| Today's Secret
Trader: |
|
|
|
Secret Trader
Commentary |
| |
|
News
& Comment: |
 The Last
Shuttle:
Good Riddance
to Bad Rubbish |
|
|
The last space shuttle
mission, now planned for
May 31, 2010, will bring
an end to an era that
never should have
happened in the first
place.
There are so many things wrong with the Space
Shuttle program that one wonders why the seven
remaining shuttle missions haven't been
scrubbed. During 27 years of the Shuttle
Era, the U.S. Space program was saddled with a
world-class lemon that drove launch costs into
the stratosphere, and reduced our space going
abilities below the threshold needed for a real
space exploration program, while taking the
lives of 14 astronauts in accidents that were
specifically connected to the design flaws in
the shuttle vehicle. |
|
click here to
read more about it |
| |
|
Sage
Merlin's Top Picks |
 Merlin
Members
Best Picks:
Books, Music, Film, Theater, Art,
Television, Games, Web Sites |
|
Ever
get the feeling that the best sellers lists are tweaked?
How can so many people read so much drivel? What's
hot and what's not is matter of opinion, but the more
opinions we collect, the more accurate the results get.
We're collecting opinions about almost everything under
the sun. Nominate candidates for our best seller
lists, vote for your favorites, and see your votes
count. Sage Merlin is conducting the ultimate
public opinion survey to compile the ultimate Top Ten
lists for fiction, non-fiction, theater, cinema, music
and art. Write your own reviews on new releases,
or revisit the classics, and if we like your reviews,
we'll publish them in Picks and Pans.
|
|
click here to visit
member's portal |
| |
| The Cassandra Chronicles |
 Learning
to Live More Happily In a More Uncertain World
|
|
Cassandra,
you might recall, was the Trojan woman who was given the
gift of prophecy and cursed with the fate that no one
believed her warnings. Today, we have spawned a
flock of would-be prophets, each warning us of another
impending disaster. The practice of soothsaying,
far from being a relic of the past, is very much a part
of our present reality. We're collecting the
croakings of the crows to keep you updated on our
progress toward Armageddon, the End of Days, 2012, and
other predictions...but we're not trying to scare you.
On the contrary, our purpose is to defrock, debunk, and
disambiguate the phony prognostications of the fear
mongers, and provide some clarity about what's really
going on - by pointing you to those people who really do
have a clue about what's going on and what's going to
happen. |
|
click here for the future |
| |
| Mahjong Hands |
 An
Ancient Chinese Game is Alive and Well in America |
Mahjong is like life: The rules keep changing
(they publish new ones every year) and what you get is
often something you didn't expect.
Mahjong
is also like bridge: if you don't get it immediately, you're
never going to understand the attraction of the game,
but millions of people across the United States, and
around the world, can't go a week without playing the
game.
It's that addictive, but it's an innocent
addiction because most players only play for nickels and
dimes. Nevertheless, one of life's great tragedies
(especially for elderly Jewish ladies like my mother) is
when a long-time Mahjong game ends because one of the
players has passed away.
If
you play mahjong, or you know someone who does, you know
how difficult it can be to find a game. Mahjong
Hands will help you, or your mother, find a game near
by. Just fill out the form and we'll let you know
if someone in your area is looking for another hand, or
whether there's player near you looking for a game! |
| Click
here to get in the game |
| |
| Universal Disclaimer |
 Of
course, we know there's really no such thing as magic.
It's impossible to read minds, communicate
telepathically over long distances, or to move objects -
or ourselves -with only the force of our minds alone.
Or is it? Every modern innovation began with the power
of creative imagination when someone envisioned
something that didn't exist and then proceeded to create
it. Modern physics is teaching us that many of the old
ways were based on more than simple superstitions, and
sometimes way more. So, we've embarked on a mission to
find scientific explanations for ancient spiritual
beliefs and we invite you to come along with us on the
journey. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Join SageMerlin
Become a Preferred
Member For Life
Get 500 FREE Participation Points
per month
Double ALL Participation Points
Earned Each Month
Get Advance Notice on SageMerlin
On-Line Events
50% Discount on all prepaid
SageMerlin Services
click here for
details
|
| |
|
Today's Incantation: |
Every
now and then, we come across a pearl of wisdom that we
want to pass on to our members.
Today's pearl comes from "How We Decide," by
Jonah Lehrer, in a chapter where he explains how people
in high stress situations are able to overcome the
effects of emotional impulses. Lehrer reports
that, in actual cases, such as life or death situations,
those who survive do so by talking to themselves (aloud,
if necessary) about the choices they are about to make.
Apparently, there's something about verbalizing your
thoughts that distances you from the emotions attached
to the thoughts.
This, of course, begs the question of how to do such
things, which is the focus of today's incantation.
Click Here For the Incantation
|
| |
|
New Community Projects |
 Don't
Complain About The Way Things Are - Build Your Own
Reality |
Governments
are supposed to take care of their citizens, but it's
becoming increasingly clear that governments are no
longer able to take care of the people. Changing
economic conditions are raising questions about the
underlying safety net that is supposed to provide a
basic standard of living for all.
We need a new paradigm for an alternative community
organization. Fortunately, we have models for new
community organizations. Communes,
collectives, and worker-owned collaboratives are on the
rise again...and for good reason. Changing
economic realities make collectives lifestyles far more
attractive than ever before.
As we grow older as a nation, under these new economic
conditions, we need to learn how to work together to
support each other on the personal level. Those of us who passed
through the counter-culture have a unique perspective
that may offer clues for how to shape the future. We're
collecting and disseminating information about this
revival. |
| Click here to check into the
future |
| |
|
The Friday Nite Fix |
 The
Twelve Step Program For The Rest of Us |
Welcome to the lonely crowd.
Each of us lives in our own little universe, struggling
to find social connections that make life more
enjoyable...but good friends are hard to find and, if
you're among the "unchurched," it's getting harder and
harder to build social connections.
And then there's the search for insight. We're
all looking for insight, for instruction in how to
balance our inner and outer lives, but finding that insight is
getting harder all the time. The original Friday Nite Fix
was a meeting place for seekers, a place for the
meeting of the ways at the changing of the tide for more
than forty years.
We think there's tremendous need for a non-sectarian,
non-denominational, non-judgmental meditative
community where people can gather to help each other
gain clarity in our lives...and we're promoting a
revival of this concept in communities across America.
Check in here to find out how. |
|
click here to get Fixed |
|
|
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
 The
Material on this website is the sole and exclusive
property of the authors or creators of the material and
is protected under the implied copyright privilege as
incorporated into international law. The appearance of
an item on this website shall be construed as prima
fascia evidence of the author's prior ownership.
SageMerlin.Com makes no representations that it is the
owner of any content not specifically created by paid
staff members or purchased outright from the original
owner or an authorized third party.
For information
about how to purchase reprint rights for any item
appearing on this websites, please write to:
sagemerlin@gmail.com
For all material not specifically as copyrighted by the
author or artist
copyright © 2009 by
SageMerlin.Com
|
| |
| Contact Us |
SageMerlin.Com
5115 Cortez Court
Delray Beach FL 33484
866-661-5379
561-952-4633 (fax)
comments@sagemerlin.com |
to contact sagemerlin
himself:
himself@sagemerlin.com |
| |
|
Sage Merlin's
Virtual Galleries |
 New
Art From
Emerging
Artists |
|
Art
is our way of capturing reality and sharing it with
others. The artist, therefore, is a window through
which we can view the world from a different angle. Art
should be page one news...especially when the art and
the artists are new on the scene. Visit SageArts to
view our latest additions, purchase prints, and bid on
original art...or submit your work for consideration |
|
Click Here To Get Artistic |
| |
Sage Merlin's
Magic Printing Press |
 Getting
Published Isn't Half the Battle:
It's the Whole War |
|
Necessity
dictates that we pay attention to this maxim: whomever
controls the printing presses, controls reality. The
recent trend toward the conglomeration of the entire
publishing industry has dire implications for our
society...if we, as writers, allow it to happen. If you
want to be heard, and making a living doing it, submit
your work to SageMerlin, hone your writing skills, get
published, get read, find a publisher, and maybe even
make some money in the process.
|
| click here to get
published |
| |
|
Sage Advice: |
 |
Toxic Personalities:
The Banes of
Our Existence |
|
| Here's a
piece of advice that may surprise you, because you may
never have heard it before: remove toxic
personalities from your life. A toxic personality
is someone - anyone - who brings you down, who
denigrates you, dismissing your aspirations on the
upside and your apprehensions on the down low. In
this environmentally self-conscious society, we too
often forget to protect our emotional environment the
same way we're trying to protect the planet..... |
| click here to get Sage Advice |
| |
|
Merlin's Friends: |
 |
Become a Sorcerer's
Apprentice:
Add Some Spice
To Your Life
|
|
| Merlin's
Friends are different. We're ardent about ideas,
information, art, music, and current affairs, but we
want to be part of the action instead of watching from
the sidelines...so we created a social networking site
exclusively for our members where you can connect with
like-minded people in your areas, and earn participation
points at the same time. |
| click here to get hooked up |
|
Shop at SageMerlin |
 Visit
The Village Green Save Some Real Shekels |
|
In
ancient times, towns came to life on Fair Days, when
farmers and artisans from miles around would bring their
wares to the Village Green to buy, sell and trade. Sage
Merlin's Village Green is much the same thing, a place
where people can buy, sell or trade merchandise, a
virtual swap shop. Find - or sell - original arts
and crafts, and pay only a small fee (3%) to the
landlord but, since we're giving some of that money
back, it's money well spent. Get away from the
mainstream, buy direct from the source, and help support
Sage Merlin's experiment. |
| click Here to Get to the
Village Mall |
| Sage Style: |
| Fashion Magic |
 Life
is hard. Sometimes, though, all you need is a new
cape or a hot pair of shoes. Fashion, like real
 magic,
is something you have to learn "on the job." Our
fashion mavens will tell you how to shop cheap, and
build a more interesting wardrobe. |
| click here to get your
shopper on |
| Plagiarism |
 It's
an ugly word for an ugly reality. Plagiarism, however,
depend largely upon intent. When Shakespeare does it,
it's art. When the kid sitting next to you in history
does it, it's cheating. If you submit something that
isn't yours to submit, you will be barred from
SageMerlin. The problem with policing plagiarism is
that we won't know about it, unless you tell us. If you
see something of yours on our web site that isn't
properly attributed to you, let us know and we will act
accordingly. To file a complaint write to: |
| accusation@sagemerlin.com |
| |
|
Time IS Money: