Deputies show overwhelming support for the proposal to raise the fine for violating the sanitary vehicle restriction. Some deputies believe the sanction should be even higher and that license plates should be removed in the case of non-compliance.
The proposal is to increase the fine for those who fail to comply with the restriction from ₡23,415 to ₡107,000. It also proposes a sanction of ₡450,200 for those who fail to comply with other sanitary orders or measures issued by the Ministry of Health. The current fine depends on the person’s income.
Since the restriction came into effect on Wednesday, 1,500 drivers have been fined for driving between 10 pm and 5 am Monday through Friday or between 8 pm and 5 am Friday to Sunday.
Irresponsibly leaving the home for unnecessary reasons puts many people’s health at risk. For this reason, the Christian Social Unity Party thinks that those who fail to comply should be sent to jail. All other parties are against this as it would imply a high cost and all resources should be aimed at the emergency response. Additionally, there are no cases of covid-19 in the prison system and it would be ideal to keep it this way.
ICE has taken great strides in strengthening the Internet speed in Costa Rica. This couldn’t have come at a better time, now that so many rely on the Internet for work and study due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The transfer of information between Costa Rican suppliers no longer relies on international connections. In the past, WhatApp messages from an ICE client to a Claro client, for example, had to go through an international exchange. This is no longer necessary if both parties are in the country.
This is thanks to the Traffic Exchange Point (IXP). This platform allows local Internet providers to exchange data traffic without it leaving the country. The data exchange is done at a common and technically neutral point. The country can now move 20 Gigabits per second instead of 12.
As the government’s telecommunication arm, ICE decided to focus on the well being of Costa Ricans, rather than competition among the telecommunications market. What’s most important is that everyone can work and study with the greatest speed and least latency possible.
Date to be there: 3/28/2020. Time to be there: 7pm. Contact Person: Mary Garcia. Address to be at: XXXXX, Rancho Cordova, CA // Activity: Mary’s child is talking with entities and entities talking to the child. Voices can be heard.
THE INVESTIGATION:
We enter a home with an incredible loving family. Mary Garcia and her husband Mike, along with their daughter and son greeted us with open arms to their beautiful home in Rancho Cordova. Mary’s little daughter is talking to an entity (an imaginary friend). Children from ages 1 to 8, have psychic abilities and that is why most children in that age bracket will have an imaginary friend. After age 8, most children lose their psychic abilities, except for the few that maintain their psychic ability into adult life. This house may have poltergeist activity, there is tapping on the windows, banging on the walls. A family member to this family has been dabbling in the dark arts, the occult, Satanism. Mike showed Deanna all kinds of occult drawings that this family member did.
Deanna picked up on a portal in one of the bedrooms. We had 2 investigative sessions that would last up to 40 minutes for each session. After each session is a debriefing to determine on what kind of evidence we obtained in this house. We captured many EVPs and most of the EVPs sound like growling. We feel there is definitely a demonic force in this house. One EVP sounded like bubbling water and this was captured in one of the closets. Another EVP sounded like a man saying “Be right back”. Deanna detected an old lady by the gazebo and we obtained an EVP of an old lady saying what sounded like “hello” at the gazebo. We felt cold spots. Josh had a chain on his pants and an entity yanked on the chain. We must have captured about 9 EVPs in this home. On some of our equipment the batteries started draining. Deanna envisioned blood on my wrists and hands and come to find out the family member that dabbled in Satanism would cut herself and draw blood. Josh’s temperature gauge hit “666” twice and would pause, before going to the next sequence.
EVIDENCE AND VISIONS
One of the investigators witnessed a shadow creature darting through the living room. Julie actually took a picture of a shadow person in the backyard! Deanna detected portals in the pantry and when I went into the pantry I obtained an EVP of tongue clicking sounds. The little girl said sometimes she hears whispering and heavy breathing near the bathroom. At the bathroom I captured an EVP of heavy breathing. Deanna envisions a white rabbit paw laid out at the front door. Later she envisions a demon dog and red candles burning. Mary said that her red candles are missing after she learns of Deanna’s red candle vision. Deanna sees a troll that was probably summoned via a Ouija Board and she sees the troll stealing jewelry and Mary has missing jewelry. Deanna envisions imps on Mary’s fence. Deanna learns that Mary burned a Satanic box that was created by the family member and Deanna feels that when Mary burned the box, it opened up a portal for a fire demon. Deanna sees a “monkey familiar” near the little girl. Josh used his spirit box and when we asked the entity what his name was, it said “Beezlebub”. Come to find out the family member that dabbled in Satanism had wrote the name Beezlebub on a piece of paper. Julie at some point of time during the investigation, came under what looked like a spiritual attack that affected her physically. Julie had to step outside to regain her composure.
THE CLEANSING:
Deanna conducted a metaphysical cleansing of the home and I conducted a Roman Catholic House Blessing. The family and I, all changed into swim clothes and we waited for the jacuzzi to get warm. While we waited we watched Netflix “Tiger King”. When the jacuzzi was warm, I blessed the water and baptized Mary, Mike, their daughter and son. Special Note: After I conducted the Roman Catholic house blessing, the family felt attachments on their legs. Deanna looked at me and told me I need to baptize all of them. A full submersion baptism is a basic form of exorcism. If this family had an attachment, the attachment will immediately leave after the baptism. Besides the fact that the family member took notes on Satanism, this family member also had a Voodoo doll. Deanna is now in possession of the Satanic notes, the Voodoo doll and other dark items. Deanna will dispose of them properly and binding any kind of evil with the items. Special Note: Thank you to this family for the coffee. The family also has chickens and gave us some eggs.
As you can see, this investigation was somewhat dark. I just pray that things will get back to normal for this family. Mary informed me that after the cleansing and baptism, the little daughter mentioned that her imaginary friend was still around. I gave Mary information on how to self cleanse her home.
A Tico in New York was interviewed and he explained that the covid-19 situation was not taken seriously enough by NYC residents at the beginning. He last went out about a week and a half ago and was surprised to see many people in the street acting as though nothing was happening.
The United States is currently the country with the most cases of the virus, passing Italy and China. New York and Washington are the hardest hit spots in the nation.
The authorities in New York have considered closing parks, making streets pedestrian only, and even a mandatory quarantine, among other potential measures to adopt in this covid-19 hotspot.
The Governor of New York State and the Mayor of New York City have made requests for medical supplies, even asking for the military to take over logistics of manufacturing and distributing the supplies. The state needs help from the President and the nation so that people who could live don’t die from a lack of crucial supplies.
On March 12th, the Governor of New York had to ban gatherings of over 500 people. Later an order came to not congregate in groups of any size and to stay home from work except in the case of essential employees.
The Mayor is looking for where makeshift hospitals can be made. He asked existing hospitals to find ways to increase their number of beds by at least 50% as the number of cases is expected to more than double.
If we ignore staying home, we may not have the possibility of a respirator, explained the Minister of Health. We must flatten the curve because there are a limited number of intensive care beds and respirators in the country.
The Government has added restrictions to keep people home and safe. In addition to the recently added driving restrictions, there is now a mandate to close businesses at 8 pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. This applies to most establishments that have operating permits and direct attention to the public.
Home delivery of food and medications will be allowed and supermarkets will be able to stay open. Additional exceptions include funeral homes, Immigration, Customs, Stat Phytosanitary services, and air, land, and sea border posts.
Costa Rica now has 295 cases of covid-19. 15 are hospitalized, including six in intensive care. The ages of those infected with the virus range from one to 87 years old. Of those in intensive care, only one is a senior citizen, pointing to the fact that no one is exempt from getting this virus. It affects people of all ages, even those who were previously in good health.
Fines have been significantly increased for those who fail to comply with Traffic Law and sanitary orders during this pandemic.
Soon the country will be able to test 500 patients per day and use the National Pain Center exclusively for new coronavirus patients who don’t require intensive care. Those who have appointments will be able to experience them remotely. Equipment will be given out to take their blood pressure at home and they will be able to receive physical therapy through personalized videos sent by email or WhatsApp.
There’s intermittent sun late in the afternoon with a long view downstream. An hour of passive observation gathers sufficient attention to end all thinking. Without a trace of fear or morbidity, one enters the house of death.
In a positive sense, while fully alive, what does it mean to enter the house of death? It’s a dimension of being that contains all life and material existence, but is also beyond it. One feels the brush, and sometimes an overwhelming rush of eternity when one unexpectedly enters the house of death while fully alive.
When life and death are emotionally experienced as a single movement, one sees the true meaning of freedom. Psychological thought is time; psychological time is memory; and psychological memory is suffering. Freedom is the ending of time and suffering, which allows death to draw near without fear.
There are two ways we have to deal with death–through direct contact with its moment-to-moment actuality; and by preparing ourselves and loved ones for the end of our lives. The second is rare; the first is almost unheard of.
We’re all familiar with death at the end of life, or death that cuts life short. Faced with the fact of one’s mortality, we put off thinking and talking about death. I see this tendency in myself.
Experiencing death as part of life, on the other hand, flows from a deep intent to understand life, which, one discovers, is inseparable from death. That isn’t just a philosophical truth; it’s an emotional fact, and experiencing death as inseparable from life is tremendously liberating.
Speaking for myself, though one has often come into direct contact with the actuality of death without fear during deeper states of meditation, I still fear disease and physical death. Why?
Once I got so sick from eating tainted meat that I came within days of death, and saw its personification, in reality or imagination, waiting for me two days away. (A follow-up visit to the doctor confirmed I was that close to dying.)
The worst aspect of the coronavirus pandemic is not sickness and death, but the number of people who are dying alone, isolated and intubated in hospital rooms with family and friends prohibited from being at their side, and nurses and physicians scurrying in and out in hazmat gear.
Therefore sickness and mortality, as opposed to experiencing the actuality of death as inextricable from life (indeed, as the ground of life and the universe itself), seem to be two very different things.
Is that because we both can and cannot imagine straining for our last breath on a ventilator? Imagination has its place, but it’s deadly when it comes to facing and freeing oneself from fear.
Similarly, imagining a better future cannot, in itself, create a better future. In fact, imagining a better future prevents it when imagination is put first, because then we don’t face, remain with, and bring insight and understanding into what is.
Insight is far more important than imagination. Insight is wordless, always of the moment and original, even if one has had a similar insight before. Insight has a completely different source than thought and imagination, the same source as creation itself.
Therefore the revolution in human consciousness, when it finally occurs, will be an explosion of insight in a sufficient number of individuals, not the realization of an imagined future, however well conceived.
Insight may give rise to conception and imagination, or it may remain silent, complete in itself. Insights with respect to science, art and architecture require expression, but the state of insight has no need for expression.
Conversation and direct action may allay fear–for a while. But they do nothing to end the roots of fear, much less make a friend of death while fully alive.
When it comes to radical change, as it has, gradually means never; coping denies understanding and transcendence; fighting fear generates conflict and anxiety; and a stronger self is a weaker being.
Illness can teach and deepen, but suffering only leads to more suffering, and is never redemptive.
Besides, people who are inwardly alive seek liberation, not redemption.
Death without dying, and dying without death is the door is the door to freedom.
The Coronavirus is expected to generate a 1.5% contraction in the economy of Costa Rica in 2020. This is predicted by the risk rating agency Standard and Poor’s. The agency projects that the fiscal deficit will be 8% of the GDP this year.
It keeps Costa Rica rated B+ with a negative outlook and the risk of a downgrade in the next 12 months. Further deterioration in public finances is to be expected. The S&P pointed out the lack of “correct, conscious and timely” commitment of the Costa Rican political sector to reverse the fiscal deficit.
The US agency stated, “This reflects a strong blow to domestic demand amid measures to combat covid-19 and a drop in tourism and goods exports due to the economic contraction in trading partners.”
S&P expects foreign investment to be equivalent to 3.5% of GDP in areas of life sciences, digital technology and services. The agency also forecasts that production will rebound in 2021. It estimates 3.7% of GDP in 2021 and 3% by 2022.
Moody’s also warned of the economic effect generated by the virus. It stated that while the country approved laws and proposals to mitigate adversities, they will help in some ways but on the other hand put negative pressure on the fiscal profile.
There are 4 phases of transmission of the new coronavirus and Costa Rica is in phase 3. The phases are defined by the World Health Organization and are used to compare what is happening in different countries.
Phase 1 means there are no cases at all in the country. Phase 2 is where there are imported or very sporadic cases. Phase 3 is where there are clusters of cases but they are identified and isolated. Then phase 4 is where the virus is being transmitted constantly.
In Costa Rica, the first confirmed patients were 18 days ago. There are now six conglomerates that remain. Almost all of the clusters have a clear origin which allows for better containment and prevention of further transmission.
There are 17 new cases that are still under investigation. If it turns out that one or more of them do not have a clear link to a known case, then that could mean that the country has moved into phase 4 which is a faster contagion phase.
Please stay home as much as possible and practice constant hygiene.
The paranormal is usually fun, but it also can be a dangerous thing. Not only do we have to journey out on eerie adventures to find this energy, it is also spiritually threatening.
This means that going around the occult/paranormal and haunted locations and situations can cause some energy to attach to you.
What happens when energy attaches to you is that you will start to feel drained of any positivity.
It can manifest in your body, relationships, mind and emotions.
Many people who are drawn to the paranormal have psychic abilities and gifts of which they are not yet aware of, but seem to lead them into the mysterious unknown. Unfortunately, your ability to sense and feel stronger than normal can also be a weakness if you are not totally aware!
Be careful when dealing in the paranormal. Do your research. Ask questions. Identify who you are in order to detach from the negative thoughts and emotions that may suddenly effect you.
Know that the energy you feel is not only yours, but may be from a spirit/ghost or demonic energy.
Evil is the opposite of love, so if you start feeling a lack of self love, it’s another sign you may be targeted.
The spirits thoughts can become yours, make you doubt yourself and easily cause paranoia, harsh thoughts, critical judgement and miscommunication in someone.
Because this energy is destructive it may eventually lead down the path of repetitive thoughts of self-harm/addictive behaviors and enchanting delusions which manifest into lustful desires that you never had before.
People that we have known in this industry have fallen away into deep depressions, anxious behaviours or suddenly turning hateful towards us or others that they love.
That is why self-blessings are important, safety prayers and protective charms, amulets and items are recommended.
It is sort of foolish to expect that you would never be influenced by the endless stream of changing energies around us, so make sure to acknowledge your light and shadows before entering the paranormal.
I have known personally people who had an interest in the occult and ghost hunting who did eventually commit suicide or commit violent acts, usually towards people whom they used to care about, which seemed out of character.
Maybe the behavior was in them all along and they were attracted to death or perhaps a demon found it’s way… either way I don’t want to read another headline which says
PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS FOUND DEAD!
A Message from Paul: Okay, okay, if you are a ghost hunter, the above article by Deanna probably set you off in a bad mood. Let’s loosen things a bit and read Deanna’s article on Justin Bieber taking us all to church. See below:
Justin Bieber, a popstar, went live on Instagram Sunday to spread the love of Jesus Christ.
He was there to showcase Judah Smith and his article of faith about various topics including the belief that we were all placed where we need to be in life by God, but freewill does exist. He prays away the Corona virus and was spreading a sense of comfort and peace. He did also read from the bible many times stories about Paul and dying and knowing when it is our time for death that we will be saved by the salvation of Jesus’s name.
It didn’t matter that in the chat, there were people from varying religions and beliefs because everyone came together in the name of Jesus Christ.
Justin Bieber has many tattoos that represent Jesus on his body such as an actual cross and lions, who represent the kings of the world. Jesus was known to be a king of the spirit world and was once compared in the bible to being a lion, the lion of Judah.
Revelation 5:5
But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
There is also the famous example of the lion and the lamb together in harmony under the love of Jesus.
This all seems to relate to a common denominator that pulls us all together- believing in each other and the world.
Then, they continued to worship Jesus in song by the church that Judahs was broadcasting from.
Being a pessimist by nature and experience, I tend to see dark linings in silver clouds. But is there ia real chance to change course now, if those who remain healthy can be true and look beyond the immediate crisis?
Each day, as the pandemic deepens and widens, I’ve been grappling with the question of whether to keep going with the work in the midst of its predictive realization.
What is “the work?” It is a rather presumptuous, pretentious phrase, implying some greater importance, if not self-importance. You get that sense when actors refer to their inherently unserious gigs making movies as “the work.”
What I mean by the work is bringing about the transmutation of our species, always beginning with and within oneself, to change the basic, disastrous course of humankind. It is, in other words, the messy ditchwork of radical change.
Sometimes I feel the work is thousands of years old; at other times I doubt that it exists at all. But something more than personal motivation, need and desire is driving it.
“No teacher, however illumined, has changed the basic course of humankind,” Krishnamurti said near the end of his life. We humans are a very pigheaded species.
Many others have tried and failed to change the basic course of humankind. The greatest example of that failure is Jesus, who, contrary to Christianity, wasn’t meant to die on the cross. Though he failed to change the hearts of the people of his time, he didn’t fail within himself, but remained faithful to God and his love for humanity.
Deifying him, as supposed followers of Jesus have done since the Roman Empire took over the Jesus Movement and founded of the Roman Catholic Church in the 300’s, was the most cunning trick in human history. It effectively denied the failure of Jesus’ mission, removed responsibility from people then and now, kept Jesus’ humanness at a safe distance, and installed a priestly order of a authority from the pope on down.
The devil’s own in the White House, the most spiritually empty and amoral president in American history, is mocking Jesus and making fools of Christians who support him when he says, “Easter is a very special day for me,” and that it would be “great to have all of the churches full…I think Easter Sunday you will have packed churches all over our country.”
Timing is not everything, but it may be the most important thing. A psychological and spiritual revolution, irrespective of organized religion and tradition, may be a matter of timing. We each contain human consciousness enfolded within us in microcosm. So can insight ignite within human consciousness during this worldwide halt in activity?
I’ve long felt that prophecy, a profession with not a high rate of success, as Abe Lincoln wryly noted, is 15% predication and 85% preparation.
As Marcus Borg points out, “Prophecy and prediction have become virtual synonyms…implying a future already fixed or predetermined that can be can by known by specially gifted people who can see into it and disclose coming events to others.”
However prophecy once had a much more subtle and nuanced meaning. “Importantly, it was not the last judgment or end of the world, but the threatened end of the social world through historical catastrophe,” Borg states.
Dying in Greece, the poet Lord Byron, who certainly didn’t live a Christ-like life, nevertheless wrote lines in his last poem, “On this day I complete my 36th year,” which echo through the centuries:
“The fire that on my bosom preys
Is lone as some volcanic isle;
No torch is kindled at its blaze—
A funeral pile.
But ’tis not thus—and ’tis not here—
Such thoughts should shake my soul, nor now…”
It’s patently absurd for commentators to proclaim, “Our greatest lesson is this: We must build a more sturdy America.” It isn’t about America; it’s about humanity.
For the last few years, I’ve been perplexed at how a social, economic and political system that is so meaningless, debased and corrupt, so dedicated to and based on self-centeredness and externality, could persist.
It turns out we were running on fumes. The collapse that many have predicted is upon us. Are enough people prepared to respond at all levels, from the spiritual, philosophical to political dimensions, to create a global civilization?
How bad will this get? Perhaps just bad enough to bring about the essential shift in consciousness and change the course of humankind.
Let’s see Costa Rica is shutting down, but Florida which has 10 times more cases remains open for business.
This governor is sticking to his guns under arrogance of not abiding by the guidance of medial professionals. Hey dumb ass people are not going to fly in and self quarantine themselves.
Its time after 500 new cases Wednesday to shut down. Disney is shut down and the tourism industry is gone.
Guess what your pride will come back and bite you in the ass.
Votes are not more important than lives….. I hope you start thinking with your brain and not your well I don’t know what you are thinking with……
Some of the the state’s largest business groups, which donate millions to Republican candidates each year, have been lobbying DeSantis and his staff to keep the state open. – Hey stupid lives trump votes
Today the Ministry of Health updated a map that shows where the cases of the new coronavirus are in Costa Rica. The data on the map is given by canton, not the specific town or home of the person infected.
The first person killed by covid-19 in Costa Rica was an 87-year-old pediatrician from Alajuela. He was infected in Alajuela and was treated in intensive care. In response, President Carlos Alvarado said, “We show solidarity with his family. Let us react, accept the orders of the Ministry of Health. Only united and with solidarity will we pass this national emergency.”
The health authorities plead with the public to take this seriously and stay home as much as possible. Seniors, those with underlying medical conditions, and those who live with them are urged to not leave home at all so that we don’t end up with more patients than intensive care units and ventilators.
China stands in solidarity with Costa Rica against the new coronavirus, covid-19. The nation donates tests to detect covid-19. Additionally, China donates to Costa Rica medical supplies like masks and airway machines.
The amount of test kits donated was not made public but we heard that it was a significant amount. 5 specialty machines called continuous positive airway pressure machines are on the way. These are used to force air through the airways to prevent them from being blocked by breathing problems.
On March 19, a video meeting was held with Chinese experts on infectious disease. The executive director of the CCSS and the director of the National Children’s Hospital attended and heard recommendations for the prevention and treatment of covid-19.
The terms between Costa Rica and China have been excellent since June 1, 2007. The bilateral relations show mutual trust, benefits, and cooperation. The President personally thanked the People’s Republic of China.
Stories are appearing from around the planet of suddenly clean air and water. For example, as Francesco Delrio writes, “Venice hasn’t seen clear canal water in a very long time. Dolphins showing up too. Nature just hit the reset button on us.”
This is the last chance for humankind to change course in our age. The question is, will human consciousness have a radical reset, or will people return to business as usual when the pandemic is over?
The human madness that has been underneath, that’s been covered over by meaningless busyness and noise, has been brought forth into the open, into the light of day.
A pilot I know who flies for a major airline said, “We’re essential workers, and it’s important we fly even with empty planes.” Self-centeredness still rules, but it has become completely irrational.
Most people deny that there’s something metaphysical at work, and are reverting to form. Two New York Times pieces in the same day represent two sides of the same debased coin– “Where Is God In a Pandemic?” written by a Jesuit priest, and “Chin Up, Extroverts, We Will Crowd Again!” written by a post-grad party girl.
In the first op-ed, the priest intones, “In the end, the most honest answer to the question of why the Covid-19 virus is killing thousands of people, why
infectious diseases ravage humanity and why there is suffering at all is: We don’t know.”
That is dishonest. The truthful answer is that we don’t want to know. At least, Jesuit priests and popes don’t want to know, because their religious authority is threatened by insights into suffering and freedom from it.
The Jesuit rhetorically asks, “But if the mystery of suffering is unanswerable, where can the believer go in times like this?”
That is a willfully wrong question. The mystery of suffering is not unanswerable; indeed, suffering is not so mysterious at all. Pain is inevitable, but humans generate suffering. God has nothing to do with it.
Absurdly, the Jesuit then asks, “Can you believe in a God that you don’t understand?”
The sacred is found within, not outside us. Beliefs are childish things, impediments to understanding. The imperative is to understand oneself, not God. There is an actuality beyond beliefs fabricated by the human mind, but we can only commune with immanence in silence, which requires self-knowing.
Having been brutally brought up in the Catholic Church when the Mass was still in Latin (Mass every day before school, plus on Sunday), I learned as a young adult the meaning of the word ‘jesuitical.’
Misappropriated from the name of Jesus, the word Jesuit has two meanings. The first is “a member of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus founded my Ignatius Loyola in 1534 and devoted to missionary and educational work.”
Followed immediately by the second definition, “One given to intrigue or equivocation.” In other words, the very antithesis of Jesus. The Jesuits have done some good things over the centuries, but Jesus would have nothing to do with them.
Paralleling the priest’s nonsense is an op-ed extolling masses of a different but not so dissimilar kind. In “Chin Up, Extroverts, We Will Crowd Again!” a sad young woman writes, “I live for moments of chaos and disorder and noise: concerts, convention centers, parades, amusement parks, live performances. They are my favorite places on the planet.”
Shot of a live crowd at a concert
“I understand that for many people, even some extroverts, the hot wild mass of bodies pressed close together is their version of hell. But to me, it is sacred.”
People who can only feel alive when absorbed by a throbbing mob, whether a Trump rally or at a rock concert, are inwardly dead. For the NYT to print such rubbish under the rationalization of a “diversity of views,” shows how confused its editors are.
Modern humans have been destroying the earth, laying waste to the web of life within which we evolved, and upon which, despite all our technological wizardry, we still depend for our survival.
Human activity has been put on pause, and humankind has been given a chance to change course. Will we seize it, or resume stupid and wasteful ways of life under the guise of the pursuit of personal happiness?
Perhaps in the past the cosmic mind could only bring about change through maximum death and the destruction of entire civilizations. In our age, the global pandemic is achieving maximum impact with minimum death and destruction.
Is this the end of civilization as we know it? Will we cling to its corpse, or create a true global civilization? It begins within each person who stands alone, and leaves the mob and mass mentality behind.
Date to be there: March 21, 2020 Saturday. Time to be there: 6pm. Contact John Dean Amant. Case # 7L07Y761H289H8 – investigating Dean’s wife’s house in Sacramento. Address to be at: xxxxx Nogales Street, Sacramento,CA 98838 / Special Note: During these trying times of the Coronavirus, we have been ordered with “shelter in place”. But in times of need, Halo Paranormal Investigations must help people in need. The woman that lives in this house may have had a heart attack because of the demonic presence in this house. We are here to investigate, to baptize this woman to relieve her from the demonic attachment and to cleanse her home. We are here to help. I consider this as “essential”. We are the first responders to this lady in need.
THE INVESTIGATION:
We broke it up into two teams. Team Fantasma which consisted of Julie and Daniel. Team Esoteric which consisted of Big Al, Moe and Josie. There was two investigative sessions. The sessions were anywhere from 30 minutes to 40 minutes. First area to cover is inside the home. 2nd area to cover is the backyard and side openings. The family has many dogs, it was a pleasure to have the dogs with us in our investigation. We captured boo coo EVPs. Big Al captured an EVP outside that said “can I up? or it said “can I hug?” Deanna detected a rainbow portal in the backyard and the exact spot where she detected the portal is where a tree fell. Deanna detected a ghost that is attached to a Pontiac car at this residence, but right next to it was another vehicle in which John Amant said there was a ghost attached to that vehicle. We learned that Lonnie Kirby died in this house and we were shown the bedroom in which he died in. John Amant says in the other bedroom, he witnessed a dark shadow staring at him from the doorway. When he saw this entity, he went unconscious and fell at the doorway and broke his leg in 3 places. Deanna picked up on elemental nature spirits in the backyard and “cowboy” energy. We captured EVPs of whispering. Moe captured one that sounded like a growl or mumble and this was captured outside. On Moe’s spirit box the entity called him “honey”. We captured EVPs that said “no” or “yeah”. Julie and Daniel felt cold spots in the bedroom. We captured another EVP in the bedroom that was a full on sentence. Another EVP that we captured was the voice of the late Lonnie and Patricia the occupant verified that it was Lonnie’s voice. When we captured the full on sentence EVP, I placed the digital recorder on Patricia’s forehead while she laid in bed. We could not make out the sentence, but it was a male voice. Daniel said his hair stood up on his arm as the cold spot got near him. Please watch the videos located above this article to hear the story from the occupant Patricia Kirby-Amant. Patricia feels that the dark entity in this home may have given her a heart attack. Daniel was ready with his new IR camera. Equipment used at this investigation were: digital recorders; night vision goggles; Infrared camera; sound enhancer, spirit box. Special Note: When driving to this home, a large convoy of Army hummers were going down the street. I instantly thought we were under martial law, because of the coronavirus outbreak. A scary sight indeed.
THE CLEANSING:
Deanna conducted a metaphysical cleansing of the home. I conducted a Roman Catholic house blessing. I gave Patricia a sprinkling baptism and then I conducted a holy water hedge of protection prayer on all of the investigators. I conducted a baptism similar to Affusion (la. affusio), which is a method of baptism where water is poured on the head of the person being baptized. I actually sprinkled the holy water on the whole person (Patricia) to take away her possible attachment. The word “affusion” comes from the Latin affusio, meaning “to pour on”, in this case to sprinkle on.
While many Ticos who were in Italy before the start of the covid-19 crisis managed to get home, there are 26 Ticos stranded there. Transportation options have all but shut down, as have most aspects of the country in crisis.
The Embassy of Costa Rica in Italy is working on arranging safe passage for these 26 as well as 2 other Ticos in Malta and Croatia, where Costa Rica does not have a consulate. The Costa Ricans were abroad to study, work, or tour.
Those stranded in Italy are in contact with the Embassy, reporting on their health. Only one has tested positive for covid-19 and they are in good health. All 26 are staying with friends or family or locals who offered collaboration to the Embassy. Three are children and one is an adult with a chronic disease.
The Ambassador is taking calls to the Embassy on his personal cell phone and is doing his best to coordinate transportation home. There are some airlines flying to Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, but passengers are only allowed for connections, which are not easy to find. In the meantime, he urges all Costa Ricans in Italy to obey the authorities and stay inside, and to not underestimate the virus.
The Hotel Dreams Las Mareas has had to suspend its activity because of covid-19. While this means that 640 people are out of work, it is temporary. None of them have been laid off from the luxury hotel.
The business took the opportunity permitted by a new law as of Saturday that allows a percentage of the salaries to be decreased. Congress approved this so that businesses can stay in business and staff can feed their families and then operations can continue as normal after the virus is contained. The management looks forward to seeing its rooms, restaurants and bars full again soon.
The new law, the Authorization Law for Reduction of Workdays, provides an exceptional measure because of the effects that the new coronavirus is having on the economy. Employees will receive 100% of their salary in March. From April 1-April 30th, they will receive 50%, in May, 35%, and in June, 25%.
The shareholders of the hotel decided on keeping labor contracts in place in order to support Costa Rica in mitigating the impact of the emergency as well as continue to provide employment in the area.
The Virgin of the Angels, Virgen de los ángeles, has long been a symbol of faith and hope to Costa Ricans. Many pray to “la negrita” and claim miracles. The image of the patron saint was taken this morning on a flight over the country to bring hope.
In addition to inspiring faith and strength among Costa Ricans, the flight is meant to reiterate the stance of the Catholic Church that we should diligently follow the precautions put forth by the Ministry of Health.
The flight of hope started with a priest from the basilica, Francisco Arias, bringing the image to the plane through rows of firefighters saluting. The general public was asked to avoid crowds and rather participate from home by waving handkerchiefs.
The priest explained that while we often come to visit the virgin at her home, this time she will come to visit all of us. The visit is done by air and without stops as to avoid people gathering at a specific spot.
The canyon was so unexpectedly beautiful that I literally felt a little disoriented climbing the trail to my usual meditation spot overlooking the gorge.
Thousands of lupines, mixed with a few orange poppies, lined the path, painting the steep slopes in delicate blue down to the dark, volcanic slabs that form the vertical walls of the gorge. The faint, sweet smell from the lupines wafted up on the soft breeze as I sat in the late afternoon sun.
After a few days of rain recently, the slopes are green, though not lushly so. There was insufficient rain during the winter, and it looks like it will be another drought year in California, which means more and earlier wildfires during the dry season.
A half-mile up the canyon, at the far end of the gorge, a young man sat cross-legged for half an hour. On his way back on the path behind me, I asked if he was meditating. He gave a non-committal answer, indicating an attempt to do so.
I commented on the beauty of the canyon today, and the surprising number of lupines in bloom. “What are lupines?” I pointed to a line of them next to us, and he smiled. “I come here to heal,” he said. Yes, we all need healing, I replied. The incisive conversation only lasted about a minute, and we kept our mandated social distance.
As reported in the national news, “On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California commanded the people of his state to stay home. That’s roughly 40 million people. He anticipates that about 25 million Californians will be infected by the virus over the next eight weeks.”
I’ve never seen as many people in Upper Park however. It’s the jewel of Chico, which stretches for about 8 miles into the canyon just beyond town. Numerous cars were in the gravel parking areas, and in pullouts along the bumpy, unpaved road. People weren’t ignoring Newsom’s order, just getting out into nature while staying clear of each other.
All the folks I crossed paths with were courteous and friendly. Having endured the worst wildfire in California history less than two years ago, which killed 85 people, destroyed the ironically named town of Paradise, and burned down nearly 20,000 homes and businesses in a matter of hours, people in this locality aren’t about to go bananas over a virus.
At the last parking area before a permanently closed gate into the upper reaches of the canyon, a ranger was opening the lock. ‘You’re not opening the gate I’ll bet,’ I said after shouting hello. He smiled and walked halfway to the car.
“Unfortunately no. I’m nearing the end of my shift and though I usually hike up to Salmon Hole [a favorite gathering and swimming spot for students at Chico State], I’m driving up to check things out.”
As I meditated overlooking the stupendous gorge, with a view miles up-canyon and sheer cliffs rising hundreds of feet in front of me less than a mile away, two young men went by with fishing poles strapped to their daypacks. “Nice spot,” one understatedly said.
After they passed, I let a sneeze rip without restraint. Through a small opening between the jagged rocks on the path 100 meters away, one of the guys turned and waved.
Group meditation is an oxymoron. The origin of separation and alienation is the primal habit of the observer. To end the observer, one has to intently watch the stream of thought/emotion alone in the mirror of nature, allowing awareness to grow quicker than thought.
The very act of passively observing, including without strengthening the illusorily separate observer that judges and chooses, gathers unwilled attention, which in turn clears the muddy stream within.
It’s like watching a brown, turbulent creek, full of debris after a heavy rain. Except that the very act of attending to thoughts and emotions as they arise clears the stream. Then, always unexpectedly, it stops, leaving only the ever-pregnant silence of being.
Huge flocks of Canadian geese, flying high overhead, flashed silver as they circled in the sun. Other than the sound of a small plane, there was no noise of man, only the sound of the stream far below, mixed with the calls of some unknown bird.
Vultures soared by so close that I could see their heads swivel as they scanned the ground, or me, for carrion. Suddenly, in the distance, a paraglider appeared. He or she seemed to hover motionless against the cliff-face for seconds at a time.
Then, with exquisite grace, the pilot made a series of banking turns, before descending to a flat about a mile up the canyon. Social distancing collapsed as the huge semi-circular sail crumpled to the ground.
Before panicking over rumors of restricted rights of transit and assembly, note that most deputies are against the idea of taking away these constitutional rights.
There is an initiative drafted and headed to the legislative current to be studied. It would suspend the freedom of transit and freedom of assembly for up to 30 days in order to combat the covid-19 pandemic.
Any suspension of constitutional rights requires the support of two thirds of the Legislative Assembly. 33 votes, more than half of Congress, have already sided against taking away these rights.
Many have insisted that such a drastic measure would have to come from the President and the Ministry of Health and be based on specific data showing that this would stop the spread of covid-19.
Some have gone as far as to say that such a measure would be reckless, causing undue panic among the public. It has also been pointed out that the Public Force is not trained to or big enough to enforce such measures.
Text Message from Dean Amant: “Hi we talked on day back in September and I was telling you I feel I had a attachment. You said u could set up a time for u and your team to investigate. The haunting is so bad I moved out of my wife’s home and in with my friend’s house and now my friend’s house is having activity here. I could use your help to find out what is haunting my home and wife’s home. We have things moving and doors opening and closing and I keep seeing a figure moving from bedroom to bedroom. This is also happening in my friends place. At my wife’s place there is anger, wife even had a heart attack 2 months ago. Also dark figures seen in bedrooms. No one has been hurt, only emotionally. I think. Is it possible that the entity or entities are attached to Dean Amant and followed him to his friend’s home? Case #: 7J077P612Y898
HPI PARANORMAL INVESTIGATORS ROLL CALL:
Deanna Jaxine Stinson – Psychic Medium/ HPI Co-Owner; Paul Dale Roberts – HPI Co-Owner; Peter Wisham; Angela Chessnutt; Julie Ewens.
OCCUPANTS:
Josh Garcia; Dean Amant; Sandra; William & Kevin.
THE INVESTIGATION:
We conducted 2 – 40 minute investigations with a debriefing after each one. During the investigation we investigated the backyard. Deanna was feeling animal spirit activity in the backyard shed house. Then she saw a flash of light. Come to find out, there is a grave that reads “Teddy”. Teddy is probably the previous owners family pet. At this location, we obtained an EVP that said “here”. Deanna was seeing an entity with black hair in the living room, at this location, we obtained an EVP that said “yeah”. Sandra the occupant was seeing a vision of Deanna in a past life that has Celtic roots. See Deanna’s live video to hear Sandra explain Deanna’s past life. Deanna has always felt she had a Celtic connection from the past, so that was pretty amazing that Sandra came up with that scenario. Sandra went into a seizure and started talking as if the entity was talking through her. Again, look at Deanna’s live video to see Sandra go through the seizure and then become possessed by the entity. This was all caught on live video. Julie and Angela caught all kinds of orb activity and with some of the orbs, they listened to the commands of Julie and would appear where Julie was directing them, showing intelligent movement. Angela catches a face in the bedroom window and manages to take a picture of the face. The dowsing rods crossed over in this same bedroom, indicating that it was hanging out in the bedroom. We also capture an unintelligible EVP in the very same bedroom. Julie captures a photograph of a dark shadow figure in the window. Sandra has always been a channeler of spirits and will go into a seizure before channeling them. Definition of a channeler: A person who conveys thoughts or energy from a source believed to be outside the person’s body or conscious mind specifically. One who speaks for nonphysical beings or spirits. Deanna felt that there were many animal spirits on the property and she also felt there were some vortexes on the property.
THE CLEANSING: I conducted a sprinkling of holy water baptism which is known as an Aspersion, in a religious context, is the act of sprinkling with water, especially holy water. Aspersion is a method used in baptism as an alternative to immersion or affusion. The baptism was conducted on all of the occupants. After the baptism, I did a Roman Catholic house blessing, while Deanna conducted a metaphysical cleansing of this home. William walked around with me and Deanna and filmed the cleansing and baptism. See Deanna’s live video of the cleansing and baptism. Special Note: While I was investigating the backyard shed, Sandra saw a creature with tenacles attacking my back. The odd thing about this is that my back was very sore when I got home. Did a creature with tentacles really attack me in that shed? ENTITY IDENTIFIED: MR. TENTACLES. Another entity that is seen in this home by the occupants is THE GOATMAN. A shadowy man with a goat’s head. Sandra is tormented by THE GOATMAN. On one of my recordings there is an unusual sound that resembles the cry of a goat. Personal Note: After I left this home, I was completely drained, my energy felt depleted. Angela also felt an energy drain.
Rumors circulate about vaccines and cures for covid-19. Let’s keep in mind that reliable news does not come from Whatsapp audios or Facebook posts. Vaccines are being created but this takes time.
The World Health Organization estimates that a reliable, mass-produced vaccine against covid-19 will not be available until mid-2021. It took a year to make a vaccine for AH1N1 influenza. Before vaccines were available for SARS and MERS, the spread of these diseases had been controlled and a vaccine therefore not needed.
As for a cure, no one is really looking for a covid-19 cure as the symptoms can be treated with medicines already available. A vaccine, on the other hand, would be beneficial because it would prevent the disease and symptoms.
Scientists in Seattle are performing clinical trials for a prototype vaccine. The Chinese are in Phase 1, testing a potential vaccine on a small number of people. There are three phases before a vaccine is used in the general public, to endure safety and have a list of side effects.
It’s important to follow reliable sources for accurate information. To get information directly from the source, follow the website of the Ministry of Health in Costa Rica, https://www.ministeriodesalud.go.cr/
The Ministry of Health put forth a deadline yesterday that includes a map showing in which cantons there are covid-19 patients. Keep in mind that this map does not show the exact location, just the cantons.
The majority of cases of covid-19 in Costa Rica are in the metropolitan area, including San Jose, Heredia, Alajuela and Cartago. They continue to Grecia and Atenas as well. Some of the cantons with infected people are Santa Barbara, San Pedro de Poas, Barva, San Pablo, Santo Domingo, San Juan District of Tibas, Curridabat, Desamparados, Mata de Platano, Santa Ana, and Escazu.
A few cases outside this zone are found in Limon, San Isidro De El General, Nicoya, and Santa Cruz.
A group of more than a dozen young people entered the Grand Canyon on rafts before the pandemic struck the United States. Three weeks without contact with the outside world, they were immediately confronted at the terminus of their trip with the new reality. Childishly, they were also confronted with envy.
Moments after they pulled their rafts out, a guy named Blane, working for a rafting company out of Flagstaff, Arizona, approached the group.
“He gave us a look, sighed, and then launched into it,” one of group reported. “Since they’d left, the coronavirus exploded in the United States and around the world. Italy was under lockdown. The stock market was plummeting. Professional sports were suspended. Many schools were closed indefinitely. Infections were growing exponentially. Tom Hanks had it.”
“Half of us thought he was joking,” said one of the young men. But “the girls believed it right away,” recalled one of them, a nurse.
It was reported that “one rafter’s family texted that the supermarket shelves in California were bare and urged the group to stock up on rice, beans, dog food and toilet paper.
“How’d we go from paradise to hoarding rice and beans?” one rafter asked. Another searched Amazon by phone for toilet paper and saw that it wasn’t available. “That was a moment where it felt pretty real,” she said.
“We’re sitting here trying to piece the world together,” one said. “What does a toilet paper shortage mean? Why are they out of toilet paper?”
That’s become an existential question. Toilet paper, it turns out, is the key to unspooling the social, as opposed to the medical contagion in the United States.
I have a theory. I think that subconsciously, Americans know we lost the Cold War as surely as the Russians did, and connect it, as some primal, scatological level with toilet paper. Now that the poop has hit the proverbial fan, we need lots and lots of the TP to clean up.
Seriously however, the issue confronting serious people everywhere, whether in America, the Philippines, or Tanzania, is how to keep one’s heart alive if it’s been alive, and how to rekindle the flame if one has adapted to the deadness of America and the West by becoming numb.
The pundit-driven dream of a World War II style mobilization in the USA is risible. At that time, everyone shared an intense fear and hatred of an external enemy—“the Japs” and Nazis—and did their bit in the military or in factories to defeat them.
The pandemic is an enemy, if we can even anthropomorphize by calling it an enemy, from within. And we have a malicious, malevolent, incompetent boy for president who is incapable of managing this crisis.
Besides, young people are partying as if there’s no tomorrow, which is what most have narcissistically and nihilistically believed for a generation. Confronting that mindset is essential to containing Covid-19.
People in freer countries need to reflect on what kind of culture and country we want to have afterward, or the lessons learned from the pandemic will move the West and the rest closer to a Chinese type of authoritarianism.
Reports are that Mr. Xi called the virus a “major test” of China’s governance system, and hurled the country’s 1.4 billion people into an antivirus mobilization reminiscent of a Mao-style mass crusade not seen in decades.
Economists now believe the country will see its first contraction in decades, which will have knock-on effects for the global economy and could lead to a recession.
“We saw so many dark things because of the blunt force policies,” said Lan Bo, a Chinese filmmaker from Hubei who has been filming a documentary in Wuhan about the epidemic. “It was a time that showed both the wretchedness and the nobility of human nature.”
Mr. Lan, the filmmaker, said nearly everyone he encountered in the city had a friend, relative or neighbor who had succumbed to the virus.
“This was our war,” Mr. Lan said. “Everyone has seen so much that we are now numb.”
Americans have a big jump on the Chinese in the war and numbness department. Over 90% of the adults here have been numb for 25 years.
There’s no reason except our failure to understand ourselves and the human mind, and the human mind through understanding ourselves, that we cannot regularly realize, in our daily lives, a “cloud of unknowing” like the Grand Canyon rafters.
Turn off your cell phone. Listen to the rain or the flutter of the leaves. Gather undirected attention through passive observation. Learn what it means to observe without the observer.
Then you’ll return to your family, friends and the world with new insight and growing strength, which is born of solitude, not real or virtual social interaction.
Martin LeFevre
Pause, reflect, feel—Martti Talvela, O Isis und Osiris, Mozart:
There are a total of 20 airlines that usually fly to Costa Rica. As the country is not allowing foreigners to enter and many airlines are canceling flights due to the new coronavirus, many wonder if they can cancel or change their tickets.
The airlines that have sold tickets to Costa Rica that will now have to be rescheduled include Aeromexico, Air France, American Airlines, Avianca, Condo, Copa, Delta, Edelweiss, Iberia, Interjet, Jetblue, KLM, Latam, Lufthansa, Spirit, Southwest, United, Volaris, and Wingo.
Most of these airlines are overwhelmed with calls because of the pandemic. They are giving priority to those who had planned to fly in the next 72 hours. Keep in mind that you may be able to change your flight on the airline’s website or via the travel agency or search engine that you booked through.
Be sure to check with your airline to see if you can cancel and get a refund or if you must rebook. Can it be used for a different passenger? What are the deadlines you must rebook and fly by? Also check into how price differences and customer points will work and if change fees can be waived for the extenuating circumstances.
Measures to stop the spread of the covid-19 virus are getting stricter by the day. As of today, gyms, sports centers, sports clubs for activities like karate and judo, and swimming pools are closed indefinitely and until further notice.
This was announced by the Ministry of Health yesterday. The measures are temporary and are for areas and activities in which people congregate. Hands on sports easily spread the virus from one person to another. All activities, organizations, and places of worship must also close if they cannot guarantee 1.4 meters between people.
Places excluded from the suspension include mobile food services, short term accommodations like motels, shopping malls, sodas, and Farmer’s Fairs. They must remain at 50% of their normal occupancy. They must also ensure toilet paper, antibacterial soap, alcohol gel with at least 60% ethanol and paper towels to dry hands. They must display protocols for coughing, sneezing, and hand washing. Bathrooms and surfaces must be cleaned frequently with chlorine and disposable towels.
In January 2020, 78,000 people entered and 49,000 exited Costa Rica at the northern border posts. Now the border is closed to foreigners, a measure meant to stop the spread of covid-19.
Costa Rica is taking security measures at the northern border to reinforce the restriction on the entry of foreigners due to covid-19. Non-resident foreigners are not allowed entry for 26 days as of Wednesday. Anyone who enters illegally will be detained and returned to their country of origin.
Authorities reinforced land, aerial, and maritime security by sending units of the Public Force, Border Police, Professional Police, National Air Surveillance Security, and the Coast Guard Service. Police resources have been moved to control the blind spots on the border in order to safeguard public health in Costa Rica.
Nationals and legal residents can enter but will receive a sanitary order to remain in isolation for 14 days, a mandatory order with legal repercussions for non-compliance.
Hotels are suffering greatly due to the restrictions needed to stop the spread of covid-19. They report over 10,000 cancelled nights and expect a fall of up to 90% because of the new coronavirus.
Hoteliers plan to ask the government for help such as subsidies and flexibility in insurance so as to avoid bankruptcy and mass layoffs.
A state of national emergency has been declared and foreigners banned from entering Costa Rica. While the hotel sector understands the need to take such extreme measures, it will take a huge hit because it is high season.
The Government has proposed some measures to help, such as exemptions from income tax and value added tax. Hoteliers, however, point out that without reservations, being exempt from tax doesn’t mean anything. They hope to have their water and electricity bills waived. The Government also asked banks to propose debt recovery plans for those in the most affected sectors.
The latest numbers reveal 50 patients infected with covid-19 in Costa Rica. Four of them are in intensive care. 40 of them are adults, six are seniors, and four are minors. The patients are between ages 10 and 87. 24 are women and 26 are men. 44 are Costa Rican and 6 are foreigners. The affected people are from 19 cantons. The only provinces without cases are Limon and Puntarenas.
The Costa Rican Social Security Fund intends to use the National Rehabilitation Center (Cenare), in La Uruca, to serve covid-19 patients, thus keeping them separate from other patients and avoiding overflows in hospitals. The rehabilitation and outpatient surgeries that were scheduled there may be reassigned to the Trauma Hospital.
Keep in mind that only 8% of the infected are in intensive care. Many can be quarantined at home. Some are already recovering and just awaiting tests to confirm that they no longer have the virus.
On Monday, there were shortages in some supermarkets because of people hoarding supplies and food. The Government reiterated that the national supply is strong and there is no risk of long term shortages. Additionally, school cafeterias are open to ensure that minors get meals.
Those seeking visas to enter the U.S. may have to wait until after the covid-19 emergency, unless there is an emergency reason for needing the visa.
As of March 18 and until further notice, the diplomatic mission, the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica is taking extra precautions by reducing appointments.
The only cases that will be considered for an urgent visa to travel to the United States are death of a relative, urgent business trip, exchange students, and victims of stolen visas or passports.The request for an emergency visa can be processed online.
Those who applied for a normal visa will likely receive an appointment cancellation email. They will not get a call to cancel appointments. To check the status of your appointment, call 4000-1976.
The U.S. Embassy also reported that U.S. citizens in Costa Rica may return home to the United States where they will have to be quarantined in their homes for 14 days.
Just after I took my seat in front of the small bamboo forest at the Tree Farm, a 30-something fellow stopped and spoke. Excited to have discovered the place after growing up here, he marveled at the light and shadows through the bamboo trees, and began taking pictures in a non-amateur way.
Photo by Martin Lefevre
The fellow, who had traveled all over the world, kept returning to talk for a minute or two, which I didn’t mind. After half an hour of on-again off-again conversation, he had given me the short version of his life story, which was actually quite interesting.
The “Tree Farm,” or officially, “Mendocino National Forest Chico Seed Orchard” (locals joke about the entrance sign, since Mendocino is 300 kilometers away) is an open secret. It’s on 209 acres, and was “started in 1904 tor the purpose of breeding research and plant introduction from all over the world.”
Hence the only bamboo forest in California that I know. On this day, I too was enrapt by the light and shadows through the bamboo trees, as well as the flowering red rhododendron along the stream, and the sound of the gently cascading water.
Passive watchfulness gathered intense, undirected attention, which in turn consumed every thought and emotion as they arose, incinerating psychological memory and self-concern, leaving only beauty, love and eternity.
Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, it may be, as Joe Biden said during the recent debate with Bernie Sanders, “People are looking for results, not a revolution.” But without a spiritual and philosophical revolution, Americans will continue to get the same results.
And not just Americans. As one commentator put it,
“There is a life-threatening, nation-shuttering, wealth-decimating crisis at hand.”
That’s as far as his insight extended however, since in the next sentence he proclaimed, “This is a moment of utterly warranted panic.” No it isn’t.
Amid the sound and fury, does the pandemic and panic signify nothing? Or is it designed (without implying a Designer) for maximum impact with minimum harm to change the course of humankind?
Perhaps God evolves as humankind evolves. I say that with tongue firmly planted in cheek, since I neither believe in a separate, external God, nor in psychological evolution.
With all due respect to Teilhard de Chardin, human consciousness is not an upward spiral toward the Omega Point, but a downward spiral toward a dark singularity. Will there be a creative explosion at that point, which is now?
Everyone I talk with agrees something very strange is going on with this pandemic. The fog of this simulacrum of world war begins to clear however, when one considers the coronavirus in the context of the crisis of human consciousness, and the urgency of radically changing.
The gerbil wheel has stopped, and busyness has been removed as an excuse for the absence of spiritual and philosophical reflection. So what are ordinary folks supposed to reflect upon?
All conceptions of God suffer from two fatal flaws—separateness and exteriority. I propose, as mystics throughout the ages have maintained, that the universe is permeated at every level with immanent consciousness, which is both beyond the cosmos and inseparable from it.
I further propose that the universe is imbued with an intrinsic intent to evolve, through random processes, brains with the capacity to commune with and share in the cosmic mind.
Finally, I propose that the greatest stumbling block to the realization of cosmic intent is the very adaptation—symbolic thought—that puts the brain over the threshold of conscious awareness.
The tendency of so-called higher thought to fragment the planet on which it evolved applies to any planet where life has the right conditions and enough time to evolve symbolic thought.
(This could explain why there has been no confirmed contact with intelligent life. They cannot contact Homo sap until we grow into intelligent life ourselves, and are worthy of the name we’ve given ourselves—Homo sapiens, ‘wise humans.’)
In any case, since God is within everything, cosmic intelligence can only be expressed, and can only act, through us.
Coming at a time of global interconnectedness through the Net, social distancing is prompting, if not compelling people all over the planet to look within, and ignite insight within.
Insights are glimpses into the mind of God, which may be formulated into advancing scientific knowledge or expressed as great art.
The completely silent state of insight in the depths of meditation is communion with God within.
And simultaneously shared insight through small group inquiry is listening to the symphony of the spheres, and composing great music together.
Invited to question together online with the intent to ignite shared insight, someone gave the most absurd excuse for not doing so: “We’re too busy now taking care of each other.”
Idle hands aren’t the devil’s workshop; busy minds are. Silent minds, however, are vessels of cosmic intelligence.
Question: Thank you Mr. Lobo for this impromptu interview. Let’s get this interview started. I see you were involved with underground comics. What was your inspiration to create underground comics?
Answer: Greetings and thanks for interviewing Mr. Lobo and digging deep past the usual stuff about CINEMA INSOMNIA. We always loved comics. Even though, I am best known as a TV Horror Host, actor and producer, I love print and also a lifelong cartoonist. Making movies and animations is very expensive and time consuming and print was very immediate and you can control all the aspects of it. You could tell your story you want to tell with no compromises–other than the limits of your talent or imagination. I loved Mad Magazine, Crazy and Cracked magazine as a kid and underground comics allowed me to be even more subversive and far reaching with my humor.
I was inspired by the Book of the Subgenius, Raw magazine, Psychotronix Catalog, Trencher, Heavy Metal Magazine, Cult Movies Magazine…you felt like you were getting something unfiltered. You can’t have a revolution without print! I took some of my movie scripts and stories and we put out several books in the 90’s–The Height of Zine Mania! First there was a Mad Max-like post-apocalyptic parody magazine called NUKE NOVA: ADVENTURES IN THE RUST AGE, Then we did several anthologies called FUNNY PAGES with other artists. I have contributed to many titles in various ways. I attended and vended at Alternative Press Expo and San Diego Comic Con and that whole scene was very infectious. I still do comics occasionally–I just was involved with a UK Horror Anthology comic called BIZARRE DIMENSIONS in which MR. LOBO is sort of the “Crypt Keeper” for a collection of stories that are 1000% truer than real life.
Question: Speaking of underground comics, do you collect or read any comics now?
Answer: I was sad to see MAD MAGAZINE stop regular publication after relocating to the West Coast. They were starting to get really good! I always pick up old Horror AND Humor comics when I see them. Phantom Stranger and Twilight Zone and Tales From The Crypt. There was a Heavy Metal that had amazing art on the cover that I had to buy even though I hadn’t looked at one in years. I liked the “Big Trouble In Little China” Comic. I just picked up a collection of old “Star Wars” Marvel comics and I like to take home oddities and zines from cons at random when I am booked at shows.
Question: You are known to frequent comic cons. What is your most favorite comic con and why?
Answer: I mostly do Non-Comic Conventions these days. Retro Con, Blobfest, Monster Bash and Monster Fest are ones I enjoy. Wondercon used to be my favorite comic con back in the old days along with Sac-Con when I lived in California. Wondercon Moved to Anahiem CA from the Bay Area–it wasn’t the same. Sac-Con I havent atended in a long time since my move to the Easy Coast. And of Course, San Diego has become a massive “Everything-Con Circus”! I like shows that have a specialized interest and don’t seem like a corporate cash grab. Williamsport Comic Con in Williamsport PA is my favorite current COMIC con. It’s a mom and pop comic convention run by Joe and Tracy of “Isle of Comics” that actually Focuses on Comics and Comic artists! I made a video called MR. LOBO DOES COMIC CON that you should check out so that you can see the fun we had there.
Question: How long has Cinema Insomnia been around?
Answer: Officially since 2001…but it seems like an eternity! Seriously, in the cannon of the show “Mr. Lobo” has done some throwback episodes from the 60’s and 70’s. ATOMIC BRAIN and SCREAMING SKULL are both retro episodes on Alpha Video DVD. It’s funny because I get mail from people much older than me who say they remember watching my show in the 70’s! I’m not sure what they were smoking but I don’t correct them.
Question: Have you ever met Elvira? A crossover between you two would be epic.
Answer: Elvira is a legend and one of the most successful Horror Movie hosts of all time! I am proud to say that Cassandra and I have known each other for years. She helped me out a few times in my career. She was gracious enough to let me interview here for our NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD episode and hands off a can of film to me. We did a panel together at Wondercon in 2009 after my Creature Feature host mentor Bob Wilkins passed away and we had great chemistry. She later included me in a show she hosted with Bay Area Horror Host Peaches Christ and the three of us hosted Dead Alive and Creature From The Black Lagoon! Two unforgettable nights. Backstage she gave me great advice…like to always protect you core character. We email and chat once in a while still but I haven’t seen her in years. My wife Dixie and I did a painting of her that hung in her Santa Barbara home until it was put on display at her pop up in Hollywood and Highland Center.
Question: Since I am a paranormal investigator, I must ask you. Have you ever experienced anything paranormal and if you did, I want to know about it?
Answer: A few times. When I worked at The Crest Theater, I heard heavy film cans topple down the stairs that suddenly were back in place at the projection booth. The “Ghost Light” that we set out traditionally on the stage at night to appease the forces that be…exploded before our eyes sending glass everywhere. When we filmed our Haunted House Special in Northern Virginia, the abandoned house had a history. An old woman who lived there had dementia and would wander into the fields so the neighbors locked her in and would check on her. The bedroom door had heavy locks on the OUTSIDE and you could see the claw-marks on the inside from her fingernails on the inside. Sometimes you could hear the desperate clawing while we were filming. We found props that we needed that just appeared inexplicably…including a board that was cut to the exact size we needed. We found trails of cut out obituaries from the 50’s that lead to a scrap book of them that no one can explain how it git there. My co-start John vowed never to return there. They have since torn the place down. Things happen in our own home as well. it’s like 200 years old…voices and sounds and doors slamming and lights on and off…I think it’s echos from the past intruding on present time. I don’t think we really understand time, space, and dimensions and how they interplay with each other. Our Reality maybe be more of a liquid than a solid. I think one day the science will come out and phenomena will be accepted like changes in weather patterns.
Question: I first met you at a pre-Halloween party at a home in Fairoaks, do you still go to those parties?
Answer:Larry School who was an animator for Disney and other big studios before he retired threw legendary parties and always included Mr. Lobo as a guest of honor. There were 16mm movies projected outdoors by the pool. A home theater with velvet curtains showing more movies. He had an enchanted Tiki room with an audio-animatronic Parrot and a wooden Tiki Idol that sang together. There was a dark ride with things jumping at you in a cave. The best part is all the talented and creative people that would come to those parties…filmmakers, writers, artists, performers, and general weirdos. We did those for 10 years. Unfortunately, Larry has removed all his attractions and doesn’t do those parties anymore. My wife Dixie and I have been throwing some fan gatherings out here with themes to try an create an immersive party experience out here. We did a Blade Runner type event called FUTURE NOIR with everyone dressed Sci-Fi in a smokey neon lit environment that we built set pieces and props for. This year we hope to do an ED WOOD FEST and a KRAMPAS PARTY for the Holidays as well.
Question: What are your 3 top favorite horror movies?
Answer: Ugh! This goes against my philosophy because on any given day I could say something different. But I do have a special affection for movies I have hosted on Cinema Insomnia.
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE-it was a thrill to be cast in the remake!
I love campy Horror and I am a saint in the Church of Ed Wood.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-It chilled and thrilled me as a kid to see Bob Wilkins Host it on Creature Features and it was a treat to host it as my first syndicated episode!
BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE-Low budget Sleazy American Frankenstein Story with “Lovecraftian” overtones. When I watch it I am hyonotized and it feels like its 3 in the morning. I like that feeling!
Question: What are your 3 top science fiction movies?
Answer: As a Kid I love the STAR WARS movies but I am holding them exempt as they are really fantasy effects films and not Sci-Fi. I have hosted at Blobfest for many years and I love THE BLOB-we re-enact the scene where we run out of the theater to escape the molten monster. I also love FORBIDDEN PLANET which I have hosted live many times. Robby The Robot is the screens most amazing mechanical man. And hosting the Future Noir event reminds me how much I love the artsy dystopia of BLADE RUNNER
Question: What are your 3 most favorite TV shows?
Answer:I think the three shows that have affected my style the most on Cinema Insomnia are Twilight Zone, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and the original Creature Features with Bob Wilkins.
Question: If you could hang out with a superhero, what superhero would you be hanging out with?
Answer: Spider-man and Batman were faves as a kid. But I’d love to hang with The Phantom Stranger. Love that turtleneck and medallion! So groovy! Mod and mysterious! I’d love to play him in a movie. Casting directors are you listening?
Question: Do you have anything exciting to promote to your fans?
Answer: So many things! We have 14 of our 2 hour+ MR. LOBO CINEMA INSOMNIA episodes on Alpha Video that you can order on Amazon or Oldies.com. BOB WILKINS HALLOWEEN SPECIAL, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, CARNIVAL OF SOULS, SCREAMING SKULL, EEGAH!, DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME, ATOMIC BRAIN, VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET, WASP WOMAN, SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET, TEENAGERS FROM SPACE and the HAUNTED HOUSE SPECIAL all have new releases and matching posters. Retailers can get them through MVD, or you can get them direct from me if you want them signed on ebay. We Have 15 episodes on Amazon Prime UK and 3 episodes including the BOB WILKINS HALLOWEEN SPECIAL on Amazon Prime in the US. Also, I have my own streaming channel OSI 74 for ROKU. We have MR. LOBO NODDY NOGGINZ Bobble head from Phoenix Comics and Toys! Two card games. We are crowdfunding for our 19th season of shows on Patreon and I’ve started pre-production on a Mr. Lobo Movie. Always more stuff happening! Maybe we’ll even do another comic book!
Question: For people that have lived in a cave and don’t know your website, can you give us the link to places where we can keep an eye out for you?
Answer: CinemaInsomnia.com and OSI74.com are a good why to contact us but we have a very active Facebook group called “MR. LOBO’s CINEMA INSOMNIA GROUP” where we do watch parties, We have a Mister Lobo Twitter, and a YouTube Cinema Insomnia channel with several episodes. Google us!
Question: Any final words, before we close this interview?
Answer: Yes. I’d like to call my lawyer. Just Kidding! I’d like to thank you for inviting me to do this interview. Movies like any art-form can provide an escape and an opportunity to explore and reflect in the safety and comfort of our homes when the world seems to have gone mad. My Mentor Bob Wilkins used to say “WATCH HORROR FILMS–KEEP AMERICA STRONG” on Creature Features. On Cinema Insomnia, I have my own catch phrase, “THEY’RE NOT BAD MOVIES–JUST MISUNDERSTOOD!” Mr. Lobo hopes to bump into all of you in the dark soon and bring the Popcorn!
