Embracing change in New York City

New York changed today.  You never know the date beforehand, but it happens on one specific day every year: The air changed. It was as if summer arrived.  I forced myself to leave the building (actually, I briefly broke free of my schedule reins, after a speech at a hotel across the street, and bolted down 6th Avenue for several blocks before the office found me), and I almost didn't come back.  People were out, basking in the sun, having lunch outside, but generally streaming out of office buildings because they'd heard about the change in the air.  Some wore jackets and scarves out of sheer muscle memory before they realized what was happening.  Others embraced it full-on.  At times, the sidewalks on 6th Avenue were so packed I had to walk in the street.  Some people appeared slightly dazed.  They might just have been hungover from St. Patty's Day. 

Right now the sun is catching a reflection off a windowpane through a tiny, narrow gap in the buildings in our 30 Rock complex and bathing just my newsroom chair in piercing light–the kind of solar bank shot that happens during just this exact moment every year.  I understand it’s possible that I don't get out enough—I enjoy my work and its awfully important stuff these days—but I hope wherever you are, you were able to assign "spectacular" status to at least one moment in your day.

Have a good weekend.

We hope you can join us tonight.

Discuss this post

Nice comment Brian, nice to know that you get out and enjoy this great day. But do you still stand in front of 30 Rockerfeller Center and wait for someone to notice you?

    Reply#1 - Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:48 PM EDT

    Thanks for rubbing it in Brian...it's raining cats and dogs out here in California.....guess Mother Nature is confused this week!

    I saw on earlier news after the UN ok'd a no-fly-zone over Libya, rebels in the streets firing machine guns and assault rifles into the air in celebration....don't people realize...those bullets have to land somewhere? Also, I don't want to sound pessimistic, but it almost sounds like we're heading up a war with Qadaffi and his supporters.

      Reply#2 - Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:50 PM EDT

      Good Evening Mr.Williams, Another great broadcast this evening with tremendous amounts of news happening all over the world. Always wonderful to see Richard on the broadcast! Good to know you were able to leave the newsroom to enjoy the wonderfully nice weather outside. You deserve to be able to enjoy a great day! It was gorgeous weather here in Georgia with temperatures in the low 80's and sunny! Nice days of Spring in the South!

      Now on to the broadcast. First of all the crisis in Libya with Gadhafi forces gaining control in many cities and the voting of approval by the United Nations on a No-Fly Zone. The report by Andrea Mitchell told of President Obama stating an ultimatum to Gadhafi that either he complies with the warnings of ceasing attacks or consequences are imposed. The rebels are definitely in appoval of the No-Fly Zone and want to topple Gadhafi's regime and cheered the United Nation's vote. Yet, Gadhafi forces hold strong in many areas and are not giving up power.

      The report by Mr.Maceda from Tripoli stated that Gadhafi is used to this type of crisis since he has been in power for around 40yrs. Eventually, he could pull back his forces and possibly negotiate a truce with the rebels. But that may not happen and only time will tell as his troops advance over the region.

      Richard's report from Cairo told of much violent uprisings throughout the Middle East especially in Yemen and Bahrain. Both places having many injured or killed in the violence. In Yemen so many victims being brought to hospitals and trauma centers with terrible wounds. Witnesses stating the snipers fired upon the citizens, yet the President of Yemen denied the police fired upon the citizens declaring a State of Emergency. It wasc frightening to see the citizen being fired upon in Bahrain by police forces and very sad to see Pearl Square bulldozed. In other Arab nations like Saudi Arabia incentives of money to stop uprisings seem to be the norm with raising of the minimum wage and more money for healthcare to the citzens. Arab regimes either buy off or crush the opposition.

      One hopes for peace for all the people of the regions.

      Excellent Reporting as Always Richard!

      Please Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well!

      The piece by Ann Curry from Akita,Japan showed how the people of Japan stopped for a moment of silence to offer prayers after a week ago the country was hit by the earthquake and tsunami. It was so heartbreaking to see communities completely destroyed and nothing left of neighborhoods. In Ian Williams report the destruction is staggering with huge fishing boats in the streets. The US Marines are doing a fine job bringing supplies into the hardest hit areas to try and help people. And it was encouraging to see people be reunited with loved ones thought to be lost. Small miracles in such a desperate situation.

      The piece by Mr.Cowan showing the strengh, determination and reslience of the people in the region after such a terrible disaster was inspiring. The helicopter pilots flying over the reactors to drop water, the rescuers searching for loved ones in the destruction amidst the bitter cold, the workers at the nuclear plant working tirelessly while risking their lives to stop a major leak of radiation from the plant and the people of the region who bravely endure the aftermath of this disaster with such tremendous strength. Triumphs of the human spirit. Ones thoughts and prayers go out to all the people of the region.

      Thank You for the broadcast Mr.Williams. Have a wonderful weekend! Peace to You and to All!

      Be Well Everyone!

      Stay Extra,Extra Safe and Well Richard! Excellent Reporting as Always!

      Take Extra Good Care Richard and Crew!

      And all the NBC Crew in Japan!

      Lisa

        Reply#3 - Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:47 PM EDT

        Brian , as concerns the Supermoon shining 30 percent brighter, does this mean the moon will, in essence,

        shine as bright as the sun ; and, if so, will the sun when it comes up be seven(7) times brighter???

        Thus fulfilling the Prophecy of Isaiah 30:26!!!! Phyllis PS Have a nice weekend.

          Reply#4 - Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:22 PM EDT

          Here's what my favorite astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson has to say on twitter:

          Full moon at "perigee" Saturday. 14% larger than when at "apogee". No biggie. Same difference between an 8 and a 7-inch pizza

          In other words, it's no big deal. Also, it won't really be that much brighter to your eye. - And don't tell me you don't also have a favorite astrophysicist, Phyllis. ;)

          Actually, I love this stuff. I minored in physics in college (focus on astrophysics). I'm a geek like that.

          • 1 vote
          #4.1 - Fri Mar 18, 2011 11:31 PM EDT

          hi, lori, jim glanz, the nyt bureau chief in iraq, is a physicist and wrote a very interesting article about the new elements that they can get to at the atom crashers. chalabi, who got us embroiled in the mess in iraq spouting weapons of mass destruction is an interesting mathematician, and banker, while in the u.s. the rate of change, slope, between parallel universes is very interesting right now, it is very high, when i went to the joshua bell concert and he signed my program, he drew the tail of the last 'l' in his signature, down in a steep slope, going from right to left, through some letters on the program, which included music by grieg, who wrote the music for 'peer gynt'. there is a voice in the void in peer gynt, it comes from a wormlike troll called 'the boyd'. the slope line he made went through an 'o', a 'd', a 'y', and a 'b'., which spells 'boyd'. during the program, i noticed that he took a stance, which is legs spread wide apart, which i call 'the being in the belly of the beast' stance. then, he looked quickly at the guard rail of the steps that ran from the stage to the floor of the seating. there was a little swirl at the end of them, so i pictured a serpent, or a snake. so, we, the audience, must have 'gotten' the boyd . . . . i didn't get the wormlike troll called the boyd until the next day when i googled grieg and his music. classical music is very powerful magic. i'm sure ishtak perlman could cure his polio with it, but he undoubtedly chooses to use that energy to help others. he obviously must get great satisfaction from that and his music. curious that joshua only thanked me for my little poetry book and gave me his message in code . . . . . makes you wonder who's watching us and listening to us in our see-through fishbowl, geesh. everett and mcnamara were the parallel universe gurus for the united states. i still think that the beginning of 'the phantom of the opera', with the mists, is bose-einstein time-travel condensate like carl sagan proposed in his book 'contact'. eric, the phantom, was arabic. we sure wouldn't be able to do much math with roman numerals, it takes the arabic numerals with some hindu roots to do that math. in india, several years ago, they found big blocks of something like congealed plastic that they couldn't figure out what they were in an ancient archeological dig. i found it on an astronomy picture of the day link that featured two astronomers from india. it turns out that that material can be used to make incredible solar sails . . . . . have a great week-end, best, anna martina

            #4.2 - Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:11 AM EDT

            Lori, it will be a big deal if Isaiah got it right and the sun is seven times bright fulfilling his

            prophecy and Habakkuk's as well predicting another Joshua SunStand Still like in the days of old

            Thanks so much for your comments and have a nice weekend. Phyllis

              #4.3 - Sat Mar 19, 2011 1:41 PM EDT

              Lori, I am convinced the Hazy Sun set over the Mediterranean. Phyllis

                #4.4 - Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:56 AM EDT
                Reply

                Brian, The broadcast was really good tonight. So much information put together in a way we can understand it in and learn from it in just 30 minutes... Libya is a disappointment but the Lee Cowan piece at the end was wonderful. I enjoyed your blog too with the spectacular moment! :) Thanks, Connie

                  Reply#5 - Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:57 PM EDT

                  News from around the World.

                  Here in the US a candidate for President speaks on a topic most Americans will be dealing with before April 18th.

                  Gingrich Says We Should ‘Celebrate’ Corporate Tax Dodgers, Argues Employees Should Pay Instead

                  More good news for a few bad news for many. The GOP majority House as made an Amendment that bypasses a Supreme Court Decision ordering the States to pay for the cost of adequate education. It seems reading the Constitution didn't help the House Law Makers to understand what it says. Many Americans remember the land mark case Brown vs the Board of Education. At the time States segregated and didn't allow for funding to black schools. But be sure Blacks had to pay their fair share of taxes but didn't get any benefits. The GOP Lobbyist Staffer are breaking down the Civil Right Bill and working hard on breaking down piece by piece the Constitution. To keep the attention off what the Lobbyist are doing we hear Law Makers like Senator Rand Paul taking about flushing toilets 10 times, Rep. King's racism and all the other nutters getting headlines for stupid remarks. Maine Gov. Le Page will undo child labor laws.

                  have a great evening see you same time same place

                    Reply#6 - Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:58 PM EDT

                    the peach trees are blooming, much less blooms on the trees in back, but that's okay, my summer peach processing days are basically over, phew! lots of 'fruit fresh' product and hours at the sink peeling and slicing peaches to put up in quart freezer bags! i would run 10 quart size bags over to my sister's mother-in-law, who left us not so long ago, and 10 to her and still have 15 or so left for my freezer. they make great peach smoothies and peach cobblers throughout the rest of the year! i want to plant a fig tree in the front yard with the climbing rose. i'll need a big trellis for the climbing rose. the white american beauty rose was several feet taller than the metal trellis i had, which was a good 6 feet tall. i probably won't get white again, probably yellow/pink, red/white or something like that. back when columbine happened, i ended up with two japanese honeysuckle plants that were columbine something or other, i didn't realize it until i got them home, they went on a trellis in the front yard, in big, sturdy mop buckets that i punched holes in the bottoms of. but that's what prayer gardens are all about! and i still need to transplant those two little peach trees that came up in the shallow plastic container in the backyard, i'm sure they're very root-bound, they will shoot right up once i get them in the ground:-) at the parents' house, the little cherry tree was blooming when i was there a couple of weeks ago. i should put fruit tree fertilizer sticks on that, too. being out there in my tiny little yard is very zen, brian. that's what you were feeling today, zen:-) i keep topping off the two very large tamale pots that i have filled up with water, one in the front yard with a fish statue on a pile of bricks inside the pot with a fountain pump and one in the back, where the morning doves and the small birds are taking their daily drink. i need to put 3 small goldfish in that pot to shut down any mosquito population, they'll eat the larvae. it's deep enough that they can escape any curious cat and it's up on two concrete blocks standing on end. the cats are in front, the birds do get a drink out of the birdbath that i made out of clay that i elevated, although the cats do still jump up that high. take good care, blessings, anna martina

                      Reply#7 - Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:51 PM EDT

                      Let me make sure I understand this. On Thursday, when Nightly News devoted only three minutes to stories other than the disaster in Japan, Brian Williams took 35 seconds to tell us that the Pentagon has broadened the standards for awarding the Purple Heart to include such injuries as hangnails, paper cuts, tennis elbow and restless leg syndrome. Is he kidding us? This is only news in the alternate universe inhabited by Brian and other like-minded military enthusiasts who have an odd fixation with the U.S. armed services. But the other 99.99% of Nightly News viewers don't care the slightest bit about this story. Why is Brian allowed to report about things with no news value just because they interest him? How much time does he waste every year on stories about Medal of Honor winners, Bruce Springsteen or NASCAR? These aren't news stories. They're just stories that fall under the category of "stuff Brian likes". Isn't there anyone at Nightly News who can stand up to Brian and tell him that he can't do these stories? Isn't there anyone who can tell him that his job is to report stories for his viewers' benefit, not simply for his own benefit? Obviously, the answer is "no".

                      Also on Thursday, Brian reported a breaking news story about the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York. Here's how he began the story: "This is the day every year those of us lucky enough to have Irish blood allow everyone else to make the same claim." Lucky enough? Apparently, Brian believes that Irish people are superior to everyone else. Is it really appropriate for a network news anchor to insult most of his viewers by saying that they are second-class citizens because they don't share his ancestry?

                      At the three-minute mark of Thursday's broadcast, we saw a clip of a news conference featuring the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman, who was identified in a Nightly News graphic as "Gregory Jaczko". At the thirteen-minute mark of the broadcast, we saw another clip of Jaczko, but this time he was identified as "Gregory B. Jaczko". Did he suddenly acquire a middle initial in the ten minute gap between those two clips? Why is one person identified two different ways on the same broadcast? Obviously, it's because the Nightly News producers don't care the tiniest bit about accuracy, continuity or inter-office communication. The producer of the first report (by Robert Bazell) was not the least bit interested in coordinating with the producer of the second report (by Tom Costello). They just don't care.

                      From Friday through Thursday, every Nightly News broadcast was announced as a "special edition" of Nightly News. Why? Because they covered the disaster in Japan? That's what Nightly News is supposed to do. They're supposed to cover the news. They don't deserve special mention just for doing their regular job. It's only a "special edition" if the broadcast is on at a different time than usual, or if it's on for longer than usual. A thirty-minute broadcast that begins at 6:30 PM eastern time is not a "special edition". That's just a way for the weasels in the NBC News public relations and marketing departments to hype the broadcast. It's not a news designation. Calling something "special" is a proven way to add viewers or buyers. If a supermarket hangs a sign marked "special" next to an item, they will sell more of the item, even if they don't reduce the price.

                      I laughed so hard that grape soda shot out of my nose Friday night when I heard Brian tell Ann Curry that she's done "such extraordinary work" in Japan. She filed exactly the same reports that we saw on CBS, ABC, CNN, Fox, BBC and every other news organization covering the story. There was absolutely nothing extraordinary about her work. In fact, they were the same stories she did after Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti and every other disaster she's ever covered. The reports are the same; only the names change. On Tuesday, Curry said, "Through these stories that have come out of this tragedy in Japan, Americans are learning a lot about the Japanese people and their character." Fourteen months ago, she said the same thing about the Haitian people and their character. She has a bunch of stock stories she carries around with her--she just plugs in different names as needed. That's hardly extraordinary. In fact, that's quite ordinary. Curry isn't a news reporter, she's a celebrity gossip reporter. If she was on ABC, she'd be on "The View" or co-hosting with Regis. When there are no celebs to report on, she does sentimental sob stories that are intended to appeal to the viewers' emotions, rather than to provide information. Does Brian really think Curry is doing a better job than her counterparts at the other networks? And does he have even a shred of credibility as an objective evaluator of news coverage? Brian's a cheerleader. Of course he thinks NBC does a better job. But others may disagree. For example, take Brian Stelter, a media writer for The New York Times. Last July 12, Stelter wrote an article (titled "Oil Spill Makes Celebrities out of Reporters") about how some television and radio reporters covering the Gulf oil spill have seen their profiles rise as they continue to cover that story. Stelter singled out reporters from CNN, ABC, Bloomberg, CBS and Fox as doing "memorable" and "stand-out" work. But the only mention NBC received in the article was for their hiring of Animal Planet celebrity Jeff Corwin "to beef up its environmental coverage of the oil spill." In other words, according to Mr. Stelter, no NBC correspondent distinguished himself or herself while covering the Gulf oil spill. But almost every night, Brian Williams raved about the great job Anne Thompson was doing. So when it comes to evaluating NBC's on-air talent, who should we believe--Brian Williams or The New York Times? I'll let the viewers decide for themselves.

                      • 1 vote
                      Reply#8 - Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:46 AM EDT

                      Let's get right to my comments:

                      1) Changing / enforcing the standards for earning a Purple Heart is a big deal. NBC Nightly News has been reporting on concussions suffered by soldiers and athletes for quite a while. Many have not taken concussions seriously but they can seriously affect how your brain functions forever. I was really glad to hear the story.

                      2) St Patrick's Day - Lighten up. The 20 seconds or so devoted to "the wearing of the green" was a light break from the tragedies all over the news. Remember, NBC Nightly News is still a commercial enterprise so it has to have a few human interest stories so people are willing to sit through a half hour of what is mostly pretty depressing stuff lately.

                      Gregory B. Jaczko - Are you kidding?

                      Special Edition - It's called a "special edition" because almost all the news coverage (indeed, almost all the reporters) are covering Japan. It's a giant disaster and the show is just giving the heads up that viewers can expect extensive news on the subject. They also used the term "special edition" when they reported on the shooting in Tucson and the revolution in Egypt.

                      Ann Curry - Brian Williams complimented her on air in part because she's probably the only reporter from the major networks who didn't need a translator. As someone who's fluent in Japanese, she was able to do all the in depth reporting without having to rely on someone else's interpretation of what the interviewees were saying. For my money, that makes her reporting that much more credible and interesting.

                      I think Brian Williams and his staff do a great job reporting on the news of the day. If Brian is sometimes a little effusive in his praise of the show's guests or its reporters, it's because he's a gentleman and a kind person at heart. He wants them (and us!) to know that he recognizes he's only as good as the people who help him do his job each night.

                        #8.1 - Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:01 AM EDT

                        Speaking a foreign language doesn't necessarily make someone a good reporter. In Ann Curry's case, it just means that she was able to exploit the Japanese people in their native language. CBS's Lucy Craft is fluent in Japanese. She also happens to be an excellent reporter. She was filing reports from Japan while still uncertain about her son's whereabouts in the disaster zone (he eventually got out safely). Craft never mentioned her son on the air (except when Katie Couric asked about him) because she's a professional. If Curry had been in that situation, she would have made her personal story the centerpiece of her reports. It would have been Mary Thornberry times a million. That's the difference between Nightly News and the other news broadcasts. The other broadcasts report the news. Nightly News reports on itself reporting the news.

                          #8.2 - Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:08 AM EDT
                          Reply

                          Brian

                          I am a great fan of you and Nightly News. Mostly you have tried to stay true to the news as it happens. But alas, I felt so bad at your shameless blocking of Saudi's role in shooting rebels in Brian.

                          Why? Even after such a huge people revolution in that part of the world, do you and the other media has to show such allegiance to bloody Saudis?

                          Not sure, if I am ever going to watch your news without doubt...Sorry that you lost the credibility.

                          Nice weekend.

                            Reply#9 - Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:16 AM EDT

                            Gadhafi is a disgrace in the eyes of God. No grace for him Unless he comes back as a fish.

                              Reply#10 - Sat Mar 19, 2011 1:33 PM EDT

                              Lester, in my opinion, this is one of the great revolutions because if successful it will shift the

                              balance of power in the Mideast and therefore change the course of history. My next car may be

                              a Toyota which is my way of helping out. My Grand Prix is at the end of the road as you once said:o)

                              I will view the Supermoon this evening; much thanks for the coverage. Phyllis

                                Reply#11 - Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:15 PM EDT

                                in 2002 we heard the famous words if your not with me your against me and we'll go it alone. We learned from those days that we go into a country as a team. Obama is smart as he joined 21 countries to save the people in Libya. Gaddafi took a page from Dick Cheney, as Gaddafi threaten to bomb plans and assassinate people. Well Cheney formed his assassination squad and eliminated many people including UK Dr. Kelly and Pat Tillman. The United Nations will fine it difficult to charge Gaddafi as he will use the War Crimes of the US as his defense. Just think of how many soldiers lives could have been saved if the US had asked other countries to go in Afghanistan for Bin Laden.

                                Good to see the nutter candidates invited to the Koch Tea Party in Iowa. Crazy Michele Bachmann didn't get an invite and Sarah now giving her advice on business to India business group.

                                As Senator Rand Paul continues to sound like he's on something he now wants to cut nuclear sites, education and other programs. you really have to wonder how the voters picked from the bottom.

                                With reporters questioning why the Japanese people are more upset with the problems going on now, it's clear few Americans know much about Japanese culture. Americans are use to riots, looting and fighting during disasters. People from other countries act different because of their culture, manners, respect and history of their pass disasters. The World is more interesting when you take the time to talk to people all over the World. Obama does understand and reacts with that knowledge and respect.

                                have a great evening all

                                  Reply#12 - Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:22 PM EDT

                                  The Supermoon looks like the Sun to me from our deck in the backyard!!!!

                                    Reply#13 - Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:34 PM EDT

                                    It just looked like the moon to me, only slightly better than average. I've seen bigger and brighter before. This was... meh. Not so super. It was kindaokaymoon.
                                    It was actually more impressive about 6:30 Saturday morning when I let the dog out. Beautiful, big, bright and orange - just before it dropped below the horizon for another loop around the earth.

                                      #13.1 - Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:53 AM EDT

                                      Lori-NKY, thanks for sharing. How about the sun coming up in your neck of the woods. Was it

                                      brighter than usual. Thanks again Phyllis

                                        #13.2 - Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:00 PM EDT

                                        No, it was just normal. Everything is status quo around here. :)

                                          #13.3 - Wed Mar 23, 2011 5:15 PM EDT

                                          Thanks!!!

                                            #13.4 - Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:23 PM EDT

                                            Lori, update on the Supermoon. From the deck my husband described the Supermoon as hazy(I

                                            just won't let it go because it means so much to me) as hazy and I researched and found out

                                            hazy moon--hazy sun which is seven times brighter. Somewhere, it happened. I saw the

                                            pictures and OMG it blew me away ; and it fufilled the prophecy of Isaiah who got it right.

                                            Which should astonish the World. And thanks from the bottom of my heart for your input .

                                            Phyllis

                                              #13.5 - Fri Mar 25, 2011 4:42 PM EDT
                                              Reply

                                              Brian: Any important event, such as the various tragedies in Japan. are warrented as special for a news network. If the Empire State Building collapsed, hopefully with no one inside, a newscast would be a special edition because the entire broadcast would focus on that kind of event. All of your special editions bring us expanded news events from NBC's fine staff of reporters. An all news event concerning Libya would regarded as a special edition. This is just common sense! How certain people can ridicule great reporting, is beyond my understanding. Put those people in the network's shoes and see if they can get the job done. Just keep on doing what you do so well. Have a great weekend, and I'll catch you on Monday night's broadcast.

                                                Reply#14 - Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:24 PM EDT

                                                hola, brian, i went to wally world tonight to get the fertilizer/systemic/disease flower care for the roses, specifically, the oklahoma rose for the disease, it gets black stuff on the petals. i also bought the fruit tree fertilizer sticks for the peach trees. the garden center has sold LOTS of tomato and veggie plants. it was a great temptation, but i'm holding to 4/15 date for no further hard freezes. last year, i planted a week after that and i still had to cover the plants a week after THAT because we had a hard freeze. so, while i wait, i decided to get the zuchinni and beefsteak tomato seeds and see if i have any luck starting them indoors. i moved one of the bird baths that i made to the backyard, we'll see if they use it back there. the birdfeeder fell down in the wind again, and it wasn't a strong wind. the staples holding the cord in place came loose again, so i may have to dig out the huge staple gun to fix it. it's somewhere in the art supplies. the cashier put my systemic and fertilizer in one bag and the chocolate chips in another since it was food. i told her japan is wishing they could do the same, radiation in one bag and food in the other! you know, i have a hard time picturing ghaddafi as the leader of libya if that's the way he talks. he sounds like a zombie, david chalmers, philosopher, zombie dissertations. so, somebody or somebodies must be running the show and the country, he's just the puppet leader. i googled lynn margulis last night, she was carl sagan's first wife, very interesting biology work. she was honored by clinton and her papers are being filed in the library of congress. her son, dorion sagan, has written on 'avatar', that whole premise that nature works in cohesion like a giant brain, everything talking to each other, is very interesting. humans, too, all of those instincts that we are born with that get educated away. which doesn't say alot for our education system. methinks it's not a fair energy exchange. all for the sake of 'success' and loss of real values. to use a 'lord of the rings' term, the educaton system 'thralls' people. you are no longer your 'self'. 'self' can help nature in small ways that reverberate like tossing that small pebble in the pond. i think there is a totally different plane of consciousness that supports a different kind of 'life' that can tune into the natural flow of biological processes. a person with such a consciousness can go into the desert and begin a genesis process that can reverse the process that created the desert. wow, i bet the arabs would pay big bucks for such work. you would have a booming business in nothing flat. of course, it could take the 10 years of an odyssey, to develop your brain to that nature friendly realm. now, that would be an education system worth talking about. you would have to learn how to can your 'id'. and we live in a 'me, me' world. i'm sure there are worlds without number out there and parallel universes that have plenty of water that they would even be willing to give us as an outright gift to those who could can their 'id' to go into the genesis program. maybe the ayn rand foundation could start such an education program. or the carl jung foundation in san francisco. the shaolin monks. we need to have the regenerating effects of nature close at hand, not in some far-away national park. our own backyard would be a great place to start. we cannot be happy on this planet in it's current state of neediness. a planet can feed the human psyche, but only if it is healthy. we are sick because our planet is sick. the best healthcare dollars would be spent by remedying the damage we have done to planet earth. we can heal one disease only to have another one spring up in it's place because the environment can no longer sustain human life. some kind of magnetic field which sustains life has been missing for a very long time, methinks. and yet, i think the human brain is capable of turning on an area of the brain that can produce that very same magnetic field, if you can can your 'id'. it's hard, but it's not impossible. it's the state of being that the germans have studied for so long as they look into the religions of the east, 'siddhartha', herman hesse. if you start on that journey, the forces of nature will help you along because it's in their best interest. a long-term interest, to be sure, but that is the light in the darkness. we must appreciate what God gave us. He didn't create a world with turn-key businesses and factories belching smoke producing retail items. He created nature. i'm sure there are plenty of dead worlds out there that desperately need the genesis program. to do the work, you have to find the divine within you but that's why He made us in His image. to find the divine within you, you have to search out those pieces of your self that are still kind and merciful. no place for cutthroat competition, here. no place for government 'suits'. the smoking men of the 'x files' can go jump in a lake. so can the 'intelligent design' gurus. g.e. may have to answer for that nuclear power plant in japan, that is the bottom line. best, anna martina

                                                  Reply#15 - Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:22 AM EDT

                                                  All the Clowns of God will be embracing change in New York City and all over the world real soon. and

                                                  some folks won't have time to change.because it will happen in a flash.

                                                    Reply#16 - Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:27 PM EDT
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