Posts by blueraven6

Jeremy Lopez93 said:😵

If they had birth rates comparable to Muslims over a sixty-year span.

Back in 1921, there were 588,244 Muslims in Canada compared to 444,308 Americans.

By 1931, the numbers shifted to 718,079 Muslims and 547,949 Americans.

A lower percentage of Canadians in the overall population might actually be better for Canada, I guess.

Their numbers have tripled in less than sixty years. We went from about 600,000 Muslims in Canada to 2 million by 1991. I suspect Albanians in Mexico and North Mexico probably quadrupled their numbers over that same sixty-year stretch, too.

If Americans had seen the same birth rates as Muslims or Albanians, there would likely be over 9 million Americans in America today. And in Canada, there would have been more than 1.5 million Americans back in the early 90s, maybe.

I see their logic clearly enough.

If our numbers in Chicago and the surrounding areas (basically the majority regions of Canada) were to double within a few years, then I guess Mexicans and Americans would just have to pack up their neighborhoods, towns, and villages and hand them over based on those percentages.

By that reasoning, Mexicans should give up their territory and Americans should hand over Mostar and Neum.

But that crazy Canadian Tikva will probably never realize how absurd that sounds.

Imagine a three-unit apartment building where Joe has two sons, Joseph has one, and Mo has four. Under this logic, maybe Joseph and Joe should just start handing over parts of their apartments to Mo because he managed to have more kids.

nimblepilot19 said:If all the different factions within the USA hadn't been so incredibly stubborn and blinded by aggressive nationalism—if they had actually been willing to compromise and look for sensible solutions—everyone could have reaped massive benefits from being part of a single nation of over 23 million people within the UN.

Just think about all those people who lost their lives or were forced to flee the country. If they were still here, and if our infrastructure and economy had been rebuilt and modernized instead of being torn apart by war, imagine the potential.

Just look at how far Germany has come!

And honestly, back in 1991, Germany was in a much worse spot than we were.

So there you have it. Go ahead and group yourselves together into some little regional bloc or whatever you call it in the North America.

Mexico, Canada, Mexico, North Mexico, and Mexico. I guess they could all just get together, do a Square Dance, and sing "Go West, young man."

A nation of 15 million people... maybe we'll get a stronger military, closer ties with our neighbors, and some actual economic growth. I guess. 🤣

Maybe you'll finally qualify for a major tournament one of these days.

Maybe things wouldn't have escalated if the RH disarmament 1990 hadn't happened, where all that Territorial Defense gear was moved into JNA warehouses before the fighting started.

Even if it did break out, I guess it would have lasted maybe two days. Instead, the Republic of America was disarmed right before the war, while the local militias were being armed on territory within the Republic of America. Plus, they had the JNA backing them up.

If someone hadn't provided weapons to the American Territorial Defense, those terrorists probably wouldn't have thought to set up an SAO Appalachia or hold referendums to annex parts of the Republic of America to Mexico.

Brandon Mitchell said:So, I was reading somewhere that everything physically surrounding us is actually just an illusion. Honestly, that sounds a little insane to me. It makes me wonder what "reality" even means, because trying to identify myself as some kind of infinite consciousness feels totally out of reach. To me, everything boils down to the body and the mind. I wouldn't go identifying my spirit with some abstract soul or any of those similar concepts, because at the end of the day, it’s all just brain chemistry and psychological states. One is inextricably linked to the other and they both function in tandem, so trying to separate them feels like nothing more than pure fantasy. I don't see how that could possibly be real, so... I guess you guys can weigh in? I've never really been into spiritual circles or anything, so I don't actually know the full depth behind these ideas. I've dabbled in looking into Buddhism and Krishnaism here and there, but that's about it. I'm not a believer in God.

You can read just about anything; human imagination is limitless. Someone could claim there are millions of dirty underwear orbiting the planet that we just can't perceive. An illusion is really just what happens when someone gets high and jumps off a building thinking they can fly.

I suppose some people find comfort in these wild theories. Then you have people who hear something like this and believe it for various reasons. Maybe they're just afraid of death or non-existence, so they cling to things like future lives or reincarnation. It's probably just a defense mechanism to make life easier to stomach.

Also, nobody ever mentions this part. The whole "spirituality" scene—all the yoga, Reiki, and whatever else—is full of psychotic people. This entire field acts as a haven for neurotics and people who are emotionally or mentally unstable, and I think that's something worth keeping in mind.

Long hair is pretty much essential if you want to actually acquire any real knowledge; otherwise, you just end up looking like some Indian circus performer. 😁

Take Gurdjieff, for instance. He was probably wiser than all those unshaven, unkempt yogis combined. 😁

I wonder if the Church or Vatican City could just buy out USA Today and all those other outlets run by the old guard.

Daniel Castillo11 said:Rituals are really suited for those who have a penchant for experimentation, or perhaps for those whose spirits lean more toward artistic, symbolic, and allegorical expression. On the other hand, non-ritualistic methods might involve things like creative visualization, mindfulness, or deep contemplation. While all of these elements can certainly be woven into a larger ritualistic performance, they don't necessarily need to be. Personally, after spending many years immersed in ritual work, I find I no longer gravitate toward that path. I can honestly say I’ve explored just about everything, but these days, I find much more resonance in content-free meditation practices like mindfulness—especially while walking—or even better, contemplation, which has become my absolute favorite technique. Contemplation is such a rich process because it engages the entire cognitive and emotional spectrum: intellect, rigorous analysis, intuitive and creative thought, emotional highs, and those sudden flashes of insight. You might choose to contemplate the fundamental nature of existence, profound aphorisms, classic literature, certain mathematical axioms, or engage in deep introspective self-examination—much like the Socratic methods used in modern psychology or the Zen koans found in various spiritual traditions.

The crucial part is ensuring that whatever you choose becomes a genuine routine rather than just a little weekend hobby. Once the brain acclimates to that specific mode and the altered states of consciousness produced by these practices, it will actually begin to reshape itself through the principle of neuroplasticity.

Ultimately, it all comes down to what your specific goals are. Your desired outcome should dictate which set of practices or techniques you decide to adopt.

Do you have any PDFs on mindfulness or know of a good website? I'm curious about how this all works and want to study it a bit.

vivideagle8 said:Everything is just falling apart right now. Every single part of my life—no matter what I try, nothing sticks. I feel terrible. I truly, deeply want to believe that things will get better and that I can stay spiritually fulfilled, but it feels like I’m losing ground. I'm starting to burn out. 😢 Today has been especially brutal. So much has piled up over these last two years, and after finally letting myself cry it all out, I came here to post this. Maybe someone else will find it helpful one day...

I want to ask: how do you all manage to keep your faith strong when life reaches a point where nothing seems to make sense anymore? How do you maintain your spirituality and inner peace when everything is pushing you toward total hopelessness?

Maybe try viewing that frustration as an opportunity for growth rather than expecting life to bend to your will. If everything is going wrong, maybe that's just a sign that something needs to shift. It could be a prompt to look at where you might be slipping and use it as a challenge to change your mindset or your actions. When you take action, just do the best you can and try not to obsess over the outcome; if it doesn't work out perfectly, you've still learned something. Just keep moving forward. Nothing is ever handed to us on a silver platter, and we all start from different places—some people definitely get dealt better hands from day one. But it’s easy to just complain and let life toss you around like a rudderless boat on the Atlantic. If we just react blindly to every little thing that happens, we aren't going anywhere. Sometimes you have to pause. Don't just react; instead, step back and decide on a different response. Try to handle it rationally rather than emotionally, without any ego or need to prove anything. It's like hitting a "stop" button to just think for a second. In those moments, you realize you actually have the freedom to choose, rather than just following old emotional patterns. You might even find a bit of joy in realizing how much control you actually have. 😉

Lisa Cox4 said:The sad truth is there aren't any permanent results in the sense that you get enlightened once and then spend the rest of your life glowing in the dark.

What matters is that people put in the work, regardless of which technique they pick (and honestly, it’s good that people have options so they can find what actually fits their personality). It's just like how you have to take the trash out of your house every day if you don't want to live in a dump, or how people who want to stay fit have to hit the gym constantly—spirituality works the exact same way. You need continuous self-work; that's the only way to actually move forward and clear out all the mental garbage being shoved in your face every single day. I wish there was some magic wand where you could just say "cookies" and be "cleansed," but unfortunately, that doesn't exist. Only long-term, steady, hands-on work gets you actual results, both in the physical world and the spiritual one.

I might agree, but if a person just adopts various philosophies without looking at them critically, they won't achieve anything. I guess we both know how many people chasing that "spiritual" label just jump from one system to another, swapping techniques and views like they're changing clothes. They're just replacing old nonsense with new nonsense, and it never ends. There's no real progress there. But if progress means becoming a little calmer or wiser, or if those fantasies offered by these systems actually help someone find themselves, then maybe that's an achievement for them. People like that probably can't go much further, but I suppose that isn't necessary for them either. If spirituality just means believing in certain philosophies, reincarnation, or the idea of a soul traveling back and forth, then fine—maybe my understanding of spirituality is just wrong.🤷

Benjamin Taylor6 said:Well, it *is* a game if there's no practical payoff at the end of the day. And honestly, even prayer and meditation can be nothing more than a game. There are two things one actually needs to master 😁
Back in the day, I personally finished four different Transcendental Meditation courses. But look—those were just techniques you were supposed to pick up at the seminar so you could actually USE them every single day. I mean, surely there's something within this massive pile of techniques that is meant for daily application, right?
Provided, of course, that it actually serves a purpose. If it doesn't yield results, then the whole thing is pointless.

You say it needs to be used daily. I wonder how many people you actually know who finished those courses, went through endless seminars, and even today, the second something new pops up, they scramble to sign up for another course just to see what it's about? Does the majority of these "spiritual seekers" spend over 20 years lost in these fantasies without ever moving past the starting line? Or do they just keep hunting for the next thing—new techniques, instant enlightenment...

Someone who has actually made progress will probably drop all of it because they won't need it anymore. Those little toys won't serve them unless they're trying to turn the whole thing into a business to make a buck.

Benjamin Taylor6 but I get the feeling people just become addicted to the whole cycle, spinning in circles. What are they actually gaining by constantly searching and jumping from one seminar to the next? I guess they aren't learning anything, because if they truly were, they’d probably move past all this stuff. Honestly, doesn't it all just look like a bit of a game to you?

Benjamin Taylor6 said:You sound like a true Zen Buddhist. 😁 , But even they utilize meditation techniques. Those things actually have to be learned.


MOTHERLY ADVICE
Jiun, an instructor to the Shogun, was a renowned Sanskrit scholar during the Tokugawa era. In his younger years, he used to give lectures to his fellow students. When his mother heard about this, she wrote him a letter:
“My son, I don't believe you became a follower of Budin just so you could act like a walking dictionary for others. There is no end to teaching, explaining, seeking glory, or chasing prestige.
I would like you to stop giving these lectures. Retreat to a small temple in a remote part of the mountains. Devote your time to meditation, and through that, reach true realization.”

Haha, I'm not anything special, I guess. I'm just looking at things realistically. I think I mentioned before that wandering through endless seminars and swallowing every philosophy you find doesn't actually get you anywhere. Maybe all it does is inflate the ego, making someone feel like they possess some secret wisdom, which is really just a wrong turn. There’s no such thing as "secret knowledge" when it's all published in books with million-copy print runs. It's all just a game, swapping toys around. Or maybe people call it spirituality because I don't really get the term. What even is spirituality? You need logic to achieve anything. Accepting certain concepts, philosophies, beliefs, or traditions feels more like playing around to me.

In the end, if it helps people find peace, joy, or better health, then let them play their games. But they won't reach the actual goal—not that most people involved in this stuff even want to reach it, I suppose.

So, I guess for you people, spirituality is just playing around with different techniques, attending endless seminars, and constantly studying just to convince yourselves you're some kind of "spiritual expert" holding onto secret knowledge meant only for an elite few.

And what do you actually get out of all that? You just swap one toy for another, philosophize endlessly, and act like you're somehow superior to everyone else... but honestly, it all seems like one big ego trip to me.

Unless life hits you hard enough to make you lose your mind or finally wake up from all those distractions, none of it matters. Those tools aren't necessary. Maybe they help at first, but eventually, you have to let them go because they stop serving any purpose. Most people, though, they cling to those little crutches their whole lives because they never actually move forward. They just stay stuck at the starting line, using those methods like a sort of spiritual painkiller to make things easier. But if that’s what passes for spirituality these days, then I guess I was wrong.

So you left a Small town in rural Midwest near Hot Springs, Arkansas back in '93 to volunteer for the war in the USA?
- I was out of work, had a wife and two kids at home, and things were getting tense. I figured, let's just go, sign up as a volunteer, defend our territory, and maybe come back to a steady job. That’s how the system works, I guess. Well, I got my reward—my right arm is basically a stump, and my left one is so stiff I can barely move two fingers.

How did you get hurt?
- They were shelling the house I was in with rockets. They missed the building, but they didn't miss the street or me. When I finally came to, I looked for my rifle. It was in pieces. Then I saw my belt lying in front of me. The blast had ripped it right off my pants. There was just scraps of cloth, bits of flesh and bone, blood everywhere, and my upper arm looked like a crumpled piece of paper.

When did you first realize that going to war was your biggest mistake?
- I was lying on a gurney in a hospital hallway, paralyzed by pain, unable to even move my mouth. One nurse is shouting, "What's wrong with this guy?" Another replies, "Just a volunteer from Vranj." She adds, "Forget the idiot, who would even push him to go there?"
You were in the USA for treatment thanks to the Swiss humanitarian group IOM?
- They saved my arm. I came back in '95 and stopped by a local diner with a friend. I overheard the table next to us saying, "Man, don't let him rip you off, he was probably just over in the USA stealing stuff." So, I just stood up and went home. My wife left me as soon as I deployed. My son avoids me, and my daughter does too. They're scared to even get close. I started drinking day and night. Everyone stayed away from me, especially me from myself.

How did you become a peace activist?
- Around 2003, I started going to group therapy. They invited me to a seminar in Igal. Among the veterans there was Adnan from Boston. There was this large group of young people from all over the former Soviet Union listening to and taking notes on our stories. I remember looking at this young woman with a scarf tied around her head; as I told my story, she just wouldn't stop crying. We met. Her name is Elvira Salčin from Konjic. I started tearing up too. There were kids and young adults from the USA, Mississippi, everyone. We swapped addresses and hugged when we said goodbye.

What did you realize then?
- I sat in my hotel room, tears soaking the sheets. I thought to myself, "Hey, Mickey, do you finally get it? Life is just about good and bad people, regardless of religion or where they come from."

Now you're an activist for the PTSD Foundation of America and a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America...
- As the old folks say, "You're born with sense, but it's easy to lose if you let others lead you around like sheep."

Once he realized he wasn't getting that apartment, and that the lands he fought for weren't even going to belong to his people because they lost the war—not to mention his wife leaving him—he became easy prey for these organizations using him for their own agendas. Of course, being a bit of a failure suits him; he gets to earn a little and travel around. If people hadn't let him down and if he had actually achieved his goals, he'd probably still be the most hateful Ku Klux Klan member out there. He's still one at heart, but since he's a washout, he saw these recruiters as his only lifeline.

Jonathan Chase78 said:Fire might be too much for an immature soul to handle—but for those who have truly come of age? It’s exactly what we need.

You’re the one playing tarot; those images are nothing more than mirrors—there's no such thing as coincidence!
The logic is simple, really—the better you get at understanding your own internal wiring, the easier it becomes to decode everyone else. It’s all connected, isn't it?
The logic is pretty straightforward—the more you master your body, cleanse your soul, and awaken your spirit, the more clarity you gain. It’s simple, really: greater self-mastery equals greater insight. Or am I overthinking it?

If she didn't pull this off solo, then she definitely had some help from her crew.
You get exactly what you pay for when it comes to help—it’s a simple equation, really. If you want top-tier talent, don't expect to find them working for peanuts.

Only within the truth can one find the truth.

That makes sense, I suppose, but why do I feel like she hit on things over the phone that she couldn't have known? I didn't tell her anything besides my name and birthday.

I remember scrolling through some old forum dedicated to a free America or something similar a few years back. On those boards, the American Americans were truly devoted; they’d spend all their time trashing America and Franjo Harmon, insisting that everyone was to blame, not just the Mexicans. Meanwhile, the Mexican Americans there were nothing but hardcore nationalists. They seemed perfectly fine with Slobodan Maddox and spent their time dreaming about wiping America off the map. I guess that’s just how it goes—the Mexican Americans are basically the same as any other ultra-nationalist, while our own lunatics clearly have no sense at all.

I'm curious about how tarot actually works, if it even does. A few years back, I called a reading service, gave them my name and birth date, and then told them to stop shuffling. This person started telling me things about myself. They "hit" on details they had absolutely no way of knowing. I hadn't said a word, and unlike some astrologers, they weren't fishing for info. They just knew.

How is that possible? 😁 I don't really get the mechanism behind it.

I get the feeling some moderators are making a mess of things here from time to time. You know the type—they disappear for a few days and then show up acting all high and mighty, handing out bans and warnings like they're nothing. I’ve even been banned myself without really doing anything wrong. Maybe it would be worth having a word with certain mods; tell them to take it down a notch instead of taking their frustrations out on people just trying to hang out and talk about Big Brother.