July a deux (raos)

I bow in awe

spritely step upon the stage

pirouette, send applause exploding

into rafters

and after

weep into a borrowed liminality

 

 

 

Enjoying a celestial fling of word-scaped imagery -- must be my release of atmospheric anxiety day

 

 

 

With the vast and expanding pool of information far beyond what individual minds can (or ought to) hold, we are much better for having easily accessible online data stores and effective methods for retrieval.

 

 

 

been there

but what about the restless hum

Summer below early dawn

prescient blood prowls almost silent

 

 

 

Words,

mere placeholders for ideas which cordon space,

objects, mirrors may amaze

or capture gaze or serve as sharing media

(interface amygdala)

Contoured as art exhibits,

break inhibition

entertain observing brains aware

 

 

 

Happiness is like a butterfly capturing your mind through gleaming eye; feel free flight exhilarate

 

 

 

Bliss

the source condition that surrounds us,

the essence of all space in, around, between.

the Creator's plan, Eden's blueprint, paradise here and hereafter,

Christ's salvation, Buddha's enlightenment, Mohammed's dream,

Zarathustra's revelation,

the holy secret Great Goddess whispers

in cradling lullaby.

All consciousness is an option

to open eternally

into full awareness of bliss.

Breathe in the healing.

Breathe out the stale pain.

Laugh in the chilling rain,

yes, even as the tsunami hits,

the Earth quakes,

erupting ash burns.

A universe of bliss is yours

for the accepting.

It costs nothing but your sins,

your misconceptions,

your resistance to true unfettered life,

your immortal soul.

 

 

 

If the above and below, the in and the out, the left and the right, the sad and the scared intertwine long legs sharing Summer idolatry, where can we go to be alone?

 

 

 

We only have the right to so much of an artist -- what they freely give. Her destiny is her own.

 

 

 

Nothing new under the Sun?  What a sad belief. Perhaps, in Solomon's day when "news" did not travel well, and society was fairly stable, he might think that. In the 21st Century change is evident all the time. However, even if somehow we were aware of all that could ever be, we each, unique combinations of experience and self, bring our own interpretations.

 

 

 

The bias of tv news is neither left nor right but banality.

 

 

 

Form follows function free within sound structure.  Dance outside the lines; the lines are still implied.

 

 

 

Darling little crumbs dribble from your swollen lips.

 

 

 

my heart fills, bursts, broken, searches these grey wastelands for a seed

 

 

 

Quizzical, amicable, yet ready to dive inside
swim waves of mind
on a glorious Summer reverie

 

 

 

The healthy course would be to stretch, and enjoy the excitement of movement, discovery, self-challenging. Learning to view others as competitors only invites paranoia.

 

 

 

The job creators are those who buy the goods and services thereby encouraging more to be made and sold. Generally speaking, no one hires for pay unless they have good reason to believe they will make more from that hire than they will spend. Businesses are not in the business of creating jobs, but of making profits. Taxation does not impede the desire for profit. When private spending does not provide enough incentive for businesses to grow and thus need more employees, government spending can help to create jobs.

 

 

 

The job destroying GOP likes to conflate and conquer

 

 

 

A lot of the problem is with context and definitions. Somehow people seem to conceptualize "government" as some monolithic structure outside of themselves. Having this concept allows those who know how to get benefit from manipulation to dissipate what might have been individual's useful energy into working against individual and thus societal best interests.

 

 

 

We seem to prefer the warrior attitude of blasting our ills with chemical warfare, no matter that it is counterproductive.

 

 

 

What is this fascination with the gay? Where we need to look is at relationships -- in all their glorious variety.

 

 

 

The affirmed goal of the right is to deseat the US President, and possibly to bring down the government altogether. The thing is, if the American people don't take their Obama-bashing as good clean fun or gospel fact revealed, if we, you know, act like reasonable people, they lose. Meanwhile, they've had their fun at our expense.

 

 

 

I have been thinking that an underlying problem of this whole debt mania is a difficulty in dealing with large numbers. Sure the debt is in the trillions, but if you look at a world population in the billions, and trade transactions in numbers we don't even want to think about, a few trillion is actually not very much.

 

 

 

Orphans, widows, people too ill to work, and old folks without issue to take care of them when they are too old to take care of themselves and others -- where will they go when they can't pay the rent?

 

 

 

A thing people don't seem to get about President Obama, aside from him being a confirmed centrist, is that he seems to see his mission as bringing the country together along a middle path. I believe his concern is actually more with bringing about compromise, the sides working together for the common good.

 

 

 

Life has no meaning; that is up to us.

 

 

 

When by inaction or lack of outrage we allow free floating anxiety to project into attacks on "Mexicans," "Gays," "Degenerates," or any other label, we in essence allow our culture to devolve into "the war of all against all".

 

 

 

Rights require responsibilities -- they are not just freely wafting through the air for all to partake. The right is not to healthcare per se, but to do what we will or must to maintain health. The wrong is not in healthcare providers requiring to be paid for their work, but in the healthcare insurance industry and the healthcare industry working to make it harder for people to access the care they need. We would be ever so much better as a society to make health information more generally accessible, and to train a great deal more healthcare professionals so they become a more common commodity.

 

If we insist on waiting for "the government" with all the insane drama and "important" pork not much useful gets done in a timely manner. People who use, supply, and care about medical care really need to get together community by community and develop free care options that work.

 

Listening to the utter madness of the House members discussing the demise of this country they have been given stewardship of (????); reading sad commentary on working poor lives, poor lives ground down to fine dust beneath the well-shod feet of their "betters"; I have been musing along the moldering allies of desolation that "social darwinist" "christians" who think they are in charge must believe it best that the masses who take up too much room and resource for their liking would be better left to rot and die, to leave all the best, all the real estate and wealth for them and their chosen servants.

 

 

 

Politicians in a curmudgeon imply no obligation to pay debts. Who would want to lend to us without a much bigger rate of return to offset the risk? Meanwhile, we have people dependent on getting what was promised from the government. We could get better deals for our dollars. That has nothing to do with the debt already incurred, and the need to continue borrowing to meet obligations already committed.

 

We have economic crisis, so Congress wastes our time and resources on a worthless show. If you can't give the people bread, give 'em a circus?

 

There is no saving ourselves out of deficit/debt. New industries with excitement and job growth are on their way every day. The route is not shared pain, but shared endeavor, to be educated and open to the new.

 

If anyone in DC were serious about deficit reduction, they would insist on funding alternative energy research, start-ups and education.

 

Lives and funds could be improved if prison time were confined to those who have acted violently. Nonviolent crimes: actual payment -- cash, service, or other methods.

 

Social Security is not causing economic problems, in fact ameliorates many of them.

 

Medicaid and Medicare are part of the problem of skyrocketing medical costs. What is being proposed to solve the actual problem?

 

The real fix on revenue would be a streamlined, clear, concise, user friendly instructions for giving our social structure its cut. Not a job that can be done in a hurry, though.

Social Network

 

to paraphrase that great poet, Donald Rumsfeld:  We work with the Congress we have, not the Congress we wish we had

 

 

Yes, of course we ought be fiscally responsible.

Yet of far more import is that we be rational.

Hyperbolic apoplectic, Apocalyptic rhetoric

reduces us from politic to stagey raving maniacs.

No need for such hysteria; learn from recent history.

The flagrant ways of LBJ, Reagan and GWB

found mitigation in administrations following.

The People, energized, expand instead of wallowing.

Exciting industries take hold, real worth -- not hollow gold.

 

The conversation we as a nation need

is not a war of virtue versus greed

or capturing the rules to win a game

or playing catch with sophistry and shame.

We need to ask and answer in sobriety

Who we best can be as a society

 

 

July 31, 2011

Debt and Politics

We have had debt. We have paid debt. We have incurred debt that needs to be paid. Yes, we do need to look at what government spending is and make it more in line with what outcomes we actually want. These are separate issues.

 

My government has entered into contracts with various suppliers and agents which included promises of various payments. We get a good credit rating to allow us to continue paying off our creditors at a low interest rate, and which encourages further credit because we are known as a good risk. When key members of the family/government get all up in a curmudgeon and imply we have no obligation to pay these debts or that we will just pay what we want, oops. Now there is real suspicion that we are not going to continue to be a good risk. Who would want to lend to us without a much bigger rate of return to offset the risk? Meanwhile, we have a great number of dependents whose lives are based on getting what was promised from the government. Maybe there are ways we could save, have fewer obligations, get better deals for our dollars. Certainly, that ought to be looked into, discussed, better options adopted. That has nothing to do with the debt we have already incurred, and the need to continue borrowing to meet those obligations we have already committed to.

 

If the money isn't there to pay all the bills, there will be prioritization which may not prioritize what we may think are the real priorities. These are foolish political games with real consequences for real people. Perhaps we need to tell our reps that we didn't hire them to play on our dime?

 

Many ordinary women do the practical work of budgeting for families, and learn to keep the creditors paid and the kids fed, clothed and otherwise provided for.

These jerks in DC, rather then do the work they are outrageously paid for, insist on raging dramatics (what? to make themselves seem relevant?)

Oh, right, the country is in economic crisis so of course what we need from Congress is that they waste our time and resources on a dog and pony show. I guess if you can't give the people bread, give 'em a circus.

 

This whole debt/deficit thing is all smoke and mirrors. Next boom and with even the slightest sensible management we're back. With all the world changes -- physical, political, every which way, the markets and new technologies are ready to rock and roll. It is only idiocy or old power desperately striving to hang on that gives rise to this whole "share the pain" mantra, when instead we ought to be reaping the benefit.

 

I, and many others, keep saying: There is no way to save ourselves out of the deficit/debt. The only way out is up. Big new industries with excitement and job growth are on their way every day. The route is not shared pain, but shared endeavor. We need to be educated and open to the new.

 

The only sacrifice to be shared is a manufactured fabrication of the media fog. Rather, it is an abundance of possibility for shared success that we could be working toward, if only we would.

 

If anyone in DC were serious about deficit reduction and debt payment, they would insist that funding for alternative energy research, start-ups and education be in the mix.

 

One big way we can improve both lives and funds:  prison time ought to be confined to those who have acted violently or who are flight risks during investigation. It ought to, for those who are confined to protect others from their uncontrolled violence, be a place where rehabilitative programs flourish. Nonviolent crimes deserve payment as actual payment -- whether cash, service, a combination, or some other method of extraction.

 

Social Security is not causing any part of our economic problems, and is in fact ameliorating many of them.

 

Everyone says: "Medicaid and Medicare are not the problem. They are part of the bigger problem of skyrocketing health care costs. " This is, of course, true. So, what is being done or proposed to solve the actual problem?

 

If people want services they can get together and charge each member of the community to create a pool from which to pay contractors to provide said services. Wait a minute: we already do that -- we call it taxes.

 

Of course the real fix on the revenue end would be to totally revise the tax code to a streamlined, clear, concise, user friendly set of instructions for giving our social structure its cut. Not a job that can be done in under a month, though.

July in truth

I love that time when dream and real merge for a hazy conversation.  I get many ideas for writing from out of dreams and near dreams.  Even if the idea is loose or "far-fetched" it is a jumping off point for getting into the swim where it can be manipulated into fully formed imagery.

 

 

What sweetly dangling words to break my fast What deeply caressed hope to meet my eyes Awake, seeking, scanning upon chance and Behold! Such happy surprise!

 

 

oh so voluptuous
this gorgeous rendering
I bow beneath such radiance
and kiss the Earth

 

 

Poetry is about meaning and wonder
Poetry can say:  "Yes, we feel the same"
and "Yes, we can go further, together."
It's not the rhyme or word or name
that creates this form we ponder
to say what we've seen, how we came
to be who we are, how another's
ways of making sense have made us
more ...

 

 

 

knives, bombs, banana peel pies -- as each arena signifies

 

 

People don't seem to even take into consideration that much alcohol/other drug "addictive" use is self-medication for pain (physical and emotional), fear, and social abuse that one needs to distance oneself from.

 

 

the American way. Here we teach total irresponsibility until total responsibility and wonder why things get so screwed up.

 

 

 

failure is only an option in bilateral thought -- otherwise, there are only varieties of success

 

 

 

World religions, like any large unwieldy group splintered into factions with differing interpretations of their cause or core beliefs, are kind of strange meme syndromes, projections of everyone seeking salvation in all the wrong places.

 

 

 

Cooperation makes better products. Enlightened self-interest makes better people. Competition, though, can make for better pricing.

 

 

 

Honesty is about more than raw truthfulness. Perhaps it is ultimately about impeccable authenticity.

 

 

Nothing buys happiness. It's not for sale.

 

 

 

"Gayness" is not a disease or illness to be cured. What might need some medicating is our general attitudes about sex. Sex is not evil, sinful, bad, or deviant. It is a simple biological necessity. When we accept ourselves as biological entities we might be better able to accept our sexualities and act accordingly.

 

 

 

why include inert (as far as protection) harmful chemistry in the vaccines and suppose they do no harm (even if "autism" isn't that harm)?

 

 

 

People seem to think that exercise is a specific set of activities for which they have no time. Walking, dancing (even by oneself in front of the mirror or not for a few moments here and there), stretching oh so luxuriously for a moment now and then -- these are healthy exercise that anyone can do anywhere, any time.

 

 

Far from "socialism" the bailout was promoted by uber-capitalists in charge of many members of Congress and cronies of the neocons in power at the time. The fear of armageddon was thrown into us so that very few in government or out could muster opposition. As to "success," that would depend on how we are defining that word.

 

If the concern was really financial stability, it would have been far better to buy out the mortgage debt and give the administration of getting houses and owners together to a responsible agency. Then, encourage monied interests to invest in worthwhile businesses through special considerations as determined through negotiation. In other words, invest taxpayer money responsibly.

 

 

 

If they are TRUE reps they vote for what the people want because they want the people to think well of them, vote for them, get out the vote for them. If they are true reps of the monied classes that pay for their elections, then it is up to the people to become more relevant, or more educated, and more organized.

 

 

 

I blame the education "system" wherein useful information is not conveyed.

 

 

 

We may well need airport security, but in a completely different concept. Get rid of the screeners and molesters. Train people to observe behaviors and check out those who seem suspicious with polite conversation. There is no way the system we have now can find any threat, and instead it alienates the traveling public who should be each an agent of observance just because it is what people do. For actual security on the plane, it would be ever so much more effective to have actual trained security on each flight as part of the crew.

 

 

 

Riding the gentle glide, the whirling wind
Inside this grave bubble of in and out
Surrounded by gift and giving
Essential to we, the living

 

Obviously Libyan rebels are good, socially aware and active folk, deserving of all the aid and reinforcement we could offer them instead of deadly "support".

 

 

 

While it is the job of the President to take into account all the varied interests within the nation, it is very much the job of the activist to promote their cause as THE cause.

 

 

 

Come on, this wasn't the work of one man. We have all contributed to this change. Want better change? Really: Be the change YOU want to live.

 

I'd say Kansans who don't want to live under the control of Christian taliban really need to organize and throw the bums out.

 

Is that what the anti-Planned Parenthood campaign is about (not to mention the hideous "drug war"), feeding big pharm?

 

It was my understanding that when a woman suffers a miscarriage the civilized thing to do is offer condolences and any practical aid during their time of grief.

 

It seems reasonable that people who would base their creeds on indisputable documents of forefatherly lore would fail to understand cultural relativism over time.

 

This is an issue people from the left and right can come together on. If we don't demand the freedoms we expect as Americans, how are we to continue to expect them?

 

 

 

These pols who insist they are laser-focused on jobs seem to only cut the jobs they have direct control over. Everyone complaining and blaming could be using that energy to come up with effective non-partisan solutions; but what fun is that?

 

Unfortunately for the American people, this kind of obvious game-playing is devaluing the actual good ideas and important principles of the Republican viewpoint

 

 

If anyone in DC were serious about deficit reduction, debt payment, they would insist that funding for alternative energy research, start-ups and education be in the mix.

 

 

We have had debt. We have paid debt. We have incurred debt that needs to be paid. Yes, we do need to look at what government spending is and make it more in line with what outcomes we actually want. These are separate issues.

 

Posturing indeed. These jerks in DC, rather then do the work they are outrageously paid for, insist on raging dramatics (what? to make themselves seem relevant?)

 

Social Security is not causing any part of our economic problems, and is in fact ameliorating many of them.

 

Of course the real fix on the revenue end would be to totally revise the tax code to a streamlined, clear, concise, user friendly set of instructions for giving our social structure its cut. Not a job that can be done in under a month, though.

 

If people want services they can get together and charge each member of the community to create a pool from which to pay contractors to provide said services. Wait a minute: we already do that -- we call it taxes.

 

Many ordinary women do the practical work of budgeting for families, and learn to keep the creditors paid and the kids fed, clothed and otherwise provided for.

 

 

 

There is a derogatory term for people who don't pay their debts -- I think it might soon be replaced by "republican".

 

The idea that no regulation or no government can be useful to the social good, especially when promulgated by those on the public trough as government representatives, is a prime obstruction to actually doing the work to make government and regulation work for us.

 

 

 

an excellent method of stopping bad behavior is to call it out loudly and cause the bad actor to be publicly scathed -- this then is a warning against future bad behavior, that it will not be ignored
Regulation is, when done right, the forewarning to those who are in the public arena that the public is watching.

 

To that end, regulation is best made very clear, concise, sensible and limited to areas of actual public concern.

 

Prices, obviously in this case, are not based on the cost to the companies. They are based on what people will pay. Take away the oil subsidies; spend some of the savings on tax breaks for start-up alt energy companies and research. The competition will bring down the prices. There is no need to pay the oil companies twice.

 

Oh, right, the country is in economic crisis so of course what we need from Congress is that they waste our time and resources on a dog and pony show. I guess if you can't give the people bread, give 'em a circus.

 

 

This whole debt/deficit thing is all smoke and mirrors. Next boom and with even the slightest sensible management we're back. With all the world changes -- physical, political, every which way, the markets and new technologies are ready to rock and roll. It is only idiocy or old power desperately striving to hang on that gives rise to this whole "share the pain" mantra, when instead we ought to be reaping the benefit.

 

The only sacrifice to be shared is a manufactured fabrication of the media fog. Rather, it is an abundance of possibility for shared success that we could be working toward, if only we would.

 

 

 

I, and many others, keep saying: There is no way to save ourselves out of the deficit/debt. The only way out is up. Big new industries with excitement and job growth are on their way every day. The route is not shared pain, but shared endeavor. We need to be educated and open to the new.

 

 

 

If you want an alcoholic to stop drinking, they need a better obsession. If a strongly organized section of humanity is hell bent on self-destruction, perhaps they need a better method that doesn't force everyone else down with them.

 

 

 

science writers like to jump on theories -- we do well to remember our profound ignorance

 

 

 

 lumping people into a heap and saying they have no convictions (while you, oh so convicted, stand above) is not fair, honest, or helpful.

 

 

 

Freedom of Speech is not freedom of bad taste
Freedom requires responsibility

 

 

 

Better to serve the sacred cow than the golden goose.

 

 

 

 

Because Willie Nelson is so obviously a dangerous criminal without redeeming social value?

 

They wouldn't have put all that effort in without purpose. I believe the original purpose was to keep jobs for all those folks who had worked in alcohol prohibition. Then, there was the old (and still prevalent) "kill the Mexicans" sentiment -- needed reason to round up the undesirables of any kind like jazz musicians ("not good musicians") and unruly young folk. Oh, and then Nixon wanted to be strong on crime and worked on the theory that crime was caused by drugs (when in fact, without prohibition prices, addicts could have easily afforded their drugs and been able to work jobs to do so). So, plans and purposes -- both political.

 

 

 

Is there a community garden near you, or a vacant space that could become one?

 

 

Prison time ought to be confined to those who have acted violently or who are flight risks during investigation. It ought to, for those who are confined to protect others from their uncontrolled violence, be a place where rehabilitative programs flourish. Nonviolent crimes deserve payment as actual payment -- whether cash, service, a combination, or some other method of extraction.

 

 

 

I must be living in a fantasy world where businesses are actually required to perform their services well, or face total lack of public support. Or maybe this is the fantasy world where businesses become our greedy robot overlords, squeezing out our blood and guts and leaving the excrement for our sustenance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those magical entrepreneurs of the market's potent hand really need to get cracking on instant water.

 

 

 

August month of lion and maiden
cast fiery pure as heat dries lust
for action
yet in summery dreams redemption
shimmers, force carried forward
May gusto of august dreams
inspire trust
for harvests heavy laden

 

 

 

Under the shadow
Happy homecoming dancing
Free toe to smile
for just this capture
I wait for you.