external, objective thing that is universally true. Yet to be true from one perspective means it must be untrue from another perspective. There is no yin without yang. Every thing needs a not-that-thing for contrast. One perspective is the truth of "IS". This comes prior to the mind trying to define what "IS" is. Yet contextual truths can come in handy for navigating through life.

It depends on identification. If "I" is body there is experience of body. If "I" is separate from body, there is "my" experience of "my" body. And of course "body" is a concept with ill-defined boundaries.

Conspiracy theories always have nuggets of truth as a hook. They are manipulative stories as they twist words and context. And they use emotions. Whether it's BS theories of 9-11, JFK, election fraud or you being a pedo. Watch how it works. . . There is evidence of you being a pedo. There was an administrator and moderator on a reputable forum that said so. And you yourself suggested that there should be an investigation into whether you are a pedo. . . Notice how this "evidence" is manipulated. Now imagine we can use this "evidence" on social media to convince millions of people that you are a pedo. All sorts of people come out of the woodwork adding allegations and "evidence". Of course it is all BS and would never stand up in a court of law because it is all heresay. Yet this will not count as "proof" for those "open-minded" to the theory that you are a pedo. There will be no convincing them. They will say the judges were corrupt and it wasn't a fair trial against you. They may say that you paid off the prosecuting attorneys. That is how conspiracy theories become more intricate. Notice the assumption here. There is an assumption there are "many people that know a lot about elections". Who are these people? Sidney "The Kraken" Powell? The woman who believes the ghost of Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan communists stole the election? How about Trump's "lawyers" that didn't even know "MI" stands for Michigan (Not Minnesota). They actually filed a case claiming of election fraud in Michigan by using "evidence" from Minnesota, because they thought "MI" stood for Minnesota. Or how about senile Rudy Giuliani? The man who wanted to hold a press conference at the ritzy Four Seasons Hotel, yet due to incompetence ended up in a gravel parking lot of Four Seasons Landscaping next to a porn shop in a run-down part of town. And his star witness was a convicted sex predator and a woman under a restraining order that showed up drunk. These are the people that "know a lot more"? Let's consider people that actually know a lot more elections. Trump's cyber-security team. This was run by a Trump appointee that is a republican. Trump's own republican election security team concluded there was no widespread fraud. The law firms representing Trump. Trump's own law firms decided that these were frivolous cases and abandoned Trump. Trump's own lawyers wouldn't even defend him! That is why he ended up with half-baked "lawyers" like Sydney Powell. Trump's justice department concluded there is no credible evidence of widespread fraud. Trump appointed judges and conservative judges concluded there was no evidence of widespread fraud. They warned Trump's lawyers that if they continue to bring frivolous lawsuits they would be held in contempt of court. This is why legitimate law firms abandoned Trump and why Trump had to hire half-baked lawyers. And it is why Trump's team started making their accusations on social media and press conferences. They knew the allegations were not credible and they didn't want to be held in contempt of court. There are no legal consequences for spreading conspiracy theories through social media, yet there are legal consequences to repeatedly bring frivolous lawsuits to court. Republican election officials. All state election officials concluded that there was not widespread fraud, including Republican officials that voted for Trump. Multiple Recounts verified original counts. Investigations into previous elections have determined that voting fraud is rare in the U.S. and nowhere near enough to overturn an election. Taken collectively, one now needs to enter into conspiracy theory territory to maintain "open-mindedness" that there was widespread fraud. One needs to create a story that there is a massive conspiracy, including Trump's own officials and republicans, that they are hiding widespread fraud. Why would Trump's own appointees and republican officials / judges hide election fraud against Trump from public view? One needs to create a conspiracy story. . . Being "open-minded" does not mean the object is binary. There are probabilities. There is a much greater probability that I drank coffee this morning than the chance that: the moon landing was fake, 9-11 was an inside job, the coronavirus is a hoax, there was widespread election fraud or that you are a pedophile. And the bar to clear is not fraud. There is a low level of fraud in every election. The bar to clear is that there was widespread fraud. Should I be open-minded that the coronavirus is a hoax by the government? I'm open-minded that there is an extremely small chance of that being true. Perhaps one in a trillion chance. Yet I'm not going to entertain every theory that has an infinitesimal chance of being true. That would consume one's entire life and it's a waste of time.

This was performed in Mexico City 2016 to a massive young crowd. Not only was an ageing Roger Waters disgusted by Trump, so was the youthful crowd. Great synergy and vibe. Every line of the song still rings true today. Waters was 73 years old that concert. Impressive.

Not just the OP, everyone on the forum that reads the thread. For example, the thread might be "How can I improve my writing skills?". Anyone who clicks on that thread is interested in improving writing skills. A scammer may pretend to be a student and post links to college term paper scam sites. If you guys see this behavior, please report it. It helps us filter it out.

I propose we call the social network "Bocks of Rocks"

The sneakiness is trying to scam forum users and escape detection from moderators. They don't simply post a naked scam link. Yet rest assured we moderators have their number and are filtering them out. There are alot of them. Perhaps 10 per week or so. It's by far the most common ban. It helps the Mods when forum users report spammers.

Party loyalty is intense in America's polarized two-party system. I wouldn't assume voters leaving the republican party will vote Democrat. Most republicans have a strong distaste for Democrats. I predict most voters who leave the republican party will either identify as Independent or dis-engage from politics saying "Both parties suck". Yet if 15% of Republicans stopped voting, it would be much harder for them to win elections. Trump attracted millions of non-voters into the republican party, yet he may ultimately drive tens of millions away from the party. The Democratic party is also divided into neoliberals and progressives, yet they are united by fighting against Trumpism/MAGA/White Supremacy/Fascism/Authoritarianism. There is nothing uniting the fractured republican party.

@Sam Barker I would also recommend Yoga with Adrienne. She is great with beginners. I would recommend doing her 30 day yoga series "Breath" that she released this month (free on her YT channel). The series combines meditation with several forms of introductory yoga. The book on Leo's booklist is true to original Kriya yoga. The author put in immense effort to get it right. There is a kriya yoga megathread on the forum. There was a lot of discussion related to the Kriya book you will be using. Traditional Kriya yoga is a great hybrid between breath and meditation. It isn't what most people think as "yoga" because it doesn't have many asanas (movements and postures). It can increase wellness and raise consciousness, yet it won't do much to increase health via movement. If you resonate with kriya breathing practices, you might want to try breathwork - which I consider a form of kriya.

During AOC's first year in congress, right-wing media incessantly bashed her as stupid. They nitpicked every word she said and often miscontextualized her so she appeared stupid. Now the right-wing has a state-of-the-art stupid congresswoman in Marjorie. Next level stupid. No mischaracterization needed. . . . Yet for some reason right-wing media doesn't seem too concerned about her stupidity.

Your logic is that all POVs are legitimate and we should be open to all POVs. By that logic, we should all be open-minded to the POV that you are a pedophile. Why do you get so enraged by a different POV? Aren't we supposed to be open-minded on here? What if you are a pedophile and prowling for children on the forum? I would re-consider your logic.

Yes I just know they often bump old threads to the top of page 1 with a spam link. I don't know how the technology works.

They bump up old threads, often based on keywords. For example, there may be an old thread from 2018 about succeeding in college and a spammer bumps it up with spam links to term papers. They are like weeds we need to pull out each day.

This is a years old thread bumped by a spammer.

So the true value of GameStop last week was $35, then the true value yesterday was $400 and the true value today is $190. What “new information” about the GameStop company caused the share price to skyrocket 1,000% in a few days and then crash by 50% in one day?

“At the mercy of the intentions of the universe” is intense imagery. It’ sounds like you got kidnapped by the Universe and are now locked in his basement at the mercy of his intentions. . . The Universe can be a cool dude. You are going to live the rest of your life with the Universe. You might as well become friends. Another way to look at it would be co-creation between you and the Universe. An example of surrender and creation is falling asleep (surrender) and dreaming (creation). If you became aware you were dreaming, it’s a lucid dream. Being in a lucid dream and creating the dream is amazing. Yet you don’t have full control of the dream. You are co-creating with your subconscious and everything you carry from your life history. You aren’t fighting your subconscious or at it’s mercy. The two of you are One, creating the dreamscape together. If you tried to cutoff your subconscious and take full control, it’s over. You wake up and are now detached from your subconscious.