America's greatness comes from its principles...from the principles of the Founding Fathers as enumerated in the Constitution.
"WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT" Truths, not opinions, beliefs, whims, but truths, absolute truths. Not sometimes Truths, maybe Truths, occasional Truths, but Truths period, absolute forever Truths.
And they are SELF-EVIDENT. Open your eyes and look and you will see them. Open your mind, clear your vision of subjective feelings and see the objective Truths.
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. Not some men, not these but not those men, not men of certain groups or sects, but ALL men. EQUAL. Treated the same by the government, entitled to the same, held to the same standards. No political privileges, no special favors, no royalty.
THAT ALL MEN ARE ENDOWED WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS. Not sometimes RIGHTS, occasional RIGHTS, only-in-this-situation RIGHTS, but immutable solid as a rock always RIGHTS.
Before the President enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR (OR AFFIRM) THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND WILL TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY, PRESERVE, PROTECT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES" Not interpret the Constitution to my liking, not ignore its provisions when I don't think they apply anymore, but PRESERVE it as it was written, as it was intended.
Extreme, yes? Yes. Principles are extremes, absolutes about truths in reality, enduring, unchanging. America's greatness comes from its extreme once-in-the- history-of-the-world glorious principles.
When Sen. Arlen Specter said in the hearings on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court that he admired her sense of humor because "we want somebody to moderate the court", make no mistake, he meant someone to moderate our Founding principles. Which ones? In what way? Of course, no specificity because specificity = exactitude = absolute = extreme.
But principles are not "moderatable" and that should tell you something about where Senator Specter is, and where our country is heading.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
A WAR BY ANY OTHER NAME
The war in Afghanistan is now the longest war in American history. Ooops, sorry, it's not a war, which under those casual notes the Founding Fathers signed some 235 years ago, only Congress has the power to declare war. There was a reason why the Founders included that provision: TO LIMIT THE DICTATORIAL POWER OF A CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT AND KEEP A CRITICAL DECISION ABOUT GOING TO WAR IN THE HANDS OF THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY IN OUR ENLIGHTENED COUNTRY, THE SOVEREIGN PEOPLE.
But, alas, Presidents of all stripes have dictatorial blood running through their veins. The Vietnam War and the Korean War were not wars either...merely police actions, conflicts, counter-offensives...political euphemisms for the deadly reality of war.
Why the reluctance to officially calling the Afghan War what it is? There is the political reason. Legislators would have to vote Aye or Nay, go on the record...not something many would care to do in the face of voter discontent at fighting and dying for unpersuasive reasons. If things go poorly, "Hey, it's not my war, it's the President's...who inherited it from the prior President of the other party. Don't blame the 4,000 dead, 30,000 wounded, on us."
I think there is a second reason for misnaming the battle. The politicos running the war don't believe they can win it...the way we won WWII. The war is basically a guerrilla war and that's not where our strength is. There will be no unconditional surrender. Our enemies will be there after we leave, we know that. As they still are in Vietnam and Korea, half a century after we left. And we don't want to be associated with a lost war. Let's call it something else. and quietly say we have successfully completed our mission and are turning the fight over to local politicos. As we just did in Iraq, as we will soon do, or begin to do, in Afghanistan, Pakistan and anywhere else our enemy is found.
So, how about, containment. Let's contain Al Qaeda and the Taliban and our other sworn enemies, say our brilliant civilian military experts, inside other countries. They can't hurt us much from over there. Wonder why we didn't think of that before. "OK, AdolF, you have your concentration camps in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Treblinka and Bergen-Belsen...contain your genocide to those camps and we can live with that. Just don't try to bring them to New Jersey."
But that can't be the reason for not declaring war, or the President would be securing our borders, which he refuses to do. That's the other half of the formula, isn't it: contain them there, keep them out of there.
So it must be that political thing. We fight and die with one hand tied behind our backs, we do not give the military everything they need to win, we advise our enemy when we will begin to evacuate and do that turnover thing to Karzai...all to get Obama, Pelosi and the rest of that gang reelected.
Or is it we can no longer clearly distinguish between who's right and who's wrong?
But, alas, Presidents of all stripes have dictatorial blood running through their veins. The Vietnam War and the Korean War were not wars either...merely police actions, conflicts, counter-offensives...political euphemisms for the deadly reality of war.
Why the reluctance to officially calling the Afghan War what it is? There is the political reason. Legislators would have to vote Aye or Nay, go on the record...not something many would care to do in the face of voter discontent at fighting and dying for unpersuasive reasons. If things go poorly, "Hey, it's not my war, it's the President's...who inherited it from the prior President of the other party. Don't blame the 4,000 dead, 30,000 wounded, on us."
I think there is a second reason for misnaming the battle. The politicos running the war don't believe they can win it...the way we won WWII. The war is basically a guerrilla war and that's not where our strength is. There will be no unconditional surrender. Our enemies will be there after we leave, we know that. As they still are in Vietnam and Korea, half a century after we left. And we don't want to be associated with a lost war. Let's call it something else. and quietly say we have successfully completed our mission and are turning the fight over to local politicos. As we just did in Iraq, as we will soon do, or begin to do, in Afghanistan, Pakistan and anywhere else our enemy is found.
So, how about, containment. Let's contain Al Qaeda and the Taliban and our other sworn enemies, say our brilliant civilian military experts, inside other countries. They can't hurt us much from over there. Wonder why we didn't think of that before. "OK, AdolF, you have your concentration camps in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Treblinka and Bergen-Belsen...contain your genocide to those camps and we can live with that. Just don't try to bring them to New Jersey."
But that can't be the reason for not declaring war, or the President would be securing our borders, which he refuses to do. That's the other half of the formula, isn't it: contain them there, keep them out of there.
So it must be that political thing. We fight and die with one hand tied behind our backs, we do not give the military everything they need to win, we advise our enemy when we will begin to evacuate and do that turnover thing to Karzai...all to get Obama, Pelosi and the rest of that gang reelected.
Or is it we can no longer clearly distinguish between who's right and who's wrong?
Monday, June 28, 2010
SECEDE, SI SI!
So, the President of the United States has canceled two functions in Arizona, presumably to punish the State and its citizens for passing a bill that would enforce America's immigration laws and would protect them from illegal immigrants. This bill parallels a federal law tat the President refuses to enforce. California, too, wants to restrain commerce and other connections to Arizona. (I guess the States aren’t as United as we thought they were.)
So, if I were Governor I would introduce this bill:
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one State to dissolve the political bonds which connect it with others, and to assume among the powers of the Earth the equal station to which the laws of nature entitle it, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind require that it should declare the causes which impel the separation:
We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all States are created equal, and whenever any President of the United States fails to recognize that fact, then it becomes necessary to secede from the union of States and to institute a new status that will seem most likely to effect its safety and the happiness of its people.
The President has refused to enforce validly established laws that are his duty to enforce. He has forbidden Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance unless his Assent is obtained. He has endeavored to obstruct the laws for naturalization of foreigners. He has taxed our people but has refused to protect them. He has obstructed the administration of justice, treating some states more favorably than others.
A Prince, whose character is thus marked by acts which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be President of a free people.
We, therefore, declare that Arizona is and of a right ought to be a free and independent state, and hereby secedes from and is absolved from all political connection to the United States and to its President, and for support of this declaration we pledge our lives, our fortune and our sacred honor.”
So, if I were Governor I would introduce this bill:
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one State to dissolve the political bonds which connect it with others, and to assume among the powers of the Earth the equal station to which the laws of nature entitle it, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind require that it should declare the causes which impel the separation:
We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all States are created equal, and whenever any President of the United States fails to recognize that fact, then it becomes necessary to secede from the union of States and to institute a new status that will seem most likely to effect its safety and the happiness of its people.
The President has refused to enforce validly established laws that are his duty to enforce. He has forbidden Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance unless his Assent is obtained. He has endeavored to obstruct the laws for naturalization of foreigners. He has taxed our people but has refused to protect them. He has obstructed the administration of justice, treating some states more favorably than others.
A Prince, whose character is thus marked by acts which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be President of a free people.
We, therefore, declare that Arizona is and of a right ought to be a free and independent state, and hereby secedes from and is absolved from all political connection to the United States and to its President, and for support of this declaration we pledge our lives, our fortune and our sacred honor.”
Thursday, June 24, 2010
THE NEW ABC'S
The Provincetown, Massachusetts educational system has passed a ruling that will distribute condoms to elementary school students, beginning with first graders...whether their parents object or not. Presumably the argument is they need to have the condoms to learn about sex. "Parents aren't teaching them, no other way for them to learn."
But the ruling does not go far enough. First graders should, on that enlightened line of reasoning, also be given:
a dildo
an IUD
a film on masturbation, oral-genital stimulation and anal intercourse
a film on lying convincingly
a bag of marijuana
a bag of heroin/cocaine/ecstasy
a bottle of scotch
a .22 pistol and some bullets
a hatchet
a vulgarity dictionary
a college diploma with a degree in teaching
Now they will be ready to face the world.
Assuming there still is a world.
But the ruling does not go far enough. First graders should, on that enlightened line of reasoning, also be given:
a dildo
an IUD
a film on masturbation, oral-genital stimulation and anal intercourse
a film on lying convincingly
a bag of marijuana
a bag of heroin/cocaine/ecstasy
a bottle of scotch
a .22 pistol and some bullets
a hatchet
a vulgarity dictionary
a college diploma with a degree in teaching
Now they will be ready to face the world.
Assuming there still is a world.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
SURFACE STUFF
General Stanley McChrystal, head of our forces in Afghanistan, has been reprimanded for comments he publicly made impugning the ability of some of our civilian leaders, including Vice President Biden, to be involved in the conduct of a military operation. And certainly, during a period of war, undeclared or not, a case can be made that the making of those comments was inappropriate, indiscreet, and demoralizing to the troops.
But that is not the main issue here...which is whether the comments made by General McChrystal, an esteemed and experienced military strategist, were correct or not. That is the hard core issue, and one that should be addressed and investigated. For if he is right, changes ought be made immediately to save the lives of our fighting men and women and expedite our victory.
But not a word can be heard about that issue. The focus of media organizations and, seemingly, the Administration, has been 100% on the General's apparent impropriety. Whether our civilian advisors to the President, and the President himself, are equipped to fight this war, goes unquestioned.
Apparently, the Image is Everything slogan of Andre Agassi's Canon commercials 15 years ago, has taken hold. Substance has gone by the wayside. Too much work to figure out who is right and who isn't (assuming there is a right and wrong to anything). Look good, say the right things, get the girl, get the job, get elected.
And get what you asked for. Or, rather, what you didn't ask about.
But that is not the main issue here...which is whether the comments made by General McChrystal, an esteemed and experienced military strategist, were correct or not. That is the hard core issue, and one that should be addressed and investigated. For if he is right, changes ought be made immediately to save the lives of our fighting men and women and expedite our victory.
But not a word can be heard about that issue. The focus of media organizations and, seemingly, the Administration, has been 100% on the General's apparent impropriety. Whether our civilian advisors to the President, and the President himself, are equipped to fight this war, goes unquestioned.
Apparently, the Image is Everything slogan of Andre Agassi's Canon commercials 15 years ago, has taken hold. Substance has gone by the wayside. Too much work to figure out who is right and who isn't (assuming there is a right and wrong to anything). Look good, say the right things, get the girl, get the job, get elected.
And get what you asked for. Or, rather, what you didn't ask about.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
MAX AND MINNIE
Uncle Max and Aunt Minnie were a couple.
Max wanted to MAXIMIZE everything...he wanted the biggest house his money could buy, the fanciest car, the most friends, the biggest parties. Minnie wanted to MINIMIZE everything...big enough, new enough, enough already, were her slogans. He let the reins out, she pulled them in.
Somewhere in the middle, somehow, some way, Uncle Max and Aunt Minnie found the path they could both walk on. He bought into some of her simple satisfactions, and she found a light in some of his dreams. Together they found a rich happiness, enduring happiness.
Not so today. The ubiquitous Maxes are in the ascendant, frenzily, virtually, uncontrollably, chasing the maximum, seemingly never contented with what they have, dismayed by what they haven't. Maximum frustrations, disappointments, self immolation, attach to their prizes. The Minnies are shunned as passive, lazy, unmotivated sloths, caricatured as mere hitchhikers on the road of life. Their quest for serenity amidst the chaos, for spiritual comforts and enlightenment, are secretly scoffed and sneered at. But the Minnies smile.
It may be that the essential difference between them is primarily in the different ordering of their priorities, rather than in their quantity. I used to think that Uncle Max was more fun to be with, and that Aunt Minnie was smarter. I now realize I was half right.
Max wanted to MAXIMIZE everything...he wanted the biggest house his money could buy, the fanciest car, the most friends, the biggest parties. Minnie wanted to MINIMIZE everything...big enough, new enough, enough already, were her slogans. He let the reins out, she pulled them in.
Somewhere in the middle, somehow, some way, Uncle Max and Aunt Minnie found the path they could both walk on. He bought into some of her simple satisfactions, and she found a light in some of his dreams. Together they found a rich happiness, enduring happiness.
Not so today. The ubiquitous Maxes are in the ascendant, frenzily, virtually, uncontrollably, chasing the maximum, seemingly never contented with what they have, dismayed by what they haven't. Maximum frustrations, disappointments, self immolation, attach to their prizes. The Minnies are shunned as passive, lazy, unmotivated sloths, caricatured as mere hitchhikers on the road of life. Their quest for serenity amidst the chaos, for spiritual comforts and enlightenment, are secretly scoffed and sneered at. But the Minnies smile.
It may be that the essential difference between them is primarily in the different ordering of their priorities, rather than in their quantity. I used to think that Uncle Max was more fun to be with, and that Aunt Minnie was smarter. I now realize I was half right.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
SECOND TIME SWEET
Older people in our country are often relegated to memories...reminiscing fondly of past events in their lives. And those memories can be very sweet and enjoyable. I have so often seen the elderly sitting passively on a bench in a park, watching the younger joyfully excited about the moment, exchanging excitements, courting, frolicking. And the elderly remember their youth, and smile.
Memories play an important part in our lives, but for many, they are not enough. Because remembering entails looking back at the past, it is not truly living in the present. Watching television, reading books, even gazing at the lake, can be passive, unfulfilling time spenders. Active living is what is what is missing, and what is needed.
And so I am forming a new service for the elderly, a new service that I call "Second Time Sweet". A consultant of STS will, for a reasonable fee, personally meet with the elderly person, discuss the memory he or she would like to relive, and make all of the arrangements for that to happen, as if it were happening for the first time. Trip to another country, a first date, a party with childhood friends? To the extent possible, all will be provided. The memory will come to life, experienced anew, experienced, perhaps, even sweeter. Unity will be established between the past and the present.
And will give birth to yet another fond memory.
Imagine that!
Memories play an important part in our lives, but for many, they are not enough. Because remembering entails looking back at the past, it is not truly living in the present. Watching television, reading books, even gazing at the lake, can be passive, unfulfilling time spenders. Active living is what is what is missing, and what is needed.
And so I am forming a new service for the elderly, a new service that I call "Second Time Sweet". A consultant of STS will, for a reasonable fee, personally meet with the elderly person, discuss the memory he or she would like to relive, and make all of the arrangements for that to happen, as if it were happening for the first time. Trip to another country, a first date, a party with childhood friends? To the extent possible, all will be provided. The memory will come to life, experienced anew, experienced, perhaps, even sweeter. Unity will be established between the past and the present.
And will give birth to yet another fond memory.
Imagine that!
S O S
ENTREPENEURSHIP 101: When confronted with a massive problem, sit down with the parties involved, get the facts, consider various options for the solution, discuss and organize how the parties involved can work together to expedite the solution, establish an order of authority.
OBAMASHIP 100: Do not speak even once during the first two months after the oil spill disaster occurred with the CEO of BP, the operator of the oil well that is daily spewing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, damaging our coastline and our fishing and tourist industries; announce that "I am learning whose ass to kick" and "We are keeping our boot on BP's neck" and "Why are people complaining? One month after the incident, I spoke with some fishermen". (Fishermen vote, you see, BP doesn't.)
What did you expect from a President who never had one day of administrative, executive, experience before taking office...a self-annointed guru who wants his administration to run the banking, insurance, health care, energy and oil industries...whose claim to fame was as a law school professor and local community activist? Further, his degrading language reflects his lack of respect for his office, its history, its stature, and the role it can play in uplifting the standard of life in our country.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the political ledger, no one has as yet stepped forward to serve as an experienced, dignified, presidential alternative. No one electable. Vacuum facing vacuum.
Our ship of state is floundering...and the abyss is in sight.
Oh, yes...the answer to that ass question: Your own!
OBAMASHIP 100: Do not speak even once during the first two months after the oil spill disaster occurred with the CEO of BP, the operator of the oil well that is daily spewing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, damaging our coastline and our fishing and tourist industries; announce that "I am learning whose ass to kick" and "We are keeping our boot on BP's neck" and "Why are people complaining? One month after the incident, I spoke with some fishermen". (Fishermen vote, you see, BP doesn't.)
What did you expect from a President who never had one day of administrative, executive, experience before taking office...a self-annointed guru who wants his administration to run the banking, insurance, health care, energy and oil industries...whose claim to fame was as a law school professor and local community activist? Further, his degrading language reflects his lack of respect for his office, its history, its stature, and the role it can play in uplifting the standard of life in our country.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the political ledger, no one has as yet stepped forward to serve as an experienced, dignified, presidential alternative. No one electable. Vacuum facing vacuum.
Our ship of state is floundering...and the abyss is in sight.
Oh, yes...the answer to that ass question: Your own!
Monday, June 7, 2010
THE BLUR
Technology has clearly speeded up human life, at times, to a blur. But that is not the blur I am addressing today, it is a much more important one.
America has been fighting an undeclared war for 9 years now, but refuses to declare it a war because that would require treating those who financially support and provide aid to our enemy is also our enemy...and the Administration refuses to clearly and unequivocally declare Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia as the enemy. Rather, the President would rather overlook their actions, meet and bow to them on the basis of "they have their point of view, their complaints, too". That's the blur.
Israel is condemned for its blockading of the delivery of rockets and weapons to its enemies in the Gaza strip, who have pronounced their will to annihilate Jews and destroy their homeland and who have and will fire those arms into civilian territory in Israel, or be used by suicide bombers. The fact that Israel was established by the UN over60 years ago is overlooked. The use of established civilized international procedures for the resolution of disagreements, and the use of holocaust-type vitriolic rhetoric and its attempted implementation, are treated as equal alternatives. That's the blur.
The woman who is raped is said to have meant "Yes", though she said "No"...because otherwise why would she have invited the rapist into her apartment. No distinction made between a cordial invite and a desire to have sexual force exerted against her. That;s the blur.
The well-crafted television show, Masterminds, and many others (starting with the Godfather series), have you rooting for the bad guys to win...except they are not thought of as the bad guys, but the smart guys, the daring guys, the guys I wish I could be. That's the blur.
The blur caused by modern technology may at times lessen your savoring the simple pleasures of life. A penalty, to be sure, but mild compared to the penalty induced by the blur I am speaking about. In the end, that one will kill you.
America has been fighting an undeclared war for 9 years now, but refuses to declare it a war because that would require treating those who financially support and provide aid to our enemy is also our enemy...and the Administration refuses to clearly and unequivocally declare Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia as the enemy. Rather, the President would rather overlook their actions, meet and bow to them on the basis of "they have their point of view, their complaints, too". That's the blur.
Israel is condemned for its blockading of the delivery of rockets and weapons to its enemies in the Gaza strip, who have pronounced their will to annihilate Jews and destroy their homeland and who have and will fire those arms into civilian territory in Israel, or be used by suicide bombers. The fact that Israel was established by the UN over60 years ago is overlooked. The use of established civilized international procedures for the resolution of disagreements, and the use of holocaust-type vitriolic rhetoric and its attempted implementation, are treated as equal alternatives. That's the blur.
The woman who is raped is said to have meant "Yes", though she said "No"...because otherwise why would she have invited the rapist into her apartment. No distinction made between a cordial invite and a desire to have sexual force exerted against her. That;s the blur.
The well-crafted television show, Masterminds, and many others (starting with the Godfather series), have you rooting for the bad guys to win...except they are not thought of as the bad guys, but the smart guys, the daring guys, the guys I wish I could be. That's the blur.
The blur caused by modern technology may at times lessen your savoring the simple pleasures of life. A penalty, to be sure, but mild compared to the penalty induced by the blur I am speaking about. In the end, that one will kill you.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
THE HYPOCRITTERS
*All those who moan ceaselessly about the few geese and other fowl that were touched by the BP oil spill, and say not a word about the cute 23,000,000 chickens we Americans kill for food...EACH DAY.
*Those wealthy movie actors who moan about the way the rich have been favored by Republicans and do not pay enough taxes, and hire expensive accounting firms to complete their income tax returns and keep their taxes as low as possible.
*Network officials who claim their news programs are fair and balanced and then have their prime daily news commentators all with the same or similar political perspective.
*Presidents who swear to uphold the Constitution and then claim it is a living document with no ideals or principles to uphold.
*Those who tell their children not to smoke pot because it is illegal, and then speed on their way to work each morning.
*All those who claim "there is no truth", for if they believed that, they couldn't and wouldn't say it.
*Those who claim to be benevolent and opposed to violence, and spank their children.
*Those who claim to be "pro choice" but are opposed to euthanasia.
*Those wealthy movie actors who moan about the way the rich have been favored by Republicans and do not pay enough taxes, and hire expensive accounting firms to complete their income tax returns and keep their taxes as low as possible.
*Network officials who claim their news programs are fair and balanced and then have their prime daily news commentators all with the same or similar political perspective.
*Presidents who swear to uphold the Constitution and then claim it is a living document with no ideals or principles to uphold.
*Those who tell their children not to smoke pot because it is illegal, and then speed on their way to work each morning.
*All those who claim "there is no truth", for if they believed that, they couldn't and wouldn't say it.
*Those who claim to be benevolent and opposed to violence, and spank their children.
*Those who claim to be "pro choice" but are opposed to euthanasia.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
THE GREAT KINGDOM
The human mind has three prime unique powers: to contemplate, to choose, to create.
All its feelings of joy, contentment, pleasure, fulfillment, pride, self esteem, exhilaration, ecstasy, derive from them. It is energized, never bored, by their use.
When it is not contemplating, choosing or creating...that is, when it is not thinking, out of control, living repetitiously...it is moribund.
The human mind rests on two pillars:
1. Awareness that the Universe is knowable, and
2. Awareness that it is capable of knowing it so as to make life sustaining choices and direct life nourishing action.
If either pillar is damaged, if the Universe begins to seem chaotic and unknowable, or if the mind begins to feel overwhelmed and inefficacious, it is at risk of anxiety, distress, depression, shutdown.
At the first signs of those signals, steps ought be taken to repair the pillar damage, ideally through a support system of family, friends, counselors.
Evidence that the world is knowable abounds. Look out a window. Everything you see indicates knowableness. Everything you have achieved in life indicates mental efficacy.
Like every other part of the body, the human mind needs healing and energizing. That can be achieved by periodically checking the state of the pillars.
In regard to our learning the human mind, our elementary and high school educational systems fail.
We teach children all sorts of things about the world "out there" (science, history, geography) but nothing about the world "in there" (psychology and the working of our mental dimension). Omitted from the curriculum are any mindful discussions of the importance of self esteem and how to achieve and maintain it; emotions: what are they, where do they come from, are they reliable, should they be used in our decision making; how to deal with anxiety, despair, depression; happiness, and how to achieve it.
The result of the failure of our educational system is evident all around us, as more and more of us turn to addictive medications, and sometimes self destruction, to mask and/or escape our inner demons...demons that should never have been allowed to find a home within us.
Ironic that the academic minds have chosen to study everything but itself.
Virtually all of the physical hazards we face are visible and known, and we readily avoid them. Mental hazards are not visible and most of us not only do not avoid them, but we embrace them in the name of social propriety. Not speaking our mind when we oppose the view of the group, for the purpose of getting along and not rocking the boat, is a mental hazard with serious long range consequences. As does failing to pursue your innermost dreams, choosing to live for the welfare of others, sublimating your will to the will of others. All lead to loss of self esteem, feelings of inadequacy, frustration, depression.
Time for us to shine a light on what makes us the most advanced, accomplished and powerful species of life.
"My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such present joys therein I find
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind"
Edward Dyer
All its feelings of joy, contentment, pleasure, fulfillment, pride, self esteem, exhilaration, ecstasy, derive from them. It is energized, never bored, by their use.
When it is not contemplating, choosing or creating...that is, when it is not thinking, out of control, living repetitiously...it is moribund.
The human mind rests on two pillars:
1. Awareness that the Universe is knowable, and
2. Awareness that it is capable of knowing it so as to make life sustaining choices and direct life nourishing action.
If either pillar is damaged, if the Universe begins to seem chaotic and unknowable, or if the mind begins to feel overwhelmed and inefficacious, it is at risk of anxiety, distress, depression, shutdown.
At the first signs of those signals, steps ought be taken to repair the pillar damage, ideally through a support system of family, friends, counselors.
Evidence that the world is knowable abounds. Look out a window. Everything you see indicates knowableness. Everything you have achieved in life indicates mental efficacy.
Like every other part of the body, the human mind needs healing and energizing. That can be achieved by periodically checking the state of the pillars.
In regard to our learning the human mind, our elementary and high school educational systems fail.
We teach children all sorts of things about the world "out there" (science, history, geography) but nothing about the world "in there" (psychology and the working of our mental dimension). Omitted from the curriculum are any mindful discussions of the importance of self esteem and how to achieve and maintain it; emotions: what are they, where do they come from, are they reliable, should they be used in our decision making; how to deal with anxiety, despair, depression; happiness, and how to achieve it.
The result of the failure of our educational system is evident all around us, as more and more of us turn to addictive medications, and sometimes self destruction, to mask and/or escape our inner demons...demons that should never have been allowed to find a home within us.
Ironic that the academic minds have chosen to study everything but itself.
Virtually all of the physical hazards we face are visible and known, and we readily avoid them. Mental hazards are not visible and most of us not only do not avoid them, but we embrace them in the name of social propriety. Not speaking our mind when we oppose the view of the group, for the purpose of getting along and not rocking the boat, is a mental hazard with serious long range consequences. As does failing to pursue your innermost dreams, choosing to live for the welfare of others, sublimating your will to the will of others. All lead to loss of self esteem, feelings of inadequacy, frustration, depression.
Time for us to shine a light on what makes us the most advanced, accomplished and powerful species of life.
"My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such present joys therein I find
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind"
Edward Dyer
Friday, June 4, 2010
CLICK
On our show today, latest pictures of the train wreck in Honduras, and an insight into the important new position of the Administration on America's bathing habits. But first these words.
A network news alert. Lars Olsen, number 7 on the FBI's most wanted list, may have been seen in Turkey. Stay tuned for further details on what you should do and shouldn't do if you see Lars Olsen. Back in a moment.
Get the permanent toothpick, the cup of water and the rag for only $19.99. Order within the next hour and we'll triple the offer for free, pay only the additional shipping and handling. That's three toothpicks, three cups of water and three rags for only $19.99. Order now.
The wife of Senator Shmuckofski from Nevada said she believes her husband's claim that his frequent visits to the bordello at Yuca Mountain were to verify its compliance with the state's health standards, and not for his personal sexual pleasure, and that he could best do that by being an inconspicuous client of the bordello over an extended period of time.
The President has announced his new approach to America's bathing issue. He says he is thinking about banning soap that bubbles, which some say, because of the difficulty of washing all the bubbles down the drain, is the prime reason for our planet's shortage of bathing water. More on this important development later in the...
Click.
A network news alert. Lars Olsen, number 7 on the FBI's most wanted list, may have been seen in Turkey. Stay tuned for further details on what you should do and shouldn't do if you see Lars Olsen. Back in a moment.
Get the permanent toothpick, the cup of water and the rag for only $19.99. Order within the next hour and we'll triple the offer for free, pay only the additional shipping and handling. That's three toothpicks, three cups of water and three rags for only $19.99. Order now.
The wife of Senator Shmuckofski from Nevada said she believes her husband's claim that his frequent visits to the bordello at Yuca Mountain were to verify its compliance with the state's health standards, and not for his personal sexual pleasure, and that he could best do that by being an inconspicuous client of the bordello over an extended period of time.
The President has announced his new approach to America's bathing issue. He says he is thinking about banning soap that bubbles, which some say, because of the difficulty of washing all the bubbles down the drain, is the prime reason for our planet's shortage of bathing water. More on this important development later in the...
Click.
IT ISN'T FAIR
A few days ago, Hillary Clinton volunteered that "the rich don't pat their fair share of taxes". She's right. They don't.
* the top 1% income earners, paying at a higher rate on greater income, pay 33% of all income taxes paid. Considering they get the same government services as the rest of us do. The top 10% pay 65% of all income taxes collected, the top 50% pay 96%. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
* In 2009, 45% of an estate in excess of 3.5 million dollars was payable to the government in the form of estate taxes. In 2011, the rate will be 55%. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
* because they buy more and give away more, because they own more valuable real estate, the rich pay significantly greater sales and gift and real property and school taxes than the rest of us do. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
The question is often asked, "Who were the first philosophers?". The answer is: primitive cavemen, who expressed their inately known philosophy in the club each carried: "I am free," it bellowed, "I have a right to live my life as I choose, the animals I have captured are mine to eat, and if you seek to take what is mine, you will feel the strength of my philosophical beliefs."
Time for modern man to return to his primal roots.
* the top 1% income earners, paying at a higher rate on greater income, pay 33% of all income taxes paid. Considering they get the same government services as the rest of us do. The top 10% pay 65% of all income taxes collected, the top 50% pay 96%. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
* In 2009, 45% of an estate in excess of 3.5 million dollars was payable to the government in the form of estate taxes. In 2011, the rate will be 55%. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
* because they buy more and give away more, because they own more valuable real estate, the rich pay significantly greater sales and gift and real property and school taxes than the rest of us do. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
The question is often asked, "Who were the first philosophers?". The answer is: primitive cavemen, who expressed their inately known philosophy in the club each carried: "I am free," it bellowed, "I have a right to live my life as I choose, the animals I have captured are mine to eat, and if you seek to take what is mine, you will feel the strength of my philosophical beliefs."
Time for modern man to return to his primal roots.
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