The Blog Digest One Hundred Nineteen
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Week of Limitation
President Nixon vs Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, the Tapes, & Watergate
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Week of Trouble
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Week of Dispersion
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Week of Inner Truth
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Month of Return
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Week of Approach
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : The Week of Stupidity
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Week of the Movement
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Week of Decrease
The Blog Digest One Hundred Eighteen
Showing posts with label Progressive Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Progressive Politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
The Blog Digest One Hundred Nineteen
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
The Metaphysical Blogs Fifty Four
The Metaphysical Blogs Fifty Four
The Gaian Dragon I Ching Calendar : Week of Wealth
The Metaphysical Blogs Fifty Three
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
The Power of the Individual
Charlie Chaplin remix from The Great Dictator
When I was 14 in 1965, VicePresident Hubert Humphrey spoke at the University of Santa Clara campus, so I walked over to hear what he had to say. I applauded his statements on Civil Rights, and Great Society programs. Then, he began speaking in favor of the VietNam War.
That is when I jumped up on my chair & called him a murderer. News crews turned cameras on me, and the Secret Service hustled me out of there. I was not arrested, because they didn't want the bad press.
Many years later, Hubert Humphrey was interviewed, & asked what had changed his mind about VietNam. He related what had happened at the University of Santa Clara in 1965. He said, "When I heard that, I knew there was something very wrong with that war".
I've always heard people say that "You can't make a difference. You can't change the system." Well, I know that I did make a difference. I changed the Vice President's mind about an important foreign policy issue. AND, that was at the very beginning of the Anti-War Movement, back in 1965, before they were even calling it the Anti-War Movement. So I want people to know just how much power we really do have. If people will just stand up, and speak their minds, they can change the world. Courage to do what is right, when it needs doing, is all we need, to take control of the system, and make it what it ought to be.
I understand that an individual can feel thwarted, overwhelmed by the System, and small. BUT, when you step outside yourself, & your personal life, and look at the Big Picture, you gain great power. Consider the possibilities, if we all took that step. It doesn't even take that many people at the forefront. We have the power to make this world anything we want it to be. We can have Liberty. We can have Prosperity. We can have Freedom. We can have Justice. We can have a system that brings out the best in every person. We can have a system that works for the betterment of every person in the entire Society.
All we need do, is to demand it. It is our right, and we do have the power to make it happen. Pay no attention to the dream killers. They are small people, afraid of their own dreams, petty, & cowardly. We are greater than that. Every single one of us, is greater than that. Step outside of yourself, and recognize the greatness that is within you. When you see that greatness, you will know your power. Take it. Use it. Be what you were intended to be, instead of a shallow copy. Embrace your Vision, and make it happen!
This is the message that Tyrants all throughout history have feared the most. Tyrants can only have power, when people give it to them. When people believe that they are insignificant, they become insignificant. When people believe that they are great, they become great. When people step outside of themselves, and recognize their power, they become powerful. Once this begins, it cannot be stopped.
Each of us has these resources within. They need only be recognized, and put into action. Everyone who has done some brave thing in their life, has already had a taste of the freedom that comes, when you recognize your true worth, and your true power. The world lies before us, and we can make of it, anything that we desire. All that is required, is that we recognize this, and then proceed to make our dreams of Liberty & Justice, more than mere dreams. Courage to see how things could be, and then using the power of your imagination to make those things happen, is what tyrants fear most, and is the Key to Freedom.
I believe we have some work to do...
This is what we need to realize in order to take our power back. This is what we need to realize, if we desire to live with Liberty, Peace & Prosperity.
All you need is Vision, and the Courage to pursue it.
These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Metaphysical Blogs Fifty Three
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Political Solutions
Phil Ochs - I Ain't Marchin' Anymore
Here are a set of articles I've written about Political Solutions. We can only get so far, when we discuss political problems. In discussing Solutions we begin to make them happen
Nature Photo Galleries
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Political Philosophy
Country Joe & The Fish- Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag
Here are a set of articles I've written about Political Philosophy. They are about explaining political processes from outside the Box
Corporate Democracy and the Language of the NeoCons
Nature Photo Galleries
2009 Summer Solstice Chalk Spiral
Thursday, August 1, 2013
The Gaian Dragon : Political Mandalas
What Did You Learn In School Today - Pete Seeger
The Gaian Dragon : Political Mandalas
These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The Illuminati Conspiracy Theories, and the Climate Denial Hoax
WAGNER - Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walküre Akt 3
The Illuminati Conspiracy Theories, and the Climate Denial Hoax
by James Clair Lewis (updated 2013)
Much has been made in the Conspiracy Theories about how the Illuminati control the world, and are also seeking total world domination. You can't have that both ways. Either they control everything, or they don't. Well, they don't, but they sure would like to.
I've been aware of the Conspiracy Theories (which originated with the John Birch Society, funded by the father of the Koch brothers) since the late 1960s, and I most certainly enjoyed the Illuminatus fiction books by Robert Shea, and Robert Anton Wilson, which became very popular during the mid 1970s, and early 1980s. Those books managed to include just about every Conspiracy Theory around from all sources imaginable, and maybe from a few sources which aren't imaginable at that!
Now if you really, really dig into these Conspiracy Theories, you will find two things :
A) Some come from people doing real researching into skullduggery in high places. These get little press, and are soon forgotten. Often they are true
B) The most popular and widely spread Conspiracy Theories, originate from Think Tanks funded by major Corporations.
That's right! The Conspiracy Theories which supposedly expose the evil doings of the Illuminati are, in fact, written by the Illuminati themselves. So they don't tell you the truth. What they tell you, is what the Elite want you to believe. They magnify the power of the Illuminati way beyond the power they actually possess. These people are power-mad beyond belief, and there is no way that such people could ever cooperate with each other to the extent that they claim.
In other words, these Conspiracy Theories are a Psy-Ops designed to instill fear and confusion. The people who believe in these Conspiracy Theories written by the Illuminati, are not mainstream thinkers. They are people who crave to be a sort of special elite, possessing Insider Information. Now get them all chasing their tails in fits of paranoia, and their effect upon society becomes essentially nullified... or worse, they can be used to further the aims of the very people they claim to oppose. So now you know what the purpose of the Conspiracy Theories actually are : DISINFORMATION.
During the Reagan, Bush Sr, and Bush Jr Regimes, Climate Science was ignored by the government. Reagan even removed the Solar Power which President Jimmy Carter had placed on the White House. (I should also point out that while it has never been conclusively proven, that there is evidence that the Republicans (through George Bush, SR, who as CIA Director, was conducting the hostage negotiations) paid Iran to hold the hostages, until after the Election, so that Reagan could get in, and then proceed to quadruple the National Debt through Military Industrial Complex spending)
So Climate Denial has always been a Republican thing, but when the Democrats have been in power, steps (weak ones) were taken to do something about it. Ever notice that politicians who are Climate Deniers get most of their funding from the Oil Corporations, and Big Agra? That's not an accident. That's not even a Theory. It is a fact. The Oil Corporations, (especially Koch Industries and Exxon Mobile), and Big Agra are most responsible for the pollution linked to Climate Change, so they are funding the efforts of Climate Denial for the sake of their PROFITS.
I should also point out that Koch Industries, (the largest privately owned Oil Corporation in America), is financing the Tea Party Movement. Again we see Fascism playing dress up in the guise of Patriotism, and Liberty. If the Tea Party Movement manages to get the Republican Party back into full power in 2012 (or ever), then we would get the Martial Law, FEMA Camps, Chipping, and everything else they have been screaming about
The Tea Party Movement says it is about small government. The people running the Tea Party Movement want weak government. A weak government can't regulate Corporations, or prevent them from doing harm to public health, or the environment. Additionally, a weak government is easy for Corporate Special Interests to take over. See how that works?
Much has been made of the fact that Al Gore has heavily invested in Green Technologies. Much more would have been made of it, if he hadn't. Have you ever considered the concept of investing in something you believe in? That might be a hard concept to accept for somebody who doesn't believe in anything.
Do I think Al Gore is perfect? Of course not! Like every honest person on the planet, he is figuring things out, as he goes along. Only recently, has he been figuring out that the Meat Industry is actually more responsible for the Global Warming that we are responsible for, than the Oil Technologies. Well, Dennis Kucinich, is a bit further along in his thinking and practice
Some more things I should point out.
Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Factory Meat Farms produce tons of methane. Meat eating is actually doing more harm to our environment, than all the cars and trucks, etc in the world. AND, we do not need to eat meat
Did you know that if you have a pot of water being heated that contains ice cubes, that the water will remain near its initial temperature, until all the ice cubes have melted? After that, the water heats up very rapidly. This is known as Latent Heat, and this is what is happening at our poles right now, as the ice sheets and glaciers melt first
There is a cascade effect going on with multiple causes. That's right. You can have several different causes involved in creating an effect. Our part of this is involved with the Oil Technology (which just happens to be a major cause of cancer), and the Factory Farming of meat by Big Agra. From these huge releases of GreenHouse gasses, the PermaFrost is beginning to melt. That releases tons of Methane which will further heat things up on a Global Scale, and do it progressively.
Now with the permafrost melting and releasing megatons of frozen arctic methane, we have a climate feedback loop, which could get completely out of control, and it is our fault
The Conspiracy Theories would have you believe that the Republicans and the Democrats are merely two sides of one coin. That's not true. It is Nihilism designed to discourage people from engaging in the political process, and leaving the field open to Corporate control. The Republicans are completely owned by Corporate Special Interests. The Democrats, not so much. The Democrats are a generally moderate party, and they have not figured out that there is a difference between the Corporate Economic System of the Stock Market, and the Free Enterprise system of private businesses (not traded on the Stock Market).
This is what we have to fix, and it will not be fixed just by pressuring government to fix it. We have to assume personal responsibility by changing our lifestyles towards not contributing to the mess, as much as we urge government to deal with it. I barely use my car, and I have an Organic Garden. I recycle anything that might have value, and am well on the way to creating a zero footprint on the Earth.
These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world
Monday, November 26, 2012
The Economy of Prosperity
What a Wonderful World
In a healthy organism the blood flows throughout the entire body, nourishing all of the organs and cells. If the flow of blood is cut off or restricted in an area, then that organ and its cells, are deprived of nourishment, and they starve. They become weak, unable to do what they are supposed to do in supporting the body, and they may die. If blood pools in one part of the body without circulating, you have an inflammatory condition, which can lead to an edema.
A healthy economic system is like a healthy body. Money flows throughout the entire society, nourishing all, and depriving none. This can happen in a Free Enterprise system, where both the buyer and seller may profit from exchanges. There is synergy in that. Both end up with more than they had before the exchange, and this is what generates true wealth.
However, in the Capitalist economic system, this is not what happens, because Corporations can leverage the Free Market to the point where it becomes a fable, like the Tooth Fairy.
The buying and selling of Stock in the Capitalist system gives Corporations tremendous powers, which simple businesses simply do not have. Simple businesses cannot compete in this environment, which is why Capitalism always tends towards Monopoly, and Cartels. The leverage of Corporations over the Free Market, allows them to profit by depriving others of the fruits of their labor
There happens to be a simple remedy for this situation, although it will require an Amendment to the Constitution. What needs to be done, is to require that Corporations split their after tax Quarterly Profits equally between their Investors, and their Employees. The Investors would get their dividends, as they do now, according to the number of shares they have in the Corporation's Stock.
The Employees of the Corporation would get their half of the Corporation's after tax Quarterly Profit, as Bonus checks (a taxable Capital Gain), equally.
Now we have a condition in which half of Corporate after tax Quarterly Profit, is being Recycled throughout the Working Class four times a year. This is a huge economic stimulus, and it will be regular. What will workers do with this money? Most likely, they will spend it. That's good for all businesses. Next, the workers will pay off old debts, and that is very stabilizing in any economy. And finally, some people might even (GASP!), save some money
When the Working Class spends these Quarterly Bonus checks, all of the businesses they spend their money with, will see an increase in their profits. Most likely these businesses will need to hire more people, just to keep up with the Demand. This also means that in the next Quarter that there will be more profit to divide, and that will increase with each business cycle.
After a few years the Investors would actually be making more money than they were before this system was initiated, and in the meantime, the standard of living for everyone in society would go up. In order to keep up with demand, Corporations would have to hire more people, and soon we would have a full employment economy.
Within not so many years Society would change so that the distribution of wealth would resemble the Bell Curve of Probability. The vast majority of people would be in the middle, and there would be no more poor people, than rich people.
These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world
Monday, November 12, 2012
Corporate Democracy and the Language of the Neo-Cons
Charlie Chaplin : From The Great Dictator : Remix
Corporate Democracy and the Language of the Neo-Cons
The Tea Party and Libertarian Movements are funded by NeoCon Corporations, like Koch Industries, the largest privately held Oil Corporation in America (Stainmaster Carpets). Exxon Mobile spent $200 million funding Climate Denial, but the Koch brothers out spent them
[sarcasm] We know how hard it is to stay informed, or even to vote. Corporate Democracy solves that problem.
The CEOs of the major corporations are experienced leaders, used to making difficult decisions on a daily basis. They understand the intricacies of economics, and world politics, since they deal with these thorny issues which affect the lives of billions of people, as routine matters. Moreover, CEOs are privy to information not available to the general public, and thus, they are better informed than common people, and their decisions exceed in wisdom, compared to that of the ignorant masses.
Under Corporate Democracy the people are relieved of these burdens, freeing them to watch more Reality TV, & sporting events, secure in the knowledge that those with greater wisdom are making the enormously difficult world and economic policy decisions for them. Under Corporate Democracy votes are apportioned according to the size of the corporation, ensuring that those corporations whose operations are on the largest scale, will have the most say in world decision-making.
We should be grateful to these Captains of Industry for making this opportunity available to us!
[/sarcasm]
The Language of the Neo-Cons
The thing I would want Conservatives & Libertarians to understand, is that when Liberals or Left-wing Progressives use words like Freedom & Democracy, we mean the same things that you do. We merely disagree about the implementation.
Neo-Cons, on the other hand, do not mean the same things, when they use those words. When Neo-Cons use words like Freedom & Democracy, they mean free-rein for Corporations, and Corporate control of politcal processes. They give lip-service to Free Enterprize, making it appear that they support small businesses, & individual effort. What they are intent upon, is monpolistic control of the economic landscape, reducing everybody not part of their tiny clique of multi-billionaires, to virtual serfdom at the lowest wages possible in an over-populated world. That is what they really mean by Globalization.
Multi-national corporations do not have alliegences to countries, rather, they like to acquire them. Many countries around the world are already in effect the property of multi-national corporations. Usually these have been small corupt dictatorships bought for chump change in bribes, allowing the multi-nationals to determine the entire economic landscape to suit their needs. However, increasingly they have been oustensibly democracies, which are a bit more complex to dominate.
The multi-national acquisition of the United States has been proceeding slowly, but steadily for a long time. The Free Trade & Guest Worker programs are designed to lower wages here, & bring them in alignment with the poverty that engulfs most of the world.
What people say, tells you what they want you to think. What people do, tells you what they think. In terms of Politics you compare the words used, with the actions taken, and then the intentions become clear. Globalization is the process by which wages & standards of living of workers in the most developed countries are lowered to match that of a world-wide average of over-populated poverty.
One of the most powerful techniques that these NEOCON Globalists use, is the changing of the definition of words. This is what George Orwell called, NewSpeak. Change the definition of a word, and when somebody uses the word intending the original meaning, other people will think they are saying something very different.
A good example of this, is the word, Socialism. The NEOCONS used Republican Think Tanks to change the original definition of Socialism to that of Communism in public usage. Real Socialism is very different, and all governments, whether they be good or bad, employ some degree of Socialism.
Real Socialism is merely government services available to the general public. These are things like streets, roads, & highways, National Parks, the Fire Department, and the Public Library. Police, the Court system, and the Military, are also socialist institutions. Some cities own their own Water, and Power generation facilities. This is socialism, and where people have this going, they always get lower rates.
A Single-payer Health Care system would be socialism. As a matter of fact, the Constitution says that only Congress has the right to coin money. That makes the FED an illegal institution. Now if the government seized the assets of the FED, and had Congress overseeing its operations, that would be legal, Constitutional, a real darned good idea, and... Socialism. It would also wipe out most of the National Debt.
Fascism always dresses itself up as being Patriotic, and for Liberty
These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The Single Tax System
Maybe I'm Amazed
In 1879 Henry George proposed a Single Tax system in his book, Progress and Poverty. The idea was that no one really owns land, and that we all merely rent it. The Single Tax was to be a rent on land, but not upon improvements to the land or of profits made from the use of it. The advantage of the system, was that it was simple, and it is a fact that things which are kept simple do tend to work out better.
Most likely it would be alright in an agrarian society, but that's not what we have anymore. Now we have an Industrial Technological society, and the landscape has completely changed.
Our current system of taxation is a most complicated mess. Politicians funded by Corporate Special Interest groups and Lobbyists, have introduced so many exclusions, exceptions, and subsidies into the tax codes, that even an intelligent person who works full time as an accountant cannot hope to comprehend it all. In 2003 a GAO report said that 50% of Corporations were paying no taxes at all! Currently the disparity between the rich and the poor is greater than it was during the Great Depression. Thus, the rich have engineered for themselves a free ride, while dumping the tax burden upon everybody else, especially the Middle Class.
The solution is quite simple : siphon money off the top for government use in providing the infrastructure of society available to everybody. There is plenty of money there for this, and by eliminating taxes for most members of society, their economic activity will increase, which is good for business.
The way this should be done is through a Single Tax on Corporate Profit for businesses, and Capital Gains for individuals. It would be a graduated tax system, and the form would be one page long, since there would be no exemptions, exclusions, or subsidies. Under this Single Tax system, a Corporation might consider raising their prices in order to pass their tax off on somebody else, but if they did, they would either stifle their sales, or push themselves into a higher tax bracket. Optimum pricing is a fairly simple economic formula here.
Under this system most businesses, and the overwhelming majority of citizens, would never have to pay any taxes at all, and the government would have all the money it needs for providing society's infrastructure. Only the largest Corporations and the Ultra-rich would be paying taxes, but they can console themselves through the increased economy activity of everybody else. There aren't actually any losers here, except in the minds of a few people whose personal greed is larger than the planet. True economic wealth exists only in the flow, and not in the accumulation.
These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Power of the Individual
Charlie Chaplin remix from The Great Dictator
When I was 14 in 1965, VicePresident Hubert Humphrey spoke at the University of Santa Clara campus, so I walked over to hear what he had to say. I applauded his statements on Civil Rights, and Great Society programs. Then, he began speaking in favor of the VietNam War.
That is when I jumped up on my chair & called him a murderer. News crews turned cameras on me, and the Secret Service hustled me out of there. I was not arrested, because they didn't want the bad press.
Many years later, Hubert Humphrey was interviewed, & asked what had changed his mind about VietNam. He related what had happened at the University of Santa Clara in 1965. He said, "When I heard that, I knew there was something very wrong with that war".
I've always heard people say that "You can't make a difference. You can't change the system." Well, I know that I did make a difference. I changed the Vice President's mind about an important foreign policy issue. AND, that was at the very beginning of the Anti-War Movement, back in 1965, before they were even calling it the Anti-War Movement. So I want people to know just how much power we really do have. If people will just stand up, and speak their minds, they can change the world. Courage to do what is right, when it needs doing, is all we need, to take control of the system, and make it what it ought to be.
I understand that an individual can feel thwarted, overwhelmed by the System, and small. BUT, when you step outside yourself, & your personal life, and look at the Big Picture, you gain great power. Consider the possibilities, if we all took that step. It doesn't even take that many people at the forefront. We have the power to make this world anything we want it to be. We can have Liberty. We can have Prosperity. We can have Freedom. We can have Justice. We can have a system that brings out the best in every person. We can have a system that works for the betterment of every person in the entire Society.
All we need do, is to demand it. It is our right, and we do have the power to make it happen. Pay no attention to the dream killers. They are small people, afraid of their own dreams, petty, & cowardly. We are greater than that. Every single one of us, is greater than that. Step outside of yourself, and recognize the greatness that is within you. When you see that greatness, you will know your power. Take it. Use it. Be what you were intended to be, instead of a shallow copy. Embrace your Vision, and make it happen!
This is the message that Tyrants all throughout history have feared the most. Tyrants can only have power, when people give it to them. When people believe that they are insignificant, they become insignificant. When people believe that they are great, they become great. When people step outside of themselves, and recognize their power, they become powerful. Once this begins, it cannot be stopped.
Each of us has these resources within. They need only be recognized, and put into action. Everyone who has done some brave thing in their life, has already had a taste of the freedom that comes, when you recognize your true worth, and your true power. The world lies before us, and we can make of it, anything that we desire. All that is required, is that we recognize this, and then proceed to make our dreams of Liberty & Justice, more than mere dreams. Courage to see how things could be, and then using the power of your imagination to make those things happen, is what tyrants fear most, and is the Key to Freedom.
I believe we have some work to do...
This is what we need to realize in order to take our power back. This is what we need to realize, if we desire to live with Liberty, Peace & Prosperity.
All you need is Vision, and the Courage to pursue it.
These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Political Mandalas
What Did You Learn In School Today - Pete Seeger
The Gaian Dragon : Political Mandalas
These animated Moving Mandalas are very large files. Please click on the pic, and wait for it to load. The Contemplation will be very enabling, carrying your Mind beyond the mundane world
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)