Investments

Why are the surreal investments of stockholders valued more than the real investment of stakeholders? 

Wall Street parasites

Saying Wall Street and its machinations are the economy is saying the parasite is the host.

parasite noun 1. An organism that feeds on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.   2. One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others.

Favorite books, movies, authors, etc.

FAVORITE INFLUENCES
      Emanuel Swedenborg
      Edgar Cayce
      A Course in Miracles
      Unbiased spiritual studies

FAVORITE MOVIES
      Casablanca
      Lawrence of Arabia

      Bagdad Cafe

      The Snake Pit

FAVORITE BOOKS
      The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
      Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
      Series: A Course in Miracles
      Thinking: Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
      Aztec by Gary Jennings
      Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
      Series: Junior Classics, 10 volumes
      Series: Dune by Frank Herbert et al.
      Series: Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
      My Antonia by Willa Cather
      Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
      Maus I & Maus II by Art Spiegelman

FAVORITE AUTHORS
      Frank Herbert
      Philip K. Dick
      Ann Rule
      Steve Hamilton

FAVORITE POETS
      Wallace Stevens
      William Blake
      Rumi

FAVORITE POEMS
      Sunday Morning by Wallace Stevens
      Like This by Rumi
      Songs of Innocence: Introduction by William Blake
      Peter Quince at the Clavier by Wallace Stevens
      Things I Didn't Know I Loved by Nazim Hikmet
      The Lamb by William Blake
      The Tyger by William Blake
      Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing... by Rumi
      Ode on the Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth
      Edward, Edward. Ancient Ballad, author unknown
      Love Dogs by Rumi
      The World Is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth
      Auguries of Innocence by William Blake
      The Idea of Order at Key West by Wallace Stevens
      I have lived on the lip... by Rumi
      The Lake Isle of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats
      Sonnets 18, 29, 110, 129, 130, 138 by William Shakespeare
      The Thought Fox by Ted Hughes
      Spring and Fall (To a young child) by Gerard Manley Hopkins
      Come to the garden in spring by Rumi
      Attunity by Russ Bedord
      The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats
      The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot
      Composed on Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth
      My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
      Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
      Miniver Cheevy by Edward Arlington Robinson
      La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats
      London by William Blake
      Death, Be Not Proud by John Donne
      The Garden of Love by William Blake
      Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats
      Musee des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden

      Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins

      The Gift by Russ Bedord
      The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell
      The Silken Tent by Robert Frost

      

Free Market

How do subsidized and deceptively marketed products create a "free market"? The US market is not free, but "authorities" say so. It reminds me of the aphorism: You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. But if authorities think the pig is beautiful, it is presented in the language of beauty. Yet it's still a pig.

Solve problems or retire issues.

Seeing a concern as a real problem suggests that there is a real solution Seeing a concern as an issue pretends that resolving the issue is the same as solving the problem that caused it. Too often, the issue is made to go away with expedient action while the problem remains. As long as the problem remains the issue  returns, sometimes with a different symptom and different appearance.

Evolution

Don't believe in evolution?

Don't evolve.

Thomas Jefferson quoted.

Paraphrased and quoted:

He feared that the rise of a new form of absolutism was more ominous than the British rule overthrown in the American Revolution. He distinguished in his later years between what he called "aristocrats and democrats." And he then went on to say "I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial[,] and bid defiance to the laws of our country." He also wrote "I sincerely believe... that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies."

                                                                     ~ Thomas Jefferson

(From Noam Chomsky's book : Power.)

We were warned more than two hundred years ago about corporations and banks, and their subversive intent has been pursued for all that time. They might be given credit for persistence, I suppose, but not credit for persistent, narrow minded ignorance. This defiance of democracy has been made to appear "democratic." It is not.

Capitalism

Capitalism is supposed to raise net worth, but if the net worth of society is lowered while the net worth of a few is raised, this is not capitalism. What is it? My view—the system is authoritarian, not democratic—some unwise decide for the many. (See the blog with the Thomas Jefferson quote.)

Darwin & Cooperation

The quotation (with underlines added):

There can be no doubt that a tribe containing many members who...
were always ready to give aid to each other and sacrifice themselves
for the common good, would be victorious over most other tribes,
and this would be natural selection.                     ~Charles Darwin

Since Darwin actually wrote this, why is it assumed that he believed
the opposite—that takers would win in the long run? 

Communication

To some, communication is transmitting. To others it is receiving. Communication is not only transmitting and not only receiving. It is a two-way shared process of sending and receiving words, moods, thoughts, expressions, etc.—whatever a medium can carry.

Denial: When helpful & not helpful

Denial of truth implies approval of mistaken thinking, which is not helpful.
Denial of mistaken thinking implies approval of truth, which is helpful.

When truth is "known" and insight shows it wrong, the "truth" was based on mistaken thinking.
Mistaken thinking is due to an error. Errors manifest as mistaken behavior.

Some say there are many truths, and that one might be truer than another. This implies one most true, which means ultimate truth exists, truer than all "beneath" it. But a "most true" implies that lesser truths are at least partially false. Partially false can exist—can partially true also exist? I think not. Ultimate truth is absolute—no conditions exist that undermine it with the falsity of mistaken thinking—it's just true.

This is the kind of truth referred to in the first two sentences above.

Willpower

The Will has so much power, it has a name: willpower. An individual may will a harmful habit, then decide to reduce the harm. Changing habit requires a strong willpower. Since it is the same individual, the willpower was always there, but not used!

This suggests that the Will and its power may originate elsewhere, since everyone has it. Strong purpose leads to a strong will. Weak purpose means a weak will. It is used by each individual  according to their feeling of purpose.

It takes willpower to stick to a goal. Unfortunately, Will may be so strong that negative results are neither perceived or accepted. (Narrow perceptions mean narrow purpose.)

Will often just acts—if it "feels" right, results may be accepted as right when fundamentally wrong. In the weakness of addiction, for example, the will gives power to the addiction. Please note that the source of power—either maintaining the addiction or deciding on less harmful behavior—is the Will. It is very hard to decide to modify or change any habit, much less addiction—it takes a willpower stronger than the force of habit..

"Willpower" and "force of habit" are really the same thing. Which is supported? What does the Will want? Will chooses, willpower acts.

Developing proof

When thinking things out, the mind wants proof. Proof is developed from its opposite—being able to see the error nurtures the ability to see the truth. Below is the procedure that develops proof from error.

The mistake of generalizing, (your path is the same as everyone's) sometimes applies solutions irrelevant to the problem, encouraging Superstitious thinking. To correct this, try to see true relationships.

Seeing true relationships means that a problem needs to be ENCODEd correctly.

Personalizing means that everyone else's path is the same as yours. Because everyone has a different experience, this is not true. Thinking that everyone is the same leads to Naive thinking.

To prefer meaning avoids naive thinking. INFER.relevance by preferring meaning.

False constructs build convincing cases that should be viewed with suspicion. Building on false constructs leads to Esoteric (Exclusive) thinking, where special (though limited) knowledge claims to know THE answer.

Building structure depends on true MAPping.

Making invalid connections—with bad comparisons, wrong connections, and invalid contexts to possible results encourage Reactive thinking. To react accurately, APPLY validation.

Reasoning emotionally, giving false credit, and outright denial all have the effect of giving false credit to elements with little relationship to resolving the concern. Thinking a certain way is called Categorical thinking. To avoid categorical thinking, PROVE: Give credit where credit is due.

Blind acceptance of a recommendation or principle, jumping to a (wrong) conclusion, and prejudice all are the same: Emotional thinking. Emotional thinking causes a jump to conclusions that may have nothing to do with reality. The goal remains resolve, or SOLVE the situation, or problem. Choosing the correct result assumes that one Chooses wisely.

Summarizing the proof process:

Encode: See relationship.

Infer: Prefer meaning.

Map: Build structure.

Apply: Validate.

Prove: Give credit

Solve: Choose wisely.

For detail on how to open the door to a review of a habit, got to www.spiritwill.info

Resolving concerns

The concerns listed below are numbered to agree with the organization of the www.spiritwill.info web site for the Labyrinth of the Spirit. If the concern is not the same, use the listed concern with the closest name or similar in subject. Each one has an effective procedure.

The Labrynth of the Spirit
1. Insight
2. Extension
3. Objective
4. Resource
5. Knowledge
6. Purpose
7. Relationship
8. Communication
9. Involvement
10. Means
11. Method
12. Verify
13. Perfomance
14. Leadership
15. Importance
16. Opportunity
17. Solution
18. Revelation

In your browser, enter www.spiritwill.info
It shows how a creature of habit uses Willpower to reach its objectives. If the objective proves unsatisfactory, it suggests ways to change it.

Song of Division - Poem

(This is against self-justifying greed.)

Neither nor, either or—
I swear there is a difference
You slobs work for the good of all
I work for recompense.

Now that capitalism means
Fairness and truth don't matter,
My responsibility is to see
My wallet get fatter.

Individualism!
That is the word to live by—
Getting suitable benefit
Means I take, you give. Why?

Some of us are better,
Plain as the nose on your face.
If you don't see it, too bad—
Losing is no disgrace.

Money and property
Accumulate to those with taste:
Imagine losers with either—
It would be such a waste.

Not wasted in my hands—
Sensibility's a buffer
Ignorance insulates me from
Knowing things much tougher.

My justification?
I have taste— I said it before:
Desires that must be satisfied.
Wants you cannot ignore.

The fact is: I don't see
Or care about what I cause.
There are winners. There are losers,
Obeying nature's laws.

It's a law of nature,
A simple way of keeping score:
Your starvation and death mean nothing
As long as I have more.

I am a patriot
I am for the Land of the Free.
You wonder what we're fighting for?
It is for me, me, me.

Thinking

It seems that their are two behaviors called thinking. The first is real thinking that seeks to determine truth, that learns from mistakes and misperceptions. The second is called thinking, but is not "thinking" at all, but manipulation of facts and ideas to support faulty positions. Many explanations rationalize the event.

As Steven Pinker said in the blank slate, Page 43: The conscious mind—the self or soul—is a spin doctor, not the commander in chief.  

Dangerous experts

Financial and other "experts' are supposed to keep us out of trouble, not lead us into it. Are the "experts" who created the economic trouble really experts, or simply opportunists?

Experts fail when their "special knowledge" causes them to weaken valid statistical predictions because they "know more" or :"know essential facts."

But then, bad predictions are forgotten and often buried in reasonable-sounding explanations.

Wall Street profiting

Wall Street financial houses are supposed to make money when the economy is out of balance, and the U.S economy is way out of balance. However, dishonesty masks what is really wrong. If you prevent Wall Street firms from making the money they are supposed to make in a sick economy--this is addressing the symptom rather than the cause, which is a SICK economy. The problem is even deeper--society's values are sick, which makes the economy sick.

Into the Refrigerator - Poem

Ev’ry time I open the refrigerator door,
it must be to see the light.
Why else do I stand in contemplation
wondering why I opened it again.
I delve within, find a morsel,
gulp it down—for a moment satisfied.
Ten minutes later, my hungry soul
is back again, bathing in the cool light,
the empty promise of food for the body,
but not the soul.

Congress over-reacting!

Only two (2) (that's tight, only two) of 22,000 deaths in Toyotas last year were vehicle malfunctions: the rest were driver malfunctions. Why is congress wasting time on recalls (which demonstrates conscientiousness) with important things to do--FOR THE PEOPLE (which is real conscientiousness).

Also, a tear stained lady said her Lexus involuntarily went 100 miles per hour, she was so scared, and: "why is Toyota so greedy?" Couldn't someone who drives an expensive Lexus also be called greedy?

First Breath

The first breath

catches me unaware

the first touch stops—

then gets me started.

The first kiss

I remember,

then every kiss

remembers the first.

The first word said

in the heat of love

tells the first lie.

The last word

tells the truth.

The first love

lives fondly

in the heart,

clothed in the light

of young mornings

when breath was fresh—

or remembered so.

****

Down the Tube

The afternoons, we watch TV,

our eyes glued to Another World,

pretending it’s reality.

We spend The Days Of Our Lives

stuck in quiet desperation,

hoping for, in The Guiding Light,

glimpses of a real relation.

As the World Turns beneath us,

rolling heedlessly on and on,

and All My Children are neglected,

hypnotized, automatons.

So we sit and stare, letting

mind and blood congeal,

aptly forgetting:

if there is One Life To Live,

make it real.

*****

The Miniature Calligrapher - Poem

There was an artist named Homer
who could write on the head of a pin,
but—as small as it was—
wasn’t good enough for him.
How many times can you write, he asked
the Lord’s Prayer on the head of a pin,
and the Twenty-Third Psalm on the shaft,
without seeking new worlds to conquer,
without finding new standards to pass.
So smaller and smaller he printed,
and finer and finer his tools:
the hair of a bee his pen,
his tablet a mustard seed,
his work the sayings of men.
For who, you might wonder,
and where, and when?
But artists do what they must,
the purpose comes from within.
One day while eating a sandwich,
the ants were scavenging crumbs.
Ah, said Homer, a challenge.
To the open mind, it comes!
He gathered the crumbs and waited
until they were hard as a rock
and with the finest of pens,
wrote messages for the flock.
The ants collected his work
and took it away to their nest
parading this proud message
to whom it suited best—
God save the queen...
God save the queen...
God save the queen...
God save the queen...

*****

Believe in something

Act in agreement or in opposition, but always in agreement with what you believe—IF IT HAS BEEN PROVEN TRUE. Always act for your own best interests, which most do, but with a view that, in the long run, is against their best interests. Any way, believe in something, IF IT  HAS BEEN  PROVEN TRUE!

W's confusion

George W. Bush, and as I understand, Cheney and Rumsfeld, said that the promotion of democracy was a primary reason for invading Iraq. If they don't understand democracy, how could they promote it?

Substance

Actions are taken “in the spirit of the thing.” Spirit is considered insubstantial, sometimes even ghostly, yet spirit as a feeling or an attitude is real. 

Which is more important: appearance or behavior? Which is more real and substantial, the physical body or the spirit that controls the shape, position, actions, appearance, health, and communications of the physical body? Which proves more meaningful?

It is:the spirit in which actions are taken (or not taken).

Habits that don't work, use the Labyrinth of the Spirit

To review habits that might not work, open the door to the Labyrinth of the Spirit 
by searching in the browser for the web site: www.spiritwill.info.

Robert Burns' Quotation

Ye hypocrites, are these your pranks?
To murder men, and gi'e God thanks.