VeeJay says, "Let's take a closer look."

VeeJay says, "What does Robert Ornstein's last name mean?"
She must be trying to trip us up again. If you must know, the first syllable, Orn, refers to ornament. The second syllable, stein, refers to stone or gem. So this fellow's ancestor was likely to have been engaged in some aspect of the ornamental gemstone business. For example if you recall the movie, Ivanhoe, with Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth's father had been engaged in the ornamental gemstone business. They both helped Robert out when the nasty king was down on Robert's case.

VeeJay says, "Who is Robert Ornstein?"
This question requires a much more detailed answer. Robert Ornstein is a very fascinating individual. He likes to write books. They say that if you have something to say it is easier to write books. This fellow indeed has a lot to say. What is his field of expertise? In very simplistic general terms one may say Robert Ornstein works in the brain business. He has studied and studied many aspects of the brain for a long time. Robert has put a lot of information about brains into his brain. Quite naturally he has made many cognitive associations in that process. And also quite naturally he has many things which he would like to explain to people about the subject of the brain. OK, that's it in a nutshell.

Robert Ornstein is best known for his discovery that the two halves of the brain operate daily in everybody, and for work on the brain's role in health. Ornstein is the author of twenty-four books whose total sale is in excess of six-million copies in 12 different languages. His work relating changes in the mind to the brain, to health and to human society have won him awards from twelve professional societies as well as UNESCO and numerous literary societies. He has lectured at over 250 universities throughout the world. His textbooks have been used in more than 20,000 university classes.
jodisolomonspeakers.com/science.htm

VeeJay says, "What else about Robert Ornstein? What are some of his thoughts? Specifically. What are some of his books?"
Hmm... VeeJay, that would take some time. But ok. Read this book.
The Evolution of Consciousness, The Origins of the Way We Think.
That sounds like a deep subject doesn't it? The book explains using simpletons involved in the thinking processes of the brain. Of course simpletons are just metaphors, but Ornstein uses them to draw some amusing pictures for us to visualize what he talks about. That way the concepts are easier and more interesting for you. That is the hallmark of a good teacher. There is a word for a good teacher, professor. Someone who knows a lot about a subject, or even many subjects, and who can make them easy and interesting for people who would like to know more about them.

More information about The Evolution of Consciousness, by Brian O'Shaughnessy. This may be somewhat bland for you:
"The mind is an adaptive system that has been shaped by the world. It is the way it is because the world is the way it is. Ornstein retraces the (presumed) evolutionary steps of the bodily organs that now make up the mind. Then he retraces how the brain develops, according to neural darwinism. Human minds are initially endowed with many possible ways of evolving (e.g., with the capability for learning many possible languages), but only some are pursued and the other skills are lost during growth. The mind could potentially adapt to many different environments, but will actually adapt only to the ones it is exposed to. The large context developed into specialized cerebral hemispheres, which are specialized, autonomous centres of action. Different regions of the mind behave independently of consciousness (sometimes consciousness realizes what has been decided after it has already happened). The mind understands the world through two processes, one of information gathering and one of interpretation. The same process of interpretation is used for memories, dreams and new experiences. The self is only a part of the mind, and not always connected with the rest of it. The self shares the mind with other minds. Minds take hold of consciousness depending on the needs of the moment. Each mind tends to stay in place for as long as possible, with its own memories and goals. The self rarely notices what is going on. Continuity of the mind is an illusion. We are not the same person all the time. Different selves within the brain fight for control over the next action. The mind is now capable of 'conscious evolution' and this should be used for ethical purposes."
thymos.com/mind/o.html

The book has been popular with Germans.
"Robert Ornsteins "Evolution des Bewusstseins" ist ein Buch über unser wichtigstes Organ: unser Gehirn. Der Frage nachgehend, wie sich dieses Wunder in unserem Kopf entwickelt hat und warum genau so, lädt er uns zu einer intensiven Reise in die Erkenntnisse der Hirnforschung ein. Entstanden ist auf diese Weise ein 400 Seiten fassendes Werk, prallgefüllt mit Informationen, Theorien und Denkanstößen.
Das Buch ist vielfältig illustriert: zum einen mit Graphiken und Fotos um die Informationen zu illustrieren. Darüber hinaus finden sich aber auch wundervolle Federzeichnungen, die die Welt unseres Gehirns auf eine ganz besondere Weise darstellen. Allein diese Zeichnungen lohnen einen Blick in das Buch.
Für wen ist dieses Buch? Ein Buch für alle, die ein tiefes Interesse an der Entwicklung des menschlichen Gehirns haben. Nicht geeignet für Personen, die vor allem an praktischen Denkmethoden interessiert sind."
zeitzuleben.de/buch/ge/ornstein.html

Afterwards you will want to read:
New World New Mind: Moving Toward Conscious Evolution, 2001.

Written with Paul Ehrlich. You know Paul Ehrlich. He's the guy that Republican religious right fascists love to hate. His name means honest, in German. Since Paul is honest and truthful, it just drives Republican religious rightists right up the wall. Here's an idea. Buy the book and hold it up in front of them. They may start foaming at the mouth and their eyes may bug out. Why? They are very desirous of moving backward toward de-evolution instead of moving forward toward conscious evolution. The backward direction seems to be more comfortable for them. They just can't let go of their precious cabbages. World Cleansing, The Noah Fairytale, Getting Into Heaven, Armageddon, Providing Bushies with the Divine Right to Plunder the United States Treasury, (or any other Treasury). You know, important stuff like that.
New World New Mind: Moving Toward Conscious Evolution

Here are more books by Robert Ornstein which you may enjoy:
The Amazing Brain
The Healing Brain: Breakthrough Discoveries
The Healing Brain : A Scientific Reader
Multimind
The Healthy Mind Healthy Body Handbook
Book Search results

Interesting related article.
Researchers Compile 'Atlas' of the Brain
by Deena Beasley, Reuters
"A computerized 'atlas' of the brain is for the first time giving researchers and medical experts a map for unlocking the puzzles of the mind. The 10-year project 'was born out of frustration,' said Dr. John Mazziotta, chair of the department of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, medical school. 'Unfortunately, the brain is different in every single person. There is a tremendous amount of variance.'"

Antidepressants Grow New Brain Cells,
by Maggie Fox, Reuters, August 7, 2003
"Research on rats shows that two different classes of antidepressants can help brain cells regenerate -- and not in areas normally thought of as being involved in depression. 'This is an important new insight into how antidepressants work,' Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said in a statement. The study fits in with others that suggest depression can shrink the hippocampus, a brain region crucial to learning and memory but only recently found to be involved in depression. Major stress and trauma -- both depression triggers -- can also cause the shrinkage. 'We have known that antidepressants influence the birth of neurons in the hippocampus. Now it appears that this effect may be important for the clinical response,' Insel said. 'New antidepressants may be developed to target this process directly,' said Rene Hen of Columbia University in New York, who led the study."
Story ...

Georgia Official Wants to Replace 'Evolution'
January 30, 2004, by Doug Gross, AP
"The state's school superintendent has proposed striking the word evolution from Georgia's science curriculum and replacing it with the phrase 'biological changes over time.'"
"Superintendent Kathy Cox said the concept of evolution would still be taught under the proposal, but the word would not be used in the curriculum. The proposal would not require schools to buy new textbooks omitting the word evolution and would not prevent teachers from using it. Cox, a Republican elected to the post in 2002, repeatedly referred to evolution as a 'buzzword' Thursday and said the ban was proposed, in part, to alleviate pressure on teachers in socially conservative areas where parents object to its teaching. 'If teachers across this state, parents across this state say, 'This is not what we want,' then we'll change it,' Cox said. '"
"Social conservatives who prefer religious creation to be taught instead of evolution criticized the proposal as well. 'If you're teaching the concept without the word, what's the point?' said Rep. Bobby Franklin, a Republican. "
Story ...
A couple of questions for Bobby and Kathy, in no particular order. What's your point? Are you comfortable with your mental straitjacket on so tight? Or is it just politics? How old is the earth? 10,000 years, right? How many species did Noah stuff into his Ark? When was that big flood anyway? How come there are geological records of everything except the big flood? Are you proud of yourself after demonstrating such ignorance? Are you counting on Republican Supreme Court judges to eventaully toss evolution out of the lexicon? They intend to do just that, and Pat Robertson, Rush and Bush should be quite pleased.
A couple of questions for everybody else, including Jimmy Carter. Are these people just amusing kooks? If you think so you don't understand that they are not simply a national embarassment, as Jimmy Carter rather generously describes them; they are deadly serious. They have the will and the power to impose their ignorance on you and everyone, within a very short period of time. All three branches of the Federal government are firmly in their control.

What's all the snickering and bickering about Pickering?
"Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe. If'n you don't know by now."
Bob Dylan

The Religious Interpretation of Societal Breakdown
"If the decline in fossil fuels leads to societal breakdown and industrial collapse, expect a large number of American citizens to apply a pre-ordained interpretation to events: it's the End Times. They will apply a strongly fundamentalist religious interpretation to every event, and impose a black-and-white dichotomy on the world viewed through their eyes: you're either with us, or an agent of Satan / the Antichrist. This will justify all manner of hostilities directed at those perceived to be obstacles to their obtaining the remaining life- sustaining resources in the world, including oil, wherever they are in the world. Unfortunately these gas-guzzling Bible thumpers are all Christians, and the remaining oil reserves primarily lie under Muslim territory. Made-to-order for a religious war. These people don't know anything about Peak Oil but they know all about the End Times, well-prepared by these fictionalized accounts of Revelations."
Dick Lawrence
groups.yahoo.com/group/energyresources/message/54591

In 12th Book of Best-Selling Series, Jesus Returns
by David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times, March 29, 2004
"Like Christian booksellers across the country, Bob Fillingane is doing everything he can to prepare the way for 'Glorious Appearing,' the climactic installment in the 'Left Behind' series of apocalyptic thrillers that goes on sale tomorrow."
'"I really believe that there is a blessing on this series from the Lord,' he said. 'Just like with the `Passion' movie, it is all part of the warning we get before Christ returns.' He added, 'Many people have asked me, Do you think they will finish the series before Christ comes?'"
"Some theologians call the novels a dangerous distortion of Scripture. In an interview, Joseph C. Hough Jr., president of Union Theological Seminary in New York, warned that the novels' preoccupation with the suffering that many evangelical Christians foresee for unbelievers 'leads people to think that Christianity is about cosmic fire insurance.'"
"In an interview last week at his home in Palm Springs, Calif., however, Dr. LaHaye, 77, said that his only agenda was spreading the Gospel, by illustrating both the gruesome perdition ahead for unbelievers and the merciful salvation awaiting faithful Christians. What's more, he said, he was merely relying on what he considers the literal meaning of the words of the Bible."
"'That's the way it's going to be during the tribulation period, according to Revelation, and if it happens to parallel what the seculars are trying to do today, so be it,' he said."
"7The Bible clearly teaches there's going to be a one-world government in the last days. And after the Rapture of the church, then that one-world government will coalesce, bringing together all the governments of the world and also bringing together all the religions of the world.' He added, 'The fact that we're seeing some of those things happen right now must be a wake-up call to some people to say, `Hey, we may be closer than we think.' "
"'For believers, we really are looking forward to the glorious appearing,' said Steve Nelson, a Southern Baptist minister in Gallatin, Tenn., and fan of the series. 'We know from reading the Word that we win in the end, and this is the winning round coming up.'"

VeeJay says, "What can be said?"
Got A Round2It?

VeeJay says, "Argentina? Destruction of middle class can't happen here... Can it?"
Maybe. And maybe not. The information we need to make that determination is SECRET. Oh, well.
Why not take a good look at Argentina?
verdant.net/argentina.htm

Several directors of the world bank have resigned in protest. If you really are interested in this institution you should read their farewell speeches, Joseph Stieglitz

Bad economics? Secrecy?
"Smart people are more likely to do stupid things when they close themselves off from outside criticism and advice. If there's one thing I've learned in government, it's that openness is most essential in those realms where expertise seems to matter most."
Joseph E. Stiglitz was Chief Economist at the World Bank from 1996 to 1999 when under pressure to keep quiet, he resigned in protest. Stiglitz is the author of the book

Globalization and its Discontents,
a critique of the major international financial institutions."
whirledbank.org/ourwords/stiglitz.html
The World Bank has a list of Stiglitz's speeches.
worldbank.org/knowledge/chiefecon/stiglitz.htm

VeeJay says, "What does Dale Pfeiffer have to say?"

The End of the Oil Age, by Dale Allen Pfeiffer, July 30, 2003
"Current civilization is founded upon an abundance of cheap energy derived from hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons not only run our transportation; they provide the power for all of our technology. Take a moment to think about your immediate home environment. Not only do hydrocarbons take you to work and to the grocery store; they are used for virtually everything around you. Your home and your furniture were built using the energy of hydrocarbons. If your chair has a metal frame, that metal was forged with hydrocarbons. Your carpet and your polyester clothing are products of hydrocarbons. All of the plastics around you are derived from hydrocarbons. Even this journal was printed and delivered using hydrocarbons. The very value of the money in your wallet is pegged to oil.
Go to the refrigerator (powered and produced via hydrocarbons) and take out any food item. Every single calorie of food requires ten calories of hydrocarbons. This is the blessing of modern hydrocarbon based agriculture with its natural gas based fertilizers and oil based pesticides. The human population on this planet currently exceeds 6 billion. Without hydrocarbon based agriculture, it is estimated that this planet could only sustain 2.5 billion people."
globalresearch.ca/articles/PFE307A.html

"Did you know why God never received the Nobel Prize?
...it's the same reason why he never got tenure at the university!
Because he had only one major publication.
And it was in Hebrew.
And it had no cited references.
And it wasn't published in a refereed journal or even submitted for peer review.
And some even doubt he wrote it himself.
It may be true that he created the world but what has he done since?
His cooperative efforts have been quite limited.
The scientific community has had a very rough time trying to replicate his results.
He never applied to the Ethics Board for permission to use human subjects.
When one experiment went awry, he tried to cover it up by drowning the subjects.
When subjects didn't behave as predicted, he often punished them, or just deleted them from the sample.
He rarely came to class, just told students to read the book.
He had his son teach the class.
He expelled his first two students for learning.
Although there were only ten requirements, most students failed his tests.
His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountain top."
slembeck.ch/nobel/nobel.htm

Troop deployments and oil map of Mid-East region.

VeeJay says, "What is David Goodstein up to lately?"
CalTech Engineering Prof. David Goodstein Discusses Peak Oil on Local LA CBS Affiliate -- w/ Forthcoming Book,
David Goodstein was also interviewed yesterday, January 28, on KPCC 89.3 - a Los Angeles NPR affiliate - in the morning "Air Talk" program.

The coming global peak in oil production is a grave concern, according to new book
Cal Tech Press Release, Pasadena, California, January 20, 2004
Ancient Persians tipped their fire arrows with it, and Native Americans doctored their ails with it. Any way you look at petroleum, the stuff has been around for a long time. Problem is, it's not going to be around much longer--or at least not in the quantities necessary to keep our Hummers humming. To address the choices society will soon face in the inevitable peaking of worldwide oil production, California Institute of Technology physics professor David Goodstein has written a new book titled Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil. Goodstein argues that global production will peak sooner than most people think, possibly in this decade--a view held by a number of geologists--and that the peak itself will be the beginning of serious and widespread social and economic consequences.

pr.caltech.edu/media/Press_Releases/PR12478.html

See also, Dr. David Goodstein on Education:
"Educare," what it is and what it isn't.

"Goodstein's book, States of Matter (Prentice Hall, 1975; Dover Press reissue, 1985) was hailed by Physics Today as the book that launched condensed- matter physics, a new discipline. Goodstein and his wife, Judith Goodstein, recently co-authored a best-selling book, Feynman's Lost Lecture (Norton, 1996). Goodstein's research in experimental condensed-matter physics has dealt with phases and phase transitions in adsorbed, two-dimensional matter, ballistic phonons in solids, superfluidity in liquid helium, and critical point phenomena. This work has led to nearly 200 scientific publications. He is currently working on a future flight experiment that will examine the dynamics of the superfluid phase transition in the absence of gravity."

VeeJay says, "Who is Jon Thompson?"
Jon Thompson is President of ExxonMobil Exploration Company.
Jon Thompson as President of ExxonMobil Exploration Company stated world production is "declining at an average rate of about 4 to 6 percent a year." That suggests less than 16% remaining by 2050. Cornucopian techno-optimists listen up. Jon Thompson, ExxonMobil said it.

September 4, 2003
"Jon Thompson, President of ExxonMobil Exploration Company,
"we estimate that world oil and gas production from existing fields is declining at an average rate of about 4 to 6 percent a year. To meet projected demand in 2015, the industry will have to add about 100 million oil-equivalent barrels a day of new production. That's equal to about 80 percent of today's production level. In other words, by 2015, we will need to find, develop and produce a volume of new oil and gas that is equal to eight out of every 10 barrels being produced today. In addition, the cost associated with providing this additional oil and gas is expected to be considerably more than what industry is now spending." *The Lamp, Vol. 85 No. 1 p. 20."
groups.yahoo.com/group/energyresources/message/41137

Double production by 2050? Yeah, right.
Jon Thompson as President of ExxonMobil Exploration Company stated world production is "declining at an average rate of about 4 to 6 percent a year." That suggests less than 16% remaining by 2050.
Get a fuller picture at Policy Pete:
qv3.com/policypete/policypete.htm

Troop deployments and oil map of Mid-East region.

peakoil.net/
Where can you find out about Peak Oil? ABC News? CNN? Ted Koppel? Yeah, right. These fellows know the story about Peak Oil, just check with them, click image.
These are the ASPO guys, from left: Rui Rosa, Portugal, Jean H. Laherrere, France, Pierre-Rene Bauquis, France, Peter Gerling, Germany, Colin Campbell, Ireland, Kjell Aleklett, Sweden, Roger W. Bentley, United Kingdom, Hans G. Jud, Switerland, Werner Zittel, Germany, Pertti Sarkomaa, Finland and Klaus Illum, Denmark
Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Oil Depletion, Paris, France, May 26-27 2003, Edited by K. Aleklett, C. Campbell and J. Meyer,
peakoil.net/iwood2003

See also the Buddycom Book Review:
C J Campbell, The Coming Oil Crisis, review

Scientists Create New Form of Matter
January 28, 2004, by Maggie Fox, Reuters
"Scientists said on Wednesday they had created a new form of matter and predicted it could help lead to the next generation of superconductors for use in electricity generation, more efficient trains and countless other applications. The new matter form is called a fermionic condensate and it is the sixth known form of matter -- after gases, solids, liquids, plasma and a Bose-Einstein condensate, created only in 1995. 'What we've done is create this new exotic form of matter,' Deborah Jin, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's joint lab with the University of Colorado, who led the study, told a news conference. 'It is a scientific breakthrough in providing a new type of quantum mechanical behavior,' added Jin."
Story ...

ZUM TODE PETER USTINOVS
Menschen, versteht euch doch!
Schauspieler, Regisseur, Schriftsteller, Comedian, Weltbürger und Humanist: Mit Sir Peter Ustinov verliert die Welt ein künstlerisches Multitalent und einen beherzten Botschafter der Völkerverständigung, der die Menschen liebte und mit Geist und Witz zu fesseln verstand. Von Andreas Borcholte, Montag, 29. März 2004
mehr...
spiegel.de/kultur/kino/0,1518,293039,00.html