E 2

Called up an old acquaintance on the other side of the globe yesterday; I needed some electronic data and he blathered on for an hour about a new pogo stick, and a vertical takeoff aircraft for personal use with four hundred horsepower.
I need to create a wind generator system for my new house, and he's telling me I need More Watts; whereas I see a future where we all learn to get along with less, he sees a future with more; and if his enterprise doesn't offer the 'mores' and 'pluses', (he thinks) he'll lose customers.
I searched hundreds of TVchannels this afternoon and could not find one programme with environmental interest; no wildlife/conservation/seascapes/global warming/Cuddly-animals-in-disappearing-trees/altenative-energies/solar-challenges........nothing to tell me anyone else is waking up to a dreadful new day with no future for our children. Do any of your children work in environmental sciences? I've got a Marine Biologist, and a Change Management Specialist. And a hospitality management graduate. Two out of three ain't bad, but what do we all want? Is the 500 HP Porsche Cayman still your objective? Really? There's a man with a gun pointed straight at your children's head. What will you do? Have the .0001% of concerned population got to do the whole job?
Extreme futures need extreme measures.
Conservative futures need conservative measures.
I feel the world needs to be a bit more realistic; a hundred bucks a barrel for a product just pumped out of the ground? Fucks the ground, but what oilco puts the earth back to pristine after he's raped it? So who's costing 30% of that barrel for reparations to the globe it is polluting? Who wants to be accountable? Who should be accountable? Is there any correlation with the christian work ethic and the nation that consumes the most of these resources and the motto 'in God we trust'?? Is some hopeful character praying out there???
I love technical fabrics; I wear the whole gamut of sport technical clothing; layers 1,2,&3, and yet I know that duPont is one of the guiltiest polluters on this globe; they built their factories before and during the second world war, (parachutes were an early synthetic) and their investment is in the delivery of the new; the old production facility pollutes enormously; they won't change it, yet their product evolves constantly; can you explain that to me? They don't bother; they think I only read their advertising; I refuse to read the advertising; fucking hypocrites. But my fabrics come mostly from China, I'm sure, and trying to find an A+ clean producer is tough. We buy A+ refrigerators; why not grade the cloth factories too? (You DO read the labels, don't you?)
We're in the market for a new washing machine; I emailed the manufacturer of the one I fancy asking for a spare motor; no reply. Imagine him getting my business? Maybe he'd sell me a washing machine WITH a spare motor? What does it take to get service and attention? Our money is all?
Which do you really want? 'The Good Old Days' are gone; in every sense. No new value has any other attachment than the much vaunted 'bottom line' and who controls the bottom line controls the top, too, and you think you live in a free country? You who have a computer and the time to read this? The prison is self imposed and lives between your ears.
Nuff said.

D 2

I'd like to give you my personal, reflective, historic viewpoint on that old favourite substance; Dope. I can't remember every variety I've tried, but I gave them all a pretty good workout, and, unlike a lot of the youth of my day, I held down a good sequence of executive jobs and didn't end up in any limbos, while socialising to the full and observing my fellow tokers with a keen but sometimes blurry eye. The biggest drawback I can see with this stuff is what goes on at cellular level in the participant's body; it coats the cells, that THC oily substance, and it doesn't want to shift; I say this as, after a lengthy involvement, I decided to go clear, and needed the help of a homoeopath to affect a total clearing of that ligering influence. You can guffaw at this; fine by me, but the same scientists you are listening to were really cool about tobacco for too bloody long for my liking; sure, I used to smoke tobacco too, but only the cleanest, preferably export to Japan grade tobaccos, free of the nefarious shit that every tobacco company sees fit to foul their product with; the Japanese rejected shiploads of top brand tobaccos, and it was their attitude that woke me up to being careful what one inhaled. So yes, I got clear of the influence of THC, but still socialised where a lot was being smoked, and the passive participation still needs clearing on a regular basis. Since going clear, my decisionmaking processes have hardened up; I don't accept second grade options in my life, and I don't regret being clear about all that. I know, above all other impressions of dope and its adherents, that even a casual user will develop a fixity of outlook that absolutely spoils their chance of a great view of the world. Compare this to the LSD crowd, who had the acid break down the cellular boundaries and open group consciousness to unprecedented levels; often to a level that average intellects find hard to encompass, and you have suddenly two fringes, supposedly similar, who are; a) too wide eyed to comprehend anything deeper than the 'geewhizz' factor, or; b) too fuzzled to see anything that isn't already 'far out' and clichéd beyond belief.
I've got a few acquaintances who still smoke; I don't see that it improves the quality of their life; whether it is physical or intellectual, there is nothing I've found that cannot be matched and exceeded 'straight', and as a pretty fast and furious skier, there is only one memory I retain of an awesome experience; I was given one of the first Walkmans in the country, a tape of Santana 'Borboletta', and a tab of unidentified LSD, to experience off the top of one of New Zealand's more exciting skifields; that was a fine day, but I just need me and the mountain; keep the rest; the experience is very simple, and mostly between the ears, and we kid ourselves greatly about what makes it great for us.
Nuff said.