Congenital Defiance(or, Kiss My Ass...as Political Will)

“

• Actively refuses to comply with majority's requests or consensus supported rules^[8]

• Performs deliberate actions to annoy others^[8]”

From:

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder)

I consider the existence of such a “diagnosis” to be a major slice of supporting evidence for a large portion of what I think is wrong with the world I landed in.

Rather than a “Disorder”, Defiance…Opposition…is something We would be better off encouraging.
That lingering Habit of doing as we’re told does Violence to the world.
I am Stubborn.
Hard Headed. (the better to beat against the various and sundry Walls)

My Life would likely have been much easier if I had been a bit more malleable…but I would have had to surrender my Integrity.
My Rebellion was never for Rebellion’s Sake…it was always well considered.
Somehow, I kept finding myself confronted by Beaurocratic Mollusci….attached to my ass….preventing my slide into my own Square Hole,where the fit was much better.
Defiance!
I awoke, this morning, thinking about that Dean…a fat man, in an office…scrubbed pink, smelling artificially clean, like every politician and CEO I’ve ever met…..with the faint, underlying taint of not being able to reach the dirty places…Who was this Toad, to stand in my way with such inanities?To what purpose did his office search for such esoteric rules with which to set me back? There should not be such artificial barriers to Education.
The Fine Print belies the true purpose of Higher Ed….as well as almost every other endeavor in the late 20^th, early 21^st Centuries….Conform. We don’t want any Thinkers…anyone who would rock the boat, and unseat us from our Privilege.
College Credit should be easily and Universally Transferable.

Since I saw, quite clearly, that this administrative morass would kill my Funding….the paths ahead opening in my mind, right there, in his bland office…I gave him the Finger…said, ‘Find another chump’….and left…to consider my Escape.
I do not regret this….what I regret is the choice of that school..and my caving in, in switching my Major to RTF(Jobs), from Philosophy.
Can’t unring that bell.
The phrase,”lead, follow, or get the fuck out of the way” made perfect sense, to me.
Everywhere confronted with Ignorance, and the Peter Principal…and other artificial ensconcements of the Stupid in positions of Power.
How does this happen?
It has bewildered me, amazed me, for most of my life.
And just look at where this triumph of Mediocrity has brought us…..

Middling Functionaries Rule, like so many Polyps in the intestinal walls of Humanity….blocking Innovation…Alternatives.
All but forbidding Vision…when Visionaries are what is needed most.
I detest Rand, but she did have a valid point.(and as usual, the Right has totally missed that point…cherry picking, as is their wont, the narrow, self-serving parts….to shore up, and give ethical cover to avarice)

Cogs in the Machine did not give us the Enlightenment, the Renaissance…
Beaurocrats didn’t invent the wheel, or even the Agriculture Revolution.
It was not Cubicle Dwellers who spurred us out of the trees, into the savannah.
It was the Freaks!
Defiant Individuals who had the courage to chuck wrote conformism and blaze a new trail.

Now witness the Functionaries’ Revenge….
The Collective Mind of Cotton, where Thoughts go to Die….
Banal.

Boring.
The Box is the whole frigging world.

Despite my Poverty, and the proverbial Troubles of Job, I do not regret being Defiant.

Middle Finger points the way.

Coming Down the Mountain

‘Behold! This cup wants to be empty again, and Zarathustra wants to be a man again.

Thus began Zarathustra’s down-going.’

A woman stopped me in the sad excuse for a grocery store, and thanked me for Defending her Rights.(re; a letter to the editor)

I was humbled, and somewhat Mystified, by this….

She is, after all, a Bush2 Republican(bumperstickers).

Folks, I am finding, are very inconsistent in their Political Beliefs and adherences. This is not the first time I have encountered this…first and second hand.They are “Pro-Life”, until it reaches it’s logical conclusion, and threatens to affect them….or “Free Market”, until they are under the heel of Corp(se) Feudalism….
I am humbled and overwhelmed that my lte’s are so well received.

Over the last few years, when I have been forced into the World for whatever reason, folks ask “where have you been?”….my stock answer has been,”I am a Hermit”….and I have been met with tacit Understanding. This has surprised me, as well.

The Tide appears to be turning….the Bush Darkness seems to be abating….and the Collective Insanity and Polemicism would seem to be lifting, at least with some folks.(the (IMO) overly Religious, Right Leaning “Evangelicals”, aside…they have proliferated, but seem to spend most of their time on platitudes(“lifting up”(?)) and segregating themselves)

I am Agoraphobic.

When I must go forth, and be among the People…for a baseball game, or whatever….I find it exhausting, mentally and emotionally.

My teeth hurt, from gritting…and I habitually limit my utterances to a handful of stock phrases and niceties…unless prompted by direct questions regarding energy or Politics or Gardening….

Perhaps my little corner of the World is ready for me.

I have considered attending city council meetings…perhaps school board meetings…to get a feel for such things.

Try and determine if it’s worth the effort to run….

The current lot appears to be quite ineffectual and disconnected.(and at least “my” representatives harbour a certain, unwarranted elitism)

There are many things, locally, that must be Changed, in my estimation, if we are to meet the coming challenges.

The City Ordinances, for instance, are better suited to larger cities, than to this Far Place.Us little people are over regulated…why does Mason need a draconian Sign Ordinance? Or Zoning that forbids Cottage Industry? Do they really need their Pound of Flesh from Garage Sales? Have they not noticed the current Economic Malaise?

I am leery of advocating a Farmer’s Market, for fear that the City will fuck it up with unnecessary rules and fees…thus undoing whatever benefit could otherwise be derived.

Rules regarding Electricity ensure an over-reliance on extension cords and ‘power strips’….which, I venture, was not what was intended.

The City is like an ant bed….one tries not to disturb it.

Unresponsive….unless one pokes it with a stick, thus inviting scrutiny….and, given that there are so many rules and ordinances(largely secret), one is always likely to be in “Violation” of something…

Much of this seems to be due to laziness….and a penchant for meddling. The Sign Ordinances, for example, were lifted from those of Austin…and have no business here.

When I moved to town, I went to the City Office and asked for the Code Book….I wanted to know what all was in it….what they figured was their purview.
I was told,” tell me what ordinance you want, and I’ll make a copy of it….for a fee”

I said that I wanted to whole thing….isn’t it written down somewhere?

Blank stare….”why?”….incredulity.

This is ,perhaps, a tacit surveillance measure.

If a person asks about Electrical Ordinances, they must be contemplating Electrical Work, and can then be watched.

It shouldn’t be this way.

Laws should not be Secret….and Our Employees should endeavor to Work for Us, if not cheerfully, then at least with forbearance. As it stands, the City Office is quite threatening and mean spirited. Adversarial.

It may be necessary for me to Venture out of the Monastery.

Moloch.

The savage, like ourselves, feels the oppression of his impotence before the powers of Nature; but having in himself nothing that he respects more than Power, he is willing to prostrate himself before his gods, without inquiring whether they are worthy of his worship.--Bertrand Russell, "A Free man's Worship"

It is a common refrain ,that "we don't make anything here, anymore"..and that "all the Jobs were sent overseas"....
It is a cliche, that Manufacturing, once the powerhouse of our Economy, has been "Outsourced"....which is a cruel euphemism for "Exported".
This is explained by lots of Eco-Babble...like "Efficiency", and "Return on investment"...and even such almost Truths as "They do it for Cheaper"...
Attendant on this last assertion is the corollary, "American Workers are prohibitively expensive". That they are "Greedy", and want "Something for Nothing"....

This is where all this stops making sense, to me.
My Kindergartener just came in and informed me that his Crayons are "Made in China".
This is new to him...and largely meaningless.
I look at the news, and read various and sundry economic reports and missives....and the largest economic worry, out there in America, at the moment, is Lack of Jobs.
Unemployment is at record highs, even if one only considers the Official Numbers....which, I think most are aware, are largely Fiction. The actual numbers are much higher...and when one weeds through the Jargon and Gobbltey-Gook that accompanies such things, one finds things like U-25...."Birth/Death Model",and many other things that have as their sole purpose the Hiding of Truth
The Proverbial PHD Flipping Burgers.
We are told that "we" are doing everything possible to remedy the situation....but I have determined that this is a lie, as well.

The reason I can say this so blithely, is that there is a very simple remedy that has not been tried, or even suggested, save by unofficial folks like me: Start Making Things Here, Again.
Why is this so difficult to understand?
Sift through the "reasons" given for why this simple plan is unconscionable, and one gets down to the root of things: the Ceo's and "shareholders"....which are merely further euphemisms for "Elite"...don't want to. They make more money,and maintain their Power, by engaging in Labor Arbitrage.

Take a peasant out of his rice paddy, give him a TV and 3 square meals per day...perhaps heat, in the winter... and he'll think he's on cloud nine....he'll work for very little...as opposed to an American Worker,who is used to all those things, and much more...he(or she) has seen, and lived in the Promised Land, and is reluctant to either give it up..or to take a whole lot of undue crap from the Boss.
Boss would rather have the former.

This "discontinuity"...this Criminality(for that's what it is)...benefits the Few, at the Expense of the Many. It is Codified, into Law, Regulation and Treaty...it is exacerbated by Tax Policy, and by Monetary Policy.

It is all around us.

It is for the continuance of this Criminality, and the necessary continuance of our Failure to See it, that Economics is just barely taught in High School...and that we are taught to Hate and Fear all things Marx, from the very cradle.
It is why Unions are vilified...and everything Public.

...because those Elites, those Criminals, who benefit from this system, know that if We Knew...if We the People were aware of the extent of their Crimes, their reign would be Over.
So these Creations of Men...Markets, Economics....are believed to be Natural Laws...Immutable...Unchanging....like the Thunderstorm or the Earthquake....the Forces behind such things must not be Challenged by such mundane pleasantries as "Bring Home the Jobs".

The Priests intone: "We cannot, for the Market will be Angry with us".

It occurs to me that this is not very different from Sacrificing Humans to appease some other Imaginary Spirit.
Let us not let any more of our children "Pass through the Fire, unto Moloch."( Leviticus 18:21–23)
The Courts have determined that Money is Speech.
So be it.
Let your Speech be for the Relocalisation of America.

Let it be for the Democritisation of the Means of Production, as Adam Smith intended
Let it be for Repatriation of Manufacturing, and the Jobs that left with it....and let the Economists figure it out how to enter it into their ledgers

...and in the mean time, let your Speech be for looking out for one another, whether the Market likes it, or not.

Oh, Well....

I have entered the province of Hell.

On monday, I went to the Doctor to learn all about Sleep Apnea...seems I've gained almost 30 pounds these past 4 years...due to the inactivity that comes with greai pain...especially in the winter(Fronts, and such)
This led, I am informed, to the terribly unnerving exerience of failing to inhale, as I'm falling to sleep.I am assured that weight oss will Fix this.
So much for smoking cessation, for the time being.lol.
On tuesday, my left shoulder went nuts. pulled/pinched muscle/tendon, poterior, justunder the scapula.
Bad posture, during my pseudohibernation...m bdside table is on the left. cyclobenzapine(sp?) and meloxicam was indicated, along with the usual vicodin and Brownies.
Today, Thursday, I felt much better. Legs in retreat, and shoulder managale....went on a cleaning frenzy, in preparation for my brother's brood...untill, I lifted a pie of firewod for saturday's BBQ...

the Bckstrap,lol, on my right side....something popped! I am certain that it is muscular...strained muscle, most likely...but, my God!!!! i can hardly move!
All winter, knowing I needed it, I endeavored to practice a sort of Yoga of my wn invention....call it "Broken Branch Style"...
Just stretching, really...
Like a lying down Tai Chi.
Heaven knoiws I need such things....
I had hoped, thereby, to avoid such as this.
Oh, well...
Sometimes it really sucks being me.
I cannot see far enough to edit/correct this little missive.
Bear wit h me....

There has been so much Pain in my life..

For 7+ years I have needed a hip/ankle/knee.
The rest of my ills are peripheral to these...and derived from them.Most of these peripherals are undiagnosed, and unrecorded....like this event will likely be.

It is unknown how many of these derivative injuries could have been prevented, had I recieved timely medical care.
Uncaring dils, like Michel Bachmann, and Rik cPerry always come tto mind when i am in similar states.
keyboard is screwy, for some reason.Cheap chinese shit)

.

On the NDAA Suit, by Hedges, Wolff, etc

http://obrag.org/?p=57359

If they want me, I’d be happy to be a Plaintiff, in Spirit.

Friends have warned me…saying that they “worry about” me…as I am an Outspoken Curmudgeonly Liberal Hippie person.
I’m also a serial Letter Writer….to the White house, to various and sundry Congresscritters, and to whomever else gets my back up.

Being a student of History, it is not all that hard to see similarities between this Legislation, and Hitler’s Enabling Acts…and even the Inquisition.
This is what Power and Privilege resort to, when their tired old arguments no longer have effect….when they can no longer fool everybody, they first belittle and smear those opposed to them(“Well he’s a Commie…or, he hates America”, or whatever.
If that doesn’t work any longer, they send in the Law to harass and bother…from being scrutinized at airports, being pulled over, for no good reason.(like this never happens….it happens enough that it is a staple in TV Land.)
If all that fails, there is the example of Gandhi, MLK, RFK, JFK, Lennon….and on and on…
Yes, there “is no Proof”.
There wouldn’t be.
Or all the folks that fell out of airplanes, or were eaten by sharks, had “mechanical problems”…there was the guy (I’d hafta go and look it up, again…but it had to do with 9-11 and Iraq) who shot himself in the back of the head, in a boat in the Atlantic, while simultaneously tying his hands and feet and drowning.

No small feat!

Or the Flir Expert who was to testify at a hearing regarding Waco..who was found rotting weeks later in his apartment.
Nothing to see here….
Church Committee?
Ancient History…we’re America.
Pshaw!
This NDAA Provision is just one more nail in the coffin of Liberty…and by treating the above enumerated examples as “loony”, or “Conspiracy Theory”, OUR Employees do a great Evil.

This hearing is about whether these Brave Folks have “Standing” to sue the Fedgov…if there’s any validity to their Fears of being Targeted, and whisked away to some “Black Site”.

After 40 years of “Drug War”, 70 or so years of Cold War Hysteria,and now 10 years of a “War on Terror”….along with the Quakers being watched as “Terrorist sympathizers” by the FBI!!!~

Of Course They are Right to Worry!

Every Thinking American(I know yer there…) should be clogging the Congressional Switchboard, and the White House’s Phone lines…Demanding an End to all of this.
”National Security” be Damned!
That is just a convenient excuse for Operating in Darkness…which should have no place at all, in a Free Country.

No More Secrets…no more “Classified”…or “Top Secret”.
Under the aegis of these, and the FEAR that encourages, and excuses them…OUR Country has been taken from US.
If Our Employees cannot operate in Sunlight, then whatever they’re doing…should not be done.

The Last Two Weeks.

Got the Garden in...including little fences around most of the Raised Beds, so's the Birds can mow.
Scraped, and now Panted, the front of the house...White, with Purple trim...(Puncher Purple, tho I just like Purple.)
Blue paint on the ceiling of the porch, Sky Blue, to discourage Mud Daubers and other Hymenoptera( they can live in all the inverted boots I've put on fence posts expressly fer them...

Finished, save for the double hose ends, in each of the beds...the grey water system. Not a drop wasted, save fer the toilet.

Rainwater finished...and full. Just under 1000 gallons.
Mushroom Garden(a pile of logs) inoculated.(and the little indoor one. )

Experimenting with a portable fence, so Birds can mow the ditch.
My String Trimmer/Brush-hog, finally bit the dust...I exhausted the application of baling wire, wood screws and tape.

I have around 50-60 living lawn mowers.
...for whom I'll plant Rye, Wheat, and buckwheat for , next week, on the Wild Lot.
They'll join Geese and Ducks in the Garden.
There is now a Ton, or two, of well rotted Manure, from the Feedlot(Free), in the back yard. Perhaps St Augustine(it's very shady and damp(relative to out here....others would likely call it "Dry",lol.)

Built a sort of tabletop greenhouse, for starting flats.If it moves, I don't need a permit.
(Imperial Entanglements)

A Million little other things have gotten done, in my usual Glidepath, Hobble By and Get It Done Style.All of this, on an average 4-5 hour day, interspersed, by necessity, with frequent breaks, Vicodin and Magic Brownies, then near catatonia, at evening.

Arrrggggh!

Here's a letter to the editor in response to this:http://www.masoncountynews.com/news/article/51637

I know, I now, I can't leave well enough alone,lol....

.Editor,
Thankfully, Mr. Kemp's Morality is not yet the Law of the land...nor is the Federal Government the Enforcement Arm of his, or any other, Church.

Under our (Secular) form of Government, the Supreme Court gets to decide what falls under the Constitution. They did so, with Roe vs. Wade....and, although that may change at some future date, it has not yet.
We have no National Preachers, Bishops or Imams who are empowered to decide Morality for the rest of us. That is up to each Individual.
Even Female Individuals.
Yes, Mr. Kemp, Women are People,too....full fledged Citizens, with all of the Rights, Privileges and Responsibilities that you and I enjoy.

Under the Hyde Amendment, no (ZERO) Federal Dollars go to Abortions. The Federal Money that goes to Planned Parenthood is specifically spent on other services, which make up the greatest share of that groups' work .By cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood, not one abortion will be prevented. What the effect will instead be, is to deny routine health care to poor women. Cancer Screenings, Pap Smears, and, yes, Contraceptives....which, by the way, DO prevent abortions!

Ab Indignato,

Swadeshi (Garden as Charkha)

Buying “Raw Milk” is very similar to buying Weed.
In many places, buying and selling and even producing Food…whether Milk Products, or even Veggies, has been effectively Criminalised.

I have yet to see an explanation by our Free Market Fundamentalist friends, on the Right.

I doubt one is forthcoming.

Where such activity is, on paper, Legal, one must still adhere to the Regulatory Structures, put into place by Friends of Corporate Agriculture….and where the Law is surmountable, as in my Lettuce Experience, there are still the “Industry Standards”…of , by and for Corps(e) Ag.

Witness the millions of Dollars worth of “Liability Insurance” that I was required to maintain if I hoped to sell Lettuce.

This is Protecting Monopoly.

And is further proof that the Idea of Hydraulic Despotism is alive and well…and is the fundamental Model for our Corps(e) Economy.
Hydraulic Despotism has been a feature of how we do “Energy”, for a very long time. From Electricity, to Oil, and it’s derivatives, to the marketing term, “Natural Gas”(Methane).

Similarly, in Medicine. One is all but forced to purchase “Health” from a member of the Club.
Banking, the same.

Even retail moves in that direction…Centralisation of the means of production, control of that production, and relegation of the Small Competitor(Adam Smith) to illegality, or at least, regulatory disadvantage. Homogenisation of the Produce of that Production is a related feature.

We are dependent on Giant, Centralised Power for our Subsistence.

Resistance is, increasingly, Marginalised…until it is Outlawed….usually accompanied by the spew of the Great Wurlitzer of Propaganda and Meme-ineering(Ure). The Backyard Farmer becomes the New Terrist….the Enemy of Mankind….as soon as he attempts to sell an Egg.

To “Legally” make enough Ethanol to fuel one’s lawn mower, and car(possible in old carburetor types, to my knowledge), one must jump through regulatory hoops, that have, as their only effect, making such activity economically unfeasible. The Regs negate the Cost Benefit.
One must Compete with Economies of Scale, on Their Playing Field.

To make $$$ selling an Egg…one must maintain an Egg Factory….Not a Backyard Chicken Flock. “Yard Eggs” are “Dangerous”, you see…while the Factory Eggs, are not.

Similarly, if one runs a Café, the tomatoes must be from an “Approved Source”…which equals a Large, “Agribusiness”…
Which we are to believe produces a Safer, Healthier “Product” than the Retiree with a Large Garden.

Purchasing Local Food, then, becomes a Revolutionary Act…an Act of Civil Disobedience. The Black Market that springs up is, also, a Revolutionary Thing.
Fight the Power; Buy Local.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swadeshi)

(http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-americans-will-need-%E2%80%9Cblack-markets%E2%80%9D-survive)

(http://www.alternet.org/activism/154352/arrested_for_meditating_why_it%27s_radical_to_stay_nonviolent_in_the_face_of_police_brutality/?page=entire)

The Net of Indra

I have always found it near impossible to narrow my interest to anything close to a specific field or pursuit. I have been a lover of science, for instance….a scientiaphile?...for as long as I can remember…Why, then, did I not become a Scientist? To become a Scientist in late 20^th Century America, one must choose a “Field”, which would not be so bad….But,then, one must narrow down one’s focus to something within that Field…then narrow down further, to some aspect of the specific. From early on, I noticed connections and patterns…across Fields. There were no Fences. When I started looking at College, all I found was Specificity…Specialisation.

Consider….describe the Chair you’re sitting in.

Then stand back. Describe the Chair, and the Room around it, and their Interconnections. Now, go across the street.

Across the Country.

To the Moon.

Further back one goes, in Perspective, the more data there is, regarding that Specific Thing one is looking at, attempting to Understand. To Truly Understand one’s Chair, one must Understand the Universe in which it sits.

Of course no one has such a God’s Eye View…but, due to this fact, which is scary, Science has gone all the way in the other direction…to Specificity.

Cartesian Dualism, and all that. (Subject/Object(Observed/Observer))

Reckon this looks like a form of Extremism.

I feel a deep, abiding need for a more Whole-istic, Comprehensive View.

This was pretty much ignored in the Scientific World, as far as I knew then. In reality, but unknown to me, this Generalism was , indeed, quietly growing. There was no “Degree Plan” for this, however. Colleges, at least the State colleges I looked at, would teach you how to Specialise, with Generalisation , if any, relegated to a chapter or two, here and there.

Luckily, I was really into Philosophy….where there is at least Room for such ideas.

No one, as I’ve elaborated elsewhere, was keen on me Majoring in Philosophy.(even though I had been studying Philosophy since I was 8-10)

It has, in fact, taken 20 years of Self Directed Study to even articulate this concept.

And now, Generalisation in Science is just now hitting the “Mainstream”.

In Geopolitics, too…relatively few Thinkers broke out of even such kind of broad subdivisions as “Economics”, “Political Philosophy”, and whatnot. Zbignew, Kissenger, and the like, come to mind. C.Wright Mills.

History, too…I prefer Toynbee, Barzun and even Durant. I’m not interested in Minutae…on this date, the Archduke was slain in Sarajevo. I want the context. People are slain every day, after all. Context is what makes this particular death interesting.

It’s hard to do, sometimes….pull back far enough to have a comprehensive understanding, yet still maintain sufficient Granularity, that it makes sense.

It’s like the difference between Dune, or LOTR…and Clarke’s 9 billion names of god…the latter is good, in it’s own right…but it doesn’t hold a candle to the breadth and depth of the former two.

This is why I like Jung, rather than Freud, or Skinner or Piaget, etc.

Jung developed a comprehensive system…a Framework…on which he could then hang various Specifics, and then stand across the street, regarding the Whole.

As I grew older, the more I found this focus on the Specific to be lacking…

When I was “encouraged” to take on RTF…there it was, this lack.

Context. How do we, budding Broadcasters, hope to fit in to the Whole?

There was nothing about the “Industry”, and where it was going….nothing about how what we were training for would soon be Obsolete.

Lack of Whole-ism, Context, the General…is really a big problem in the world, today.

A glance at Climate Science is instructive. To understand it, one has to plug in Economics, Politics, Geology, Space Science, Chemistry, Biology,….on and on. Ya hafta be a Generalist to understand something so complex. Looking at a thunderstorm will not suffice.

Or Biotech…the Corporate Lab(I forget who) that was about to release a GM Organism that would have sterilized the world…until a grad student said…”Whoa…slow down…think”. The Bug would have been awesome at making Ethanol from Biomass…and that’s as far as the thinking went. No one, but for this single Grad Student, considered the possible unintended consequences…if this Bug had been set loose. With nothing to stop it, it could have turned whole continent’s worth of topsoil into Alcohol.

I think that whole scenario (which really happened) is Scary as Hell…and it is due, for the most part, to a focus on the Specific….and an almost Total Disregard of the General.

I approach the Spiritual in the same way…indeed, I find it difficult, and sort of counterintuitive, to separate Spirituality(at least as I see it…experience it) from the Empirical Universe of the Observed. Cartesian Duality is very useful in looking at the Specific…but when one ventures across the street, to the Moon, and turns around…One is still a Part of what one Beholds. As above, so below.

One of my favorite things to think about is Indra’s Net….this is a perspective on the Universe, wherein all of Reality is conceived of as a vast, limitless spider’s web, and where every Node, where two or more strands meet, is a Diamond….and all of those Diamonds are Reflecting each other. In this context, plug in the information that (in the Hippie Trope) “we are Stardust…”…all matter was generated in stars, that exploded millions, billions of years ago, sending more complex elements out , into Universe…some of which constitutes my body. The water in the Llano River was generated from simpler stuff in a star, somewhere, sometime…and was delivered hence by Comets.

The Science that discounts such considerations as Mysticism, is correct, of course….but when that Scientific, Cartesian Mind, then discounts such considerations as irrelevant…I reckon that as Dogmatic. This is part of what Rosenstock-Huessy was on about…that Cartesian Dualism tends towards Dogmatism…again, that Universalism that the Enlightenment inherited from Pre-Enlightenment Darkness.

It may have been a necessary phase, this universalism…but perhaps it has outlived it’s usefulness. Perhaps we are at a stage where it is necessary to Broaden our conceptions…

RH specifically(lol) picked on the application of Cartesianism to Psychology…how can one separate oneself, as an Observer, in such a situation as the Psychoanalyst, Observing the Patient? There is a back and forth, a Dialog…between the two…necessarily…and to discount that relationship, beyond the learning of psychological concepts and techniques, is ,I suspect, counterintuitive.Subjects observing Subjects.

The same sort of thing is operable in so called Quantum Physics…Uncertainty, the dead cat…the Observer Created Universe.

It’s closer to Rumi, than to Einstein.

There is no Spoon…

I find great satisfaction is such musings…especially at the River…and especially on a weekday, when the highway is quiet…and the only sounds are those of Nature…

Park the canoe(with NCC-1701, in orange, on the bow,lol) next to a cliff, made of billion year old rock…covered with myriad types of lichen, and ferns in the cracks, the water lapping at the base…cast off exoskeletons of dragonflies, still clinging to the crust of dead dried algae.All this, and more to my right…and to my left, an expansive view of the Texas Hill Country…

…and I think about how much We still do not know…and the Bubble of Our Awareness(as a Species), in five dimensions, expanding in all directions, as We gain further Understanding.(the 3 dimensions of space, plus time, and then the fifth, inner and outer. )

There is still much to learn.

The Flat Earth.

(This is a LTE, in response to this:

http://www.masoncountynews.com/news/article/50290)

Individuals who enjoy a weekly megaphone should be sure that they don't needlessly spread demonstrably false information...unless that is their intention.

Climate Science is Complex. There's a lot of Variables to consider, many of which Science doesn't completely understand. Knowledge is Provisional, and Science is the never ending pursuit of better understanding. We will never Know.

However, Science has proved to be a remarkable tool in furthering our understanding of the Universe. It comes as a shock to some folks that a Scientific "Theory" is as close to "Fact" as Science can come. What most folks seem to think "Theory" means is more akin to "Hypothesis", literally "Placing Under"...a Supposition....a Foundation from which to Enquire.

A "Theory" is not an educated guess. It is the Temporary End Result of Testing one's Hypothesis. Much of this Testing in the area of Climatology, is done with computer Modeling....where the Inputs are the observed Climate Record...some of which is pieced together from Ice Cores and Tree Rings, and even Sedimentation...Strata at the bottom of lakes, and the like. Data from Buoys and Satellites and Balloons...about currents of wind and water, over time...are plugged in...

Some of the most powerful computers on Earth are pressed into service to "build" these Models....

And it works, rather well....and has passed the further Test of Falsifiability, as well as Prediction. (what the Models were predicting 20 years ago, has come to pass) The Overwhelming Consensus, among Climate Scientists, as well as the Scientific Community, as a whole, is that Global Warming is a Real Phenomenon...that it's Getting Worse...and that Human Activity, for the last Century, or so, is Responsible. We have entered the Anthropocene.

Denialists like to point to the so-called "Climate Gate" fiasco....which a cursory look at the Record indicates was created out of Whole Cloth by a few Right Wing Bloggers, then picked up by Fox. The original emails in question were taken out of context, by Nonscientists. Tempest in the Teapot, indeed.

Another favourite riposte is what, on the surface, looks like contradictory Data."How can there be Global Warming if it's Snowing?" or, "How can they be warning of an Ice Age, if the Planet's Warming?". The former is mistaking Weather for Climate.

The latter is a simple failure to appreciate the Complexity of Climate.

The warnings about an Ice Age, are referring to the effects of a whole lot of Fresh Water(which floats), from melting Ice Caps, entering the North Atlantic, and "shutting down" the Atlantic Conveyor....of which the Gulf Stream is a part. This would, indeed, cause dramatically Colder Temperatures in Europe(London is the same latitude as Nova Scotia), and the North East of North America...and then the "Positive Feedback Loops" could kick in, and the party really gets going.

The point is, I guess, that we need better Science Instruction in Schools. This wouldn't be such an issue if we all were on the same page, regarding things like "What's a Theory?"....Too, there is an enormous apparatus churning out those Tempests I referred to....and this Wurlitzer is funded by Interests who would like to keep things as they are...for Short Term fun and Profit. Mud in the Water.

The Problems we, as a Species, face are Huge...but they don't fit well on a bumper sticker. That does not make them any less serious.

Thanks, '

Inquisition;

(Weed as a Civil Rights Issue.)

I've bitched about the treatment, overt, and not, I've received in my life, due to my insistence on keeping my hair long. One might wonder why this is such an issue for me...and I've covered this, I hope..( http://amfortasthehippie.blogspot.com/2010/09/hair-crusade.html)

There is another side to all this, however. Why is long hair on men so threatening, in this country? After all, we pretend to pride ourselves on tolerating Self Expression....there is a long, proud history of bucking trends, of being one's own man, and the like. And, I must note, women have, for a long time, enjoyed the freedom to choose their hairstyle...short, or long. To my knowledge, short haired women have never been singled out for extra scrutiny by Law Enforcement....

What gives?

Observe:( http://edu.glogster.com/media/4/27/4/68/27046854.jpg)

Since the sixties, long haired men have been associated, indelibly, with dope smoking hippies. If you are a long haired man, hippie, or no, you now what I am speaking of. In our "Culture", if you are a man, with long hair, you are automatically Suspect....You Must be Hiding something...up to something nefarious.

(advising me to "just cut it" is analogous to insisting that we all wear uniforms...think about it.)

It's the association, in the minds of LEO's, and many "Normal People", of long hair with Weed, that is at issue.

Which brings me to my Beef, today.

Since the loosening of restrictions in California, more than a decade ago, much neglected research has finally been done into the dangers and benefits of Weed. It will come as no surprise to those who have Inhaled that the research bears out what we have known all along...Weed is pretty harmless...and beneficial. Many states have finally given the go ahead for Medical Use of Weed, for a variety of ailments...but the Recreational Use of Pot is still Taboo, for some reason.

Every day, there is a constant stream of folks....good, upstanding Citizens...into the stores to procure Beer, Wine and Liquor. They are not buying this for their health....and so such subterfuge is required of them...by Law Enforcement, or by Society.

They are looking to relax...and to Catch a Buzz. Many are quite open of their intention to Get Drunk.

How much alcohol was consumed yesterday...Superbowl Sunday?

And consumed openly, and without any stigma being preemptively attached? The inevitable fights, accidents and even deaths, as a direct result of this consumption, are mourned in passing, and tacitly forgiven...overlooked.

For Potheads, and even for casual users of Marijuana(the majority), it is an entirely different experience.

We must procure our choice of Relaxant in often seedy, often dangerous circumstances. Not only is the supply given over into the hands of, necessarily, the Criminal Element...we also have to worry about Law Enforcement.

One Joint can get you a prison sentence, in some circumstances.

And, because of the Inquisitorial Nature of the Drug War, the person you Share that Joint with may be an informant, or even a Cop. Many people who get caught with a joint are given a choice...go to Jail, or Inform on your Friends.

History Rhymes.

How many Dictatorial Regimes, down through the Centuries, relied on just this tactic to impose their rule?

The Catholic Church had it's Inquisition...which did the same thing...given, with more ruthlessness and violence...but, still...

I realise that all of this is loosening, somewhat, in more Enlightened parts of the country...ie; Texas is a pretty Backwards place,lol...but such Enlightenment, and forbearance by LEO's, is inconsistent, to be charitable.

It is well known, by Potheads, that there is something like a Pot Culture....Passing the Joint, for instance...and a shared need to avoid detection....a shared quality of being a Persecuted Minority in an Intolerant Nation.

This Culture, of Sharing, and Commiseration and inherent Solidarity, is routinely shattered by the Crusade against the Noble Weed. Law Enforcement spies on the Citizenry....the aforementioned subversion of Trust among Pot Smokers...the employment of Dogs, and Illegal Searches, and an array of technology more befitting the Battlefield...

...and all of this supported, and justified, by a Mythology...consistently disproven by Science and by Anecdote...that Pot is a Great Evil...an Existential Threat to America.

The recent flourishing of Research into all aspects of Marijuana doesn't make a dent in the Mythology....and does nothing to sway the True Believers...especially those who run the Inquisition. It is like an Article of Faith, among the cops I've known(and, near as I can tell, this is widespread), that Pot is as dangerous as Heroin or Coke...that it makes the user jump out of windows, and go on Murderous Rampages....and that it, inexorably, leads one to become addicted to the rest of the Schedule 1 Pharmacopia.(Gateway)

Fear of all of this Nonsense is triggered, in LEO's, by the sight of a long haired man driving down the highway....or sitting in a cafe...walking down the street.

How is this any different than the Original Inquisition?

They aren't burning Potheads at the Stake...but they are certainly ruining lives...and burning through Billions of Dollars of Taxpayer Money to do so. This is to say almost nothing of the rampant and shameful corruption of LEO's by a Criminal Element that would not even exist, were it not for this Inquisition and Crusade.

This was all started as a tool to persecute Minorities....and to protect certain Industrialists(paper, dupont) from Competition. It also served to give a purpose to the now purposeless apparatus of the Failed Alcohol Prohibition. Then, in the late 60's, early 70's, Nixon used it as a tool to Persecute all those Hippies on the White House Lawn...and , now...all of these reasons are still applicable. Added to them are the Protection from Competition of Big Pharma....and the continued relevance of the Giant Anti Drug Industry, including the Cops. There's a lot of Jack to be made in keeping "Drugs"(Pot, especially) Illegal, Forever.

This is Not a good reason to continue.

I'll not dwell on the Race aspects of the Drug War, as that is covered adequately elsewhere....my Beef, as a white dude with long hair, is what i have experienced.

There is a Law on the books in Texas, since '07, giving every Jurisdiction a choice of how to treat minor Pot "Offences"...with the specific option to treat them as a traffic ticket,...no jail, just a fine...like for not wearing a seatbelt. To my knowledge, this has only been applied in Travis County (Austin)...and there, only sporadically. In this era of anaemic governmental budgets, I long to lobby the Sherriff to make use of this Law...save some money by ceasing the local part of the Crusade against Weed...I long to Speak Out, locally, in advocacy of Ending the stupid, Failed War on Drugs.....But I have no illusions. Such actions would only serve to paint a Target on my already hirsute head. ...And thus is my Freedom of Speech unwittingly curtailed.

Even if you do not enjoy Pot...even if you never intend to...every American should oppose the continuance of this. The Science, alone, begs for at least a frank discussion....

The furtherance of the Mythology-Based Crusade and Inquisition against a subset of the American People is Wrong. It is counterproductive(as in, it is a Failure, by it's own Criteria)...and it is inherently Unamerican.

How much Proof do we need?

Lobby!

(http://billmoyers.com/episode/on-winner-take-all-politics/)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying_in_the_United_States)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtier)

The first Wiki, up there, includes in the broadest definition of "Lobbying"....me.

...Since I regularly bother "My" Representatives and other Gooberment Creatures.

This is certainly flattering, but...somehow...I feel less than effective. I have long thought of running something of a Poli/Sci experiment...where I would "lobby" a set of Congresscritters...before....and After making a large-ish "Contribution"....just to see if there would be any change in behaviour. Would that I had the extra cash...I think it would be , at the very least, entertaining

The narrower, more familiar definition is, sadly, out of my league. "Gucci Gulch" and K Street, and wherever else these lizards lay, are filled with folks with Serious Bank...as well as what are tastefully referred to as "Connections". I was saddened that wiki didn't have that word as a link...for more information. What are "connections". exactly...and what are they worth, versus the piles of cash?

I am guessing, regardless, that I do not possess such "Connections". The Whores and Weasels that I usually irritate are specimens that I wouldn't vote for in a hundred years...and I refuse to keep my correspondents in the Dark on that score. Ergo, sycophancy is out. I am not connected to either money or Power...or the mob...or anyone, really. So Extortion is also out.(like there aint no extortion happening...)

It appears that I am stuck filling up the Congressional EMail Server...and when I'm really angry, the Capitol Switchboard(202-225-3121).

Use it , or Lose it. In theory, these folks are Your Employees...join me in giving them a piece of Our minds.

De Nile.

Oh, Look! More proof of the veracity(as in non"conspiracy theory",lol) of Peak Oil.

(http://en.zaman.com.tr/en/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=4965#.TyoM6n8N4lY.facebook)

Add this to the growing list...National Geographic, Scientific American, Forbes, the Economist, the Atlantic.....

And yet..."My" Congress Critter, Conaway...at least his minions who deign to reply to such as me...think it's a bunch of hokum. (and that Corporations are "just People"...so why am I surprised?)

Drill , Baby, Drill!

...and when the last tree falls, Jesus will come.(an actual quote, from some Rethuglican, insanely put in charge of forestry issues..dont remember who...)

Of course, Mr Conaway has deep ties to Oil and Gas...he got his leg up in politics by being an accountant for the Bush Crime Family...Harken Oil...the Midland Mafia, et alia...

Sigh. I thought Incest was a bad thing....I guess that if it's merely figuratively incestuous, it's as American as Apple Pie.(hold the Carbaryl)

While Conaway seems like a nice enough guy, personally...I have much misgivings about his adherence to the Right Wing Gospel.

His support for an audit of the DOD is great...and I have said so...but the kneejerk reactionism of almost the entire rest of his voting record does not fill me with hope.

Last election, the Texas Democrats could only find a Right Wing Nutjob to run against Conaway... a nominal "Democrat" who was, in many ways, worse than the Incumbent. (the use of "State's Rights" and other unibrow code words,kinda gave him away,lol."grain alcohol and rainwater..." Ha!)

Conaway's district (21?) is one of the Hammer's gerrymandered Monstrosities...stretching from West Texas Oil Country all the way over here...to Mason...to what used to be in the district with Austin. Like many of the other Delay Creations, this is silly and counterintuitive....unless the goal is permanent Rethuglican Majority.

Anyhoo...I've sent Mr Conaway a link to an advocate of Methane Digesters...Poop=>"Natgas"...

I don't expect any acknowledgment, since e widepread replacement of septic tanks and sewer systems with such energy producing tech would negate the Hydraulic Despotism currently enjoyed by our Corporate Masters in the Energy Sector. Can't have the little people taking such matters into their own hands.

Regression

I've been re-reading, as I've said, Reine Eisler's "Chalice and Blade"....this, as well as Joseph Campbell and Gimbutas, were foundational to my outlook. I am a somewhat accidental Feminist. So deeply have these things sunk into my psyche, that even the word "Feminist" seems limiting...inadequate...with connotations of being simply the other side of a coin, rather than a comprehensive, whole-istic world view.

Eisler, and the others, make a compelling case....and I find it instructive that so much effort has been marshaled to discredit and belittle these ideas.

In the same way that Western Historians, until very recently, ignored much evidence suggesting that the pre-Columbian population of the "New World" was many millions....in other words, that the effects of European disease went before the actual Europeans, giving the impression of a relatively uninhabited place, ripe for the taking....in the same way, any suggestion or proposal that threatens the Mythos of Man the Warrior/Hunter, of Primitive Man the Brute, of an alternative way to structure a society, is simply disregarded....attacked as "Utopian", "Pseudohistory"....

Liberalism ( look it up...I'm not talking about the Faux Definition...) leans towards Feminine Values...what Eisler calls Gylanic....Partnership, as opposed to Dominator....Cooperative, versus Uber-Competitive.

"Conservatism" is the Reaction to this.(see: http://www.alternet.org/story/153919/the_truth_about_the_conservative_mind%3A_why_reactionaries_from_edmund_burke_to_sarah_palin_have_fought_real_liberty_/?page=entire)

For almost 40 years, those who have historically held Power have been fighting a war for the Mind....it's been a shadow war...fought with Memes, and Slogans and Framing. It relies on Fear....whether of the Other, the Brown People Du Jour, or of loss of status, and function...

Why, for instance, can we not have an Equal Rights Amendment? Who does it threaten, the idea of Women having equal pay, equal rights to property, and the like?

Why, after 911, was the obvious...what our country had done abroad to engender so much Hatred...off limits?

The Drug War...which is, for the most part, a War on Weed....why do we continue it? Is it because Weed encourages Thought, and Peace and Sharing?(refute,)...

Labor Unions....why are they so vilified? Is it due to their challenge to Hierarchical, Authoritarianism?

Again and again, there are patterns that connect...Hippies...Quakers...Liberals...Environmentalists...all those who advocate a more Peaceful, Rational and Egalitarian World....these are the Enemies of the Man...the Dominators.

I note that Kucinich has had a very difficult time promoting the creation of a "Department of Peace"....why? Why is Peace and cooperation so threatening to the (largely) Men who Rule us?

One of my main beefs with Christianity is it's focus, since the 3rd or 4th century, on War and Hatred and Destruction....and on a My Way or the Stake Mentality.....rather than on the Ideals and Utterances of it's purported Founder.

Are we really doomed?

Can enough of us not make a conscious Choice (Heresy...look it up)...to change this Dynamic? Are the war monger's feelings so fragile and important? Let alone the "Troops"....my God!...is calling the recent Imperial Wars "Wrongheadded" and Stupid...such an affront to those who were fooled into fighting them? Must we tiptoe through the minefield of PTSD, and say nothing of how Evil our invasion of Iraq was?

In growing up with a disabled Vietnam Vet...I learned rather quickly that one must not criticize that war...no matter how, Objectively, Stupid it was. His Psychological Equilibrium, such as it was, relied on sustaining the Belief that our actions in Indochina were good and just...that he lost his legs for Freedom and the American Way....

This continues, on a National, Societal Scale.

We are Cowards.

Untill a critical mass of Us find the Courage and Fortitude to speak out against all the War and Hate and Domination and Uber-Competitive Psychotic behaviour...nothing will change.....except for the worse.

Science is only used when it enhances and supports the male-centric Authoritarian Dominator System...otherwise , it is disregarded. Same with Religion...Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild? No...can't have that... God is Pro War(Fallwell)...Jesus with a Sword...(and Women as Property!) Turn the other cheek...in order to distract your enemy, lol.

I note that "Democracy" is well and good, when the supposed "Will of the People" gives us Violent Imbeciles for leaders....it is suspect, if not "un-American", if it brings Reason, Intelligence or a Black Dude into the White House.

Locate your spine, my Fellow Americans...that wrinkled mass at the top of it is your Brain.

Please, begin to use them both.

Corps(e)

There's a "new" way of doing things, economically. So called "State Capitalism (see the current issue of the Economist). This is where the Authoritarian State takes over, or forms, a Corporation. Like China owning it's phone company, or Saudi Arabia buying controlling shares in an Omani Gas Drilling Company. This is the Legacy of State Communism...and, like that arguable perversion of a Good Idea, relies on Force, Coercion and Authoritarianism. I don't reckon that anyone reading this would desire to live under such a system...it has all those traits that the Propagandists of the Cold War railed on about the USSR. One could say that the East has a long acquaintance with Authoritarianism....

In the West, we have acquaintance with a different kind of Authoritarianism...and our Corps reflect this. It is Myth that USA is a Purely Capitalist Country(world without end...)

here, our Government didn't purchase, or found, the Corps...the Corps, instead, ate the Government.

We both operate under certain fictions...in the West, that everyone is Free, and all the rest of the Liberal Democratic Canon....in the East, that everyone knows their place, and that the Heirarchy is equivalent to the Cosmic Machine.

Both of these, East and West,State owned Capitalism, and Capitalist Owned State, seem to be pointing in the same direction....an end to Liberal Democracy, and an end to Individual Freedom....Both are inherently Authoritarian...

All us little people are to be merely cogs in the wheel.

As I've said, and alluded to, repeatedly...I prefer a loose fundamentalist resurgence of Adam Smith's Capitalism....tempered with Marx's Socialism.

The thing that jumped out at me, with Smith...was the need to distribute the Means of Production as widely as possible. Democratise Everything. Instead of Petrobras, or Exxon...a million little oil companies(we need a new word?)connected up to a state supported infrastructure of distribution, refining and whatnot. (Oil is a bad example, per the reality of PO).

The naysayers fear that "We" will somehow "Lose", if we went this route....that "We" couldn't compete with Exxon or Petrobras....I figure that that sentiment is predicated on certain assumptions that need not be as important as the current Paradigm makes them. The world will soon begin Shrinking....with the end of cheap oil.....instead of Global Concerns, Local will become more and more important.

Perhaps the Corporation has reached the limit of it's usefulness.

I think of the success of the Internet....a million nodes...interconnected...headless, and therefore unkillable. Distributed Network. You know the story. Robust,.

Why not apply the same Model to what we call "Business"....which is the identification of Needs/Wants, and the attempt to satisfy them.

For 30+ years, the mantra has been that Capitalism is the End of History...that this is proved by the collapse of the USSR(state commie...not really Marxist,btw)...and that the Free Market(supposedly the thing we're aiming for(!?)) will triumph....and that there is no alternative(TINA).

Brewing and fermenting in far off China, where the Masters of Capitalism sent all our Plant(?), is this alternative..."State Capitalism".

.............I can hear the new ideological, existential struggle, already....

Democracy, as usual, is given no consideration...at best, only lip service...like a tshirt.

Perhaps Adam Smith, Marx and Thoreau(!!!) should be taught in high schools...ha! it says a lot that this is utterly unlikely.

(http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6491/)

(http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6470/)

(http://www.alternet.org/story/153933/7_signs_the_corporatocracy_is_losing_its_legitimacy--and_7_tools_to_help_shut_it_down/?page=entire)

(http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/this-changes-everything-how-the-99-woke-up)