My letter to President Jim Yong Kim of DartmouthCollege
Dear President Jim Yong Kim
28 December 2009
Best of luck in what portends to be a brilliant and long tenure riding herd on the Earth Ox that is DartmouthCollege. I have every assurance from reading your press and my strong intuition that your presidency will not be a public relations, internecine, and financial disaster like that of your predecessor James Wright who, among other things, turned the Dartmouth investment portfolio into a conventionally contrived hedge fund.[1]
The most enduring of my many distinctions in my association with DartmouthCollege might be receiving my degree in 1993 twenty-nine years after my original class of 1964 graduated – a record as far as I know. This eclipsed my father Wayne’s [class of 1937] record for the 16 lb. hammer throw which stood for twenty-five years. I was also, in real life, if there is such a thing, the person responsible for the ‘Deltas’ – Alpha Delta Phi – being put on double secret probation by then Dean Thaddeus Seymour.
Rants aside, I am writing to tell you that my Dartmouth education, despite being severely marred by an acute drinking problem, has enabled me to lead an incredible life, which, to my knowledge, does not appear to be diminishing. Among other things;
1. I entered the computer business in 1962 after being expelled for two years by Dean Seymour. After leaving Dartmouth in 1966 having completed my four years but not being granted a degree, I worked on the Apollo moon landing project in Houston and Cape Kennedy and continued working as a computer data communications consultant for almost twenty years.
2. It was my good fortune to stop my drinking addiction at age thirty-one in 1973 and as a by-product suffered an overwhelming spiritual conversion experience.
3. I stopped any regular employment at age thirty-nine. Over the past many years I have been to India, where I had a guru, fourteen times and the Mt.Everest area eight times, including two weeks in June 2009 at age sixty-seven.
4. About a year ago I moved to Los Angeles as I had no where else to go. Since then I have gone broke, landed a speaking part on a large IBM commercial, gone to Nepal for a month, camped with my dog for six weeks at Lake Tahoe, the Sierras, and Death Valley, and am now looking for more work as an actor.
5. Strangely, as a survivor of a severe case of bulbar polio at age fourteen and much later Lyme’s disease, and barely able to walk for ten years due to a worn out hip joint which only got replaced two years ago by Medicare, I am now able to consider attempting to become the oldest American to summit Everest.
My creative genius was greatly furthered by my liberal education at Dartmouth – although a chemistry major I excelled in art and classics courses. In LA now my life appears to be totally about my body – how I ‘look’ at auditions, my weight, etc. – it’s a joke. I think I should be addressing myself to writing a new constitution for the United States of North America but I keep getting interrupted to audition and hike thirty to fifty miles a week to stay in shape.
Get a hold of me if you come to LA – we can schmooze.
Dartmouth's endowment is overseen carefully and very capably by Chief Investment Officer David Russ. Over the past years, returns have been excellent, with gains in every asset class. The College is not immune to the current upheavals in national and global markets. No one is.
Sincerely,
James Wright
………………………………………………………………..
Sir:
I demand that 50% of Dartmouth’s endowment be parceled out over a small range of independent creative financial managers. There are many who have done well in the very – not tough – CREATIVE investment environment that has been long predicted by many savvy followers of the markets.
Some of the managers who come to mind include;
George Soros
Roy Niederhoffer
John Paulson
Jim Rogers
If you are unable to locate these people or the funds they operate let me know.
I learned to think creatively, critically and, most importantly, independently, while at Dartmouth, something the financial overseers at the Little Green have failed at abysmally.
Carlos Ballantyne
………………………………………………………………..
12/28 addendum:
I additionally fault the involvement of many of the Board of Trustees who work in the ‘investment’ business particularly the Chairman who I would tell, given the opportunity, right to his face he is malfeasant.
I also refuse to contribute one penny to DartmouthCollege until it razes that monstrosity Webster Hall which has been transmogrified into a ‘library’ by a misguidedly accepted donation. The symmetry of the Baker Library and the whole green is set askew by this granite blight.
Early one morning as Gurujii and I were returning from our usual morning walk a typically scantily clad man came running up to us. He was very distraught and spoke a few rapid sentences in Hindi to Gurujii before bursting into tears. Gurujii turned to me and said, “His guru has died.” ”Where?” I asked. Gurujii pointed at a small white temple halfway up the slight hill from the now dry Ganges riverbed.
This entire area of the Ganges riverbank is a jumble of temples and ashrams of all sizes that have been built over the past fifty years. The British built a successively higher and larger dike during their years of occupation attempting to thwart the mighty Ganges from flooding the nearby city of Allahabad during the rainy season. The dike or bandh was now 50 feet high and 400 feet wide and began at the ancient fort with 75 foot high sandstone walls located on the river bank right at the intersection of the Ganges and Jumna. The bandh ran for about 2 miles into the small village of Daraganj which stood on a natural bluff overlooking the river.
The now three of us walked slowly up the hill. I asked Gurujii the name of the dead swami. “Paramanand”, he replied. At Paramanand’s temple we went through the wrought iron gate to a small courtyard. Gurujii and Paramanand’s disciple removed their shoes and stooping entered the low ceiling temple. Gurujii soon came back to the doorway and motioned me over with his hand. “Do you want to see the dead body?” “Okay.” Slipping out of the unlaced tennis shoes that I slopped around in, I crawled through the doorway onto the black and white marble floor of the temple.
The air had the sweet smell of temples everywhere, a humid mix of incense, flowers and the accumulated prayers of countless supplicants. Up against the front wall was the usual statuary, flowers and urns and alongside the altar, propped up in the corner in a slumped cross legged pose was Paramanand. Paramanand’s body was small and thin and his disciple explained that the first thing he had done in the early morning upon finding the body was to fold it into the traditional meditation pose before rigor mortis set in. The distraught disciple was very relieved to have Gurujii to consult about the traditions to follow upon a swami’s death. At that time, in the mid 1980’s, Gurujii was one of the two longest lived inhabitants of the bandh area and he had lived in his ashram for over fifty years. Gurujii told Paramanand’s disciple to sprinkle eucalyptus oil on Paramanand’s robes, presumably so there would be no smell of decay. I never detected that this was done. Gurujii is very fussy about odors of any kind and keeps a small piece of camphor with him at all times in one of the small pockets of his orange robes.
By now several of Paramanand’s devotees had arrived at the temple to pay brief homage on their way homeward from a morning bath in the Ganges. We all gathered outside and Gurujii gave orders to some to go off to the city to summon Paramanand’s followers and to others he gave directions for the ceremony itself which was to be burial in the Ganges.
Hindus traditionally burn the bodies of all who have reached puberty to quickly liberate the soul from its encasement in the flesh. I am certain also that the tradition of cremation developed for health and space considerations, as there is abundant firewood. The Hindu tradition for children who have not yet reached puberty is that their bodies may be thrown directly into the Ganges as children are considered pure and undefiled by carnal desires. Snakebite victims, of which there are many in India, may be thrown directly into the river as its ever pure and sacred waters have reputedly miraculously revived some of these corpses. Although the corpses of swamis are frequently burned, burial in either earth or water, especially the Ganges, is another option. The bodies of the orange robed are considered pure and free from desires. The tangerine orange color of the robes symbolically represents the color of the inner fires of renunciation through which those initiated into the swami order have passed.
With Paramanand’s devotees going off in all directions throughout the city reporting his demise, Gurujii and I completed our walk up the hill and down the dike road the short distance to Gurujii’s small ashram enclave. Since the burial wasn’t scheduled until 2 PM I went about my usual and lengthy morning ritual of meditation, exercises and picking through the dhal removing small stones and then setting it to cook while I stood on my head for a half hour or longer. Just as I finished eating Gurujii came up announcing that the death ceremony was soon to take place. As this was several hours before the previously announced time I wondered if many of Paramanand’s followers would miss the ceremony. When Gurujii, Swami Sevanand, Gurujii’s cook and personal attendant for many years, and I arrived at Paramanand’s small temple only a small crowd of perhaps ten or so had gathered. I presumed a large crowd would be here for the ceremony.
Paramanand’s body was tied at the feet, waist and chest into a large high back wooden chair with strips of orange cloth. Long bamboo poles were lashed to the chair legs. We set off on the two mile walk toward the Ganges with Paramanand sitting almost five feet off the ground in the chair borne by four men. Gurujii soon ordered us all to stop as Paramanand’s head was bobbing around. The chair was brought back down to the ground and a strip of cloth was tied around Paramanand’s neck and then around the back of the chair. We set off again. As I walked along in the warm February sun slightly behind the bier I suddenly heard scuffling and shouting behind me. Looking back I saw a young boy carrying a large water bucket full of 5 and 10 paise coins. The boy would periodically take a handful of coins and scatter them on the ground behind the procession like grass seed. This had created a long comet shaped throng of young boys and ambulatory beggars following behind us much increasing the apparent number of mourners.
Reaching the riverbank after about 45 minutes we negotiated for a large flat bottomed boat to take us all out to the exact meeting place of the muddy Ganges and the clear blue Yamuna rivers. This spot is called Tribeni. Here it is said the unseen river Saraswati surges up from the bottom and these three together create or are absorbed by the mighty Ganges which passes onward to the east to Benares, Calcutta and finally the Bay of Bengal.
About ten of us got into the boat with Swami Paramanand’s chair placed amid ship facing forward, a silent tangerine robed captain. We were rowed the several hundred yards downstream and out to the deepest part of the confluence. At Gurujii’s direction we untied Paramanand’s body from the chair and balanced it on the wood plank boat seat and then we tied bricks into the hem of Paramanand’s robe. With two people holding the bricks in the hem and two others holding the body over the side of the boat and others balancing the boat upright on the opposite gunwale, we all let loose at the same time. The body quickly sank out of sight but for a brief unforgettable moment the loose hem of his orange robes flickered in the sunlit muddy water like a large goldfish. Then nothing.
We ordered the boatman to take us in closer to shore where the water was only knee deep. We tied into the many other boats and everyone except Gurujii and me stripped down to skivvies and jumped overboard to bathe in the river. Gurujii didn’t bathe in the Ganges at all anymore. He was then 83 and hadn’t bathed in the river for some years as it was too cold for him. Sevanand yelled at me in Hindi and Gurujii translated, “He wants to know why you are not bathing in the river.” “Too cold”, I replied. Actually, I was still sick and feverish from my last bout of the recurring illness to which all Westerners in India are subject. I asked Gurujii about bathing right here at the confluence and he said it was the holiest spot and that Hindus believe that to bathe here was to be liberated from the necessity to be reborn. I had a sudden insight and asked Gurujii, “How much water does it take to be saved?” He reflected for a while before giving what I later saw was the only possible answer, “One drop is sufficient.” So I leaned over the side and scooped a little water in my hand and poured it over my head letting it dribble down my face. We rowed back to the riverbank and walked back to our respective ashrams and homes.
The next time I was to take a boat out to the confluence was four years later when six of us took a clay pot filled with the still smoldering ashes of Sevanand
and sank it in the sacred Tribeni. I did bathe in the river that time. Gurujii was so upset he wasn’t able to come with us. He just sat bolt upright for weeks in his high back wooden chair looking straight ahead.
From the Adventures of a Knight Errant
Gurujii – Swami Vishnudevanand Saraswati
reprinted from BIM16, December 1996 with added photographs
KundeHospital and Khumbu/Pharack Health care system is a non-profit organization staffed with a permanent Nepali physician along with an overseas volunteer physician with objective of providing medical care to the local Sherpa and Nepali community in this remote region. Any donations are deeply appreciated and the medications constantly used up here are as follows;
Antibiotic:
1. Ceftriaxone IM/TV
2. Cefotaxime IV/IM/PO
3. Cephalexin PO
4. Augmentin PO/IV/IM
5. Amoxicillin PO/IM
6. Cloxacillin PO/IV/IM
7. Zithromax PO
8. Penicillin PO
9. Clarithromycin
Analgesics:
1. Paracetamol (acetaminophen)
2. Dextropropoxyphene
Non-steriodal:
1. Ibuprofen PO
2. Cox-2 inhibitors any type
3. Diclofenac PO/Gel
4. Diclofenac tablet
Cardiac drugs
1. Enalapril
2. Atenolol
3. Hydrochlorothiazide 50/25 mg.
4. Aspirin 50/100 mg.
GI Drugs
1. Omeprazole
2. Ranitidine PO/IV/IM
3. Pantoprazole
Dermatology
1. Hydrocortisone crème
2. Antifungal drugs any type
3. Antiviral crème
4. Anusol preparations (hemorrhoids)
Others:
1. Multistick urine test
2. Pregnancy test
3. Surgical gloves – Sterile/non-sterile Medium size
4. Plastic apron
5. Casting materials
6. Pulse/Oximetry units
Thank You – KundeHospital - Dr. Kami Temba Sherpa ktsherpafamily@gmail.com
-----------------------------------------
Trekker’s notes – I got this list from the attending physician in Kunde on my trek to Khumbu, the Mt.Everest region of Nepal, in June 2009. I brought up some left-over prescription medications from around the house and a few other things that are difficult to get in Nepal such as Tylenol PM. If you Google up the medical names on this list you will see that they are largely common prescription and in many cases, over the counter, medications such as Advil, Aleve, Tylenol, Darvon, Vasotec, etc. All donations must be hand-carried directly to the hospital – any mail or other parcel system does not work. Please re-Tweet or pass on this list or the link to it to anyone you know heading out to the Everest area or to trekking companies. Thank you. Carlos carlosjii at gmail dot com
Ryan Detrick (rdetrick@sir-inc.com) 7/9/2004 3:08 PM ET
Looking back at the past one hundred years of stock market history, one thing stands out more than anything else. The Dow Jones Industrial Average moves in very long patterns that are known as secular moves. In the simplest terms, a secular bull market is an extended time frame (between 10 and 20 years) where prices increase. On the other hand, a secular bear market is an extended time frame where prices move sideways to down. Examining past bull and bear markets, there is a very good chance that we have entered another secular bear market that potentially won't find its ultimate bottom until May 2017.
Below is data that I was able to compile from our quantitative analysis database. I only examined the Dow because it is the only exchange that has been around since 1906.
I determined how long the secular market lasted by finding the Dow's ultimate daily closing low and the ultimate closing high (or vice-versa for a bear market). It is obvious by looking at the results that buying and holding would have made you a lot of money in bull times, but you would have been better off in cash during bear times.
The average bull market lasted 168 months or exactly 14 years. Indexing, buying, and holding blue chips would have been a very good strategy during one of these periods. All you had to do was buy, wait a decade or so, and watch the gains come into your portfolio.
Unfortunately, accompanying every bull market was a bear market. The average bear market from top to bottom lasted 208 months or 17 years and 4 months. From this we can conclude that the ultimate bottom may not occur in the Dow until May 2017.
There is no way of knowing whether history will hold true this time around or not, but I think it is a very important concept of which the average investor needs to be aware. The most recent bull market has brain washed investors into thinking that if you "buy and hold" blue-chip stocks then you will come out ahead in the end. While this statement may currently be true, it could take decades to realize a profit.
I realize that during these secular moves we will see counter moves (called cyclical moves) that will usually last a year or two. If we are in a new secular bear market, then the October 2002 to February 2004 rally is a classic example of a cyclical bull market within a secular bear market. Here at Schaeffer's we were able to recognize this trend. That is why we were bullish on technology, autos, and gold throughout 2003, garnering some monster returns from those sectors. Turning to this year, we see the masses quickly turning bullish, predicting wonderful returns in the markets for a second straight year. Being contrarians, we moved opposite of the crowd and said that 2004 would be a down year for U.S. stock markets. But this doesn't mean that gains in certain sectors aren't possible if you looked hard enough. We recommended investing in autos, energy companies, some exposure to gold as insurance, and keeping a healthy amount in cash. All but gold have performed extremely well so far year-to-date. However, the yellow metal has begun to show signs of life recently as the U.S. dollar, which trades inversely with gold, is beginning to look top heavy.
Turning to the major index returns so far this year, the Nasdaq, S&P 500 Index, and Dow were all negative for the year as of this morning. In other words, after listening to all of the experts telling you how high the market averages would soar this year, you would have been better off keeping your portfolios in cash the first six and a half months of 2004. Here at Schaeffer's, we consider the upcoming earnings season and how stock's react to it as being the deciding factor for the rest of the year's performance. If the first-half of the year couldn't rally stocks after very strong earnings and positive economic news, you have to wonder what can.
In conclusion, it is important to realize that we may see sideways to negative returns for quite sometime, with several pockets of strength thrown into the mix. History tells us that we had better be on the lookout for alternative investment strategies, rather than simply "buying and holding," if we want to see gains in our portfolios.
BRACE FOR BANK SHUTDOWN
//www.freebuck. com/articles/ jwillie/090716jw illie.htmb
Harry Schultz and Bob Chapman have revealed some harsh plans for temporary
US bank system shutdown on or about September 2009. The story has been
promoted by Peter Brimelow on MarketWatch for further publicity and
legitimacy (CLICK HERE
<http://www.marketwa tch.com/story/ schultz-paints- bleak-picture- of-future>).
See "Latest Schultz Shock: a Bank Holiday" which explains the US State Dept
tipoff to the many US Embassies. The July Hat Trick Letter cites multiple
confirmations solicited and given. My analysis goes on about speculation as
to the motive, implementation, cover for criminal activity, and market
impact. The USDollar would likely suffer a sudden quantum drop devaluation,
followed by incredible pressure to avert USTreasury default. Despite the
mockery in my email inbox for over two years, this inevitable inexorable
disaster of upcoming USTreasury default is unfolding like a path growing
more narrow and treacherous, with marauders on the hillsides lobbing Paulson
Cocktails (ala Molotov) from strategic high ground. The creditors will show
their strength very soon, very soon indeed! The unintended consequences
would be endless, not the least of which might be final declaration of state
of emergency state by state, or martial law nationally. Attempts at capital
controls should be on the table of discussion soon, but that comes with a
monumental backfire waiting to happen, as implementation seems next to
impossible in less than two years time. Look for implementation of numerous
plans to be circumvented by the reality of market forces, like elimination
of the IRS-enforced income taxes in favor of a Value Added Tax
nationally.. ..
==================
I am adding the following coincident links and stories
His predictions coincide with mine using astrology.
My predictions are here – if the email above is correct my prediction of not being able to buy either gold or silver for periods of time – perhaps long periods – with US dollars will definitely come to pass.
The US dollar has fallen through important technical support on the charts in the past week
The last Treasury auction essentially failed – for the first time that we know of.
I could spend the time and re-vamp my own predictions but, frankly, I don’t think anyone out here in The Heartland of America cares. Everyone is rather blithely clunking along presuming everything will continue the way it has for the past 100 years with the US being the top dog and the economy having ups and downs. We are, in fact, at the END of the American Empire.
The US and the military that will be patrolling our own streets soon have significantly ramped up their losing strategies in the Graveyard of Empires. The US has been bankrupted by its military which has FAILED TO PREVAIL in all three of the major conflicts it has had since ‘The Greatest Generation’ won WW 2. These conflicts are Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq and Afghanistan. The economic consequences of these losses are facing us now.
$120 per usable image for headshots. That’s about my cost to finally arrive at a set of usable headshots for posting at on-line casting sites. This does NOT INCLUDE ANY PRINTING - ‘Errr - that would be extra Sir ’.
Oh, let’s mention here we are not talking about what it takes to get good photographs. We are talking about GREAT photography. There is a huge difference getting that last 10%. EVERYONE can get the first 80-90%.
So. Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I was in Newport Beach. Vox clamantis in deserto.
AN INVITATION TO EMPTINESS
Life is ultimately empty and beyond meaning and meaninglessness. There are no good deeds we can ever do which will bring us any favor from God and no bad deeds which will ever cause anything other than God's love to shine upon us. God has created this universe as His play and the sagest of all prayers is "God, thou hast created us against our wills. Free us!"
Most of us resist emptiness by doing things, being things, and having things. This resistance to emptiness can produce marvelous worldly results. Some of us begin to see that we are embracing only one side of the dualities of creation. True seekers persistently embrace the opposites in which we are immersed and in this embrace the opposites collapse into nothingness. To maintain this embrace is to come to the presence of emptiness and it is to this presence I strongly invite you and through which I will support you.
EMPTINESS PRACTICALLY CONSIDERED
It occurs to me many will think these writings are a fine exposition but don't apply. I pass on to you some practices of emptiness. See what happens. It can't possibly be worse than what is happening now. No one can practice for you.
.Don't eat or drink anything for three days
.OK. Just don't eat for three days and drink water
.Too long for you? Try it for one day
As a result of this practice I no longer believe I need to eat to live. Many things happened to me during the time I was practicing this. Have times of your own.
. Take a long period of time, by your definition, and travel without any particular destination in mind. See what happens.
I could tell many stories of my experiences doing this. This, in fact, may be my favorite practice. The word fakir in Sanskrit describes a type of wandering ascetic in India. The actual practice of a fakir is to stay no longer than three days in any one place because they will inevitably begin to become attached to things.
The first time I went camping as an adult I took $2200 and put it in my pocket and went to the airport and flew to San Jose from Newark, N.J. I was headed for Yosemite which I had heard of but never been to. I had no idea how to get there so as we began the descent I got out the California map and began to conjure. The fellows next to me in the aisle borrowed the map and I managed to get a ride with them all the way to Merced. Many adventures followed and when it came time to leave I went to the gas station at the Tuolumne Meadows campground and the first person I asked for a ride took me and the car full of Girl Scouts she was shepherding all the way to the San Jose airport. I was headed for Vancouver. I had a friend there and knew the name of the place he was staying but nothing else. I ended up living at a Chinese Buddhist temple for two weeks before traveling on to other adventures.
. Walk, hitchhike, bicycle, bum rides or take the bus everywhere you go for a week.
. Make a commitment to meditate for one hour a day for one week and keep it.
. Take a moment to ponder your emptiness each day for a while. "How am I doing on my emptiness?"
. Throw away, sell or give away everything you haven't used in the past year.
. Move. Just for the heck of it.
Back when I was a computer consultant I kept extensive files from periodicals on new developments because the field moved so quickly that was the only way to keep current. This was the idea base that I brought to the next job. I finally threw all this 'stuff' away and was forced to create or recreate what I then needed. I acknowledge anyone who is willing to operate in these lands of not knowing because I know the courage it takes. I will support you in travel to these places. I might even buy you a ticket.
. Stop helping other people - especially people who haven't asked for help.
. Don't talk to anyone for 24 hours.
. Engage three strangers a day in conversation.
One thing I discovered somewhere along in these practices is that my desire to be free was interfering with my freedom. I saw that I was free but was bound by my desire to be free. All I had to do was to be free because I was and stop desiring it. Wanting and having are two different things. Stop wanting what you want. You can never get enough of what you don't really want. Stop wanting and start having.
DON'T ATTACH MEANING TO EMPTINESS
Its important to distinguish emptiness from other things and this is best done by not attaching meaning to emptiness. The power of emptiness comes from simply nonjudgmentally allowing it to be, acknowledging it and standing before it. To label emptiness depression or aloneness or even feelings of suicide disempowers emptiness. Be empty.
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
Arise! Awake! Oh brothers and sisters of immortality. Think not that God exists in one place more than any other place.
All the Gods and Goddesses that ever were live now in the core of your heart as your very own Self.
They, as us, were never born and will never die.
Give birth, therefore, to this knowing of your own immortality.
The Mount Everest of Philosophical and Spiritual Publications
An oracle for the wise
Vox clamatis in deserto
Interminable subscriptions $25 and up – the more you send the more you get!
"The best philosophers are useless to the world, but that is the fault of the world, not of philosophy." Plato
Skin Cancer
Lately I’ve run into several people my age and older who’ve had basal and squamous cell carcinomas removed. Since I’m in heavy sun a lot due to my long hikes in the mountains I’ve ramped up my sun protection a lot. I am currently using SPF 70 Neutrogena sun block in a waterproof cream and a convenient spray. I am particularly careful to put lots on my nose – where the two people had ops, and my ears, where one friend has had a topical chemotherapy done. The ear is so thin that if conventional chemo is done it frequently burns holes. Be warned.
Let me remind you that the world class dermatologist I once worked for thought aloe was one of the absolute best healers for the skin. He grew his own aloe in the yard, ran it through a juicer and froze the untreated juice. This was then used directly on the skin of patients who had had dermabrasions and heavy chemical peels. I have been using an aloe vera based moisturizing lotion for 35 years. I usually lather on bunches of it every morning and let it soak in. The best real aloe you can purchase may be this.
My girlfriend, who was educated at all Catholic schools in the NY area in the 50’s and 60’s, has reported that the girls she met who went to the Ursuline high school in the Bronx, send email to each other in Latin. Given the current dumbing down of America, Latin is probably as good as the best of NSA’s codes.
I know, it’s more of my radical ideas and to my knowledge no one has alleged this BUT it seems clear to me the LA basin was created by a meteor strike. It became obvious to me a week ago or so as I hiked to LA through the mountains and descended into Brentwood. I have a sweeping view of the LA coastline from Santa Monica south to the Palos Verges peninsula. Clearly, the bay is round. And I was suddenly struck with remembering that the LA basin has lots of oil. In my opinion, or theory, oil has been created by meteorstrikes[1].
Don’t believe the BS by media types who deride Twitter. I was going to write this up earlier but demurred thinking even my subscribers might not be able to wrap themselves around the concept due to stodgy thinking. Increasing hype on the general uselessness of Twitter abounds in the recent press. All these commentators are older than 40. I first heard of Twitter 2 years ago when there were protests by bicyclists in NY and the NY Times article mentioned the pole-isse couldn’t keep up with the organization of the ‘mob’ who were following protest orders on something called Twitter. Twitter allows one to post short messages to one’s Twitter account. BUT if you have a Twitter account you can FOLLOW other people – get their posts sent to your account stream AND you can have posts from selected people you follow sent directly to your cell phone. Here are some example uses;
A reverse 911 that actually works. You have a photo shoot with maybe 50 staff and cast members. The director sends tweets to the film’s account which everyone on the set is following.
You have a family of 5 – you and 4 kids. You all have cell phones – RIGHT? Everyone follows everyone else in the family account so everyone knows when the soccer practices end etc.
You have a small company with 200 employees. …..get it.
I am in the TV commercial and theatrical acting business in LA. That’s how I am going to Mt.Everest! Variety magazine and all the other entertainment rags have been supplanted by Nikke Finkes blog on Hollywood. It is HUGE news that the Endeavor agency has merged with the Wm. Morris agency. Endeavor was started by Ari Emanuel – who is huge in the ‘Wood – AND he is Rahm Emanuel’s brother. Is this important? No – not unless you want to make predictions about how the entire film and TV markets are going. I follow Nikke on Twitter, getting cell phone updates when she tweets. She tweets stubs to recent blog posts of import.
As an inducement, people who are following my Twitter stream can make requests for ‘stuff’ from Kathmandu on this trip I’m about to take. You can make the request by direct email if you have my address, as a tweet, or by email to the name on my Twitter account at gmail dot com.
The above was written in May 2009. Clearly recent events show how important Twitter can be. Don’t be as dumb ass like Hillary –"I wouldn't know a Twitter from a tweeter," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "but apparently, it is very important." Geometry was hard also. Just because you’re older does not mean that you are somehow absolved from having to learn new things.
The Tenth Trip of a Lifetime
I mentioned to one person at a meeting I was on the waitlist for Kathmandu. Her comment was, “Oh, a trip of a lifetime.” True – but this will be my 10th trip of a lifetime to Kathmandu.
At a very important conference on Elderhood a few years ago one of the seminarians suggested that her most important contribution to other people, especially children, was ‘the creation of significant memories’. If that is true, then the most important function I can perform for myself is the same – even if it does not always feel comfortable.
Here’s a compendium of tweets from the twip.
·I’m back – if there is such a place. It implies there’s an ‘away’ which, if the world is your home, doesn’t exist. Jun 18th
·I’m outta Kathmandu today – taxis are running - God is the travel agent – air here pregnant with revolt Jun 15th
·Where there is a will there is a Tweet – Maoist bandh (closure) in Kathmandu today Waited Inet shop for 10 mins and – joila Maybe fly manana Jun 14th
·I’m dizzy from reading the Upanishads and then just returning from Swayambhu – the Monkey Templehttp://bit.ly/17WgGf3:26 AM Jun 13th
·Soooo if my pharts are air now I MUST be well from the trots here in Kathmandu – thanks ayurveda green pills - found new veg restaurant!!!! Jun 12th
·There is no joy in the finite, only in the Infinite is there joy - Chandogya Upanishad - Here in the finite I am twiddling around KathmanduJun 11th
·early AM flight from Lukla – 10 days in the land of the Sherpa - Honored guest at big wedding - taxi direct to http://mikesbreakfast.com/Jun 9th
·Oh yeah – God is the travel agent! Jun 9th
·Lukla waiting flight to Kathmandu 7 manana. 2 weeks in Himalayas – Namche, big Sherpa wedding in Phakding. Maoist protest shut flights today Jun 9th
·tweet from Namche -huge problem of how to get a wedding cake down 4000’ and 5 hour walk to Phakding – rescue heli overhead as we tweet Jun 4th
·clouds lifted in Namche - Tibetan next to me at breakfast wood blocking prayer flags - got wish list Kunde hospital meds will post later Jun 3rd
·Hand sanitizer works great under my arms! even better than Listerine. End of the trail in Namche – food is too good. Day hiking from here Jun 2nd
·the cloudless day has changed to slight rain and mist - a few wild Tibetans have stopped by - all watching a music video w/Sherpas Jun 2nd
·Cloudless day in Namche. Taking a rest day to acclimate at Zamling Hotel Jun 1st
· “Eternity is made up of todays. Glorify the hour.” Christopher Ruess
Travel tips for Asia
Water purifier – I have not yet gotten sick purifying my own water in India or Nepal. The only real alternative is to buy bottled water or drink boiled water. At 10000’ altitude water boils at 193.6 degrees – not high enough to knock out all bad stuff. At all altitudes boiling water is energy consumptive. The filter I use is a First Need XL. Even in 5 star hotels I purchase a bottle of water or many times bring my own. I just had a bout of stomach upset drinking one glass of some kind of ‘filtered’ water with dinner at a 5 star hotel in Kathmandu. Also, NEVER brush your teeth under tap water – even at 5 star hotels. What I do is take the water the locals drink and then purify/filter that. I usually keep two or three liters of good water in my hotel room at all times.
I have a special Indian anti-dysenteric ayurvedic medicine I cannot be without – either overseas or in the US. June 2008 I contracted a case of that salmonella virus from tomatoes that hit the US. I knocked mine out in hours with my magic green pills. As I am attempting to get FDA approval to import these I don’t want to give my source. If you think you need or want some let me know. I have had about 25 successive full recoveries from diarrhea and dysentery with these with NO failures in 20 years. The best thing is there are no side-effects such as knocking out all your intestinal flora. I could never travel to all the destinations I go to without these pills.
Listerine is a very strong anti-fungal, anti-odor, disinfectant, and a superb hand sanitizer. At a minimum you can splash some under your arms if you haven’t been able to bathe for a while. Only the original works, not the CVS and other knock-offs. Great for taking the smell out of latrines. I put it into a spray bottle. Sample usage – I have a 40 oz. stainless steel water bottle. One of the bottle’s uses is to fill it at night with hot water and put it into my sleeping bag. I was at a Sherpa lodge for a few days and the bathroom was outside and far away. At night I peed into the s/s bottle, emptying it in the morning. Before using it again for drinking water I rinsed it out several times with Listerine.
My girlfriend works as a nurse R.N. in one of the US’s most prestigious hospitals. She reports that most of the infectious problems in the hospital are from not washing hands by hospital staff – including doctors. This trip I took with me several small bottles of CVS hand sanitizer and used them a lot, especially before eating.
I have a theory that oil was created on our planet by asteroid strikes not the supposed decomposition of organic matter as is commonly and unthinkingly purported. I haven’t looked over the geography of oil in detail but most of the large fields occur in areas that are clearly shaped like huge circular depressions – like the Gulf of Mexico. There is a recent theory that the dinosaurs became extinct due to a large strike that created the Gulf of Mexico and drastically changed the earth’s weather. I note that the significant deposits in Texas, Oklahoma and Venezuela and the huge reserves in the Gulf could all be the result of this strike. I have not thought yet about the geo-alchemy that could directly create huge hydro-carbon deposits underground from the extreme conditions that would exist upon a meteor or asteroid striking the earth. from BIM40, 2005
The Origins of Oil and Gas
Happily, I can report the ready furtherance of my theory that the origins of oil
and gas on the planet come from meteor and asteroid strikes. Significant
corroboration has come to me in the past month as I have explored the Red
Desert Basin here in Wyoming. The basin appears totally the result of a strike
and is a 100-mile in diameter depression loaded with natural gas whose
extraction the conservationists here in Wyoming are attempting to limit. Without
having looked closely at the map, I suggest that the large asteroid strike that
created the Gulf of Mexico and caused a global cooling from the immense dust
cloud killing the dinosaurs, had large fragments that struck ‘nearby’ such as here
in Wyoming and also the PermianBasin in West Texas, site of huge hydro-carbon
“Eternity is made up of todays. Glorify the hour.” Christopher Ruess.
The unfolding adventure is on Twitter as Carlosjii. Subscribe also to my Irregular Musings newsletter BIM - $25. Sample issue: http://ballantynesinspiredmusings.blogspot.com/2011/02/bim-54-randomly-published.html
