I decided to take a look and it led me to commit my participation in it. But don't take my word at face value. Go there by yourself.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
A New Climate Physics Forum
Every day we have more misinformation spread about our changing climate. Well, there is some help on the way. A new forum centered on Climate Physics can help us to find reliable information on events and studies related with our Climate, both at the expert level and for the person who is just now becoming interested in the subject.
I decided to take a look and it led me to commit my participation in it. But don't take my word at face value. Go there by yourself.
I decided to take a look and it led me to commit my participation in it. But don't take my word at face value. Go there by yourself.
Friday, August 14, 2009
(Un)Wired For God
When some (quote)scientists(unquote) announced the possibility of a brain hard-wired for god (lowercase) beliefs I scoffed; and most scientists around the world scoffed too. Because that was a glaring example of how religious training survive even the most exhausting scientific training. The biases introduced in our mind at early age usually stay with us until death brings closure to the non-sense. And the religious biases are a great part of such baggage carried along our lives.
Actually the Billion Dollars question is about what Human Consciousness nature is. Which haven't been answered by the neuroscience, not knowing how to formulate the proper questions to guide our search. For those of us who have found some hints, the issue of god becomes one of how religions took advantage of our ignorance of how Consciousness really works and used that ignorance to instill the beliefs in supernatural entities.
The first attempts to escape the religious biases were prompted by the rationalism of the age of enlightenment, but it led us into further biases which we have even lesser chances to avoid, given our lack of knowledge required to recognize these new biases. In short, only when we will to accept the possibility that our questions were all wrong, we might start getting some right questions. But I still wait for the thinker able to escape the dichotomy god / no-gods and begin to address the what, why, and how of Consciousness nature. Then we should begin to understand the fact that our physical biology evolved to support this Consciousness which has nothing to do with god or gods.
Sharon Begley found one way to start the right path towards this understanding. (article)
E. M. Murren
Namaste dearest Frank,
I noticed in their social dysfunctions: homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, unemployment, and poverty; we have three which involve sex. Since when is abortion a social dysfunction? A sexually transmitted disease is a medical condition which generally can be treated medicinally. AIDS of course is still incurable, but it's getting nearer every day.
As for teen pregnancy… give me a break! I am so tired of the measure of social dysfunction having to do with our sexual behavior… what about wife beating? Violence is more of a social dysfunction than sex. The same stereotypes she is trying to dispel even infiltrate her values. There is no such thing as objectivity in science, no matter how much they try to pretend. Sigh.
(end of part one).
Pasted from <http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=124752051399&comments=>
E. M. Murren
Part two :-)
I think the predisposition toward religion has more to do with a need for habituation and socially collective behaviors than it does with any hard wiring toward knowledge of any sort. As the world moves away from religiosity, people have become more isolated. I'm not saying that we should fall under the spell of a universality which denies membership to anyone who stands out like the Catholic church, but the rise in spiritual collectives in America, for example, betrays a search for the Collective Consciousness which is innate. We need socialization and no one has replaced religion since the hippies sold out in the 70s. LOL
Okay... I'm done.:-)...
Love to you
Pasted from <http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=124752051399&comments=>
Dear Elaine, I was going to jump answering right away, but my dog needed her pill and supplement, deer were waiting for their breakfast, and I had to take my pills. What gave a break to ponder what you said.
Indeed biases are as pesky as viruses and many times go dormant to revive once the trigger is pulled. Sure, Sharon has a lot of biases, as all of us do. We cannot do much about our biases until we realize we have them and examine the support system they have built in our consciousness. But even that cannot insure that we are done with them. I like how you think because you are unafraid of looking your own biases in the face. That would be a great example to imitate and I wish more people would just do that. But we need to work on them not just look.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Health care
The Health Care debate in the USA is reaching new heights. And most of what is being said you cannot trust.
I'm still waiting for a News organization to take a running tally of the proposals being considered and offer explanations about what each does and doesn't. What I see is a barrage of off-base commentaries, name dropping, spurious comparisons using anecdotic events, both from our country and from others with different approaches to public health care, which mostly cannot legitimately be compared, considering demographics. It isn't the same, say, to look at Canada and then Germany or England. What about other countries with private health care delivery and single-payer systems? What about countries where the government owns the hospitals, or the system includes non-profit AND government in the ownership of major health care centers (i.e. Unions owning hospitals for their members which offer reciprocity to other Unions' members, like in Argentina and other countries.)?
I would suggest that we stop paying attention to the tactics of scare, and get serious finding out about the alternatives available. And get the Lobbyists barred from this issue.
Now, how about them comparisons? Let's look at the accumulated profits of the private Insurance plans in the last ten years and contrast it with the reported costs of the alternatives being considered in Congress for the next ten years. Just by going the route of private delivery with single payer system, we save enough taxpayers money without increasing the cost and without jeopardizing the universal coverage goal, with enough spare change to grant funds for developing community owned medical centers, with the latest technology, which could and will compete with the private hospital chains.
I heard this many times… "I think they should make all Hospitals, Emergency Facilities and clinics Non-Profit"
It isn't as simple as it sounds. People like you and me invested (shares) in the hospital corporations. With that investment the corporations built and equipped those hospitals, medical centers, and emergency facilities. They spend the money we gave them, in, among other things, training a specialized work force, getting supplies needed for their function, etc.
We cannot confiscate those corporations and make them non-profit, because that means that the people who bought the shares will never get their money back, nor any expected dividend. It means that we should compensate them for their investment. And the government doesn't have (now) the money for it. Especially if we consider that right now we need to address the millions not covered in our country. Taking the insurance companies out of the health care system already will mean thousands of jobs eliminated. They can absorb some in their other business but it will be minimal: employment will drop again. And so on… Also the logistics are important. Medicare is prepared to address certain number of beneficiaries. Who are barely a fifth of the people we should cover under the single-payer system. The rationale should be to replace the present system of health insurance and HMOs with that single payer one step at the time. The employees in the private health insurance plans can move into the structure of the single-payer system and keep their means for making a living... but it takes time to set it up. This isn't a summer picnic... kind of let's do it while we think about it... Deadlines are foolish when we need to investigate every and all the consequences of each change and how we will shape the system... Actually those who oppose the real reform, are the ones that would like it resolved now and dread any further study. And we know who they are. They are the same people who are now flooding the web, television, and printed media with their groundless 'opinions'. Like the darling Bobby Jindal, who still believes he's dealing with the Bush Administration in Washington.
Talk about all these alternatives being considered are nothing more that end runs to avoid real reform and to push us out of any attempt at designing a meaningful structure for our health care system.
I'm still waiting for a News organization to take a running tally of the proposals being considered and offer explanations about what each does and doesn't. What I see is a barrage of off-base commentaries, name dropping, spurious comparisons using anecdotic events, both from our country and from others with different approaches to public health care, which mostly cannot legitimately be compared, considering demographics. It isn't the same, say, to look at Canada and then Germany or England. What about other countries with private health care delivery and single-payer systems? What about countries where the government owns the hospitals, or the system includes non-profit AND government in the ownership of major health care centers (i.e. Unions owning hospitals for their members which offer reciprocity to other Unions' members, like in Argentina and other countries.)?
I would suggest that we stop paying attention to the tactics of scare, and get serious finding out about the alternatives available. And get the Lobbyists barred from this issue.
Now, how about them comparisons? Let's look at the accumulated profits of the private Insurance plans in the last ten years and contrast it with the reported costs of the alternatives being considered in Congress for the next ten years. Just by going the route of private delivery with single payer system, we save enough taxpayers money without increasing the cost and without jeopardizing the universal coverage goal, with enough spare change to grant funds for developing community owned medical centers, with the latest technology, which could and will compete with the private hospital chains.
I heard this many times… "I think they should make all Hospitals, Emergency Facilities and clinics Non-Profit"
It isn't as simple as it sounds. People like you and me invested (shares) in the hospital corporations. With that investment the corporations built and equipped those hospitals, medical centers, and emergency facilities. They spend the money we gave them, in, among other things, training a specialized work force, getting supplies needed for their function, etc.
We cannot confiscate those corporations and make them non-profit, because that means that the people who bought the shares will never get their money back, nor any expected dividend. It means that we should compensate them for their investment. And the government doesn't have (now) the money for it. Especially if we consider that right now we need to address the millions not covered in our country. Taking the insurance companies out of the health care system already will mean thousands of jobs eliminated. They can absorb some in their other business but it will be minimal: employment will drop again. And so on… Also the logistics are important. Medicare is prepared to address certain number of beneficiaries. Who are barely a fifth of the people we should cover under the single-payer system. The rationale should be to replace the present system of health insurance and HMOs with that single payer one step at the time. The employees in the private health insurance plans can move into the structure of the single-payer system and keep their means for making a living... but it takes time to set it up. This isn't a summer picnic... kind of let's do it while we think about it... Deadlines are foolish when we need to investigate every and all the consequences of each change and how we will shape the system... Actually those who oppose the real reform, are the ones that would like it resolved now and dread any further study. And we know who they are. They are the same people who are now flooding the web, television, and printed media with their groundless 'opinions'. Like the darling Bobby Jindal, who still believes he's dealing with the Bush Administration in Washington.
Talk about all these alternatives being considered are nothing more that end runs to avoid real reform and to push us out of any attempt at designing a meaningful structure for our health care system.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Distributive Justice or Retributive Fairness
A comment on the original article (see comment below):
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Institute-for-Progressive-by-Gary-Vance-090302-793.html
Institute for Progressive Christianity Issues Ground-Breaking White Paper on Distributive Justice
by Gary Vance
The Institute for Progressive Christianity (IPC) has released a ground breaking progressive Christian economics white paper from Frank Cocozzelli entitled "Reclaiming Capitalism Through Principles of Distributive Justice". Cocozzelli offers an astute overview of why our economy is unraveling and pragmatic moral steps that must be taken to rebuild a thriving economy that benefits everyone. He details how the great social justice traditions of Catholicism and mainline Protestantism have informed the development of liberal economics. He chronicles the dismantling of key elements of New Deal era financial regulation that has contributed to the current economic crisis and how liberal Christian ideas of distributive justice economics can help solve our economic crises.
Cocozzelli offers a moral foundation connected to proven Christian ideas and accomplishments in the arena of economic justice in order to solve our current economic crisis. This approach stands in stark contrast to the neoconservative view that economics is "inherently amoral."
"Our liberalism," Cocozzelli writes, "is based on a profound moral vision, and rooted in the best of the Protestant and Catholic traditions that have stood the test of time as moral philosophies underpinning economics that works."
Cocozzelli reveals how the passage of The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 repealed a cornerstone New Deal economic firewall, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which prohibited banks from engaging in both less managed deposit-based investing and riskier securities-based investing.
"The dismantling of New Deal legislation designed to forever curb the excesses of reckless profit-driven business and banking practices played a significant role in the creation of the current economic crisis," Cocozzelli said.
Addressing matters of morality and the marketplace is a rich tradition that stands at the center of how Americans have resolved -- and sought to prevent -- the problems wrought by reckless profit-driven factions. Indeed, significant portions of New Deal economics coming out of the Great Depression were influenced by the then-ascendant Social Gospel of mainline Protestantism; Catholic notions of Distributive Justice; and religious Jewish intellectuals inspired by the tradition of tikkun olam ""making the world whole.
Accordingly, this White Paper argues for two main ideas: capitalism based upon reciprocity between contribution and benefits received, and legislation to curb and deflect the destructive effects of arbitrary economic power. To support his premise, Cocozzelli draws upon the works of 20th century economist (and Catholic priest) Monsignor John A. Ryan who emphasized six canons of Distributive Justice; and on the post World War II writings of Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.
The principle of reciprocity espoused by Monsignor Ryan makes allowances for creativity, risk, productivity and special talents as well as a living wage. Ryan's contribution addresses monetary questions that require a sturdy government to enable fairness both in the distribution of profit and each individual's contribution to the common good. Niebuhr's approach is more institutional in nature; calling for a system that deflects and curbs the deleterious effects of greed "" all too often the harbinger of the abuses of arbitrary power -- provides one of the most realistic methods of ensuring a more just form of capitalism.
This astounding paper arrives at precisely the right moment in time to help bring a focused foundational moral approach to resolving the acute economic crisis that has overtaken us all. President Obama and his economic advisers would be wise to carefully review this paper as they seek a re-working of our economy toward a more just system that fairly addresses the concerns of all citizens. Bail-outs and bandaids might shore things up for the short term, but the long term recovery will require a systemic change such as the one Cocozzelli has brilliantly offered.
Reclaiming Capitalism Through Principles of Distributive Justice may be viewed in its entirety at the web site of the Institute for Progressive Christianity:
click here to download the PDF.
-------
Many of us, who had come across the gross inequities of the current capitalistic setup of our economy, had voiced concern regarding the pernicious effects of it on the quality of human life. This paper not only centers and highlights the problematic of our economic structure but offers venues for a re-thinking of our system.
However the capitalistic approach which produced spurious advantages touted as progress of the humankind, has finally exhausted itself because it was predicated on the continuous and progressive accumulation of capital, which after an initial burst, comes to depend on the possibility of generating savings in the common population and which diminishes as the capital accumulation grows, therefore creating a disruptive countercurrent that limits the available capital to be added to the existing pool.
The result is evident, the capital had to become more aggressive in its grab of additional capital to sustain the model, resulting in that the profit ceases being created by a legitimate productive activity, and being replaced by the game of takeovers in order to generate the required profits that keeps the model going.
What we see today is the end of the game. The takeover strategy has reached the point of becoming unable to digest that which has been taken over... and moderately profitable corporations are confronted with inevitable losses, and the members of the communities with job losses, further impeding any chance of capital accumulation.
Those who speculate that short term bailouts and patches can restore the health of capitalism, are blind to the currents of history. Capitalism is dying, and no amount of reform, based on market forces or distributive capitalism, will ever save the patient.
We need to come up with a different vision. Perhaps a humanistic one, one that restores balance between productive activity and saving capacity, centered on ethics geared to retributive fairness and swift justice.
This requires also an open and honest look at the role of Credit in our system, again bastardized by the reckless pursuit of the profits that sustain capitalism, and which had laid its death sentence to the viability of the capitalistic way of life.
Again, we have to remember that all the socialist, communist, and fascist structural approaches, were and are dependent on this soon to be obsolete capitalistic model. Don't have doubts about this last.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Visualization?
Dishthehappyfish wrote on another board:
"Has anyone ever had a visualization manifest? I just wonder. Being goal-less and apparently purpose-less, I have tried to visualize myself in circumstances in which I might be happy. I am actually very good at it, seeing my surroundings and feeling like I might feel in the situation. I have read books on the ins and outs of such visualization, and used their techniques, but with absolutely no success. It seems even my reticular activating system is faulty...that is the thing that brings that which we desire to the forefront of our brains. For example, if I am shopping for a new Nissan sedan for my son, suddenly I start seeing Nissan Maximas everywhere! And eventually the right one with the right price tag come surfaces effortlessly. Unfortunately that hasn't happened. I'm still shopping...hoping to grab a deal before prices go back up.
So now we are all visualizing buyers for Colette's house. And I must say, I have prayed (visualized, meditated) for others and every once in a while see results. So I am game.
I would love to know if anyone else has tried this. "
Some interesting concepts about visualization...
Visualization (American spelling, but we know they haven't spoken English in years...) is an old fact for the kahunas in the Polynesian Islands and Hawaii, but, as usually happens, got distorted and confused by the reading of the missionaries who invaded their lands like a plague. The Christian culture, on the Gnostic side, had hints about it, however the persecution unleashed against their groups resulted in the loss of such knowledge if indeed they knew how to practice it... I had joined people who were trying to rediscover the mechanisms at work regarding this phenomena over four decades ago (when I was in my early twenties...). I should say that it is more to it than the entertainment media's picture shows.
First, it isn't about the wished for results, but about the process that would take us from the present status to a future which might include what we wish for... And the process has to be well thought in depth... to include all (at least everything we could think of) the alternatives... additionally the visualization of such process (steps and consequences) should be wetted about how the steps would be increasing the common good, not only the beneficiary of the wished for results... if along the way there would be harm done to oneself and/or others, it would decrease the chances of achieving the expected results enormously... (something grasped at by the saying: "be careful about what you wish").
The Kahunas are keepers of the secret (Huna) and they base their knowledge on the oral transmission of their knowledge from one generation to the next... apprenticeship is required...
The Western thought haven't gotten the grasp on all that's included in this phenomena, suffice to say that by neglecting to understand the phenomena of consciousness they miss the process totally... Of course there is plenty of writers selling books about their wonderful shortcuts, but they never work, as they fail to consider the process itself, in favor of an emotionally gratifying focus on the results... there is no such thing as a Visualization for Dummies manual... Of course again, they will assure you theirs is just it... you can do with your bucks whatever you like, it would be faster just to burn them with the Fall leaves as you clean your backyard, than wasting them buying such garbage...
And, yes, a process along these lines is what helped me to heal myself from cancer... and it has been twenty two years since it went into remission... and so far I am staying free from it...
The experience is a very personal one, and what worked for one person, would mean nothing to another, that's why I say that there is an apprenticeship involved, with the help of somebody who's mastered the process... other than that, in reality, it is all in our consciousness and how we work at achieving unity between the differently focused portions of it... and very straightforward and simple... But also requires to let go of any tendencies toward laziness most of us harbor. There aren't shortcuts and it demands honest willpower...
And that's the truth of it...
Something I forgot to include above...
Talking about visualization, what's important is to visualize the path that would take you from your present to that one future which would fulfill your expectation... one at the time, from this particular present, each action and consequence had to be seen in our mind... and then to the next action and consequence... and so on... We also need to remember that we need to consider the most probable responses of others involved in such path, not what we would or should expect from them, but what would be the most likely reaction based in their own interests and emotions... This stresses that the whole exercise of visualization is also an exercise of our empathic skills...
Additionally, I found that the people who have the greater difficulties at attempting the visualization are the people who are more rigid in their beliefs, especially the religious beliefs... for most religions visualization is akin to practices of witchcraft and they instill a strong sense of guilt associated with such attempts, very difficult if not impossible to overcome... even when individuals might not be aware of such sense of guilt... in effect, I know a few that would say that such guilt is hogwash... but in reality they are subject to it without realizing the shackles their religion put on themselves...
Atheists have an equally hard time with it...
I know a few atheists as well, who have an equally hard time dealing with visualization... Here the problem is usually related with issues like consciousness... Highly trained scientific minds look for concrete evidence for the nature of the human consciousness, and usually also, restrict themselves to considerations directly related to our biological nature... The way I see it, is that we haven't figured out a way to study the phenomena of consciousness; we haven't discovered how to find the hard evidence required by the scientific methods... so most of the science practitioners tend to ignore or deny anything pertaining this fundamental aspect of our nature... except what can be detected in the physical workings of our neurological system...
And of course, empathy is a nebulous concept, forgivable for those who dwell in Psychology's jungle... they haven't found science's accepted methods comprehensible yet, but there are hopes for them...
So, the atheists usually draw a blank when trying to attempt visualization... and few are those brave enough to risk crossing into scientific anathema territory... to start getting a grasp of what it is entitled here... Unity of consciousness is something that still is part of an imaginary and distant future... Just as bad if not worse than what afflicts the convinced believers...
http://natureandspirit.yuku.com/topic/27
"Has anyone ever had a visualization manifest? I just wonder. Being goal-less and apparently purpose-less, I have tried to visualize myself in circumstances in which I might be happy. I am actually very good at it, seeing my surroundings and feeling like I might feel in the situation. I have read books on the ins and outs of such visualization, and used their techniques, but with absolutely no success. It seems even my reticular activating system is faulty...that is the thing that brings that which we desire to the forefront of our brains. For example, if I am shopping for a new Nissan sedan for my son, suddenly I start seeing Nissan Maximas everywhere! And eventually the right one with the right price tag come surfaces effortlessly. Unfortunately that hasn't happened. I'm still shopping...hoping to grab a deal before prices go back up.
So now we are all visualizing buyers for Colette's house. And I must say, I have prayed (visualized, meditated) for others and every once in a while see results. So I am game.
I would love to know if anyone else has tried this. "
Some interesting concepts about visualization...
Visualization (American spelling, but we know they haven't spoken English in years...) is an old fact for the kahunas in the Polynesian Islands and Hawaii, but, as usually happens, got distorted and confused by the reading of the missionaries who invaded their lands like a plague. The Christian culture, on the Gnostic side, had hints about it, however the persecution unleashed against their groups resulted in the loss of such knowledge if indeed they knew how to practice it... I had joined people who were trying to rediscover the mechanisms at work regarding this phenomena over four decades ago (when I was in my early twenties...). I should say that it is more to it than the entertainment media's picture shows.
First, it isn't about the wished for results, but about the process that would take us from the present status to a future which might include what we wish for... And the process has to be well thought in depth... to include all (at least everything we could think of) the alternatives... additionally the visualization of such process (steps and consequences) should be wetted about how the steps would be increasing the common good, not only the beneficiary of the wished for results... if along the way there would be harm done to oneself and/or others, it would decrease the chances of achieving the expected results enormously... (something grasped at by the saying: "be careful about what you wish").
The Kahunas are keepers of the secret (Huna) and they base their knowledge on the oral transmission of their knowledge from one generation to the next... apprenticeship is required...
The Western thought haven't gotten the grasp on all that's included in this phenomena, suffice to say that by neglecting to understand the phenomena of consciousness they miss the process totally... Of course there is plenty of writers selling books about their wonderful shortcuts, but they never work, as they fail to consider the process itself, in favor of an emotionally gratifying focus on the results... there is no such thing as a Visualization for Dummies manual... Of course again, they will assure you theirs is just it... you can do with your bucks whatever you like, it would be faster just to burn them with the Fall leaves as you clean your backyard, than wasting them buying such garbage...
And, yes, a process along these lines is what helped me to heal myself from cancer... and it has been twenty two years since it went into remission... and so far I am staying free from it...
The experience is a very personal one, and what worked for one person, would mean nothing to another, that's why I say that there is an apprenticeship involved, with the help of somebody who's mastered the process... other than that, in reality, it is all in our consciousness and how we work at achieving unity between the differently focused portions of it... and very straightforward and simple... But also requires to let go of any tendencies toward laziness most of us harbor. There aren't shortcuts and it demands honest willpower...
And that's the truth of it...
Something I forgot to include above...
Talking about visualization, what's important is to visualize the path that would take you from your present to that one future which would fulfill your expectation... one at the time, from this particular present, each action and consequence had to be seen in our mind... and then to the next action and consequence... and so on... We also need to remember that we need to consider the most probable responses of others involved in such path, not what we would or should expect from them, but what would be the most likely reaction based in their own interests and emotions... This stresses that the whole exercise of visualization is also an exercise of our empathic skills...
Additionally, I found that the people who have the greater difficulties at attempting the visualization are the people who are more rigid in their beliefs, especially the religious beliefs... for most religions visualization is akin to practices of witchcraft and they instill a strong sense of guilt associated with such attempts, very difficult if not impossible to overcome... even when individuals might not be aware of such sense of guilt... in effect, I know a few that would say that such guilt is hogwash... but in reality they are subject to it without realizing the shackles their religion put on themselves...
Atheists have an equally hard time with it...
I know a few atheists as well, who have an equally hard time dealing with visualization... Here the problem is usually related with issues like consciousness... Highly trained scientific minds look for concrete evidence for the nature of the human consciousness, and usually also, restrict themselves to considerations directly related to our biological nature... The way I see it, is that we haven't figured out a way to study the phenomena of consciousness; we haven't discovered how to find the hard evidence required by the scientific methods... so most of the science practitioners tend to ignore or deny anything pertaining this fundamental aspect of our nature... except what can be detected in the physical workings of our neurological system...
And of course, empathy is a nebulous concept, forgivable for those who dwell in Psychology's jungle... they haven't found science's accepted methods comprehensible yet, but there are hopes for them...
So, the atheists usually draw a blank when trying to attempt visualization... and few are those brave enough to risk crossing into scientific anathema territory... to start getting a grasp of what it is entitled here... Unity of consciousness is something that still is part of an imaginary and distant future... Just as bad if not worse than what afflicts the convinced believers...
http://natureandspirit.yuku.com/topic/27
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Letter to my fellow American
Moments ago one of us entered the Capitol in the company of his wife, his mate and his mate's wife… The notes of Hail the Chief were dying off while many in the Mall were swinging in its rhythm… The merciless clock which measures our span had eaten the seconds and minutes of this eventful hour, the words had been said and their echo had carried them towards a winter sky, crispy noon lending its light to the vast city and its multitude… This one of us, wearing on his ordinary shoulders the extraordinariness of the circumstances, was showing in his smile, the humble acceptance of his great responsibility. Beyond the congratulations and the laudatory expressions of the diverse party of officials, family and friends, the words pronounced earlier were floating over the gathered people…
I used to easily remember the sayings of the people, especially in this kind of extraordinary circumstances, not this time however, perhaps caught in the enormous significance of these wondrous events… but I know, from the bottom of my soul, that this one of us haven't disappointed my expectations.
This one of us, our sworn servant, spoke truthfully to us. He didn't make promises that we didn't make… what he promised is what we would have promised in this day… as a matter of a fact… he promised what most of us had already promised to ourselves and to others…
He didn't say what he was going to do in the days ahead. Being truthful, he spoke of what "we" were to do in the days in front of us… I know it to be truth, because that's exactly what I intend to do… He didn't count the friends and the enemies… Being faithful, he spoke of how we should be our brother's keeper… I recognized it to be truth, because I understood his words, I comprehended that it wasn't a matter of becoming a caretaker of my brother, but the one to bring a hand in help so my brother could walk again… and I see that everybody, everyone, is my brother… no borders… no colors… no gods… to make us different from each other…
He didn't say that he had all the solutions that our predicament required… Being truthful, he assured us that "we" had the solutions as far as we were willing to stand up and dust ourselves off and go to work. He was right. No man, no god, or God, would gift us with what we need, but making the decision of going to work, together, in ensemble or individually, we could accomplish, we could achieve, whatever we wish as long it was for our common good. He was right, and I know it to be true, because I know it, I have experienced it, and had witnessed it, that together, no matter how difficult, how dire, or hard, might be what life would bring to our table, we shall overcome, as we had overcome in the past.
I am writing this, my fellow American, in the hope you will hear me, because I want you to know, in the bottom of your heart, that I wish to be counted in this march which we have started today, at high noon, in our Capital City, and in every corner of our wonderful country… and I intend to stick to it…
Saturday, January 10, 2009
While Gaza burns, in the US we starve...
I was advising for several months leading into the general election that the key for our recovery was to watch who we are sending to our Congress... I hate to say I told you so... But reading the declarations of senators and representatives regarding what we need to do to turn around our path into a depression deeper than the one in the 1930's has irritated me to no end... the idiots we got there have no understanding of economy. They believe in what the faculties in places like Harvard had been feeding them, for years now, is the true law of economics. Hardly, first because economics isn't a science no matter what Mardi Gras costume you make it wear... It's an art, and only real artists get the feeling for it, that's why there are so few who understand the processes... There are however facts, and the first fact is that there is no profit if there are no costumers... The old Ford understood it real well... he created jobs so the people who took those jobs could become his costumers... and in that fashion he made his fortune, while his heirs are running the business into the ground... simple, but way beyond the understanding of those MBAs and lawyers that we surround ourselves in the halls of our government... Well, I'm looking forward to what tomorrow will bring to my attention hoping that I will be able to rant some more... Disgusting...
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and others like John Conyers, Kent Conrad … are showing their usefulness eroding by their pressing on power issues… The reality is that Obama can count with only 49 democratic senators plus Lieberman (anxious to be forgiven the faux-pas of endorsing the loosing McCain) and not all of the House democrats. Enough to sway some results with the help of Biden and other leaders in the House wary of Pelosi's grandiosity. Perhaps is time to rethink the leadership positions in both chambers… and send some home to rest...
The problem that democrats face (as witnessed under Carter, Clinton, and now during Obama's transition) is a complete misunderstanding of what political principles are. The business of running the largest economical structure and military power on the planet demand a clear understanding of how principles work.
It has to begin with grasping the concept that political principles are pragmatic propositions. Ideas which have shown through our history to be useful and beneficial for our society in the long run. Not statements within a political credo in a theological sense. Roosevelt and Truman and Kennedy and Johnson and Carter and Clinton accomplished many things when they exercised flexibility and blew it when choosing principled rigidity.
Actually the democratic turncoat who became the patriarch of the Republican Credo, Ronald Reagan, learned his lesson early and well. The problem was that he never had the energy to reign in on the shadowy characters (of which GHWB was the most relevant) inherited from the disastrous Nixon administration and who doomed any thing he tried to accomplish… As that the old Ronny was well spoken but terrible at carrying out his intentions… He wasn't a great communicator but a good actor able to put feeling in his delivery and capture the empathy of his listeners, although at the same time, he wasn't a seasoned commander expertly able to lead the troops...
Obama already knows the pitfalls of such approach and is learning how to overcome it… But he needs help and little is forthcoming… it is up to us to put pressure on our legislators to get anything accomplished which might go against the big interests, those which prey on our hopes and labor… and to provide a larger offset to the leftist bullshit trying to establish ownership on Obama's victory in November...
"Frank, What makes you believe for even one minute that the Democratic Congress, wants to live by 'principles'? They wanted control, they want things their way, all you had to do was listen to Pelousy rant and rave about the first bailout they tried to push through."
First at all, it is unfair to characterize Democrats as a solid marching army, they are very far from that. Second, it is unfair to characterize them as a whole by the antics of Nancy Pelosi. As a matter of a fact, GWB provoked the rise of Pelosi and Reed. In a country where the message was controlled by the White House and Faux News, the opposition needed to put up front somebody who could match the childish emotional image coming from the Administration in control of the business. At that, Pelosi and Reed were very useful. The final takeover by the fascism of the Cheney's and Rumsfeld's was prevented. There is still enough damage to be undone and that is a priority business... but now the country needs constructive leaders, not raving leaders... come to think of it, we need leaders period. Obama cannot do it himself... fortunately most of his picks are good leaders too, but they are yet to get to work... The Pelosi and Reed reactive team approach of the 2007-2008 Congress, need to be replaced by a different team approach for 2009-2010. A constructive one. A proactive and pragmatic one. In a country where almost half of the population still believe that we were in the right path with the Republican control, and where Obama won as much by mobilizing new people to the polls, as by the fact that he wouldn't have won if much less voters convinced that the country was on the right track haven't stayed home. The truth is that one in four or five voters who would have voted Republican actually didn't vote. And that made a great difference. Looking to the factors which played at keeping them at home, Pelosi and Reed, and the reaction they produced, had the biggest hand. So I am right when I said Pelosi and Reed and the likes are losing the usefulness they had for the democratic process "before the election", and now they are becoming a dangerous bump in the urgency of the time we live. We can't afford slowing down in the name of "their" principles or the BS of their rap. And, yes, I think "most" democrats act based in principles, at the same time that I see that Republicans and Libertarians act based on their patrons' wishes... As I said, I am a pragmatic kind of guy and a conservative one at that... the kind of conservative that tries to save what works for our community and fix what it doesn't work, and shy about embracing unproven and dangerous revolutionary schemes... which at the end are more of a product from the leftist fascism than of real humanistic principles...
(As for Republican principles, they were killed long time ago, thanks to Theodore Roosevelt)
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and others like John Conyers, Kent Conrad … are showing their usefulness eroding by their pressing on power issues… The reality is that Obama can count with only 49 democratic senators plus Lieberman (anxious to be forgiven the faux-pas of endorsing the loosing McCain) and not all of the House democrats. Enough to sway some results with the help of Biden and other leaders in the House wary of Pelosi's grandiosity. Perhaps is time to rethink the leadership positions in both chambers… and send some home to rest...
The problem that democrats face (as witnessed under Carter, Clinton, and now during Obama's transition) is a complete misunderstanding of what political principles are. The business of running the largest economical structure and military power on the planet demand a clear understanding of how principles work.
It has to begin with grasping the concept that political principles are pragmatic propositions. Ideas which have shown through our history to be useful and beneficial for our society in the long run. Not statements within a political credo in a theological sense. Roosevelt and Truman and Kennedy and Johnson and Carter and Clinton accomplished many things when they exercised flexibility and blew it when choosing principled rigidity.
Actually the democratic turncoat who became the patriarch of the Republican Credo, Ronald Reagan, learned his lesson early and well. The problem was that he never had the energy to reign in on the shadowy characters (of which GHWB was the most relevant) inherited from the disastrous Nixon administration and who doomed any thing he tried to accomplish… As that the old Ronny was well spoken but terrible at carrying out his intentions… He wasn't a great communicator but a good actor able to put feeling in his delivery and capture the empathy of his listeners, although at the same time, he wasn't a seasoned commander expertly able to lead the troops...
Obama already knows the pitfalls of such approach and is learning how to overcome it… But he needs help and little is forthcoming… it is up to us to put pressure on our legislators to get anything accomplished which might go against the big interests, those which prey on our hopes and labor… and to provide a larger offset to the leftist bullshit trying to establish ownership on Obama's victory in November...
"Frank, What makes you believe for even one minute that the Democratic Congress, wants to live by 'principles'? They wanted control, they want things their way, all you had to do was listen to Pelousy rant and rave about the first bailout they tried to push through."
First at all, it is unfair to characterize Democrats as a solid marching army, they are very far from that. Second, it is unfair to characterize them as a whole by the antics of Nancy Pelosi. As a matter of a fact, GWB provoked the rise of Pelosi and Reed. In a country where the message was controlled by the White House and Faux News, the opposition needed to put up front somebody who could match the childish emotional image coming from the Administration in control of the business. At that, Pelosi and Reed were very useful. The final takeover by the fascism of the Cheney's and Rumsfeld's was prevented. There is still enough damage to be undone and that is a priority business... but now the country needs constructive leaders, not raving leaders... come to think of it, we need leaders period. Obama cannot do it himself... fortunately most of his picks are good leaders too, but they are yet to get to work... The Pelosi and Reed reactive team approach of the 2007-2008 Congress, need to be replaced by a different team approach for 2009-2010. A constructive one. A proactive and pragmatic one. In a country where almost half of the population still believe that we were in the right path with the Republican control, and where Obama won as much by mobilizing new people to the polls, as by the fact that he wouldn't have won if much less voters convinced that the country was on the right track haven't stayed home. The truth is that one in four or five voters who would have voted Republican actually didn't vote. And that made a great difference. Looking to the factors which played at keeping them at home, Pelosi and Reed, and the reaction they produced, had the biggest hand. So I am right when I said Pelosi and Reed and the likes are losing the usefulness they had for the democratic process "before the election", and now they are becoming a dangerous bump in the urgency of the time we live. We can't afford slowing down in the name of "their" principles or the BS of their rap. And, yes, I think "most" democrats act based in principles, at the same time that I see that Republicans and Libertarians act based on their patrons' wishes... As I said, I am a pragmatic kind of guy and a conservative one at that... the kind of conservative that tries to save what works for our community and fix what it doesn't work, and shy about embracing unproven and dangerous revolutionary schemes... which at the end are more of a product from the leftist fascism than of real humanistic principles...
(As for Republican principles, they were killed long time ago, thanks to Theodore Roosevelt)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The ruse of Dual Nature
I am getting tired of hearing about that stupid idea Thomas De Aquinas put in motion centuries ago about the dual nature of man... There is no dual nature, there is man all in a whole package, consequence of our evolution from the primal cells in the Arkosian Period nearly four billions years ago on this planet... there was consciousness in those unicellular beings as there is in something so complex as the human being, when consciousness is just how living beings connect within themselves and with each other, and wholly dependent of the physical manifestation of their nature...
Gee, it is astonishing that people seem unable to accept the wholeness of Man, who isn't the pinnacle of evolution either... only the most adept to screw things up and invent supernatural beings to justify all his personality defects y egregious conduct... imagining certain kind of obsessive emotions under the ruse of calling them love. If man would feel real love, man wouldn't help but to love every life... and we see that this isn't the case... the few exceptions are what kept men from making life something extinct on the surface of this planet...
So, it is high time to send this idea of dual whatever to the trash bin of history and have a laugh at the arrogance and pedantic personality of those like Thomas de Aquinas preaching their pseudo-philosophical non-sense. Revelation indeed!
Frank
Saturday, December 8, 2007
FACTS IN THE GROUND: Keep Digging For Historical Truth.
History is more often just related to what people tell themselves their past was, not what the actual facts were. In every sense there is even more truth in this perception when you factor the interpretation of findings.
The scholarly field must have a strict adherence to ethics to overcome the human tendencies toward biases, personal ideologies, or personal profit, when producing their works. If we have difficulties interpreting the evidence in relatively recent events, let's say, just a couple centuries removed from our present, like finding the exact events and facts on the process of the American Revolution, and the thinking of its protagonists beyond the bare Declaration of the Independence, the Constitution that emerged from the process, and the subsequent Amendments, consider these other aspects.
How was the reality of the organized power in the Revolutionary camp, and its incidence in the life and commerce of the communities involved in the Revolution. The truth is that there was not an instant in which spontaneously and simultaneously every one of the thirteen original colonies selected their delegates and got them together to craft the resolutions that shaped our history. There were many more individuals that had relevant participation in the slow process that coalesced in the group of signatories of the Declaration of Independence, and many more that influenced the temporary organization that evolved in the aftermath of the signing. All the scholar work and research done on this subject since then still is not certain of having inventoried every detail of the process and there might be substantial aspects which haven't been addressed which could alter our perception of the chain of events.
Then, when we want to examine the more ancient events, say like the development, rise and fall of the fortunes of Cartage's quasi-empire, or the Roman Empire built over its ashes (and the Etruscan ashes as well) while cannibalizing the feudal type remains of Alexander's empire, we got ourselves into real troubles. Letters, narratives, and even those works claiming to report history, were written with a purpose in mind, that of shaping the thought of those to whom the work was addressed and therefore reflecting the intents, ideologies, and personal or institutional objectives of the authors. Before we interpret such evidence, even if we can connect the told events to actual remains found in the stage on which they evolved, we must get a clear idea what those intents, ideologies, and personal and institutional objectives of the purported authors were, plus, given the fact that little of the originals ever reached us, the same considerations were given to the copyists, and the copyists of the copyists, that made such works be known by us.
And we need to perform our task with a clear understanding of the epistemology of the wider field that encompasses History, Archaeology, and even Anthropology. Sadly, we have to concede that such epistemology as yet it is not completely developed and too many grey areas leave scholars with the freedom to inject their own personal aims in the creative work they undertake. What hardly can give us assurance that we would ever know what the true history of the past was. But a scholar's fortune is built upon this ground.
Frank Rommey ©2007
Blog: http://rommey-onthebridge.blogspot.com/
http://groups.msn.com/NatureandSpirit/
The scholarly field must have a strict adherence to ethics to overcome the human tendencies toward biases, personal ideologies, or personal profit, when producing their works. If we have difficulties interpreting the evidence in relatively recent events, let's say, just a couple centuries removed from our present, like finding the exact events and facts on the process of the American Revolution, and the thinking of its protagonists beyond the bare Declaration of the Independence, the Constitution that emerged from the process, and the subsequent Amendments, consider these other aspects.
How was the reality of the organized power in the Revolutionary camp, and its incidence in the life and commerce of the communities involved in the Revolution. The truth is that there was not an instant in which spontaneously and simultaneously every one of the thirteen original colonies selected their delegates and got them together to craft the resolutions that shaped our history. There were many more individuals that had relevant participation in the slow process that coalesced in the group of signatories of the Declaration of Independence, and many more that influenced the temporary organization that evolved in the aftermath of the signing. All the scholar work and research done on this subject since then still is not certain of having inventoried every detail of the process and there might be substantial aspects which haven't been addressed which could alter our perception of the chain of events.
Then, when we want to examine the more ancient events, say like the development, rise and fall of the fortunes of Cartage's quasi-empire, or the Roman Empire built over its ashes (and the Etruscan ashes as well) while cannibalizing the feudal type remains of Alexander's empire, we got ourselves into real troubles. Letters, narratives, and even those works claiming to report history, were written with a purpose in mind, that of shaping the thought of those to whom the work was addressed and therefore reflecting the intents, ideologies, and personal or institutional objectives of the authors. Before we interpret such evidence, even if we can connect the told events to actual remains found in the stage on which they evolved, we must get a clear idea what those intents, ideologies, and personal and institutional objectives of the purported authors were, plus, given the fact that little of the originals ever reached us, the same considerations were given to the copyists, and the copyists of the copyists, that made such works be known by us.
And we need to perform our task with a clear understanding of the epistemology of the wider field that encompasses History, Archaeology, and even Anthropology. Sadly, we have to concede that such epistemology as yet it is not completely developed and too many grey areas leave scholars with the freedom to inject their own personal aims in the creative work they undertake. What hardly can give us assurance that we would ever know what the true history of the past was. But a scholar's fortune is built upon this ground.
Frank Rommey ©2007
Blog: http://rommey-onthebridge.blogspot.com/
http://groups.msn.com/NatureandSpirit/
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Everybody is a friend, unfortunately in some cases we haven't met yet...
This morning I saw the sun rising over the hills across the lake and everything felt right in my small world...
Then I found along the snaking road a friend of mine who brought from my past a memory. A poem I wrote eight years ago when I was beginning to write more often. I enjoy putting together words in both English and Spanish; although poetry is something I attempt in Spanish, a few times I do it in English, and this was one of those rare occasions.
Bring on the rain
Nothing ever happens gone wrong
Unless it does in a country song
Today is still in my sight
And tomorrow will still be alright
Nobody looses, nobody wins
This isn't a game of pins
Another soul our communion joins
So dear, bring on the rain
Each drop a spirit who rejoins
Rescued from world deemed insane
Uplifted from below, embraced by its soul
Angels willing to fill its bowl
Today is still in my sight
And tomorrow will still be alright
No thirst, no hunger, all a play
Those upstage down come
Meaning what they say
Even misunderstood by some
Those downstage hide in the wing
When dear souls begin to sing
Today is still in my sight
And tomorrow will still be alright
Up we are, down we aren't going
Laughing we are, aren't crying
And we shall sleep tonight
Tomorrow will still be alright
© 1999
Nothing ever happens gone wrong
Unless it does in a country song
Today is still in my sight
And tomorrow will still be alright
Nobody looses, nobody wins
This isn't a game of pins
Another soul our communion joins
So dear, bring on the rain
Each drop a spirit who rejoins
Rescued from world deemed insane
Uplifted from below, embraced by its soul
Angels willing to fill its bowl
Today is still in my sight
And tomorrow will still be alright
No thirst, no hunger, all a play
Those upstage down come
Meaning what they say
Even misunderstood by some
Those downstage hide in the wing
When dear souls begin to sing
Today is still in my sight
And tomorrow will still be alright
Up we are, down we aren't going
Laughing we are, aren't crying
And we shall sleep tonight
Tomorrow will still be alright
© 1999
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