World Summary-- October 30, 2008

HATE ABOUNDS. IGNORANCE KILLS. POLITICS SUCK. AWARENESS IS PARAMOUNT.

The Power to Change History?

Excellent reporting of courageous people acting their conscience. This is what changes history. It is by our actions that we can and do change history. To change history, one must affect the present through your actions. It is in the power of our actions today that history is changed.

History is not merely a collection of facts. Facts make sense only within the milieu within which they are understood. Without a milieu, without a context, facts are meaningless. So to ‘change history’ one must act to change the current environment so that it reflects a new meaning of past events.

That is our power as awareness-seeking beings. That is our responsibility within the flux of past, present and future. In the present, we act through the past to change the future. Every action that we take affects what will come to be. That is how we ‘change history’. That is how we experience the power of our being.

http://www.Changing-History.com

Philosophy or Science

What can be said about the rising importance of science and the seemingly loss of validity of philosophy in the world today?...

With the rise of science as a guiding force of culture and society partially replacing some of the influence of religion, philosophy began to become an orphan. The increasing success of scientific research, practice and engineering began to place heavy strains on the foundations of philosophy. Part of the response to the dominance of science and scientific methods was analytic philosophy, which attempts to disassemble logic and experience into discrete verifiable parts. This was an attempt to ‘harden’ philosophy into a provable system and away from its speculative origins.

This has been one of the dominant themes of philosophy for the past century, brought about by the stress of competing with science. But recent comments indicate that the strengthening of philosophy by adopting a rationalist approach have not completely succeeded.

There are many other approaches to describing reality other than science. Science is incredibly strong and can do many things. But science is limited by the box defined by the outer reaches of its understanding. Phenomena beyond the capabilities of current science and scientific method cannot be explained, and the relationships of these phenomena to the events of our understanding are ignored or misinterpreted. There is no way around this. It is the nature of the system.

So science can only describe so much and beyond that is speculation. When we discuss phenomena and relationships beyond the limits of that comprehension we are speculating. We are speculating either as isolated individuals who can only experience the world in our own particular way, or as part of a connected experience of all people and things in the world. So our speculation is either completely individual or shared with the world around us.

Now believing in science and using it as the sole guide in interpreting reality is somewhat like taking a leap of faith to a divine, all-knowing, omnipotent creator. And that is where philosophy returns and may be a good place to start our questioning today. What unexplained and seemingly unrelated phenomena affect the experience of our existence? Are we connected and in what ways? And if we are connected what does that say about our ability to ‘know’ the world around us?

Science is definitely dominant in our times and the notion of a speculative discipline to minds embodied in rigorous method can easily be ridiculed. But beyond science, beyond our current enamorment with the works that we create the edges are all speculation. Love it and embrace it. It is all that we have.

Profits over People

Oil companies are in it for the money… the same as most every corporation. The U.S. government (as most governments in this century) is run by the desires of the large corporations. Power begets power. Politicians seek power and must deal with the powerful.

The company execs make massive dollars because they are in a position to profit immensely from the world economic and resource situation. This is not luck. This is not providence. This is because the government has organized its activities to support the will and profits of the multi-nationals.

We have pollution problems, climate problems, habitat destruction problems, war problems, economic problems, etc. because the focus of government has been to provide opportunities for money makers like these to reap enormous profits… rather than to plan and implement solutions to problems that benefit society.

Politicians, while seeking to assert themselves, wield power to the profit mongers of the world. ‘Government by and for the people’ is slipping away. The profits of the corporate executives are a direct result of the loss of power of the people. Each one of us has the power in the decisions within our lives to do what we consider ‘right’. No one needs the government or marketplace to tell us what this should be. Every action that we take today changes the future.

We are watching you!

Yes this is an old story. But it is a recurring story. And we have just seen how the telecoms got off the hook (by senate vote) for the warrant-less wiretapping.

Most people who are watching what is going on in the world today probably already suspect this. Sure the government can say this is to fight terrorism, but the 'eyes' of the system can be directed toward any word/word phrase/originating or receiving email address with a few clicks at a computer terminal at NSA. And the database behind the system can match records on any email attributes. So there is no privacy at all.

Big Brother is NOW!!!!!

Speak out to retain your/our freedom. The only way to prevent complete shroud is for people dedicated to freedom and free speech speaking out and communicating with the world. When we don't exercise our rights we lose them (quickly).

Personal Freedom

THINKING INSIDE THE BOX <Listen>

You have no business in my private life
You have no business within my four walls
You have only lies from which you espouse
That you’re protecting me from my own big bad self
But as I see it I have only me
I have only my life in its entirety.

There is no place in my home for your spies
It’s none of your business with whom I do lie
It’s none of your business about what I partake
It’s none of your business about that which I speak.

It’s only my business if I want to die
It’s only my business to express what is I
The worst that can happen to all that are free
Is for someone to force us to be otherly
I have only life
Of which I am sure
I don’t care about your afterworld more
I see what I do
And think what I think
As long as my actions do not conflict
With the health and well being of all that’s around
You have no business upon my grounds.

But every lone day that someone is pulled
From within their four walls and brought to the hold
That someone is forced to give up what is free
Because of your petty morality
That keeps us indentured or even as slaves
To the high holy ground that you so do crave
From the thin frail pages of some old dusty book
You lie and you steal like too common a crook
But someone you force to bend and to fold
Will one day rise up and release your sick hold.


http://www.Changing-History.com

Engagement vs Detachment

The Buddha tells us that we should not attach to the worldly things of this life because all will eventually pass. The path to enlightenment winds through many lifetimes. The teachings of Buddha look past our current temporal life.

Happiness is a slippery concept. You can define it and know that you feel it, but that feeling can change radically in an instant. To feel fulfilled in life, a person must be engaged. Obviously this can take many forms. Without the process of engagement, there is nothing to be filled with. Haidt is teaching that engagement is the path toward happiness. Granted, but then you must ask… Engage in what?

Haidt says ‘personal life, work and something larger than ourselves’. And Buddhism says that everything is larger than ourselves. If you push personal and work without the larger world in mind you may be engaged and you may feel happy, but those things that carry on from your life, those things that are larger than you, will scarcely be affected. If you follow personal and work disjointedly from the ‘larger world’ a chasm will grow, which you are bound to face at some time.

There is nothing antithetical to Buddhism about immersing in life with gusto. And there is nothing contradictory about entertaining bemused detachment to the outcome of your activities. We continually see how change (e.g. storms, floods, waves, wars… ) can destroy plans and happiness. And these things can occur at any moment. So the wise person, the sage of Buddhism, delights in the experience of life, yet realizes its inherently impermanent and transitory nature. With that in mind, she walks directly into the spiritual. And it is through the spiritual that we grow as humanity.

Haidt has nothing to say to correct the Buddha. The mixture of personal and spiritual in your life is an individual matter. Finding happiness is not necessarily spiritual and finding spirit is not necessarily happiness.

More Mercenary Armies

Armies for hire are disgusting. If you are possibly able to justify a war, then you have determined a 'good' side and a 'bad' side. A mercenary army is only in it for the money. Nothing else. There is no honor and no trust. Period.

The U.S. Government assumes the level of the organizations that are hired to do it's work... reflecting the ethically bankrupt nature of the actions of this government.

If the government cannot fight wars without hiring the corporate darlings of the Administration, (like Halliburton and Blackwater), then the U.S. has no business in those situations. The taxpayers and voters never authorized this corporate control. It is a government stolen from the people.

But ‘we the people’ have the potential to shift the balance and regain the creativity and power that is our nature and our right. Not only do we have the capability, but we also have the responsibility, as the future is upon the shoulders of each one of us.

Continuing Harrassment of Indigenous People

This is a very sad recurring story of international politics destroying indigenous people. It is high time for the State nations of our planet to recognize the importance of global resources, affairs and problems. We are linked together in so many ways, but the attitudes and practices of the NationStates force irrelevant differences upon us. The Mohawks of Akwesasne attempt to live in independence across political divides --- in violation of the tenets of the NationStates. They discuss and respond to environmental and political activities across those divides and advocate for others to do so as well. Much honor and respect to them.

In the 21st century we are being forced into a global view of affairs. The world has become much more connected and much smaller. Our problems and their solutions cross political boundaries. In the process of realizing our world citizenship we come to respect and acknowledge the importance and power of indigenous people and culture that exist independently from the economics and politics of the NationStates… cultures that relate to Gaia through everyday practices of living… an art and ideal quite hidden in our global power structure.

Is Life Fair?

The world isn't fair. Things happen to us over which we have no control and those things do not affect people in equal ways. This is a fact of life.

Why do we seek fairness? Are the people in UG not wanting the co-player to do better than his/her self? Is this Darwinian survival or is this some type of altruism?

And maybe the camaraderie associated with drugs like MDMA arises from the breakdown of our usual sense of separation of 'I vs. not I' causing the user to feel connected to, and in love with others. And thus more giving and altruistic because of the lessening of a sense of competition.

Maybe as we begin to realize how intimately we all are connected across time and space we will all become less self-grubbing and more kind to the people and world around us.

Mercenary Armies

The real sad part of this story is the selling of the U.S. Government. Our tax dollars increasingly go to pay for private companies to do the work of government. And with all the lobbyists, special interests, ex and current government employees with stakes in economic interests vying for government monies, our government is being sold.

This is not free market. This is freedom to rampage. And there are no real loyalties and allegiances other than to the $$$$. When the U.S. fails to be the profit haven that it now is, these companies (with their collected intelligence about the governments, people, businesses and technologies of the world) will go elsewhere with their money and knowledge.

Government working efficiently for the interests of the people, not corporate profits and opportunities is our path of hope for the future.

Private Lives

Warning --- the above link will take you to a slide show --- but the message is strong.

We are tracked and sliced and diced in a myriad of ways. The only path to avoid this is to retire to one of the dwindling wilderness areas of the Earth. Think about a company like Wal-Mart. If you pay by credit card, they know every one of your purchases ever. They know what days you usually come into the store, how often you like to buy sweet items, whether you spend a little or a lot on underwear, what type of music you listen to, the configuration of your home computing and entertainment systems. What you look like. How well you are aging. How often you have sex. And on and on.

Big business intelligence gathering like this makes small business of our lives. What are we to do?

http://www.Changing-History.com

Is Life Short?

To the relative age of the Earth or the Universe, our time between living and dying is short. But we are not simply the body that exists between our birth and death. The things that we do vibrate out from us and affect that which is around us. And those things affect other things. So in this way we really never die. We are connected to all things in all places and with that comes great freedom to influence the world as well as great responsibility for our actions. Our lives are immense.

Helen Thomas Stands up to Power

Helen Thomas stands up to power and confronts Bushniks about torture! More power to Helen!

A thinking reporter asking independent questions... how refreshing. But where are the rest?

The problem is that our media are run by the corporate entities that own them. Open worldwide communication is our ally in all that we wish to change and accomplish. Economics and the protection of bottom-line profits rule global economics and governments around the world. Media around the world are owned by the same mega-entities that push the global economic agenda.

Conflict of interest?

Awareness and communication can change the world. The fight for independent media is worth every moment of the effort. And the establishment of alternative forms of open global communication is our most powerful tool to prevent complete shroud.

Tibet as World Heritage

Tibet, the people of Tibet, the culture of Tibet, the Buddhism of Tibet, the mountains of Tibet and the waters of Tibet are heritage for the World. For over 1000 years the Tibetans studied Mind and took that study of people and our interactions in the world farther and higher than every done in the history of humankind. When the Chinese invaded Tibet and began to destroy the monasteries and Tibetan knowledge and culture they had no idea what they were doing. They were blinded by the ideals of their Cultural Revolution.

From information that has come to light, now Tibet is stuck between the struggling powers of the world. As with the U.S. plan to stop any potential enemy from controlling oil resources (witness Iraq), so Tibet is involved in the struggle for water and mineral resources. This is not simply a fight over the land mass of Tibet. It surely is not a fight for the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people, as China is attempting to overrun the population and culture with immigrants and Chinese traditions. China would like to see the Tibetans disappear. They are systematically practicing genocide. No this is a fight for the roof of the world!

The water resources of Tibet are the greatest in the world. Tibet is the headwaters of most of the major rivers of Asia. These rivers supply water to more than 1/2 the people of Asia, which is approximately 1/3 of the world population. This may be the biggest reason that China holds so strongly to Tibet. Knowledgeable organizations and individuals predict that water will be the forefront of our global wars over the coming decades (and perhaps centuries).

And power thinks forward. That is how power retains and expands power. That is the reason for the iron hand of China and the desire of the U.S. to wrest power from that hand. Tibetans should hold fast to the power of their roots, Buddhism… and use its power to recover their land and culture. Buddhism does not advocate surrender. The holy home must be protected! Siding with any enemy will create enemies within.

Tibet is a great opportunity for the human race to come together and begin to create a positive future. By recognizing the value of the Tibetans, their culture and the waters at the roof of the world (and water connects all humanity and all life on the planet), we can make a giant step in this direction. To this end, we should propose to create a new World Heritage Site.

The Tibetan protests must continue but China will never willingly hand these resources to any potential adversary. The world must join the Tibetan protests and encourage China to take the lead in establishing a neutral World Heritage Site in the disputed territory… a place where the culture and studies of Tibet can flourish and a place where the water resources are protected for humanity and shared by the people of Asia. In this way, China can mitigate some of its horrible actions toward the Tibetans and raise its world status. Our problems… and their solutions are global. We are all World Citizens.

Oil and Water

We can argue forever about which country or region is best suited to deal with the upcoming crises of water and oil. And we can also add in the impacts of climate change. Some will be better suited and others less suited. But regardless of who is in a better position to respond we will all be facing the same problems of war and destruction, fear and hate.

All of our wars through history have been fought over territory and resources, whether those resources are oil, metals, minds or bodies. Global economics push our governments and our politics to follow in directions that support the entities in their pursuit of resources and territory, which directly translates to money and power. We can continue this game or we can radically examine the playing field upon which we find ourselves.

There are plenty of all of our resources to go around if we use the resources sanely and conservatively. The problem lies in the continual push for greater and greater consumption of resources, which is continually and vehemently encouraged by the economic system that is ruling (and has ruled) the world. We are constantly encouraged and driven to buy more and more and use more and more so that the economic giants can make increasing profits. Our governments are obsessed with GNP and the economic milieu forces those in business to always expand.

In these ways we are on a path to disaster because the economic entities will push on and on until there are no more profits to be made at which point there will be little left for any of us to use for survival.

Our problems and their solutions are global and for us to address the upcoming crises with oil and water and climate and population and disease we must deal with these issues as a connected world. Otherwise we will keep repeating the same mistakes over and over... whether exactly the same or as rhymes of our previous failures.

We can have enough food and enough water and enough energy if we change our thinking from expansion to comfortable management. We can satisfy many of these needs on local and regional bases and conserve time and energy. And to boot we can begin to rebuild local flavor and culture.

Not that isolationism will help us at all. For us to act as a race we must communicate as a race and our global communications can do that for us. We are all World Citizens first and foremost. When we communicate globally we can recognize and address our global needs and wants. By looking carefully at our histories and working to change that past through our present purposefully redemptive actions we can make a future that is bright for all of us.

Call me a dreamer. But it is only by dreaming and pulling ourselves up to our dreams that we can move beyond the status quo... which is getting bleaker with each passing year.

Food Power

Food prices and food scarcity are global problems like over-population, infectious diseases, climate change, air and water pollution, mega-corporations and WAR. We will continue to be plagued with these problems until we begin to think like a globally-connected race and start working together globally to solve our global problems. These problems will continually re-emerge in different areas with increasing intensity. Welcome to the 21st Century!

Economics driven by bottom-line decisions aimed at making short term profits without looking at long-term solutions control governments and rules the world. This is not the forum to solve global long-term problems. Only by open worldwide communication and the refusal of us all to support the mega-entities that control the world can we begin to think like World Citizens and work together on world problems.

While people around the world suffer with food shortages and high food costs there are the elite few who are grinning wildly and soaking up massive power and profits for themselves. Our global economics control governments and government policy around the world. And the global economy is controlled by mega-corporations. And the mega-corporations are run strictly on bottom line logic with no appreciation, consideration or support for long-term sustainability. That is a fact driven by the desires of corporate officers, corporate boards and stockholder investors. Make money. The other aspect of their management decisions is to create a sustained and growing consumer base to buy their goods (whether it is good for the consumer or not).

However in our globally connected world, these decisions affect every person on the planet. Locally produced and controlled goods and services are anathema to the corporate goals. Thus around the world, the World Bank, WTO and other industry driven entities work very hard to break local markets and force people and countries into the global bottom-line driven economy.

And these entities will never willingly give up their power and stranglehold. The only way that we the people of Earth will break this system is for all of us to dedicate our dollars and minds to local sustainable non-corporate food alternatives as much as we possibly can. Even if local prices are higher, we will all save in the long-run. Wal-Mart ‘lowest price policy’ eventually leads to ‘only price policy’. If we don’t return to local focus, we will lose our options and choices and ultimately our freedom. Food is one of our most basic needs. Control of food is control of life. Making responsible decisions for our food is our best approach to break this oppressive history. And awareness cultured by way of global communication is our strongest ally.

The Violence of Words

Violence in the world is natural. There is no escaping that fact. Humans however, take it to a new level. I think that the difference is the tendency of humans to group together and to identify real and potential enemies of the group as ‘bad or evil’. The wolf kills the sheep, but in reality the wolf loves sheep. She wants sheep to continue to populate the land. But in human malignant violence, we often identify the entire other group as enemy and seek their destruction. The group may be another nation, race, religion or even sexual orientation.

And I believe strongly that we are not fixed. We are continually involved with the creation of ourselves and the world. That gives us great power and makes our actions that much more important. Awareness brings power and responsibility. So for us to be better people and make a better world, we must treasure our awareness and use it compassionately to better the world.

Language shapes our consciousness and can limit our capabilities. Connection with place is a very basic way of identifying with the world of which we are an intimate part. Sometimes living in bustling concrete can make us forget that we are part of place. We become so enamored with the things that we humans do and make that we forget our origins. I love place and thoroughly enjoy exploring and identifying with place. That is part of the wonder of travel.

I also feel strongly that the encapsulation of God or spiritual force in words is demeaning. It brings what is beyond what we are into our own frame of reference. And we are really simple creatures trying to grasp at the wonder of life and the world around us. And bringing down those concepts into our feeble word systems, simultaneously creates the notion of the opposite (satanic/evil) in our thinking. This simplistic dichotomy has been our bane throughout history.

We hold our entire history within and through our present actions create the future of the universe.

We are Nature

Human beings are part of nature. Many of our problems arise when we think of ourselves as not part of what is around us. But we are made of the same carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen as everything else and we continually exchange our molecules with all that is around. It is arrogance to think that we are apart of or different than our world. And part of the world is what we consider to be supernatural... but that just refers to something that we can't explain the why and wherefore.

Science is a collection of theories that attempt to, and appear to explain what is around us. But these theories can only see as far as the limits of the box in which they sit. They are bounded by the terms used, which are bounded by our understanding to put things in terms. Though they continually expand it is a never-ending process. We continually expand and rewrite our science.

There is nothing that is not natural. From Merriam Webster:

1 a: the inherent character or basic constitution of a person or thing : essence b: disposition, temperament2 a: a creative and controlling force in the universe

When an ape makes a tool it is natural. When we build bridges or fly airplanes we are simply using more advanced tools… though we are sometimes stupid enough to use our tools to destroy our home and lives.

Moral value at its most basic level arises out of survival. We learn to protect what is ours and close to us. We use concepts like, “Thou shall not kill, steal, or usurp”, looking at our behavior toward people. But the concept of ethics changes dramatically when we envision ourselves as an integral part of all that is around. When we come to see that everything that we do affects everything, and that we are part of that everything, ethics and morality rise to a new level.

We have enhanced awareness that allows us to see consequences far beyond what many other animals can comprehend, which makes our decisions much more difficult. We experience many things that cannot be described within the view of the world that we currently have. In this way all we can do is philosophize, nothing is absolutely certain and there is room for anything and everything.

The effects are building...

This is sad. This is so sad. Who do you blame? Isn't it all of us? Don't we need to face these problems as a planet? Can't we get beyond our national borders and manage the shared resources of our planet globally? The consequences of this refusal will affect us all. If this continues only the very rich will have access to clean water. It may not be this year or the next or the next decade, but it is coming. Our most precious resource belongs to us all. What is the cost of waste or pollution to humanity --- as well as all life on this planet?

Who Pays for This? Who Benefits from This?

Where does this go? Is it in all of us? Why are we bombarded with advertisement to purchase drugs that we didn't even know existed? Should the money makers be held responsible? Should they be punished?

Perpetrators Poison Themselves

And the Perpetrators Poison their Own

No One is Immune!
We are all victims.

Water is Us --- We are Water

Separate us you may try but we are water... the same water that was the pee of dinosaurs. The same water molecules are in you as in me... are in fish as are in cats as are in you as are in me. We cannot exist without water. The pollution of our times is in our blood. In your blood and my blood. Without water we die. And really we are walking pools of water with an epidermis that keeps it from evaporating and a circulatory system that keeps it pumping around through us. And a lymphatic system that seeps. And a brain filled with watery thoughts. Same as you. Same as me. Same as all mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

Life on this planet is water. Essential. Essential. Essential. And we depend on it for all aspects of our lives. Water is golden. Water is forever.

So when our water is stolen or putrefied or poisoned in any way life on this planet is being degraded. When water is made unusable and toxic a crime is being committed. And it is not just a crime against a specific law or statute. It is a crime against life. And when we humans are effected by this crime it is a crime against humanity.

When the water that a people depend on is taken or usurped, it is a crime against those people. When the water that circulates around the Earth is made dirty to life it is a crime against our planet life... against Gaia. When we think of it in human terms it is a crime against humanity.

Crimes against water are crimes against humanity!

And the criminals must be recognized and brought to justice.

And the water will drip and fall to the floor
And the water will run down the hall out the door
And the water will pour from each house in the town
And the water will silence and completely surround
And the water will come from the eyes in your head
And the water will flow from each of our beds
And the water will wash all the stains on our feet
And our hands and our heads will completely retreat
And the water will come without a sound in the night
And the water will make all that’s wrong into right
And the water will keep all the life that we’ve known
But the water will drown out every ungrateful soul
It will take what is given and leave only dust
It will dry up the cornfields and leave only husks
Water is golden and sacred for life
But water is mutinous and takes what it likes.