OmniNaut

In the olden days, music was used to unify and sent a message across, was it through a vibe or a statement. 60's Hippie/flower power 70's Prog Rock 80's/90's Hip-Hop/Rap/Pop (certain songs) Nowadays it seems social media (and memes) have taken its place. The problem of social media is, it's fast it's an algorithmic overload, you can have a post that sends a message and triggers you and 2 seconds later you scroll to the next one when your emotion is replaced with another. Growing up with this music, it shaped me and it sticks. Social media does not stick, it's not intended to stick, it's intended to get you to the next one. Is music still a medium for mass change, or does it have the same faith as books? Only for certain niche groups.

Thanks for first hand response. Someday I will set foot in China, but I have to take care of other things first. I have a request, can you check if you see shark fin soup, or even shark fin stores there? Thanks in advance.

Not much to explain. Yes they respected and worshipped animals. Don't romanticise indigenous tribes too much. Ritualistic offerings where done out of respect for animals, it depends on your perspective if you want to see this as respect or cruel. But how did they treat humans from different tribes? A lot of wars going on between tribes.

Trust me I know the reasoning behind this on an intellectual, emotional and spiritual level. It is a big part why I turned vegetarian 14 years ago. Not wanting to go back. It increases empathy towards beings that suffer yes. It did that for me. But this text is too much hippie. It does not take into account real life, and is just utopian dreaming. It's text book green, not saying it is wrong but it is flawed. Just pointing out the flaws not saying it's inherently wrong. And there might be more people then you think that have no good access to plants and crop alternatives. Some of it can be substituted yes animal farming for vegetarian options, but those people think of survival. You can't expect someone is who is fighting for physical survival everyday for self and family to think about animal welfare. This is green bypassing again, and I have seen this many times first hand in (Western) non profits. Trying to address animal welfare without addressing physical survival. The act of thinking about animal welfare and spiritual wholeness does not compute for someone who is thinking about survival. If you are thinking about this, congratulations you are in the top 5% of the world and probably have surpassed physical survival for the most part.

Haha, the animal is dead, the animal does not care that we affect their glands anymore. If the text points to evolutionary change, animal change for survival is going on long before humans existed and is still part of nature. I have a strong beef (as a vegetarian 😄) for people who cherry pick examples of nature to proof their point. You see it in discussions everywhere, same sex intercourse does not exist in nature therefore it's bad. Yes it does exist. Animals are gendered male or female, those are the only genders that exist. No it doesn't there are plenty of genderless animals, or animals that change sex to be found. If you try to use nature as part of your argument, I will find an example that will proof otherwise. Rant over

Tell this to the Tibetans ask them how they feel about it now. Being peaceful and in touch with nature will not stop an invading force. This is just Green bypassing Also there are plenty of regions in the world where no crops can be grown, so the alternative is meat or fish. Tell it to the people there that they should stop eating meat/fish.

How all things are designed now, or to keep your attention because the longer you spend the more adverts you can get through and the more personal data is collected. Not only online, also physical stores I deleted social media about 10 years ago for several reasons but this is one of them. I worked in different IT projects, and know the inside process from a management perspective and development perspective. Unless there are strict laws with severe consequences companies don't have any (moral) restrictions. Privacy erosion is an underrated problem. Current younger generation don't know the concept of privacy anymore. You are not free if everything is recorded. I think it's finally becoming a hot topic now with the current rise of flock cameras in the US.

Is this process fully GPDR compliant? Is it truly wiping data or just hiding from the site but still exists in the database? Also maybe make a sticky topic on account deletion request process.

The dog nappers want good fed and special breed dogs, usually strays don't make that much money. So they target the high value ones. Yes, it's quite common to feed the stray animals, they will keep cats and dogs as pets. The general rule is, if the animal has a collar then it's owned by someone. They generally can love their pet on the same level as in the West. The difference (and this also still can happen in the Europe/ the West) they see cats and dogs separate from animals that feed them. A cow, pig or chicken is less conscious then a cat or a dog, it's a way of protecting the hypocrisy thinking that is going on. Asia is a big place with different cultures so it can vary per culture and of course when talking about culture there will be individual exceptions. Yeah, for me as a vegetarian it is a terrible thing to witness. In the Philippines they also do cock fighting, held in special arenas called Cockpits. The local guys (it's always guys) will feed there hen special food and give them all the love they need to hopefully slaughter the other hen, to make them a lot of money because there is a lot of gambling involved in cockfighting. Yeah, it's one of the benefits of SD Blue, being part of a group you will be included. Being a European (I don't know what skin colour you have) but if you are white people will adore you. The positive racism as a white male preferably with blonde hair and blue eyes is huge. Western countries have lost something with the SD orange individualism, this is what Green tries to correct, but is not always successful. SD Green in Asia is really sparse, maybe you can find some small groups in surfer communities or something. The problem with SD Blue and especially in Asia is something called Saving face. Many of the Asian countries have it, they will always put on a smile but flat-out lie to you or gossip behind your back. The more direct approach of communicating like we have in Europe, is not done here. Example if you ask for directions, they will point you in a direction even if they don't know, just to safe their face. Saying no directly to someone is almost considered rude. That's why they go around the topic to indirectly say no. If wastes a lot of time and energy just to say the same. This is more of a SD Blue vs Orange clash. Social cohesion vs. Efficiency and Effectivity. I remember my Nepalese ex told me, that the first time she started dating foreigners she was shocked by the directness. It took her some time to getting used to, but she prefers it now. When communicating there is no (or at least not so much) second guessing or looking for hidden agendas. If you want to learn more: It takes some time to really unravel the social dynamics of Asian cultures. And because you are an outsider, sometimes it's almost impossible to know what the truth is.

Welcome to Asia. An animal life is not worth much here, only food or entertainment. When I was living in Cambodia my gf's dog was stolen, which happens quite a lot, exported to places like Vietnam where they eat dogs. It's a different world here, as animal lover it can be quite challenging to see how they are treated here. I have pigs seen kicked and heard their throat being cut, and screaming slowly quiets down. In the Philippines roasted pig (Lechon) is a national celebration dish during Christmas or Easter. Lots of them are being bred, come into the island a few weeks before the celebration and killed on the day. Every time I walk past them I'm thinking only xx days of living for you my friend. How a nation/culture treats their fellow human and animals is a direct indication of their consciousness development. When I visit a new country it's one of the first things I research to get an indication of their development level.

Have you been to Indonesia or Malaysia? It's not so strict and enforcing there. I have been to Egypt solo travelling outside the touristy parts, met very friendly people there. I will not deny that certain parts of Islam have their problems, but there are many friendly Islamic people to be found allover the globe. Not all is black and white, the integration of religion in a country reflects the consciousness level of the people and vice versa. If the consciousness level grows the religion grows as well. In the general discussion: If you only look at Islam as the culprit for poor development and life conditions of the people, I would suggest looking at western and middle African countries, there will be plenty of Christian countries there too. Being gay in a Christian country there will also get you killed. (Uganda). Or at least life in prison.

Traditional masquerade held in Burkina Faso. https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1vljk7q/a_capture_from_a_traditional_masquerade_held_in/ "These masks are known as "Nwantantay" and those patterns (triangles,checks) also represent several morals and ethics passed down through their ancestors and they call that "Yaaba Soore" From the reddit comment.

You're assuming misunderstanding here. Not saying that violent games increase violence. But yes it's a glorification.

The ultimate glorification of stage Red. Extended Look dropped.

I know dive instructors who took souvenirs from a sunken ferry, like beer bottles and child toy car. 400 people died in that incident, 181 survived. This is really close to grave robbing for me. The shipwreck was a popular diving destination until Chinese started illegally trolling for scrap metal. Luckily they were detained in port.

I don't know why, it doesn't even matter how hard you tried. 😉

I'm interested to know how real the fakeness and especially poor construction quality is in China. Is it that bad? Seems like accident waiting to happen. I have seen multiple videos about this, but nowadays you don't know how you are being played anymore. I always try to verify for myself.

Before when I was still working as an IT-consultant I had a couple watches. Fossil Phillipe Starcke & At the time was also looking for a super low profile one like this. (not this exact one but gives you an idea) Then I stopped caring about materialistic stuff. No watches anymore. Phone is good enough, time looses importance, I move in my own time. The only watch I use now is my dive computer: Suunto D6i Novo with air integration. Old but still works. I only wear it for dives ---- If you are going for materialistic stuff, go stand out elegant. Don't go conformist, Rolex Omega, whatever all conformist. A nice elegant watch does not have to be expensive.

Have one mask myself. Picked it up in Jamaica in 2012. It's a souvenir, not a ritual mask. It represents the start of my transformation. It was the start where I changed my life around. That's me with the creator Joel. Taken near James Bond beach, het had his little hut and made souvenirs.

I have been digging in the archives: https://www.actualized.org/insights/leos-mask-collection-01 https://www.actualized.org/insights/tibetan-ritual-mask https://www.actualized.org/insights/winiama-bat-mask https://www.actualized.org/insights/ancient-egyptian-mask BTW: @Leo Gura I have seen the request before for adopting a search system for the blog section, I would like to add for future posts maybe work with tags (#topic). This can help improve grouping of subjects.

Buy a bigger house. Can you explain what has drawn you to collecting these masks and maybe if you feel comfortable show your collection?

What kind of business do you have, what kind of tourism? Can you explain some more?

@gettoefl The last time I was in Cambodia it was March 2022, so some information could be outdated. I did not spent much time in Phnom Penh. I almost got robbed once, luckily a local stepped in to get my bag back. Be careful. Touristy places attract a lot of scammers and robbers. Use PassApp app (Uber) to book TukTuks, if you don't use the app, negotiate a price before you get in a TukTuk or taxi. Siem Reap: Almost all of the time I spent was in Siem Reap,I liked the vibe of this town, it's basically the (tourist) outpost for the Angkor Wat temples. I'm not a big city guy, Siem Reap is more laidback without being to quiet. If you want something in between crazy busy city life and rural province this is a nice place. But for each their own ofcourse, maybe you're more into city life. But Siem Reap is a tourist place, so you will meet a lot of different kind of people there. If you stay long enough there you will meet more the long stay expats there, there can be some out of there people in these kind of places that attract expats. I met a few weird ones mainly in Siem Reap. The longer you look around the more homeless white guys you will see there. They lost money because of scamming girlfriend or a addicted to drugs and alcohol. Have some crazy stories from the homeless white guys I met there. Also heard stories of pedos refuging in Cambodia because it's easy to get in to the country. That's the downside of an easy visa process you also attract that kind of people. Angkor Wat temples: If you are into this kind of thing it's amazing, it's a blend of Hindu and Buddhist influence because it was build and expanded in different eras. Rent some bicycles, because it's BIG. The largest temple complex in the world. If you stay close for a longer time or visit there often go for a day pass each time. I was there two times and had a three day pass each time. After two days you are temple tired. So if you have the option spread it out. Archeologic restoration volunteering: not sure if it's still there but, there are still restoration projects going on there, I heard there are volunteering options. If I ever go back to Siem Reap for a longer time I will definitely look into that. Floating villages: There are a couple of them around, well worth the visit. Go one time during dry season and one time during wet season, makes a major difference. There are a couple of floating villages which are fake uphold for tourists, and try to get the most money out of you by trying to get you to donate to the local schools. Do some research before you go which ones are legit. Night sleeper bus: Cheap way to travel around between provinces, most comfortable for me, but that's just because I can't sleep while in a sitting position, the night buses are bunk beds. Mind you the size is limited. I, with my 172cm just barely fit stretched out. If you are taller then that maybe not that comfortable. Kamppot: heard it should be nice, more of a spot for the locals for relaxing during the weekend. Sihanoukville: stay away from that place, it's a casino town, built by and run by the Chinese Mafia. Lots of shady shit going on there, including human trafficking. Koh Rong: part of an cluster of Islands in the south nice tropical beaches and some diving there. Sex tourism: be mindful of the bigger implications this industry has. Sex tourism is accepted within poorer family circles as a means of survival. Sometimes even encouraged. But as an Actualizing individual see the bigger implications this has. Dating a local: Be careful there is a lot of using and abusing going in between westerners and locals. from both sides. Locals using Westerners for a meal ticket, Westerners (usually with mental problems) using local women as cheap housemaids they can fuck. Think with your brain not your dick. There will be a big difference in mindset, intelligence between the women from the province without a proper education or someone with an education living and working in PP. Same Same But Different common phrase said in SE Asia. Within Expat circles this is a popular movie about a German guy who had encounters with a local girl. Language: Outside the business and tourist areas you will be hard pressed to find people to speak English. Learning the Khmer language is quite difficult. Maybe you have more talent for languages than I have. Laos - Vietnam route: A lot of tourists (mostly backpackers) do the Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam (bus)route. Never done it but should be quite nice and not to expensive. Although there have been a lot of border skirmishes in that area so I don't know if it's easy to cross borders Saving face: this part of Asian culture is quite unfamiliar to Westerners. If you really want to understand and integrate, try to learn more about saving face and what it entails. The Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge era left a big scar on the country including how the culture developed from there. I did not do to much investigation in the culture side, but it's quite interesting to learn about and observe. Be mindful how you behave in public spaces. It's easy to get into trouble even if you are trying to do a good thing.

Haha, I met this guy in Cebu in January when he was there for the Sinulog festival. He is also a fellow dive professional, nice guy. I think his name is Adam if I remember correctly.

Good on ya mate! Have fun. I can give you some pointers if you like, I have lived in Cambodia for 6 months.