The Audiobook for Flipside

Post by Rich Martini.

Interview with author David Bennett by Rich Martini

Author David Bennett ("Voyage of Purpose") has written an excellent book about his near death experience, and has been studied by Dr. Bruce Greyson at UVA.  Here is an interview we did in upstate NY after my book talk "It's A Wonderful Afterlife."  If you ever wanted to know what a near death experience was about, David's got an amazing story.  Also he's survived cancer and his journey through that is as compelling.  Highly recommend listening to his story.

"It's A Wonderful Afterlife" Flipside Book Talk with Rich Martini

Here's my latest "Flipside" book talk "It's A Wonderful Afterlife" given at the upstate NY iands (international association of near death studies) group.  Because of the topic, this could never be a Ted talk - they just don't consider this stuff science. But it's 80 minutes of an adventure unlike any adventure you've ever heard before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eliMNnj-yTg

FLIPSIDE KINDLE ON SALE FOR 2.99!

An open letter for Michael Moore to check into Common Core

Dear Mike,

We met at a DGA event.  I shook your hand, I thanked you for all your work for humanity. I meant it.

I wasn't aware of Common Core until my kids started coming home with these questions in tests like "When did Xbox first show up on the scene?" My wife began to research it in great detail, and she's the one who has suggested, prodded me to bring this up to you.

I was not aware of any of the politics around Common Core - and have not come to this argument as a libertarian, a seperatist, a communist, or any of the lovely epitath's that have been flung at those opposed to Common Core. I'm a filmmaker, I've made documentaries, you could say I'm left of the left - whatever that means.  I believe in common sense, and I care about humanity.

The headline for this story is "Bill Gates Buys Education."  If you're not up on Common Core, and you do the research you'll find one fella behind the nation's adopting this new system.  Whether it's Bill personally, or just a corporate behemoth, I don't know.  I do know that he's behind every study that's been done, he's behind every lobbyist in DC that got this passed, he's behind the whole kit and kaboodle.

Oh, other's are involved - Michael Milken and his K-12.com. After all, it's a profitable venture.  A close friend of mine worked for him and did not sign the heavily "non disclosure" dox that they force everyone to sign over there - but saw first hand what was afoot.  If you buy the process, then you own the process, then you control the message.

I have a cousin who is the head of his teacher's union back east. He put it this way: "They send you these convoluted tests that are created by programmers - created and graded by computers - and they're designed to make your school look stupid or behind the curve. Then they sell you software to upgrade your school, to make it smarter, so it's part of the curve." Pretty simply put.

At the core of Common Core is the idea that Asian countries are ahead of us in education because they emphasize math.  So the entire curriculum was tossed out in favor of this "diminish reading and playtime" in K-12 schools in favor of math questions.  Then, with the help of programmers (called "interns" as they don't have any requirements to be teachers) they programmed what these new tests will be.  That's why thousands of teachers in NY state went ballistic and protested. That's why Louis CK has taken to the airwaves to say these tests are "stupid." That's why teachers are resigning across the nation because they're being forced to not teach - but to program.

Allow me to return to Bill Gates for a moment. If you haven't seen it, Bill has publically acknowledged that he dislikes teachers.  Why, I don't know. But he has repeatedly said to the effect "older teachers aren't valuable" and that bascially anyone with a basic knowledge can do what they do - and that getting rid of the old teachers, allows students to focus on what they want to do, like learning to code.  So there is a rationale for this Common Core - which again, if you look into it, you'll find was passed without anyone paying attention to who was funding it.  Bill is more clever than the Koch brothers, as he knows how to create entities that don't seem to be his.  But I've done the research, and every single think tank involved was funding by him in large part.  Every single entity I've come up against that is promoting Common Core is somehow connected to him.

I also know that on the other side, there are tea partiers, the Glenn Becks of the world, who hate the President, hate government and would like to see it all burned to the ground.  It's unfortunate that I happen to be on the same side of the coin as these people I vehemently disagree with - but for whatever reason it's come to be, that's where I stand.

And as a filmmaker who has the resources and passion to tell this story, I'm glad to be able to share it with you.  Maybe it's a Frontline piece.  But there's such a human issue involved, with teachers quitting, being fired, being harassed, that its worth pointing a camera towards.  I'd make the film myself, but just don't have the resources to do so.  And you do.

Here's an article about a teacher who quit over it:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/24/teachers-resignation-letter-after-25-years-describes-disturbing-era-in-public-schools/

Here's the post I wrote yesterday and posted on my FB page:

"The Common Core concept is simple and insidious. Bill Gates is on record stating teachers are overpaid and should be set aside. The reason Louis CK mocked these new tests is because a computer writes them and grades them too.

Its the same thing that happened to the Italian eyeglass industry. China came and bought up all their equipment, then hired italian experts to teach their techies to run it. The eyeglass industry disappeared overnight - now all Italians do is put in the screws in the glasses so they're "assembled in Italy."

The same concept is being applied to education - Milken invested heavily in private education (K12.com) because whoever controls the tests (or the teaching or the information) controls the students.

Bill Gates invested in every level of Common Core from developing it to paying the lobbyists to get it passed - school systems are now forced to buy apps and software that teach kids to purchase their product. Schools are sold confusing tests, then have to purchase software to help them get a higher percentage of correct answers. (I'm not making this up, just search for some of the sample questions. Its like having Big Pharma sponsor school lunches with ads for Prozac on the walls.)

I just attended a DARE graduation program where kids said "I pledge to not do drugs so I can learn to code when I grow up." Not one teacher or astronaut in the bunch. All professional sports and tech jobs - little do they know they'll be shuffled into the job they're supposed to take by the data from these Common Core  tests which will follow them through their lives.

Get it? Code so you can have a place in the giant machine built by Gates, designed by Gates and will pay Gates. Meanwhile teachers disappear like Italian eyeglass designers because they're useless cogs in the computer program. Why have a teacher when a program will impart the same knowledge? Why have a teacher when an energetic intern can teach the same code?

There's nothing wrong with learning to code. But there's something wrong with eliminating the teachers who give shape and context to the human spirit. They've designed an educational system devoid of humanity. 

And one day they too will be tossed aside for the next revolution, which decides (like the "cultural revolution" in China did) that "Elites" and "teachers" have to be sent into the fields to learn to farm.

We can only opt out for so long, eventually we have to opt in to prod our political leaders and administrators to see who is pulling the strings behind this insidious policy. My two cents."

So Mike, you've got a lot of issues that you can focus on - perhaps ones with more heart.  But to my mind, this story is a metaphor about where we've been, and where we're headed.  Instead of asking "how can we make a better country?" we asked "How can we get more people into the job market?" Instead of asking "How can we help children to become better learners?"  we asked "How can we code tests so we don't need teachers anymore?"  Instead of asking "What's the best course for a better country?" we allowed it to be "What's the most profitable way to run education?"

You see? 

I hope you do.

Best of luck in all your endeavors, and I think an investigation into this is worth your effort.  And you'll teach a few things too.

Rich

Filmmaker
Author
Teacher
Parent

It's A Wonderful Afterlife

Here's my latest "Flipside" book talk "It's A Wonderful Afterlife" given at the upstate NY iands (international association of near death studies) group.  Because of the topic, this could never be a Ted talk - they just don't consider this stuff science. But it's 80 minutes of an adventure unlike any adventure you've ever heard before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eliMNnj-yTg

FLIPSIDE KINDLE ON SALE FOR 2.99!

An Interview with Gilda Radner (or someone who sounds like her) from the afterlife

I worked with Gilda Rander briefly, on Charles Grodin's film "Movers & Shakers" - I got the chance to hear her laugh in person. So when I ran across the following interview with her from the Afterlife - I gave it my full attention. I will post it in the comment section, as it's a bit long for an update, but I am posting it because everything she (or whoever is speaking) says in the interview, is confirmed in the research behind Flipside: A Tourist's Guide On How To Navigate the Afterlife. 

In the next book "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" I expand the research into scientists speaking about consciousness, and Doctors recounting near death experiences (NDE's) as well as new between life hypnotherapy sessions that by and large confirm everything this interview says about the journey into the afterlife. It's excerpted and edited with the permission of the woman who conducted the interview. I give you Gilda (or someone who's speaking as if she is Gilda) from the great beyond....


"An interview with Gilda Radner" (Edited from channelingerik.com)

Dr. Medhus: What was your transition like for you?

Gilda: Hell. It was hell. The moment of death and on is great. The moment of diagnosis and going through everything is hell. Because all of a sudden, everybody’s light in their eyes changes when they look at you. They know that you have something that can kill you, and they don’t know how to respond to you. That’s the biggest thing our entire culture is lacking, and if anything in this world we need to change—skip elementary school. We’re gonna learn all that shit anyway. You skip elementary school and learn how to cope with and handle death. If you can’t handle death, how’re you going to handle life? I was shocked how people didn’t know how to support me during my transition. As you know, cancer took my life. It had spread, so I knew my time was coming, my body was weak. I was just waiting for the appropriate time, and when it came, it was like a warm blanket—kind of like when you pee in your bed unexpectedly. It’s warm and it’s soft and it’s— I’m just telling the truth! So, I’m a bit awkward in how I explain it! But that’s how my physical body felt. My spiritual body felt completely embraced and loved down to every imperfect cell that I ever created. I’ve never felt a love like that before.

Q: Can you share your surroundings and your thoughts when you realized where you were?

Gilda: It literally brought me to tears— to know that you’re leaving the warm embrace of friendships and the family that you made—and you’re actually being blessed with something better. I almost didn’t feel worthy enough.

Q: So, what did your heaven look like?

Gilda: In many ways, it looked just like home, but the capabilities that you have here are just so different; they’re not confined anymore. Nothing confines the body anymore. Here you’ve got thought-energy, and the word “manifestation” is just what you do when you want to create something. There’s lack of struggle. It takes some getting used to. You have to adjust to it. You can go to different worlds and different places and dimensions, and you can connect with people—spirits, entities—and meet them for the first time. We’re not all-knowing. We’re still learning, but we have the right to connect to the all-knowing source. That’s what our poorly structured religions are based on, on earth.

Q: Was it your destiny to die when and how you did?

Gilda: Yes, yes. I don’t think it was by any fault or mistake, and the idea that it was ovarian cancer—the very right of a woman, you know, to procreate, to give birth. I abused myself. I didn’t like the way my body was; I didn’t like the way my voice sounded, so being a comedian was the perfect outlet. The only way I knew how to love myself was to make fun of it all and bring everybody on board with me. Through that underlying sabotaging energy, I created this cancer all on my own. I did this to myself and for myself. Sincerely, as I look back, it was my way out. I don’t think I would have burned as brightly as I wanted to if I had a longer life.

Q: Can you describe what your afterlife looks like now?

Gilda: Well, I’m in touch with my family; I work a lot with people on Earth of all cultures in how to find joy with the bodies that they have and to find laughter in healthy ways instead of as a cover-up.

Q: So, tell me what specifically your heaven looks like.

Gilda: A lot of what I find comfortable is being a part of the earthly plane. I think you’ll find that’s a really common answer. You know, we have so many dimensions to come from, but were leaving this world; it’s absolutely natural that you’d be attracted to coming back to it.

Q: Were you here to learn anything else other than what you’ve already said?

Gilda: Just because you’re created differently and your perspective is different and you’re wittier and faster than most doesn’t mean that you have to separate from the community and ostracize yourself—even though I did do that.

Q: Do you think you were here to teach anything?

Gilda: When I was human, I definitely would have told you that my job was to make you laugh. Yeah, I do regret that I couldn’t look at myself and enjoy that body for what it was. I really regret that because I was beautiful, and I never caught on to that… My proudest accomplishment was the work I did—the comedy on TV and my Broadway success, the fact that I was able to suspend people’s beliefs when they were being entertained by my characters. From the moment in time when you are soaked up into my story, my character, my show, you’re not thinking about yourself. You have a moment of suspended belief.

Q: Do you have any messages for your husband, Gene Wilder?

Gilda: Gene is the love of my life. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to work with him, because it was love at first sight for me. I pursued him. I was married, and I pursued him. I had to get divorced so I could have that man.

(Excerpted from “ChannelingErik.com” “Interview with Gilda” All Rights Reserved and belong to Dr. Elisa Medhus)

Flipside book talk "The Rise of the Phoenix"

This is a "Flipside" talk I gave in Phoenix last year. It's in black and white as I was getting a strobe when I wave my hand - which is a lot. It's a bit like sitting around a campfire and hearing me tell ghost stories; past life, between life stories, and my journey to this research. It's improvised, off the top of my head; but every story is true. (As I remember them). Caveat emptor: not for the faint of heart, if you're already convince how reality works - this is not for you. This talk is called "The Rise of the Phoenix"  http://youtu.be/Zi6lbNblYZ4

"Heaven is for Real" Faith based or Science based? You decide

The headline for this story shouldn't be

‘Heaven Is for Real’ Rides Faith-Based Wave to Big Easter Score at Box Office

This is a film that talks about the afterlife to be sure.  It talks about "Heaven" as well.  And there is a lot of prayer involved in this film, from the parents and those who feared Todd's son Colton Burpo's death.  And he survived his NDE (near death experience) as thousands have done before him.

But this film is contrary to the dogma that has been taught be Churches for centuries. A "Near Death Experience" has been studied by peer reviewed journals- (see Dr. Bruce Greyson's work at UVA for references in how it is categorized by his studies) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPGZSC8odIU

What this film shows is the EVIDENCE that occurs while having a Near Death Experience.  This boy's father is a Minister and he didn't believe what his son experienced because it flew in the face of everything he'd been taught, everything he believed.  But he had the SAME EXPERIENCE that is cataloged in THOUSANDS OF ACCOUNTS of people having NDE's, or LBLs.  It's the same reports of "an afterlife" of "seeing loved ones no longer on the planet" of "celestial music" of a "feeling of seeing or being connected to a creator or god" - the same.

His son saw relatives he wasn't aware of (a sister who died at birth), saw people who appeared to him at the age they wanted to appear as ("everyone in heaven is young") - these are the IDENTICAL ACCOUNTS that are reported in "Flipside." It's not based on faith, or belief, or a religion.  It's based on the data.  Easy to call this a "faith based" story.  But   it's "Fact based."

I recommend seeing this film based on the trailer alone. Based on the science that Dr. Greyson "(Irreducible Mind"), Dr. Mario Beauregard ("Brain Wars") Gary Schwartz PhD ("Afterlife Experiments") Michael Newton ("Journey of Souls") Dr. Helen Wambach ("Life Before Life") have done - cataloging, reporting. Sharing the DATA.

http://youtu.be/mydh4MEo2B0

"Heaven is for Real" trailer: