Category: Articles

Will the Dalai Lama go to Hell?

6/28/2013

An old school friend asked this question in a religious rant on Facebook, prompting me to have a sit-down of good ‘ol contemplation on the issue. To be honest, it was more about the "why is he going to hell" (according to christian beliefs), than "will he".

Of course one can't disagree with the stance of most/all atheists and 'neutrals', the guy is a model citizen of the world – almost the male version of Mother Teresa (you know what I mean), spreading nothing but joy and happiness - so why would such a great guy be doomed to the eternal fires of hell?

Here’s the thing though; the issue of God, or god. Who is this dude, and why, if he does in fact exist (in the way Christians believe in him), then why would he send such a great guy like His Holiness to hell. What kind of a god punishes good?

Dalai Lama with Archbishop Tutu. Even Tutu - ALL of us, will be accountable to God. Image from globalpost.com

> World belongs to humanity, not this leader, that leader or that king or prince or religious leader. World belongs to humanity.
> The purpose of our lives is to be happy.
- Dalai Lama

God

So, one day God took a risk and decided to create the world, the heavens and the earth (no small feat, even for him – he did rest on the seventh day). He then took an even bigger risk: he created Man, and endowed him with the gift of free will.

Let me put it to you another way: one day, God decided to have children. With the gift of free will, his children then turned away from him and worshiped other gods and idols – this you can interpret as the most dominant aspect of your life.

This of course is no ordinary story. God loves us, all of us, and with that – taking another risk, to put his heart out there and be rejected time and time again, and to feel that pain…

It IS a relationship. When people speak of a relationship with God, they MEAN a relationship. It goes both ways. Only God has already professed his love for us, already forgiven our innumerable sins – If only we were to acknowledge him as the one true God.

So, regarding the Dalai Lama (or any good person who also happens to be a non-believer) God created a home for him and his children to live in, but let me ask this:

If heaven is our ultimate home, then why would God allow people to dwell in his house when they do not acknowledge him?

He gave us the choice. For those people (even those who do good), who worship other gods, or recognize a different ‘spiritual parent’ – so to speak, they are destined to carry on along that road. They chose NOT to live in the house (Kingdom) of God, and elect to stay in a different house.

So, if there is only a heaven and a hell, then there is only one place for those who do not dwell in heaven.

This is not easy to accept, by any means.

The thing is, even for Christians, doing good deeds and even being a regular attendee of church, will not guarantee your place in heaven. The truth is nothing we do will ever be enough, because being born into this world – means we were born into sin. Man welcomed sin into the world. And there is no room for sin in heaven. And you may have heard - NO man is without sin.

Sin
Whatever is not of God, is sin. [Romans 3:23 - everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence] This is rather hard to accept.

Matthew 12:30 >> "{Jesus} Whoever is not with me is against me..."
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 >> "After all, it is none of our business to judge outsiders. God will judge them."

To be with God, we can only offer ourselves as living sacrifices. God is in love with us, he is after our hearts, but WE deserted him. Spiritually, Christians are destined to be the Bride of Christ (you've probably heard this one before), but think of it as a groom awaiting his bride who constantly cheats on him... here he is, offering and professing his Love forever and always, but we keep turning our back and him. So how are to live in the house of God when we refuse to accept him

If we only make the decision to open ourselves up to him… this will NOT ensure an easy life, not by a long shot; it means a life wherein you are at constant odds with your human nature, and the battle between the spiritual and the physical is one which is waged every day.

In other words - were it not for Jesus and God's mercy - we would ALL be headed for one place - and that place is not heaven.

>> Recommended reading: Wild at Heart by John Eldredge<<

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.
- Winston Churchill

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
I was at this time of living, like so many Atheists or Anti-theists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
- C.S. Lewis

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.
- G.K. Chesterton

Some interesting reading:

The story goes that a Buddhist monk apparently died and came back to life... and his life and beliefs have been changed forever.
Link to Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu's translated testimony (from Cambodian): 'Back from the Dead'
Some debunking of the story - one needs to be skeptical about these things: Debunking Monk's resurrection

‘The story that follows is simply a translation of a taped testimony from a man with a life-changing story. It is not an interview or a biography, but simply the words from the man himself. Different people react in different ways when they hear this story. Some are inspired, some skeptical, a few will mock and ridicule, while some others have even been filled with rage and anger, convinced these words are the ravings of a mad man or an elaborate deception. Some Christians have opposed the story simply because the radical and miraculous events described herein do not fit their feeble image of an Almighty God.’
- The Asia Harvest website

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Life Moments

6/13/2013

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My first post back, and I must say there really is such a thing as "car-lag", the car version of jetlag... Anyway here's something random I wrote whilst on my travels with family and friends, along with some of what I've seen recently:

A photo from a while ago, from another trip. A Namibian semi desert sunrise

Just like a drop of water or small splinter overwhelms an ant, so could one equate life defining events we experience and later describe as “pivotal” in our lives… it thusly inspired one grey haired man to exclaim, with pointed finger, “It’s all relative”.

When you think back on your life you may well recognize several or more “way-points” which greatly influenced the evolution of you. Some of those points will be bright with achievement, or dark with sorrow or failure even, but the ones in between are a little more subtle - in and amongst all the boring bits. They come and go and sometimes pass us by due to untimely distraction or stubbornness on our part, when we’re so set in our ways. They may be shocking and surprising; the modern day ‘intervention’ coming to mind, or they may come in the form of a soft whisper, if we’re attentive enough to lend a spiritual ear.

On a hike one morning in summer in Kalk Bay. If the hike doesn't grab your breath, the view just might!

Caving in Cape Town with a few friends some weeks back. This is Jason as we emerged safely on the other side after traversing through the bowls of the mountain (near Lakeside)

Roadside pic: sunrise in Botswana - the morning we left Gaborone...

To some who are willing to see, to look past the obvious, morsels of treasure could well be found. In great detective stories they talk about ‘knowing what to look for’ – and the same could be said in the case of ‘life moments’ or just life in general… if you’re in that place where you’re either looking for change, affirmation of something or a blunt tap to steer you in the right direction. If you’re looking for it, whatever it may be, you’ll see it, nestling within simple conversation, or the words unspoken. Sometimes, it’s an event itself – maybe not even happening to you, perhaps you’re only an observer, learning from the lessons of others…

Roadside pic: or rather, a 'road ahead' pic... traveling on the N3 from Johannesburg to Durban

As a writer, it’s easy to observe, but getting involved and allowing myself to be moved by the things I see and people I meet are essential, fundamental. Our evolution and growth depend on it. It doesn’t always come easily, because sometimes we can be too settled, distracted, or maybe we’re afraid of change or comfortable in our ways that we just tend to get in our own way…

Anyway, a great story inevitably surrounds a great character (insert yourself here), overcoming, achieving, and most of all, living. You may not always get what you want, but in becoming the best character, you must first overcome... to be forged.

Roadside pic: on the N2 in the Eastern Province. The scenery makes it worth the drive, but not the road. FYI many potholes, roadworks & livestock intersections (when a cow/donkey/sheep wonders across the road)... rural SA!

Special Mention:

Another congrats to Jonathan and Colleen. Fantastic. Blessed. Inspiring... lump in throat and laugh out loud stuff!

Also: Congrats to Tebs and Bontle... simply beautiful! Yes people, this was a two wedding hit and run trip!
(*All pics in this post taken by me... - And I thank you!*)

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The Future of Art

4/4/2013

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Labyrinth - from wallpapers.free-review.net

Is Art stagnating?

Where is modern art going? Will we ever see another Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Modigliani, Picasso, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh or Pollack?

Logically, when you think of it in context, my instincts says “NO”… they were all innovators (paying specific attention to painting here) – pioneers, but has everything that can be done in the art of ‘paint of canvass’, already been accomplished. Of course that’s what the challenge is for today’s artists – to be the next big thing, to forge a new path, a new direction in their field.

Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that too many people want to be the next great artist… just hear me out here.

Here’s what I mean: The oldest art school in the world, still active today, is a little over two hundred years old, yet in its early days it’s pretty safe to say that few people knew about it (although art schools existed as far back as the Middle ages - VanEyck in Flanders f.e. 13 -1400's. (Michelangelo, just by the way, learned through early apprenticeships, first as a 13 year old working under Florence painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, and then under a retired sculptor, creating his first major sculpture at the age of 17 - The Battle of the Centaurs.)
Then you think about how many art schools there are in the world today, anyone with vague artistic flair can apply, and a percentage of those applicants will manage to forge a career in the art world, most finding their place, or niche, within the corporate/commercial world.

What this means is that art has grown exponentially in the last century, accessible to every household – which is, for clarification, a VERY GOOD thing. Many will argue that that was (and was for the renaissance crowd) the ultimate goal of those earlier pioneers – to bring art to every person. Art is part of life. Without art, the world would be an unliveable place for most. Plainly put, we need art as an outlet of our creative selves… the sad reality of it though, is that all forms of global art forms might have diluted the craft.

The trouble now is distinguishing the good from the brilliant, and then there are the blatant publicity stunts… (I’m not a fan of blank white walls or installation art – using light fixtures for instance). Media has played a huge part in the dilution of the craft.

I think there are many new forms that have popped up recently that grab me – performance art (using a large crowd of people) as well as sand art (creating pictures and stories using sand on an illuminated screen). And yet, can we say that there is a definitive new art form or artist/painter, who is doing something new and revolutionary, and will be talked about for many years to come, much in the same vein as the artists of old. I heard it put a different way: The experts and genuinely gifted artists of today are pushing the envelope – but are they just doing it in incremental fashion – a little at a time. Where is the giant leap forward (or sideways) in the thinking and/or application on creating something people have never seen before?

I admittedly am not on the pulse of what’s the most spoken about thing in the art world right now, but like many, am very receptive and attentive to it, always on the lookout for something that will grab my attention whilst also admiring the works of old.

When you think about it, Art as we know it today, where everyone can say they know an artist, is very new – yes it has been around for as long as people have – noting rock paintings etc… but artists in the truest and purist sense of the word were always rare and in certain places revered, they certainly were not on virtually every street corner, so in a way it’s a catch 22 scenario… you want art to be present in some form or another in every household, but I for one, still want that something new, which will be universally recognised as something no one has ever seen before.

Some great photography - Sadly I can't recall where I found this image - although I believe its from somewhere on theChive

My prediction:

The next great artist or art form (in the purest sense) will come from Africa. I’m not saying that just because I’m African but because I believe it’s the most untapped resource in the global context. Admittedly though, I do say this more out of hope and prayer.

For it to happen, something in the art industry must be corrected; that of the “classification system”. You may have, once upon a time, come a upon a curio in your day, I speak specifically of those wooden animal statuettes. You can go around, round up 100 to 1000 people and give them all a lump of wood and say “carve something that will sell” – I’m betting you’ll only find a couple worth keeping (let alone worthy of a sale), yet this industry (somehow has been shunted from labelled as sculpturing) is relegated by the art industry and labelled “Arts & Crafts”. Just because someone doesn’t own a degree or even a formal education (specifically in the Arts), does not mean that person’s work is less good, or less relevant. That individual was inspired by a variety of things, most times pure circumstance, whatever the case; the result is a piece of art which they have toiled over, more often than not with their entire livelihood at stake… Just the other day I saw paintings of a 5 year old American boy selling for thousands of dollars (and that with no tertiary training); hence formal education has little to do with the product.

It says something that practically all the great artists were poor in their day, some even trading their works for a meal… living, creating, day by day…

So, to conclude; on the earlier question of art stagnating, and thence the future of Art...
Art has been described as an indefinable and boundless thing/form, meaning the possibilities are endless, and as is so often the case when initially exploring a theory on a topic (in this case), one is enlightened and finds new avenues. Here's a quote of an artist friend of mine who was happy to share his opinion on what the future holds:

The next great artist and art form will be found in the digital environment, is my opinion. We are still in an experimental stadium... Technique is taking all over, so obviously this also will happen in art…
- Joachim Wilbers

So, the Digital environment then, as the world wades through the plethora of new technology and how best to apply/implement it in/to our lives - so Art is in a veritable stage of self rediscovery (hence the labyrinth image) - exploring where it will venture to next. If you're still in the dark on this, then I urge you to explore it. Here's some images and quick links into this realm - the future:

Digital Art - (& mini Artist Feature)

"Fear" - by Joachim Wilbers

All these works and more (including landscapes) can be found on Joachim Wilbers' site in the 'New Creations/latest' set

JoachimArtist.net
JoachimArtist blog
Wanderbach on Facebook
Virtual Gallery -- (this is really cool!)

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Skateistan

2/28/2013

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The Skateboarding revolution in Afghanistan

I've covered a few depressing stories and written some sad articles of late - even my last one was on a fictional TV series dealing with an apocalyptic event... so I thought I'd infuse a bit of beauty and inspiration here. The wave of young skateboarders in Afghanistan.
They call themselves Skateistan - I didn't know much about them even after I saw the image above. I saved that image (from theChive.com) because it grabbed me. I'm not much of a Skateboarder myself, I tried when I was 6 yrs old, I fell, a lot, and then my Dad drove over my skateboard in the garage, and even though we fixed it somehow, I took it as a sign that this was not for me... Surfing on the other hand I have also tried - and I like that... although surf boards can be pricy.
Anyway, enough about me. these young girls, yes girls, look to be skating in some place that is very dangerous, (because of the height, not the country) but the key above all is quite simply the smiles.
I can't imagine living in Afghanistan, but I think its safe to presume there's little to cheer about, so an initiative was started, an NGO project targeting children between the ages of 5 and 15. It is a non-profit and independent initiative that has since expanded from Kabul to Cambodia and includes access to education.
The reason for the focus on the girls is simple - Afghanistan is notorious for being one of the worst countries for women to live in. According to their website 40% of students in Skateistan are female, many of them having joined against the wishes of their family, their fathers in particular.

Skateistan Girls - from their website skateistan.org

Instructor Oliver with quite possibly the youngest girl student (image allso from the website)

Hanifa, Madina and Parisa make the first Afghanistan Skateboard

The original instructor members are Oliver Percovich (Founder & Executive Director), Max Henninger (Former Deputy Director), Shams Razi (Former Afghan Country Manager) and part time volunteer Sharna Nolan
(Former Project Officer)
They receive a number of sponsorships as well as backing from several European embassies and at least one Foreign office.
The Skateistan project was started by Percovich in 2007 after visiting the country early that year (bringing along his skateboards). The NGO has become something of a global affair since then and continues to grow and inspire.
If you're interested to donate to organization, or just want to know more about them, I implore you to visit the website at www.skateistan.org, it's guaranteed to open your eyes. I was privileged enough to see a short documentary on this project... Kids are kids, they want to explore, to play, to learn.
Stories like this remind me that there is hope yet for humanity...

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The Afterbirth of a nation reborn

2/14/2013

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South Africa today: the state of the nation

The Daily Maverick online

Sometime late last year I wrote a short piece on South Africa and my (shared with countless other citizens) frustrations with the government (whom I did not vote for), bickering politicians and every other ill in this country - (the piece was inspired by the Marakana massacre).

I felt compelled to write another piece.

As the rape and thence murder of Anene Booysens continues to illicit a varied reaction across SA and the world, the deeper issue of the culture of violence permeating in SA has taken center stage .

There are so many problems, so I’ll dive right on top of one of the biggest; though to be honest, no one could really change this in a substantial way – some problems take time to sort out, and some pain will only become manageable with even more time, the scars though, will remain, for a very very long time…

I speak of Apartheid of course, and the fact that the nation of the New South Africa was born out of this heinous and evil construct. The nation which emerged was fraught with problems, but equally so, alive with possibility (to use a marketing catch phrase) and boundless potential.

With such a fractured and divisive past, our subsequent number one enemy has always been ourselves. We know what we can achieve, and have achieved, but division persists with too many corrupt officials/government members, and an inactive public. However, everything I’m saying, and can and want to say, has already been said, so I’ll throw in some quotes here

This is from a recent article on the Daily Maverick online newspaper:

“We don’t know to what extent the frustration of young and old males, at their wits end in a society that has discarded them, where they have no jobs and women tend to get things quicker exacerbates the situation. That is not a cause, but could be an underlying issue behind incidence of sexual violence.”

“We are notorious as one of few societies where children who can hardly walk and grandmothers are raped,” Cooper said. Women who are intellectually challenged have also been victims of gang rapes and exploitation.

“Ours is a violent society. The first resort is a violent reaction. We think afterwards about the consequences and that is a problem,” Cooper said.

The Marikana massacre, rampant service delivery protests, murder, rapes, road deaths, police brutality and other horrors shock us when they happen, but society recovers and moves on quickly. Self-preservation takes precedence.

South Africa seems to be reacting to rape in the same way as to other forms of exploitation such as abuse of power and corruption. We are pounded daily with the rape of the public purse and the political elite using their positions to feather their own nests. As we already diagnosed, scandal fatigue is a new South African syndrome as acceptance of corruption as a norm has set in.

In all these instances, the powerful abuse the weak and society learns to look on dispassionately. This is a far cry from the society that stood up against a powerful oppressive regime and conquered it, where community activism was the frontline defence against tyranny.

The agony and death of Anene Booysen is a signal of a sick society, our society. Hers is more than a story of the violent rape of an innocent. Anene Booysen is our country. The abuse and defilement must stop. We must stop it.

Link to full article here. "Cooper" referenced and quoted above is a doctor and psychiatrist.

Of all the varied cultures we have in South Africa, the one we’re tending to cultivate and nurture the most in this near twenty year democracy, is violence.

Here, where societal inequality is unparalleled (just the other day I watched a magazine program, showing off the a beautiful palatial mansion with sea views, a swimming pool and an entertainment deck – for the kids to entertain their friends with table tennis or snooker etc… meanwhile a few kilometers away, there are people who don’t even have a toilet in their own tiny house), dividing the country into the “have” and “have not’s”. As one local white comedian/ventriloquist put it “I grew up with the ‘we hate apartheid, but we benefited from it’ group”… the current democratically elected government has seemingly just left its people to fend for themselves – “If you want wealth, go get it”. This mentality, of every man for himself, has perpetuated from government down throughout South Africa, where we only seem to galvanize when our national sports team takes the field.

There’s a lot of angst, frustration, unresolved anger, hurt and passion brewing beneath the surface, issues that weren’t dealt with in the Truth and reconciliation Commission (which should not have ended so soon) for example. Most uneducated black people (a result of every SA gov.) are too quick to haul out the race card whenever something goes against them, and most white people are too afraid/ashamed to talk about the past, and pain and suffering they know little of. I don’t know what it’s like to be forced from my home under an oppressive government and dangerous security police as I’ve grown up in a sheltered environment, mostly in the new South Africa, but older generations of my family can speak of such experiences – and that’s just one aspect… We’ve come out of an evil regime, and simply tried to live normally, act as we usually would if there was never an apartheid to speak of, but the scar on the nation as a whole is too deep to ignore.

Plainly put, there’s very little dialogue between portions of society, a place or moment where one or many can vent their concerns and frustrations. So everyone seems to talk amongst friends, or keep their thoughts to themselves.

I finished compiling and writing this article shortly after an introspective stroll down the Sea point promenade. Sitting there on a bench watching ships disappear and emerge from the mist off shore, looking down into the deep blue of the Atlantic, feeling the refreshing breeze which took the sting out of a hot day…

What we see is nothing new; pain is pain, the world keeps turning and simple things will always be made to look complicated. Tides will continue to ebb and flow, and we will struggle on, always finding ourselves as our own worst foe.

The violence which has become common place in SA, and which for so many abroad is synonymous with us, is perhaps the civil war we should have had but didn’t. It was a miracle that we averted war – a poster for peace and reconciliation – but the same tools we carried in anticipation for conflict and survival, we now use on ourselves, frothing up in various forms, from drug and alcohol abuse to violence against our fellow men and women, compounded further by corruption, poverty, AIDS, all forms of crime, a lack of education, and thence morals and ethics - it's a different, passive kind of civil war.

It's always amazing to me, just a few days ago my family played host to some friends from Switzerland, and their impression, along with countless others who've visited our shores, was that South African's are a warm and loving people, always ready to accommodate... so, when we put our best foot forward we can be example's for the world, but at the same time, our internal conflict can be the shame of the world - or at least one example of it...

During the last days of apartheid, so many people prayed for a peaceful end, the country was a nervous hive of tension and prayer,as most sought God's guidance in our most trying time... how many though continued, and are still praying for the wellbeing of the nation?

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Passion for Adventure & Exploration

1/11/2013

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What is it about mountains, rivers, valleys, cliffs, jungles, frozen no-mans-lands and every other area most would regard as unlivable? What is it that draws us closer and makes us forsake all rationality and venture off into the desert to climb a dune and listen to the sounds of silence?

A few days ago Sir Ranulph Fiennes (former SAS Special forces captain, second cousin to actors Ralph and Joseph, author of The Feather Men - which was turned into a film starring Clive Owen and Robert De Niro) departed Cape Town on yet another expedition. Setting sail for Antarctica aboard the ice strengthened Agulhas, their mission: to traverse the frozen continent in the dead of winter (a feat previously regarded by all authorities who cared, as impossible - a veritable suicide mission as the human body was not made to withstand such conditions - the entire trek will be conducted in pitch darkness because by the time they get there, the south pole will be in the season of no sunlight). Apparently technology has advanced sufficiently to allow the six man team the "go-ahead" nod by the commonwealth. So it becomes a "slightly-less-than-suicide mission".
Among his many feats, summiting Everest on his 3rd attempt being one of them (at 65yrs of age), he and a small team completed the Transglobe some 30 yrs ago circumnavigating the globe by passing over the North & South poles - and remain the only ones to have done so (its in the Guinness book of world records). Although this is surely their most dangerous challenge. Team member Anton Bowring (63) stated this on his blog

"It will be extraordinary if something bad doesn't happen during the crawl across 2,400 miles of ice in temperatures of -70°C and perpetual darkness where crevasses can swallow up a 25-ton bulldozer in the blink of a frosted eye."

Here's a link to the trailer for the film Killer Elite, which was inspired by The Feather Men.

Another adventurer and Laureus Award winner/Committee member, my countryman now residing in Swiss country, Mike Horn - He won the award for circumnavigating the globe unassisted along the the equator - is currently conducting his Pangaea Expeditions project. This initiative takes young people on adventures to highlight the plight of the world and open the eyes of the young to the magnificence that exists waaay off the beaten track - a world which they will inherit, a world in desperate need of protection and preservation.
Of course these men are at the extreme end of the spectrum. For most of us, the spirit of adventure entails a hike up a mountain or a week long camping/road trip, bundu-bashing and star gazing among other things. And you don't need to be the next Erden Eruç, Nellie Bly, Bear Grylls, Freya Stark, Amelia Erhart et al. to feel itchy feet every now and then.

Mike Horn paddling down the Amazon river alone - a journey lasting 6 months during his Laureus Award winning expedition.

The human body was made to move, and within most of us lies that will, that flame - a certain untamed vein in our hearts.

Who knows why we can go for a journey to a far off desert, experience hellish heat, car problems, customs problems and sand in our shoes... but still, once we're back home and after a short while, the desert calls to us. its your heart yearning for that vast openness.

C.S Lewis was known to write about how the world was meant to be - without sin. He mentions how the colors were brighter, the air is so much cleaner, sounds more audible, every sense heightened as you feel more alive... perhaps, just perhaps - whenever we experience the great outdoors, and I do mean great, whenever we traverse a land where our treads in the sand or undergrowth will quickly be reclaimed by nature, if they're visible at all - perhaps it is this that is a taste of the world as we're meant to experience it, a shade of how it is truely meant to be. Actually, scratch that; it is, plain and simple. the craving our body feels,its simply the un-quenched thirst for the unspoilt. Because we've drunk from the fresh running waters, seen the clear sky's to the horizon, clung by our fingertips on some craggy cliff, and sat in utter silence in the overwhelming knowledge of just how small and insignificant we really are (when was the last time you saw an unpolluted view of the Milky Way in a cloudless, moonless night sky?

For the adventurer, and every journeyman and woman inside us all (however big or small their voice of influence may be), the world is there to be seen and experienced. It is us, city folk, civilized people who complicate and over materialize our lives to no end.

Traveling may not be in everyone's blood, but just think of where we'd be, or wouldn't (as is most likely the case) be without people of such an uninhibited disposition. Yes of course there are drawbacks - for instance there are only so many places left in the world, untouched by human hands and feet; a large portion of untouched land in Gabon on the west coast of Africa has been cordoned off to protect it, at least retaining some patch of what is now sacred land. On the flip side, there are so many marvels that would've been forever forgotten had it not been for explorers, whether by intent or their own good fortune, to discover and rediscover forgotten cities like Troy, Hatra, Carthage, Sukhothai and Petra. Thankfully, brave men and women constantly set out to push their own limits and test the magnitude of their capabilities and in doing so, aid us in furthering the collective regard we have for what is possible - because the more they explore and discover, the more we find out about ourselves.

The once lost city of Petra made famous by a number of films such as Indiana Jones and Transformers 2 (yes I was conned into seeing it too). Pic from packed-up.com

The wild calls us, we make vigils and pilgrimages to it every so often, because in reality, that is where we are from. Our bodies are from the earth, and that is a connection we best nurture.

I could continue for a lot longer, but instead I'll leave you with some timeless imagery (going a bit left field here) delivered by a quote from a brilliant film and an equally brilliant, if haunting book penned by Cormac McCarthy: 'No Country for old Men'. This is from the final scene where Sheriff Ed Tom tells his wife about two dreams he had...

"... The second one, it was like we was both back in older times and I was on horseback goin' through the mountains of a night. Goin' through this pass in the mountains. It was cold and there was snow on the ground and he rode past me and kept on goin'. Never said nothin' goin' by. He just rode on past... and he had his blanket wrapped around him and his head down and when he rode past I seen he was carryin' fire in a horn the way people used to do and I could see the horn from the light inside of it. 'Bout the color of the moon. And in the dream I knew that he was goin' on ahead and he was fixin' to make a fire somewhere out there in all that dark and all that cold, and I knew that whenever I got there he would be there. And then I woke up..." -- No Country for old Men, 2007

-Article by Steven Benjamin.

The links to Ranulph Feinnes and Mike Horn's official websites:
http://www.ranulphfiennes.co.uk/
http://www.mikehorn.com/en/mike-horn/

Why I write...

Posted a few days ago, here's a piece I wrote on 'Why I write...' published on Shinazy Linda's blog BOBB - 'Bitchin old Boomer Babe'. Click HERE

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Killer Robots: when Sci-fi meets reality, today

12/19/2012

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Wallpaper from cyberdyne-systems.fr

article by Steven Benjamin (2012)

When Terminator was released in the mid-eighties, it was hailed and would later prove to be a trend setting film, re-establishing the thought process of science fiction films. A key element in it's success, was the plausibility, or perceived plausibility of some of the events.

It wasn’t that people thought “Robots from the future will send terminators back in time to kill off our future resistance fighter leaders, effectively winning the war before it begins”, but everyone recognized the distinct possibility that sometime in the future, if technology continued on the progressive path it was, and still is on, artificial intelligence and ‘robots’, could bite back eventually. In other words, it wasn’t that difficult to connect the proverbial dots, much like the thought provoking film ‘Children of Men’ – chronicling a near future wherein women are unable to give birth – an occurrence that has been noted and experienced in various areas for a variety of different reasons.

So, how close are we to developing a system that mirrors that of the fictional ‘SkyNet’ or ‘Cyberdyne Systems’? The truth is, we’re not that far off…

Drone: UAV - unmanned aircraft currently in military use.

Tesla book cover.

The first thing that might come to mind when you hear “Killer Robots”, is most likely Drones, aka UAV’s (Unmanned aerial vehicles), scout machines, drone boats etc. which are developed and used by several countries including the USA, Israel, China, Russia, Germany, et al. Basically very large remote controlled airplanes in military use.

Nicola Tesla (the man/genius who gave us the AC motor, neon lights and the remote control, among many other inventions) spoke of unmanned aerial fleets as early as 1915, so the idea is anything but new.

Killer Robots though, are something quite different. Whereas Drones always have a person operating it via satellite from some military base, ‘Killer Robots’ are autonomous – meaning there is little or no human involvement when the machine does inevitably pull the trigger.

The Iron Dome, Israel’s missile defense system is one such machine/program which operates autonomously, ‘sensing’ incoming rocket fire and relaying messages to operators (human) who then take action.

Many human and civil rights watches have led inquiries and protests of such weapon use, calling for greater care and conducting further intensive investigations, stating that in a few decades, the global military scene could be largely autonomous… And how safe would we all feel then?

Here's a look at some, albeit crude looking, robots from DARPA - think of them as today's version of SkyNet... I suggest you Google DARPA on look for their videos on youtube, such as the Big Dog, humanoids and the Sand Flee (an small autonomous robots that can jump onto rooftops or scale fences)...

Special Forces on tumblr

This is simply natural progression. Military's have sought and trained the veritable perfect soldiers, legions of Special Forces, then they sought to create ideal weapons to kill with minimum risk to human life (on the side of the ones doing the killing anyway)… meaning the highly contested chess match of the world’s super powers can now make their moves and issue their action orders – to be carried out almost instantaneously…

And that, without even the touch of a button, because ‘autonomous’ means the machines will pre-empt the decision, practically eliminating the human power game and guidance.

Effectively this will not only redefine war, but it will redefine what constitutes an act of war, infringing on the rules of engagement, and removing much of the element of accountability in the inevitable transgression of the parameters of said war.
- “If you have an autonomous robot then it’s going to make decisions who to kill, when to kill and where to kill them. The scary thing is that the reason this has to happen is because of mission complexity and also so that when there’s a problem with communications you can send a robot in with no communication and it will decide who to kill, and that is really worrying to me.” – Noel Sharkey (2008) – Prof. of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at the University of Sheffield.

Many, if not all of the world’s super powers have committed war crimes, including the very initial (catalyst) act of war itself – Vietnam, Iraq… yet they’ve gone unpunished and largely unnoticed by an uninformed or misinformed public. So how much can the powers-that-be get away with in the future… and what happens when that power is taken from them by the very things they created…

It could be called the ‘Frankenstein complex’…

Man, we’ve always been our own worst enemy.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Autonomous Robots have also been deployed in disaster relief efforts, and let’s not forget bomb disposal robots. DARPA (the USA’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is often associated with such projects.

Tokyo Institute of Technology’s humanoid swimming robot

Many robots are developed with humble and often good intentions, but governments more often than not take those designs, concepts and prototypes and inevitably weaponize them.

From humble beginnings, SkyNet was born…

Welcome to the bizarre, and the creepy of modern robotics, and think to yourself; if this is what they publicise, what they let us know about, what don’t we know, and what the heck is already in use today? In any event, however crude these 'bots may look, give them 10/15 years...

“We build but to tear down. Most of our work and resource is squandered. Our onward march is marked by devastation. Everywhere there is an appalling loss of time, effort and life. A cheerless view, but true.”
- Nikola Tesla

For a list of 10 inventions by Nikola Tesla, click here

Amendment (20/12/2012): Skynet does exist...

... and by that very name too! It is in actual fact a series, or "family", of satellites, the first of which, Skynet 1 was launched in 1969 (the series, which was last updated, or shall I say the youngest addition was welcomed to the family just a few days ago with the launch of Skynet 5 - *report TBC) - predating the fictional Terminator version by a decade and a half. FYI, the Brits and NATO 'owns' the family...
Of course we all know about satellites and the technology they possess - being able to look into your backyard, powerful enough to detect the color of your eyes etc... and that actual privacy is a remnant idea of the past - it is amazing however, just how powerless we are to this encroachment.
This is the type of information most people know about without actually truly knowing about it, though it was highlighted for me quite recently, and quite plainly, by a highly qualified industry insider, opening my eyes a bit wider to the devious ways of 'Big Brother'.

Predictions are widely set at 2060 - the time whereabouts the existence of a Technological singularity will emerge (a self aware AI supercomputer) - though I do have my own opinions and misgivings about this - beyond that date, experts believe the future to be, well, 'an unpredictable crapshoot' (my words)...
In man's continuous attempts to create an independent artificially intelligent entity, I keep asking myself "Why? For what purpose?" and "to what end?"

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Will the Dalai Lama go to Hell?

Some interesting reading:

Life Moments

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Skateistan

The Skateboarding revolution in Afghanistan

The Afterbirth of a nation reborn

South Africa today: the state of the nation

Passion for Adventure & Exploration

Why I write...

Killer Robots: when Sci-fi meets reality, today

Amendment (20/12/2012): Skynet does exist...

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