The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is teeming with floating life.
Apple, Google and Microsoft will soon support an approach to authentication that avoids passwords altogether.
The U.S. Army plans to build three 3D-printed barracks at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Using high-tech sensors and an algorithm, a drone swarm can avoid collisions, fly efficiently through a dense forest without GPS, and coordinate as a team.
BEAUTIFUL FINE METAL HAND MADE BRACELETS
Dr. David Martin
2027 … Big Financial Disruption
Saturday, July 23rd, 1:00 pm
in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
or via LIVESTREAM!
One of the largest financial crises of our lifetimes occurred in 2008. Starting with the US Congress voting in an emergency session for a $700 billion bailout of the banks which had issued thousands of subprime mortgages to individuals who were not qualified to pay them, there followed a huge freefall that, among many other things, resulted in the collapse of Lehman Brothers investment bank and a loss in household wealth in the US of $11 trillion.
Almost 18 months before that event, In July 2006, Dr. David Martin gave two Arlington Institute Spring Side Chats in Berkeley Springs laying out the coming events that would begin in December of 2007 and become known as the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. It was an extraordinary example of predictive analysis.
Similarly, in 2012, Dr. Martin laid out the events that would usher in the State Council of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and anticipated the use of bioterrorism as an agent of enabling the associated geopolitical instability.
Now David Martin comes again to Berkeley Spring to TransitionTalks in July of 2022 – 17 years after John Petersen and David met — to once again paint a picture of a great, inbound disruption guaranteed five years from now, at which time the United States will become bankrupt, unable to pay social security, Medicare, Medicaid and the pensions of many millions of people, This upheaval will occur along with many other converging factors that promise a near future that will be unlike anything that any of us have experienced before.
Come and hear Dr. Martin detail what is in our future and talk about what we can do to prepare for this extraordinary event.
Click below for more information about this event and to get tickets.
The number of severe complications after vaccination against Sars-CoV-2 is 40 times higher than previously recorded by the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI),” a study with around 40,000 participants by the Berlin Charité concludes. Lead researcher Harald Matthes said the figures corresponded to the picture in countries such as Sweden, Israel and Canada. Even the makers of the vaccines come up with similar numbers in their own studies. Last year, Dutch data analyst Wouter Aukema analyzed data from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for all EU member states and saw a similar picture emerge. The researchers considered serious side effects to be complaints that lasted for weeks to months and which required medical attention. These included muscle and joint pain, heart inflammation and also neurological disorders. The globalists want to keep citizens in panic mode for as long as possible while they work towards a world government, according to lawyer Reiner Füllmich in the program Friday Roundtable. They want to take control of the world as quickly as possible, as if in a dystopian James Bond film, but unfortunately it is reality, the lawyer explained. They are trying to create as much chaos as possible: first Corona, then disrupting supply chains and now the war in Ukraine. “It is all staged,” Füllmich stressed. “It is all part of the Great Reset.” At some point, a solution will be offered: the United Nations as a world government.
When Covid-19 began to sweep across the country in March 2020, schools in every state closed their doors. Remote instruction effectively became a national policy for the rest of that spring. A few months later, however, school districts began to make different decisions about whether to reopen. Across much of the South and the Great Plains as well as some pockets of the Northeast, schools resumed in-person classes in the fall of 2020. Across much of the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast, school buildings stayed closed and classes remained online for months. These differences created a huge experiment, testing how well remote learning worked during the pandemic. Academic researchers have since been studying the subject, and they have come to a consistent conclusion: Remote learning was a failure. This article covers that research as well as two related questions: How might the country help children make up the losses? And should schools have reopened earlier — or were the closures a crucial part of the country’s Covid response?
Europa, one of the moons orbiting Jupiter, is a prime candidate for life in our solar system, and its deep saltwater ocean has captivated scientists for decades. But it’s enclosed by an icy shell that could be miles to tens of miles thick, making sampling it a daunting prospect. Now, increasing evidence reveals the ice shell may be less of a barrier and more of a dynamic system — and site of potential habitability in its own right.
Traces of a virus known to infect pigs were found in a 57-year-old Maryland man who survived for two months with a heart transplanted from a genetically altered pig, according to the surgeon who performed the procedure, the first of its kind. The disclosure highlights one of the most pressing objections to animal-to-human transplants, which is that widespread use of modified animal organs might facilitate the introduction of new pathogens into the human population. The presence of the virus’s DNA in the patient may have contributed to his sudden deterioration more than a month after the transplant, said the surgeon, Dr. Bartley Griffith of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. But there was no evidence that the patient developed an active infection with the virus, or that his body had rejected the heart, Dr. Griffith added. University officials said that although the pig had been screened several times for the virus, the tests pick up only active infections, not latent ones in which the virus may hide quietly in the pig’s body. (The tests were done on nasal swabs, but the virus was later detected in the pig’s spleen.) The latent virus might have “hitched a ride” into the patient on the transplanted heart, Dr. Griffith said.
A recent study suggests that the kinds of memory problems common in old age can be reversed, and all it takes is some cerebrospinal fluid harvested from the young. In mice, at least. If this is sounding a little familiar, you might be thinking of a similar series of studies done back in the mid-2010s, which found that older mice could be generally ‘rejuvenated’ with the blood of younger animals. This new study instead examined the links between memory and cerebrospinal fluid fluid (CSF), and the results show considerable promise, even providing a mechanism for how it works, and highlighting a potential growth factor that could mimic the results. “We know that CSF composition changes with age, and, in fact, these changes are used routinely in the clinic to assess brain health and disease biomarkers,” Stanford University neurologist Tal Iram. Article explains the research study. This was followed up by a battery of other experiments to test the theory, which revealed that certain genes (that are different in young-versus-old CSF) could be used to get the same response. In other words, without needing to extract someone’s brain fluid. “When we took a deeper look into gene changes that occurred in the hippocampus (a region associated with memory and aging-related cognitive decline), we found, to our surprise, a strong signature of genes that belong to oligodendrocytes,” Iram noted. Oligodendrocytes are particularly helpful because they produce myelin, a material that covers and insulates neuron fibers. The infusion of FGF17 was itself able to help the older mice increase memory ability. The study implies that FGF17 has potential as a therapeutic target, but it also suggests that routes of drug administration that allow therapeutics to directly access the CSF could be beneficial in treating dementia.
Researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Stanford University, Shanghai Jiao tong University, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences have reported that supplementing a diet with the sea organisms Ascidiacea, also known as sea squirts, reverses some of the main signs of aging in an animal model. Sea squirts can be eaten raw and are found in dishes from Korea and Japan. These sea organisms contain substances called plasmalogens, which are vital to our body processes. Plasmalogens are found all over our bodies naturally, particularly in the heart, brain and immune cells, but as we get older, the amount in our body decreases. This loss is also a characteristic of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. To investigate whether boosting the levels of plasmalogens can stave off the effects of aging, the researchers studied the effects of adding plasmalogens to the diet of aged mice. They found that the supplements had profound effects on the learning abilities and physical symptoms of these mice. Professor Lei Fu, the corresponding author of the study, says: “Our research suggests that plasmalogens may not just stop cognitive decline, but may reverse cognitive impairments in the aging brain. Additionally, aged mice fed with the plasmalogens grow new black hair that is thicker and glossier than aged mice not fed the supplement.”
As soon as any de-iced airplane takes off, most of the liquid slides from the surface of the aircraft and ends up polluting streams, lakes, and oceans. Endeavoring to make a more efficient product immune to ice for such demanding industries, a team at the University of Illinois Chicago have developed a longer-lasting and eco-friendly alternative to conventional deicers. “Glycols dissolve very fast and get washed away before the plane takes off, and it’s a serious problem that costs hundreds of millions of dollars—most of which literally ends up in the drain,” said Sushant Anand, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Our idea was to use certain materials which are solid when cold. The team developed 80 different anti-freezing coatings, which can be classified as polymeric solutions, emulsions, or gels. The formulations can be easily applied to aluminum, steel, copper, glass, plastic or any industrial surface without preconditioning or expensive surface treatments. The anti-freezing gels are also transparent, which is critical for applications like traffic signals, runway lights that assist pilots during landings, automotive windshields, or building windows. They worked with phase change materials because they had a melting point above the freezing point of water (0 degrees C). This means under sub-zero temperatures the materials are in their solid state, just like chocolate, butter, or water itself. The multifunctional coatings can prevent the adhesion of ice (or bacteria) on surfaces, irrespective of their inherent material structure and chemistry. This was engineered by regulating how chemicals leach out of the material system and by creating a lubricating surface layer that is both slippery and non-freezing in nature.
About 40 miles north of the California-Mexico border lies the shrinking, landlocked lake known as the Salton Sea. Once the epicenter of a thriving resort community, water contamination and decades of drought have contributed to a collapse of the lake’s once vibrant ecosystem, and given rise to ghost towns. But amidst this environmental disaster, the California Energy Commission estimates that there’s enough lithium here to meet all of the United States’ projected future demand, and 40% of the entire world’s demand. That’s big news for the booming electric vehicle industry, as lithium is the common denominator across all types of EV batteries. Traditionally, lithium extraction involves either open-pit mining or evaporation ponds, which work by pumping lithium-containing brine to the surface and waiting for the water to dry up. Both of these methods have huge land footprints, are often very water-intensive, and can create lots of contamination and waste. But at the Salton Sea, three companies are developing chemical processes to extract lithium in a much cleaner way, taking advantage of the Salton Sea’s rich geothermal resources. Near the lake, there are already 11 operating geothermal power plants. We are already pumping 50,000 gallons of brine per minute across all of our ten geothermal facilities to the surface,” said Alicia Knapp, President and CEO of BHE Renewables, “And we’re using the steam from that brine to generate clean energy. And so we’re really halfway there in that we’ve got the lithium right here in our hands.” Article discusses the ion-exchange technology to recover lithium which a number of the companies in the area are developing. But extracting lithium from geothermal brines has never been done before at scale, so it remains to be seen what benefits the electric vehicle industry, the local community, and the environment will actually see. As mining projects face community concern and backlash in other parts of the country, it seems like lithium recovery at the Salton Sea could be the rare minerals project that unites most stakeholders. That is, if it works.
It turns out that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is less a garbage island than a garbage soup of plastic bottles, fishing nets, tires and toothbrushes. And floating at its surface were blue dragon nudibranchs, Portuguese man-o-wars, and other small surface-dwelling animals, which are collectively known as neuston. Scientists have systematically sampled the patch’s surface waters. The team found that there were much higher concentrations of neuston within the patch than outside it. In some parts of the patch, there were nearly as many neuston as pieces of plastic. “I had this hypothesis that gyres concentrate life and plastic in similar ways, but it was still really surprising to see just how much we found out there,” said Rebecca Helm, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina and co-author of the study. “The density was really staggering. To see them in that concentration was like, wow.” The findings were posted last month on bioRxiv and have not yet been subjected to peer review. But if they hold up, Dr. Helm and other scientists say, it may complicate efforts by conservationists to remove the immense and ever-growing amount of plastic in the patch. Little is known about neuston, especially those found far from land in the heart of ocean gyres. “They are very difficult to study because they occur in the open ocean and you cannot collect them unless you go on marine expeditions, which cost a lot of money,” said Lanna Cheng, a research scientist at the University of California, San Diego. Because so little is known about the life history and ecology of these creatures, this study, though severely limited in size and scope, offers valuable insights to scientists.
Google, which makes money in part by showing you ads based on your search history and other online behavior, has come under fire for targeting people with family or body-related ads they’d rather not see. Facebook has settings that filter ads about certain sensitive topics, but until now, Google users had little recourse. In December 2020, Google started letting people in the United States opt out of ads on YouTube that feature alcohol or gambling. Now, people worldwide can opt out of alcohol and gambling ads as well as ads in the newly announced categories across Google’s ad ecosystem. “We conduct user surveys and try to understand what kinds of categories they are interested in us adding,” said Karin Hennessy, Google’s group product manager for ads privacy. “What came through at the very top was alcohol and gambling, so we provided that. The very next four categories were parenting, pregnancy, dating and weight loss. These controls probably don’t limit what data Google collects from users — only what ads will show up. Some types of targeted ads are against Google’s policies anyway. For example, the company says it forbids advertisers from targeting people based on health conditions including mental health, although it does allow pharmaceutical manufacturers to advertise in the United States, per its ad policies. To opt out of ad categories, go tomyaccount.google.com. Select “Data & Privacy” from the menu on the left, then go to “Ad settings” and look for “Sensitive ad categories.” For ways to limit your data-sharing with Google, check outour guide to Google’s privacy settings.
Apple, Google and Microsoft will soon support an approach to authentication that avoids passwords altogether, and instead requires users to merely unlock their smartphones to sign in to websites or online services. Experts say the changes should help defeat many types of phishing attacks and ease the overall password burden on Internet users, but caution that a true passwordless future may still be years away for most websites. The tech giants are some of the more active contributors to a passwordless sign-in standard crafted by the FIDO (“Fast Identity Online”) Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), groups that have been working with hundreds of tech companies over the past decade to develop a new login standard that works the same way across multiple browsers and operating systems. According to the FIDO Alliance, users will be able to sign in to websites through the same action that they take multiple times each day to unlock their devices — including a device PIN, or a biometric such as a fingerprint or face scan. Sampath Srinivas, director of security authentication at Google and president of the FIDO Alliance, said that under the new system your phone will store a FIDO credential called a “passkey” which is used to unlock your online account. “The passkey makes signing in far more secure, as it’s based on public key cryptography and is only shown to your online account when you unlock your phone,” Srinivas wrote. “To sign into a website on your computer, you’ll just need your phone nearby and you’ll simply be prompted to unlock it for access. Once you’ve done this, you won’t need your phone again and you can sign in by just unlocking your computer.” Steve Bellovin, a computer science professor at Columbia University and an early internet researcher, and others say one potentially tricky scenario in this new passwordless authentication scheme is what happens when someone loses their mobile device, or their phone breaks and they can’t recall their iCloud password.
At the core of the frenzied interest in Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is an intuition that I (author of this article) think is right: The major social media platforms are, in some hard-to-define way, essential to modern life. Call them town squares. Call them infrastructure. They exist in some nether region between public utility and private concern. They are too important to entrust to billionaires and businesses, but that makes them too dangerous to hand over to governments. We have not yet found a satisfying answer to the problem of their ownership and governance. In 2021, TikTok had more active users than Twitter, more U.S. watch minutes than YouTube, more app downloads than Facebook, and more site visits than Google. A few weeks ago, I gave a lecture at a Presbyterian college in South Carolina, and asked some of the students where they liked to get their news. Almost every one said TikTok. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. One problem is that apps like TikTok “can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including United States persons’ personal information and proprietary business information. This data collection threatens to provide foreign adversaries with access to that information.” Let’s call this the data espionage problem. Apps like TikTok collect data from users. That data could be valuable to foreign governments. That’s why the Army and Navy banned TikTok from soldiers’ work phones, and why Senator Josh Hawley wrote a bill to ban it on all government devices. There is also the issue of other ways that China could weaponize the platform, like tweaking TikTok algorithms to increase exposure to divisive content, or adjusting the platform to seed or encourage disinformation campaigns.” Let’s call this the manipulation problem. TikTok’s real power isn’t over our data. It’s over what users watch and create. It’s over the opaque algorithm that governs what gets seen and what doesn’t. It is telling that China sees such dangers as obvious enough to have built a firewall against them internally: They’ve banned Facebook and Google and Twitter and, yes, TikTok. ByteDance has had to manage a different version of the app, known as Douyin, for Chinese audiences, one that abides by the rules of Chinese censors. China has long seen these platforms as potential weapons.
The U.S. Army plans to build three 3D-printed barracks at Fort Bliss, Texas. The project involves the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM), and the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). It’s being built using Icon’s Vulcan 3D printer, which is the industry leader at the moment and is being used for everything from housing to NASA bases. Each of the three barracks will measure over 5,700 sq ft, making each one the joint largest 3D-printed structure in the Western Hemisphere, according to the DIU. To put that size into perspective, one of the largest structures in the world to date is a Dubai administrative building measuring roughly 6,900 sq ft. Construction work has already begun on the 3D-printed barracks. Once complete, they will host 72 soldiers per barracks. The project follows a previous 3D-printed barracks by the U.S. Marines.
A vast array of 12,000 solar panels is set to become Europe’s largest floating solar park when they finish taking position atop the Alqueva reservoir this year. Supplying a third of the electricity to the nearby towns of Moura and Portel—they look to continue taking advantage of Portugal’s exceptional year-round weather that has seen the nation become one of the leading renewable-powered nations in Europe. Built by EDP, the country’s principal utilities provider, the panels will be mounted on pontoons in an area the size of four European soccer pitches, equipped with lithium-ion batteries to store a total excess of 1.5 gigawatts. The advantage of floating solar is that it doesn’t take up limited land space in the small country. Electricity that can’t be immediately used or stored in the batteries will pump water into the reservoir, which can be fed through the hydropower system of the dam to create additional power.
The Dutch submarine company U-Boat Worx has announced a new underwater entertainment venue for up to 120 guests plus a full crew and catering staff. With a colossal 1,615 sq ft of reconfigurable floor space, the “Under Water Entertainment Platform, or UWEP, is conceived as a proper entertainment space that can be set up as a restaurant, casino, wedding venue, illuminati meeting room or whatever else you’d like. The submarine is large enough that the sections at the front and rear are split into two levels – the upper being a stage-like area for extra seating, and the lower sections hiding the pilot’s compartment at the front and a catering kitchen and five bathrooms at the rear. If the floor seating isn’t fancy enough to make your biggest wigs feel sufficiently special, the bar can be configured with a VIP lounge on top of it, so they can receive even more exclusive treatment. The UWEP’s steel pressure hull allows it down as far as 650 ft under the surface, which isn’t a huge depth, but it’s more than enough to make you really feel like you’re not in Kansas any more. This is an entirely electric vehicle, with four 80-kW (107-hp) horizontal thrusters and four 40-kW (54-hp) vertical thrusters to assist the ballast and buoyancy systems. Top speed is a very leisurely 3 knots (3.5 mph) on the surface, 2.5 knots (2.9 mph) underwater. U-Boat Worx will use “high capacity lead-acid” batteries for the enormous 1.2 megawatt-hour underfloor battery pack. This is enough power, the company says, for trips up to 18 hours long, or multiple shorter ones between charges – and a separate emergency battery will keep critical systems online for 96 hours if necessary. The sheer size of this thing should make it one of the least claustrophobic submarines ever built – assuming that it does get built. There is no information yet concerning the cost to rent it as an event space, let alone what U-Boat Worx will be charging buyers. Should your pockets be on the shallower end, however, the company will also be selling shorter 89-ft versions with two-thirds the floor space, for up to 80 guests plus crew and staff.
CNN reports that Russian looters, collaborating with the Russian military, stole 27 pieces of John Deere farm equipment from a dealership in Melitopol, Ukraine, collectively valued at $5,000,000. The equipment was shipped to Chechnya, but it will avail the thieves naught, because the John Deere dealership reached out over the internet and bricked these tractors, using an in-built kill-switch. In the short term, it’s cool to think of those looters arriving in Chechnya only to discover that their looted tractors and combines and such are only good for spare parts (and maybe not even that). But if you scratch the surface of that cinematic comeuppance, what you find is a far scarier parable about the way that cyberwarfare could intrude itself into the physical world. After all, if John Deere’s authorized technicians can reach out and brick any tractor or combine, anywhere in the world, then anyone who suborns, hacks or blackmails a John Deere technician — say, Russia’s storied hacker army, who specialize in mass-scale infrastructure attacks, which they perfected by attacking Ukrainian embedded systems — can do the exact same thing. By the way, the technology was not invented to thwart Russian looters. It was invented to thwart American farmers. Article explains in detail exactly how and to whose profit John Deere has hogtied American farmers.
Russia’s military is using specially trained dolphins to defend a critical naval base off Crimea, according to an analysis published by U.S. Naval Institute News. Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies shows two dolphin pens at the entrance to Sevastopol’s harbor, the Russian navy’s “most significant” naval base in the Black Sea. The Soviet navy ran several marine-mammal programs during the Cold War, including training dolphins near Sevastopol. That particular unit transitioned to the Ukrainian military when the Soviet Union collapsed, Sutton explained, but “barely stayed open,” despite attempts to remain operational. Russia took control of the unit after it annexed Crimea in 2014, and it expanded the program once again. Russia isn’t the only country to do this kind of work with marine mammals. In fact, the U.S. Navy has a history of similar programs, and it trains dolphins as well as seals for similar purposes to this day. This article offers a look at why and how dolphins make good defenders. Four countries have marine-mammal programs: the U.S., Russia, North Korea and Israel. The programs primarily use dolphins, but have also involved beluga whales, seals and sea lions.
When you sign up for a newsletter, make a hotel reservation, or check out online, you probably take for granted that if you mistype your email address three times or change your mind and X out of the page, it doesn’t matter. Nothing actually happens until you hit the Submit button, right? Well, maybe not. As with so many assumptions about the web, this isn’t always the case, according to new research: A surprising number of websites are collecting some or all of your data as you type it into a digital form. Researchers from KU Leuven, Radboud University, and University of Lausanne crawled and analyzed the top 100,000 websites, looking at scenarios in which a user is visiting a site while in the European Union and visiting a site from the United States. They found that 1,844 websites gathered an EU user’s email address without their consent, and a staggering 2,950 logged a US user’s email in some form. Many of the sites seemingly do not intend to conduct the data-logging but incorporate third-party marketing and analytics services that cause the behavior. See also this article from Gizmodo, Be Warned: Customer Service Agents Can See What You’re Typing in Real Time which explains how it works and names some companies that utilize a “message sneak peek” feature.
For an ever-growing number of Americans, life is becoming ever more difficult and precarious to maneuver for making ends meet. The transnational corporate class has little motivation to respect or contribute to national boundaries and interests. They perceive themselves as global actors. For the generals and captains of neoliberal globalization, the puppet masters of financial markets, the Covid-19 pandemic only caused annoying disruptions in the quality of their lives. For the remainder, it has been cataclysmic. Now that Washington acknowledges its proxy war against Russia, and the hawkish ambitions of the political class are determined to drive the economy into the abyss, we must pause and reflect carefully about what we want and don’t want as individuals and as a nation to secure a sustainable future. This demands a deep and collective introspection into shared moral principles. It is no longer what we say or profess that guarantees truth or empirical significance. Rather what we actualize in our daily lives and as a society is going to determine whether the future will be liveable or not. Therefore it is incumbent to ask ourselves harsher questions to realize the deeper spiritual poverty that defines American civilization. At this moment where is a collective voice condemning the billions of dollars being given to the corrupt fascist regime in Ukraine to fight the Russian boogeyman as the rest of America further slides into a ghetto crying for energy and food? Why no vocal outrage against the invasions of Libya and Syria, or the US’ ongoing support of rogue dictatorships, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE for crimes against humanity in Yemen? There weren’t and aren’t now noteworthy protests against any of these issues. And yet these are unquestionable existential threats to our very democracy.
Radio Free Europe was founded by a C.I.A. front Allen Dulles cooked up in 1949, the National Committee for a Free Europe. It received agency funding until at least the 1970s, when the funding function was transferred elsewhere in the Washington bureaucracy for the sake of appearances. What RFE/RL is doing in Russia today is exactly what American liberals, in paroxysms of horror, accused Russians of doing during the 2016 election campaigns. But it is O.K. because we’re doing it, they say in the charming bistros (in the author’s town). We must fight for democracy with all the weapons at our disposal. I (author of this article) am not surprised that it is Ukraine that brings us to what I consider a collective psychological crisis. After 30 years of post–Cold War triumphalism, Washington has decided to use Ukraine and its people in a go-for-broke attempt finally to subvert Russia. Stepping back for a better look, this is the decisive event in the imperium’s confrontation with the 21st century—its grand roll of the dice, its now-or-never moment. Broke it will be when all this is over, however far in the future that will prove. And we are falling apart as the realization of our loss arrives subliminally among us. Whoever wins the war in Ukraine, ultimately the non–West will win. As for Americans, we have already lost.
When you think about government surveillance in the United States, you probably don’t immediately think of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This report argues that you should. Our two-year investigation, including hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests and a comprehensive review of ICE’s contracting and procurement records, reveals that ICE now operates as a domestic surveillance agency. Since its founding in 2003, ICE has not only been building its own capacity to use surveillance to carry out deportations but has also played a key role in the federal government’s larger push to amass as much information as possible about all of our lives. By reaching into the digital records of state and local governments and buying databases with billions of data points from private companies, ICE has created a surveillance infrastructure that enables it to pull detailed dossiers on nearly anyone, seemingly at any time. ICE has built its dragnet surveillance system by crossing legal and ethical lines, leveraging the trust that people place in state agencies and essential service providers, and exploiting the vulnerability of people who volunteer their information to reunite with their families. Despite the incredible scope and evident civil rights implications of ICE’s surveillance practices, the agency has managed to shroud those practices in near-total secrecy, evading enforcement of even the handful of laws and policies that could be invoked to impose limitations. Federal and state lawmakers, for the most part, have yet to confront this reality. (Editor’s note: We recommend this article; it’s an eye-opener.)
About five years ago, the United States decided to set aside previous efforts to cooperate with China. Instead, we proposed to confront it and compete with it “from a position of strength.” This administration, like the last, calls for “a whole-of-nation” effort to “outcompete” the Chinese and “win the 21st century.” How are we doing at this? The short answer is poorly. If we don’t shape up, we’re going to lose. Frankly, we are not now bringing our best game to the playing field. Our politics are polarized and dysfunctional, we are in chronic fiscal deficit, our infrastructure is collapsing, our educational system is increasingly mediocre, our social fabric is fraying, our international prestige is declining, and we are more divided internally than at any time since our civil war. We appear to have achieved herd immunity to strategic reasoning. We pay lip service to the need to reinvigorate our economy and its technological advance but in practice focus instead on hamstringing China. China has plenty of problems but, contrary to our complacently self-congratulatory national image, the United States is no longer in most respects ‘number one.’ We are 12th in the world in per capita GDP. Our students rank 31st out of 35 countries in math competence and 13th in reading. We have fallen to 27th in social mobility. We spend almost twice as much per capita on health care as other countries like us but rank 49th in global life expectancy and 178th in infant mortality. The military balance in the Asia-Pacific region continues to shift in China’s direction. There is no reason to expect this trend to reverse. Inaccurate self-perceptions and obsolete assumptions can be fatal. Our weaknesses are structural. If we can’t address them structurally, we are going to fall behind. We need to be realistic about both ourselves and China if we are to rise to the challenges we face. To be sure, China had a bad century or so, but four decades ago it picked itself up and got moving. It seems to be on the way back to the planetary preeminence it enjoyed for most of human history. The article goes on to discuss in detail what the US needs to do to become successfully competitive. But, as the author notes, it isn’t going to happen if we preserve the strange combination of hubris, denial, and complacency we currently exhibit.
China is undeniably one of the world’s top players in space, with successful missions to the moon and Mars and a solar probe due to be launched soon. Its rise has spurred competition with the U.S.; “Watch the Chinese,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently warned. Given the strategic value the two nations have placed on their space programs, and the political tension that already exists between the countries, the contest over achievements in space is likely to intensify. Despite the tension, the U.S. and China must figure out a way to cooperate on some, if not all, issues in the use of space. The most critical area is the safety of space infrastructure, where a lack of communication could be damaging and possibly even deadly. This need was highlighted by the recent saga of a near miss between two of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites and China’s in-progress crewed space station. Although the Starlink spacecraft are privately owned, the U.S. government is internationally responsible for their space activities under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. Yet, there are serious barriers to a tête-à-tête—including the fact that some kinds of cooperation are illegal under US laws.
If you interested in getting beyond the one-dimensional portrayal of Vladimir Putin by the media, you might find reading what he has said helpful. Here are three of his speeches. This is a selection of excerpts from Putin’s speech at the WEF in 2021, (full text at link above). “Some experts – and I respect their opinion – compare the current situation to the 1930s. One can agree or disagree, but certain analogies are still suggested by many parameters, including the comprehensive, systemic nature of the challenges and potential threats. We are seeing a crisis of the previous models and instruments of economic development. Social stratification is growing stronger both globally and in individual countries. We have spoken about this before as well. But this, in turn, is causing today a sharp polarization of public views, provoking the growth of populism, right- and left-wing radicalism and other extremes, and the exacerbation of domestic political processes including in the leading countries. All this is inevitably affecting the nature of international relations and is not making them more stable or predictable. International institutions are becoming weaker, regional conflicts are emerging one after another, and the system of global security is deteriorating. We have a shared responsibility to prevent this scenario, which looks like a grim dystopia, and to ensure instead that our development takes a different trajectory – positive, harmonious, and creative. In this context, I would like to speak in more detail about the main challenges which, I believe, the international community is facing. The first one is socioeconomic. Globalization and domestic growth have led to strong growth in developing countries and lifted over a billion people out of poverty. In Russia, this number went from 64 million people in 1999 to about 5 million now. We believe this is also progress in our country, and in the most important area, by the way. Still, the main question, the answer to which can, in many respects, provide a clue to today’s problems, is what was the nature of this global growth and who benefitted from it most. In terms of corporate profits, who got hold of the revenue? The answer is clear: one percent of the population. These imbalances in global socioeconomic development are a direct result of the policy pursued in the 1980s, which was often vulgar or dogmatic. This policy rested on the so-called Washington Consensus with its unwritten rules, when the priority was given to the economic growth based on a private debt in conditions of deregulation and low taxes on the wealthy and the corporations.” Here are two other speeches: An Address by the President of the Russian Federation in 2014 which discusses the referendum held in Crimea where more than 82% of the electorate took part in the vote. Over 96% of them spoke out in favor of reuniting with Russia. The second speech is Putin’s address to the World Economic Forum in 2019.
Scientists have long believed that Mars was wet around 3 billion years ago, during the planet’s Hesperian period, then lost much of its water. But the a new study presents evidence of water activity from just 700 million years ago, well into the current Amazonian period, posing a new puzzle to crack about the Red Planet and its history. The new study is based on data from China’s Zhurong rover, which is part of the Tianwen-1 mission and touched down on the surface of Mars in May 2021. In particular, the scientists used data the rover gathered during its first 92 Martian days, or sols, at its landing site in Utopia Planitia. NASA has sent its Mars rovers to ancient landing sites, dating back to the Noachian age more than 3.7 billion years ago. Zhurong, then, is not just an extra set of wheels on Mars, but a powerful suite of instruments exploring a new, geologically young site to open new windows of opportunity for research on Mars. Zhurong has now covered about 1.24 miles during its more than 350 Martian days, and has analyzed a range of features on its travels, meaning more new Martian insights are likely still to come from the rover.
A fireball that blazed through the skies over Papua New Guinea in 2014 was actually a fast-moving object from another star system, according to a recent memo released by the U.S. Space Command (USSC). The object, a small meteorite measuring just 1.5 feet (0.45 meter) across, slammed into Earth’s atmosphere on Jan. 8, 2014, after traveling through space at more than 130,000 mph — a speed that far exceeds the average velocity of meteors that orbit within the solar system, according to a 2019 study of the object. A 2019 study argued that the wee meteor’s speed, along with the trajectory of its orbit, proved with 99% certainty that the object had originated far beyond our solar system — possibly “from the deep interior of a planetary system or a star in the thick disk of the Milky Way galaxy,” the authors wrote. But despite their near certainty, the team’s paper was never peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal, as some of the data needed to verify their calculations was considered classified by the U.S. government. Now, USSC scientists have officially confirmed the team’s findings. In a memo dated March 1 and shared on Twitter on April 6, Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw, deputy commander of the USSC, wrote that the 2019 analysis of the fireball was “sufficiently accurate to confirm an interstellar trajectory.” This confirmation retroactively makes the 2014 meteor the first interstellar object ever detected in our solar system, the memo added.
Scientists have now cultivated cress in dirt, or regolith, that had been kept on Earth for half a century—since the Apollo missions. The University of Florida team planted thale cress seeds in lunar soil picked up by the Apollo 11, 12, and 17 crews between 1969 and 1972. They added water, nutrients, and light, and watched the edible spring salad green flourish. A tiny ‘lunar garden’ was created from just a few teaspoons of the prized dirt specially loaned from NASA. The university was granted 12 grams—after 11 years of negotiations. It is a first step towards producing food and oxygen on the moon, or during space missions. Over the next decade, NASA’s Artemis program will lay the foundation for a sustained colony on the lunar surface. (Editor’s note: This is essentially hydroponic gardening, using moon “soil” as a growing medium. What seems to be important is that the moon-soil doesn’t contain chemicals that will kill the plants.)
Although there are already portable systems that create drinking water by desalinating and purifying seawater, they typically utilize filters that have to be replaced. A new MIT setup, however, just requires a small amount of electricity to get the job done. Developed by a team led by Prof. Jongyoon Han, the current version of the device is about the size of a small suitcase. It requires less power than a mobile phone charger, meaning that it could be powered by a portable solar panel in scenarios where batteries aren’t an option. Instead of utilizing a filter or distillation, it uses an MIT-designed technique that we first heard about 12 years ago, known as ion concentration polarization (ICP). In a nutshell, this involves pumping seawater through a narrow channel between two electrically charged membranes – one is positively charged, and the other is negatively charged. As the water passes through the electrical field between the two membranes, particles such as salt molecules, viruses and bacteria are repelled into a side channel of water which is discharged and not used. The main channel of water is now purified and relatively desalinated, but may still contain some salt ions. For that reason, it proceeds to go through an electrodialysis module, where those last traces of salt are removed. Although this step does involve passing the water through an ion exchange membrane, trapped salt ions can be removed from that membrane, so it can be reused. The water that ends up trickling out of the device’s output hose reportedly exceeds World Health Authority drinking water standards.
A swarm of micro-drones autonomously navigated a dense bamboo forest in China without GPS, able to avoid trees, branches, and brush. The incredible footage suggests these drones could one day be used for search and rescue efforts or even put to sinister use: hunting humans. Chinese scientists from Zhejiang University published a report and footage of ten lightweight drones maneuvering at speed through a forest. The technology behind the drones autonomously navigates the best flight path through high-tech sensors. The drone swarm is the first to fly successfully outside in an uncontrolled environment. An algorithm guides the drones to avoid collisions, fly efficiently, and coordinate as a team. Lead author Xin Zhou wrote in a paper published in the journal Science Robotics, that “multi-robot aerial systems are a symbol of future technology” and cited science fiction films, Prometheus (2012), Ender’s Game (2013), Star Wars: Episode III (2005), and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), where drones or drone swarms were used, which ultimately “inspired” the research team. In another experiment, Zhou and his team showed the drone swarm could track a human “target” through a field of trees. Article includes video clips.
Under one square meter of undisturbed ground in the Earth’s mid-latitudes (which include the UK) there might live several hundred thousand small animals. Roughly 90% of the species to which they belong have yet to be named. One gram of this soil – less than a teaspoonful – contains around a kilometer of fungal filaments. This article offers a fascinating exploration of something we seldom give that much attention to: dirt – which is incredibly diverse and complex. Even more arresting than soil’s diversity and abundance, however, is the question of what it actually is. Most people see it as a dull mass of ground-up rock and dead plants. But it turns out to be a biological structure, built by living creatures to secure their survival, like a wasps’ nest or a beaver dam. Microbes make cements out of carbon, with which they stick mineral particles together, creating pores and passages through which water, oxygen and nutrients pass. The tiny clumps they build become the blocks the animals in the soil use to construct bigger labyrinths. Soil is fractally scaled, which means its structure is consistent, regardless of magnification. Bacteria, fungi, plants and soil animals, working together, build an immeasurably intricate, endlessly ramifying architecture that, like Dust in a Philip Pullman novel, organizes itself spontaneously into coherent worlds. This biological structure helps to explain soil’s resistance to droughts and floods: if it were just a heap of matter, it would be swept away. (Editor’s note: We recommend this article. Dirt is much more than dull stuff – and your life depends on it.)
Robert “Robby” Silk, 49, engages in the sport of competitive chair-sitting, a still-evolving endurance activity Silk has pioneered that involves sitting in extreme environments, from sun-up to sundown without any sort of time pieces or electronic devices. “The idea,” says Silk, “is to really just be, and not do much of anything.” On June 21, 2020, Silk completed his longest sit to date: a 14-hour, 27-minute stretch in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. Silk has also tested his stamina on Antarctica’s Cuverville Island. Before Antarctica, this budding trend-setter had only sat himself in desert settings, including Sedona, Arizona, and the state’s McDowell Mountain Regional Park in North Scottsdale. Silk says he does it for many of the same reasons that people run marathons: to take a break from daily trivialities and routines and simply test himself. There’s even training involved, since anyone who’s ever flown thousands of miles in an airplane knows that sitting for long periods can wreak havoc on everything from mental stability to physical dexterity. “I don’t do calisthenics beforehand for nothing,” he says. Silk first came up with the idea of extreme chair sitting back in 1995, during a six-month sojourn in Israel. Silk was reading The Haj, a novel by American author Leon Uris. In it, he came across a scene that depicted a man somewhere in the desert, awaiting a delivery. A traveler who happens upon the man and asks, “What will you do if it takes a week?” “Wait,” says the man. Silk found a world in which “time is of no consequence” appealing. Five years later, he decided to give his own waiting-in-the-desert a go. His goal was to sit in one place and spend the entire day watching the arch of the sun.
Here is a delightful story of the friendship between a man and a wild cardinal who eventually felt trusting enough to take cashews and other nibbles out of his hand.
You can’t let your past hold your future hostage. — Rapper LL Cool J
Extending that advice to a more particular circumstance:
Your successful past will block your visions of the future. – Joel A. Barker, visionary who popularized the concept of paradigm shifts in the corporate sector.
A special thanks to: Chas Freeman, Ursula Freer, Diane Petersen, Hal Taylor, Steve Ujvarosy and all of you who have sent us interesting links in the past.If you see something we should know about, do send it along – thanks.
Joni Patry is one of the most recognized teachers and Vedic astrologers in the world. She was a faculty member for ACVA, CVA and Instructor for online certification programs, published many books, journals and appeared on national and international television shows. As the keynote speaker for international conferences, she has a Japanese website, and teaches in Austria, Turkey and India. She has been awarded the 2015 Jyotish Star of the year and Dr B. V. Raman’s Janma Shatamanothsava Award Jyotisha Choodamani. She publishes an online astrological magazine, Astrologic Magazine http://astrologicmagazine.com/ and has an online University for certification, the University of Vedic Astrology. http://universityofvedicastrology.com
William Henry
William Henry is a Nashville-based author, investigative mythologist, art historian, and TV presenter. He is an internationally recognized authority on human spiritual potential, transformation and ascension. He has a unique ability to incorporate historical, religious, spiritual, scientific, archaeological and other forms of such knowledge into factually-based theories and conclusions that provide the layperson with a more in-depth understanding of the profound shift we are actually experiencing in our lifetime.
The spiritual voice and Consulting Producer of the global hit History Channel program, Ancient Aliens, and host of the Gaia TV series The Awakened Soul: The Lost Science of Ascension, and Arcanum, along with his wife, Clare, William Henry is your guide into the transformative sacred science of human ascension. By bringing to life the ancient stories of ascension through art and gnostic texts, he teaches the secrets of soul transfiguration or metamorphosis and connects people to one another across cultures, time and space. With over 30 years of research distilled into 18 books and numerous video presentations, William’s work will guide you to next level of human consciousness and our expanding reality.
William’s present work has taken him into the area of transhumanism, which he first began writing about in his 2002 bestseller, Cloak of the Illuminati. His latest book, The Singularity Is Near: The Next Human, the Perfect Rainbow Light Body and the Technology of Human Transcendence is a primer and a warning for the looming potential transformation of humanity as we speed closer to meshing computer technology with human flesh. William discusses transhumanism as the fulfillment of an ancient impulse to transcend our human bodies. His work has propelled him into the role of human rights activist and advisor on the biopolitics of human enhancement as he informs audiences of the unparalleled perils and potentials of Artificial Intelligence and Transhumanism.
Pierre Dubois
Pierre Richard Dubois is Registered Architect and holds two advanced degrees from Columbia University. He has been on a life quest to satisfy his inner and intuitive knowing about consciousness-expanding technologies and wisdom. He is an author, life coach, healer, ascension teacher, and a minister. Pierre has travelled the world and studied many religions and belief systems and found that we are all seeking the same thing: merger back with the uncreated Source of all. An insightful listener and counselor, Pierre deeply aspires to share with others his wisdom and has helped countless people on their journey of healing, expansion, and ascension over the past 20 years.
Frank DeMarco
FRANK DeMARCO has been reporting on his conversations with non-physical beings for more than two decades, in magazine articles, talks, and in a dozen non-fiction books and two novels.
FRANK DeMARCO is the author of 14 books rooted in more than 25 years of psychic exploration, including It’s All One World, Awakening from the 3D World, Rita’s World (two volumes), The Cosmic Internet, The Sphere and the Hologram, and Imagine Yourself Well. Since 2005, he has been actively engaged in an on-going series of conversations with various non-physical beings, including historical individuals, “past lives,” aspects of personal guidance, and a generalized group he calls “the guys upstairs.”
He is also the author of three novels, Messenger, That Phenomenal Background (originally published as Babe in the Woods) and Dark Fire.
William Buhlman
William Buhlman is a recognized expert on the subject of out-of-body experiences. The author’s forty years of extensive personal out-of-body explorations give him a unique and thought provoking insight into this subject. His first book, Adventures beyond the Body chronicles his personal journey of self-discovery through out-of-body travel, and provides the reader with the preparation and techniques that can be used for their own adventure. He has conducted an international out-of-body experience survey that includes over 16,000 participants from forty-two countries. The provocative results of this survey are presented in his book, The Secret of the Soul. This cutting edge book explores the unique opportunities for personal growth and profound spiritual awakenings that are reported during out-of-body experiences.
Over the past two decades William has developed an effective system to experience safe, self initiated out-of-body adventures. He conducts an in-depth six-day workshop titled, Out-of-Body Exploration Intensive at the renowned Monroe Institute in Virginia. As a certified hypnotherapist, William incorporates various methods, including hypnosis, visualization and meditation techniques in his workshops to explore the profound nature of out-of-body experiences and the benefits of accelerated personal development. Through lectures, workshops and his books the author teaches the preparation and techniques of astral projection and spiritual exploration.
The author brings a refreshing look to how we can use out-of-body experiences to explore our spiritual identity and enhance our intellectual and physical lives. William is best known for his ability to teach people how to have profound spiritual adventures through the use of out-of-body experiences. In addition, he has developed an extensive series of audio programs that are designed to expand awareness and assist in the exploration of consciousness. William has appeared on numerous television and radio shows worldwide. William’s books are currently available in twelve languages. The author lives in Delaware, USA. For more information visit his web site, www.astralinfo.org.
Joe McMoneagle
Joe was the longest operational psychic spy in the US government’s very highly classified Stargate program where they used psychics and intuitives to look into installations and people around the world that were of interest to government intelligence agencies. They called the process remote viewing.
As it turned out, the remote viewers discovered that they were – not limited by either time or space and produced drawings and assessments that could not have been obtained in any other way. The Soviets had an active remote viewing program at the same time and it is rumored that Russia, China and the U.S. still have initiatives of this kind that are operational.
Joe’s stories are fascinating, like the time he mentally got inside a Chinese nuclear weapon and saw how the triggering mechanism worked . . . and then went out and bought the parts at Radio Shack to show the scientists in the intelligence agency exactly how it was done. The remote viewers could find submarines at the bottom of the ocean and crashed aircraft in the middle of African jungles.
Dr. Joe Dispenza
Dr Joe Dispenza is an international lecturer, researcher, corporate consultant, author, and educator who has been invited to speak in more than 33 countries on six continents. As a lecturer and educator, he is driven by the conviction that each of us has the potential for greatness and unlimited abilities. In his easy-to-understand, encouraging, and compassionate style, he has educated thousands of people, detailing how they can rewire their brains and recondition their bodies to make lasting changes.
Dr. Joe is also a faculty member at Quantum University in Honolulu, Hawaii; the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York; and Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He’s also an invited chair of the research committee at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia.
As a researcher, Dr. Joe’s passion can be found at the intersection of the latest findings from the fields of neuroscience, epigenetics, and quantum physics to explore the science behind spontaneous remissions. He uses that knowledge to help people heal themselves of illnesses, chronic conditions, and even terminal diseases so they can enjoy a more fulfilled and happy life, as well as evolve their consciousness. At his advanced workshops around the world, he has partnered with other scientists to perform extensive research on the effects of meditation, including epigenetic testing, brain mapping with electroencephalograms (EEGs), and individual energy field testing with a gas discharge visualization (GDV) machine. His research also includes measuring both heart coherence with HeartMath monitors and the energy present in the workshop environment before, during, and after events with a GDV Sputnik sensor.
As a NY Times best-selling author, Dr. Joe has written Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon(Hay House, 2017), which draws on research conducted at his advanced workshops since 2012 to explore how common people are doing the uncommon to transform themselves and their lives; You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter (Hay House, 2014), which explores our ability to heal without drugs or surgery, but rather by thought alone; Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One (Hay House, 2012) and Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind (2007), both of which detail the neuroscience of change and epigenetics. His film appearances include Transcendence: Live Life Beyond the Ordinary (2018); HEAL (2017); E-Motion (2014); Sacred Journey of the Heart (2012); People v. the State of Illusion (2011); What IF – The Movie (2010); Unleashing Creativity (2009); and What the #$*! Do We Know? & Down the Rabbit Hole, extended DVD version (2005).
Dr. Todd Ovokaitys
After two years at Northwestern, he was accepted into an accelerated combined graduate/undergraduate program at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, which conferred both B.A. and M.D. degrees. Advanced training was at Georgetown University Hospital, with a Residency and Chief Residency in Internal Medicine followed by a Fellowship in Pulmonary and Intensive Care Medicine.
During his Pulmonary Fellowship, the specialty that concerns the lungs, Dr. Todd began his research with cells of the immune system. Many procedures were done on AIDS patients to diagnose their lung problems. Observing this dire disease firsthand and the toxic results of early medical treatments, Dr. Todd developed a passion for finding better solutions. Towards the end of his Fellowship, he became aware of the benefits of Holistic Medicine for improving the function of the immune system while building rather than impairing the function of other systems.
Inspired to learn more, he moved to Southern California to study with practitioners of Complementary Medicine. In the context of these studies, he had an experience so radical that the course of his life and work were forever transformed.
During a meditation class in the summer of 1989, Dr. Todd paired with another student for an exercise. The process was profound and they took turns, one in the process while the other scribed to record any breakthroughs of awareness. Much as in the Jodie Foster movie “Contact,” the usual anchor points dissolved with the feeling of instant transport to a different dimension of being. There was a doorway or portal to traverse, with a message of the responsibility taken on through the choice to go further.
Instantly upon walking through this doorway, a living form was seen that filled a room – and had the shape of a DNA strand enlarged millions of times. This form communicated that science only partly understood how DNA worked. The linear understanding of DNA as an enormous data string was correct but incomplete. In addition, DNA was a structure of coils within coils in an environment of moving charges that permitted DNA to send electromagnetic signals much as a radio transmitter. Further, DNA could receive and be conditioned by electromagnetic signals. Most significantly, if it were possible to determine and transmit the correct resonant signals, that it was possible to switch the activity of a sick cell to that of a healthy cell, an old cell to that of a young cell.
This experience brought with it a certainty that solutions were possible. After intensive review of the previous work showing the effects of electromagnetic energy patterns on cellular health and function, Dr. Todd located a colleague with the technical expertise to build the desired invention.
Mary Rodwell is a professional counsellor, hypnotherapist, researcher, metaphysician, and founder and principal of ACERN (Australian Close Encounter Resource Network). She is internationally known for her work with ET experiencers and star children. She offers regressions and support for contactees and has organized a buddy system to help those who have had close encounters. Mary has spoken at conferences in Australia, USA, UK, Scandinavia, Hawaii and New Zealand. She is a regular guest on international radio and online shows and writes article for international publications like the UFO Truth Magazine. Mary is co-founder of FREE, a non-profit organization aimed at researching close encounters.
She is the author of, Awakening – How extra-terrestrial contact can transform your life. Mary is working on her second book, The New Human, due for release this year.
Freddy Silva
Freddy Silva is a best-selling author, and leading researcher of ancient civilizations, restricted history, sacred sites and their interaction with consciousness. He has published six books in six languages, and produced eleven documentaries. Described by one CEO as “perhaps the best metaphysical speaker in the world right now,” for two decades he has been an international keynote speaker, with notable appearances at the International Science and Consciousness Conference, the International Society For The Study Of Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine, and the Association for Research and Enlightenment, in addition to appearances on Gaia TV, History Channel, BBC, and radio shows such as Coast To Coast. He also leads private sell-out tours to ancient temples worldwide. www.invisibletemple.com
Dr. Larry Dossey
Dr. Larry Dossey is a physician of internal medicine and former Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital. He received his M. D. degree from Southwestern Medical School (Dallas), and trained in internal medicine at Parkland and the VA hospitals in Dallas. Dossey has lectured at medical schools and hospitals throughout the United States and abroad. In 1988 he delivered the annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, India, the only physician ever invited to do so. He is the author of twelve books dealing with consciousness, spirituality, and healing, including the New York Times bestseller HEALING WORDS: THE POWER OF PRAYER AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, and most recently One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters. His books have been translated into languages around the world. Dr. Dossey is the former co-chairman of the Panel on Mind/Body Interventions, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health. He is the executive editor of the peer-reviewed journal EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing. Dr. Dossey lectures around the world. He lives in Santa Fe with his wife Barbara, a nurse-consultant and the author of several award-winning books.
Sharry Edwards
Sharry Edwards has been accused of being too scientific by some, too esoteric by others. In actuality, she is a bridge between both fields of inquiry. Sharry is the acknowledged pioneer in the emerging field of Vocal Profiling using BioAcoustic Biology. For many years she has provided the leading-edge research to show the voice as a holographic representation of the body that can be used to change the face of medicine.
Sharry asks that we imagine a future in which we can be individually identified and maintained through the use of frequency based biomarkers that keep us healthy and emotionally balanced. Her work at the Institute of BioAcoustic Biology has shown that we can each have dominion over those frequencies by individual mind management or a simple remote control that is completely programmable. Using the unique techniques of Vocal Profiling and evaluation, emotional as well as physiological issues can be revealed and addressed.
Her work with the human voice reveals that people who share similar traumas, stresses, diseases, toxicities…share similar, if not identical, vocal anomalies. She brings together ancient knowledge with modern ideas of harmonics and frequency relationship theories to show that math can be used as a form of predictive, diagnostic and curative foundation for wellness. Through entrainment of the frequency grids of the brain, the body can be programmed to support its own optimal form and function.
Integrative Physician Dr. Carrie Hempel and Holistic Pharmacist Brian Sanderoffare both experts in the medicinal use of cannabis in Maryland.
Dr. Hempel is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2002. As an Osteopathic Physician, she has embraced a holistic approach to patient care, providing loving attention to the relationship between mind, body, and spirit. For the past 11 years she has received specialist training, Board Certification and expertise in several fields including Internal Medicine, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, and Hospice & Palliative Medicine, along with many Integrative modalities. She is a member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, the Association of Cannabis Specialists, and is registered with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.
Over the course of her career she has seen the consistent struggle of patients dealing with chronic, progressive, debilitating illness, and witnessed the challenges and limitations of the current pharmaceutical options for pain and symptom managment. Her passion for this population has grown, along with her desire to advocate for patients to have access to non-opioid, holistic options to enhance quality of life and optimize function.
Trained as a pharmacist, Brian Sanderoff has integrated 25 years of experience with his traditional medical training and herbalism, nutrition and numerous other holistic modalities to help clients devise practical, common-sense, safe solutions to most any health issue.
His clients appreciate how he embraces a complementary approach to health and how his holistic “compass” brings them new solutions to their unique health concerns – especially chronic diseases.
Mary Rodwell is a professional counsellor, hypnotherapist, researcher, metaphysician, and founder and principal of ACERN (Australian Close Encounter Resource Network). She is internationally known for her work with ET experiencers and star children. She offers regressions and support for contactees and has organised a buddy system to help those who have had close encounters. Mary has spoken at conferences in Australia, USA, UK, Scandinavia, Hawaii and New Zealand. She is a regular guest on international radio and online shows and writes article for international publications like the UFO Truth Magazine. Mary is co-founder of FREE, a non-profit organisation aimed at researching close encounters.
Steve McDonald is an extraordinary Australian thinker and researcher who arguably knows as much about the structure of the global planetary transition that we are experiencing as anyone on the planet. He draws coherent pictures from the deep insights of Clair W. Graves and paints clear, explanatory images of not only how humanity has evolved to this point, but what is inevitably on our horizon . . . and how this epic transition will continue to play out.
He is currently writing a book about the global paradigm shift that’s taking us beyond the scientific-industrial era. Steve served with the Australian Army for 15 years, including war service as an infantry company commander in Somalia, 1993. He is also a qualified military helicopter pilot and on leaving the army he flew a rescue helicopter in the tropical Mackay-Whitsunday region of Queensland. Building upon his extensive experience in unpredictable environments, after retiring from flying Steve specialized as a change management consultant. He consequently studied the developmental psychology research of Dr Clare W Graves and became one of the first Australians qualified to teach Dr Graves’ theory under the banner of Spiral Dynamics Integral. A long-term struggle with posttraumatic stress has driven Steve’s deep interest in human nature and consciousness. He is a founder of Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine, an Australian non-profit association. He is also a founder of AADII, a non-profit company created to support worldwide transformational change.
Although Robert Coxon had been studying and composing music for many years, it was after taking the Silva Mind Control course that he realized how powerful sound could be in relaxing the body and opening the consciousness. He then decided to write his first album.
Cristal Silence quickly became a major hit throughout Canada, staying on top of the charts for many years. This was the beginning of his continuing phenomenal success as composer and solo artist. For the last 29 years he has performed only his original compositions in concert. Robert has been nominated four times for the prestigious “Felix” award (French Canada equivalent to the Grammy), and became Canada’s best-selling New Age artist. His international breakthrough came after composing The Silent Path in 1995. This album was an instant hit in Canada, the USA and France. After hearing The Silent Path, Lee Carroll, internationally renowned author of 15 bestselling Kryon and Indigo books, contacted Robert and asked him to join his team on tour. Through the years this has given Robert the opportunity to experience different cultures and inspires him to write music honoring these many countries he performs in.
Robert offers us nine albums, the latest three being The Infinite, essence of life, Goddess -The Power of Woman and Passion Compassion Alegeria.
Gary Sycalik has been described as an entrepreneur, businessman, project developer/manager, consultant/advisor, organizational troubleshooter, strategic planner, facilitator, futurist, business and social architect, complex problematic game designer (policy, strategic, tactic levels) and writer. Gary brings a robust horizontal and vertical functional capability to any project from the conceptual to operational stage.
Kingsley L. Dennis, PhD, is a sociologist, researcher, and writer. He previously worked in the Sociology Department at Lancaster University, UK. Kingsley is the author of numerous articles on social futures; technology and new media communications; global affairs; and conscious evolution. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books including Healing the Wounded Mind, The Sacred Revival, The Phoenix Generation, New Consciousness for a New World, Struggle for Your Mind, After the Car, and the celebrated Dawn of the Akashic Age (with Ervin Laszlo). He has traveled extensively and lived in various countries. He currently lives in Andalusia, Spain.
John McMichael, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Beach Tree Labs, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and early development of new therapeutic agents targeting unmet medical needs. These disorders range from herpes infections to chronic fatigue syndrome to urinary incontinence. His PhD is in virology and immunology from Oregon State University. He headed up the labs at one of the largest private veterinary research practices in the country, was a college professor for more than a decade, and now works out of a small lab on his form in New York state and a larger, more sophisticated lab in Providence, Rhode Island. He holds over 200 patents, has published in books and peer-reviewed journals, and is currently working with his team to begin formal FDA trials for product candidates for chronic traumatic brain injury and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes.
Good health is dependent on the appropriate transfer of information within and between cells. The informational and molecular disharmonies associated with disease can be reversed using appropriate therapeutic signals that stimulate the return to the normal state without adverse effects. One such signal molecule, SLO, has demonstrated clinical utility in a broad spectrum of indications that would at first glance appear to be unrelated. The underlying common thread that links these disorders is representative of the targets to which resonant molecular signals are directed.
Chris Robinson
Chris Robinson’s amazing ability to dream about the future in terms that can be reliably translated into people, times, places, and activities has been the subject of books, major university scientific studies, films, articles, TV shows, and just about all forms of media. He has taught many people how to dream about the future and, through his advanced intuitive capabilities, helped thousands to understand how to deal with seemingly impossible personal situations. He is also a healer, having on numerous occasions led people with supposedly terminal conditions to eliminate those issues and return to a healthy life. There is no one else in the world that has Chris’s fascinating background (undercover police work, etc.), coupled with these amazing personal gifts.
Thomas Drake is a former senior executive at the National Security Agency where he blew the whistle on massive multi-billion dollar fraud, waste and abuse; the widespread violations of the rights of citizens through secret mass surveillance programs after 9/11; and critical 9/11 intelligence failures. He is the recipient of the 2011 Ridenhour Truth Telling Prize, a joint recipient with Jesselyn Radack of the 2011 Sam Adams Associates Integrity in Intelligence Award and the 2012 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award. He is now dedicated to the defense of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Robert David Steele, former spy, former Marine Corps officer, a proponent of Open Source Everything, Presidential candidate in 2012 and perhaps again in 2024, recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 will integrate his life’s experience with his lessons from the works of others to explore love versus fear as a foundation for politics; liberty under natural law versus predatory fascism as we now have in the USA; and the possibilities for cosmic awakening very soon, in a full-on defeat of the Deep State and its Archon masters.
Lee Carrol a.k.a. Kryon
Lee Carroll, Ph.D. has channeled Kryon for 25 years worldwide and is the author of the Kryon Series of 16 books in 24 languages. Well known in metaphysics, Kryon books have made the top seller’s list within months of their release. Having presented seven times at the United Nations in New York, as well as in 33 different countries overseas, Lee attracts audiences in the thousands.
Good health is dependent on the appropriate transfer of information within and between cells. The informational and molecular disharmonies associated with disease can be reversed using appropriate therapeutic signals that stimulate the return to the normal state without adverse effects. One such signal molecule, SLO, has demonstrated clinical utility in a broad spectrum of indications that would at first glance appear to be unrelated. The underlying common thread that links these disorders is representative of the targets to which resonant molecular signals are directed.
Dennis McKenna’s research has focused on the interdisciplinary study of Amazonian ethnopharmacology and plant hallucinogens. His doctoral research (University of British Columbia, 1984) focused on the ethnopharmacology of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he, two tryptamine-based hallucinogens used by indigenous peoples in the Northwest Amazon. Dr. McKenna is author or co-author of 4 books and over 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Paul H. Smith is the longest-serving controlled remote viewing (CRV) teacher active today, having begun his career as an instructor in 1984. He served for seven years in the government’s Star Gate remote viewing program at Ft. Meade, MD (from September 1983 to August 1990). Starting 1984, he became one of only five Star Gate personnel to be personally trained as remote viewers by the legendary founders of remote viewing, Ingo Swann and Dr. Harold E. Puthoff at SRI-International.
Raymon Grace, one of the world’s most extraordinary dowsers, travels the world teaching and demonstrating how dowsing can be used by most anyone to change themselves and the world around them. His down-home, direct approach is sought out by many thousands of searchers who are looking for bettering their lives and dealing with the extraordinary change that the world is experiencing.
Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His on-line writings have generated a vast following; he speaks frequently at conferences and other events and gives numerous interviews on radio and podcasts.
In 1980, Jim McCarty joined L/L Research where Don Elkins and Carla L. Rueckert were researching the field of the paranormal in general, and contact with extraterrestrial intelligence in particular. Soon later the Ra Contact began, producing 106 sessions with the social memory complex of Ra. Five books of The Law of One series were published documenting this contact.
Joey Korn is one of the most accomplished dowsers in the world. Known internationally for an extraordinary ability to change and manipulate energy at all levels, he brings a deep, practical understanding of how to balance these energies . . . and change the way that they influence humans and their lives.
Michael Waters is an advanced technology consultant, researcher, inventor, and sustainable recovery strategist. His automated disaster recovery and library preservation systems are used worldwide. Michael has researched cutting edge science and technologies that redefine current understandings in mainstream physics. He is currently on the board of a number of organizations involved in advanced energy, mining, agriculture, and finance.
Las Vegas headliner, Alain Nu – “The Man Who Knows”, brings us his mind-bending mental and metaphysical abilities. His highly entertaining and most provocative show intermingles feats of mind-reading and spoon bending with other baffling demonstrations that defy explanation.
Joni Patry
Joni Patry is one of the most recognized teachers and Vedic astrologers in the world. She was a faculty member for ACVA, CVA and Instructor for online certification programs, published many books, journals and appeared on national and international television shows. As the keynote speaker for international conferences, she has a Japanese website, and teaches in Austria, Turkey and India. She has been awarded the 2015 Jyotish Star of the year and Dr B. V. Raman’s Janma Shatamanothsava Award Jyotisha Choodamani. She publishes an online astrological magazine, Astrologic Magazine http://astrologicmagazine.com/ and has an online University for certification, the University of Vedic Astrology. http://universityofvedicastrology.com
As Regina’s career progressed, so did her decades long exploration into the world of esoteric and hidden sciences – the reality beyond the 5 sense world. Guidance from these realms suggested it was time to bring her skill set to the world of video/televised media, so in late 2004, along with her husband Scott, she co-created ‘Conscious Media Network’, the first online network to feature full length original video interviews with authors and experts in the realms of the meta-physical, healing arts and alternative theories, opening up a world that many had experienced but never had access to on this scale.
Gaia: In 2012, Conscious Media Network merged with Gaiam TV in 2012, with Regina serving as anchor in their new media division on Open Minds and Healing Matrix. The demand for Regina’s unique perspective on a variety of subjects has drawn attention from conference organizers, moving her into the public as a presenter at conferences. In addition, Regina offers retreats and workshops for those who wish to ‘Dive Deep’ into a new understanding of the nature of reality and life itself. In this venue she shares her exclusive approach to meditation and regression work for a greater understanding of life’s challenges and identifying the innate joys.
Although nominated for a Nobel Prize in physics for his breakthrough theoretical work on zero-point energy, Dr. Harold Puthoff, is most recognized for having been a co-founder of the secret US government “remote viewing” program that successfully used psychics to spy on the Soviet Union and China.
Now a principal and science advisor in a leading-edge effort by former senior military and intelligence managers to disclose the many decades of interest that the US has had in UFOs, he comes to Berkeley Springs on the 8th of February to give a TransitionTalk about his work in making sense out of the UFO phenomena.
Dr. Puthoff’s presentation will include a summary of his current activities with To The Stars Academy, which is on the forefront of bringing into the open formerly highly classified efforts by the government to track, record and understand the meaning of hundreds of encounters that the military has had with UFOs over the past years.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to learn from and question one of the foremost thinkers and leaders of the rapidly accelerating global effort to both make the public aware of what was previously unacknowledged about UFO and alien interaction with humans and also to address the deep questions about what is happening and what it might mean for the future of humanity.
Gregg Braden is a five-time New York Times best-selling author, and is internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science, spirituality and human potential! His discoveries have led to 12 award-winning books now published in over 40 languages. The UK’s Watkins Journal lists Gregg among the top 100 of “the world’s most spiritually influential living people” for the 5th consecutive year, and he is a 2017 nominee for the prestigious Templeton Award.
Rosemary Ellen Guiley is a leading expert on the paranormal and supernatural. With more than 50 books – including 10 encyclopedias – and hundreds of articles in print on a wide range of paranormal, spiritual and mystical topics, she possesses exceptional knowledge of the field. Her present work focuses on inter-dimensional entity contact experiences and communication.
John L. Petersen is considered by many to be one of the most informed futurists in the world. He is best-known for writing and thinking about high impact surprises (wild cards) and the process of surprise anticipation. His current professional involvements include the development of sophisticated tools for anticipatory analysis and surprise anticipation, long-range strategic planning and helping leadership design new approaches for dealing with the future.
He has led national non-profit organizations, worked in sales, manufacturing, real estate development, and marketing and advertising, mostly for companies he founded. A graduate electrical engineer, he has also promoted rock concerts; produced conventions; and worked as a disc jockey, among other things.
Mr. Petersens government and political experience include stints at the National War College, the Institute for National Security Studies, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council staff at the White House. He was a naval flight officer in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve and is a decorated veteran of both the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars. He has served in senior positions for a number of presidential political campaigns and was an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. He was twice the runner-up to be Secretary of the Navy.
In 1989, Petersen founded The Arlington Institute (TAI), a non-profit, future-oriented research institute. TAI operates on the premise that effective thinking about the future is impossible without casting a very wide net. The “think tank” serves as a global agent for change by developing new concepts, processes and tools for anticipating the future and translating that knowledge into better present-day decisions. Using advanced information technology, a core group of bright thinkers and an international network of exceptionally curious people along with simulations, modeling, scenario building, polling and analysis, Arlington helps equip leaders and organizations from many disciplines with tools and actionable perspectives for dealing with uncertain times.
An award-winning writer, Petersens first book, The Road to 2015: Profiles of the Future was awarded Outstanding Academic Book of 1995 by CHOICE Academic Review, and remained on The World Future Societys best-seller list for more than a year. His Out of the Blue: How to Anticipate Wild Cards and Big Future Surprises book was also a WFS best-seller. His latest book is a Vision of 2012: Planning for Extraordinary Change. His coauthored article, (The Year 2000: Social Chaos or Social Transformation?) was one of the most highly acclaimed writings on Y2K. His 1988 book-length report (The Diffusion of Power: An Era of Realignment) was used at the highest levels of American government as a basis for strategic planning. He has also written papers on the future of national security and the military, the future of energy and the future of the media.
Petersen is a past board member of the World Future Society, writes on the future of aviation for Professional Pilot magazine and is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. He is a former network member of the Global Business Network and a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. A provocative public speaker, he addresses a wide array of audiences around the world on a variety of future subjects. When he is not writing or speaking, Petersen invests in and develops resources for large, international projects and advanced technology start-up companies. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Speaking Inquiries: Email johnp@arlingtoninstitute.org
Penny Kelly is an author, teacher, speaker, publisher, personal and spiritual consultant, and Naturopathic physician. She travels, lectures, and teaches a variety of classes and workshops, and maintains a large consulting practice. She has been involved in scientific research and investigations into consciousness at Pinelandia Laboratory near Ann Arbor, MI.
