Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
By the power of truth I
while living
have conquered the universe
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Stellar dialogue
Have you seen the stars tonight ..they remind me that we live on a lunar colony ..and not the oppressed state of some god forsaken planet. The colonies are not safe from tyranny either, I remind her .. the ones on Saturn were once free-states. I know, she says ..that’s why I like it here ..hydroponic gardens and you can practice revelry without persecution ..you know, I don’t even miss home that much. Where’s home ? In the Euripides. Oh yeah, I see what you mean ..I remember the witch hunts of November, 2023 .. are you ever afraid of something like that happening here ? All the time, she says. If it does ..I think I’ll stowaway on a starship to Europa ..I hear they’re much more civilized there ..it’s an incubator of free ideas ..and the mother of all creatures ..they live in the lapis lazuli realm, you know ..not just the temporary worlds of hungry ghosts and empire builders ..the waters of life have been flowing freely on Europa ..since the beginning ..and I think they will keep on flowing free thru eternity.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Join The Crowd
Your world is confusing
and imploding around you
you want to do something
but you don't know what
I know you feel lost
join the crowd
Wall Street Mafia
(excerpt from The New York Times)
By JULIE CRESWELL
Published: October 4, 2009
"For most of the 133 years since its founding in a small city in Wisconsin, the Simmons Bedding Company enjoyed an illustrious history.
Its recent history has been notable, too, but for a different reason.
Simmons says it will soon file for bankruptcy protection, as part of an agreement by its current owners to sell the company — the seventh time it has been sold in a little more than two decades — all after being owned for short periods by a parade of different investment groups, known as private equity firms, which try to buy undervalued companies, mostly with borrowed money.
For many of the company’s investors, the sale will be a disaster. Its bondholders alone stand to lose more than $575 million. The company’s downfall has also devastated employees like Noble Rogers, who worked for 22 years at Simmons, most of that time at a factory outside Atlanta. He is one of 1,000 employees — more than one-quarter of the work force — laid off last year.
But Thomas H. Lee Partners of Boston has not only escaped unscathed, it has made a profit. The investment firm, which bought Simmons in 2003, has pocketed around $77 million in profit, even as the company’s fortunes have declined. THL collected hundreds of millions of dollars from the company in the form of special dividends. It also paid itself millions more in fees, first for buying the company, then for helping run it. Last year, the firm even gave itself a small raise.
Wall Street investment banks also cashed in. They collected millions for helping to arrange the takeovers and for selling the bonds that made those deals possible. All told, the various private equity owners have made around $750 million in profits from Simmons over the years.
How so many people could make so much money on a company that has been driven into bankruptcy is a tale of these financial times and an example of a growing phenomenon in corporate America.
Every step along the way, the buyers put Simmons deeper into debt. The financiers borrowed more and more money to pay ever higher prices for the company, enabling each previous owner to cash out profitably.
But the load weighed down an otherwise healthy company. Today, Simmons owes $1.3 billion, compared with just $164 million in 1991, when it began to become a Wall Street version of “Flip This House.”
In many ways, what private equity firms did at Simmons, and scores of other companies like it, mimicked the subprime mortgage boom. Fueled by easy money, not only from banks but also endowments and pension funds, buyout kings like THL upended the old order on Wall Street. It was, they said, the Golden Age of private equity — nothing less than a new era of capitalism." (read more The New York Times)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now you see? The Mafia didn't go extinct, they just went "legit" and moved to Wall Street where robbery and greed have been made legal.
By JULIE CRESWELL
Published: October 4, 2009
"For most of the 133 years since its founding in a small city in Wisconsin, the Simmons Bedding Company enjoyed an illustrious history.
Its recent history has been notable, too, but for a different reason.
Simmons says it will soon file for bankruptcy protection, as part of an agreement by its current owners to sell the company — the seventh time it has been sold in a little more than two decades — all after being owned for short periods by a parade of different investment groups, known as private equity firms, which try to buy undervalued companies, mostly with borrowed money.
For many of the company’s investors, the sale will be a disaster. Its bondholders alone stand to lose more than $575 million. The company’s downfall has also devastated employees like Noble Rogers, who worked for 22 years at Simmons, most of that time at a factory outside Atlanta. He is one of 1,000 employees — more than one-quarter of the work force — laid off last year.
But Thomas H. Lee Partners of Boston has not only escaped unscathed, it has made a profit. The investment firm, which bought Simmons in 2003, has pocketed around $77 million in profit, even as the company’s fortunes have declined. THL collected hundreds of millions of dollars from the company in the form of special dividends. It also paid itself millions more in fees, first for buying the company, then for helping run it. Last year, the firm even gave itself a small raise.
Wall Street investment banks also cashed in. They collected millions for helping to arrange the takeovers and for selling the bonds that made those deals possible. All told, the various private equity owners have made around $750 million in profits from Simmons over the years.
How so many people could make so much money on a company that has been driven into bankruptcy is a tale of these financial times and an example of a growing phenomenon in corporate America.
Every step along the way, the buyers put Simmons deeper into debt. The financiers borrowed more and more money to pay ever higher prices for the company, enabling each previous owner to cash out profitably.
But the load weighed down an otherwise healthy company. Today, Simmons owes $1.3 billion, compared with just $164 million in 1991, when it began to become a Wall Street version of “Flip This House.”
In many ways, what private equity firms did at Simmons, and scores of other companies like it, mimicked the subprime mortgage boom. Fueled by easy money, not only from banks but also endowments and pension funds, buyout kings like THL upended the old order on Wall Street. It was, they said, the Golden Age of private equity — nothing less than a new era of capitalism." (read more The New York Times)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now you see? The Mafia didn't go extinct, they just went "legit" and moved to Wall Street where robbery and greed have been made legal.
US COMMON MAN MANIPULATED LIKE CATTLE
The Obama Manipulation
Posted: Oct 11, 2009 Sun 07:34 pm
by M. ASADI
"The Obama manipulation: the rebelling masses, rebelling against the US system were pacified using symbolism of inclusion and real change in the person of Obama in the 2008 presidential elections. Obama's preplanned failure given the enormity of the crisis faced is supposed to deflect that rebelliousness against the system towards the direction of racial failure on the part of African Americans, fermenting the racial divide while at the same time preserving the status quo of the US permanent war economy. A very ingenious way of solving this systemic crisis by the U.S. elite, using the U.S. public as cattle prodded through the "vote" and slogans of "change" back towards their slaughter line-up where their personalities and identities are slaughtered by the corporations on a regular basis.
Read my article, The Barack Conspiracy, written before the Nov 2008 Presidential Elections, and see how each of its predictions are coming to pass."
Posted: Oct 11, 2009 Sun 07:34 pm
by M. ASADI
"The Obama manipulation: the rebelling masses, rebelling against the US system were pacified using symbolism of inclusion and real change in the person of Obama in the 2008 presidential elections. Obama's preplanned failure given the enormity of the crisis faced is supposed to deflect that rebelliousness against the system towards the direction of racial failure on the part of African Americans, fermenting the racial divide while at the same time preserving the status quo of the US permanent war economy. A very ingenious way of solving this systemic crisis by the U.S. elite, using the U.S. public as cattle prodded through the "vote" and slogans of "change" back towards their slaughter line-up where their personalities and identities are slaughtered by the corporations on a regular basis.
Read my article, The Barack Conspiracy, written before the Nov 2008 Presidential Elections, and see how each of its predictions are coming to pass."
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Darkness
Alone in the darkness
we languish in our fear,
it is only in the light
that we can see the truth
Society of Love
Call me crazy. but I believe that no person should have to suffer.
And if any person shall suffer, let it be regarding his own choice.
Ignorance turns this world into a miserable place,
but we can resolve to love.
We should come together,
divisions kill and alienate.
No matter what the world says,
The Society of Love will take you in,
and show you the way to live.
No matter the general consensus,
those with the arcane knowledge of a life lived in love,
will be the ones to change the world for the better.
The Society of Love
is one to be reached for
For the Sake of Humanity
philosopher king
Saturday, October 10, 2009
All You Need To Know
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"
that is all Ye know on earth,
and all ye need to know.
...John Keats...
Friday, October 9, 2009
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize today to the surprise of many. The award was a first in that Barack Obama is the first American president to win the award in his first year in office. Some noted that it was not so much because of his accomplishments up to date, but that it reflected an important change in the willingness to dialogue, a virtual slap in the face to "W", his predecessor. Any way you look at it, heartfelt congratulations Mr. President!
Hope for Peace
International perspective allows that
just the removal of Military-Industrial
cheerleaders from office, a huge step
to recognizing what President Eisenhower warned
about appearing to look criminal by bullying.
When Senator Obama demonstrated how well
Senator Clinton could dialog when debate was expected,
he was much more subtle a peacemaker
than many will ever appreciate.
just the removal of Military-Industrial
cheerleaders from office, a huge step
to recognizing what President Eisenhower warned
about appearing to look criminal by bullying.
When Senator Obama demonstrated how well
Senator Clinton could dialog when debate was expected,
he was much more subtle a peacemaker
than many will ever appreciate.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
They have always been here
Shortly after midday on 16 January 1958, a series of photographs were taken from a ship anchored off Trindade Island, about 650 miles from the coast of Brazil.
The photographer, a Brazilian named Almiro Barauna, claimed to have seen a dark grey object approach the island, fly behind a mountain peak and then turn around and head back the way it came, disappearing at high speed over the horizon.
The object glittered and was surrounded by a green mist, and it displayed an undulating motion, changing to a tilted position as it passed over the island. On board the ship with Barauna were some 300 other crew, and around 50 of them are claimed to have seen the object.
April 11, 2008
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Harvest Of Fear
For centuries—millennia—farmers have saved seeds from season to season: they planted in the spring, harvested in the fall, then reclaimed and cleaned the seeds over the winter for re-planting the next spring. Monsanto has turned this ancient practice on its head.
Monsanto developed G.M. seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, offering farmers a convenient way to spray fields with weed killer without affecting crops. Monsanto then patented the seeds. For nearly all of its history the United States Patent and Trademark Office had refused to grant patents on seeds, viewing them as life-forms with too many variables to be patented. "It’s not like describing a widget," says Joseph Mendelson III, the legal director of the Center for Food Safety, which has tracked Monsanto’s activities in rural America for years.
Indeed not. But in 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision, turned seeds into widgets, laying the groundwork for a handful of corporations to begin taking control of the world’s food supply. In its decision, the court extended patent law to cover "a live human-made microorganism." In this case, the organism wasn’t even a seed. Rather, it was a Pseudomonas bacterium developed by a General Electric scientist to clean up oil spills. But the precedent was set, and Monsanto took advantage of it. Since the 1980s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has won 674 biotechnology patents, more than any other company, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
(excerpts from Vanity Fair - read more)
(americanbuilt.us)
Monsanto developed G.M. seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, offering farmers a convenient way to spray fields with weed killer without affecting crops. Monsanto then patented the seeds. For nearly all of its history the United States Patent and Trademark Office had refused to grant patents on seeds, viewing them as life-forms with too many variables to be patented. "It’s not like describing a widget," says Joseph Mendelson III, the legal director of the Center for Food Safety, which has tracked Monsanto’s activities in rural America for years.
Indeed not. But in 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision, turned seeds into widgets, laying the groundwork for a handful of corporations to begin taking control of the world’s food supply. In its decision, the court extended patent law to cover "a live human-made microorganism." In this case, the organism wasn’t even a seed. Rather, it was a Pseudomonas bacterium developed by a General Electric scientist to clean up oil spills. But the precedent was set, and Monsanto took advantage of it. Since the 1980s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has won 674 biotechnology patents, more than any other company, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
(excerpts from Vanity Fair - read more)
(americanbuilt.us)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
ART ?
I've been wondering lately about what exactly, or generally, to consider the definition of "ART".
I am leaving the question open and collecting opinions, including my own, in an effort to coagulate thought and suggestion into a workable definition.
Oddly enough,since I have begun thinking about this, I have noticed references to this question in the media that I am usually exposed to. Pops up in newspaper, magazine, and even cartoon jottings. It's uncanny but probably just that I am noticing these coincidences when I normally wouldn't see them.
But to consider presentations of painting, metalwork, photography, mixed media,sculpture,printmaking, wood, ceramics, fiber, digital renderings, and glass; not to mention music, theater, dance, and building construction -- we must consider the possibility for each to be an exhibit of artistic value either to us alone or to us all in general.
The above art by Camille Rose Garcia from Subterranean Death Clash series ,2006
Let it roll around in your head for awhile and please let me know anything that collects in the corners,
Theocratic Myopia
"This was a portrait of the Republican Party fully in the grip of its right wing: almost exclusively white, overwhelmingly evangelical, fixated on abortion, homosexuality, and abstinence education; resentful and angry; and unable to discuss how and why it had become this way. Noticeably absent from the convention were moderate Republicans. Senator Lincoln Chafee, legatee of the moderate Republican tradition in Rhode Island, was defeated in the 2006 midterms, and he was endorsing Obama. The last Republican House member from New England, Representative Chris Shays of Connecticut, would lose his seat in two months. None of the great Republican families of the past, from the Rockefellers to the Eisenhowers, were there either. Both of Ronald Reagan's natural children, Ron and Patti, endorsed Obama. President Dwight Eisenhower's granddaughter, Susan, addressed the Democratic National Convention in Denver just moments before Barack Obama appeared to accept his party's nomination. How did a party once known for its "big tent" philosophy become a one-ring circus? How did a Republican Party that had dominated American politics for over twenty-five years become so marginalized?" (read more)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Let the healing begin Kill the Monster
Unbridled capitalism
is a money machine
that will eat you alive,
kill the monster.
http://www.americanhealthcarereform.org/
Saturday, October 3, 2009
The Voyage to the Moon
A Trip to the Moon (French: Le Voyage dans la lune) is a 1902 French black and white silent science fiction film. It is based loosely on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells. The film was written and directed by Georges Méliès, assisted by his brother Gaston. Méliès had intended to release the film in the United States to profit from it; however, Thomas Edison's film technicians secretly made copies of it and distributed it throughout the country. Méliès never profited from it and eventually went broke. (read more)
Shade grown
My friend Joey spends a lot of time in Indonesia helping coffee growers organize co-ops. He is surprised when he sees nature taking matters into it’s own hands. If a coffee grower isn’t practicing ‘shade-grown’ farming techniques ..elephants will actually appear at the edge of his plantation and eat whatever coffee bushes are growing in the deforested area. Occasionally he hears stories about tigers killing loggers who inadvertently cross over into federally protected forestland. When he mentioned this to the National Park Service in Sumatra, they told him it’s the law of the jungle ..when wild animals sense that their habitat is shrinking ..they begin defending their territory more aggressively. When he talks to the encroaching farmers however ..he gets another story. They believe that the tiger is a deity enforcing proper human behavior. They tell him the killing was more likely a punishment for breaking a tribal taboo such as adultery. “Maybe the victims did something bad, like sleeping with someone who was not their wife. Cutting the trees is OK. There's no problem with that.” They cannot conceive of the notion that the attacks are related to the destruction of the animal’s habitat.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Women Rule The World
Lysistrata is one of the few surviving plays written by
the master of Old Comedy, Aristophanes. Originally
performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic
account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end
The Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata convinces the women
of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their
husbands as a means of forcing the men to negotiate
peace, a strategy however that inflames the battle
between the sexes. The play is notable for its exposé
of sexual relations in a male-dominated society and for
its use of both double entendre and explicit obscenities.
(read more)
Lunar Tide
Aurora Borealis sunlight play
Mirrored in Moon’s soft visage
Snow tuft dotted indigo backdrop
A Burning Bush to see directly
Planet’s Soul carries, sways
Gentle lapping, cooling, calming
Blue Beauty reflected, too
Sigh in unison with the earth
Chariot lays Sun to rest
Navy speckled starlit sky
Brilliant Moon come out to play
Silvery dancing lights the way
Silken blanket battles chill
Anticipation of the flight
Upheaval crashing rolling speed
Unity as Mother carries Eve
Tickling fizzing lighter than love
Racing flying flash of life
Yells both Man and Sea
Glorious dramatic climactic release
Gasps draw breath for smiles
An agreement has been made
Hands dip, clasp, give thanks
Sea holds close, lets go for play
Moon grins, drips its light to guide
Winds pass only to refresh
No longer riling fury waves
Allowing surfer girl to glide.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Streaming music
Investigators have uncovered a subconscious ‘stream of music’ running through my head. It contains mostly fragments of old songs I heard while I was growing up. Songs like “..doze eat oats and mares eat oats and little lambs eat ivy”. But it also plays some contemporary pieces like “..help I’m alive” or “gimmie a break, gimmie a break.” Some investigators tell me it’s purpose is to keep my brain entertained so I stay alert. Others tell me it was set in motion to supply my ego with a stream of self-images ..keeping me anchored in the culture and generation where I live. I notice that it pops into hearing range from time to time for no apparent reason. When it does, I can tell that the songs I grew up with are more prevalent ..I don’t hear too many Moroccan tunes ..although sometimes I’d prefer it. There is one thing investigators agree on however: they say if it pops up to often ..or stays on the surface too long ..it could become pathological. I ask them if that’s because of all the disturbing memories it might bring up. No, they say it’s because of all the disruption it would cause my ordinary stream of consciousness. It would sound like I had Tourettes or something. Either that, they say ..or it would become stagnant and block me from learning any new tunes. I tell them I’m not sure which is worse.
Image by ~> Luana Silense
Based on notes taken during a lecture by ~> Oliver Sacks
If you get a chance, listen to the audio at the bottom. It will be worth it.
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