Should the entire USA (and the World) rethink the knee-jerk, thunk? Let's be real! The ultra-rich (the ones who OWN the weapons plants and the munitions factories), have no qualms about continuing their GIGANTIC CON - of millions of American families - into believing that it is "patriotic", to send one's son or daughter off to die in a foreign land - because "Freedom Isn't Free"? The parents get to have (thereby), bragging rights akin to, "My Son is a Marine!", or "Go Army!", or "USAF - Aim High", and "My Daughter serves in the Navy" (usually in the form of a bumper-sticker). Yup, "Semper Fi" is indeed "eternal loyalty" - ONCE CONNED - but from inside of an aluminium box - and at a graveyard near to your ("Mom 'n Dad"). Once laid-out "proper" within said container, who's likely to complain? Besides, the grieving parents were given a very nice (brand-new), tricolor-flag, folded-down into a "Boy-Girl Scout" triangle - such that it will "look" quite "nice" inside of a framed-glass case, stood onto the fireplace mantel (as a souvenir)?
The ultra rich got RICHER (and don't care whose life is thrown away)... Freedom? Who does the paying? Wake-up Americans! Don't be duped! The only thing anyone gets for "Free" is the pro-military establishment's line of "Propaganda for Dummies" ... and THAT's the TRUTH! My generation of Vietnam vets learned the hard-way, and then dared to say, "No." to the CONNING of America! Don't get suckered into offering-up YOUR child - as a sacrificial lamb - to the financial machinery of WAR!
Anecdote: just try to get Dick Cheney to acknowledge that he and father-son Bush made HUGE SUM$ of CA$H from their Washington War-mongering while in D.C. "Mission Accomplished", indeed... all the way to the Bank!
Copyright ©2014 - Robert C. Kuhmann - All Rights Reserved.
Take your "pick" of almost any topic: Common Sense is not so common anymore.
Whenever you hold the TRUTH, it is RIGHT to persue it...
People are living smaller - everywhere. The economy is bleak and it is going to deteriorate. As an optimist, I do not announce such things as idle talk. Still, I am present and a participant - grateful for the joys of life, big and small. The future is definitely going to be a challenging time. Meanwhile, albiet that (in general) people do not choose whom they love, they may love whom they choose - and there are many ways to do that. How may I help (love) you?
No more questions (for today)...
When the 2008 elections came along, political participation became "trendy", some might say, "cool"....
During a few extrordinary months, the Democratic primary became the must-watch reality-TV show of the year... The general election tossed-up the very real possibility of an Obama Presidency - literally a new face for the body-politic (a young, liberal, charismatic, African-American man who'd started his career as a community organizer). Incredible!
Suddenly, everyone was talking, living, and breathing electoral politics.
Voter participation sky-rocketed: first the numbers of those "emotionally invested" in the election, mushroomed - then the number of campaign volunteers soared into the stratosphere. And finally (on election day), the numbers of young people and poor people (who stood in line to vote – the very individuals who had "sat it out" in the past), hit levels not seen for generations!
Opinion poll numbers showed large spikes in confidence - indicating that government could "do the right thing by" ordinary Americans.
And yet (now, 15 months after Obama's election), 62% of the US population is convinced that the country is on the wrong track, and most Americans seem to believe that the government isn't looking out for their best interests afterall...
The growing suspicion is perhaps, this: that 2008 wasn't quite the clean break many thought it to be... Would such a notion explain just why so many Obama voters sat-out the recent "special election" (in Massachusetts)? And also - why so many others voted for Scott Brown – and yet bizarrely also, why so many told pollsters that they wanted Brown (a Republican) to "work with" Democrats (to implement some version of healthcare reform)?
The polls of early 2009 indicated that a majority of voters were willing to give Barack Obama "years" (to turn the "broken economy" around). Now, those polls have been updated, and most reveal that increasing numbers of Americans are deeply impatient with, and resentful of, the still-sluggish pace of economic recovery.
Obama's great dilemma is that he used the language of "hope and change" to set the "bar" almost impossibly "high" for his Presidency.
His rhetoric was skillfully used to energize his audience (one that exhibited more enthusiasm than stamina, one that WANTS change to be both: instantaneous and easy). It has proven to be anything but. After all, a President can set the tone, but when it comes to domestic policy reforms - only Congress can pass Bills - not the sitting President!
The compromises made with various Senators (to secure their support on healthcare), has smacked of a political, "business as usual" climate. And the Public reacted accordingly – growing increasingly angry at the "Washington, DC mentality". Some have responded by jumping from Obama's vision of "change" to that indignities of their "Tea Parties". Others reacted by reverting to historical "apathy" and (once more), by removing themselves from the political process altogether.
Now, robbed of a "filibuster-proof" majority in the Senate, healthcare reformers can only watch - as their "moment for change" slips through their fingers....
The combined effect has made the overall political climate all the more unpleasant. Example: the recent Supreme Court ruling eviscerated spending-limits that Corporations can hand-out (to influence elections). That alone means there's going to be a strong likelihood that politics will become even uglier, messier, and more "beholding" to special interests - than it has been in the past.
All of which prompts an observation: commentators told the once-apathetic that they had "no right" to complain (if they weren't going to participate). And so (in 2008), they finally participated. They helped elect a progressive President, and gave the Democratic party the biggest Congressional majority seen, in decades. They put in place a foundation for the sort of across-the-board change - not seen since the "Great Society" years, or perhaps even, since "The New Deal".
And the result?
We're a year into a new administration's rule. We've got political stalemate. Instead, of leadership, we've disoriented Congressional would-be leaders. Moreover, there is no clear leader (especially when it comes to fighting for healthcare reform, some version of which a clear majority of Americans, want). There is a growing sense that the plutocrats -- the bankers, the great corporations, the holders of vast fortunes – will always win, that the political system is fundamentally "fixed", to be stacked-against the "little guy".
That's a dangerous caldron of hot soup...
Too many of the ingredients of the moment in in the mix: anger, rage, frustration, fear of economic calamity (loss of home, loss of job), and in particular ...a sense of hopes betrayed and promises broken, of having been sold a bill of goods! People are bitter, and embittered politics tend to generate two things: apathy and/or authoritarianism.
One can only hope that the Democrats will find their sea-legs soon, and that Congress can follow-through with "genuine promise" (for the transformations that were embodied by Obama's candidacy in 2008). If they don't; if they duck and weave; and hope that small-bore changes will suffice to meet the towering needs of the moment - then politics will likely take some particularly "ugly turns" in the years ahead.
In the election campaign, Obama repeatedly talked of "the urgency of now."
That urgency is still there, as are the transformative ambitions and instincts of President Obama. In 2010, Congressional Democrats need to find a way to harness the "urgency", and to implement "big-picture" reforms akin to those that the Obama election promised to usher-in.
If they can't, or don't - they will have lost a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity.
Me Thinks
NPR's "Weekend Edition" (interview aired, Sunday 07-Feb-2010): a year after the Innauguration of President Obama, Sarah Palin said, "I gotta ask the supporters of all that...", "How's that hopey, changey thing working out for ya?"
Our (colloquial language) reply, "for ya": FACTUALLY (subsequent to 1-year in office - 25% of his 4-year term thingie):
- President O has kept, compromised, or has "in the works": 399 (of his 503 announced "promises") - i.e. 79.3% are underway or completed!
- President O broke (might not be the suitable label) his "word", 15 times (2.9%).
- President O has 87 items "stalled" (due primarily to bi-partisan, politically-motivated squables within the House and Senate - "bought" by the lobbyists who represent Big Money).
- President O is a man for The People, by The People?
History will tell the tale... The political facts? [click on this link]
N.B. It is suitable to mention that the (above) Florida-based website, has [historically speaking] some (very) clear-cut right-wing, Conservative leanings...
And so it is, Ms. Sarah (whacha thinkin'...)?
Me Thinks
TOYOTA Motors chief executive, Akio Toyoda apologized (today) for the company's massive vehicle quality problems, but did not announce another "recall".
Apparently, the days of "falling on one's sword" are in the past...
Dōmo arigatō! (doh-moh ah-ree-GAH-toh)
Me Thinks
Tonight will be, the first "Blue Moon" (occurring on a 'New Year's Eve') since 1990, but don't hope to see the moon in shades of "navy", or any other color for that matter. A 'blue moon' is a creation of folklore," because it's simply a chronological, second full moon within a calendar month.
Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano conceded today that airline security failed - when it allowed a Nigerian (on a terror watch list, and allegedly armed with explosives) onto a Detroit-bound flight from Europe. The concession was a turnaround from her declaration a day day earlier - that "the system worked."
The secretary's comment (on Sunday) was widely criticized, given that suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was foiled because his explosive mixture did not properly detonate and he was stopped in his tracks by vigilant passengers (who were forced to take the law into their own hands)...
My opinion? Janet is incompetent and she should resignm Me Thinks.
Ever notice? How certain people (you know the ones)... "go silent" because they're well-aware of their GUILT! Moreover, those same individuals (usually) don't give a rat's ass about anything (nor anyone), but themselves. Me thinks that France had it RIGHT all those years ago. Let's roll-out a "guillotine" for use at public executions... " Vive le pays de Napoléon Bonaparte !!! "
Friday, the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average finished higher by 78.07 points, or 0.80%, at 9,864.94 - the highest closing level in a year... The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 6.01 points, or 0.56%, at 1,071.49. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 15.35 points, or 0.72%, to 2,139.28. On the New York Stock Exchange, 18 stocks were higher in price for every 11 that declined. Breadth on the Nasdaq was 18-8 positive. Market players were looking to next week's earnings reports and retail sales and industrial production data - to see if a recovery will be picking up steam - to justify strong gains since March. The stock market will be open on the Columbus Day holiday while the bond market will be closed. Treasuries plunged Friday as Bernanke acknowledged that the Fed will eventually have to hike rates. The battered dollar index was higher on Bernanke's comments. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the biggest story in the world economy is the continuing fall of the U.S. dollar (or at least it is - everywhere outside of Washington, D.C.)...
An undercover agent from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service displays endangered "Ornithoptera Alexandrae" butterflies - seized during a 'sting' (the male butterfly is at the top). Also known as "Queen Alexandra's Birdwing", the specie is among the largest and rarest in the world. .jpg)
This insect has a wingspan up to one foot and can be found flying high above the rainforest in Papua New Guinea. A pair sells for more than $10,000 on the black market. Exotic living things are still being killed, to be sold to the highest bidder... Where is this old world headed?
NORTH KOREA: a round of applause, for former U.S. President, William Jefferson Clinton! As for you Kim Jung-il (dictator, tyrant, and criminal), most of the planet awaits your demise with great impatience. Should one of your sons (or son-in-law) perpetuate your legacy of crimes against humanity, he too shall become the bain of FREE peoples, everywhere. A lengthy "burn" in HELL (your own) is assured...
Bonne Anniversaire la Belle France!(My daughters are 1/2 French.)
My son and I revisited Yerkes Observatory yesterday (yet again). It's a shrine (of sorts) to knowledge itself, Me Thinks. To maintain a father-son "tradition", we always breathe deep, and take-in an extra breath (or two), for good measure - just in case a few molecules of the air once-inhaled by Albert Einstein, yet linger...
Upon arrival in America, the celebrated German scientist was asked about his plans, to which Einstein responded, "I want to go to The Observatory!" He did quite exactly, that...
Links:
1) Yerkes Observatory (World's largest refractory telescope).
2) Albert (During his Geneva Lake visit of May 6, 1921.)
3) Theory of Relativity (casual reading for the reading casual).
After all, I did tell you (dear readers) that we would eventually engage a dicussion of, "Time" (it's being prepared, and shall be published in "due course" [pun]... ).
The same photo (of the Yerkes star-studded [pun] group) hangs on the wall of my dining room, under a clock, whereupon it is written (most suitably), "Tempus Fugit".
R.I.P. (Requiescant In Pace)
P.S. In that cherished photo, find: Herr Albert, Mr. Charles. T. Yerkes, astronomer Geo. E. Hale, and others... I am offering a prize to whomever can name EVERYONE who figures in that ever-so-historical shot. The original is preserved as a glass-plate negative (part of the archives of the University of Chicago). My copy was produced directly from that negative ...by the curator (bragging is obliged and allowed here).
Millions and Billions, (not "McDonalds"), indeed Billions of Trillions... countless Quadrillions! Let us talk about the "Digital Revolution".
Credit where credit is due, "kudos" go to Silicon Valley! I was a priviledged participant during its earliest days... The Digital Revolution is still changing "life as we knew it".
Increasingly, we live in a world of (technological) moving targets which have no moving parts. They move fast. It has also become a world of superlatives, because World Records change almost "faster" than CHANGE, itself. Literally? (At "light speed" that is provably true, albeit that I may have to "invent" the language of "time" itself to do so ...but we shall speak of "Time & Relativity" another day).
"Personal Computing" has become a truly great gift to all Humanity (having come to useful fruition in less than a lifetime). One has to wonder about the past... How did motivated people (for whom passion, was an omni-present thirst for knowledge) keep-track of their work-in-progress? Anyone who "hungers" for KNOWLEDGE also has a gigantic "data management" problem to solve. Such can be a daunting organizational task.
For the sake of this dialogue - just imagine what the most celebrated "Minds" of the past could have done with computing devices placed at their disposition (24 X 7)! The comparison renders their myriad accomplishments all the more amazing.
I shall pause in silence, momentarily humbled by that thought...
[p-a-u-s-e]
I've been PRIVILEDGED to know quite a few people who "thirst" and who "hunger"... Almost all of them have seen their lives become inexorably intertwined with a daily usage of computing machines.
My first contact with digital computation was back in 1970-71. I was an undergrad at a private college. The Physics Lab had just taken delivery on a "table-top" calculator. SHARP produced a unit that had a 16-digit, alpha-numeric display in the form of "Nixie" tubes (those formed orange-colored characters: 0-9, A-to-Z, +, -, /, *, and a "period" to represent decimal displacements). It weighed-in at about 30 pounds (14 kilos). The cost in 1970's US Dollars, was about $18,000.
Everyone who was mathematically inclined, wanted to try-out the Physlab's "new", "brain-toy". In no time, students were obliged to sign-up and stand in line, to get a "time-slot" (the machine was very much in-demand - at saturation over-night). Digital computation at a personal level, was an instant success all around the World.
Philosophically, in my lifetime (age 58, Sep'09) we've gone from a society of the HAVES and HAVE-NOTS - to a society of THOSE-WHO-KNOW and THOSE-WHO-KNOW-NOT. Sadly, we still have an Elite, the dwindling Middle-class, and many more Poor. But we have a growing number of people "who know"! Power to the People?
Knowledge empowers. Knowledge is power.
Most importantly: to remember, is to know!
Those who have access to knowledge (and LOTS of it), can be profoundly EMPOWERED by it. This has held true for the knowledge itself - MASSIVE amounts of KNOWLEDGE! The creators of the ancient Library of Alexandria, Egypt would certainly revel at the formidable amount of information that has become available: from almost anywhere, to almost anyone (e.g. GOOGLE and its competitive peers). The experience has expanded as an exponential, thanks to the dynamics of binary engines.
To Mr. Babbage, a hats-off... To Mr. Boole, a bow.
From a purely economic perspective: it is an AMAZING fact that ANYONE can purchase (at almost ANY consumer electronics store), powerful computing machines for under $1000 (2009 US Dollars). The consumer can easily add data storage, in 1, 2, or 3-Terabyte increments (and for under $250 retail). That reality is utterly STUNNING by the standards of 1970. Such capability was literally unimaginable, back in those days. Indeed, no one foresaw what was coming in its entirety. More is on the way.
Speaking of Terabytes, is the "Hubble" telescope back on-line? A whole Universe awaits us!
We can all be pleased to be alive at this time in the history of mankind. The experience leaves the mind to wander and to wonder, "What will come next to revolutionize our world?" What will be the REALITY in 10, or 100, or 1000, or even 10000 years? How long will we endure as a species? Or, will all of mankind's endeavors be for naught? Excuse me, I've diverged...
Who wouldn't like to live on? Who wouldn't want to see MORE of what is "yet to come"? Would we be overwhelmed? Would we recognize that world? Me Thinks that all of us alive today, would be overcome with awe... Nothing of our world would remain. Nothing would still be recognizable. We are certain to be superseded.
It's in the cards...
My almost "100-year-young" Mother has seen incredible change, and yet...
I for one, think FORWARD in terms of POSITIVES. I foresee almost unlimited progress (KNOWLEDGE) ahead - to satiate those who thirst onwards within a mindset of the intellectually famished.
Notradamus was wrong, and Armageddon is NOT coming (well, not just yet).
As some of my readers know, I operate two hi-tech businesses [1] [2] from a home office (with "Greening" in mind, I go to the cities as little as possible). My primary MEDIA SERVER is as much of a "play-thing" as it is a "work horse" - a dray, a "French Percheron"? It's VERY "paperless" ...all muscle!
Across the past few months, I've transferred volumes of binary data from 1100 (legal) music CD's (I've about 250 more to go.) There are now 8,275 MP3 music files online. I'm now looking forward to a similar "mini-project" -- that of, transcribing aging 33-RPM records, Then I plan to repair and replicate my father's (far older) 78's -- converting those into WAV files (so I can burn CD's of the 78's for family). Then, I shall treat myself to a "retro"-fest, listening to my 33's (digitally corrected) as MP3's, of course.
That server (one of several in my home) now has 375,000 files of PIX, photos, music (MP3, MIDI, sheet music, S3M, MOD, etc), references, navigation maps, antique maps, e-Books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, bi-lingual dictionaries, thesaurus, books on math, physics, biology, anthropology, astronomy, chemistry, botany, paleontology, and more... including a "backup" (duplicate) of my 20,000-name genealogy -- and all the related (pun), accumulated documents.
The data can be accessed by ANY computer recognized (as "safe") within my network. The files can be READ (only), not WRITTEN. The only way to "write" to the server, is to TRANSFER files into a TEMP folder, or to add them directly from CD's or DVD's. It's a SUPER secure setup, as you would imagine. Firewall, anti-spy, anti-virus, anti-SPAM ...a "meal" in and of itself?
What is AMAZING is that (of the 1.0 Tera bytes available from that server), only 168 Gigs have been used. If I combine ALL of the storage that I have on my network (adding-in the storage of computers that are turned-off, or stored), I have about 2.75 Tera bytes -- all to myself (and my 11-year old son). That's 2.75 Thousand Billion! or Two Trillion, Seven Hundred and Fifty BILLION.
The BIG numbers cease to sink-in at some stage... ("whopper" sounds good, or "gigantic").
My network is composed of about 20 Million files. I had to become very organized, to say the least.
For the GEEK in you (my reader), a new world record was set in November last year (2008): the first computing machines in the world broke the PETA-flop boundary. The IBM "Roadrunner" barely managed to cling to the top spot, fending off a challenge from the Cray "Jaguar". But both competitors broke Peta-flop speeds, performing 1.105 and 1.059 QUADRILLION floating-point calculations per second, the first two computers to do so.
A quadrillion? Yes. If I had that many pennies, I could (literally) buy the USA and most of the planet. That's one thousand-million-million (or, one-million-billion) -- i.e. ten to the fifteenth power. Mere pocket change? No mere talk about money. It's called, "number crunching".
Back in 1970, I had just "aced" a college course in "Slide rule". As a backup, I need to locate my "counting frame" (abacus)? It's here -- somewhere... in the meantime, my 1974 Hewlett Packard, HP-21 still serves me quite nicely. Whereas, my all-magnesium, "Pickett Scientific" (slide rule) has become an antique...
Just like like me.
Me Thinks.
P.S. My first true "personal computer" was one of my own manufacture ...a "home-brew" machine built upon "Cromemco" electronic S-100 "guts". That was way back in 1975-78. As of this writing, I have more than 75 modern computers at my beck 'N call. Four of the fastest, run GIMPS calculations all day, every day ...to discover new Prime Numbers (number theory), just for fun! Doesn't everybody? Dih-dih-dih-dah! The the letter "V" in Morse Code (the Roman Numeral for "5"), the opening phrase to Beethoven's 5th, or 0001, as per Boole - and the "Rain Man" knows all of that. "Hi Kim!"
"Salam", to my readers and friends around the World. When I was a child (of Norwegian, German Saxon & Bavarian origins), I grew-up in Illinois, within a Protestant Methodist, Christian household. As a family, we maintained a tradition of reciting this prayer (whenever we sat down together for meals):"God is Good, God is Great.And we thank Him for this food.By His hands we all are fed.Thank you God, for our daily bread.""Amen."The wording of that benediction parallels the (same) prayer in many languages. Indeed, once translated, the concepts conveyed by those words are components of the tenets of several World religions. I am thinking of: "God is Good", "God is Great" - in particular. The takbīr or takbeer (تَكْبِير) is the Arabic name for the phrase Allāhu Akbar, الله أكبر. Usually translated as, "God is great" or "God is [the] greatest," it is a common Arabic expression, used as both an informal expression of faith and as a formal declaration. Note that (in the spoken language of Jesus Christ), the word for God, is "Allah". As-Salāmu `Alaykum (السلام عليكم) is an Arabic spoken greeting used by Muslims, as well as Arab Christians and Jews. That greeting was used today by US President, Barak Obama. I for one, am PROUD to have this fine gentleman representing the American people abroad. His pronunciation was correct. His usage was one of respect. He did honor to his hosts, and to himself. While it is true that Obama has stated (during public speaking engagements) that his African, Muslim father was "agnostic", his father's past was deeply rooted in Islam. Mr. Obama has been wise to draw upon his intimate familiarity with customs and language. Admittedly, I have a bias in this matter. Three of my children are half-American. One is married to an African. They (like Mr. Obama) have parents who share two nationalities and two belief systems. Those two sets of values stem from two very different ethnic cultures and two very distinct political systems. My daughters, their mother, and I invested the time and energy to learn and KNOW more than one language (fluently) - several, in fact. I am doubly PROUD to have a US President whose international savvy includes a diverse knowledge of culture and language - moreover, to such a degree that he could (and did) quote passages from the Holy Koran. In addition, he was apt (and able) to greet his "hosts" (abroad), in THEIR language. BRAVO! At last! America has a intelligent, broad-based knowledgeable, and worldly person in the White House. (Thomas Jefferson MUST be pleased ...smiling, from the hereafter.)Mr. Obama is distinguishing himself as a class-act statesman, an intellectual, but also a man sensitized to the needs and values of grass-roots folk in this great land, and the World. Were it that he could speak a dozen languages, or more (so as to best articulate the message of Peace and sane international dealings), that would be wonderful! The world needs competence from its leadership... May "His will be done." Or (again), in Arabic language, Inch'Allah (arabeg: إن شاء الله in šaʾ Allāh), "As God would will it". What an irony, that some Americans make ridicule of cultures (about which) a sad majority know little to nothing - too often by, misquoting, mispronouncing, misrepresenting, stereotyping, and misunderstanding the peoples for whom they formulate mindless slurs. (I am most impressed by their stupidity, not by their ignorance.)Too many Americans have remained intellectually lazy - all those who have remained ignorant of the great diversity and profound interest of this vast, wide world. Those who seem to value their personal status quo far more, than knowledge.As-Salāmu `Alaykum (السلام عليكم) Mr. President! The term "Salam" in Arabic means "Peace".Me Thinks (do you?)P.S. The salutation, "Salam" is used throughout the world (by approximately, 1.7 billion Muslims) to greet each other daily. It is the greeting which is truly the most universal of greetings used by Mankind.P.P.S. Today, I choose to describe myself as: Spiritual, not Religious - I seek to practice a "religion" of mutual respect.
Ever notice... How self-important people consider themselves "experts" in just about everything that THEY choose to introduce into THEIR conversation? How their pomposity reigns, as an incessant stream of tasteless diatribe (and sometimes, while unethical or illegal inviction is imposed), as they attempt to rule? And how their listeners reject the impositions [and quickly], by dropping all of the unwelcome gifts? Ever notice... That whenever someone demands "frank" and "open" communication (from you) - once provided (to them), the same person tries to get YOU to stuff "Pandora" back into the "Box"? Ever notice... That the enchantment in our lives, is not necessarily shared by everyone? Ever notice... How many people are sure that they will go to "Heaven", albeit that they've yet to spend any of their due time in "Hell"? Ever notice... How I think you - just beside me, and how I miss you - just the same? Ever notice... The degree to which, "play" is very serious business, for a child? Ever notice... That "depression" can be the "sand" that makes the "pearl"? Ever notice... All who aren't busy livin', have already begun their dyin' ? Ever notice... It is said that the true test of maturity, is the ability to have empathy for the suffering of another? Ever notice... One ought to know how to give-out HOPE (by carrying dark chocolate in one's pocket)?
Ever notice...
While he (a man) thinks that she's playing "hard to get", she (a woman) thinks that he is playing hard to get rid of - because some women need a man about as much as a fish needs a bicycle. And because some men, "bite" - far more frequently than, fish?Ever notice... How simply "saying nothing" - can provide for an Oasis of Peace, in a Desert of Turmoil? Ever notice... How everyone is on their way to somewhere? Ever notice... H2O - it's always the same water, and there are many wells? Ever notice... In the pursuit of TRUTH - the Goal and the Destination, are One and the Same? Ever notice... The most important thing to SEARCH-for, is ANSWERS-from? Ever notice... There ought to be something grammatically, "Eternal" about a poem written for a woman, you know -- both, Past and Present?Ever notice... True "togetherness" - it's when you can sense the movements of the hand of the other (without touching), like "his and hers" hands immersed in warm water?Ever notice... Raindrops on Roses, are akin to Whispers and Kisses?Ever notice... The best Apology is to: have Even; having Forgiven?Ever notice... That LOVE ...is the most effective Anti-drug, Drug?Ever notice... When your Heart "opens", your Mind "opens up" -- when Tibetans refer to the Mind (one's thoughts), they gesture towards the Heart... ever notice?And so it is,
Me thinks
It seems to me, that the hard facts of our changing economy mark a dramatic equivalent - one that is (for the student of history) all too reminiscent of the panic that set-in, subsequent to the collapse that led into the Great Depression. We now know that an "Era" has ended for the United States of America …but we don’t know what is going to come...
It remains that we all have two choices:
We can lock ourselves behind facile rationale (by promoting happy-talk, or by ignoring the news).
or
We can join into challenging conversation (to decide what needs to be done, and do it).
Change is never perfect. Change means re-invention.
And until something that "works" has been re-invented, we will have no idea what the specification may be. As for me, I am quite capable of feeling a strong preference for something entirely NEW (admittedly, for reasons which reflect my own ignorance), and that is likely to add greater risk to the formula.
We all need to become "good" at disguising that gloomy scenario to ourselves -- to overcome fear. Because most of us automatically tend to create a rational cover-story - which we (then) learn to believe. The stance doesn’t solve problems nor author the diplomacy of mediation and middle ground. We are (after all), ALL in this together.
Meanwhile, what we see on TV is not vulgar, and prurient, and dumb because the people who compose the audience are vulgar, and prurient, and dumb. Television is the way it is, simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their vulgar, and prurient, and dumb interests (and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic and noble interests, or the absence of same).
History teaches. History repeats itself.
Art, including the Performing Arts (all culture) will be first to take the hit. Not unlike Tinker Toys and Tribes, the assemblage is weak, and the few survivors were quite naturally, all the more vulnerable in the first place.
Me Thinks.
How much hope is there for the simplification of government and a return to "common-sense" ... when the majority of the legislators who create the laws of the land, are lawyers?(Rhetorical, Me Thinks)
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