News Distractions

Every event is another step in the continuing story of man's transformation. The corporate news media takes each event, pulls it out of the fabric of the continuing story, frames a new story, and presents it to us as a distraction. A disposable story to keep us entertained for a few days or weeks. And the story is given two sides, so that we are invited to argue about it - further distraction.

Rove's Irony of Truth

When Karl Rove said "Valerie Plame is a US secret agent", that was the first and only time he has every said something true. And he's going to hang for it. He will be in prison kicking himself: "Damn, so stupid of me, to accidentally tell the truth."

Alternate Reality

It's not that they lie. It's beyond truth and falsehood. They have constructed an alternate reality. It permeates our consciousness in the same way that the real reality does. It's all we read about in the media. It's all we hear from the politicians. It's all we talk about, because the issues and the debates are framed within this alternate reality.

Playing into their hands

I think I just had a breakthrough. I've been harboring anger and hatred of people who voted for Bush. Now I'm starting to realize that when I do that, I'm playing into the hands of the corporatocracy. They are deliberately dividing us, setting us at one another's throats.

More Parties

The two-party system is not working. It reduces every issue to a two-sided argument. The pseudo-journalists include two quotes and they can pretend they've provided objectivity and balance. That gets us in the habit of black-and-white thinking, an ineffective mode of thought. It also creates two enemy camps. The corporatocracy does this purposely to set us against one another, dissipate our energy, and keep us distracted.

I lost 15 pounds in six months

From the time I left high school until my early forties I always weighed 150 lbs and wore a size 30-inch waist. Then at some point this blubber started gathering around my belt. I gradually crept up to a 32 and then a 34-inch waist, and up to 165 lbs.

Then at age 52, just six months ago, I got started on this new anti-corporate eating regimen. And the blubber just melted away. I've had to buy new pants, back down to 30 inches, and I'm back down to 150 lbs. Cool.

SmugMug

Here's a cool site. Let's us put photoblog entries on a Google Map. SmugMug

Romantic Jailtime

Some persons embrace a romantic image of martyrdom for journalistic integrity, and mistakenly project that image onto Judith Miller. They separate two things: lousy reporting about WMD, and going to jail to protect a source. But these are not really two different things at all.

Rove to Journalist: Iraq has WMD.
Journalist to World: Iraq has WMD.

Rove to Journalist: Plame is a US secret agent.
Journalist to World: Plame is a US secret agent.

What's different about those two things? Nothing. (Except the first was false, and the second was true and a state secret.) Rove is NOT a journalistic source. He's a propaganda specialist and he's playing these pseudo-journalists like his own personal orchestra. Miller is NOT protecting a source. She's refusing to squeal on a co-conspirator.

Protecting a Source

Source: I know who robbed the bank. It was the Bob the Bruiser.

Source: I know who robbed the bank. It was the bank president himself.

Source: I know who robbed the bank. It was me. I did it.

Source: I know who robbed the bank. It was me. And here's the money. Take half and spend it however you want.

You see. At some point it's no longer protecting a source. It's a criminal conspiracy.

Rove to Journalist: Plame is a US secret agent.
Journalist to world: Plame is a US secret agent.

Who really blew Plame's cover? They both did. It's criminal conspiracy.

Rove's Outing

Who came up with this term "outing" of a CIA agent? That sounds like spin to me, to make it sound less serious. We're not talking about sexual preferences or a family trip to the zoo.

He handed state secrets over to the enemy.

We need some more accurate descriptive words to use in the headlines of this story. Treason, betrayal, blown cover. Who's good with words?

Peace in the Middle East

Peace will come to the Middle East. Not because of a military victory or diplomatic breakthrough - it will just happen. One morning everyone will wake up and it will just be over. The goverments of the world will be just as surprised as you and me.

Remember when the Berlin wall came down a few years ago? Same thing. It's a change in consciousness.

And since we're all connected, and there is really only one consciousness, that means there is something I can do to promote peace in the Middle East. I can work on my own state of consciousness. I can eliminate fear and hatred from my own mind. I can drop age-old grudges and embrace my abusers. I can refuse to react to recurring fears.

Showtime

That nervousness you feel is adrenaline. Your body is pumping itself up with chemicals, getting ready for the performance.

You have trained your whole life for this moment. Everything you eat and drink. All the exercise and every nap. Your education, the books you read, the conversations, the travel, the entertainment - it has all prepared you for this moment.

You thought you were the musician. No, you're the instrument. You've made yourself into the perfect instrument. The music exists. Now it's going to play itself through you.

Truth and beauty exist. Let them express themselves through you. Right now.

Chicken Hawks

The architects of the Iraq War:

• George Bush, President
• Dick Cheney, Vice-President
• Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defence
• Paul Wolfowitz, Assistant Secretary of Defence
• Richard Perle, Chairman of the Defence Policy Board
• Karl Rove, White House Chief of Staff

Not one of these men has served in combat. What a team!
From Bush by numbers.

Don't Eat It

A hundred years ago the problem was to find something to eat. We devoted our lives to providing food for the family.

Today our society is so ridiculously rich, the problem now is to NOT eat. We are surrounded by addictive, sweet, good-tasting stuff, all the time. It has attractive packaging. It's backed by mountains of dollars worth of propaganda. It's right there within arm's reach. It's cheap. It's scientifically designed to be addictive. The challenge is to not eat it.

Young Sacrifices

I'm amazed that we send our young people out in the military. I mean, if I had a problem with the guy down at the hardware store, would I come home and ask my son to go beat him up for me?

Theft

Two men meet on the street: one big, one little. The big man pushes the little guy down onto the sidewalk, takes his wallet, and walks off. We consider that wrong.

Now two different men meet on the street: one smart, one stupid. The smart man engages the stupid man in a negotiation, empties his wallet, and walks off. We do NOT consider this wrong. In fact, the smart man will get his picture on the cover of Fortune magazine next week.

Bush Voter

Whenever I see you, my mind conjurs up that image of the 14-year-old Iraqi boy with both arms blown off.

Who's Bad?

Osama Bin Laden is evil, isn't he. I often wonder which is worse: that he killed 3000 innocent civilians in the WTC, or that he sacrificed 19 of his boys to do it. Both are horrible to contemplate.

You and I have sacrificed 1800 boys to kill 23,000 innocent civilians in Iraq, so far.

Words

When we say a dude is bad, sick or twisted, that's actually a compliment.

When a politician uses the words democracy, freedom, globalization, free trade, christian, or moral values, he usually means exactly the opposite.

Career Advice

Why did you come to this planet? Same reason I did: to evolve spiritually. That's why we're all here. Every time you make a small spiritual advance, that's a step forward for all humanity, because we're all connected.

So, what is your personal mission on this planet? What can you do to help? There's a million things that need to be done, right? So what can you do that no one else can do?

Once you find your mission, nothing else matters. The economy, what jobs are available, what market sectors are hot... none of that matters anymore.

Bush a Christian?

I've heard Christians claim they model their lives after Jesus of Nazareth. And George Bush claims to be a Christian. Let's compare.

Jesus lived in the Middle East.
George Bush lives as far away from the Middle East as he can get. He just messes in the Middle East.

Jesus kept no possessions beyond his sandals and robe. He wandered the countryside trusting God to provide.
The Bush family ranks among the wealthiest in the world and George sold out his own country to keep it that way.

Jesus taught love and tolerance.
Bush promotes fear and hatred and preaches revenge and violence and dominance.

Rumsfeld's NutraSweet

The Iraq War is not the first time Donald Rumsfeld has sacrificed your children for his own personal gain.

Every time your child takes a sip of Diet Coke, ka-ching, Donald Rumsfeld makes another few cents. He was CEO of Searle when they came up with Aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. The testing showed Aspartame harmful and the FDA refused to approve it. But Rumsfeld pulled some shenanigans with the FDA and got the approval rammed through.

Google rumsfeld aspertame for details.

Bush voters

Why did you vote for George Bush? Because you wanted to kill, maim, and torture brown people.

Bug-like race

I've adopted a set of back-to-nature eating habits. I eat only foods that suffer minimal corporate manipulation. I each brown rice and wild rice but not white rice. No wheat. No flour of any kind. No sugar. Sea salt yes, table salt no. Buffalo and venison, but no beef or chicken. Wild caught fish only. Organic fruits and vegetables and nuts. Circle of life. Close to the earth.

But I don't see humankind coming along in this direction. Humanity seems to be developing into a bug-like race that can survive a trip to another planet, after we decimate this one. That's why we're learning to eat manufactured foods. Someday we'll have machines that make a sugary goo, and that's all we'll eat.