Meditating with Snyder and Rasmussen

JhanasAdvice.com

Tina Rasmussen and Stephen Snyder have a new teacher-in-training, Brian Gavin. He is now authorized by them to give Dharma talks and will soon be learning how to lead daylong meditations. Brian shares his own experience in the area of “first sit to first jhana” in a clear way and inspiring way. He is very dedicated to the practice as a great yogi and has attended all of their long retreats to date. A professional geologist of 30 years and avid cyclist, Brian travels extensively.

• Arrange a Dharma talk with Brian
  

Spirit Rock Daylong: Sat., Jan. 14, 2012
Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California is hosting a second daylong meditation. The last one was attended by 120 meditators and was a great opportunity to introduce many people to serenity meditation practice.

Other Upcoming Retreats and Events

• Introduction to Concentration Meditation 3-day Retreat: Dec. 9-12, 2011 at Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock, Washington
  
• Brahma Viharas 3-day Retreat: March 23-26, 2012 at Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock, Washington
  
• Daylong Retreat and Evening Dharma Talk: Saturday April 21 & Sunday 22, 2012 at Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group in Sacramento, California
  
• Purification of Mind 13-day Retreat: Sept. 8-21, 2012 at Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock, Washington
  
• Purification of Mind 25-day Retreat: Oct. 13-Nov. 8, 2013 at Samish Island Retreat Center near Bellingham, Washington
  

Facebook's facial recognition: CIA jackpot!

Lauren Effron (Nightline, ABCNews.com, June 10, 2011)

User browses the social networking site Facebook that now identifies "friends" in photos automatically without their permission (Chris Jackson/Getty Images).

Oh, Facebook, here we go again. The social media giant is facing a new wave of concerns over privacy protection after launching its latest feature:

It "allows" [forces unless one opts out] users to identify their friends automatically in photos without their permission.

The photo tagging tool, called Tag Suggestions, was put into place in December. But it was listed as unavailable until recently. Here's how it works:

When a user uploads new photos to his or her Facebook profile, the new feature then scans them with [police-approved] facial recognition software to match the people in the photos with other photos in which they might have been previously tagged.

• Nightline's Facial Recognition Challenge (CIA thanks you)

The feature also offers "group tagging," which allows [pressures] users to type in a person's name and "apply it to multiple photos of the same person," according to Facebook's blog post on the subject. The problem is that users can do this without their friend's permission. More

Ex-Agent: CIA Seed Money Helped Launch Google
An ex-CIA agent has gone further than ever before in detailing Google's relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency.

He claims sources told him that CIA seed money helped get the company off the ground and has for the first time named Google's CIA point man.

Robert David Steele, a 20-year Marine Corps infantry and intelligence officer and former clandestine services case officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, is the CEO of OSS.net.

Speaking to the Alex Jones Show, Steele elaborated on his previous revelations by making it known that the CIA helped bankroll Google at its very inception.

"I think Google took money from the CIA when it was poor and it was starting up and unfortunately our system right now floods money into spying and other illegal and largely unethical activities, and it doesn't fund what I call the open source world," said Steele, citing "trusted individuals" as his sources for the claim.

"They've been together for quite a while," added Steele....