Terminator

george orwell was indeed an extraordinary visionary

he would look upon the present day and say

truly, the nightmare of 1984 is beginning

surveillance is ubiquitous
and the nsa is listening and watching

perpetual war is exactly what we have with
the "war on terror"

robot drones kill "suspected" terrorists
.....judge, jury and executioner.....boom!

the global weapon$ trade is a force unto it$elf,
it is draining our very blood to do it$ bidding

secret space based weapon systems are being built
and will become the final solution for control of the world

eisenhower was right about the
"military-industrial complex", warning us didn't help

the united states spends nearly the same amount of
money on the war machine, as the rest of the world combined

Here comes the "Reaper"

The Predator B

General Atomics

new and improved

MQ-9 "Reaper"

robot warfare is here

Some Things Never Change

Many Americans, including myself, feel more optimistic about the future of the nation and prospects for a more rational and ethical foreign policy now that the administration of George W. Bush has been supplanted with an exceedingly more intelligent and compassionate national leadership. Obama’s decision to close the infamous Guantanamo prison and proclaim an end to the practices of torture and “extraordinary rendition” are, of course, meaningful steps in that direction.

However, we still see before us the prospects of perpetual war. The intended withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and their redeployment to Afghanistan will merely transplant the violence to a different location. It is still not assured that the alleged stability in Iraq will be maintained following the transition, since millions of Iraqis remain displaced and the national infrastructure is still in shambles after nearly twenty years since the wholesale destruction of the nation following the First Gulf War.

What has made the present situation particularly troubling is the accelerated use of “robot warfare” especially the use of pilotless drones equipped with weapons of mass destruction. The current strategy, that obviously has the approval of the Obama Administration, is that these malevolent devices are and will continue to be used against individual targets such as houses in remote areas, where suspected militants are presumed to reside. The missiles that are used do not discriminate between actual enemies and innocent men, women and children whose only guilt is one of association.

It is particularly disheartening that there is no public outcry or expression of outrage by the American people in regard to this reality, for it heralds a new and frightening age where aseptic and sanitized killing will become the norm. The military is very engaged in developing all manner of robot killing devices. Will the expansion of this method of warfare be acceptable to the American public as long as no Americans die as a consequence?

It is unwise to ignore the magnitude of this change in policy, for those who are the victims of these devices are exceedingly outraged. These kind of killings will not be forgotten nor the terror that is invoked in those who are powerless against such technology.

Warfare of this kind, in which we feel justified in killing our suspected adversaries along with any others who may be in the vicinity, indicates that the concept of fighting terror with terror remains as an accepted strategy. In the long run this will only bring us grief, for it does not address the real issues that propel our adversaries in the first place. Furthermore, the implication is that this kind of warfare has no end, since we will continue to have such opponents determined to do us harm as long as the current relationship between the powerful nations and much of world’s poor remains unchanged. Furthermore, this policy of perpetual aggression ensures that much of the nation’s precious resources will continue to be diverted to war and the machinery that sustains it.

We can do better than this.

Abortion

How to, reduce/minimize/avoid, abortion:


The majority of abortions
are because of "unintended" pregnancy.

"Unintended" pregnancies are
avoided with birth control and education.

The "Church" must embrace
birth control and education.

Overpopulation is a
serious threat to world peace.

Statistics on "abstinence-only sex education" show
girls are eight times more likely to allow "oral"
and six times more likely to allow "anal".

The "Church", in forbidding birth control,
is promoting overpopulation and ignorance.

The "Church"
must change position.

1984

"If, for example, it would somehow serve our interest to throw sulphuric acid in a child's face-are you prepared to do that?"

Homer

Note

Note to self.......

......shut the hell up

Love.....is a four letter word

"Waterfall"

......Georgia O'Keefe......

When I die

I don't know

what happens when I die...

...I think everything will be okay

.....Oberon.....

Love

attitude

health is the
maintenance
of awareness

Can Obama Restore World Peace -Agha H Amin

Can Obama Restore World Peace ?

How Far will USA fail and succeed-How far can Obama or Holbrooke go


Agha H Amin

9 February 2009

While Obama in personal terms did well and became the first mixed origin man to become US president it is unfair to expect many changes that Obama or his team can bring. Holbrooke may be giant of a man but his stature has to be judged in correlation to the various complicated and often overwhelming forces of history.

Three major foreign policy issues confront USA. The Arab-Israel Issue, the Afghanistan issue and the India-Pakistan issue. In the background is the more formidable albeit more intangible issue of Islamic extremism. The first and last issues above listed include state actors and the Afghan issue is a combination of non state and state actors.

It appears that Obama can only have a semblance of success in the Arab-Israel Issue. That is if he can just pursue the brilliant plan put forward by Rabbi Michael Lerner, pushing into the garbage all nonsense that the state department pen pusher clerk type bureaucrats or the crafty think tanks may try to put forward. In Afghanistan no amount of Holbrookes can succeed. Here the issue is a complex one. With more than 11 states having extreme outlooks about whether the Talibans should be or should not be allowed to rule Afghanistan. The issue is highly complex. In Bosnia the issue was far simpler with Russia far away and Europe extremely divided.

Nor were the mild Bosnian Muslims a threat to Europe. In Afghanistan we have Russia, Iran, India, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kirgizistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhastan, China,
whole of NATO as well as USA against Taliban whose only possible allies are Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Where will poor Holbrooke fit in in this complex game as the magician who had achieved a miracle at Dayton? Afghanistan is and will remain for many decades a catch-22 for the USA. It is not like a Vietnam from which the USA can withdraw. The Vietnamese were a race using an ideology to survive. In Afghanistan its an ideology with multiple races that the USA is fighting. In Vietnam withdrawal was an option. In Afghanistan withdrawal will not lead to a solution but to another more bitter and deadly phase of the war. If the USA withdraws it will lose and if it stays it will continue to suffer with no end in sight for many decades. This is the tragedy of USA's situation in Afghanistan. Even if thve USA withdraws the Afghan civil war would continue and other state actors would intervene, while the USA would lose all allies that it had created in Afghanistan. So if we have to grade USA in Afghanistan the solution is not in sight. Holbrooke will fail.

Now we come to Kashmir. The Pakistani establishment, and I will not call it a state because Pakistan is controlled by a small clique of about 1000 families and a pathetic equation of highly corrupt politicians and respectably corrupt generals. Now these 1000 families which constitute the Pakistani establishment are trying to sell the idea to the USA that when the Kashmir issue is solved the threat to world peace in the shape of nuclear war can be avoided. As an ex soldier I do not think that Kashmir would solve the issue. Kashmir resolved or not resolved the Indo Pak conflict will continue till one party is defeated or both or one of the two disintegrate. Seen in this context what would poor Holbrooke do. He will in the end emerge as a shattered, immensely weakened and totally confused man. In any case in terms of international law Pakistan and India by agreed terms of Simla Accord of 1973 cannot allow a third party to decide Kashmir Issue. So good luck to Holbrooke, a man of substance, from whom too much should not be expected. What he is expected to do is what no single man can achieve.

The Pakistani state should forget about any hope of getting Kashmir through Holbrooke. If Pakistans politicians and generals can preserve what is left of Pakistan, posterity will remember them as heroes. From the type of strategy or more correctly apology of strategy that the Pakistani state is purusing in Frontier and Balochistan, even preserving what is left of Pakistan would be a great achievement.

Lastly with economic depression engulfing USA and the West little should be hoped from USA or Obama or Holbrooke. All would be at a loss and all should be commended if they can retain what they have rather than doing what no one could do. Little good should be accepted. In this age the guiding precept should be Neither Hope Nor Fear.

Time versus Respiration

The Eternal Now!

Practically all the great religions, spiritualities and philosophies of the world advise us to live in the present - to live in the NOW! NOW, I am no follower of a particular church though I was born and reared a Roman Catholic and lived the first forty years of my life as such. Since then I am more a sort of agnostic Buddhist who is open to all the possibilities that lie anywhere - in any area of human knowledge from science to literature to religion even - for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of human kind. I read the Bible as a wonderfully inspiring piece of literature - with the exception of those blood-thirsty sections of a very racist Old Testament. However, the teasing out of the latter is a matter for another post.

True Religion?:
True religion, if such exists, is one which seeks to find its spiritual base and disavows the abuse of power. However, history and common sense tells us that the abuse of power is endemic in all organised religions. But, in my experience there are oases of spirituality in the great Religions, in certain religious orders of monks and nuns and denominational charity workers who follow a vision of asceticism and sharing and caring and peace etc.

The Pain of Yesterday:
By this I mean that many of us can be slaves of our past, namely enslaved to hurts and regrets and maybe even remorse, which one of our national poets, Patrick Kavanagh describes as "the devil's contrition." A powerful metaphor! Maybe even we cannot forgive ourselves for some past wrong against another. It is my experience that often self-forgiveness can be more difficult than forgiving others. In this sense, regrets can eat our soul away. We cannot live in the NOW if we are slaves to the past, not having let go or allowed our past brokenness to be healed.

The Fear of Tomorrow:
We can be slaves of the future, too. How many of us are slaves to the empty dreams of how much we will earn and how much we will achieve? How many of us are never happy with where we are NOW in our lives. As Shakespeare says in Sonnet 29:

And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least.

We can be slaves also to fear, which is probably as endemic as wishful thinking and base greed and desire. We may fear what tomorrow will bring: whether by way of breakdown in relationships or loss of jobs or whatever.

The Answer is NOW!
Buddhism teaches us through meditation practices to cease to be slaves to our past and our future, and by being mindful to live in the endless possibilities of the present moment. Be aware of the rhythm of your breath. Awake to the wonder of being alive. Find hope within the beauty of your own soul, even if the body is getting old and breaking down. Observe the cycles of the seasons, how they come and go. Such is life and such is death. Neither is the opposite of the other really. Actually both are part of the greater cycle. Both belong to the eternity of NOW!



Above I have uploaded a picture I took from the bank of the Tiber, Rome, Easter, 2007. A brief peek at the beauty of NOW!

Human Nature Part I

There seems to be a paradoxical aspect of human nature that may help explain the penchant for aggression and violence. On the one hand, humans as members of a family, group, tribe or nation, are able to work harmoniously with cooperative effort towards goals that benefit everyone. This collective behavior operates effectively; unless, severe catastrophic conditions such as profound environmental calamities, famine, epidemics, etc disrupt this cohesiveness, or an individual is plagued with mental illness. I believe that this capacity for concerted endeavor is wired into the human brain as a result of millions of years of social evolution.

Juxtaposed to this natural propensity for harmonious behavior is the equally potent fear and mistrust of those outside the community whether it is family, group tribe or nation. Fear can trigger the body, directed by various chemical signals from the brain, to react with the classic “flight or fright” response. The urgency of such a reaction, precludes rational thought or reasoned consideration; it is a purely survival mechanism. This propensity is also engrained within the fabric of the human brain.

As individuals, we are often confronted by choices that may elicit responses dictated by either of these pathways. I view this as a life long struggle between the voice of intellect and reason and that of the emotions. It is both these aspects that define us as humans; we can not extricate them from our being; that would be wholly useless endeavor.

The path that a society chooses in confronting possible collective conflict or crisis, i.e. the path of reason or that of the emotions, depends largely upon education. If the culture at large condones and encourages violence as a legitimate response to threat and punishment as the primary means to promulgate justice, then individuals within that culture will adopt these methodologies. However, if the intellect and reason are the attributes that are encouraged and nurtured, then an entirely different set of outcomes are possible.

Although human civilization has tended in the past to succumb to the reactive pathway as dictated by hostility and fear, this does not preclude alternative outcomes in the future. The Utopian ideal for human societies is not outside the grasp of human history. We need, as a species, to reeducate ourselves and transform our view of self and other.

campaign for trust

Remember the campaigning as a very successful job.
What working felt like
for the unity created is a powerful value.
Healthcare could be a powerful effort for unity.
The contribution potential can infuse the economy as a credit source.
Participation in healthy behavior pays reparation for the wealth parasite.
Think of the health-care we could provide with the wealth-fare already "invested."

Self-sustaining credit could grow from monthly installments
allowing payment for presenting information in adaptable forms.
Doctors are the prescription
for curing ignorance by sharing
their practice of observation, but
sometimes they'll feel they have to
pay people do do what is good for themselves.
This could remove the penalty reflex for malpractice (if costs were covered and participation had financial compensation)
if "bail-out" was considered the price of education.
Education could be tuned-up to give credit rather than force into debt.

If government wasn't in the loaning business there would be no taxes.
Could that possibility be a science to research?
The balance of powers in democracy needs to extend to currency health.
Profit was good for production values but toxic to Information Age development
due to secrecy standards.
A support credit needs to be created for service industry
to maintain the most healthy unity.
Intellectual property is another value
that should not have profit-motive pressures.
The financial vehicle for accumulating conceptual properties is called A Trust.
Trust as entitlement of supportive patriotism? (contrasting the plunderers?)

The Reader's Digest Version of the Purpose of Life

Ok, so you want to fix the world, and by some twist of reality you've been given an absurd amount of power, but you don't want to be a tyrant or thoroughly wreck things, so you ask yourself, what now?

First of all we have to agree on what "fix" means. And generally that means improve, but improve what? We're not talking about grass roots homeless shelter style solutions here, you have more power than that in this context. We're talking about systemic change. A fundamental shift towards the plus side of the social spectrum.

So, what is the plus side? For practical purposes we have to answer a fundamental philosophical question. Wow, right? Philosophy stops being an esoteric head game and becomes a practical policy facet. The question is nothing less than, what is the point of life? We have to know before we can plan for fixing it. Well, here is it, the reader's digest version of the meaning of life and how to improve it.

42 right? No, that joke is a bit over used. And this is no joke. No, the meaning of life is "I don't know what the meaning of life is." Sounds like a non answer, but for practical purposes it's a very useful one.

Here's why. Once you can agree that you don't know what the deep all important hidden meaning of life is you're free to focus on what you DO know. and here's something we all know, that we can all agree on, and that my friends is the first step to real improvement by any practical definition.

Pain sucks. Pleasure rocks. Living people experience both.

Ready for it?

*drumroll*

The point of life is...

To maximize pleasure, to the greatest degree, with the least amount of work, for the greatest number of sentient beings, for the longest amount of time.

The various ways to do this are infinite in variety, and one great joy of life is figuring them out.

But it's worth keeping in mind, while you may be doing good, perhaps you could do more good somewhere else.

Good hunting.

-The Preceding is a chunk of my upcoming book.

Adrift

We are adrift

in a sea

of uncertainty

A Path Towards National Transformation

Here is an intense hunger for change that has projected Barrack Obama into the Presidency. I would like to outline a number of points that represent what I believe are the ingredients for real, substantial and meaningful change in the state of the Nation:

• The necessary first step that must precede any significant transformation whether within an individual or society is honest and thoughtful self-analysis. There is no failure that is amenable to correction, if the fault is not recognized. Honest self-appraisal is an attribute that can be learned. The skills required to better understand one’s own motivations and behavior can best be acquired through education. Unfortunately, formal education often reinforces erroneous ideas rather than helping to unravel personal or popular myths. Improving education is a vital link to a meaningful future for any human community.
• That old and hackneyed dispute between proponents of big government versus small government needs to be discarded. The abysmal failure of government in the past eight years that had its beginnings during the Reagan era has demonstrated the need for “smart” government. Government plays a critical role in the life of the nation; it serves or should serve at the behest of the people: not some of the people, but all the people. This requires open government and not government tailored along the lines of an imperial presidency. This requires a government that is guided by practical considerations, science, ethics and reason and not bounded by the constraints imposed by ideology whether from the left or the right or the dictates of any particular religious belief.
• Real progress towards a genuine open and free society requires leadership that embraces the real human diversity that is a wondrous and unique quality of the American experience. The nation can no longer afford a politics fueled by bigotry, mistrust, narrow interests and fear. The majority community can not demean or dehumanize any group(s) within society and then be surprised when that group(s) becomes indifferent to or rebels against the interests of everyone else. Behavior spawned by bigotry and discrimination is essentially counter-productive.
• Open government and the laws that is promulgates must be founded on ethical principles and grounded in reality. The ultimate test of any social paradigm is whether it stands up to the rigors and dictates of experience. Reality is, after all, the ultimate testing ground. What does not work should be subject to modification. Governance based solely on ideological principles is destined to failure, for ideology is rigid and unbending by its very nature and not amenable to modification.
• Science, technology and the methods that are representative of scientific enquiry must be an essential part of government policy and problem solving. Furthermore, a basic understanding of scientific principles should be an essential ingredient of public education. This is especially important given the increasing concern among those in the scientific community regarding the dangers posed by increasing environmental degradation and the prospects of accelerated global warming. The government has a legitimate and necessary role in directing resources towards dealing with this formidable issue and its many and serious ramifications.
• A truly free and open press is a vital counterweight to political and economic power. Freedom of speech and the press, when functioning properly, provides a means t o curb the abuses of power and the powerful. Members of the press need to abandon the narrow interests imposed by the powerful and fulfill their role in the culture with integrity and purpose.
• A viable and vital society requires a vibrant economy. An economy based on debt, unrestrained greed and not founded on real productivity can not sustain itself. There can be no economic progress without educated, skilled and adequately paid labor. The economy is so intimately tied to the quality of life of its citizens, that access to freely available and universal health care is an essential component. Health care provided by the private sector has shown itself to be grossly inadequate and exceedingly inefficient and needs to be supplanted. In addition, efficient and reliable productivity is not possible without an adequate and well-maintained infrastructure. Ensuring these aspects of the social order is an important role for government, for government is the true representative and agent of the legitimate interests of all the people.
• To transform the seemingly dismal future of human societies on the planet, it is imperative to truly embrace peace. Peace acquired through violent and deliberate aggression is no peace at all. War represents an abysmal failure to achieve national goals by any other means. The formulation of international policy based on the limiting idea of national supremacy and the furtherance of empire will ultimately bring grief and lead to unnecessary calamities of death and destruction. The pursuit of peace requires the willingness to embrace all humans as true equals to ourselves and not as a means to further selfish national aspirations. To live a life of peace is to transform and expand the idea of family. To live peacefully in the world is to decry and abandon any behavior that necessarily brings suffering to others. Without this transformative idea, human societies will continue to go through the same tiring cycles of death and destruction that has so plagued human history.
• Finally, it is essential for any successful society or nation to embrace art and unabashedly support the artist, for without art, the life of the community would seem far less inspiring. It is art that is the conduit through which a culture retains its sense of balance and sanity.

My Life

My life is a complete disaster.

(I just wanted to make

the rest of you feel better)

.....Oberon.....

Los Fusilamientos del 3 de Mayo

.....Francisco de Goya.....

non-profit suggestion

Observe Production Economy...
. . tools design balance by budget...
There are RELATIVE styles of recognition.
. . patterning experience to extend interest*
Conceptual Values distort norms for contrast.
. . this style of risk should not be punitive...
*Mathematic relations materialize
conceptual RESPONSE abilities...
Maintenance habits are symptomatic...
hygienic attitude to health entitlements,
considering what is emerging care standards...

Support is a service that must care more
than profit (or the cost is that
we experience discouragement pathology)

Denial reflexes fuel depression?
CARE to appreciate!

"We Can Bomb the World to Pieces...

...but we can't bomb it into peace."

Peace - an end

Peace is a word
Of the sea and the wind.
Peace is a bird who sings
As you smile.
Peace is the love
Of a foe as a friend;
Peace is the love you bring
To a child

Searching for me
You look everywhere,
Except beside you.
Searching for you
You look everywhere,
But not inside you.

Peace is a stream
From the heart of a man;
Peace is a man,
whose breadth
Is the dawn.
Peace is a dawn
On a day without end;
Peace is the end, like death
Of the war.

words by Pete Sinfield from a song by King Crimson

Dawning of the Age of Aquarius

In mid February a rare astrological concentration brings together a number of planets together with the North Node - denoting higher purpose - in Aquarius that energizes and inspires the possibility for transcendental breakthrough in some perhaps seemingly intransigent situations.



We measure our global sense of both space (latitude and longitude) and time (universal time - UT or GMT) from the prime meridian located at Greenwich, England. So we can perceive the collective influence of this momentous astrological event by looking at the alignment from this globally ‘centered’ perspective.



When we do something extraordinary the exquisite emerges.



At dawn on 14th February the day dedicated to St Valentine, the patron saint of Love, the Moon in Libra enters the seventh house of relationships. And Jupiter and Mars are aligned in Aquarius in the twelfth house of spiritual transformation.



Forty years ago, the intuitive words of a song called Aquarius, brought the dawning of the new age into our collective awareness:



When the Moon is in the seventh house

and Jupiter aligns with Mars.

Then love will rule the planets

and peace will steer the stars



At dawn on 14th February the Cosmos actually embodies this perfect alignment to support our collective manifestation of love and peace and the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Dominos

I saw naked children

running on the beach

joyously soaking in the sun

oblivious to the seemingly important.

Left with only the now

we become aware of the moment.

Clearly seeing the present

life reveals its miracle

neatly arranged dominos

all ready to fall.

Raising Consciousness

I have an innate anxiety built into my brain.

It happens whenever I'm on line somewhere and the time comes for a person ahead of me to pay for their goods or services and one of them has a hard time with English. I start getting nervous for the struggling speaker, knowing the frustration they must feel. Mostly I fear for the reaction of the English-speaking party, who in my experience is generally frustrated or even angry at the barrier presented. I've seen this drama unfold many times before in my life, but didn't quite fully grasp its meaning till today at the Post Office when the same premise emerged yet no conflict occurred.

It struck me that the presumption of English is a terribly destructive force in society, much like the presumption of heterosexuality: we build our entire understanding of the world upon its foundation and rarely question its fairness or applicability. Somehow this presumption justifies our anger. Should it? It seemed to me so lovely to see both parties today earnestly working through the divide to help one another. Why can't we just err on the side of empathy?

It reminded me of Richard Dawkins' exercise of showing maps of the world to students from opposing hemispheres where the orientation of north and south are reversed. He termed it "raising consciousness".

Always feels good to have it done.


For more, visit Rants, Raves and Rethoughts

Come, come, whoever you are.
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow
a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come.

Rumi

The National Security Agency

We're listening to every word,

we're reading every e-mail,

we know who you are,

we know where you live.

The Tsunami of Greed

Recently, Mr Pat Cox, former Irish President of The European Parliament, scholar and politician, diagnosed the root cause of the economic recession here in Ireland as being the tsunami of greed that had enveloped the mythical and legendary green isle. The land of mythical leprecauns had become the land of the mythical Celtic Tiger. Most Irish people swallowed whole this myth of inevitable progess and increasing wealth. With greed and selfishness the core values, there seemed to be no hindering the onward flight of the legendary Tiger. However, some few perspicacious souls like Eddie Hobbs (financial adviser) and David McWilliams (economist and journalist)saw through the myth and saw that the Celtic Tiger was but an inflated toy made of rather brittle plastic. Now the economic bubble has burst and the Tiger is a deflated, sad and lifeless mess.

Our national economic boom was a myth based upon a vastly over-priced housing market. The basic economic law of supply and demand brought the whole rotten mess collapsing down. Now we have an oversupply of houses and apartments and what has come to be termed "ghost housing estates" in many rural areas around the country. Bankers lent too much money to builders who in turn cannot sell the houses at vastly over-inflated prices. Added to this, we have been dealt the second blow of the international economic crisis.

However, this short post will not attempt too much analysis of the economic situation as its writer is poorly equipped to do so. However, it would seem to all and sundry that what has caused both our national crisis and indeed the international one has been nothing short of naked greed and selfishness. The world needs leaders at this moment in time. Barak Obama, the US President, is one such towering leader with principles and ideals. He is standing up to all those who have been sucked into headless and heartless capitalism. He is to be praised for capping the earnings of CEOs at $250,000. We need to follow his leadership here in Ireland. We need such leaders in the world today. Mr Obama can walk the walk as well as talking the talk.