Zeitgeist

When the power of love

overcomes the love of power

the world will know peace

.....Sri Chinmoy Ghose.....

patriot parasites

The paradox behavior of those trying to sell us the "Trickle Down Theory"
is how it turned into the "Suck It Up Parasite."

Money used to be building blocks now it is sand.
The foundation to build on is supportive credit for participation.

Getting healthy (and active) is the job that relates effort to contribution.
Filling forms is automatic credit to reverse tax needs
by integrated interviewing to practice understanding agreement.

Representation could be the evaluation exercise that qualifies advertising intent.
Supportive attitudes encourage, but discouragement makes victimizers critical.

We have become critical consumers (slaves) other than appreciative tribute givers (entitled patriots.)

I Like Ike

In the councils of government,
we must guard against the acquisition
of unwarranted influence, whether sought
or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.
The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced
power exists and will persist. We must never let the
weight of this combination endanger our liberties or
democratic processes. We should take nothing for
granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable
citizenry can compel the proper meshing
of the huge industrial and military
machinery of defense with our
peaceful methods and goals,
so that
security
and liberty
may prosper
together.
Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation, 01.17.61

Baptism of Christ

Aert de Gelder (1645-1727)

Guernica

Post Guernica now!
plaster it on all the walls,
on freeway billboards, schools,
work spaces, churches, and restrooms.
it moves the bowels in a most agreeable manner,
the smell of shit brings one down to earth again.

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

all about choices

Same new paper
the other side
of the page...

Collage by C.L.DeMedeiros

Bob Dobbs

Conspiracy theory?.......

....it's not a theory.

I told you so

Photo by C.L.DeMedeiros

The Changing Winds

I stood in the post office today and couldn't help but notice the change.

You'd think with people being told daily of the looming depression and the multiplying dangers overseas, they would at least be gloomy if not downright testy. They're being told that their retirements are in jepoardy, that their jobs are likely to be slashed, that income is stagnant and credit frozen, that their sons, daughters, husbands and wives may be shipped off to Afghanistan as soon as they get home from Iraq.

Yet in spite of all that, the joy was infectious at the post office as everyone celebrated an adorable 3-month old child sitting in a carriage wondering what all the fuss was about (and growing up in a politically colorblind world).

Permit this writer of empiricism the lyrics of postulation...

I, too, have been unable to grab hold of depression. Try as I might, there's just too much potential being articulated day in and day out. The headlines are grim, but they are always overcome by the can-do spirit of our government now, which daily seems to have a new shoe to throw at the problem. There's something inspiring and uplifting about that.

I keep thinking about this historic campaign built on community and it strikes me too that for the first time in my life, people are genuinely proud of one another. They have a stake in this President, in this future we've all now invested in, and they are bound to each other like never before. Unlike the Bush years, where the citizen (and her or his rights) was the subject of scoffing, we are reminded not of a White House, but of a People's House; not of the government, but of our government.

Who knows?

I may be reading far too much into the nice California weather today.

I listened intently to a disgruntled professor from Yale today on the radio stirring up worry that these modern tools of communication were actually serving to drive us farther apart. I couldn't help but muse that someone must've said that about the telephone too.

This is one of those times in history that we'll tell future generations about. The seeds of nostalgia are being planted excitedly and I'm rushing to change my Facebook status accordingly...

For more, visit Rants, Raves and Rethoughts

Obstruction of Justice

A glimpse into the GOP playbook:

They can cram down a stimulus package without Republican support, but if that happens, then when, as we believe, in six months or so, when the American people say, 'Wait a minute, we're not better off. In fact, we're worse off than we were six months ago. Who is responsible for this and what can be done to fix it?' Republicans then are going to be in a position to say, 'We didn't have the input in this and that's why it didn't work.' - Sen. John Kyl (R - Arizona)

Get the game?

I'm never one to jump into partisan politics and as a general rule of thumb, the Democrats can be just as dumb as the Republicans when it comes to governing. We forget that the GOP wasn't alone in its acquiescence to much of the destruction wrought by the Bush years.

But the No Vote on the stimulus in the House does highlight what appears to be a strategy of sorts: the "I Told You So". While politically smart (if they win, they can wag their fingers, if they lose, no one will likely remember), it's also cowardly and they should be called out on it.

The Democrats (perhaps just President Obama) have shown a great deal of political courage in accepting concessions, parring down excess and controversy and extending a genuine hand of compromise. Should that hand get continually slapped by the GOP, the public will notice, weary as it is of bickering and ineptitude. This new age of responsibility might boomerang back around and whip the GOP where the sun don't shine...


For more, visit Rants, Raves and Rethoughts

Dr. Johnson

Patriotism

is the last refuge

of a scoundrel

........Samuel Johnson........

Change

Okay so how can Islamic people claim to want change but still punish people so brutally, take for instance, today Islamic militants chop off a theif's hand, he stole only 300$ dollars of fishing nets from a businesswomen, and on november 1st 2008 they stoned a 13 year old for adultery even through she was raped by 3 men. The group that did this atrocity is called al-Shabab and it is the
the group that controls Somalia. Come on people stop this almost "never ending spree of death and violence and hate" if you know your Offspring music you can name this song just post a comment if you know it sorry im kind of hyper. I think some people need to go over there and stop this fucking insanity come on we can't just sit around with our heads up our asses. In u.s. news john coleman left his marching band after he received a 6 month suspension after he nodded and waved at President Obama,come on people just because he broke a idiotic regulation
about breaking parade decorum whatever the hell that means. latters

The Female Eunuch

Germaine Greer argues that scaring women is

"big business and hugely profitable."

It is fear, she wrote, that "makes women comply

with schemes and policies that work against their interest".

Sexism is indeed creating a second class citizen,

and fear works equally well on men,

don't be a slave to either.

(art by John Holmes)

The most important thing

What is

the most

important thing?


The most

important thing...

is the "Family of Man"

Breeding War

Sri Lankan kids inside the jungle
Taking shelter from the bombs
Stand beside the rebel soldiers
And watch their daddies kill their moms

Haitian children live in huts
Don’t go to school, can’t read a book
Their parents cannot feed them - ever
But we can’t see if we don’t look

In Gaza, secret army soldiers die
For children shot, and killed, and terrified
So posters now display the losses
They’re peppering the countryside

Chinese teens have been detained
For remembering the fight
That failed to bring their honor back
That failed, again, to show what’s right

The Belgian painted killer who
Could hear the voices in his head
Rode his bike into a town
And left a score of toddlers dead

And when their lifeblood jobs were lost
A Californian man and wife
Knew desperation, thought long and hard
And then they took their children’s lives

These are the headlines – all today
Death, destruction, blood, and war
So when these kids grow up to hate
I’ll bet you’ll wish you had done more.

Gaza Real

Peaceful he lies not knowing the rest of his life, never knowing the rest of his life.
We cannot live with this; but outrage has its limits. What doesn't have its' limits.

How do we matter when nothing matters?

The Ruby Slippers

I am here to erase all doubt between

the consequential and the inconsequential

...here's a hint...

it only matters to you.

The Bride

What's the Real Deal?

Layoffs Spread to More Sectors of the Economy

Job losses mount as downturn steepens

I know the economy is in trouble but is all this panic by large corporations and all these layoffs really necessary? I know a few companies are opting for employee pay cuts instead. Isn't that better than helping to worsen the economy by having more people out of work?

Call me cynical; I can't help but wonder if there are those who are taking advantage of the opportunity to let people go in order to safeguard their own inflated salaries. But that's just me!

Death to Gaza

You terrorists deserve to die
You, who fight for freedom
Defend your tattered nation
Demand fair trade, a border crossing
Water, food, and band-aids for your kids
You all deserve to die

Never mind the fence around you
Look away from smoking craters
You don’t need a gun to save you
Nor vests to stop the bullets’ path
Bow down before our Lord
His vengeance is your death
You all deserve to die

No holy land for you
Sovereign nation you are not
We would enslave you if we could
Spit upon your open graves
Rid the world of your disease
You all deserve to die

We are the victims here, you see
Five soldiers dead
Nuisance dud-bombs tickling our empty land
Our allies give us guns
Then tell us not to shoot
(Too often)
Or, if we do, act like it was you, because
You all deserve to die

Legalize It

Examples of well-known drugs that are considered hard drugs include heroin, morphine, cocaine, alcohol, nicotine, and methamphetamine. Drugs in this group are generally described as being physically addictive, easier to overdose on, and/or posing serious health and social risks, including death.

The term soft drug is most usually applied to cannabis (marijuana or hashish). The distinction between soft drugs and hard drugs is important because there is no evidence of physical addiction. Marijuana is far less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. Around 50,000 people die each year from alcohol poisoning, not to mention the many thousands of alcohol related deaths from drunk driving. Similarly, more than 400,000 deaths each year are attributed to tobacco smoking. By comparison, marijuana is nontoxic and cannot cause death by overdose. According to the prestigious European medical journal, The Lancet, "The smoking of cannabis, even long-term, is not harmful to health. It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat than alcohol or tobacco."

Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly 80 million Americans. According to government surveys, some 20 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 11 million do so regularly despite harsh laws against its use. Our public policies should reflect this reality, not deny it.

NORML supports the removal of all penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults, including cultivation for personal use, and casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts. This policy, known as decriminalization, removes the consumer -- the marijuana smoker -- from the criminal justice system.

Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers an estimated $10 billion annually and results in the arrest of more than 872,000 individuals per year -- far more than the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Dark Star

Secret space based weapon systems have been, and are being built by defense contractors.

The stated goal of the United States Air Force is to secure the "high ground"........in other words, space........."Dark Star" is a killing machine in space.

If you have a good telescope you can see where your hard earned tax dollars are going to.

This is an image from the telescope of John Lenard Walson.

Killer Coke

Corporations hate unions. After reading from the website killercoke.org, I am shocked to learn of the indifference to the safety of workers who bottle Coca-Cola products. There are undisputed reports that Coca-Cola bottling plant managers in Colombia, South America, allowed and encouraged paramilitary death squads to murder, torture and kidnap SINALTRAINAL leaders and members in an effort to crush their union.

Union leaders at Coca-Cola's Colombian bottling plants have been murdered. Hundreds of other Coke workers have been tortured, kidnapped and/or illegally detained by violent paramilitaries, often working closely with plant managements.

Aspartame is the dangerous artificial sweetner used in Diet Coke. An examination of Aspartame, its history and its effects, is enough to shock anyone into really looking at their food labels next time they shop. Aspartame is a toxic food that came into the world as an investment by Donald Rumsfeld, while ignoring the deadly effects the tests showed. Reading all the stuff about aspartame could make your head explode. But what convinced me that aspartame is not safe are not just the studies that have found its link to cancer but also the efforts of Donald Rumsfield and Searle/Monsanto in ramming this product down our throats. Monsanto, as you know, is the world's leading producer of genetically modified products - another innovation that many are convinced has already wrought havoc on human life and the ecosystem - and uses not just money and influence but also threat and intimidation on those who go against it, as a Vanity Fair investigative report makes clear. Indeed, Monsanto's track record alone is enough to convince me that this product can kill.

The Coca-Cola Company has recently come under fire by the Food and Drug Administration for its reluctance to disclose exactly what the "Plus" in Diet Coke Plus really means. For starters, the FDA isn't exactly thrilled with the concept of fortifying an unhealthy snack drink. Couple that with the fact that the amount of vitamins and minerals added to Diet Coke Plus remains somewhat vague, and it becomes clear why the FDA deemed it appropriate to step in.

Residents living around Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Kala Dera, near Jaipur in Rajasthan, India marched and rallied demanding the closure of the bottling plant. Nearly 60 villages surrounding Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Kala Dera have complained of severe water shortages since the bottling plant began operations in the area.

The Coca-Cola company is also the target of intense community campaigns in Mehdiganj and Kala Dera in India for creating water shortages and pollution. The company was forced to agree to an assessment of its bottling operations in India as a result of a sustained international campaign. The assessment, released in January 2008, was a damning indictment of Coca-Cola's water management practices in India. The assessment recommends that Coca-Cola shut down its bottling plant in Kala Dera because the plant contributes significantly to water shortages in the area.

The council of Colombian capital Bogota fined the local unit of Mexico-based soft-drink bottler Coca-Cola Femsa SA (KOF) 201 million Colombian pesos, or about $110,000, for dumping industrial waste waters in marshes located in the city's outskirts...The council's environment secretary's office said Femsa had been polluting the wetlands with industrial waste waters since 2006.........(excerpts from killercoke.org)

This is a list of Coca-Cola products.

accountability

. .at the second swearing in.. V.P. Biden wanted to joke about how the competence the The Chief Justice reflects his nominator in speaking, but . . the serious look of President Obama considers how tricky conspiracy oozes from the last executive power. .

Global naa...Local

My first post here and thanks Oberon for the same. This picture represents an old, leafless, worn out tree and still standing strong. A Show of resistance and courage in face of odds. I was wondering what the world would look like if all the trees were alike; the show of strength and courage would then termed as barren and lifeless.

The whole talk of global warming seems slightly misplaced to me... the concept seems alien and little to do with me...its a global problem and why should I be bothered, its certainly not my responsibility because I have been told that its everybody's responsibility.

I would rather put it as local warming and a local problem. It’s when things come to shove does one realize that the stuff we thought would never affect us is in fact right at our doorstep and can change the whole complexion of the game.

So the idea is to localize this problem, talk about local issues and how it is affecting local lives and we may see a much more concerted effort to root out this menace before it gets too late...

Sac..

The "Chicken" Project

Have a good look at Haiti. It is ground zero for poverty. I think I will have to agree with this article I found; that Haiti is so far gone it will need major intervention from the world body if anything is to succeed. In the meantime, there is something we might be able to do to alleviate the poverty and starvation. Send chickens! As I have written before, chickens are a sustainable source of eggs and meat, fertilizer and insect control, and cost very little to raise. Free range chickens nearly feed themselves. If we can introduce several flocks of chickens to selected groups or families in Haiti with instructions to establish breeding stations and in turn more breeding sites, the snowball effect could produce an explosion of chicken production! As it happens, I have a friend with connections already established in Haiti and we can use these connections in our endeavor. This is my goal, to introduce and sustain chicken production countrywide, for FREE! If you want to assist in this endeavor I'd be happy to have your help. Email me and let me know what you are willing to do to advance the "chicken project", and thanks for your help......Oberon.

Watching Bush: The last eight years

"Oh, it's horrible, but you just can't take your eyes away........it's like watching a monkey swallow a hand grenade."

.........The Simpsons.........

Dichotomy of Celebration

Worldwide celebration in the streets
Festival of change
Parade of hopes
Hallelujah peace
Honor our hero
He has come to save us all

Join in jubilant farewell to disgraced fallen leader
Mockery of honor
Spiteful c’est la vie
Good riddance and goodbye
Boo him as he goes
Blame him, now, for all that has gone wrong

Look for change in champion of hopes
Abolish war
Feed hungry mouths
Let freedom ring
Torture none
It is time for tomorrow; watch him bring the sun

Curse the one who brought it on
Invade the innocent
Deplete world strength
Rewrite self-evident
Kill opposition
Such sorrow reaped by one man

Can hero do it on his own?
Share money, oil men
Free slaves, banker-crooks
Build homes, Lockheed Martin
Heal sick and poor, Nazi-druggists
Quite the courage this will take; these are his friends: money-make

bail on?

The profit motive worked well for production, but for service and information, profit is parasitic. The capital that has been leveraged away needs to be compensated with three branches of credit creation.
Our patriotic job is to be healthy so treatment developments would earn credit. Every BODY is a statical opportunity to develop health experience that could be submitted (to internet crypts) for credit. The administrative class of health insurance could expedite opportunities to access more teaching information through polling experience building. So many regulatory limits could be contrasted to offer support.
The bank bail-out needs to neutralize debt-forgiveness by forgiving all debts to hospitals, doctors, etc. so that that missing money just vanishes (gets cured.) Doctors are so educated, why can't they reward patients (pay them for listening to them, & waiting?)
The paradox of going into debt to study is another loss of credit to gambling. Education shares experience of responsibility values. Scholarship vehicles could allow for the creation of values that reward awareness as emerging properties (and create new forms of capital.)

Properties are physical (for profit maintenance), educational (for trustworthy information), and conceptual (for healthy wondering.)

Heroes

Its probably not a good idea to present the scene of a death while celebrating the birth of a life but I think it may round things out.
This is a view of the the Lorraine Hotel where Dr Martin Luther King Jr. stayed in Memphis while trying to encourage the (mostly black) sanitation workers with their strike against the city for decent wages and working conditions. It is one of the few public places where blacks could stay in that city in 1968. Behind this facade is the newer 50's style motel structure which is seen in photos of his shooting. It still exists today and is transformed into a civil rights museum. This is about 5 blocks from Beale Street which is a blues center well worth visiting, as is Memphis.

Dr. King is one of my heroes. . . . and I do not pick my heroes lightly. If you are doing your job, flying a plane expertly into water as you have been trained to do or taken a bullet because you thought joining the National Guard was a good idea, you are not necessarily a hero to me; you may be cheapening the concept! A hero to me goes beyond the job, beyond what is expected, beyond unfortunate circumstance by creating his own circumstance. Looking for trouble, or at least expecting it, in the exercise of a principle and a stand against injustice. Engaging in an activity that you do not have to engage in, because it may result in a higher good--asking for trouble to prove a point.

And I do include those "freedom riders" who went south in the 60's to engage ignorant haters with non violent example and were shot and buried in levee soil to reward their efforts. And she willing to defy an easy life by tending to the sick of Calcutta; and those who deal with death each day and try to keep sane in an insane world. The fellow who stood in front of the tank in Tiannamin Square, 1989, and the soldier who says: "I refuse to kill for a government or anyone who expects that this will solve a problem".
These are my heroes. God bless them for they are our only hope for a better future; may we each aspire to be such.