Saturday, December 31, 2011

last stop before the Year of Prophecies

So many people seem to be so concerned that someone is out to fleece them, that someone might get something they don't deserve, and that someone is poor -- not because of circumstances beyond their control, but on purpose, just so they can get hand-outs.  Where did this silly pervasive attitude come from?
 
 
Why is it "drug abuse"?  Rather, various substances are used by various people for various reasons -- as has been since man has interacted with the physical world.
 
 
 
Congressman Paul is not advocating hate; he is (as in every instance I am aware of) thinking in terms consistent with his libertarian tradition. Part of this tradition (which he often iterates) is not imposing his own beliefs on others. This incredible integrity is what endears Dr. Paul to those who don't denigrate him, but actually listen to him.
 
 
 
The problem is that words are politically separated from their meanings; and we are left (or right?) to muddle along without true definition. Liberals (old style) were the ones who understood the importance of individual rights, of the dignity of human self-determination. Conservatives are meant to be those who say: "Wait! Slow down! Pay attention to possible unintended consequences. Don't eat your seed corn. Build to last." Today we just have a bunch of angry yelling and obfuscation.
 
 
 
 this is a time for reflection, for giving to oneself the gift of true acceptance, of meditation on light, on fire, on energy -- forget about trying to appease or give, give, give to show your value. Take!
 
 
 
I have come to a conclusion (possibly more to follow) that the way to make money in politics irrelevant is to ignore all ads -- make the effort to discover our own information.
 
 
 
Life begins before conception. The egg and sperm are alive. The question is more about when consciousness begins. Some say we are reincarnated with old consciousness. So perhaps consciousness, individual life, begins at the beginning of time. The problem for abortion is not about what is life, what is conscious, what is human or what is murder. The problem is about what are rights and what are the responsibilities of society to the rights of citizens.
 
 
 
The Government was never meant to be a caretaker. It is meant to be a social structure upon which common issues can be addressed, an organizing structure for common projects, an edifice to represent us to other societies, and, yes, mostly devolves to serving those with power. If we expect our government to serve us, we need to own the power that caring for ourselves demands.
 
Supply and demand are the daemons of capitalism.  Socialism is more about distribution of resources.
 
There is nothing wrong with socialism, or for that matter capitalism -- it's all in how it's done, and for whose benefit.
 
 
 
even for political junkies there is a lot more to each of us than politics, parties, or partisan philosophies.
 
 
 
the problem is not in believing; it is in needing others to believe as you
 
 
 
There are a great many gods -- as the god of The Bible fully knows.  I suspect they may be beings from another dimensional universe; but that's just my suspicion.
 
 

The current "capitalist" model of requiring some degree of monetary wealth formation in order  to survive, with the norm of doing some job or selling some skill or resource, in several ways limits the creativity, individualization of solutions, and useful distribution of tools (including knowledge) and goods.  However, people are not the grounded angels that some may propose in arguing for say classic communism or altruistically based economic systems.  Perhaps with evolving technologies and understandings of how we  work models could be constructed based on other kinds of rewards than ability to control resources or bare survival.
 
 
My political philosophy is basically libertarian, old style liberal, wherein the overarching principle is individual liberty, self-determination.  My reservations about the obvious conclusions of capitalism are concerns about the individual getting lost in the drive to profit.  My reservations about socialism are about the general lack of social responsibility evidenced in our culture, which makes such a project impractical.  In theory these theories could be revised to work out their kinks and inconsistencies with human realities.  Perhaps we could look at economic theory from the perspective of the psycho-social world as we are coming to better understand it.  Perhaps we could devise a workable system that actually fits within our greater goals -- which I hope would be better living conditions for all.
 
There is also much in us that is attracted to while fearing and reviling the "other".  I don't think we can rationally hope to create a social structure based on loving kindness (and what exactly is love?)  Yet, we do not have to agree to a structure based on hatred, greed, or hostile competition.  If enlightened self-interest, in the sense of a basic underlying principle well understood that what is good for all is good for each, that we have more of a well-lived life when our surroundings are pleasurably pleasant and creatively shared, were to be sufficiently encouraged, modeled and memed, perhaps ...

 
 
 
When you look up and outward into the starlight echoing brilliance in cold, dark space the wonder is not in the distance You are not missing from your space from which your universe emanates. 

Solar Return

A prophet entering the year of prophecies
 
 
Interceding between Heaven and Earth
Above and Below
Chilled, burned, abducted by prophecy,
by Gods, Demons.
What creature, fearfully aware of mortality,
prays to be the prey of fate --
prays for salvation from the other side,
acceding to forces beyond control
of flesh and mind?
What kind of sniveling, conniving coward
bends the law, the sacred trust,
covenant with all that is holy?
Cast into a class that laughs at rules,
what holds grimy chaos at bay?
(Fools at least are pure, are gay and
without malice.)
Cunning schemes are not forbidden honour,
if they carry that depth, that weight,
that integrated code.
How much is sold?  How much kept
for seed and nourishment?
This is why we invented numbers --
to have some objective measurement.
So good we become at spinning stories,
descending backward from our source,
so easy to proclaim:  "Of course,
everyone knows,
obstruction is the obvious choice."
Because our goal is not solvency,
but Salvation; not solving common sums,
but absolution from our sins --
merry though they may be
If Greybeard in some quantum sky,
hallowed by Name,
presiding o'er rewards, grace of bliss,
cries in flames of perdition,
why would such a power be amused,
indulgent Grandfather bouncing willing
child on some ectoplasmic knee,
promising eternity if baby will but
keep still?
Wouldn't such a benevolent progenitor
expect more joyfully creative heirs, better stories
for the choices given?
 
 
 
Ivy dense, tangly
generations
insulation encircling
mortared brick, aged,
inconsolate
for days that never can return
 
 
 
Collar up against the wind and dark
Rising smoke creates warmth illusion
Wrapped in sanity's delusion,
fog's memory of mist, imagined tide.
Seated here, salt-etched wall
alone between vast sand and
murmuring waves.
No one sings.
The notes, the voices
appear
 
 
 
Degree of my natal Hekate --
a liminal year for the dweller
on the threshold.
The search is for clarity,
expanding borders, introducing
elasticity as integral character.
To see, to feel, to merge and undulate
through, to discover, uncover, swim
in the glory of original grace,
ecstatic beauty.
To see, to feel, to breathe in
all luxury of exquisite ether, to hold,
transmit as cellular energy
to paint upon translucent canvas
liminal etchings, private dreams
generously revealed.
Sagacity gifted, re-gifted,
planted in potent fertility
of visions, of cantations.
The tinsel of starlight;
the subtle scent of conflagrated pain;
the feather touch of eternity.
Let me fall into velvet voice, enchanting form.
Move with the rhythm;
caressed within word and worlds'
mysteries.
 
 
 
Cozy wise old fire djinn awhirl in sumptuous fantasies
Grab tight to this wondrous globe of fortune,
shake for your life, your destiny.
Snow descends, dreams alive within desire's fortress.
Light, free, prism-pure refraction
colours collide, sparkle, glow, pleasuring eyes,
soothing while exciting
 
Lost in extreme streaming radiant stars emit molten fire
Resplendent figures morph through incandescence
When the smoke of apocalypse clears
what consciousness remains
will lack or benefit based upon
perceptions created now. 
 
 
12/31/11

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Winter's eve

A

quiet fall

of snow

whitens night's field

unwritten, sandlike

upon tomorrow's shore.

Tomorrow is the blessed eve

Lords and Ladies, leaping,

dancing, holy abandon, ecstatic rites.

In dense, secret forest, legends gambol, rise

honorably to masters, age in inebriates.

Spirits imbue damp, fresh scent.

Words melt, evaporate, flavor brew

of ancient melodies, renewed

each Winter's Eve.

  

Picture each animated creature enlightened
Each candle warmly, brilliantly ignited
Animated faces dance with excitement
Creature comfort gifts encircle trees
Enlightened pleasures whirled in peace


 

 Winter's doorway


The magick of night

The clearness of cold

Stars glittering tales so old

Cradle, caress, with blessing

Saints, sages, wizards, mages

Message writ on high, in constellations

we stop to see, to read.

Cold is slowness, a force

of inertia, a space,

a pause in time.

Dark carries reflection -- any

fancied face or fortune

could be in reach.

Seasons speak

call in hues, in moods.

We praise passages, echo rites.

Children chasing Moonbeams

to believe in hope, joy, love

because we need the light,

the warmth, the colours.

 

Joyful Season to all ~

Friday, December 16, 2011

forward toward apocalypse (raos)

the only plausible reasoning I can come up with for a great deal of what is happening these days is that there must be a great many people urgently desiring and working for Armageddon now
 
 
War, execution, outlandishly dangerous
chemical enforcement
Meant to be extremely rare last threat
Cynically, lazily become firsts strike against
the designated enemy
 
 
 
Thinking about how it works in the real world, those of wealth get there because of the great character attribute of doing whatever it takes to take what they have told themselves they are entitled to.  Those of us who believe we are meant to contribute to the larger community are thus left in their dust.
 
 
 
we have to stand up to the bullies or they'll assume they are right
 
 
Anger is a signal
of imbalance
a siren cry:  "Realign!"
Surging energy
proclaiming: "Danger!"
"Attend!  Perform necessary corrections!"
before falling back into complacency
to make sure you don't fall
too far.
 

Work becomes a dirty word when redefined into some kind of punishment one must endure in order to be considered worthy to survive, rather than just what people do.
 
"Hard work" is no guarantee of anything.  "Working" is functioning effectively.  How best do you do that?
 
 
 
Dis-incentivize ill-advised activities
 
 
 
The best (and maybe only) way to get money influence out of public policy is to make political fund-raising irrelevant.  People to people promotion of candidates who actually have useful ideas and strategies to implement them is the way to go.
 
 
 
Perhaps it would be useful for "free-market" applauders to understand that our current President (and for the most part his predecessors) became so by out-distancing the competition in the open market.
 
 
 
I have one criteria for my opinion about another.  It has nothing to do with color, creed, or even species.  All I judge on is how you treat me.
 
 
 
maybe it's time to bypass taxes and go to another method of funding our national projects -- perhaps a transaction fee on all purchases (including "financial instruments" and such)
 
 
 
The Israelis are quite obviously an invented people.
 
 
 
simplification and transparency all around would make for much better governance
 
 
 
perhaps we ought to rethink the outcomes we really want -- and work backwards from there
 
 
 
It seems like the logical outcome of the capitalist game is for those who have made it to the top to burn down the ladder.
 
 
 
Welcome to the New American Century in which we trade any pretense of democracy for oligarchy -- let the bad times roll
 
 
 
so (and this is not new to the current jobless plight) we don't do what is clearly a better overall option because itmight cost jobs? We really have to get out of the "job-creators" and even "jobs" mentality. Work is what we want to be doing, not just some organized paycheck maze. Do the work, the real work, the labor that is needed to be done to have a world in which we feel comfortable.
 
 
 
Picture each animated creature enlightened
Each candle warmly, brilliantly ignited
Animated faces dance with excitement
Creature comfort gifts encircle trees
Enlightened pleasures whirled in peace
 
 
"I declare world peace"

Friday, December 9, 2011

pre-holiday reframing (raos)

Unable to requite disputes,
cults of disregard
Can a more sustaining dream
be found, a different road?
Woods, snow, icy stream
Winter quiet, peace
Shouldered off the highway
 
 
 
Why not take care of the people's needs and interests through the private sector, and tell government spending we aren't in the market? Maybe it would be helpful to think more in terms of public/private partnerships than "government bureaucracy" and "private profit".
 
 
 
Wouldn't it save healthcare dollars and healthy lives to seriously dis-incentivize environmental pollution that creates passive intake of poisons?
 
 
 
we must make money (in politics) irrelevant
 
Where are those vast sums going?  We know wealthy corporations are putting fortunes into influencing elections.  Who is profiting?
 
 
 
I find it less than amusing, more than irritating, when Republican reps. go all out blaming the President for the outcomes of their actions and recalcitrance.
 
 
 
The thing with "Obamacare" (kind of like capitalism and communism) it never got a chance to work (or not). Instead we have this mess created by Congress and the insurers.
 
 
 
of course, the US is a radical socialist (even communist) country, as well as crony capitalist and oligarchic -- we are a melting pot after all.
 
 
 
people are so quick to blame the guy at the top for the problems that belong to all of us
 
 
 
Candidate Obama never promised to fix what is wrong. He offered to work with Americans to bring us together to find and implement solutions. Complaining about the President is not anything like a solution. Joining together on the streets to fight for change, that is something.
 
 
 
 Isn't it time to take back our language from the corporatists and doublespeakers?
 
 
 
If you allow yourself to understand, to speak the truth, that humans are capable of divine achievement, and open fully to the miracles of bliss, grace, redemption, growth beyond the physical, you will be free.
 
 
 
what is normality anyway? No One is Normal -- we are each unique. A norm is like an average, a mathematical fiction.
 
 
who you are is a unique human being with your own will and history
 
 
 
Being kind can be a moving meditation.  It doesn't have to be about giving anything up, or even making a special effort.  It can be easy, what is easy, placid, cool, nonfrictive.  It can also be courageous, heroic, when that is the called forth energy.
 
"Kind" is different from "nice".  Nice is conciliatory, making room by being smaller or overly overtly accommodating.  Kindness is more essential, more honest, more responsible -- making room by inclusion.
 
Yes, we live in a world of damage and hostility.  My best response is to turn in the direction of healing and peace.  That turning can be easy, a little dance, if it is done as an act of self-love.  First, it becomes necessary, or so it seems, to do the hard work of leaving the guilt, self-punishment, belief in misery.  That is certainly harder than one would think from a more ideal perspective.
 
 
 

 I think I get the "holiday" "War on Christmas" hype -- a distraction to keep us from the understanding that there is no holiday, but rather an orgy of consumption and stress.
 
 
 
If what is desired for positive mental health outcomes is empathy and positive regard within a safe environment, we can provide that without "psychotherapy" or years of professional education, peer-to-peer
 
 
 
It ought to be the norm that people get to decide business practices in their community.
 

Reframe government from "them" to us
 
 
 
Because words are imbued with meaning and power, we ought not casually dismiss them as lesser action.
 
 
 
What it takes for a representational democracy not to work is lack of active participation by the electorate.
 
 
 
the science of today seems a large part related to the science fiction these scientists read in their youth
 
 
 
 
I don't want to be told what can't be done.  I want inspiring.
 
 
 
Green magic (any sufficiently
advanced efficiency of
chemistry, natural
technology) exchanging poisons for
benign symbiotic ecology
(no college degree could assure
so lush a life)
So sad that we only see what we expect.
Trained to tragedy, to forget the best
that we could be.
 
 
 
Present of applauding audience glowing good will

Saturday, December 3, 2011

holy daze (raos)

When all the world's a stage,
who better to be than the audience?
 
 
 
Capitalism is a religion for those who believe in it; there is no sacrifice too great.
 
 
 
The libertarians believe in the individual over the collective, but they are not the same as "right-wingers" who are largely what was once called the "moral majority" or even "compassionate conservatives".  The original liberals were promoters of liberty, the rights of Man as noble individual.  The old-line conservatives are more about hierarchical rule and the security of place in the social order, order in the everyday so we know what to expect, how to present ourselves, how to plan for prosperity.
 
 
 
They say that if you open to the pain, truly feel it, it loses the negative connotation and becomes simply useful sensation.
 
 
 
 It is practically the definition of insanity to insist on prohibiting the drugs that people insist on obtaining.
 
 
 
they who frame the conversation generally control it
 
 
someone brought up complaint about whiners who seem to expect jobs without wanting to work -- it made me think about artists, wondrous creatures who put in tremendous, creative, detailed, painstaking work, just to do it, just to manifest a compelling vision
 
 
 
The attitude of people confronting government and other institutions of power to insist on our voice being respected is one that calls for creative expansion.
 

The best defense against big money in political campaigns is people power
 
 
 
Government doesn't want anything. Unlike corporations, government is a concept, not a person.  Government is not a living entity, and has no mind.  A government is an organizational system, it is an ideational creation, a consensual organization to manage agreed upon realities.
 
Organization, a concept or activity, can have no concerns. What we need are the people who work within organizations to have the enlightened self-interest, collective awareness, nurtured compassion, integrated values that impel them to work for the common good.
 
I recently saw former Pres. Bill Clinton and current Pres. Barack Obama on C-SPAN talking about public/private projects to develop creative win/win means of financing green building retrofitting.  Clinton spoke about great things that could be done if financing could be worked out.  It seems this is true of a wide variety of possible projects to improve public/private lives and resources.
 

 if we appropriately taxed the fossil fuels commensurate with their actual costs to society, renewables could naturally triumph.
 
 
 
The true job creators are those who trade the use of their skilled time. Businesses don't create jobs. They hire workers to do what needs to be done to keep their business going. Consumers, while necessary to bring in the payment, do not create jobs. They buy the products that the jobs produce. People create jobs by figuring out how to sell their time, knowledge, creativity, and other useful attributes to employers, or directly to consumers.
 
 
 
pretty much everyone has some kind of health issues. Most of us have encountered some form of bullying or discrimination or other negative social commentary because of our "differences" (and by us I don't mean us here, but all of humankind).
 
 
 
 
You can turn off prejudices; but it takes time, patience, and creative nonviolent action
 
 
 
trading delusion for art
trading in smarts for wisdom
 
 
 
It's an old and multi-national tradition to celebrate the longest night and the communal prayer for the return of the Sun.