Sphere(s) of Opinion

Art In Mind

2011-03-05T01:24:00.003-06:00

Art in Mind

Cultural condemnation. Creative catheter. “Art is to piss on.”

The real struggle of deliberation and an ideal often violently quiets itself by a constipation of an ideal that blinds. There is a question of art. We want artists to deserve their name.

To define art as a product which is the consequence of some practiced external activity?

If art is simply the result of practiced external motion, that, an artist is a practiced potter, an educated painter. Then we are forced to assert all who practice dutifully at a craft, make art. We would likely want to amend this by adding that an artist must also have the natural inclination towards his particular art. Without artistic inclination her practice is not productive toward the betterment of her skills, she will never become better or have an excellence in his activity. The claim could be made that ‘excellence’ only differentiates a good artist from an artist. If it is the case that excellence only differentiates a ‘good artist,’ then all makers are artists and all things made are art. If so, then our initial claim that art is solely the result of practiced motion has been proved false. So then why do we not frame every child’s macaroni artwork and sell it for trillions of dollars?

If it is that art is not exclusively the process of external making, though it has been seen that it can be loosely used in such a way, then what does distinguish making from art in the more particular sense?

Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics claims that art is a kind of concern and consideration.

“All art is concerned with the process of coming into being, and to practice art is also to consider how something capable of being or not being, and of which the source is in the one who makes it and not in the thing that is made, may come into being[…]” (NE 1140a10).

Here art is depicted as a concern with coming into being, a concern with how something can exist. Not only can the artist be concerned with how the object which is made will be constructed externally, but also must be concerned with how it can depict what is within herself. Art can be a deliberation of idea. This requires notions of “how” from the artist, “But no one deliberates about things that are incapable of being otherwise, nor about things he himself is not able to do.” (NE 1140b).

Because an artist is concerned with a subject matter that must be considerable in many different ways, hence as Aristotle claims, concerned with things which are capable of being otherwise, then the artist must be aware of how of something can expose the way it is viewed by its author. This conception of art does not require for the artist to be the particular maker of the object, rather it requires the artist to be seen as an author of how something can be seen. These claims do not expect you to consequently know how to see the way the author has seen, rather it does expect you to recognize that the author has in fact experienced something particular and is challenging you to approach his subject matter as if there are new ways that you can observe it. Even if it is simply that that author has observed something about society that is looked at daily and never considered. She may approach art by attempting to startle you from your accustomed narrative, or she may be more gentle and suggestive. It depends on what the artist has seen and what he wants to, or can, say.

Concerning “Fountain” by R. Mutt, 1917.

“Whether Mr Mutt made the fountain with his own hands or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.” – The Blind Man, The Richard Mutt Case. (http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/dada/blindman/2/images/blindman_no.2_05.pdf).

Amy Cutler, Tiger Mending. Polly Morgan Tim Noble and Sue Webster “Origional Sinners.” Tim Noble and Sue Webster. “Wasted Youth” 2000.

Hymn#101 Joe Pug

2010-06-16T00:32:00.001-05:00

Yeah I've come to know the wishlist of my father.
I've come to know the shipwrecks where he wished.
I've come to wish aloud among the overdressed crowd.
Come to witness now the sinking of the ship.
Throwing pennies from the seatop next to it.

And I've come to roam the forest past the village
With a dozen lazy horses in my cart.
I've come here to get eyed
To do more than just get by
I've come to test the timber of my heart.
Oh I've come to test the timber of my heart.

And I've come to be untroubled in my seeking.
And I've come to see that nothing is for naught.
I've come to reach out blind
To reach forward and behind
For the more I seek the more I'm sought
Yeah, the more I seek the more I'm sought.

And I've come to meet the sheriff and his posse,
To offer him the broad side of my jaw.
I've come here to get broke,
Then maybe bum a smoke.
We'll go drinking two towns over after all.
Well, we'll go drinking two towns over after all.

And I've come to meet the legendary takers.
I've only come to ask them for a lot.
Oh they say I come with less than I should rightfully possess.
I say the more I buy the more I'm bought.
And the more I'm bought the less I cost.

And I've come to take their servants and their surplus.
And I've come to take their raincoats and their speed.
I've come to get my fill
To ransack and spill.
I've come to take the harvest for the seed.
I've come to take the harvest for the seed.

And I've come to know the manger that you sleep in.
I've come to be the stranger that you keep.
I've come from down the road,
And my footsteps never slowed.
Before we met I knew we'd meet.
Before we met I knew we'd meet.

And I've come here to ignore your cries and heartaches.
I've come to closely listen to you sing.
I've come here to insist
That I leave here with a kiss.
I've come to say exactly what I mean.
And I mean so many things.

And you've come to know me stubborn as a butcher.
And you've come to know me thankless as a guest.
But will you recognize my face
When God's awful grace
Strips me of my jacket and my vest,
And reveals all the treasure in my chest?

Trying to get a ticket to Nepal

2010-05-02T20:45:00.002-05:00

Any donation you can make will help - if I somehow do not get enough to go then all funds raised will go to the organization.

My bio is not yet up on the website but I am a part of the group.

Rachel Milner - is looking forward being with the people of Nepal in the attempt to connect with them and see their ways of experiencing life. She plans someday to study Economics institutionally and is interested in the field of education.

The groups website
Facebook Page

Here is the donate button! Thank you so much for your support.
Rachel Milner

Great Friends.

2009-08-17T11:04:00.001-05:00

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but
what is woven into the lives of others." ~Pericles

What causes the problem we're in and getting deeper in?

2009-07-16T16:25:00.000-05:00

Inflation.

2009-07-15T00:07:00.001-05:00

AH THIS IS SO GOOD. Life is BEAUTIFUL.

2009-07-14T00:28:00.001-05:00

THE JOY PROJECT

Peace Through Commerce

2009-07-12T01:36:00.001-05:00

Voluntary trade, it makes violence unprofitable.

"What Barack Obama Can Learn from FDR"

2009-07-11T15:25:00.001-05:00

I recently bought and read a TIME megazine titled "What Barack Obama Can Learn from FDR" most of it honked the horn of big gov. and yet there was one article by a woman who is called: Amity Shlaes. She is writing a book (Amazon Link). Anyhow, at the end of the article she says something I really liked and thought I would share.

"That episode of American life (referring to the prolonged nature of the Great Depression) reminds us that even the best-intentioned government intervention can make things worse. And that when a politician remembers one forgotten man, he often creates another."

The forgotten man is in reference to a statement made by Roosevelt who was referencing the people that were the cause of much of the legislation that prolonged the great depression, such as senior citzens(social security) and the laborers(minimum wage law- outpriced the less skilled).

Cap-and-Trade. Yet again, infringing on my rights Uncle Sam?!

2009-07-10T00:17:00.002-05:00

Online Petition It's not worded as I would word it, but it is a petition against the bill, sign it if you know what is Good.

Also, the title is a link- click it.

Free Society

2009-07-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

Ludwig von Mises: "The characteristic feature of a free society is that it can function in spite of the fact that its members disagree in many judgments of value." - Theory and History

Fiattale of the U.S. Dollar

2009-07-09T15:29:00.011-05:00

The Silver Bear Cafe: "'Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value - zero.' (Voltaire, 1694-1778)"

"The next-day, on June 2nd, Fed chief Benjamin Bernanke, boxed into a tight corner by Beijing’s saber rattling, warned the US-Congress that there is a limit to how many US-dollars the central bank can print. “Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability in the longer term, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth,” Bernanke warned US-lawmakers. "
(Kitco)

"...the Fed shocked the global markets on March 18th, by unleashing the “nuclear option” for monetary policy - “QE,” or printing an extra $1.1-trillion US-dollars, in order to buy US T-Notes and mortgage backed bonds..." (Kitco)

Defining inflation: Inflation is an increase in the supply of money, raising prices are amung the results of inflation, not the causes of.

Inflation of the money supply is a real issue, we've got our back to the issue but ignoring the problem doesn't solve it. We've printed trillions
in the past few months, don't pretend that doesn't change anything. It devalues every dollar in your pocket, in your money jar, in your back account. It strips you of purchasing power. Inflation is the crueslest taxation. LESS THAN 50% OF THE U.S. MONETARY BASE IS IN CIRCULATION - we're in the belly of a whale, and until we make the decision to do what is right things are going to continue to worsen.

Current Coinage

My suggestion: invest in things of worth. Silver is a good investment. Don't listen to your bedtime fairytales of government promises and prosperity, discover reality.

SMALL BUSINESS AGAINST BIG GOVERNMENT

2009-07-01T12:53:00.000-05:00

Small Business Against Big Government

Small Business Against Big Government (SBABG) is a non-partisan, grassroots coalition of small business owners and employees who take upon themselves the responsibility to oppose Big Government and inform friends and co-workers about how Big Government hurts them.

Read the mission statement: http://www.sbabg.org/about/
Follow along at twitter: http://twitter.com/sbabg
Subscribe to the blog: http://www.sbabg.org

Twitter adjusts for Iran & Obama introduces more facism

2009-06-22T12:10:00.003-05:00

Down Time Rescheduled
A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight's planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).

Our partners are taking a huge risk not just for Twitter but also the other services they support worldwide—we commend them for being flexible in what is essentially an inflexible situation. We chose NTT America Enterprise Hosting Services early last year specifically because of their impeccable history of reliability and global perspective. Today's decision and actions continue to prove why NTT America is such a powerful partner for Twitter.

Down Time Rescheduled

Danger Room Reports

Tehran Live

American Issues:
CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN ABOUT HR1207 - DON'T ALLOW THEM TO EXPAND THE POWER OF THE FED, THEY PLAN TO ALLOW THE FED TO ANALYZE AND MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT DIFFERENT COMPANIES ARE A RISK TO THE ECONOMY.

and this:
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/making-work-pay

and many other things.

READ MORE.

This isn't a joke.

2009-06-20T13:21:00.000-05:00

http://iran.whyweprotest.net/videos/

IRANIAN PROTEST; LOOK UP MORE PLEASE.

2009-06-19T16:43:00.001-05:00

TehranLive
This website has been banned by the Iranian Government.

"P.S 2: This website is banned in Iran by goverment since 3 hours ago."

"Iranian protestors to 2009 Presidental election results, had a “silent demonstration” at the 5th day of protests.
They moved from 7tir square to Enqelab square. The protestors want to revoke this elections."

no time.
Gone.

WE NEED TO REDEFINE HOW WE VIEW THE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

2009-06-18T22:55:00.002-05:00

WE ARE THE MACHINE WE GENERATE/SHARE MORE INFORMATION THAN THE "EXPERTS."

IRANIAN PROTEST; FRAUDULENT ELECTIONS

2009-06-17T22:54:00.004-05:00

http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/06/15/iranians-protest-election-tweeps-protest-cnn/

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/iranians-protest-government-cracks-down/

THIS IS FREEDOM DESTROYED.

John Hoskins' on what it is to live or die.

2009-06-14T13:41:00.004-05:00

Of The Loss Of Time

"If life be time that here is lent,
And time on earth be cast away,
Whoso his time hath here misspent,
Hath hastened his own dying day;
So it doth prove a killing crime
To massacre our living time.

If doing naught be like to death,
Of him that doth, chameleon-wise
Take only pains to draw his breath,
The passers-by may pasquilize,
Not, here he lives: but, here, he dies."

(http://www.humanistictexts.org/elizabethan_poets.htm)

oh how beautiful and marvelous you really are.

2009-06-13T18:42:00.002-05:00

oh how beautiful and marvelous you really are.

And if there is any question in your mind about to whom I am writing, it is really you.

Love and "Blindness"

2009-06-12T13:13:00.001-05:00

How uncomfortable, how uncomforting to love another when your love is asked to be shared not but under and as the waning moon. You stand before me as a receeding wave, that entices with beauty and danger, an adventure that beckons and refrains that runs and crashes and sings.

I see my breath color the sky, cloud my eyes. I turn into an infant of immortality, possessing, beyond my matter, a love that stretches out to infinity. I exist blind to that which others take to be truth but is naught but a lie. But then in moments I lay in a lack of clarity- suddenly I can then see, that which is not there to see, and it hurts me, the me that wills to exist hurting. The beauty shines not in joy but in painful jest I lay mocked, Milton's words pressing hard against my tounge "jealousy is the injured lovers hell," willing me to speak that which is illusion, to be self-fufilled in dependency.

My feet grow roots which sink sink sink down and become strong. I wipe the growth away as it dissenigrates at my touch. And again I lay claim to blindness, a blindness more awakened than that of those whom profess to see.

"The American Form of Government"

2009-06-11T02:37:00.000-05:00

"In the end, the market wins."

2009-06-08T21:04:00.004-05:00

Texas Straight Talk

reference to GM: where the headquarters will be and what kinds of cars they will make.

"the promise that this is temporatry and will eventually be profitable is supposed to easy the American people into accepting this arrangement"

this shouldn't be comforting....think about what has happened to Amtrack.

General Motors is a private company getting government money.
The market's information about the demand for GM's services, instead of being headed and allowing GM to disband, sending out laborers to generate things we may now never know, we are now using our own money to support an undesired business. This is ridiculous and destructive.

All things in life are done with risk, allow things to work out naturally or you're simply ignoring the truth and developing longer term issues.

The purpose of Government is to uphold the Law, the purpose of Law is to protect our natural rights of Life, Liberty, and Property. These three things are interdependent...meaning when you restrict one you are restricting the others. Our government is perverting the law, making choices about our property, retracting our liberties, and infringing on our ability to live life according to our own interests.

Our own interests when pursued without the aid of force, often lead us to trade, trade is voluntary making it mutualistic, meaning beneficial to both parties. Because who would trade if they didn't value the trade?

Force is bad, on the small level and the large level.

"In the end, the market wins."

WAKE UP AMERICA, WAKE UP EARTH.

What is love?

2009-06-03T01:54:00.000-05:00

I want to take the car, a guitar, a blanket and go out into the country. I want to look at the stars through a telescope and blow bubbles into the wind, off a cliff over hanging a moon-lit ocean. I want to feel more alive than I've ever felt. I want to drink a book, and feel the knowledge make my bones grow stronger. I want to whisper without words, and have you understand. I want to love unconditionally even more than I already know how to do. I want to never forgive, because I want to never feel the pain that makes forgiveness necessary. I want to press my hand against that invisible substance I can call you.

Can love be something more than an enjoyment of how someone makes you feel?

Torture, what does it really achieve?

2009-06-02T23:50:00.001-05:00

I state that fear and pain are not great in the face of truth.

This statement, if taken to be true, can allow one to see that the fear of being wrong deminishes into -risk taking- rather than destructive behavior. When one knows that anything they 'know' could be proven wrong, yet they persist in their current understanding until proven otherwise, they are taking a risk. This very risk allows them to act and learn.

When this process- of the development of an understanding- is not recognized, then being wrong or right develops negatively into an environment that allows for polorazied communication, where neither party feels able/willing to assume (an awareness of) the (inherent) risk in knowing. This lack of awareness of the nature of "understanding" makes way for destructive behavior, seemingly excusing all violent acts in the name of truth. _when conflct is seen as violence, then violence is justified in "solving" conflict._ (paraphrasing Arnett).

When the goal of interaction is to procure some higher understanding, presumably truth - one can, see that communication must be a process of genuine listening, with the intention of understanding, not with the intention of deriving some predetermined type of information.

Primateively, one can see how another could be viewed as merely a means to an end, yet this definition of the purpose of the other doesn't seem to be sufficient.

I see conflict as an indicator of something to be discovered, allowing this "other" to not only help discover something to be explored, but to see them as useful in the discovery.

Inherent in seeing another as a means, you are expressing that they have something needed, and thus that _they_ are needed. (Though, I can see how this feels slightly empty. Is there something... beyond the fact that we have the ability to evolve constantly, making us communicators/learners... that could make us intrinsically valuable?)

We, as humans, seem to desire confirmation from others- whether this desire is logical or not I do not know. In the desire for the confirmation of our person as needed/valued we, likely, must feel the confirmation logically and emotionally. We desire to be understood.

I can see that -torture- can be "useful" in getting facts from someone through force, facts such as, a date that someone was shot, etcetera. But not only does torture deny the other any confirmation, the torture is imposed with the intention of deriving specific types of information. So even the "facts" discovered may be uncovered under incorrect pretenses, the context may be completely skewed, leaving the confessor in a position where they have given truths amidst falsity. This isn't communication.

(Why should facts have to be derived from someone by force? The need for the force itself implies a larger communication issue.)

Torture sees the other as a means to an end, the end being information, but does not allow for the other to develop a new understanding. Communication does not ensue through torture, rather it seems to instill an even stronger sense of objectification in both parties participating.

I'm inclined to say that force is never justified. (Though I think I am also willing, somewhat confusidely, to say that if my brothers life were in danger I would likely use force, and many different means I found necessary to remove him from the danger.)

I feel that all of these issues that would seem to preclude the "need" for torture,for the justification of violence, there lays a deep issue relating to the way we view truth, and thus the way we view others.

I see that facts and "truths" that are derived from someone forcibly, are subpar to true communication where both are in a position to --peacefully-- gain a new understanding.

The example of the man who recieved cookies, demonstrates all of this perfectly.
Yeah maybe it is rediculous that we feel, or maybe that is what makes all of this life worth living.
But we as humans, we do feel, and we care, and we are imperfect, living in a world of knowledge scarcirty.
Because of this, I see torture as only mans sick excuse to procure information that could be achieved in another fashion, another fashion that would have allowed both parties the potential for a new understanding

Neat Satire

2009-05-28T00:00:00.001-05:00

Remember when you thought anything was possible?

2009-05-27T11:29:00.001-05:00

Some Beautiful Stop Action

2009-05-25T13:16:00.001-05:00

hmm, lovely.

2009-05-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

Infinite Potentials

2009-05-18T20:54:00.004-05:00

"Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe." ~Neil Gaiman

crdt-R.Davison.

Real problems in Guatemala

2009-05-15T23:28:00.004-05:00

For clarification, Banrural is Guatemala's largest bank, which this man is claiming supports ghost projects. A bank that the president and his cronies use to launder resources.

He's calling for the Guatemalan people to stand up against what they know is already true, instead of living in fear of taking action. The fear of taking action against the wrong doings that are occurring, is allowing for people to be murdered "when they stop being useful, in a deal between thieves."

THEY HAVE A LOSS OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH THAT IS APPARENT:
"Crackdown Begins in Guatemala
A Twitter user was arrested today in Guatemala, as thousands of people took to the streets for the third consecutive day, calling for President Alvaro Colom to step down. Mr. Colom, his wife, and his private secretary are accused of orchestrating the murder of a whistleblower attorney. The lawyer, Rodrigo Rosenberg, was murdered near his Guatemala City home on Sunday. He left behind a video in which he accuses the president and his lackeys of using a state-owned bank to launder money and defraud taxpayers. Twitter user “Jeanfer” wrote a post on Tuesday suggesting that people who have money in that bank should withdraw it, in order to drain the resources of the corrupt mafia. He was arrested during a police raid of his home on charges of “inciting financial panic.” His arrest has sparked another form of protest among those who fear this is the beginning of a crackdown on freedom of speech in the country: they are retwitting Jeanfer’s post." (http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/crackdown-begins-in-guatemala-/chilling/)

Facebook group with more information and public accounts in the comment sections

I feel that America needs to stop interfering with other's business because the USA is not a clean country either, we're increasingly socialist and interventionalist.

I feel that by including the USA in the issues, things could actually worsen, as maybe they try to "export" democracy etc. hardly any of the guys up there in the top understand sound economics, they will make larger problems.

I'm not sure how to take action to help

Trust

2009-05-09T19:47:00.002-05:00

Trust comes with great risk. When you trust another for anything, you are allowing someone else to have a part of something valuable, you are incurring the potential for incurring a cost that you don't want to incur. Whether it be linguistic or monetary, you are trusting wealth in someone else.

Trust, and be trust worthy.

Why Do We Live, or rather, Why Do We Care?

2009-05-06T23:16:00.004-05:00

Why do people want to learn, even if they see that they don't understand, why do they care?

Once they are aware of what it means to not act,once they realize "that those who are served are limited in their freedom," then they see the consequences of their action is that they lose their freedom. But ...who cares? They're just dependent, someone else will take care of them: think for them, develop for them, their understanding, take care of their needs for food etc.

But we know that we live in a world of relative scarcity. Do the same consequences of the loss of freedom of property occur with intellectual property?

Yeah progress slows, stops, we become inert, do we feel purposeless? Do we begin to hate ourselves? Why? If we do, then we feel unease with not living purposefully and we choose to take action, to learn, to explore- to share, to live dynamically.
Do we prefer the patterned state, between stillness and insanity? Why?

Is it all a part of reproduction? Does the desire to learn and progress, have to do with the ability to survive? and is intellect, beyond the ability to make shelter and get food, a deciding factor in reproduction? Is the exploration of ideas and truth a desire to know more in order to make life easier? To make time usage more efficient? In order to better make shelter and get food and enjoy living. Or to make life more meaningful, but I don't see how. Why do we live? Why!?

Why do we value solving conflict peacefully? If the only reason to do so is to respect others, and to learn from the conflict? What if we do not care about learning? Can we not care? Some people express a lack of concern for ideas, how can they do that? Why do we shy from the difficult? Why do we detest stagnation? Is it, once again, only out of a will to survive?

Wondering what it means to be human, trying to figure out why, or if, we value learning. I do not understand the root drive for progress. Do we just feel meaningless while inert? Do we as humans prefer dynamic interaction? But maybe these questions can’t be answered, I can’t explain why we live, why we desire, I can’t say why we love or question. It’s simply because we’re human. So I guess my job is to express how I see those things supported. But how do I know those things are there, and is that a question I need to even ask? I feel those things, I am human, so do all humans feel those things? Sometimes I don’t feel the drive. What makes us uneasy with being wrong? Why do we fear being wrong? More questions that I’m not sure I could ever answer.

Why would we care if all things were predetermined, only because that would mean that our actions may not actually achieve our idea of a preferred state?

If you don't give life meaning, then life is meaningless. How is it that we give life meaning? Why must we give life meaning? If it is given by us, and exists only because we exist, then blah, all of our actions, are, so strange. and it comes down to

Do we live because we do not know what it means to die? Why do we live with a purpose if we do not know what comes next? Do we act and learn and share, live “peacefully” only out of a desire to feel accomplished and good? Does that feeling of accomplishment stem from a love for others?

And here is where, if I did not choose to recognize that I am human and do have desires that are meaningful because I make them so, and that I do affect those around me, then I could shoot myself, but even to die is a desire to not live, it is a trap we as humans live in, a trap of self-determined meaning.

Even by asking these questions I am expressing that which I do not understand.
You see what I mean?
The very fact that I ask, implies that I find a purpose to asking.
Is that because I fear inertia and death as a consequence of not reproducing, or because I find life meaningful in that I am generating something that would not be here if I were not here?

If we understand the will to reproduce and survive then mustnt we above that cognatively?

Some how there is something there, our ability to give life meaning, is what makes life more than chemical, this element of choice and rationality, above the will to survive, this love for others, and meaning found in interaction, or in gazing at the sky with another.

"Ron Paul to Bernanke"

2009-05-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

A taste of emergent truth. A more complete experience of this will soon be available.

2009-05-03T15:56:00.001-05:00

"For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." —Thomas Jefferson.

While scanning through a book called Dwell in Peace, Applying Nonviolence to Everyday Relationships, by Ronald Arnett, I found segment of text asking the question of what was needed for an individual to “accept a nonviolent peacemaking position” (33). Arnett says that maintaining the peacemaking position cannot rely solely upon the effectiveness of the peaceful efforts made, and that “for many nonviolent peacemakers truthfulness, not effectiveness, is the primary criterion” (34).
Because of this view, Arnett then begins to write about the three different ways to view truth, the dogmatic or absolutist, the relativistic, and the “emergent conception of truth” (35). Mahatma Gandhi, who spent his life trying to discover the best nonviolent means, is said to have been a proponent of the “emergent conception of truth.” Gandhi’s stance on truth “required him to immerse himself in dialogue with the situation, in order to apprehend the truth that emerged ‘between’ him and the situation” (35).
Maurice Friedman, a professor, expanded the language used to define emergent truth, bringing forth the term “touchstone” reality, which “means that an individual will probably not remain forever on the same ground that affirms a truth; a person is open to new understandings of truth” (36). The main importance, Gandhi points out, is that you can be on the wrong path seeking truth, and thus, as Arnett paraphrased, you must “live a double action of commitment and openness to new revelations or touchstones of reality” (37). This view of truth, where each individual stands strongly and as clearly as possible on their touchstone until realizing their own mistake, is a view that allows all to use their own understandings with comfort, and makes people willing to engage in dialogue, a view that makes each individual responsible to be clear thinking and willing to learn.

Benjy Ferree- Desert

2009-04-19T14:08:00.000-05:00

Benjy Ferree- Desert

"I have one of the best jobs in the world. Because I don't have to fix the economy, thank goodness."- Mrs. Obama

2009-04-16T20:19:00.000-05:00

"I have one of the best jobs in the world. Because I don't have to fix the economy, thank goodness. Yet I get to go say hello to the people who make this government work, who hold us up and who will still be here after we're gone," she said.

That's Mrs. Obama.

So here I go:

"fix the economy", with a wratchet?
Obviously his expression of fixing the economy is almost just like that. The wratchet on government growth- that of its interference, and influence, is turning steadiily. Once again like a slowly heating pot of water- slowly is how it must be done, if one is to successfully boil a living frog.

Thank goodness the responsibility and pressure to "fix the economy" is not on "my" shoulders. What does she think the economy is, some nebulous thing that is like humpty dumpty, or that needs to go to the doctor for fixing?

Pills/Sedatives our Economy NEEDS TO TAKE:
2 trillion dollar tax increase
1.7 trillion dollar deficit
IT'S THE NEW DEAL BABY! WE'LL MAKE NEW JOBS, JUST BREAK ALL THE WINDOWS! IT WILL ALL BOOST THE ECONOMY.

Tax Day Tea Party

2009-04-15T21:40:00.025-05:00

If you click on the photograph, it will show up larger in another window.

Ludwig von Mises: "Chauvinism has not begotten nationalism. Its chief function in the scheme of nationalist policies is to adorn the shows and festivals of nationalism. People overflow with joy and pride when the official speakers hail them as the elite of mankind and praise the immortal deeds of their ancestors and the invincibility of their armed forces. But when the words fade away and the celebration reaches its end, people return home and go to bed. They do not mount the battlehorse." - Omnipotent Government

IDEAS LIVE ON, FIGHT WITH THE WEAPONS OF YOUR MIND, NOT WITH YOUR BRUTE STRENGTH, OR POTENTIAL CARNAL NATURE, USE THAT WHICH MAKES YOU DISTINCTLY HUMAN, AND KEEP ON.

I regret not getting a photo of this man's brother's shirt it read something similar to, "I fought in Iraq for their freedoms and came back to lose mine."

According to my Congressmen Culberson, who attended today- there was an estimated 7,500 people at Houston's downtown tea party. Here are some mentionable signs.

I'd also like to acknowledge that mans' stach, it's beautiful.

Marcattack- Infinite Possibility.

Being taxed to pay for this.

2009-04-14T00:07:00.000-05:00

Our taxes are getting us this:

TAX DAY TEA PARTY and more.

2009-04-13T21:39:00.008-05:00

Fox Forum
"Washington’s continued mishandling of the economic crisis has disquieted the electorate. The bad economic numbers, the precipitous decline in the stock market, the dramatic increase in government spending and the tax increases lying just over the horizon paint a picture of an out-of-control federal government grasping at straws in the search for solutions."

Tax-Day-Event-Cookbook
Taxday Coalition Site
Houston Tea Party Society
TAX DAY TEA PARTY

Tax day is the 15th, this Wednesday of April, the month the mosquitos come out, in more venues than one. But this year, there's something else going on, people are standing up against what they are being taxed for. Find your city, discover some Truth about the market! :) It's fun, it's invigorating to seek for Truth, to really work towards an understanding of how reality works, and what makes the most wealth for the most people, keeping in mind that wealth is not only money.

Here's an opposing view: Right here by, Tina Dupoy
I'm not going to respond to all parts of her article but there are a few detials I'll point out.

"You've been pushed around by Obama for too long - nearly 80 whole days. You poor long suffering muted people."

It's not about Obama, the figurehead,, it's not about who is in power, its about what they are doing with their given powers (GIVEN MEANING IT CAN BE TAKEN)- Obama isn't the key of the problem, the issues that this Tea Party is speaking out about, is foundational to this country, these concerns go back all the way back to our founding fathers and their sociatal environment in the Federalist, Anti-Federalist debates. And according to Dupoy, they "...weren't hotheads. They didn't just 'get mad' and usurp a king's authority. They had real grievances, real ideals, real leaders and a really brutal, bloody struggle." This, that we are stading up about, is exactly what the anti-feds feared, they feared that the General Welfare Clause, would do just this. Brutus (the pseudoynm the Anti-Federalists used, in opposition to Publious of the Federalists, in the New York Journal, examined this power of Congress and reponded.

That this clause authorizes congress "to do anything which in their judgment will tend to provide for the general welfare, and this amounts to the same thing as general and unlimited legislation in all cases...." That the power to tax is unsound because "there is no limitation on this power." "This power therefore is neither more nor less than a power to lay and collect taxes, imposts, and excises, at their pleasure."(Creidt to McClellan, author of Liberty, Order, and Justice An Introduction to the Constitutional Principles of American Government, for the reprinting of this information on pages 389-390.)

Yes the intentions may be good, they may really believe that it is for the benfit of the general welfare, but it isn't their place, and I don't know what kind of mastermind they obviously posses in order to know anything of the sort. The concept of "greatest good" dumb founds me, think about what is not seen, how can they POSSIBLY know that, and enforce it?

Tina says, "The Boston Tea Party was standing up to tyranny after years of neglect. Not standing up to being mad that your candidate didn't win. The tea was a symbol of the tone deafness and arrogance of King George. Everyone knew Englishmen (which the colonist were) could never live without tea, so British Parliament imposed a huge tax on it. So instead of Liptons being thrown into various bodies of water around this country - the symbolic equivalent would be cutting up your credit cards. Credit card companies are taxing Americans with no representation - but they know that Americans can't live without them. So where's that mutiny?"

We're standing up to a system that has been becoming more tyrannical almost from he get go. Yeah.....tone deafness? It's possible that this countries "leaders" do not have even the leiway to plead tone deafness, atleast King Georege was ACROSS THE SEA. CREDIT CARD COMPANIES ARE PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS, AND THEY CAN BE CUT UP WITHOUT YOU GOING TO JAIL FOR IT. On the way side, I do not use a Credit Card.

I particualrily enjoyed a comment made by an individual by the name of Paula Cassin:
"I'm going to a Tea Party because I do think it's gone too far in terms of goverment having the 'solution' to all our problems. Bush and the Republicans were just as bad as Obama and the Dems if not more so - at least the Democrats tell us what they stand for, while Republicans talk about individual liberty and limited government but do the opposite.
[...]
I'm going to a tea party to take a stand for the private sector (non-profit and profit alike) and a free market system with sound government regulations ensuring fair honest trade can take place, rather than a market full of subsidies, industry favoritism, social engineering, fixed pricing and massive regulatory burdens that drive small/med business out and stifle innvation."

And annother bit by Brent Burk- "The Federal Reserve prints trillions upon trillions of dollars out of thin air, creating an inflation tax, which is, in fact, taxation without representation."

This is true, inflation is one of the cruelest forms of tax.

This Tea- Party isanti-using-our-tax-money-because-you-think-you-know-what-you're-doing-and-its-based-on-keynesian-'theory'-which-isn't-based-in-reality-and-can-only-be-our-undoing.

ALSO! hahah I found this incredible:
"It appears as though the US borders do not represent a boundary around those frustrated with Government spending and extreme regulation. The Tea Party protests have now gone international.

Where? By midten in Vaerloese, Denmark. (Town Square)
Time: 1700 - 1800
Contact: Claus Ron Dellgren (taxdayteapartydenmark@gmail.com)"

Personal Matters and a Victory for FREEDOM.

2009-03-28T17:02:00.003-05:00

John Lennon and Yoko Ono's recordings, off Double Fantasy.

Now to the victory!

"The uproar revolves around a report released last month by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, a "fusion center" for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to collaborate on domestic security issues. The report concerned militia movements in Missouri and across the U.S., and described how they had evolved over the last several years."

"the Missouri Highway Patrol officially retracted the entire offending document"(Previous blong on the subject)

The Missouri Highway Patrol will be performing an investigation into the origin of the report. Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder has even called for the suspension of the Director of Public Safety until those responsible have been identified.

This is inspiring. This is what it takes to keep our freedom. There are so many groups calling for single payer healthcare, for unifomity. We cannot go without trying to educate on that which is true. Use persuasion, never force, for force is precisely the reason that we have troubles in the country right now, not the lack of it.

Here's an example of a bill that is trying to be passed currently : a call for standardization

Don't let this country slide.

London Liberty is falling down my fair lady.

2009-03-24T22:57:00.005-05:00

London liberty is falling down,
falling down, falling down.
London liberty is falling down- we're not far behind.
oh right.
AMERICAN LIBERTY IS FALLING DOWN.
ring around the rosey, pocket full of posey,
ashes ashes- we all fall down.

UK has new pending/inacted social laws- aka. curfews- so what? you say, we have em too, yeah.... we do.

This is a post of excerpts, along with some of my personal commentary- bringing the info right to your eyes, got it all down, ask em- you curious?

DON'T GET CAUGHT READING(that'll be next- 'good idea skippy!')!

In particular I think that reading the responces on the page can be incredibly beneficial. Here's one I found to be particuarly interesting.

#8 posted by Takuan , March 21, 2009 1:42 AM
is there some way that the logical culmination of this can be headed off? Every indication in the press shows Britain heading for a summer of rage - and every action by the government seems calculated to incite this. It's obvious they want violence so they can have some killings and thereby justify even more heavy-handed repression. When will it be enough for them? Even now, someone is walking and breathing and slated for execution by police bullet or club in a few months time. This is like watching a slow motion car wreck and being helpless to stop the planned and inevitable. What kind of people can be party to this?

This is an important point, a failed justification of curfew? yes.- and still, an INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT POINT.

Statement: #24 posted by Shukketsushi , March 21, 2009 3:34 AM
well in the US kids under 18 have a curfew of like around 11 thats changes from town to town. 9 is def too early but i mean those are kids that go to school so what are they gunna be doing out at midnight anyway. i dont think of this law as being a big deal seeing as towns in the US have similar laws and its only for kids. its not like they have to be home. just not hanging out in the streets.

Responce: Who's to define too early? Who's to define the greater good- what the hell is that anyways? The law's not a bit deal because BECAUSE the US has similar laws? Bad reason for it to not be a big deal. What if it weren't only for kids? Oh you're right, if kids ARE going to be violent and bloody- let them do it in more private places- jeez we don't want to see the drugs, sex, and violence.

#53 posted by MadFist , March 21, 2009 8:07 AM
This is NEW to London?!? Hell, I live in Norman, Oklahoma and can remember requiring special permission to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at Midnight. . . 25 years ago!

We can only wonder what happens next: To quote a fellow, quoting HP.
"Educational Decree No. 98: Those wishing to join the Inquisitorial Squad for extra credit may sign up in the High Inquisitor's Office..." -- Imelda Staunton as the voice of "Dolores Jane Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Here's one thing that's going on- one more little tiny thing- one step towards making crackdown easy. Like boiling a frog slowly, if you do it carefully enough it won't notice, ever, especially because it explodes.potential for stripping away the right to photograph in public

Can't help but make you think of a poem often cited in situations similiar to this (I urge you to go back and read my post regarding fear- it is not as comprehensive as I would like it to be- but it's something that ought to be known. OldFebBlog "the jacket may not seem too tight now but if you do not fight now, someday it maybe a fight just to breathe")

"Why is Free Speech so important?...Why speak up about things that don't seem to affect you?"
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

A further point made by an Austrailian individual (not that locality is important or decisive about anything)- this law is not only action against kids out past nine, it's a doorway to attack further liberties.

#26 posted by Joe in Australia , March 21, 2009 3:48 AM
It's not a curfew for under-16s. Well it is, but it's more than that.

Here's the relevant legislation: Part 4 Dispersal of groups etc.
30 Dispersal of groups and removal of persons under 16 to their place of residence

It's got two parts. One provides for a curfew for under-16s. One provides for the dispersal of groups. The groups need not, as far as I can see, be comprised of people under 16. You might have, let's say, a married couple in their forties walking down the street. A constable (police officer) or a "community support officer" (not a police officer, but they get to wear a uniform) hears the couple arguing and tells them to:
1) Disperse immediately (that is, separate and don't get back together);
2) Leave the area;
3) Keep out of the area for 24 hours.

It seems to me that the constable or community support officer will have acted quite legally.

The test is whether the C-or-CSO has "reasonable grounds" [...]

Someone approaches a C-or-CSO and says "Officer, that black man over there scares me. What's he doing in my neighbourhood. We're decent people, we are, we don't need the likes of him hanging around." Now, in a better world the police officer would say "I'm sorry, I can't arrest someone just on the vicious xenophobic rantings of an idiot like yourself, sir." With the help of the Act, this has changed. As long as the man in question is part of a "group" - that is, two or more people - the C-or-CSO can tell that man (and not necessarily any other members of his group) to leave the area for up to 24 hours. And it seems to me that the officer will be acting entirely lawfully, because the fact that the person "alarmed or distressed" is a total nutter doesn't change the fact that a subjective feeling is sufficient to trigger the Act.

"#33 posted by chipy , March 21, 2009 5:30 AM
So, no fun flash mobs - no political demonstrations, no meeting of two or more people for whatever reason. There are a number of Embassies and "public squares" in this area. [...]."

An important note to make, an important question to ask is- why are these kids doing bad stuff, seems to me that the problem stems else where from an injustice to the Liberty that the people of this world deserve.

"#37 posted by Anonymous , March 21, 2009 6:05 AM
Hey England, between your ubiquitous security cameras, your draconian civil rights laws, your antiquated (powerless) monarchy, and your police-state mentality, you let us know how well your little experiment with fascism goes, maybe you'll get lucky, cause you know noone elses fascist state has failed or anything..."

What ever happened to freedom of movement and assembly- what is this New Facist America, I mean.... Old Germany?
You're going to argue that the state has restrictions on other societal funtions- like drivers licenses, etc etc. well, "Should the state consider those under-18[anyone] as second-class citizens?" It's not the function of government to have all of these regulations- it is against all that is good, in government.

The following is a correspondence unrelated to me:

A: Should we allow groups of unsupervised 10 year-olds out on the streets at 3am? Where do YOU draw the line, or do you think that there should be no line at all.

Q: Who is the "we" in that question? Do you mean the state, or the parents? Or do you fancy yourself the parent of other people's kids?

aha.
and then we realize
"#93 posted by Drowse , March 21, 2009 12:38 PM
Dallas is considering a day-time curfew to try to stamp out truancy rates.
I don't think its an effective measure, just make school more appealing to people."

Not only is this just an example of the same kinds of laws that are continuously passed but, it's bs to solving the issues.

So- the real message here, isn't just that the government is trying to fix a problem though inefficient liberty ridding soulutions- it is that the Government is completely out of line, stop it.

Update on the Missiouri Conflict/ The state of the US Glenn Beck and Ron Paul

2009-03-23T20:34:00.004-05:00

Here again are the charges:
"The Modern Militia Movement"

To those who disagree with the United Nations, the FED, the Income tax, the FBI... to those who show support for Ron Paul, who openly support the constitution- to name a few, you are all under suspician for terrorist motives, basically...for openly supporting liberty.

Here is an article written by Anthony Gregory
Responce and Information about what is going on.

Glenn Beck- Ron Paul Interview on the issue/the issues in this nation right now
Inflation, discrimination, bailouts, etc. It's a good interview

"I think they are going to destroy the dollar[...]there's no way in the world that you can create these trillions of dollars[...]and soon[...]what is going to happen when people dump the dollar?"- Ron Paul.

"It's the begining of the end...it's the death spiral" -Glenn paraphrasing/quoting some economists.

Interview/ Glenn Beck-Ron Paul/ and some featured articles

Philip Pullman on Liberty; What is needed to sustain a living and waking nation?

2009-03-23T19:12:00.001-05:00

http://www.modernliberty.net/
Philip Pullman (for those of you unawares- he wrote the 'His Dark Materials Triliogy).
This is a rather wonderful wonderful speech.

"Joy cannot flourish in the garden of anxiety." -Pullman

Question/Feedback:
On with his strain about the Coal mines- when he says economic intrests, I think he's critiquing freedom of choice with regard to how you produce. That question, is super important, the question of who's role it is to raise the costs of using methods of production that are potentially harmful to the environment- but further, who's to decide that which is harmful?

He's saying that we shouldn't produce with methods that have a short term pay off when there are other "more important intrests". How does he define that, is it the state who defines it, or the people?
He says that in a good state the coal mine type of thing couldn't occur, wouldn't be allowed to occur.
so..seems that he's implying that the state defines that which is harmful. That is somehow magically knows.

I think the way he critiques 'capitalism' you may say, is really a good critique on centralized planning- looking only at certian aspects of something and it's consequences- what he doesn't express as clearly is that we can't know all the consequences, and that is one reason why centralized planning is often more destructive than helpful.

Though the rest of his speech is partial to freedom, this part is shady to me.

- Not only is it 'shady' I think he disproves the idea that it's the governments proper role to 'force' choice- I think he provides a good example in his story of the -livingroom in the road- that persuasion, privately, is often more effective, and productive, than government force.

And that what is needed for private persuasion to be effective, is an active, inquisitive, courageous (all the rest the wonderful things that you have to watch to findout !) how exciting.
(Further credit to C.Crawford for finding this somewhere.)

xkcd. and Don Quixote.

2009-03-15T23:29:00.003-05:00

xkcd

What I always think of, when driving through new mexico.
I once stared, half awake, out of the window in the deep of night and saw this giant looming white thing and instantly felt like Don Quixote.

I half mumbled something to an old close friend of mine's mother about how I felt like DQ and then stared intently into the blurry distance, and close fields at the looming white spinning molds. I didn't have my glasses on, guess I needed them that night.

It's a really fun memory to have but at the time my brain was like "it's okay just go back to sleep" kind of creeped.

10th Ammendment. Now, we're blowing more air into the bubble, more water into the bucket.

2009-03-14T15:29:00.003-05:00

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
- 10th Ammendment.

f the increasing power of the federal government, oh this stimulous and loss of soverignty.

Idaho state rep. speaks out

"The federal government is living beyond the scope that the Constitution grants it and states should put it on notice," Bright said. "I haven't been pleased for some time with what the federal government gets involved in, but it came to a head with the stimulus bill."- Republican rep. Lee Bright

CNN

aha.
State Sovereignty Resolutions- Find your state, or what's goin down
"[...]central location to stay up to date with state sovereignty bills."

Hey Texans: Bill HCR50
Status:In commity.
Subjects: Intergovernmental Relations (I0447)
Resolutions--Legislative Policy (I0685)
Resolutions--Memorializing Congress (I0675)
Caption Text: "Affirming that the State of Texas claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution, serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain mandates, and providing that certain federal legislation be prohibited or repealed."

Stossel and the Bailout
"the more the government does, the more the private sector waits"

blowing more air into the bubble, more water into the bucket.

The love of liberty is the love of others...

2009-03-13T23:27:00.004-05:00

The love of liberty is the love of others...
~William Hazlitt

A society that does not recognise that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom.
~Friedrich Hayek

Mankind is at its best when it is most free. This will be clear if we grasp the principle of liberty. We must recall that the basic principle is freedom of choice, which saying many have on their lips but few in their minds.
~Dante Alighieri

The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is not to be skillfully attacked, but to be ineptly defended.
~Frederic Bastiat

Credit of accomplilation to Rachel Dvsn.

LIVE AUSTRIAN ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

Incredibly interesting.

"To attack human reason, is to attack human life itself."

cite

Oh hey reader, I found something for you to do.

2009-03-13T00:42:00.003-05:00

Petition to Audit the Fed- to make them very explicit about how/where/when they are spending and making money.

"With Congress spending like never before, and TRILLIONS of new dollars flying off the printing presses, it’s never been more important to expose the Federal Reserve System to the American people once and for all."

Oh hey reader, look! I found something for you to do.
AUDIT THE FED

On a funny side note, while typing fed, I accidentally typed Red- I think that's appropriate. =0

Music and Sleepy Logic.

2009-03-12T00:21:00.005-05:00

I realize that not all of my posts are obviously geared to instigating questions so I wanted to be clear. I am expressing a mind set, an awareness- this awareness for the need for freedom comes through several mediums.

I am here to express what freedom can accomplish. Even when progressive action is greatly hindered, it breaks through the paint as much as possible to express the potential of humankind.

All things show us, when looked upon closely, the inexplicable aspects of nature. The unpredictability is what often brings us progress. Think of Rosa Parks, through living her Truth, and coupled with others who were willing to stand for something they percieved to be necessariy in allowing the most people freedom, they made drastic advances in human consciousness.

Erik Mongrain, Guitar Music

We all make a difference when we fight for freedom, because freedom allows for the most opinions of what Truth is.

On an important side note: Here I do mean to infer that because we all have a subjective experience of Truth, that Truth is subjective. If Truth were subjective there would be no right, nor wrong, and Hitler's actions and Ghandi's actions would be equal in essence. Possibly, that which is Truth, is that which allows for the most freedom. If perhaps, I were to propose that Truth is only subjective and that we act in order to better ourselves, and come to a deeper understanding of what we think Truth is. (Accepting the fact that “what Truth is” is whatever I decide that it is, and that then it IS.) I still see the inherent need to explore (in order to find this deeper understanding, which is constantly expanding with each new experience). I would still say that the separate Truth that people come to could potentially by necessity of the nature of the search for Truth, allow for the most freedom for all. Yet, this process would take much longer and be much more painful, because of the very fact that, subjective Truth justifies all action, and potentially individuals would cease to understand our interconnectedness in the search for what we think to be Good, being so concentrated on a particular view, they would cease to be open to learn, and therefore, being in their state of static understanding, they would perhaps no longer be meaningful individuals, nor individuals allowing for the most freedom of thought/action, unless their meaning is now found only in the conversion of others. This mindset, I have shakily expressed, could be what sparks, initially someone to think, yet then supports them to become static, and tyrannistic. We take our initial claim that Truth is subjective, coupled with an awareness that we can only ever know that we are right, and we cease to search, only to convert. When the society becomes one that is motivated by the will to convert others, then we cease to be what we once were, inquisitive, and therefore, we seem to inherent the mindset that justifies all action. Of course, we all have subjective experience, that is the nature of being human, therefore what is necessary to realize is that, there is a common Truth, that of freedom, and that we may believe as we like, but that it does not make us right, nor wrong therefore we must always respect others ability to seek Truth, and also as humans, never cease to seek, lest we turn into individual’s whom find meaning merely in conversion, or into individuals who believe that Truth can only be subjective and that there is no collective standard that we are seeking. Maybe as I posited before, Truth is that which allows for all to exist diversly, and that standard which we are seeking, is just that.

A day, in reality, escape or enhancement?

2009-03-08T16:20:00.001-05:00

I was walking down the sidewalk, looking at the wind playing with the trees, the sun shining, the leaves scuttling around all around me. It was early morning. I could see the men hammering away at the strong wood to make a million different pieces into one home. I could see people inside of their large metal skeletons driving to their destinations.

The wind was pushing against my skin and clothes, the ground was strong below my feet, not only because it was concrete but because I could feel the earth, I could feel it like a song playing through my body.

I closed my eyes and continued to walk. In the distance to my left I heard a muffled horn, which took me to a place. It was the horn of a boat in the harbor, I was walking down either a board walk or hard-packed dirt street, at a sea side carnival. The men that had been working on the houses, were now men working on different attractions that needed to be patched up. The wind still played its games among my hair, tossing it lightly, as the experience was tossing my soul. I could see the dimmed light through my eyelids that cast around me a calming older feel to the place. The place, just like in reality, didn’t feel small nor did it feel huge, it was infinity but in terms that I can understand. The place felt like a place to expand within and beyond, yet it also felt like it was within and beyond. I couldn’t see this small carnival town for I was walking with my eyes closed there as well as here. It didn’t feel like here and there, it felt like here, with the sounds and feelings making me experience something even further. It wasn’t an escape from reality, it was an enhancement. There were really no animals present but you could feel their presence in the world. All felt right and connected. It was pleasant to reflect on humans, and all of the emotions in the moment that were occurring. All was connected,there was no seperation, yet this did not make all things into the same thing.

The Pied Piper a Lesson of Consequences (less rough draft)

2009-02-25T00:30:00.004-06:00

In this tale the towns people go to their local government with a private complaint. There are too many rats in their town, and they demand that they have a right to entrust government with the responsibility to extricate all of the rats, or else they will surely replace those in the governmental positions. “[F]ind the remedy we're lacking, Or, sure as fate, we'll send you packing!". This dependency the peoples have on their government ultimately results in the destruction of private property, and is the result of a problem perceived to be too difficult for the freedom of the market to repair. This lack of trust in freedom, created an environment where a dependency could flourish, destroying innovation of new alternative cures to their rat infestation. (free market book quote on what the lack of trust in freedom creates)
While fretting over their inability to come up with a viable plan, the lofty council hears a knocking at the door. In walks a tall man, an entrepreneur who has heard of the opportunity to work. The Pied Piper says, “I chiefly use my charm On creatures that do people harm,” this does not insinuate that, because the creatures “do people harm,” he is willing to act out of charity, rather, the piper's intention is to trade the use of his service for money. He travels around the world ridding different locations of various creatures which hinder the societies progress. In order to be able to continue in his line of work, or towards new goals, he needs to be paid. What is seen here is his services are in demand, and of short supply, the piper desires an exchange. “If I can rid your town of rats Will you give me a thousand guilders?” The council is incredibly enthusiastic and exuberant, promising more than he's asked for, yet the piper humbly replies that all he wants is what he's asked for. Without writing down the agreement that has been made, the Piper leaves the building to go to work. The Pied Piper plays a short tune on his pipe and successfully leads the entire rat population, save one sturdy rat, to its doom in the river. All of the people of the town celebrate and the Piper makes his way to the Mayor to collect the due for his services. The mayor and his men shake at the knees, for they do not want to pay the Piper what it is that he pleases. The Mayor wonders why he should pay the piper more than fifty, for now that the problem is gone, the cost of fixing the problem seems to high, and so he attempts to dismiss his previous commitment.
“To pay this sum to a wandering fellow With a gypsy coat of red and yellow! […] We saw with our eyes the vermin sink, […] But, as for the guilders, what we spoke Of them, as you very well know, was in joke.”
The Piper should have gotten the agreement in writing so that he could be more certain that the Mayor would hold true to their contract. Here we see a destruction to society through the failure of holding true to a contract, something which government is supposed to enforce, and through the view that things can be done for free. Though things may seem to be free, what is not seen is the unintended consequences. For, all actions have consequences, whether apparent or hidden. As Bastiate says in his book, That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen, “...the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, - at the risk of a small present evil.” The Piper has places that he is supposed to be that evening, and is upset that he has been spindled of his part of the exchange. He says to the Mayor, “And folks who put me in a passion May find me pipe to another fashion.” The Mayor disregards the warning and instead insults him, unaware of the unintended consequences of his actions . The Piper steps, once again, into the street and begins to pipe a wonderful tune, this time it is not vermin that follow along after him, but all of the children of the town. All of the children feel an over whelming sense of joy and run unthinkingly after the Piper. “But how the Mayor was on the rack[...].” The Piper lead all the children into the side of the mountain “ As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed; And the Piper advanced and the children followed.” All of the children, save one lame boy who could not keep up with the rest were swallowed by the mountain. The boy feels sad because he wanted to go along with his playmates to the place, “Which the Piper also promised me; For he led us, he said, to a joyous land[...].” The Mayor sends people out everywhere to try and find the Piper, to offer him anything he wants, if only he will bring back all of the children. The Piper never comes back, nor do the children, yet many years later there is a strange town that claims that their parents were from a different land, that is all we know about what may have happened to the children. The tale ends with the narrator claiming, “[W]hether they pipe us free from rats or from mice, If we've promised them aught, let us keep our promise.”
The core issues this tale brings up is, that the Piper contracted with the government rather than with each individual, and the importance of keeping contracts. The costs and benefits are incurred by the common populace, for the government to be handling public services has been shown to be unwise. The peoples entrusted their government to be a true representative institution. Not only does the government's initial enthusiasm to hire the Piper lead it to proclaim its willingness to pay him fifty times the initial price proposal, but, its final disregard for the contract it made, the lack of foresight into the potential unintended consequences of its actions, lead to an even greater catastrophe, that of the loss of the town's children. This example is somewhat limited because the options for eliminating the rats are less explored, leaving the reader with no awareness of the multiple substitutes available. The principle we have discovered is that when the costs of something are to be incurred by an individual, it ought to be the individuals choice to agree or disagree to the proposed method of action. When a public service is provided for by a representative body, it is likely for the costs to be much higher than previously proclaimed, either in a direct monetary form, or through some other unintended consequence. In either scenario, the government's dealing in activities that are outside of its jurisdiction was more costly to the society of individuals. And, the use of government creates an environment that subjects each individual to the will of the majority. If, even one individual had found an alternative to using the government to solve their problem, they would still have had to pay for the use of the government service if unsuccessful in persuading the entire society to incure a more apparent cost. Thus, the Piper ought to have been privately contracted, as to make the costs and benefits clear, and as to put no one at the will of another.

Life, a short ditty I wrote inorder to share what's going on in my head

2009-02-22T01:31:00.001-06:00

I suppose I must live as if I will be alive tomorrow, but also to know that time is scarce.

Perfectionism will kill you, this is just a step, it's not the ultimate project, it's a piece of it, yet- act as if you are making a choice, which you made wrongly the first time, go for your self-created goals. There isn't enough time to be perfect, because aiming for perfection will only put you off longer. Laugh harder, be joyful, don't fool yourself, because you'll know the truth anyways, you can't really convince yourself otherwise.

And when you die, is the day that you judge yourself with finality, judgment day is the day you look back at your life and say, “did I live authentically?” Maybe you are the ultimate judge, the decision maker, and even if you're not I think you should live as if you are- live meaningfully in your search for Truth, with hope and joy. Maybe judgment day can be a process of constant awareness, that of living in the moment with honesty. Be honest with yourself before death so that we can change before, instead of never changing and only reviewing at your death.

Live here with authenticity and compassion, it's all that actually matters, I think.

Misconception of the Day: Regarding Healthcare

2009-02-01T11:49:00.003-06:00

Cuban Healthcare

This is an excerpt of the positive part of the 38 min. video- it still has a lot of good information.
Competition Improving US Healthcare

Until I have time to write something, watch those two short videos.

Misconception of the Day: Minimum Wage

2009-01-31T11:46:00.004-06:00

Minimum Wages undermines the poor, and working nation, it doesn't support them (us).

Raising the cost of hiring someone, doesn't make people pay those that they've hired more, it makes them fire people. It's not out of cruelty, it's out of the need to be sustainable, would you make lemonade and sell it on the side of an extreemly hot road for no pay? your whole life?

It also means that a company if less likely to hire 8 people, but instead only hire 5, and give the work load of 8 to 5 (or less) - in order to cut costs, workers have to do more.

Think of self-serve gas pumps, not all that long ago, they wern't self serve, mostly high school kids would take the job for about 2 dollars an hour (which would equate to a bit more than that now that our monetary system is so inflated), and they could do homework at the same time, as well as recieve tips.

When the "minimum wage" was created, forcing businesses to pay their workers at least 5 dollars, those jobs were eliminated.

It's difficult for a teenager to find a job that works with their hours, most jobs want someone more experienced, even Whole Foods only highers at 18.

This is what the minimum wage has done, is doing, to our country.
It's a myth that it's helpful, it doesn't raise pay, it eliminates jobs.

Our Constitution

2009-01-24T18:44:00.003-06:00

Our constitution was written with the knowledge that societies are evolutionary systems, and that the purpose of writing a constitution wasn't to dictate laws and customs but to devise a concise foundation that laws and customs could evolve within. A constitution provides all people with certain expectations of experience, being that Liberty, Order, and Justice are respected by all written and unwritten laws.

The role of our constitution is to uphold the principles of Liberty, Order, and Justice. These three ideals put into practice provide the most freedom and prosperity to those living within them. Our consitution calls for a limited decentralized government, that it is to protect the constitutional principles and not change them for light and transient causes, thus. an amendment can only be made by a majority of the nation. The individuals working within the government are to be accountable for their actions and represent the concerns of the nations individuals.

Liberty allows for individuals to pursue their own interests (their own ends) purposefully. Order calls for individuals to give up certain freedoms in order to come to a higher sense of freedom, where all individuals can pursue their own interests. Finally, justice which dictates that all are created equal and have the right to pursue their interests with equality, though this does not infer that all peoples plans will have equal results.

Lastly and most important, what is needed for a constitution to serve its purpose of protecting such foundational rights, and because our laws and customs are evolutionary rather than static, we each have an obligation to be fully aware of the constitution and act accordingly to preserve the principles of our nation.

Further on Peace

2009-01-21T21:46:00.003-06:00

Peace is created through trade.
Trade is dependent upon freedom.
Freedom is dependent upon economic and political freedoms.
Economic and political freedoms are dependent upon which role the government chooses to take.
The role government chooses to take, ought to be dictated by individuals that understand the principles of liberty.

We need more rebels and less revolutionaries.
We need new change not a circle of the same with diffrent faces to blame.

We need globalization, open borders, ethical-concious- capitalism, governments that protect only our liberties, we need true private property, competition in money and "public services" we need to privitize thereby instituting private incintive.

Freedom of our Natural Rights (Freedom to move, to trade, to own property) is the strongest protection against serfdom, creates the most wealth (not only monetary or phyisical)for the society as a whole, and creates peace.

Governments "providing" education, health care, this new idea of carczar, these are all things that re-allocate resources, in other words, taking resources from where they were formerly for "the greater good". The resources I am speaking of here are, tax money, time of the individuals working in these instritutions, and the resources of the entire human that is developing/acting within the institution. The issue with this occurance cannot as easily be backed up from an humanirtarian point of view, so one must take up the words of Liberty and a strong understanding of "that which is not seen" -Bastiat.

Government provisions, slow societies progress, think of the railroads during the industrial revolution era, the government lines were set down poorly and needed millions of dollars to opperate. The private lines were incredibly efficient because the risk of failure and the costs of production were on an individual or smaller group of individuals.

We must ask our selves, how were cars created in the first place? Freedom of innovation in the industrial revolution.
Why are so many of our cars today big gas guzzlers? Because Government regulations have put high embargos on foreign trade in the market area of Cars. Which has created incorrect signals, through prices, to the car industry for the actual demand that the consumers had for more gas efficiant, dollar saving, vehicles.
Eastern cars have had the answers for years.

Think, how much has our public education, over all, progressed these last 200 years?
...

Look at the Health Care in almost any other location in the world, save maybe Hong Kong, for the answers as to why socialized medicines fail our peoples. Examples in video form: Free Market Cure

The old idea that war brings us out of a depression is along with the same fallasy, this idea that redistribution of resources is beneficial to society.
Why have we spent so much time working on prosthetic limbs as such a large scale? Because of war. Why haven't we, instead, spent that time and effort on curing cancer (because believe it or not we are quite close I do believe), and, there is a private scientist who is discovering if she hasn't already discovered ways to stop a virus's mechanism of communication- why have we not invested more there?
Well that brings up another idea, why is the government subsidizing medicines, why are the costs of medical care and pharmosuticals so high?

Markets are self-correcting, markets clear. Prices are not set by the supplier, prices are determined by demand and are a reflection of relative scarcity.

So those are few thoughts floating around in my head.
I've got other things I must go do now.
Hope it inspires some questions for you.

Rachel.

Peace Through Commerce

Peace

2008-11-07T00:25:00.000-06:00

"Veterans have and will continue to fight on for peace and the rights of his or her country men until there is no need for war."

I believe that peace isn't something you can fight for, not violently, I would hesitate to even say that one can metaphorically fight inorder to achieve peace.

Peace is not meerly the absence of coercion, it's something much more, and therefor couldn't be a state one achieves though violence. When one engages in a war (no matter what scale) it implies a vanquisher and a vanquished, the vanquished is then expected to submit (by force) to the new situation that they are now (made unwillingly to be) in. Can the state of the now vanquished really be called peace even though there is no longer a war taking place?

There is always conflict, shouldn't be seen as war, conflict is the process of knowledge growth - the growth of society, it's how you solve the conflict that is necessary. Conflict can be between ideas, choices (which hat do I buy?), decisions between people, etc.

There ought not be nonvoluntary conflict resolution (war)- in other words, all trade and communication ought to be voluntary. A made action, is a decision made about which was the best choice between any number of options you had before you made the action, implys value.

Could peace be seen as two people making choices that are mutualistic? ( Mutualistic by unintintionalyI may add, for the doll maker and the doll buyer have diffrent reasons for doing their particular action, yet they both support each other and them selves- voluntary actions actually creates wealth! How beautiful is that! It's not the doll that holds the wealth[ the material objects] it's the value one gives to said object that is the wealth the exchanges of diffrent values makes people more wealthy because people trade things becaues they value the thing they are trading for more than what they have [i.e. I value Ice cream more than 2 dollars, sometimes]).

I would say, yes, I honor and respect all humans for the daily choices they make- because all people have reasons and intentions for action, that spring forth from their values. We are all individuals with values, when two individuals meet and agree on something or disagree there is a growth of knowledge to the individual and therefor to the society. (For a society ought to be defined as a group of individuals). "True peace ... suggests the triumph of justice and love among men; it reveals the existence of a better world wherein harmony reigns." (Peace and education Montessori Page 7)

The globe is sphericalish

2008-09-09T00:07:00.001-05:00

Rachel Milner
The world is spherical (in as close to relation you can come, disregarding small irregularities such as that the globe is kind of squatty).

What assumptions do I rely upon when I agree with the concept of a spherical earth, and where are my flaws in said assumptions?

Proposition One:

+ If I were to take a reliable mode of travel, such as a ship or plane, and follow in any one direction a compass, I would make a full rotation around the earth, finding myself where I began; therefor, the world is spherical.

1. Assumption One
My senses and efforts to discern the truth of the matter are not thwarted by any outside influences, dependent perhaps upon the assumption that I exist as an independent thinking and experiencing entity at all. That I am able to accurately judge my direction in relation to the earth, where I’ve come from, and where I’m headed.

2.Assumption Two
A compass is constant in the direction that it points towards without significant enough miscalculation to divert me from the circumvention of the globe.

3. Assumption Three-
Once I have circumvented the globe that it is safe to say that it is a sphere and not merely a circle.

Proposition Two:
+The world is spherical because when you go high enough from the surface of it you can see curvature beyond where if it were a circle you would have seen the end.

1. Assumption- the world is not a dome.

Proposition Three:
+Because there is graduating day and night on both “sides” of the globe it is not flat.

1. Assumption One-
The world is rotating very quickly, too quickly to discount the idea that the earth rotates slowly enough to create graduated night and day

2. Assumption two-
That if the earth were to rotate as significantly slower the temperature would be drastically hotter.

So it goes.

2008-08-16T15:44:00.000-05:00

You get so used to the numbers, the numbers of people voting, the numbers on your lottery ticket, the numbers for your phones, your bills, your checks, the number of people in your family; all the sudden one person doesn’t seem like anything. One person died in a fire tonight, luckily it wasn’t more. One person was stabbed to death, at least not the whole family was. Why is the loss of one life so damned insignificant, eventually, even 135,000 doesn’t sound like much, even if the entire city of Dresden was wiped clean by American bombers. It’s war, who cares. So it goes.

What a Brave New World

2008-08-16T12:50:00.009-05:00

So I was wandering through various, mostly random, ideas about culture and one thought grabbed me. Have you ever noticed how in American Football there seems to be a central leader, yes all the other players on the particular team knows the routine but there is still the man who decides to throw the ball, or not. Does this guy decide the plan? is he the planner? or is there another man who tells him what to do? In football does each man stand on his own, depending on the angle you look at it from, each has his purpose, which creates a whole (like any sport, or thing in general). But he's being told what to do in this sport, which hopefully supports the goal of the individual; to have his team win. I think that American Football, at least to me (not knowing the intricacies), dictates very very clearly a mindset very much present in todays America...

"PLAN" "DICTATE" "PLOW" "DESTROY" "WIN"

. My question is, in the larger arena, what is it that we are trying to win? In "planning" for everyones future, what they should know, "dictating" how they get to that end, "plowing" all that stands in the way of the collective ""altruist"" (which I spoke of in an earlier post), "destroying" the I,

WHAT IS THE PRIZE?

and that's just the team I was speaking of, the crowd gets? Beer, Violence, Sex Appeal (players, cheerleaders, and your fellow fans body heat), Comradarie, Pride.

It's not all bad, I'm not here to say that it is., I do look at some strange parallels between sports and the way governments run themselves.

What a Brave New World, what will its Anthem be?.

Living in a democracy.

2008-08-15T12:46:00.001-05:00

What are my responsibilities as I attain adult age of living in a democracy?

I believe that my responsibilities depend upon my values and standards. I value freedoms so I should uphold the right for everyone to have those same freedoms. Living in a democracy the responsibilities that I hold rely solely upon how content I am with going along with a flow. I don’t believe that my responsibility comes in the form of a vote, it comes in the form of understanding what I believe in order to vote, if possible, for those who uphold my beliefs. My responsibilities are to be clear with what I currently believe when asked, to ask questions of my self and others, to educate myself with the truth.

“ Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” (Declaration of Independence, 2nd paragraph).

It is my responsibility to be aware and act in light of those few sentences. I have a responsibility to become comfortable with myself, but not necessarily with my surroundings. I hold myself accountable for those responsibilities because I am the only one that I can control.

Saving vs Spending. MARKET TRENDS

2008-08-05T12:10:00.002-05:00

In the past few months I've been talking to my father about how now is not the time to save, "there is no set, or true, value to the dollar, so we should buy things that have true value, like...gold or silver." Of course, my suggestions have not been heeded but, it's worth the breath to say it again.

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold…The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves." - Alan Greenspan

"But that was before he turned to the dark side. His name? Alan Greenspan. The above quote is from his 1967 essay Gold and Economic Freedom, long before he ever became Fed Chairman." - C.F.LIBERTY

It's all been a joke. Even the value of gold was fiddled with when we did use the standard, though it was certianly better than it is now.

"You know, no nation that abandoned the gold standard has remained great," said Reagan...."would really have stabilized the economy"
Regan, the Gold Standard, and Ron Paul

We naturally have boons and busts, or "spending and saving periods" the problem is not that American's are missing the natural signals, the problem is that the Government is covering THESE United States with unnatural and harmful signals.

So, stay sharp. Buy value.

World Peace?

2008-08-02T23:27:00.005-05:00

How do I want to contribute to world peace?

Well, what is “world peace”? When thinking of world peace, does one think of all mankind “singing the same song.” Possibly, but what is the song being sung? Is it the song of the collective or of the Individual? As Ghandi said, "The first step in peace for all is to reach out to the person next to you." Here, the important person is not yourself but your fellows; your responsibility lays in the service of others, how does that create peace? To speak of World Peace is almost detachment of self-responsibility, of course you serve others, but if you yourself are not whole and at peace then in reality you are not doing your true part.

Fighting for world peace can be much like fighting in a bloody war, you are nameless, and in some ways your responsibility of the deaths you have caused now lay as a collective whole on everyone. World peace, I believe, is an abstraction of the true goal, that is, individual peace; the task of true individual peace is more arduous. Now we come to the question, what is peace? I believe peace comes from knowing your own wants and needs and being at peace with the process you choose to achieve such things. To look yourself in the eyes and be comfortable, no doubt that you are at “one” with yourself, your self-purpose. How can this be achieved “peacefully”? To peacefully achieve your own ends you must be conscious of every individuals right to do so, and be wary not to encroach upon the rights of others. In reality, world peace is found in a candy shop, where the child buying candy wants what he’s buying and the man selling the candy values the return. Or, at the street corner at the hotdog booth, the balloon salesman, the hug, honest smiles between any individuals. Humankind is nothing without the individual, and so the world should be regarded as a place of individuals that through striving for their own ends support others in achieve their separate ends, and for the most part, peacefully.

FILMS !

2008-07-27T20:01:00.006-05:00

Films

+ American Beauty
+ Brazil
+ Blade Runner
+ Benny and Joon
+ But I'm a Cheerleader
+ Boys Don't Cry
+ Casablanca
+ Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
+ A Clockwork Orange
+ Eraserhead
+ Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
+ The Favour the Watch and the Very Big Fish
+ Firefly (Tv episode - with great symbolisms and connections to US history)
+ Fight Club
+ Garden State
+ Girl Interrupted
+ Gone with the Wind
+ The Graduate
+ The Kite Runner
+ The Matrix 1, 2, and 3
+ My Summer of Love
+ The Meaning of Life
+ Notorious
+ Psycho
+ Pulp Fiction
+ Requiem for a Dream
+ Rushmore
+ Slaughterhouse-five
+ Spun
+ The Sound of Music
+ Thirteen
+ The Virgin Suicides
+ Waking Life
+ Wings of Desire
+ The Yellow Submarine
+ Young Frankenstein

Foreign Films
+ Amelie - Fren.
+ Everything is Illuminated - Ukrainian
+ Mar Adentro - Span.
+ Machuca - Span.
+ Man Facing Southwest - Span.
+ Pan's Labyrinth - Span.
+ Life is Beautiful - Italian and German
+ Wild Strawberries - Swedish

Ghandi and collectivism

2008-07-26T18:06:00.013-05:00

Why is he revered as so great?
"I claim to be a humble servant of India and humanity..."

I am just now attempting to learn of what this man did, I was always told that he was a "champion" of the poor- fighting to raise taxes of the few to close the gap between poor and wealthy, that life is about compromising, not your values or religion, but into submission for majority. Doesn't seem something that I revere.

"Lovers of peace at any price save that of Truth."

He deigns even the breath of man as a violence, honoring (?)ahmisa as truth as A is A. He honors non-violence as the path- are not taxes a violence, are not being self-sacrificers a violence of the self? What good are you as a lost entity - with only a purpose to serve your brother whom holds his only purpose to serve his brothers- you have lost the only thing there to save.

"Non-violence in its dynamic condition means conscious suffering...It does not mean meek submission of the will of the evildoer, but it means putting of ones whole soul against the will of a tyrant. ...[to]lay the foundation for the empires fall or regeneration."

"Before I can preach Universal non-violence, I must be wholly free from passion, I must be wholly incapable of sin."

His opinion of God is that we are all representations of God - so he serves God by serving Humanity.

"And is this Power benevolent or malevolent? I see it as purely benevolent. For I can see, that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the Supreme Good."

Yet he only holds that divinity when we are together as a whole:
"I am a part and parcel of the whole, and I cannot find Him apart from the rest of humanity."

Which makes me think of another such belief, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20. "We must guard our faith, and one of the keys to arming ourselves in the world is to remain in fellowship with others. A Christian is called ... to fellowship."Life as a Christian woman (Blog)

"We must ever fail to perceive Him through the senses, because He is beyond them. We can feel Him if we will but withdraw ourselves from the senses. The divine music is incessantly going on within ourselves, but the loud senses drown the delicate music, which is unlike and infinitely superior to anything we can perceive or hear with our senses." (H, 13-6-1936, pp140-1)

Is Ghandi presenting "the delicate music" as being whole and one with humanity and that you must drown ones own wants/needs in order to achieve such a feat?

Criticize by creating

2008-07-24T21:27:00.003-05:00

Critique by creating or, criticize by creating.

Criticizing by creating is literally the creation of a standard for what you are attempting to change and how, in the context of the whole. In other words, when you create something new you imply, or expect, that what you have created has potential to satisfy a group of individuals more than what is already in existence. Example- Clayton (need last name) created a company in Austin, Texas called Sweet Leaf Tea on the claims that

“he and his friends couldn’t understand why bottled tea never tasted as good as homemade. Inspired by the homemade tea that Clayton’s grandmother used to make, he began tasting teas from all over the world and brewing countless batches in his kitchen. With all $10,000 of Clayton’s savings and an old delivery van, Sweet Leaf Tea was born. Soon after David Smith… joined him in their quest to create the best tasting, highest quality bottled tea on the planet.”

(sweet Leaf Tea “Our Story”). A business that has now been, according to the same source previously given, steadily increasing in its profits over the past few years. Though Clayton’s ends may not be to achieve better tea for himself, he has provided it for those whose wants are better tea in return for something he may value more highly. Clayton is a great example of criticizing by creating. When you branch out with your ideas and standards of quality for anything, you are making the assumption that because you have searched for something “better” than what was already around you, that you will succeed in fulfilling the social need. Thousands of entrepreneurs do this everyday (I hope!), creating market competition- it is how a society continues to grow upwards in quality and expectation. It is how the peoples of America achieved and live the change “luxuries into necessities”. The market, rather, the people making up the market of consumers will let you know if you have succeeded in creating something more valuable (“meets their [an individuals] myriad values best”: Dylan Miller) then what is already out there (even if it’s a niche just large enough to sustain you). I spoke with a local, Dylan Miller, in regards to his opinion on “Criticize by creating”:

“…a clever title for a method or process for meeting social needs as an alternative to non-profit…With the aid of the incentive and communication system of the market; you are able to create a sustainable, accountable, effective institution that can operate whether or not all the people involved share your values or goal….It’s more sustainable and has the ability to allow people with local knowledge regarding the problem to play a role in the solution…at this point, [those working in the institution] their social goal, and the (clerk’s) self-interest and knowledge and possibly his social goals as well, coincide to effect change. … Social entrepreneurship has an end goal in addition to, or other than profit; the social need is the reason for the institutions existence.” (Interview source)

“Profit won't cure those ills, but it's becoming a bigger part of more solutions.” (Social Entrepreneurship “The 2008 Social Capitalist Awards”).

Interacting with creation is the most powerful tool of feedback in our nation. Your interactions: your dollar votes, over-coffee-conversations, your questions, are the tools that create the world you live in. You are the answer to question: "Why are things this way and how can they change?"

Life

2008-04-19T22:54:00.006-05:00

Life most certainly does not suck, the fact that you can think and reason and pass judgments is as beautiful as you make it. Life is wow - life is more than the ability to reason, yet even the ability to reason is above the laws of physics- life is seeing the world through your subjective values and goals. Life is all the meaning that you give it and get from it. What you say, think, and do affects what life is to you. I utterly abhor the comment above mine and completely disagree with it. If you think about how cool it is that I can send words to you, representations of sounds and concepts, and that you read them and glean meaning from them. Not only that but! You are attempting to grasp the intentions behind the meanings. If I were to say I am a round square- I would be making a statement and attempting to imply that there is a linguistic rule that would back up that statement but infact! aha! it is nonsense that sentence actually means nothing, how cool right?

yeah.

to go on, :). Sensitive is a wonderful thing to be - it means you should listen. Listen to the way your heartbeats, the wind flows through the air and throats, listen to the pain, listen to the worship, listen to each voice attempting to create an existence that they can understand. The pain, the horror- it's an attempt to understand, it's how some rationalize. We are all so awful and flawed compared to our intentions and goals, and in someways it is, and it is beautiful. The sick and the perverse come from not understanding, from not being logical and loving. Love is simplest thing in the world, it is above even reason, which as I stated previously, is above all laws of physics, love is somehow above all things and yet is completely experiential and observable. Or is it? It's this vague and concrete concept all at once...

Love is the free trading that happens between two individuals, and somehow I don't mean to say love between two people that love each other- I mean selling toys to a mother that wants toys for her child. Love is in loving yourself and understanding the un-understandable it's in providing for your wants and needs and somehow in the exact process fulfilling others wants and needs- no one to tell you what to do, not stepping on anyone else's process.

yet, how can love be all things that fall into such a category? How can it not be?

If love is not freedom in all, then what is love? If love is not acting on peacefull understanding and forgiveness, then what is love? If love is not letting yourself feel and act, then what is love?

And if love is not living, then what is living?

p.s. I do think that people have the right to observe other people and judge others actions- "I can see sin in all the world. And I may well hate that sin, but never the sinner."- John Logan. Judgments are totally rational and reasonable they are how we as people understand and categorize information into usable pieces.

p.p.s oh and to be more analytically clear: The purpose to life is self-derived. I hope there is no purpose to life because that would imply fate and fate implies that there is predestination, and predestination implies that I am not a rational choosing person. It also implies that your friend is right in her conclusion that we have no right to pass judgment, because actions wouldn't be connected to the individual and then Ghandi and Hitler would be one in the same, and! then also those judgments I was passing really wouldn't be me at all because I would infact just be predestined to think those very thoughts and writing these very responses.

A sad cynical independent depriving life to live.

All Readers

2008-03-04T23:08:00.002-06:00

You are few, if at all :).

I really apologise for only posting Ron Paul's work the past few postings, I wanted to get the message out and didn't have the time, or will, to do it myself.

So I will be back with my own intellect sometime soon, I am exhausted - after having a cold, not reading enough, and standing on a street corner for an hour with a large paper hand painted poster for Ron Paul (unfortunately I didn't take picture of it, seeing as I hand painted it.) I did get two yay! honks, it made standing for the other silent pavement pacers worth it. Oh and the rest comes later

goodnight

Interventionism? Isolationism? Actually, both. :Ron Paul

2008-02-29T22:24:00.004-06:00

Interventionism? Isolationism? Actually, both.

A few months back, I wrote back-to-back weekly messages regarding globalism and isolationism. In writing those columns, I focused on the fact that our nation’s interventionist foreign policy was precisely what was isolating us from other countries.

Turkey’s recall of their U.S. ambassador in the wake of last week’s resolution, passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee in condemnation of Turkey, is a perfect example of what I wrote in those columns, as well as what I have been saying for years.

The House has passed similar resolutions for years, praising some foreign countries or political groups while chastising others. It is my policy to vote against resolutions of this sort whenever they have the impact of placing our country in the middle of an internal political problem of some other nation, or involving us in some regional conflict. In fact, this is almost always the specific intent of resolutions of this sort. Often, I am the only Member of Congress to vote against these resolutions.

Some have questioned these votes, arguing that they are meaningless statements of opinion. However, I have always been more skeptical, and careful, about voting for these measures. Last week’s reaction by Turkey , a long term ally and NATO member, shows that Congress should be a lot more restrained in sticking our government’s nose into the affairs of other nations.

Even though I am no fan of the war in Iraq , keeping positive relations with Turkey is important to protecting our troops who have been sent to fight this war. We are likely to need cordial relations with Turkey so that we can get our troops out of Iraq as quickly and safely as possible, when the time comes.

As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, my office has been contacted both by the White House and the Turkish Embassy. They know I oppose these types of interventionist resolutions and they know I will not support the current resolution. They also know full well that this particular resolution will only serve to strain an important international relationship our country should be seeking to strengthen.

In this instance, the problem is that many of my colleagues in Congress are more interested in seeking to score political points and proclaim their moral superiority, instead of worrying about our nation’s best interests. Also, in most of these situations, those who oppose the resolution regarding Turkey all-too-often fail to realize that similar resolutions dealing with other nations have the exact same effect. Namely, they isolate our country from the rest of the world.

Even if other countries do not take the rather extreme step of recalling their ambassador, this kind of meddling by Congressional resolution almost always serves to offend governments and political leaders in other counties.

Last week’s events make clear that Congress, and our foreign policy establishment, must reconsider the entire policy of interventionism if we are to avoid further isolation of our nation.

Hillary Clinton and her Promises

2008-02-26T19:08:00.010-06:00

"Hillary Clinton talked about how she would work to rebuild the economy. She promised that as president, she would create jobs, provide universal health care and create an education system that works, including affordable college tuition.
She said that this would be paid for when troops begin to return from Iraq, bringing money back to the U.S."[1]

OKAY, QUESTION TIME:

Q: What does demanding universal health care create?

A: Bingo! More taxation. (see here for a point of view)

We have two problems—we have the problem of the uninsured and the problem of the underinsured. My American Health Choices Plan would insure every single person for what they need.

It's simple: If you have insurance you like, you keep it. There is no disruption. If you have a good policy through your business or through a union or through a municipality, nothing changes. But if you don’t have insurance – or you don't like the insurance you have – you can choose from the same menu of private plans available to members of Congress. And we will provide tax credits to help you afford it.

My plan also bans insurance company discrimination, so you will never be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions or risk factors that you might have. And we don't require small business to do anything but it does provide tax credits to help small businesses if they choose to afford to buy health care for their employees.

Does it sound nice- someone doing all the work for you? A ‘them’ having the ability to steal from your pocket to create a ‘greater good’ a more Utopian society. Maybe to a select few, or maybe to those who haven't studied the flaws of macro-economics. Honey, the Leviathan is acommin.

Q: What in the world does she mean by 'create jobs'?

A: Sounds completely scary and empty to me. What does an political head figure mean with those two words? She says we are “rebuilding the road to the middle class” who is? My answer, the people are free individuals of trade and intellect, they make choices that reflect their highest values and jobs do arise continually. Her answer is that the government should help, “Hillary will finance her investments in innovation without increasing the deficit by devoting a portion of the revenue from ending tax breaks for companies that shift jobs overseas.” Clinton’s Proposal

“As president, I will lead our nation to create millions of new jobs by investing in clean energy and doubling investments in basic and applied research. I’ll implement a national strategy to bring broadband – and the information economy – to every corner of our country. I’ll improve math and science education, and open up science and engineering to more of our people. And I’ll end the assault on science waged by the Bush Administration.
“As we enter this new world of economic, technological, and social change – our dedication to innovation will be more important than ever. It will be the key to creating new jobs, to harnessing globalization and to rebuilding the road to middle class prosperity.”

This is one of the frustrating myths, her idea encompasses the government allocation of taxes will create something that if the government didn't do, wouldn't happen, if it was wanted/needed, would be made just as well or much better by the entrepreneurs of the people. Not only would the power of the people directly influence the wants and needs of itself, but it would create the honest reflection of the market. [1], [2], Job creation, Government VS The People, What the UN has to say.

Q: REBUILDING THE ECONOMY?

A: In that case! She must be invading the mind and choices of each individual because WE ARE THE ECONOMY- our individual interactions, Micro-Economics. Okay, I’m asking for honesty, is she being very genuine and honest? Because I don't what in the heck she could possibly mean by this statement in a, true way- what does her plan entail and HOW COULD THAT POSSIBLY CREATE LIBERTY?
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=5466

We live in a complex, interconnected, global economy. All of our challenges are all together now. We can't just put band-aids on one and expect to solve our problems. What we have to do is have a plan to create good jobs and restore fairness to the economy. We need to renew the promise of America that if you work hard, you can get ahead. We need to return to fiscal responsibility, so that Washington once again lives within a budget, just like you and your family has to do.

It sounds pretty right? But what does it mean to 'restore fairness to the economy?' or to 'create jobs' ? It sounds to me that she has a tiny voice in her head that knows what America is, because she continually states that it's the Peoples place, that the government needs to implement new jobs for us and help us jump start the economy, it sounds pretty but unfortunately, or rather fortunately, it doesn't work that way.

Q: Educational system that works?

A: For whom and who pays, and why not just cut taxes instead of for certain people, and who and what regulates who gets what? That's a whole new unneeded, yucky, job.

Q: Creating affordable college tuition?

A: Who is that hurting? Is she mandating more taxes? Have you ever heard of scarcity? Or the freedoms of private institutions? What about making them all private, how would that compare to her -hopeful- results?

Bring more women and minorities into the math, science, and engineering professions. Increasing the educational attainment of women and minorities, particularly in math, science and engineering, is critical to our future as an innovative nation. Women comprise 43% of the workforce but only 23% of scientists and engineers. Blacks and Hispanics represent 30% of the workforce, but only 7% of scientists and engineers. Unless women and underrepresented minorities develop strong math, science, and engineering skills, the average educational attainment of the American worker will decline. Hillary will direct the federal agencies to adopt criteria that take diversity into account when awarding education and research grants. She also proposes that the federal government provide financial support to college and university programs that encourage women and minorities to study math, science, and engineering.

I feel this as an awful unnecessary perception on who colleges are to admit as students, a very Keynesian way of looking at education. end.

No matter where or when, the essential prerequisite for economic growth is capital accumulation in a framework of freedom and sound money. The consequence of price control is shortage and surplus. The effect of money expansion is inflation and the business cycle. The effect of every form of intervention is to make society less prosperous than it would otherwise be.

Austrian VS Keynesian and Bastiat
That is a GREAT place to go, it has a lot of information in fewer words than many other texts, I recommend.

A prime example of the people doing things that you might not think they would, have faith in humanity, we do work as free individuals, we do. (Providing free RP stickers)

I don't particuarily favor this at all but it's one way to see what she's doing from a surprisingly rising majority of the ex-apathetics Here.

And, Thank You for taking your time to care about your freedoms and reading daunting things in order to fully educate yourself, I say, always carry with you your Constitution and Bill of Rights, we are American Humans, we are humans of democracy and justice.

Controling the Economy? A Laugh- A plea for Change

2008-02-26T16:58:00.014-06:00

Here I will list a number of sites YOU REALLY OUGHT TO VISIT:

Election Polling "Results"
Results

Truth News Presents Google's outcome (it's a super short article)-
HERE

A man switched his party from Demo. to Republican to vote for Ron Paul and was Harrassed

Relatively objective standpoint on who Ron Paul is and what his goals are- this is a truly 'awesome' article.NY Times (Christopher Caldwell)
A quote to start your interest in reading this article:

This side of Paul has made him the candidate of many people, on both the right and the left, who hope that something more consequential than a mere change of party will come out of the 2008 elections. He is particularly popular among the young and the wired. Except for Barack Obama, he is the most-viewed candidate on YouTube. He is the most “friended” Republican on MySpace.com. Paul understands that his chances of winning the presidency are infinitesimally slim. He is simultaneously planning his next Congressional race. But in Paul’s idea of politics, spreading a message has always been just as important as seizing office. “Politicians don’t amount to much,” he says, “but ideas do.” Although he is still in the low single digits in polls, he says he has raised $2.4 million in the second quarter, enough to broaden the four-state campaign he originally planned into a national one.

Rep. Ron Paul: I advocate the same foreign policy the Founding Fathers would
Here is an excerpt:

It is not we non-interventionists who are isolationists. The real isolationists are those who impose sanctions and embargoes on countries and peoples across the globe because they disagree with the internal and foreign policies of their leaders. The real isolationists are those who choose to use force overseas to promote democracy, rather than seek change through diplomacy, engagement, and by setting a positive example…

A Paul administration would see Americans engaged overseas like never before, in business and cultural activities. But a Paul administration would never attempt to export democracy or other values at the barrel of a gun, as we have seen over and over again that this is a counterproductive approach that actually leads the United States to be resented and more isolated in the world."

Ron Paul: an absolute faith in free markets and less government

The 10-term congressman from Texas has been a strict constitutionalist since he came into public life some 30 years ago.
"His message is basic: freedom and limited government. Repeal the welfare-warfare state. Get out of Iraq, now. Abolish the income tax. End the war on drugs. Put the dollar back on a more solid footing."Christian Science Monitor

"While Paul was a leading 2008 presidential candidate in GOP straw polls, he saw substantially less support in landline opinion polls and in various early primaries. He has strong grassroots support, facilitated by the Internet, where he leads other candidates in Web searches and YouTube subscriptions. On December 16, 2007, Paul had the largest one-day fundraiser in U.S. political history, raising over $6 million in 24 hours through an independently organized effort." wiki

"During his early days, Paul was influenced by Friedrich Hayek’s Road to Serfdom, which led him to read many works of Ayn Rand and Ludwig Von Mises while still a medical resident in the 1960s. He came to know economists Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard well, and credits to them his interest in the study of economics. He clearly remembers August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon closed the "gold window" by implementing the U.S. dollar's complete departure from the gold standard, as the day phe realized what the Austrian school economists wrote was coming true.[32] That same day, the young physician decided to enter politics, saying later, "After that day, all money would be political money rather than money of real value. I was astounded.""[26]
wiki

-In his House farewell address, Paul said, "Special interests have replaced the concern that the Founders had for general welfare. Vote trading is seen as good politics. The errand-boy mentality is ordinary, the defender of liberty is seen as bizarre. It's difficult for one who loves true liberty and utterly detests the power of the state to come to Washington for a period of time and not leave a true cynic."

Ron Paul's Freedom Report in April 1978:
Freedom Report

views of Ron Paul and other Libertarians on Education and other issues

Advocate.com

The Daily Paul- individual perspective

"Great Ron Paul Interview"

Foundation for Rational Economics and Education (FREE) is an American non-profit, non-partisan, educational foundation dedicated to public education on the principles of free-market economics, sound money and limited government. It was founded in 1976 by Congressman Ron Paul whilst he was serving on the House Banking Committee as a vehicle to increase understanding of the economic principles of a free-market society.

FREE publishes monographs, books and a monthly newsletter, The Freedom Report, which seek to create a greater public awareness of the principles of limited government and in 1989 FREE established the National Endowment for Liberty (NEFL) in order to develop programs that take advantage of electronic media. NEFL developed and produced the At Issue television series that was seen on the Discovery Network and CNBC.

Hillary VS Ron Paul
What is the Free Republic Afraid Of?

George Washington says it all:
Washington's Farewell address 1796

Tingling in the palms of my hands- Life Lessons

2008-01-26T19:09:00.000-06:00

I do not just follow popular trend, or absent mindidly make decisions. I make choices after hours of honest studying with genuine resources-and makes decisions based on the morality and ethics I have developed through my studying. I don't see how I could be accused of not making my own decisions or thinking genuinely for myself. Yes, I happen to have a good professor that does not teach to a test…. rather he provides an environment for us to hone skills the skills crucial in dissecting texts and provides us with critiques and classes designed to developing dialogue skills: in order to prepare me to comprehend- he "teaches" to my intellect. I'm never once told what to believe or why I should agree with anything.
The world is a wide place of resources and amazing literature. I, in class and out of class, study philosophy and economics. I am so grateful to have a professor and friends that have inspired me to become intellectually competent. The debate team I am a member of is Lincoln Douglas debate, it is called value debate - debates based on ethics (morality) and philosophy. It takes effort to comprehend texts and the concepts and beliefs that uphold what the writer is speaking of. Many texts take other texts to decipher because they use other concepts to defend their statements. To be able to read Rousseau’s Social Contract and know exactly why I disagree and what philosopher and or reasoning upholds my belief. These things are backed up with reason -and it's rewarding all in itself to me, every AHA I achieve makes breathing my next breath all the more worth it. I am a slave to reason and intellect, I'm happy for that.
During a large part of my life I felt as if things were pointless and held no basis for existing. I held on to living in hope that things would magically get better. I was obviously so stuck in the nonage of my surroundings, and wanted so badly to be lead. I didn't want to have to think for myself- in even further laymen’s terms: I had my own thoughts but I didn’t know what to think of the government or anything beyond what I had encountered in my life and just wanted someone that was “right” to tell me how everything should be, fortunately, for my own sake, no one was ever right enough to latch onto- I admit to that. I was mostly into thinking about the emotional realms of life and death and such. In 8th grade I began to accept myself as a valid human being that deserved to be treated kindly and as a human- healing some damage I had held onto so now my focous was less on the emotional realms. Well, I became SLIGHTLY restless around 9th grade with this way of being- letting others think for me. I really didn't let others think for me, I just didn't really have strong basis for my beliefs and simply didn't do much at all besides busy myself with thoughtless actions. Actually, I was always very strong in believing in my individual rights and the respect of other individual rights I was just plain lazy and didn't purse many things besides companionship and pursuit of hiding from my own loneliness. As I said beforehand, I became restless in not being able to reasonably justify why I though MY means to the ends I wanted achieved things better than, my parents (emotionally I was rebelling in an intellectual way to them rather than with drugs and such). So I would frequently get very upset with society and my family and my schooling- that I didn’t learn anything and that no one would teach me- and blame my feelings on other people- when really it was my lack of letting myself educate (that sentence sounds weird but it is typed correctly to what I am saying there). I began a slow and painfully (made by myself) activity of gnawing off the chains that I had bound myself in by attaching myself to laziness and reliance(dependence on others). Freshman year I tentatively peeked into a few debate classes and felt inspired and still VERY fearful of the possibility that I was responsible for my own education; (I was still coming to this awareness and still very much wanted to “be taught”) so I didn't go to debate much. In sophomore year, I again took steps into the “realms of knowledge” (I now call the cave) and was frightened… this time my understanding of myself, I knowing that I wanted to know more and be able to tell my mom what I thought -without just yelling that I hated the world and that I hated the “stupid government that was ruining my life and forcing me to attend school”, held me there in debate class. Because I knew that I could not ignore that want to change this time, because I had started knowing that I had possibility at my fingertips to change my own resistance and soon I would begin to understand my ignorance- this scared me so much, I felt even more lonely as if I would never understand these things. Well I wouldn't attend a debate tournament and I was still fairly fearful and focused much on what I didn't have and what I didn't like and how fucked up the world is and how I'm hopeless and I "just want to stop existing". The more you learn, the smaller you become to your own self. Well skipping over my many groans all spurred from my fear of responsibility and freedom- we come to Junior year.
This year, I felt ready and excited- having come to terms with my reasons for not wanting to be my ultimate potential- I was ready to over come the stupidity of them all (I’m still working on becoming the best I can be- that’s a daily thing).
First day of Theories of Knowledge Class- we all came in and sat down quietly at the table… waiting for instructions of what to do (!) exciting, my first day of this class I had been waiting and waiting for! Well… Professor Loan didn't say anything- he sat there for about 10 min. we asked him a few times like "hey, what's up?" "What are we doing in class today?" the like. He eventually stood up and going to the white board wrote a quote or some collaboration of a quote (I’ll update this Monday when I find the exact quote) "I am a public school teacher, I teach the lesson of dependency, ...skipping parts because I left my notebook at school...Good people wait for those better educated than themselves."

from this article - although most likely it was from the actual book. (http://www.newciv.org/whole/schoolteacher.txt) I've been reading some of the PROFOUND things that this guy has written and wow!

"Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist; it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges; it should allow you to find values which will be your road map through life; it should make you spiritually rich, a person who loves whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whomever you are with; it should teach you what is important, how to live and how to die."

– John Taylor Gatto
(http://www.homeschooloasis.com/art_john_taylor_gatto.htm)

This one is so so so good- http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/john_gatto.html

I'm going to look into the library system and if they don't have any of his books I will order "dumbing us down" because I am genuinely interested.
Any ways back to Junior year and that first day of class, well it really put pressure back on that idea that I am insanely crucial in my role of learning, regardless of what I had previously let myself fall into -of wanting to be taught. The teacher is not good unless the student realizes that teachers aren't there to do the learning for them. As Twain stated, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." and "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read. " Well the next few weeks we worked on reading Mark Twains- Corn-Pone Opinions and Kant's "What is Enlightenment" (not the complete article on Enlightenment). After a few hours spread over about 3 weeks-dialoguing and reading over the articles we had to write a short paper and then revise and make it longer and then make it longer again….and then again finally ending about 1,500 word essay on whether or not Mark Twain and Immanuel Kant agreed or disagreed.
Well to say the least, those first few months of school, have been the best experience of my life and it's only gotten better since then. (I highly recommend those two readings- btw Brittany I need my Twain back please). My passions for the intellect this year have been the pivotal point in almost all of my decisions.
In my sophomore year I decided that I wanted to do film as a college graduate school program and since I did then appreciate to some extent the intellectual realm, I said I wanted to learn about it all and be able to use these amazing concepts in my films. Well this has been becoming more and more evident as the path that I want to choose, if I am not competent as a film producer or something sad like that - I will still most certainly be able and happy in my passion of economics and philosophy. I have read so little, and have so much to read - it's inspiring and exciting: despite the let downs of the fact that many people are unaware of all of these beautiful resources I over come that- and love talking about anything intresting..haha with anyone. So here I am in January 2008, a little over half way through an amazing school chapter in my life.

I love people, I love being challenged and challenging beliefs, that's why I do debate- so coming back to debate (seeing as I never finished that thought here are some things about a passion of mine.) I'd like to proudly announce that this past weekend I made a new leap in becoming who I want to be and attended a debate tournament, I lost all three rounds and I'm so glad that I did- I learned a lot more about how much work and effort I need to start giving myself. But none the less, I did attend and I am happy that I did so. Not only were the rounds important to me but the interactions with the people I met and my perceptions on education- I met a few debaters that didn't know how to use reason in their arguments and would say things like "being gay is just...nasty...well why?...."because it just is...". I am glad my team attended, because we challenged someone beliefs and maybe changed something even if it's just that they have now met people that challenge what they are used to in their groups of friends.

The reason LD debate is named after Lincoln and Douglas is because their debates were centered around slavery and the morals, values, and logic behind it. Unlike policy debate, Lincoln Douglas does not require vast amounts of statistics or other empirical data. LD is a logical debate divided into a central Value that the debater claims his case achieves, a value criterion (way to achieve the Value), and commonly 2-4 logically developed contentions that back the value and criterion.

" I have been debating for a long time. In fact, sometimes I sit back and think about how long I’ve been involved in this activity and I almost faint. The reason I’ve done it so long is because I love it. Although I now debate CEDA, I still really care about L.D. I coach it and judge it and I want to see it develop into a debate form that is respected. The person who taught me L.D. influenced the way that I perceive the event. To me, L.D. isn’t about squeezing a policy round into forty-five minutes. It isn’t about research, it isn’t about speed---it’s about thinking. I have debated policy and I sincerely believe that it is far easier than L.D. The preparation for policy may be intense, but the actual round is not as hard. L.D. requires you to think about the assumptions of what you say and what you believe. It also forces you to analyze both sides of a value claim. In this way, L.D. is incredibly important. There is no question that the way(s in which) people perceive the world is very different. In many cases, people’s refusal to attempt to understand these differences is the cause of much conflict. The kind of questions that I believe L.D. should address are the kinds of questions that everyone should think about because it is these questions that call into mind the fundamental assumptions that make us see the world in the way that we do. By calling into question these assumptions, people are better equipped to understand that there are different ways of viewing the world, none of which is fundamentally more legitimate than another. By placing these issues into the framework of debate, L.D. forces young people to expand their own thought processes."
- Leah Castella
Pi Kappa Delta National Lincoln-Douglas Champion, Fifth Place Winner and Third Speaker at the CEDA National Championship
(http://www.wcdebate.com/2ld/7values.htm)

Humanity, uphold our freedoms (it’s this revolutionary thing called thinking, questioning, and listening that I’ve noticed needs to happen more often-even in myself),

http://www.reason.com/

http://www.cato.org/

http://www.independent.org/

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kkNyMmjDWU

http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/debates.htm

http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/cornponetwain.htm

http://www.preservenet.com/theory/Gatto.html

P.s. I attended the Mises talks on many interesting things that I'd love to share with people that are interested in economics.

about about EYE CATCHER.

2008-01-04T19:44:00.000-06:00

Something to tell you what this blog is about (not that the definition under my blogname doesn't ENTICE YOU ENOUGH!). I'm a cool cat of some various age, born in some not very innocuous decade. This blog is like...an exploding sun- supernovae of supernaturally small proportions that travel from your blinking electrical object (be it a computer of some type or a small portable object that fits in your pocket) all the way to your eyes that see this upside down...your brain flips it "upside" and you continue to read on! I plan to .. write of the things dwelling among other things inside of the walls called my skull. Honestly your adventures (hopefully) on this blog should be some what of a "liberating experience". . . I'm taking the liberal arts approach (as best as I can).

Musical endeavors- sounds, lyrics etc.
Essays and the like from what I am reading or what I have stumbled upon - hopefully accompanied by questions and paragraphs of my own.
Photography
Movies I'm interested in (I'd like to have a list accumulate of the films you ought to see in your life).
Class notes - because some of my classes really just are that good.
RANDOM OOZE from lots of sources that make my soul itch (that's good of cource)
political, economical, philosophical articles and opinions (political specials particularly between now and the 2008 elections). Hopefully those political articles where I highlight each person (or a select few) will expand your understanding of things and lead me to write more segments on the individual aspects of the things that they support.
Quotes per post
Poetry/literature/short stories
Comics
Inventions
more eye catching, grab your brain and pull things out types of topics/things
and maybe a few links to other sites.

I'm going to like the comments, they are something that will help influence some of the directions that I take and expand upon- so leave them.

Peace.

"The unexamined life is not worth living."- Socrates in Plato, Dialogues, Apology
Greek philosopher in Athens (469 BC - 399 BC)