And Then You Find Out Your New Neighbors Are…

In Case of Grizzly

 

Do not panic – your safety depends on remaining calm. If the bear clacks its teeth together, “woofs,” pants, growls or slaps its feet on the ground, it is warning you to back off.

• Do not run or make sudden movements.
• Back away very slowly.
• Talk quietly to the bear, do not shout.
• Group together, pick up small children
• Leave your pack on for added protection.
• Avoid direct eye contact with the bear

 

 

Have you ever experienced that moment when something that matters to you is, for the most part, out of your hands?

There comes a point when you look at a goal you’re attempting to achieve, or perhaps something you’ve been working to create and you see that you’ve done everything you can to make it happen…and now you just have to sit back and trust the process. Knowing that whatever comes out the other end will be the best possible result, no matter how it seems at first?

I would wager that you have. If you really haven’t had this experience you may be too young to be reading this material or you may want to look into what HH the Dalai Lama refers to as “Loving Kindness.” If the latter case fits you – stop here and look that up.

Recently that’s shown up for me as “I’ve done all I can do for now. Now it’s time to wait.” Patience and impatience are both necessary in the creative process.

Yeshua Takes a Nap

 

While We’re Waiting ….

About a year and a half ago, right in the middle of moving from our home of ten years (awkward) I hosted a retinue of angels. They were not announced as Archangels, though I must say they felt, to me like Archangels. Through several lives I have had dealings with angels in particular and other non-human or post-human ‘spirit’ forms as well. It has been alleged that one of my previous personalities (not this incarnation – this was a few centuries ago) was primarily responsible for retrieving the Enochian language, which is still used in some magickal circles, to this day, to commune with many life forms in the spirit world. Yet, I only became conscious of this, as contact with Angelic beings, about 3 or 4 years ago. I’d often had a sense that many of the ideas that moved through me were not ‘mine’ but I’d never delved into their source, I had some vague sense that they were ‘from out there’ – something from another level of energy and being other than my tethered base, here at the Daily Planet; same place we all work. This was particularly true once I became sharply attuned to music and eventually joined a band. I’d channel flows of experience; and because I rarely ‘practiced’ (only played) I would often suffer tremendous cramping in my hands and arms. Mid-concert my hands might lock-up, bringing members of our band to the rescue with blue valiums to ensure we’d complete our gig. What ever it was, it wanted to come through.

Finally and rather suddenly one morning a few year ago while writing I found a distinct and definitive voice coming through, that was not mine. Though my conversational capacity is not currently at its peak, I can still communicate with several Archangels (some very well known) and a few (as they are popularly referred to these days) ‘ascended masters.’

Recently I’ve come to understand that many angelic beings are headed for incarnation on several earths. Though I can speculate, I don’t fully understand what is meant by the use of plural earths – so no need to ask me what this means. I’ll tell you when I know more.

Though they have mastered higher dimensions they are coming here for the ‘physical experience.’ Before long many beings, that we think of as ‘of a higher order’ will be coming to earth to experience embodied enlightenment. The material plane has become and is about to become an even more interesting and perhaps crowded place; although who knows, given the plural earths buisness. Humans have a great deal to do with ‘selling’ the big move to matter. We have demonstrated something(s) that has drawn great interest. What do you think that could be?

Now would be a good time for us to stand, brush off our dusty genes, claim ourselves, be the masters that we intend to be and allow this world to metamorphose; as it is wont to do.

Extra Points

Great examples of modern day mastery:

• Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer
• Stacy London and Clinton Kelly with their team on What Not to Wear.

These people are masters who demonstrate transformation through their very specific windows; changing lives (in deep and meaningful ways that must make the psychiatric skin crawl); reshaping reality through their being.

More New Neighbors: Snowy Owls Moving to Florida

Having Fun with Angelic Incarnations

Perhaps every form of media, from paintings, books, movies, TV shows and even video games have portrayed human – angel contact, either to higher or disastrous effect. I like movies so here are just a few:

Helpful or Guardian Angels In Movies

A Life Less Ordinary 

It’s a Wonderful Life

The Heavenly Kid

Legion

Knowing

 

(Materiallly) Incarnating Angels

Wings of Desire and remake City of Angels

The Bishop’s Wife and remake The Preacher’s Wife

Michael

Meet Joe Black

Supernatural (TV Series – beginning Season 4, Ep 1) I find this handling creative, provacative and entertaiing.

Date with an Angel

 

Mischeivious Angels

Constantine

Dogma

The Prophecy series

Here’s a longer list of Angel related movies. Also see IMDB for more info.

What difference does this make?  Why do I bring this up now?  Wow…only a human or a cat would ask such a question. Kinda funny coming from a species that made the movie “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” possible!

 

I Have a Friend Who…

“If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advance.” —Orville Wright, Inventor

Perhaps I Should Mention

I love outside input. I hope that at least occasionally, I quote from sources you’ve never heard of. If you’ve read from, met, talked with or know most of the sources I quote from, then we’re moving in a circle that’s too tight.  Cross fertilization that close is deemed illegal in most states. That’s as bad as progressives who only watch MSNBC or conservatives who only take in Fox News. I think that’s a problem…perhaps even a core problem in the current operation of “democracy.”

So I garner much of what comes up in this blog (this word does not roll off my tongue) from truly outside sources. Not all…but certainly some of it.

It’s time I bring this up.  I am not sourcing all of these conversations myself. I have a lot of help. Or perhaps I should say that I am providing a modicum of help to those I have come to refer to as my “Celestial Committee” or simply “The Committee” (an identifier that works, for us Unitarians.) They function for me in much the same way as a student advisory committee or Kwai Chang Caine’s counsel of Shaolin masters. Sometimes they teach, sometimes they counsel; they’ve bailed me out of some tough situations and I know them to be my friends.

Why do I believe angels exist? For the same reason I believe you or I ‘exist.’ I have some compelling experience to indicate the possibility; and it’s easier and more useful than believing we are not here.

The Committee is made up of several, usually non-corporeal, beings including Ascended Masters and Archangels at least. I’ve been in conscious conversation with them for the past few years and have come to see that interactions, at various levels, have been happening for much longer. I suck at name dropping, though I am not adverse to such specifics coming up in the course conversation. I will say, however, that I find them to be the best of company, exceedingly pleasant, extremely polite and never dull. There is no cause to worry that you will ever have to suffer the pleasure of their company if you don’t want it. And finally, the presence of such “Celestials” (for lack of a better communal identifier) cannot be faked. So I am absolutely certain that there are no covert ‘evil’ forces at work here. As I’ve said in the past – it’s like the meeting of twins separated at birth…when you experience it, you just know.

Why do I call these talks “Rare Conversations?” Well, because they can cause some people (that does not necessarily mean you) discomfort, if honestly waged. So they are topics that tend to be avoided in polite company. How do I know this? Because I have met what I’ve heard Paul Kimball so eloquently describe as “the Laughter Curtain.” We’ll get back to that in a moment.

When Did You First Begin to Notice These…Voices?

We have always been with you

Over the years as I became more aware that I have been in contact with several of these beings for most of my life (at least) I have had to come to terms with some personal, seemingly opposing, points of view. For example, I have also been trained and practiced in the area of psychology, psycho-therapeutics and psycho-diagnostics. In fact, it has been my responsibility to advise voluntary and involuntary admissions to psychiatric facilities in years past. So I know exactly what this sounds like and how it looks in the eyes of the tribal-mind.  I grew up a hyper-logical child and even studied scientific philosophy and mathematical logic on an NSA grant at the University of Chicago during my freshman high school year. Yet a long line of experiences have caused me to reduce those lenses of rational materialism through which I’d previously viewed the world, to being simply the hammer and screwdriver of a larger tool kit.  I still use those tools, though more judiciously than before, lest I mash something tender with the hammer or screw something to the point of damage. I’ve come to perceive that there are, one might say, many logics in nature; and only a few of them run at right angles.

It was, in fact, due largely to the patient encouragement of The Committee that I began this blog. Some time ago I began doing “Morning Pages,” a journaling process as prescribed by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way. This came to me as I was helping a friend unpack after a particularly arduous move (they’re all arduous.)  Toward the end of our workday I came across a well-used copy of the book and asked where it should be placed in the shelves. My friend, Meg, replied “OH! I’ve been looking for that book for you. You might like it…you should read it.” OK… that was certainly a recommendation. I took it and very shortly after that I was writing my Morning Pages. At some point, not long into the process of writing in a stream of consciousness style, I asked a question…to which came an answer. I didn’t feel that I had answered that question. In fact, it felt as though someone nearby, in a matter of fact manner, had responded to my inquiry. I wrote the response and continued along the line of thought, which momentarily came to another question. This, in turn, brought another response and before long a conversation ensued. The conversation developed, quite frankly, into an explication of the matter at hand.

Because I am somewhat emphatic I have had to develop several means of distinguishing my feelings and thoughts from those of people around me. I have ways of differentiating whether this is MY idea or someone else’s that I’m picking up. And these were not my ideas. I understood them, for the most part, but they were not originating from my perspective. Someone was conversing with me…and that was exciting. I could feel that this presence was extremely intelligent and may have been, to some extent dumbing it down for me…but without a hint of condescension; there was no ‘stuff’ on it at all. In fact, the way this presence felt was warm and welcoming. It was like arriving at a reunion of friends, who I’d not seen for 50 years. It might also be compared to an adult running into the imaginary friend of their childhood in the living room one morning (something or someone unusual, say for instance, a talking sphinx) and at that moment being completely comfortable with it, having hardly any resistance.

Now you may notice I said “hardly any resistance,” because while all this is going on, part of my mind is that of a psychologist who’s worked as a psychiatric intake therapist at a bustling county hospital (in a county that really knew how to get its money’s worth out of a psychiatric ward), and that mind KNOWS exactly what this looks like… disembodied voices, et al.

Nonetheless, in about half an hour the chat wound down, completed and the other party ‘said’ – “We are with you. We are always with you. We have always been with you.” And for some reason, I knew that to be true.

How We Got Here

“Oh my, how the world still dearly loves a cage.” —Tess Lynch, Writer, Gentlewoman, and Essayist

I woke one morning, mid-conversation with one of the Committee, about something I deemed to be obscure; some response to yet another of my many inquiries. A brief disgruntled mood ran through my mind about all this delicious input I was receiving. I blurted (actually, I thought rather loudly)… “But is anybody, besides me, really interested in this stuff!?” Calmly and as clear as day it came back “Yes, Marsh, plenty of people would be interested in this.” Pause… “Really?!?” “Yes, really.” That was that, for the moment. But the topic came back again and again. Eventually I began to see what my resistance was really about. I was up against my “Laughter Curtain,” my ‘Veil of Derision.’

One of the things that makes the unfamiliar (or anything that does not have a place on the evening news or All My Children) hard to carry is what I’ve come to think of as “The Laughter Curtain” or ‘The Veil of Derision’; in the words of Adam Sandler “They’re gonna laugh at chu!” Now, Sandler said ‘screw that,’ and he went on to become a very successful comedian. But for those of us that think we can get through life without being comedians, or at least hope we can avoid being the brunt of Life’s jokes and landing in the spotlight of our own comedy ensemble…we dread thinking of being laughed at or worse yet, shunned. For that is tantamount to becoming prey; and no one wants to be prey. This would also be very much like returning to childhood; and the young of every species are potentially prey.

Children often see and quite freely commune with all manner of spirits and Angels without realizing who they are actually talking to. “Imaginary friends” should never be overlooked as simple child’s play; it’s surprising how much vivid detail children can give you about (‘their imaginary friends’.) Children do not yet have any societal preconditions telling them that it’s impossible to commune with spirits. As they grow older, society itself often ridicules such abilities, whether in friendship circles or even the media, to a point where most children adopt a new overriding belief that “It’s impossible for spirits to exist because everybody else does not see them, therefore they do not exist.” This is the birth of a new subconscious limitation that stays with them for life…Society doesn’t want to see spirits because such a skill is considered different; consequently, the individual doesn’t want to see spirits because he or she is fearful or needs to fit into society. The subconscious mind accepts these commands and filters spirits out of their reality.

̶ Chaudhary, Sufian (2013-01-12). World of Archangels

Quite frankly, it is easier to believe that we are our stuff, our clothes our cars…be they Lamborghini, Lexus, Smart Car or even used. Because without that, what would be our protective clothing? Even a clunker fits in much better on a freeway than I would running naked in the road.

But would that be true if you were a god or a goddess in full radiance, or the most brilliant inventor that ever lived, or that big blue guy in Watchmen? Of course not, because your capacities would override even the worst traffic.  And perhaps I am trying to convince you that that’s the truth… not allegory… but truly so.

If you feel that I have a long way to go to prove this point, fahgeddaboudit; like that memory on the tip of the tongue, it’ll come back, in time.

Suiting Up and Getting Back On the Road

In closing let me just say for the record that I don’t think such conversations are particularly unusual. I believe that people have been talking to ascended masters, gods, goddesses, angels and other post-material and extra-terrestrial beings since the dawn of our time.

I’m not one to argue the efficacy of all the points made in any of the Bibles (those operations manuals that have been left strewn about in most human cultures, and perhaps even in the whale songs and other nooks and crannies of nature) since clearly these are written by groups and then cleverly formatted, very much like the constitution or sit coms. I doubt that they are the word of God, per se, any more than everything else (I believe ALL THAT IS to be the Word of the Unmanifest – for the record.) Yet I do believe that some historical experiences are mixed up in there; and records of people talking to such beings abound. These records just reflect the conversations had by famous people. I’m quite positive that countless, nameless individuals (Joe Schmoes, Jane Does, yours truly) have been consciously communicating with them forever. Angels and the Enlightened Ones have no egos to fetter and are not concerned with Kodak moments with the rich and famous. In my experience they love us all unconditionally.

I have, on occasion, taken the time to perform introductions between people and certain Celestials. These stick, more or less. Like anyone to whom you are introduced. If you maintain the relationship, every now and then return emails and calls, drop a line or give a buzz yourself once in a while, you get to know them a little better and the relationship develops.  But I’m not a Yenta and therefore, as in the rest of my life, don’t sit around thinking about who should hook-up with who. Still, if you want to meet one of The Committee, I’m willing to make it happen, if I can. Just let me know.

Beyond this, many of us meet them in REM dreams and day dreams and disguised in everyday life. No need to feel awkward about this. They are with us, have always been with us, will always be with us.

Masters at an early Burning Man…
prior to Ascension.

Extras:

Stuff to Read When You Get a Round Tuit

Factoid: Belief in the existence of Angels has been quite widespread among humans throughout our history and up to the present time, though downplayed in their human-like image during the current reign of the great religions of science and economics.  Judaism, Christianity,  Latter Day Saints,  Islam,  Bahá’í Faith, Neoplatonism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Brahma Kumaris, Theosophy and Hermetic Qabalah all hold discussions regarding the nature of Angels; just to name a few. The Kerub frescos found on the walls of ancient buildings in Baghdad and even the sphinxes found in Egyptian iconography are construed to be Angels. There is a great deal of current speculation that many if not most of the Gods and Goddesses of the religions of the older civilizations, tribes and cultures may well have been actual people who walked among those of their time. Several of these, it is thought, became enlightened teachers, beyond the cycle of birth and death. These “Ascended Masters” (ex – Yeshua/Jesus, Lakshmi, Dana, St. Germain, Buddha, Quan Yin/Tara, etc), some think, remain in contact to continue, as articulated in the vows of the bodhisattvas, to assist (at least) the living. Experiences with these Masters, of all sorts, continue to this day across virtually every culture. Explanations for these phenomena vary and several will probably come up as topics in “Conversations” to come.

Closing Number(s): 41, 10

Trivia: 如果不是巧合，没有故事 = “If there is no coincidence there is no story.”

Recommended Podcast: WNYC, Radiolab | “Speed” / Download / Listen

Guest Web or Blog: Trudging Through the Fire – Failure as a Viable Option

OK… you get to go home early today.

To See or Not To See? That is the Question.

Before we begin, I offer my apology for the failings of the “subscribe to this blog” buttons. They are not working and I don’t know why. I will solve this problem. In the meantime you will receive notifications IF you have already been receiving them. If you have not been getting notifications let me know in a comment and I will make sure that you do get them.  Now… Let’s go!

Walk This Way

For every aspect of physicality in our world, there is an essence of spirituality causing it to be there. Since we currently live within the physical world, we are interacting with it on a near full-time basis. However, what we rarely discover are the spiritual foundations that anchor the physical world into existence. Our mind governs the interpretation of the spiritual world; however, spirituality usually plays a secondary role within our lives and is often completely ignored. This very low level of mental commitment explains why we do not ordinarily see, hear or feel the spiritual world. Our mind does exactly what it is told and that often means concentrating on exactly what we believe is more significant. The truth of the matter is that entire kingdoms of spirituality are breathing life into the world around us but we are unable to even recognize their existence.

 Chaudhary, Sufian (2013-01-12), World of Archangels

In case you’re new to this conversation, we’ve been talking about what is seen (heard, felt, etc.) and what is not seen, what we allow and what we block from our awareness, AND whether or not what is NOT seen is worth our attention at all.  We haven’t really addressed the latter yet.  Do you believe there is more than what we ordinarily perceive and, most importantly, does it matter? That’s the real question, isn’t it? If it doesn’t matter, it makes no difference whether we perceive it or not, or even if it exists.

Last time we took a look at the invisible American Holocaust, the genocidal attempt to exterminate the earlier inhabitants of this hemisphere. And we also saw how this can affect our willingness to grasp whether or not there may be other intelligent life in the vastness of a virtually infinite universe.

To summarize: our human history shows that when we meet new people and we have a technological edge we tend to kill them rather than play well (see “Trivia,” below.1) This, in turn, leaves us with few options other than to slip into denial about the possibility of visitation from other, more technologically advanced visitors; and anyone who can get here, from there, is more technologically advanced.

Back to the question at hand: does it matter whether we actually perceive what is in front of us?

Let me pose a hypothetical –

If you find yourself in a room with a cobra, would you rather be in there with the lights on… or in there with the lights off?

– Marsh (Circa 2003)

It’s a choice; and not choosing, well, that’s a choice too.

Now a hypothesis:  We are spirit manifesting a body NOT a body with a spirit.

At first this may seem like an insignificant distinction; so what if we are a spirit with a body or body with a spirit? It’s all the same, isn’t it? No, not really.  If you don’t get that right away… give it some time. It’s been a useful parable for me.

Briefly, so that we may continue, this could be likened to being the driver of a car heading up the Big Sur coast (whether a Ferrari or an old VW Beetle – it doesn’t matter.) The car is useful for accessing the view and the adventure…but the car cannot HAVE the adventure or appreciate the view. We are grateful for the car, yet the real enjoyment and experience is for the occupant.  When the ride is over and the car parked, with no inhabitant, what use is there in talking to the car? An uninhabited car is (hopefully) inert. Even though its driver may be nowhere to be seen; I assure you, they are around…somewhere.

This leads me to believe that the drivers and passengers of cars are actually of greater value (in our human perspective) than any car, no matter how expensive, robust, beautiful or even necessary. So, by analogy, the “driver” of the body and personality (our vehicle) is the primary agent.

I’ve had numerous experiences to subjectively validate this assertion (spirit in body not body with a spirit) and here I’ll share a funny one.

One evening, while having dinner with friends, I was offered a mind altering fumar, apparently branded as “Train Wreck.” I was assured that this was one of the best of its sort and was urged to give it a spin.  I thanked my friends and ‘just said no,’ taking a pass on what had become for me a rare opportunity.  Michele, my wife, assured them that indeed, I was not much fun when high; which quelled the subject for a while. Eventually we left the restaurant and walked our friends to their car which was in a nearby, three story, cement parking garage. As we arrived they broke out the ‘Wreck’ and for the 4th or 5th time that evening offered me a wee taste of this blarney.  ‘Oh WTF’, I thought, the evening’s over, I don’t have enough time to make a complete ass of myself and it might be interesting to sample the current state of the art (oh yes I was, once upon a time, quite the connoisseur.)  After the first toke I should have been forewarned when that slight taste of greed and impatience kicked in.  Though it felt like quite a bit of time had passed since that first inhalation (yes, I did inhale) there was, actually, hardly any lapse until I began to perseverate on getting ‘just one more toke…and who was hogging it, anyway?’ Sadly the second toke did come around… and yes, I took it. Big Mistake… sort of.

Almost immediately I could no longer identify my surroundings… though I could recognize the people I was with, even if they were behaving strangely…”Oh right,” I thought, “I remember how this goes.”  Finally, Michele notices that indeed her prophecy had come to pass; I was no longer my gregarious self, and so she offered to drive us home. As she walked away toward our car and I stepped forward something unusual happened;

Dr. Strange

something crystalline and clear.  “I” ‘stepped out’, away from the car, but my body did not. In the blink of an eye, Elvis had left the building. My body fell to the ground – dead weight…absolutely emptied of me. Michele reports that my head hit the cement and bounced (methinks perhaps a bit exaggerated – though I was not in it, so I can’t say much better than she.)  I was marveling at this moment, thinking it to be so much like what was portrayed in the “Dr. Strange” comics I loved in my youth. I’d just ‘stepped’ right out of my body! Then I saw and felt a woman across the parking lot, with her shopping bag and heard her say “Is he alright? Does he need to go to a hospital?” alarm in her voice.  Immediately I thought, “What!? Hospital!? Oh, HELL no!’ And with that I snapped back, as if by a giant rubber band, into “my” body, which (again, by rubber band) sat straight up in a gravity defying single movement… and then I began to laugh uproariously; I was truly amused and elated. NEVER had I experienced such a lucid OBE in which I’d actually turned to see my body, over there, as clearly as I was seeing everyone else standing, freaking out and looking at it (‘my body’) too.  There I stood, laughing and clear as a bell, inside; and not a scratch, not a lump, nor even the hint of a bruise. We continued home and I thanked Michele for transporting me so safely and gingerly back to home base.  Thank you, honey.

But things have never been the same since.  Nothing changed rapidly. In fact before this I’d had a lifetime of strange and interesting experiences… been out of my body before too, and would again…but I’d never looked back and taken the opportunity to SEE my body when I was out on a spacewalk. This, for me, made all the difference in the world. Oh, yes.(See Recommended Podcast, below²).

Now normally I might have said, “Who are you going to believe, science or your lying eyes?” because I know the eye (like any of our 5 basic senses) can play tricks on us -so why not let reason (read: habit) prevail. But in this case, I did not see it with my “Lying” eyes. I saw it with far better eyes.  It was with the certainty of twins separated at birth meeting for the first time…they JUST KNOW. You’ve probably had a comparable experience yourself.

WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN’T HURT YOU

Does anybody really believe this anymore? We act as though we do, but does anyone really still believe this Prayer of Denial? Taking into account some of the creation stories (the Judeo-Christian Eden story, for example) and the onus place on knowledge, I can appreciate the will to devolve to easier happier times.) However, it seems we are well committed to the path of knowledge and might just as well push on to the other side, rather than swim for home².  Toward that end, one last proposition…

PAYING ATTENTION AND FINER DISTINCTIONS WILL PAY-OFF

Just simply paying attention will win you kudos from the Source of All Things. Yes, that alone, will garner a response. And that’s a good thing. I make of point of saying that IS a good thing because I know that some of us (myself included, from time to time) are shy and don’t necessarily see anything good in showing up on the universal radar. Fly in undercover we think (don’t even say it…speaking is too loud and may cause me to show up on that radar.) Sometimes we may feel that the best way to stay out of view is to deny that there could be anyone here but … well, ‘me.’ At other times things may seem very Us and Them. But frankly, all that’s just your mind messing with you. Loosen your grip on duality for just a moment and it’s easy to see, “They” are a lot like “Us.” We are all very much alike and yet unique; very different in some ways. I am that too.

You can only see these distinctions by paying attention.  We will only see these better by paying attention to what we do not already see. Where to look? For some it may be by listening, a little more closely outside self and a little further inside, for some perhaps by asking oneself, “How do I even feel about what I am reading here?” For another perhaps by asking (no one in particular) sincerely – “What more is there for me to see/hear/feel/know, now?” and then waiting for and expecting an answer. The trick to any of these is – sincerity, which is akin to love and imbues your inquiry with profound energy.  If you undertake this halfheartedly you will receive a very tiny, quiet, and hard to hear answer…but if you are willing to take a leap, as my friend, Haiku Kwon, says “Life’s a Risk…and I’m All In,” you will be pleasantly surprised.

¹Today’s Trivia:  The (Native) American Holocaust (as discussed in our last blog) is not the only one of its sort that you may not have known about. The term “genocide” was coined to describe the mass killing of the Armenians in modern day Turkey in 1915. An estimated 1 to 2 million were killed, wiping out much of the Armenian people’s heritage and history.

From did-you-kno.tumblr.com

Today’s Factoid:  Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service, 816 F.Supp. 432 (W.D.Tex., 1993), is a legal case that resulted from a raid by the United States Secret Service on the Austin headquarters of Steve Jackson Games in 1990. Along with Operation Sundevil, the Steve Jackson Raid was one of a series of independent^[1] law-enforcement operations that were influential in the foundation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Steve Jackson Games was raided on March 1, 1990 because Loyd Blankenship, who was writing the role playing game supplement GURPS Cyberpunk for the company, was a target of a crackdown. Blankenship, known in hacking circles as The Mentor, was a former member of the Legion of Doom hacker group. He had run a Bulletin board system (BBS) from his home called The Phoenix Project, which had helped distribute the popular underground ezine Phrack. In 1989 it published the contents of a text file, stolen from BellSouth, containing information about the E911 emergency response system. The file only contained administrative contact information, and Bell South later had to admit in court that they sold copies to the public for $13. However, the government agents feared that the stolen document could be used to teach crackers how to compromise the E911 system (a claim that is disputed because of the non-technical nature of the document), and Bell South claimed that the dissemination of the data caused thousands of dollars in monetary damages.

In 1993, Steve Jackson Games vs. The Secret Service finally came to trial. Steve Jackson Games was represented by the Austin firm of George, Donaldson & Ford. The lead counsel was Pete Kennedy. Steve Jackson Games won two out of the three counts. Steve Jackson Games was awarded $50,000 in damages and $250,000 in attorney’s fees. The third count dealing with interception of e-mail was overturned in October 1994 by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The judge also reprimanded the Secret Service, calling their warrant preparation “sloppy”, suggesting that they needed “better education” regarding relevant statutes, and finding that they had no basis to suspect Steve Jackson Games of any wrongdoing.

Although the Steve Jackson Games raid was not a part of Operation Sundevil, this law enforcement effort, which spanned two years, has a tarnished image owing to a lack of successful prosecutions and questionable procedures.

See also: Bruce Sterling‘s book The Hacker Crackdown (ISBN 0-553-56370-X) for a detailed account of these events.

²Today’s Recommended podcast:  Stroke of Insight – Don’t Miss This One!

Today’s Recommended Website:  Tiny Buddha

Today’s Closing Number: 9