Educare de Spiritus Webinar on Recreation and Spirituality: Learning to Play with Magic – Video

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Educare de Spiritus Webinar on Recreation and Spirituality: Learning to Play with Magic
To learn more about the things that the webinar that I am doing every week, please visit http://www.naturoelixir.org Humans are animals that are very social with one another and with other species....

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Educare de Spiritus Webinar on Recreation and Spirituality: Learning to Play with Magic - Video

The dangerous American myth of corporate spirituality

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Recently, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gave some shocking advice to a young businesswoman who was concerned that her male peers were passing her up for promotions: Dont question the systemic sexism of corporate America, just trust in good karma to get you ahead. While his attitude made waves in the blogosphere, in fact it accurately represents a form of spirituality that is becoming popular in the West.

You know what Im talking about. When I go to yoga, Im often surrounded by wealthy white women who can afford expensive classes and Lululemon threads. When I scroll through my Facebook feed, I see exclamations of bourgeois spirituality (Staying at the Waldorf tonight! #gratitude #blessed #100happydays #livelife). Moreover, my actor friends seem to use karma and positivity as tools to help them achieve commercial success.

We might call this a belief in spiritual meritocracy. The implicit idea here is that our professional and financial growth depends on our spiritual merit, not on the presence or absence of social structures and biases. We are told that if we are grateful enough, if we put enough happy energy into the universe, then we will be rewarded with material wealth and earthly pleasures. (Think The Secret.) We are told that we actuallycan have it all: a rich spiritual life, leading to a rich material life.

Of course, this is just the new-agey equivalent of the same old meritocracy myth thats been floating around America since at least the 19thcentury; that in the land of the free, anyone can become rich if they just work hard enough, if they use the right brand of elbow grease.

Unless you are a rich Republican, decades of widening economic inequality should tell you how faulty this story is. While it is true that most successful people work hard, the meritocracy myth works more to justify an existing social hierarchy than to inspire us to make positive social changes.

So, for the same reason we look suspiciously on Horatio Alger-esque theories of social mobility, we ought to also be skeptical of their spiritual version, which says that underserved groups can get ahead not by standing up to power, but by focusing on love and positivity.

Its times like these when I am reminded of Slavoj Zizeks summary dismissal of Western Buddhism. Zizek cautions that while meditation may seem to come from an edgy counterculture, in fact Americans practice it in a way that is often consistent with consumerist capitalism:

although Western Buddhism presents itself as the remedy against the stressful tension of capitalist dynamics, allowing us to uncouple and retain inner peace and Gelassenheit, it actually functions as its perfect ideological supplement One is almost tempted to resuscitate the old infamous Marxist clich of religion as the opium of the people, as the imaginary supplement to terrestrial misery. The Western Buddhist meditative stance is arguably the most efficient way for us to fully participate in capitalist dynamics while retaining the appearance of mental sanity

In other words, rather than helping yogis become more socially conscious spiritual warriors, Buddhist meditation can get hijacked by the status quo. It only brings us a shallow peace that makes us less likely to question what counts as normal.

For the last seven years I have dedicated myself to a Buddhist meditation practice, and I believe that there is some truth to Zizeks harsh critique. As I have become more skilled, I have enjoyed moments of sublime bliss. And the more mindfulness I developed, the better I got at daily activities. I got a little better at surfing, playing poker, driving; the truth is, meditation helps me achieve whatever goals I set for myself, whether thats being kinder to my friends and family, or earning more money.

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The dangerous American myth of corporate spirituality

SpaceX Falcon cargo ship blasts off to International Space Station – Video

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SpaceX Falcon cargo ship blasts off to International Space Station
SpaceX has launched cargo ship Falcon 9 v1.1 into orbit on Sunday in the second Dragon mission of 2014 to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The mission, supposed to be carried...

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SpaceX Falcon cargo ship blasts off to International Space Station - Video

[Antares] Cygnus CRS-3 Spacecraft Encapsulated in Payload Fairing Ahead of Launch – Video

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[Antares] Cygnus CRS-3 Spacecraft Encapsulated in Payload Fairing Ahead of Launch
The next Cygnus Spacecraft to visit the International Space Station, CRS-3, was encapsulated into it #39;s payload fairing on October 23rd having already been attached to the Antares second stage...

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[Antares] Cygnus CRS-3 Spacecraft Encapsulated in Payload Fairing Ahead of Launch - Video

SpaceX cargo ship returns to Earth after station visit

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A view of the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship moments after its release from the International Space Station's robot arm Saturday.The spacecraft, loaded with 3,276 pounds of equipment and experiment samples, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California five-and-a-half hours later. Alexander Gerst/NASA

A commercial cargo ship loaded with some 3,276 pounds of equipment and experiment samples, believed to include mice that were on board as part of a muscle atrophy study, returned to Earth Saturday to close out a five-week visit to the International Space Station.

Astronaut Reid Wiseman, operating the station's robot arm, detached the solar-powered Dragon spacecraft from the forward Harmony module around 8 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), maneuvered it into position and released it to open space at 9:57 a.m.

SpaceX flight controllers at the company's Hawthorne, Calif., plant then uplinked commands to fire the spacecraft's braking rockets at 2:43 p.m., putting the capsule on course for a fiery plunge back into the atmosphere.

The Dragon's re-entry systems apparently worked normally, parachutes deployed and the cargo ship splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 265 miles west of Baja California at 3:38 p.m.

Recovery crews standing by aboard a ship in the landing zone planned to haul the spacecraft back to Long Beach, Calif., where time-critical research samples will be offloaded and turned over to NASA.

The capsule then will be shipped to SpaceX's McGregor, Texas, facility where the rest of the cargo, including computer gear, spacewalk equipment and other hardware, will be removed.

This was SpaceX's fourth station resupply flight under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA that calls for 12 missions to deliver some 44,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station.

The Dragon departure sets the stage for the undocking of a Russian Progress cargo ship from the Pirs module at 1:39 a.m. Monday. Unlike the Dragon capsule -- the only station resupply craft capable of carrying cargo back to Earth -- the Progress will burn up in the atmosphere later in the day.

Orbital Sciences plans to follow the Progress and Dragon departures with launch of a commercial Cygnus cargo craft from Wallops Island, Va., on Monday at 6:45 p.m. Making the company's third operational resupply flight, the Cygnus is expected to be captured by the station's robot arm and berthed at the Harmony port just vacated by the Dragon spacecraft on Sunday, Nov. 2.

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SpaceX cargo ship returns to Earth after station visit

SpaceX Dragon Comes Home After Mouse Delivery

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A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship ended a monthlong stay at the International Space Station on Saturday and made a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore used the stations robotic crane to release the capsule, built and operated by California-based SpaceX, as the two vehicles soared 260 miles (418 kilometers) over Australia.

"Dragon is free," mission commentator Rob Navias said during a NASA broadcast.

Several hours later, the gumdrop-shaped Dragon made a parachute descent into the Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) west of Mexico's Baja California. "Splashdown is confirmed!" SpaceX tweeted.

The capsule carried about 3,800 pounds (1,724 kilograms) of science experiments and equipment no longer needed aboard the station. It blasted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sept. 21 with more than 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms) of food, supplies, experiments and equipment including a prototype 3-D printer and 20 live mice that are being used in medical experiments to assess bone and muscle loss during long-duration spaceflights.

Dragon also delivered a $26 million NASA science instrument called RapidScat that was attached to the outside of the station to measure wind speeds over the oceans.

SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. resupply the space station under the terms of commercial contracts totaling $3.5 billion. Orbital is due to launch a Cygnus freighter toward the station on Monday.

First published October 25 2014, 9:54 AM

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SpaceX Dragon Comes Home After Mouse Delivery

Space may make astronauts infertile, scientists fear

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Previous Russian studies have shown that when male and female rats were sent into space in 1979 they did not mate at all. Another study found that when male rodents were placed in simulated zero gravity conditions they could no longer produce sperm.

Dr Joseph Tash, of the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Kansas told a conference in Hawaii that there was concern that astronauts could experience the same effects.

We dont really have the human data to really determine whether what we are seeing in the animals is translatable to humans. But we are seeing big impacts in the animals, he said.

And the animals still had a strong mating urge. So a male astronaut could come back without any change in behaviour but they may be shooting blanks and maybe they are unaware there is a problem if they are trying for a baby.

It is a potential issue that needs to be looked at. Certainly the flight surgeons down at Johnson Space Centre suggest that the male astronauts cryopreserve semen and some female astronauts have elected to preserve eggs just in case it is a factor.

Dr Tash believes that space flight can disrupt important chemical reactions which must happen into the body to allow reproduction.

Astronauts report a range of problems when they are at zero gravity in a condition known as space flight syndrome. It causes bone mass loss and accelerated ageing of cells.

Dr Tash discovered that many of the systems that are shutting down in space flight syndrome are linked to the hormone oestrogen.

Cosmic radiation may also be harming fertility and is expected to increase over the next 20 years because the Sun is entering a quiet phase where there are fewer solar winds to keep radiation out of our galaxy.

Around 80 per cent of male astronauts have experienced some kind of reported visual impairment after around six to eight weeks in space. The majority need glasses when they comes back to Earth.

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Space may make astronauts infertile, scientists fear

Summernats car festival coming to Alice Springs as Red CentreNATS

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Petrol-heads are on notice. Alice Springs wants you.

The Northern Territory government has promised to make Alice Springs a paradise for car lovers after announcing Canberra's popular Summernats hot rod festival will be heading to the Red Centre.

Eight months after announcing the NT was chasing the event, Chief Minister Adam Giles said the organisers of Summernats had agreed to bring the event to Alice Springs.

"Red CentreNATS will be a rev heads paradise an annual auto festival showcasing the very best in street machines, elite show cars, hot rods, classics, exotics and supercars," a statement from Mr Giles' office said.

"I am thrilled to announce the organisers of Canberras famous Summernats have agreed to bring their hugely popular brand of high-octane fun to Central Australia from next year."

The annual Canberra Summernats festival sees up to 1,500 street machines descend on the city.

Although critics have said it is too noisy, anti-social and sexist, more than 85,000 people attend Summernats in Canberra, with millions of dollars pumped into the local economy.

Summernats co-owner Andy Lopez said he wanted the Red CentreNATS to be a "must attend" event for car lovers.

"The Red CentreNATS will be a fantastic event for motoring enthusiasts and the Alice Springs community alike, and over the years it will become one of Australia's favourite horsepower parties," Mr Lopez said in a statement.

Red CentreNATS is due to be held from September 3 - 6 next year.

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Summernats car festival coming to Alice Springs as Red CentreNATS

Thirty-seven Municipalities to Improve Traffic Safety with Red Light Enforcement Funds

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(From PennDOT)

PennDOT today announced that nearly $6.6 million in Automated Red Light Enforcement (ARLE) funding will be distributed to 37 municipalities statewide to fund 41 safety projects.

Under state law, fines from red light violations at 28 intersections in Philadelphia supply the grant funding. Pennsylvanias ARLE program aims to improve safety at signalized intersections by providing automated enforcement at locations where data shows red-light running has been an issue.

The law specifies that projects improving safety, enhancing mobility and reducing congestion can be considered for funding. Municipalities submitted more than 226 applications, totaling approximately $36.6 million.

Projects were selected by an eight-member committee based on criteria such as benefits and effectiveness, cost, local and regional impact, and cost sharing.

This investment brings the total dollars awarded through the ARLE funding program since 2010 to $39.8 million, funding 275 safety projects.

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Thirty-seven Municipalities to Improve Traffic Safety with Red Light Enforcement Funds