Mel Hopkins

I do as well! I bookmarked the senators's website to follow up. And yes, I think pursuing direct advertising is the best and allow google and amazon to supplement!

Now this is wonderful news! I was reading something today, not sure what but "magical key" was in the text... so, thank you!

That's just it! We are NOT locked into this particular timeline. We choose to be. And yes but it wasn't near... I was a goner but returned. I guess my body was viable enough to inhabit it once again. My experience in eternity was nothing like you described especially "time" because there isn't any. Yes we all remain who we are but there is a oneness so there's no need to individuate in eternity. Or maybe it's not possible while you're in eternity because you are ONE... Some people say my earthly perception of what eternity would be like influenced my experience but it did not. I grew up in the church - fire-brimstone church and when I returned to the ONE it was nothing like preachers talk about - NOTHING... Prior to my death. I was heavily in to magic spells and casting - when I returned, I didn't anymore. I became extremely interested in life , and experiencing it while searching for that feeling - that wholeness, completeness or agreement that I felt when I was in eternity... The weird thing though when I was there, I said I had to go back because I had something to do - and as quickly as I said I had to go back... I was back here.

I explore etymology in the essay I wrote about "unknowable"... Medieval magicians practicing sorcery were versed in Latin and used it in their spells. We must be mindful of our words.

Beautiful!!!!

@Troy Somehow, I get the feeling you're with me on unknowable tip - unknown is different from unknowable - But once again, this discussion board inspired another blog post...Maybe I will start up a blog here too just so I can provide commentary to our discussions! Here's the The Unknowable got you under a spell

been there, done that... got the scars to prove it...

contemplation allows us to "know" a thing. It's the nature of that thing that is not yet known or as you put it, tested, proven or observed... But lack of these things but especially observation doesn't make a concept or element unknowable. For example, before the quark was a concept - it was an unknown. Then it became a known because of what existed along with the particle - but still no one knew the nature of the particles. Now physicist have figured out its nature but guess what? No one has ever observed it! So how do you know that you aren't observing the very thing you are contemplating. It's like existing in 4th dimension, until you can see it, you can't. What is unknowable may be your perception of the thing. Therefore, the concept of "unknowable" is a mental construct... So my question as always "who does it benefit to create a construct for "unknowable" elements? " I know right? These effing people with their politricks I have another one article that blew me away... It's a subculture , I had no clue existed but is a society unto itself.

ARGGGH... the imagery!!! LOL! This is an awesome cautionary tale that there are no shortcuts...Thank you for sharing!

Ask ... as with every mystery, my approach is to ask questions, seek answers and knock on the door that may contain them. Consciousness is an interesting subject but not one I choose to investigate at this time. If it were though,that would be my approach.

Isn't the challenge to be around those who don't share your philosophy and allow them to observe you in action. I've always found that no amount of words will change the life of someone who has no concept of how life could be beyond her/his stoop (or front porch)

@Delano Full disclosure: As Troy mentioned, IRL means "in real life". The "giggler" part means I giggle a lot. I see pictures and images when I read words. So when I read comments or hear what others say - a movie plays in my head. When You said Cynique was a Magus I saw her walking around in full garb of purple and gold turban and robes, they were heavy because she appears to be petite. Troy going up against google was actually me seeing him spar with the google logogram "Google" and it had eyes. When you mentioned taking 1 percent, I saw you in the McDonald's hamburgler costume .... and you'd appear out of nowhere to get your cut. So that's the rest of the story - I giggle a lot because I don't see words or "letters", I see images and motion pictures.

I'm in the camp that once we contemplate a concept, it is no longer unknowable. It is the beginning of the journey to understand its nature. Consciousness is not unknowable because we know of it. We've even named it. Now to understand it, takesus to another stage of investigation.

I'm a giggler IRL and every time I read a comment like this one- I crack up!

I wrote in the other thread about spiritual enlightenment. Maybe that's a misnomer because it's more like spiritual re-enlightening. Spirituality, for me is simply remembering the ancient energy that animates all things, also resides in me. If I had to describe it, it would be like one eternal flame that lights all the candles on a birthday cake... I honor that flame in all living things. As far as the spirit is concerned since I'm fascinated with the etymology of words, I believe spirit is exactly how its defined: spiritus which means breath. From the Latin word "inspirare” from which we get the word inspire means "to breathe life or blow into"... I like to believe that the spirit is that ancient energy that's not created or destroyed it just changes form and it is that breath which animates our bodies with what many call the soul. When our bodies are worn out or destroyed, the energy that is “us” continues on. The spirit is that thing that's omniscient and has a small voice but speaks with temerity and speaks first in all matters of our daily life.

LOL... stop playing... they don't teach that stuff in college! As I'm reading Troy's stuff - I wish he'd go on tour! This is straight lecture-circuit content in the age of Intellectual Property!

unknowable or not able to prove?

This comment stayed with me for a week...and today I was finally able to put into words the feeling it left with me with and wrote a blog post called "Hustlers vs Suckers" @Cynique you starred in the post as a Hustler... Here's part of what I wrote : "A woman responded to my post, that in the past, she’s played life another way. She said whatever the person in “authority” believed of her, she went with it and played the hand she was dealt. She called it being “passive aggressive”. I call it being a hustler. A hustler identifies a mark, notices what beliefs he has confidence in and then Wham! plays him like a fiddle! Her actions displayed the difference between a hustler and sucker. The difference is how they see reality. A hustler recognizes that reality is chaotic and in a state of flux. But a hustler also realizes that within chaos, there are patterns. Therefore, she sets a goal. She analyzes her opponent(s), identifies her resources, reviews her options, looks for the angles and plays them as they arise. A sucker has no angle. He just lives in this neat little world of social construction and believes everyone will behave according to the rules of his makeshift world. He becomes an easy mark simply because he thinks his beliefs are real. The woman admitted she didn’t like to work hard and maybe that was her truth. In telling her story, however, she admitted she had patience. For some, patience is hard work. As Robert Greene quoted “Iceberg Slim” in his blog, he noted “Patience and time is the hustler’s creed. “I play for time and see what happens,” says Elizabeth I, the great hustler Queen of England. “ Patience was a virtue for this hustler woman. Playing games for the win takes patience to plot, plan, persevere and ultimately get paid. Hustler, or Sucker? The choice is yours.

@Troy, this is one of those class action suits I was speaking about - this is exactly how they get started and how they change corporate behavior. Although DMCA says that internet companies can't be sued for what end-user upload to their platform - it doesn't let the platform off the hook for pirating another corporation's work. Once you uploaded these books to your site in the form of a list, it made you the original copyright holder. Therefore, google infringed on your copyright. I can't use your list on my website without permission or attribution. Even when I use my own comments on the discussion board here I attribute to aalbc.com. So why is it OK for google? The same goes for every website google may pirate content from on the 'net. Or is it ok because we use google webmaster tools for "verification" of our websites? Are we giving them implicit permission to lift content from our websites? I'm asking because I'm a beginner in this territory But lets say it isn't ok and even if you inquire then for some reason your site fell off the radar during the same time as you pose a question then that's considered a punitive action ...and seems as if it would be subject to further penalty in the class action lawsuit. Now I'm not saying that you're going to start a class action lawsuit but since you have the knowledge of what the heck is going on - I would damn sure keep a record if you find the same happening to other website owners (as you already have and posted) then I'm sure all you have to do is throw a rock and you'd hit a lawyer willing to take on the suit. I was looking through some old email today and I found one from google - disclosing a class action lawsuit against for google buzz for invasion of privacy. I tell you these dudes get sued and settle every single week.

And don't forget that you can use Amazon against google and get your advertising credits ... I noticed number 3 on that list was an amazon page to the best african-american children's books too - and I swiped the link for my associates account... http://amzn.to/2mFpaVg

Oh Snap!!! I hear you now and understand. It's like AmazonListmania - except you don't get the advertising credit! That's some bullshiggity... Troy, this right here... is the crux of the argument because while google rewards you (AALBC) for doing the work by making AALBC first - google is operating like the "paid protection in the 'hood. They don't create a damn thing but the get paid every month or you don't do business. Now here's where my #shesowhite moment comes in because I never owned a mom and pop store in the 'hood... Hell, the closest I lived to the 'hood was Clinton Hill before my dad left me the house in Bed-Stuy. But I read and this is a iceberg slim - "bumpy" ellsworth - number- running type racket, sans the bloodletting - just dead links. So since you're a reader too, how did they handle this type racketeering in the neighborhood in the past? Since Google is acting like a gangster then gansta-tactics are warranted. Employ those tactics to use google against itself. On a brighter note: As for now, (AALBC) being first lieutenant ain't a bad spot to be in... As my Wi-Fi expert friend once said, “…always ready to take over the world, even one city block at a time due to budgetary constraints”

When I got my personality results back from five.com I didn't think anything of it. I did remove it from facebook - and soon after I deleted my facebook account. While I thought some nefarious actions could result from knowing folks from what they write - I never thought it could be used to predict or even influence an election - now here we are. I read an article on motherboard.vice.com and how CA came to be... and it indicated it all started on facebook. (of course)

That 22 million suit was just this week. Facebook just lost 500 million lawsuit on occulus. I mentioned the lexis nexis service Law 360 , if you wanted to keep a running tab on how individuals are checking google It's a big target and hard to miss. As long as our laws are still open to the people, google is not above the law. You're correct Youtube can benefit from the audience that sees ads when visits youtube for music and,Digital Millennium Copyright Act states they cannot be held liable for pirated music uploaded to the youtube site. They can only be diligent in its removal. (link: "How Google Fights Piracy") Google pays licensing fees for the artists and record companies who own copyright. Prince was an interesting random choice. According to his former lawyer and our BTHS Alum Londell McMIllian Prince's music only streamed on tidal until February 12, 2017- when the estate released it. "Feb. 12, is the focus of a major marketing campaign set up by the music companies that have rights to release Prince’s songs, and by the streaming services that have been hungry to carry the music but were blocked from doing so by Prince himself before he died last year at 57. (Currently, Prince's albums are only available on Tidal.)" New York Times McMillian represented both Prince and Michael until their death. (I think I read he still represents Michael Jackson's estate and he's on tap to represent Prince's estate once its turned over to the heirs) When I searched youtube in the past for Prince music, it wasn't there. I didn't keep a record so only google has a record of my searches. Again all the artists you've mention have all blocked their music from time to time...Beyonce's vevo channel was even off youtube for a few weeks. Still Youtube is a media site much like television and radio so when artists music is played or watch they get paid just like they would when their music is aired on any other medium. In fact, youtube (unless they manipulate the count) is a better source than radio and television because its end-user driven the more popular the more money. This is from a fortune article - Artist are NOT throwing up their hands ... they want more licensing money and even better technologies as to who is uploading pirated music. And Most important, they are fighting to have the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, revised. This is the law that is allowing piracy from smaller companies that don't have as large a bullseye as google. AALBC is an important website that is filled with copyright holders and even those new to the game - I believe you are correct to warn those with intellectual property how easy it is to lose licensing rights if they are not diligent in keeping watch. But to say there's is nothing we can do about it ... that's not true.

@Delano, it's data like that makes me go hmm. we attempt to make sense of the world around us but we make it up as we go and operate on agreement. I suspect, this is why I do a lot of things by feeling and not "facts". Sometimes I just don't feel like agreeing with constructs. I'm a believer that we are governed by nature our environment- just like four-legged furry feathered beings. I do however trust numbers to communicate within our world more than any other medium - It seems that numbers are closest to being the universal language. Yes, my twin daughters are 51 minutes apart and my friend's mom did their charts when they were born. Very different.

doesn't that give you reason to pause? - did you know every individual has a unique rhythm to their heartbeat - no two heartbeats are alike...