Check out Robert Trivers. He has great unconventional views.
The Nation offers opinion and analysis concerning who might get hurt and who seems to be protected by the crazy debt ceiling deal by devils. As you could guess, the rich and powerful will remain protected while the poor, the youth and seniors all get the shaft.
Things are as ugly as ever in Japan with radiation levels higher than instruments can measure. Yeah, it sucks for the environment, but it will get worse as deeper and deeper cuts are made to regulatory agencies.
Next to Japan is China which is playing tougher than we are. They control a whole bunch of stuff that the rest of the world kinda needs.
Who controls our money? We noted the Secret of Oz and in the same light we should review executive order 11110 from JFK. Some say that's why he was assassinated, but let's not forget his persecution of the Mafia.
I just hope October 2011 turns out to be a great success. So come on, let's take action.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
mindful contemplation
Cool looking site that I just have to make a note about, so here's The Tree of Contemplative Practices...cool, huh?
In new of the not so cool is the deal on the debt ceiling that creates a super group of twelve senators that would be kings. This deal really seems horrible. I hate to believe that I could agree with Ron Paul on something besides the non-federal federal reserve, but here it is..
In new of the not so cool is the deal on the debt ceiling that creates a super group of twelve senators that would be kings. This deal really seems horrible. I hate to believe that I could agree with Ron Paul on something besides the non-federal federal reserve, but here it is..
Ron Paul Sounds Alarm on “Disturbing” Super Congress
Congressman warns new all-powerful committee will ram through tax hikes
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Congressman Ron Paul warns that the all-powerful new “Super Congress” created by the vote on the debt ceiling will be used to fast-track tax increases while concentrating more power over the nation’s purse strings in the hands of the Washington elite.
During an appearance on Fox News, Andrew Napolitano warned that the “Super Congress” was an assault on the authority the Constitution gives elected representatives.
As we reported yesterday, the “Super Congress,” which was approved by the House yesterday and is set to be rubber stamped in the Senate today, will establish a new level of unaccountable government, and will strip elected representatives of the right to amend legislation or filibuster on whatever issues it sees fit, not merely limited to the debt situation.
This body will have “extraordinary new powers” to quickly force legislation through both chambers, including gun control, entitlement cuts and tax hikes.
In a statement made yesterday in response to the passage of the Budget Control Act, Congressman Ron Paul expressed his alarm at the establishment of this “disturbing” new committee, and warned that it would be used to ram through tax increases.
“The legislation produced by this commission will be fast-tracked, and Members will not have the opportunity to offer amendments,” said Paul. “Approval of the recommendations of the “Super Congress” is tied to yet another debt ceiling increase. This guarantees that Members will face tremendous pressure to vote for whatever comes out of this commission– even if it includes tax increases. This provision is an excellent way to keep spending decisions out of the reach of members who are not on board with the leadership’s agenda.”
The Congressman added that the committee represents “Nothing more than a way to disenfranchise the majority of Congress by denying them the chance for meaningful participation in the crucial areas of entitlement and tax reform. It cedes power to draft legislation to a special commission, hand-picked by the House and Senate leadership.”
Indeed, the White House has already indicated that it will harness the power of the Super Congress, thereby becoming the de facto deciding 13th member, to terminate the Bush tax cuts from 2012 onwards.
As CBS News reports, Congress will be mandated to carry out an up or down vote, with no amendments allowed, on the recommendations of the super committee on December 23rd, one month after the new body completes its work, which will be focused on cutting Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.
“Congress could not modify the committee’s recommendation,” reports CBS, an admission that powers ascribed to elected lawmakers that are enshrined in the Constitution are being completely gutted.
If Congress rejects the super committee’s proposals, “then automatic across the board spending cuts of at least $1.2 trillion would go into effect.”
Second Amendment organizations like Gun Owners of America fear that this new super committee of lawmakers would not stop at ruling over the debt issue, and that it could move on to target the right to bear arms by pushing legislation on “Gun owner registration, “bans on semi-automatic firearms,” and the “adoption of a UN gun control treaty.”
The fact that the establishment of a body which threatens to completely re-write over 200 years worth of constitutionally-based legislative practice has sailed through with barely a whimper of debate from politicians or the mainstream media is a damning indictment of how the Obama administration’s penchant for executive autonomy has aggressively seized control of the political process.
Once again, it is up to the grass roots to raise the alarm on this shocking development in the hope that it can later be shot down by a federal judge still familiar with the basic tenets of the constitution.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/ron-paul-sounds-alarm-on-disturbing-super-congress.html
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
significant influences
I was living in Cleveland Ohio the last time the Cuyahoga River burned. We watched it on television even though a short drive could have brought us to the scene. Like many others, the event had a significant influence on the development of my character. Thanks to the new power of television, this story spread across the nation and prompted public outrage as the effects of Silent Spring and the near extinction of our national symbol lingered in the American psyche. As a result, The Clean Water Act and the EPA were instituted. Like the Bald Eagle and clean water, the EPA may become extinct if the frackin Republicans have their way.
I've been environmentally conscious ever since, but growing into adulthood was a great distraction. I concentrated on science in school yet never finished that degree in Geology. I'm still an avid science buff.
I got caught up in the new age spiritual movement with determination to find the truth about religion and spirituality. I am now satisfied that I've learned more than most. I was deeply affected by the works of Ken Wilber. I now consider myself to post-integral and I am saddened that the big bald guy seems to have lost his way. I now describe myself as spiritual, but not religious and consider the distinction to be profoundly important which you can read about here.
I still find the AQAL model to be a useful tool and attempted to build Integral Activism with it. A personal koan was, "what would an enlightened being do today?" Integral Activism is about the best answer I can come up with...help those laboring to make the world a better place.
I was deeply affected by The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight and I remain a huge fan of Thom Hartmann who I consider to be a fine example of an enlightened thinker. He helped to teach me that politics affect everything...
An Inconvenient Truth appears to be all too true and I wonder what happened to Al Gore. I often reflect upon The End of Work and I fear The End of Oil. I am still learning about Key Leverage Points as I attempt to intervene in our corrupt system.
I've been environmentally conscious ever since, but growing into adulthood was a great distraction. I concentrated on science in school yet never finished that degree in Geology. I'm still an avid science buff.
I got caught up in the new age spiritual movement with determination to find the truth about religion and spirituality. I am now satisfied that I've learned more than most. I was deeply affected by the works of Ken Wilber. I now consider myself to post-integral and I am saddened that the big bald guy seems to have lost his way. I now describe myself as spiritual, but not religious and consider the distinction to be profoundly important which you can read about here.
I still find the AQAL model to be a useful tool and attempted to build Integral Activism with it. A personal koan was, "what would an enlightened being do today?" Integral Activism is about the best answer I can come up with...help those laboring to make the world a better place.
I was deeply affected by The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight and I remain a huge fan of Thom Hartmann who I consider to be a fine example of an enlightened thinker. He helped to teach me that politics affect everything...
An Inconvenient Truth appears to be all too true and I wonder what happened to Al Gore. I often reflect upon The End of Work and I fear The End of Oil. I am still learning about Key Leverage Points as I attempt to intervene in our corrupt system.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
crisis of conscience
I suffer from a crisis of conscience that is often a debilitating condition. This condition is a chronic problem because the causes just wont go away. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who suffers from this yet unnamed disease. The epidemic use of antidepressants in this country provides some circumstantial evidence of the widespread infection that plagues those who are relatively well educated and rational.
I understand that I am a lucky person living a very privileged life. As an American, I live well beyond my means. My very lifestyle contributes to the destruction of the world. If the world was a village...
I know that my view comes from standing on the shoulders of giants. I realize that my cushy life is the result of the cumulative labors of our ancestors. I appreciate that it took thousands of years to cultivate the foods and domesticate the animals that we now too often take for granted. I marvel at the technological achievements accumulated throughout the centuries that provide the potential for creating a veritable heaven on earth. I cry at the selfishness, greed and lack of compassion that a corrupt and insane ruling class that has emerged to usher in the Great Collapse.
The fate of the ecosystem of an entire planet is now in the hands of one dominant species, homo-sapiens-sapiens and we are proving to be extremely poor stewards. We are now witnessing the sixth mass extinction of life. We are altering the composition of the land, water and atmosphere, making them toxic to life as we have known it. We are crossing the tipping points while we are preoccupied with our day to day struggles to maintain our unsustainable systems. We fight for sanity in an insane world.
It makes no sense to me why I should go to work in an unsustainable system just to try to get by as a meager wage slave. I know that our political system is rigged so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I have worked long enough and hard enough to realize that my efforts benefit a select few for the detriment to the few and leave me with too little time and energy to fight for what is right.
As a consequence, I drink too much to numb myself from the pain and guilt that plagues my psyche. I smoke cigarettes to stimulate my intoxicated mind and only realize my personal and our collective insanity. I watch television to escape the ugly realities of our times. I am all too aware of the infotainment that serves what the founding fathers fought so hard against.
So I cruise the web and listen to alternative and independent media in an attempt to discern the truth from the lies which leaves me with growing despair that I fight desperately overcome. I ponder and plot as my koan echos in my mind, "what would Buddha do?"
The best answer I can find is Integral Activism.
Judgment Day is here. The final battle between good and evil has begun, but it is a subtle war within the hearts and minds of humanity that few are able to fully comprehend.
Update: after having a heart attack, I no longer smoke. I haven't had any alcohol either. I am cultivating clarity
I understand that I am a lucky person living a very privileged life. As an American, I live well beyond my means. My very lifestyle contributes to the destruction of the world. If the world was a village...
I know that my view comes from standing on the shoulders of giants. I realize that my cushy life is the result of the cumulative labors of our ancestors. I appreciate that it took thousands of years to cultivate the foods and domesticate the animals that we now too often take for granted. I marvel at the technological achievements accumulated throughout the centuries that provide the potential for creating a veritable heaven on earth. I cry at the selfishness, greed and lack of compassion that a corrupt and insane ruling class that has emerged to usher in the Great Collapse.
The fate of the ecosystem of an entire planet is now in the hands of one dominant species, homo-sapiens-sapiens and we are proving to be extremely poor stewards. We are now witnessing the sixth mass extinction of life. We are altering the composition of the land, water and atmosphere, making them toxic to life as we have known it. We are crossing the tipping points while we are preoccupied with our day to day struggles to maintain our unsustainable systems. We fight for sanity in an insane world.
It makes no sense to me why I should go to work in an unsustainable system just to try to get by as a meager wage slave. I know that our political system is rigged so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I have worked long enough and hard enough to realize that my efforts benefit a select few for the detriment to the few and leave me with too little time and energy to fight for what is right.
As a consequence, I drink too much to numb myself from the pain and guilt that plagues my psyche. I smoke cigarettes to stimulate my intoxicated mind and only realize my personal and our collective insanity. I watch television to escape the ugly realities of our times. I am all too aware of the infotainment that serves what the founding fathers fought so hard against.
So I cruise the web and listen to alternative and independent media in an attempt to discern the truth from the lies which leaves me with growing despair that I fight desperately overcome. I ponder and plot as my koan echos in my mind, "what would Buddha do?"
The best answer I can find is Integral Activism.
Judgment Day is here. The final battle between good and evil has begun, but it is a subtle war within the hearts and minds of humanity that few are able to fully comprehend.
Update: after having a heart attack, I no longer smoke. I haven't had any alcohol either. I am cultivating clarity
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
SNR
Spiritual not religious, is how many people describe their beliefs on the subject. It's a relatively new distinction that started in the 1960's and remains a mainly American phenomenon. I think that it is a profoundly important distinction with implications that we may not yet be able to fully appreciate.
I've been running a social experiment for a few years now. I hope you will participate. Just fill in the blank. You can leave your answer in a comment below which you should do before reading the remainder of this post which follows this...
If religion is the opiate of the masses (as Karl Marx implicated),
then spirituality is the __________ of society.
Think about it and leave your answer before reading on and remember, there is no right or wrong answer. After you leave an answer feel free to return to read the rest of this post.
The question, the distinction is one of ultimate concern. It affects our views on politics, morality, ethics and science and brings us to face existential angst. What happens after death can be terrifying to contemplate. To accept that one does not have the answer takes tremendous courage. It really is the question of ultimate personal concern.
Spirituality is more fundamental than religion. Before humanity had conceptions of a supreme being, we had many gods. Almost everyone knows that polytheism preceded monotheism. Fewer people understand that animism preceded polytheism. Before humans thought about god, there were gods. Before humans thought of gods, they thought of spirits. Conceptions of spirits preceded conceptions of deities within human consciousness. So in an historical sense spirituality is more fundamental than religion.
Yes, it can be difficult to adequately define spirituality. Our language is evolving. The English language now has five times the number of words than it did in Shakespeare's time. Yet it is not the definition of spirituality that I choose to focus upon, but the distinction between spirituality and religion.
Religion is institutional. Spirituality is not. Institutions tend to be politicized. Spirituality tends to be a more personal matter independent of politics. Religion has a long and sordid history of war, intolerance, politics, persecution and corruption. Spirituality does not. Religion is dogmatic and has tendencies for exclusivity doctrines that require followers to ascribe to a particular set of beliefs. Spirituality tends toward an open exploration of beliefs. Therefore, religion tends toward more close-mindedness and spirituality fosters more open-mindedness.
Spirituality can be seen as a common core within all religions. All religions have a component that addresses humanity's ultimate concerns.
If we look at spirituality as that which affects and addresses our ultimate concerns, then we must look at developmental models to gain greater clarity. It has been said that all growth is a movement from selfishness toward selflessness. A selfish spirituality is an immature spirituality.
Religions were born from a time when humanity was in transition from tribalism into chiefdoms. The Old Testament is filled with more primitive morality, but forget about that for the moment and let's watch some videos....like this, and this, and then maybe we'll check in with the pastafarians....and what the heck, here's about getting away with murder.
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?"
- Epicurus
good old logic
I've been running a social experiment for a few years now. I hope you will participate. Just fill in the blank. You can leave your answer in a comment below which you should do before reading the remainder of this post which follows this...
If religion is the opiate of the masses (as Karl Marx implicated),
then spirituality is the __________ of society.
Think about it and leave your answer before reading on and remember, there is no right or wrong answer. After you leave an answer feel free to return to read the rest of this post.
The question, the distinction is one of ultimate concern. It affects our views on politics, morality, ethics and science and brings us to face existential angst. What happens after death can be terrifying to contemplate. To accept that one does not have the answer takes tremendous courage. It really is the question of ultimate personal concern.
Spirituality is more fundamental than religion. Before humanity had conceptions of a supreme being, we had many gods. Almost everyone knows that polytheism preceded monotheism. Fewer people understand that animism preceded polytheism. Before humans thought about god, there were gods. Before humans thought of gods, they thought of spirits. Conceptions of spirits preceded conceptions of deities within human consciousness. So in an historical sense spirituality is more fundamental than religion.
Yes, it can be difficult to adequately define spirituality. Our language is evolving. The English language now has five times the number of words than it did in Shakespeare's time. Yet it is not the definition of spirituality that I choose to focus upon, but the distinction between spirituality and religion.
Religion is institutional. Spirituality is not. Institutions tend to be politicized. Spirituality tends to be a more personal matter independent of politics. Religion has a long and sordid history of war, intolerance, politics, persecution and corruption. Spirituality does not. Religion is dogmatic and has tendencies for exclusivity doctrines that require followers to ascribe to a particular set of beliefs. Spirituality tends toward an open exploration of beliefs. Therefore, religion tends toward more close-mindedness and spirituality fosters more open-mindedness.
Spirituality can be seen as a common core within all religions. All religions have a component that addresses humanity's ultimate concerns.
If we look at spirituality as that which affects and addresses our ultimate concerns, then we must look at developmental models to gain greater clarity. It has been said that all growth is a movement from selfishness toward selflessness. A selfish spirituality is an immature spirituality.
Religions were born from a time when humanity was in transition from tribalism into chiefdoms. The Old Testament is filled with more primitive morality, but forget about that for the moment and let's watch some videos....like this, and this, and then maybe we'll check in with the pastafarians....and what the heck, here's about getting away with murder.
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?"
- Epicurus
good old logic
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
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