Tuesday, January 29, 2008

OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM

I have read with interest the comments circulating on this site and elsewhere on the internet. These comments and articles seem to be in one of two camps, with a sprinkling with a foot on each side. So, I decided to define the terms;

Optimism; a doctrine that this world is the best possible world; 2. An inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome.

Pessimism; An inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome. 2. The doctrine that reality is essentially evil and that evil overbalances happiness in life.

This is from Webster’s ninth new college dictionary, 1989 which overall I think has better word usage definitions than any of the new stuff I have seen.

Adding to that, the observation of Robert Heinlein that says; that optimists have more fun but pessimist are more often right.

I fall into the group that is pessimistic. I guess life experiences and observations lead me to that position. In my lifetime, I have seen very little reason to be optimistic, especially on a macro scale. On an individual level, well, a very few times, yes.

But, what I tend to force attention to is on a macro scale, national, international, and even local happenings. In these arenas I see not much to be optimistic about. But, that is just me talking. Whatever anticipation that I experience called hope and what might turn out from it is often dashed into pieces in a reality check.

I have written often about ‘working within the system’ and what a waste of time I view that activity. My reasons are voluminous and often stated unequivocally. The principal reason for that statement is that we are not, at any level, dealing with people that either respect us or anything remotely identified as adherence to law and decency. At the national level, we are opposed by people that change the laws and definition of decency on a whim. If the populace gets to close to real change from the business as usual, they change how or under what circumstances they will even listen to us, much less institute changes that may be to their disadvantage. What changes am I referring to? The elite attitude of entitlement; the elite propensity to greed and accumulation of wealth; the elite’s constant demand for more power over us. Whatever respect they have for the populations of countries can be encapsulated in what we can do for them, not what they can do for us. I suppose that I misuse the term respect in this case. In actuality it is simply manipulation of us for their ends.

All of the above statements do not preclude my view that we shouldn’t keep trying, not so much as to affect any real outcomes that we desire, but from the notion that we should continually press for what we believe is right. For, if we do not do that, then we are complicit in the very actions that we despise. If this government does what I think it is going to do, then the pressing for what we believe is right is going to get really expensive. In which case, we all have to decide where we draw the line in the sand.

Do I have no hope at all? It depends on what we are referring to. If I would point out that hoping that we can change the mind of those in power, to do what is right, I have none. If I have hope that something good can come of the collapse of this empire, and hopefully, civilization as a whole, yes I do.

The point that I wish to press home is that those with the power, the elite, do not and never have had concern about whatever we want. Only if it serves their agenda do they deign to listen to us. We get a few chicken bones thrown our way and they proclaim their concern for us. An actual voice in how we are governed has long since passed, and I don’t mean in just the last 8 years. From our very beginning and inception, there has been a constant erosion of the principles of a popular government. We aren’t alone in this. Just take a look at what our government does (and other governments also) when a popular movement in a country is contrary to their agenda and goals.

I am going to state again; they could give a rat’s ass about our concerns and desires. And, by us, I am referring to the majority of citizens in any country that have no power, low economic status and with a completely different values system from the elites.

I hope this explains adequately why I look at myself as a pessimist.

Now, let’s examine optimism.

This will take on a multitude of forms, same as pessimism. I presume you know of someone who is a pacifist, and argues strongly for their position. This is, in my view, an optimists position, that the inherent good in each of us can be brought out by absolute non violence. In reading history, I have to come to the conclusion, it doesn’t work. And be careful in using the Gandhi example. Do a bit more research on that period in India. While he was a catalyst, he was not a prime mover. And by the way, take in a few statistics in your study about how many of the population were killed by the British in its being forced economically to give up control of the area. If being a pacifist means willing to die unnecessarily for an ideal and not opposing violence being perpetrated on you, you have lost me. Another argument proposed is that violence never accomplishes anything but more violence. Well, it sure appears to me that after 5000 years of recorded history, that statement just doesn’t hold water. It accomplishes a lot. You might not agree with the end result, but it sure gets the results wanted.

The major problem is that in a civilized society such as ours, violence is the sole realm of the top of the pyramid. Any violence from the bottom up we are educated (indoctrinated) to believe either unnecessary or has an evilness attached to it. But from the top, violence is often meted out with no repercussion. Take the police use of tasars these days. Way too much of the time is savage, often with lethal results, and most times, unnecessary. If you fight back, the penalties are severe. I really do expect to see much more of this kind of behavior on the part of law enforcement. In its extreme form, it is called a police state.

Another of the signs of optimism is contained in the ‘can do’ attitude of our society. There is no problem that can’t be fixed and other ramifications of this position. It refuses to acknowledge that there are problems that are not fixable, but I say it must be taken out of the equation entirely. For instance, climate change. There are those that insist we can change what is happening, and some say that what is going on with our climate change is a deliberate manipulation by the PTB. From the standpoint that we have man made climate change, I fear it is a problem that is not fixable. If it is a deliberate manipulation of conditions by advanced technology, the only thing that will stop it is a complete dissolution of civilization and technology. And maybe it will come to that, and, of course it will cause a whole bunch of new problems.

I guess overall, I would have a tough time finding reasons to be optimistic about much of anything going on in the macro world. On a personal basis, I have a limited amount of optimism about how we are preparing for what I see coming at us. Time should certainly sort it all out, it is whether I will be around to see the results.

.

51 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...of course it will cause a whole bunch of new problems." lol From an optimist's perspective, that would create a whole bunch of new possibilities! I think your argument is reasoned, and well-stated. But, I think that is why we all need to put our heads together - to take in all sides and maybe come up with some new ones. A pessimist must be careful not to overlook something good when he sees it. And, an optimist needs to be able to recognize a bad situation when it stares her in the face. I think we can help each other be flexible enough to allow forgiveness and hope and joy to give us the willingness to make good change, and also allow prudence so that we are not taking unnecessary risks. Of course a lot depends on whether we believe our lives are finite or if we are eternal souls unbound by appearances of death and destruction. Both pessimists and optimists are challenged by the concept of impermanence. Good or bad, nothing lasts forever. There comes a time when judgment needs to give way to practical matters. Loved ones need to be fed. Firewood needs to be chopped. I think it was Buddha who said, "When in doubt, chop wood and carry water."

Anonymous said...

If you think about it, being an optimist could be very disappointing or even down-right depressing -especially in this time period of pre-fascist Amurika. Now a pessimist, well, they're never dissapointed. They KNEW things were going to suck.

Oh, hey, I saw a T-shirt that said, "Newton was wrong, there is no gravity. Things just suck."

Later -

Dude

Anonymous said...

I cannot disagree with any one part of this post or as a whole. It is stated with plain and simple reason and is,(to me),...the bitter truth. Meanwhile back at the Tiki Hut we must continue with our daily doopty-do's.

"I think it was Buddha who said, "When in doubt, chop wood and carry water." ...there's those things we must do and keep on keepin on. Though, we really do have no power in the "macro". Shame it's that way...we should each have a voice in and on the macro. We do what we can but our only true control lies in the moments of here and now in the micro. Yet once in a while one can occasionaly sense that something's in the air, (call it a vibration of change), real or imagined, there has to be some kind of power in spreading rightousness by how we choose to live. You and murph set examples by how you live. This movie will be long and drawn out, who knows the ending. There's always nature and our thoughts. Miss you all, mrsp

Anonymous said...

Fear and despair
are stones
we are given.
We can roll them
into piles
and plow around,
muttering curses,
or stack them
for utility and design.

Palooka's Revenge said...

there once was a grain of sand who saw himself on the beach of universe.... barely. for it was because he was so small, such a micro-speck, that he was lost to the magnitude, the macro, the wonder of it all.

and the awe.

and even to himself.

striped naked, wandering, he was pushed into the driving storm by the hot dry winds and forced to climb the mountain of discovery barefoot in the driving snow.

uphill, both ways, he was drug into the cave of the hermit where the pain of his emptyness drove him on to the mountain top... to the edge of the cliff where.... a haunting of nothin left to lose shoved him off into the void of zero.

and then this one tiny grain of sand... tiny-er than the nothing it seemed... fell off into the darkness of the abyss and landed upon a pile.

and the whole pile shifted.

Anonymous said...

Really good post Murph, this morning is cold and windy and the half moon shines dimly through the broken clouds,as i stand on the back deck and think of how it long a person would last without clothes and shiver at it, not long i expect.
Good responses all, the post for some reason raised up a sense of indignation that but me in orbit and i will try to go into it with your warm acceptance of the unhinged on call.

i have friends that are still entertaining the idea that if we work hard enough trying to enlighten others to the state of world affairs that things will be better, personally more and more i think that this is a useless gesture and more then that a means of self deception.
The possibility of seeing change in another human being without said human seeking change within there own nature seems ludicrous to me and the reason being to me as i look into the well of uncertainty is the inescapable fact that as i have said before is that we are creatures of almost complete habit. and that once of having found a place of apparent safety we will not budge from that place.regardless of how enslaved we actually are in that place.
As human beings we are scared shitless of change, someone fucks your wife, thats change, and for most after the initial shock wears off its on to another just like the last one with only minor differences taking place. We hardly ever go deep into why this is so, and life goes on with the same shitty disregard to the whys that make it so.
What is it that makes us so goddam lazy mind wise that allows us to like the elephant that finally gets to the point where it will actually pull up the stake that keeps it in its small circle, the length of a chain, walk along behind its master and reinsert the stake in the ground where the new show begins. This is just plain ass nuts!!. at least to this one. We are so easily led to the guillotine of life without so much as a fucking whimper,.. the idea i have seen time after time is "please do not bother me with change,facts,ideas,doubt", hell you name it, "
just leave me alone in my fucking misery" i shrug and say "ok"

So forget that useless bullshit and save oneself by understanding ones own misery and watch the healing that takes place, as it will, and one really begins to enjoy the journey of life that so very few actually get to experience.
one thing that this one has found is that possessions are for enjoyment and not to be used as ego extensions, or diversions and that is just one of the minor things that are to be realized in this beautiful life that that is available to those that actively seek it. However the source of our damage as pain both physical and mental has to be uncovered, not analyzed, uncovered,and this requires a mind that has come upon the ability to remain with whatever life presents to it and not try to run from it,change it,or to do anything with it, simply to watch it as in a mirror,this alone seems to give relief to the challenges we face daily,and after awhile it actually becomes fun to anticipate the quickness that accompanies the supposed insurmountable dailies we face which at one time would lead us to drink,smoke,tv,books,church,the couch,fuck the diversions in the
human imagination are endless i suppose, anything other then to find out what the fuck is going on inside our minds!!
Without this as a foundation what the fuck is the use, if we don't know what we are doing and why we are doing it we ain't going no where but further into the well of despair and we will die there, complaining about how cruel life is and how its someone else's fault that our situation is so fucked up! i call BULLSHIT, we dig our own graves and thats that. no fucking excuses period !! no fucking blame outside ones own self and not using that useless excuse (self blame which is just another ego avoidance trip) to not investigate why that would even happen!
Whining seems to be number one on the hit parade of legalized,legitimate excuses to avoid what is actually happening in ones own life and how it remains until death, or longer depending upon which used car one actually buys as (life forever insurance,) called sick assed religion.

i suppose this goes under the heading of a rant and so be, but goddam it i am sick and tired of all the fucking worn out excuses that people use to justify the ignorance they wallow in and hold onto like a fucking crown of thorns and spout beatitudes as if that was going to do a goddam thing!!
So w'samftd? Personally i think a pessimist is an optimist in drag.
Hope this note doesn't bring anyone here down but i can't think of any place safer to put it,and i just had to get it off my chest even though i know its fucked up correct writing challenged as hell.

Piss on it, i'm going outside and help build a snowman with the kids.

ps good to hear from you mrsp, hope your world is ok, man its got to be rough where you live for sure.

thanks dude,p,m&f and of course the rock.
thanks to b,she inspires nutsness
aho
mf

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

This was a truly excellent post Murph, I liked it. The argument was well reasoned, well stated and as even handed as a Fox News Primary Special. Not withstanding, I feel the balance was about right.

Here is what my definitive 1962 Castles dictionary has to say about these words:

Optimism
The view that the state of things is the best possible. The view that the universe is tending towards a better place and that good must ultimately prevail. (fig) A sanguine temperament, disposition to take a hopeful view of things.

Pessimism
The habit of taking a gloomy and despondent view of things; the doctrine that pain and evil predominate enormously over good, or that there is a predominate tendency toward evil throughout the universe.

So between us, there you have it. Good and evil, the eternal battle.

I wonder if the people responsible for the state of the world today actually see themselves as being evil. Do the so called illuminati regard Satan and Lucifer as evil entities? Are they just like many of the rest of us who are doing the best they can to improve their personal lot and are totally uncaring about those around them? In other words, it is a matter of degree not a matter of kind. Well I guess there is nothing wrong with throwing a question you don’t know the answer to into the wind with great authority.

I sometimes think that those brave people who bear arms against a sea of troubles are well meaning but wrong. These are the ones who protest G8 and WB summits, the ones who show their faces and have the distance between their retinas measured. It is such well meaning people who give those inside the building relevance. If nobody turned up, if there was no protest, if nobody voted in the primaries or the secondaries or thirdaries, then what relevance would such a government have? Sure somebody would win but what authority would they have if the populace regarded them as passé and everybody disregarded their dictates? What if the pacifist said “No I am not against fighting in the war, I am just not going to do it”, if he put forward the Universal Soldier argument?

I suppose this brings us back to the Gandhi argument. This is good when things are very bad to terribly bad but when everyone’s back is collectively to the same wall then the only way left to go is forward and that is likely to be in the aggressor’s direction. It is at that precise moment that Gandhi’s philosophy turns into a Cawnpore Well situation.

Anonymous said...

Belgium,

Cawnpore Well? Wow. That was something I did not know about, had to look it up and do a bunch of reading about it. Interesting comparison you made. I presume you meant it in the context of what to do with all the bodies?

I found it interesting that Gandhi in expressing satyagraha to make the oppressor and the oppressed alike recognize their common bonding and humanity: Here is where his argument breaks down. It assumes that the oppressor will voluntarily make that recognition and change. While it does happen, want to make a guess how often?

It is ok with me to have a religious commitment toward non violence. After all, you are then subscribing to a view of reality that is divorced from the situation at hand. However, if the situation is intolerable, and you and your neighbors are going to be taking it up the ass anyway, outside of the personal satisfaction of staying on the hight road, you are dead anyway.

I have read some of the pacifist tracts and outlines of their philosophy. Personally, the minute you get away from the religious aspect, it sure appears to me as a cop out, not being willing to take any responsibility for making a change in the situation.

stoney13 said...

Pressimists are optimists that just got the shit knocked out of themselves!!

Pretty much the whole scenario! Oh we all start out as optimists! Children are nothing if not optimistic!

Parents too are VERY OPTIMISTIC! When did you ever se a new mother, or father, say "Gee! I bet this baby grows up to be a mass murderer!"! NOPE!! Every new parent goes snake-shit crazy, building ever-greater and grander expectations, which always wind up destroying the child's sense of self before it has even been formed!

After the human children have been apraised of the fact that no matter how hard they try, they will always be a disapointment to the dreams their parents had for them, they go out into the world where nothing they ever do will be good enough! That's right! I said NOTHING!!!

Oh! Is there doubt? Let's say I work for a company that has a perfect rating across the board. Perfect safety, perfect management, perfect employee attendence, record making production schedule with perfect product quality. Half the inner-plant comunications would be about how to improve!

Want the REAL fact of life? There's only one!!! It's quite simple!

THE REAL FACT OF LIFE: What ever you're after, you will never get! So you might as well enjoy what you've got, 'cause it won't be around long!

Fatherly advice for the youth of America? If you insist:

Kids, you'd better get braced for a really BIG dick, because a damned big fuckin's coming your way! And you all better get to drilling for oil, too! Sorry to be blunt, but you guys are gonna need all the lubrication you can get!

If there's one thing that the twentieth century taught us, is that most people don't seem to mind getting fucked as long as oil is involved!

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Stoney,
You really break me up with your brand of keenly observed basement level philosophy. I do however believe that a lot of personal satisfaction can be gained by achieving a lot of small goals. Achieving larger goals are not usually so long lasting. After a month strutting around in the brand new SUV you are looking for something new to take your interest.

Murph,

Cawnpore Well complimented the Gandhi analogy but it was not particularly about what to do with the bodies, although that too. It was more about when your ass is against the wall you can always take one with you and God knows you might even get to win. Then success breeds success.

Re the last pacifist paragraph, I think you are mixing situations. Yes there is the kop out situation where someone says “I am not going to fight in Iraq because I don’t want to get hurt, but I will accept any benefits this country has to offer me”. That is different from saying “I signed up to defend the Constitution and this present war is unconstitutional so I am not going to take part, and besides, if we somehow manage to beat these Muslims (Commies / fascists bastards) then I personally am going to finish up with an even bigger aggressor sitting on my head from those that are on my own side, so stuff it”. Then there is the Universal Soldier situation where someone says “Without soldiers in the world there wouldn’t be any aggressive wars so I am going to play my part by not being one, I don’t mind working on the land or doing something else for the community and if there happens to be an invasion over here I will get my pitchfork or shotgun and we will see”. You may view this as a kop out too although it could be a genuinely held view.

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

I forgot to add that taking part or not taking part in Government sponsored 'let's keep everyone busy and us guys here will all make a shitload of cash, jamboree' is a different mindset from taking part or not taking part in an insurrection.

Jason lee said...

Hey there trout clan
My name is Jay Saros and i am an Ojibwa from northern wi/mn. Would like to hear and connect to your life experiences and work. Hope to learn alot from eachother,
Jay

Anonymous said...

Hey, here's something from pottersville blog I thought some of you might like...


On the Bubble


I became a blogger three years ago today.

In the past 156 weeks, 1096 days, the blogosphere as a whole has been reflecting (albeit often in a warped fashion) scandals, upheavals and world events. Since I wrote my first blog post, approximately 2500-2600 US troops have been killed in Iraq alone, roughly 200 more in Afghanistan, countless hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been slaughtered either by us or their own countrymen.

In these past 36 months, we’ve spent upwards of a trillion dollars and China, our future landlords, owns this war, our deficit and a sizable chunk of our nearly 9 trillion dollar debt. We’re blowing 2-2½ billion dollars a week on Iraq but what’s even more alarming though not reported as widely is that we’re borrowing that much a day from the Chinese just to float the deficit that Bush singlehandedly created with his endless tax cuts during a time of war, which is a historical anomaly.

We’ve seen the literal disappearance of a beautiful, vibrant, historically- and culturally-rich major city while our national leadership was, as on 9/11, conspicuously absent.

Two days after I set up my first blog, the first of three elections were held in Iraq that were carried out under coercion (the withholding of food coupons pending proof of having voted, the real rationale behind those blue fingers and smiling faces). As a result, we’ve produced a “democracy” that is now so overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) that barely more than half the Iraqi lawmakers can even rouse themselves to show up to vote on a temporary Iraqi flag.

Shi’ite death squads, the largest financed by Bayan Jabr’s Finance Ministry, has replaced Saddam Hussein’s murderous reign yet no one in Washington or elsewhere seems concerned about the even more massive purges that have taken place under Jabr’s own reign of terror or mention it in the abstract as if it’s a domestic disturbance.

Corruption flourishes and one billion dollars in weapons, nine billion dollars and over 350 tons of munitions had disappeared in rapid succession. We’ve killed and maimed countless Iraqis yet lack the competence or the humanity to build them hospitals.

This is just a short laundry list of some of the most massive failures of a criminally negligent and casually homicidal administration that cannot and will not be bothered if it doesn’t have anything to do with bloating unregulated GOP-cozy corporations. It is a short laundry list of some of the most nightmarishly horrifying crimes against the American people and humanity in general…

…in just the three years since I’ve been blogging.

That doesn’t include the even more massive fuckups, lies, distortions, scandals and other high crimes and misdemeanors from 2001-2004.

Such as blithely dismissing warnings of a 9/11-style attack that could kill thousands.

Spying on millions of potential terrorists before September 11th.

The treason of outing a secret agent charged with investigating other nations’ capabilities of producing real weapons of mass destruction for no other reason than out of puerile vindictiveness.

Lying to the American people about all options being on the table regarding Iraq when the decision to invade had already been made on Downing Street in July of 2002.

Invading Iraq against all earthly reason even though no proof of WMDs or connection between its strongman and al Qaida had ever been established as much as implied.

Abu Ghraib.

Torture.

This, obviously, is merely another short laundry list. A list of blood-soaked laundry that will never come clean any more than Republicans can or will come clean until they leave office and the sphere of exaction.

And much is being made of Bush admitting for the first time that he’s been living in a bubble that’s “comfortable.”

All he did was state the obvious.

Yet how does one explain over 600 people standing up like a huge family of shaved meerkats to raucously applaud last night the one man ultimately responsible for the most numerous and impeachable offenses in American political history? How does one account for the fact that getting up and shaking his bloody paw as quickly as Dick Cheney was arguably the most powerful woman in Congress, one who can get articles of impeachment written within a week on her say so?

How does one account for, after hearing possibly the flattest and most meaningless speech in Bush’s short but happy political career, another Congresswoman blurting out, “You make me proud to be an American.”

Don’t these people, too, live in a bubble?

Washington is no longer the nation’s capitol, people. It is a domed city where the only other ones allowed to enter the respectable part without special invitation are well-moneyed lobbyists who have essentially become a fourth branch of government: The one that tells the executive and legislative what to do.

Somebody recently asked aloud, “Who’s this Jurassicpork and why does he think he’s somebody?”

I am Robert Crawford and your brother, son, father, grandfather, uncle, fellow American, fellow human being. I am not a nodding and clapping meerkat or lemming who’s awed by tradition and the failing majesty of a man who by all rights should’ve been an abortion or trapped in a latex condom and flushed down the toilet.

I am a liberal and a progressive and a Democrat. I do not live in a bubble but atop one, outside looking in, with horror and dismay. I bang on the glass but no one hears me.

Yet what would happen if more of us bang? What would happen if our tiny blogosphere of perhaps two or three million were to suddenly double in size and we all mobilized at once? And what will it take to rouse us from our electronic enervation and self-satisfied stupor before we decide to take action, real action that doesn’t stop with ignored emails, voice mails and petitions?

Razor wire and chain link fences? Snipers aiming at us from rooftops? We saw that during the Democratic Convention in Boston in 2004 and still we did nothing.

I get overwhelmed, fatigued, pissed off and threaten to walk away from it all yet here I am an hour later because something is always guaranteed to outrage me anew, energize or alarm me because I am your fellow American and human, your Dad, granddad, uncle, brother and son. I will be at this forever until they pull my stiff cold fingers off my faded and fingernail-gouged keyboard and we all know it. Because I care, because I love a country, this country, that, despite everything that it’s had done to it over the last seven years, has still been good to me and you and many of us.

Take care of your country, take care of your Constitution and it will take care of you. I’ve said that before yet it fell on deaf ears. Maybe a couple of more people will hear me this time, maybe not.

Molly Ivins’ death occurred one year ago this Thursday. In her final article, “Stand Up Against the Surge”, dictated because she was too weak to write it herself, Molly said,

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest… We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, “Stop it, now!”

How does it feel, America, knowing you have failed her, failed to answer one of journalism’s greatest clarion calls, that we are letting this moment of near-divine justice slip by with each second?

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the campfire, Jay and anonymous. Sounds like you fit right in. That was a great (and disheartening) synopsis of the horrible shit that has been going down. We've been sharing our outrage, fears, anger, hopes, dreams, and thoughts about coping in the nightmare that we see unfolding around us. Speak from the heart and we will listen. Got any ideas on "what's a motherfucker to do?" and we'll kick that around, too.
aho

Anonymous said...

Jason Lee,

Thanks for coming by. Pull up a seat by the campfire. The talking stick comes by often enough.

To see more of what we are about, you might want to go back to past posts and comments. We moved here from Cyclon's Real Deal blog.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Jan. 30 2:31 pm.

Not sure if you made other comments or not so I will just assume not for the time being.

I am not sure how much you put up was your own thoughts or some other writer. There was a lot of interesting comments and observations. I would certainly agree with the assessment of those in power in our government.

I tried to find the Pottersville blog site, found something by similar name, but couldn't find anything titled "On the Bubble".

The reference to New Orleans I found a tad amusing. It happens to be one the most corrupt cities in this country, and had been so for a long time, rivaling Chicago even.

Personally, I am of the opinion that cities are one of our main problems. But, that is an unpopular viewpoint among those that like to defend this civilization. I have a whole bunch of data and reasoning to make such a statement.

Your description of the State of the Union speech is pretty much how I felt about it. I exited about half way through. I couldn't stand any more of the dribble and the ovations for it.

I tried to reference who Robert Crawford is that was referred to. I got a bunch of sites from Google but not sure who is being talked about. The poet?

If you aren't the author of the essay, who actually is? There is some parts of it which I would take issue with.

I am also assuming that you are not familiar with this site. You might want to dig back into our archives to see more of what we are into. As mentioned in the previous comment, this site was an offshoot of Cyclone's Real Deal, which is still up. There you can see more what what this blog is about.

Thanks for coming by.

Anonymous said...

Hi Guys,

Hope all is well with you.

Excellent post Murph, plus some excellent comments.

I consider myself both an optimist and a realist.

Is that a contradiction in terms?

I think not!

I think we need to discern between pragmatic reality-based optimism on the one hand and fantasy-based over-optimism about what either we are selves or the PTB will do to save us all from ourselves on the other.

However, firstly, as I think MF is saying, each of us need to take responsibility for our individual roles in having created the situation we now see in the world. Blaming our leaders or our enemies is far too easy, even if there is at least a partial truth in such beliefs. Each of us, to a greater or lesser degree, is responsible for the kind of leaders that we get, whether that be through active support of them or, more commonly, a more passive acceptance that we do not have the power to challenge such people and the repressive control-orientated institutions that they represent. In the latter case there is a tendency for each of us to just turn inward and take care of our own family, friends and loved ones or in some more expansive cases, the needs of our particular community.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with taking care of oneself and those that are most important to us. However, we can not ignore the bigger picture of the world as a whole. In this global society in which we now clearly live, anything negative that is instigated by the PTB will sooner or later effect us all, whether we like it or not. We thus have a responsibility to at least attempt to counter such negativity, which is, in truth, only a projection of all our own dark denials about ourselves, our families, our communities and our nations.

If we do not look within ourselves to find all that deeply hidden fear, anger and hatred, how can we ever deal with the same fear, anger and hatred that we see manifesting itself in all sorts of horrific ways throughout our world today?

So the first step then is for each of us to become as self-aware as possible. Each of us needs to become aware of our own inner demons, those scary monsters that haunt us in our dreams. However, as we do this we must also look outward into the world and attempt to project a more positive expression of our humanity toward our planet as a whole, together with all its inhabitants whether they be plant, animal, human or anything else.

So how might we do this?

Is it just a pipe dream and a fantasy to believe that each of us as individuals, or better, whole groups of us, can make a difference to what happens in the future?

I not only believe that the above can be done, but I also believe such is occurring right now amongst the more enlightened members of the world community. However, such is still hidden from the major part of the populace. This appears to be for two reasons. The first applies to the ‘educated’ (or is it conditioned) ‘middle classes’, mainly in the first and second world nations. These folk are still entranced by the negative propaganda presented by our supposed leaders (though they are generally not the real puppet masters) and their spokespeople on the TV and in the papers, which are all directed, manipulated and policed by the PTB. The second group comprises an even greater number of the world population, most of whom live in the so-called third world nations. These people are just trying to survive on a day-to-day basis and do not have the time, energy or knowledge to confront the PTB, who seem quite happy to keep them enslaved in poverty, war and famine.

So, apart from working upon our own self-awareness, what else can we do to help make the future more positive rather than more negative?

I think we need to look toward science for our answers. I am not here talking about the scientism that we see promulgated in the mainstream today. This is largely based upon the shallow philosophy of dialectical materialism, which assumes a universe of no meaning and purpose. A true science is open to much more than this and it recognises the fundamental and underlying role of spirit, meaning and purpose in the workings of the universe in which we live. It is thus a spiritually-based science as opposed to the materially-based science to which we have all become accustomed through our mainstream schools and academic institutions. This science dares to look where materialist science will never go.

For example, it is a science that allows us to objectively explore alternative schools of medicine (not the sceptical, ridiculing and debunking of materialist scientism) that are rooted in a very different understanding of the human mind, body and spirit and the environments (physical and ethereal) in which all aspects of our being exist. Such include the healing traditions of China (e.g. acupuncture) with there concept of ‘Chi’, and of India, with there idea of ‘Prana’. We also see related ideas in many tribal healing systems of the indigenous peoples of the Earth, whether that be through the use of herbs and toxins, through shamanistic ritual and journeying or a combination of both. We see it also in the relatively modern system of Homeopathy, founded by Samuel Hahnemann in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today we see whole new schools of ‘Energy Medicine’ emerging. These ancient and modern ideas combined, I believe, can eventually begin to replace the current materially-based pharmaceutical corporation led ‘medicine’ of the 20th and early 21st Centuries. Whether it will or not, of course, depends on all of us and what we do both within ourselves and without.

This true science is also looking beyond the limited physics of the Newtonian and even the Einsteinian frameworks that have formed the centrepiece of mainstream physics over the last several hundred years. Such a physics (e.g. zero point energy) allows for technologies still beyond most of are imaginations. If applied they can release us from our dependence on fossil fuels and much more besides. For example both medicine and transportation could be transformed if such free energies became available.

I know this subject has been referred to a number of times on this blog site and its previous incarnation as Cyclone’s Real Deal. I also know there is much scepticism about some of the claims. However, if such energy does exist, and I have no doubt that it does, ethical questions have rightly been asked about how it might be used by our immature and irresponsible race. Any powerful new technology can be used for good or evil. Some have argued that this might be why the PTB have not divulged the knowledge of such energy and technology. However, I do not buy that, as I believe it is in the interest of the powerful corporations to maintain the status quo and only allow new bits and bobs of this new understanding of physics to come out as and when they are sure they can maintain their control over it. Free energy is not something they want us all to have. Once they can find a way to get us to continue to serve them for this new physics, then they might just begin to release it in small increments under the guise of new discoveries, when in truth it has been known about for decades. Indeed, I am pretty sure they have been developing and using this new physics for all sorts of dubious illicit programmes, particularly in the areas of security and defence. Personally, I would rather have the knowledge of this new physics and technology out there for all to see rather than controlled by an unelected elite who do not appear to have our best interests at heart. Yes there are dangers, but the more we know the better the chance we have of preventing abuses of such technology.

A third expression of this true science is its willingness to explore what we today call the paranormal or supernatural and what it actually tells us about humanity and the world in which we live. Away from the sceptical debunkers like Richard Dawkins, James Randi and members of CISCOP (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal), we see some genuine scientific seeking of the truth. The work of Rupert Sheldrake and his ‘Morphogenetic Field’ is but one expression of this. Also check out people like Lynn McTaggart and Gary Schwartz for further explorations on telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance and survival after death. Yes there is superstition mixed in with the truth, but the open minded scientist sifts through all this and comes to some remarkable conclusions about the reality in which we live, that transcend materialist scientism by a million miles. Collective positive thoughts, meditations (sometimes known as the ‘Maharashi Effect’ after the Maharashi Mahesh Yogi of Transcendental Meditation and Beetles fame) and prayer have been objectively shown to effect the world in which we live in a positive manner, if the research of some of these scientists is to be believed. Of course, if the latter is true, then collective negative thoughts can also become manifest. This is why, to my mind, it is really important to think positively, but with a strong dose of realism. If this is true, if we collectively hold a pessimistic view of the future, then it is much more likely that we will get what we expect. Likewise, if we think positively. Scientific research of this much broader kind seems to support such ideas.

I do agree with Murph and others on the fact that if a transformation of humanity is going to occur it is going to be instigated by outsiders and not those inside the existing mainstream institutions, whether they be academic, scientific, political, economic or religious in nature. It is not that many people within those institutions are not sympathetic to much of this new thinking, but that the red-tape and bureaucracy of the system (behind which the powerful elites hide) simply prevents any practical exploration of such fringe areas of research.

So, yes folks, we really do need a revolution from ‘we the people’. However, that will only occur when it dawns on ‘we the people’ that they are being ‘screwed’ by the PTB. I think things are going to have to get a lot worse before that happens for the majority. However, I believe it will happen, at first causing even more mayhem, death and woe.

So for these reasons I am a realist.

It is at that point that those of us on the fringe can hopefully begin to step in and promote a very different kind of ‘we the people’ led leadership which is rooted in a spiritual (not religious) science rather than a materialist science. I truly believe this can happen and that blogs like this can help spread the message.

Thus I am also an optimist.

However, as we act outward in the world for a better world, we must also continue to look inward upon ourselves and constantly question our own agenda and motivation for our thoughts and actions. If we do not do this then we will just end up with another version of the powerful elites that we see in the world today.

That will do for now.

Best Wishes

Truthseeker

Anonymous said...

From singapore:

Think should have alternative for communication in case the same thing happen to you too. You can never know what if it really occurred. That is why I always prefer local CD/DVD version of software that is local hard disk only, instead of internet based e.g. encyclopedia/wikipedia. I still believe the best is still paper encyclopedia (Provided if I can afford S$2,800 for paper set instead of S$69.90 for DVD set of identical contents.)

From CNN's Elham Nakhlawai and Mustafa Al Arab
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- Life came to a standstill in Dubai, home of the renowned "Media City" and modern "electronic government," after an extensive Internet failure affected much of the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
art.dubai.gi.jpg

Hi-tech Dubai has been hit hard by an Internet outage apparenyl caused by a cut undersea cable.

A major telecommunications provider blamed the outage, which started Wednesday, on a major cable failure.

Besides the Internet, the outage caused major disruption to television and phone services, creating chaos for the UAE's public and private sectors.

There were contradicting reports on the real cause behind the disruption, but Du, a state-owned Dubai telecom provider, attributed it to an undersea cable cut in the Mediterranean Sea between Alexandria, Egypt and Palermo, Italy.

A Du internal memo, obtained by CNN, called the situation "critical."

"This will have a major impact on our voice and Internet service for all the customers," the memo stated. "The network operation team are working with our suppliers overseas to resolve this as soon as possible."
Don't Miss

* Dubai bridge collapses killing 7

In a notice sent to customers, Du said the cable's operators assured the company it was working to fix the problems quickly, but it did not know when services would be restored.

The outage led to a rapid collapse of a wide range of public services in a country which proudly promotes itself as technological pioneer.

Sources from Emirates Airlines confirmed to CNN Arabic that the outage did not affect its flight schedules -- a statement which assured hundreds of travelers worried after rumors about the possibility of rescheduled flights due to the faults.

"Our flights were not affected by the current situation, and the schedules remain unchanged," said Hatim Omar, an Emirates spokesman.

However, Dnata, a government group in charge of providing air travel services in the Middle East and ground handling services at Dubai International Airport, acknowledged facing problems because of the outage, sources from its technical department confirmed to CNN Arabic.

The outage heavily crippled Dubai's business section, which is heavily reliant on electronic means for billions of dollars' worth of transactions daily.

Wadah Tahah, the business strategies and development manager for state-owned construction company EMAAR, told CNN Arabic that it was fortunate the outage started Wednesday, when there had been only moderate activity in the UAE markets. He said that softened the blow to business interests.

But Tahah warned that if the outage continued, "such a situation could create problems between brokers, companies, and investors due to loss of control." E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

Anonymous said...

From singapore:

Update on my take of stock market and financial crash .... It seems every one is panic and no one knows what is going on , no leader in sight. What I predicted stock market crash really came true this month. As for personal preparations, I still have not sufficient food to last 30 days, the recommendation is 70 days in case of bird flu/H5N1 and the bird flu situation in indonesia capital jakarta is almost out of control 4 person got it and 2 died. The recommendation is 180 days in case of war/big scale bird flu. The only personal preperation I have not made so far is buying winter blankets, this year the winter temp drop to 22 degrees C at night and I caught a very bad cold and medical leave for 1 day. This is the coldest weather at night I can remember for the past 10+ years. All my tricycles totally rust free spend a lot of time using POR15 to remove them, and I hope some thing will happen soon as it is better to let it happen faster and also my neighbours gossip that I am a bit nutty for buying "low class" oil free tricycle instead of BMW/Mercedes/Rolls Royce or some decent car. Here are the rest of my shopping list nice to have but not absolutely necessary at all and my wife controls the purse very tightly now
1) 4 more rubber hot water bottle at US$25 each, I have one from 30 years ago 2) Star Wars risk game set pirated at S$16.90, original non pirate is S$80 3) Chess computer game set US$40 4) 3D green/red glasses for chess computer game set as the latest is 3D vision already
5) 15.4" laptop privacy filter S$58 6) New energy star 4.0 fridge/freezer S$400 in case the canning jars do not work 7) The world without us book S$26.10 this book is really very very good at local bookshop but I think too expensive 8) Encyclopedia britannica 2007 paper S$2,800 or DVD S$70 9) Mechanical sewing machine S$480 but my wife insist she does not know how to use non computerised sewing machine 10) Some 3D paintings at S$1,000 11) 12V 1000Watt pure sine wave interter S$1,000 as I already got 2 1500W non pure sine wave inverter 12) 12V 1500W pure sine wave inverter S$1,800 13) Only area left untattooed on my upper body is ribs S$1,800 and I found some great artwork but my wife says I already got 4 paintings already and is full house on my skin 14) Bow and Arrow set S$1,800 but I do not have time to learn bow and arrow and also need police permit for it 15)Ergonomics chair top of range model S$2,000 each, cheapest clone is S$400 but my wife says why need ergonomics chair ? 16) Last 2 items cannot buy as I am not a medical doctor doctor's listening heart device and stereopsis stereo vision test US$162. The only item my wife approve is the winter blankets as it is essential for health as I suffered cold very badly, and I secretly bought a cent o'gram for measure 0.01 gram etc... for my chemistry lab from internet, US$15 for goods and US$35 airmail from USA, if I buy local it will cost 500% more. This is in case need to measure chemicals for my water distill kit.

Anonymous said...

Ah, sorry guys and gals, I should have put the full name of the blog I copied that rant on, it's "welcome-to-pottersvilll.blogspot.com"

Later -

Dude

Anonymous said...

Wow!, Singapore, great reporting. Please keep it up. I have yet to hear anything about this in US press or internet.

Rense and steveQuayle have been reporting stories about H5N1 in India, Bengladesh, Tibet. Apparently, goats are getting sick. Also, birds in Europe are dying. Will continents be quaranteened?

What have you heard about an asian secret society, (Benjamin Fulford,) that has issued the western elites marching orders?

Anonymous said...

Dude,

Lol, well that web address didn't work until I figured out it was spelled wrong. Found the site, I think it is the same one I googled to. Still couldn't find an article that had Bubble in it.

I haven't spent much time at the site and am unsure what the predominant point of view is. I will investigate further.

Anonymous said...

Truthseeker,
From my perspective, I think you are missing the point. When you get down to the basics of the matter, all science is a belief system, the premises of which are not open to more than casual verification. Much the same with mathematics. Once you accept the premise, all the rest follows. The major problem I see is that our race is not long lived enough to have really long time line perspectives. Oh yes, we have the recorded observations of those that come before us, the extent of which amounts to a mere 5000 years at this point. For example, we really have no idea about the "laws of physics" being applicable to the rest of the universe nor for all time. It only appear to work at this point with some cautions about future additions or refinements. The trap that humans fall into is that of permanence. As a species we do not seem to operate well in an environment of flux and change and we continually look for that which will not and does not change. Thus the human propensity to always look for "security" in situations.

The guiding light for science is verifiability, repeatability. So of course, any investigation into areas that can not be verified or repeated is suspect.

I would therefore disagree with your statement;
A true science is open to much more than this and it recognizes the fundamental and underlying role of spirit,--


And; Collective positive thoughts, meditations (sometimes known as the ‘Maharashi Effect’ after the Maharashi Mahesh Yogi of Transcendental Meditation and Beetles fame) and prayer have been objectively shown to effect the world in which we live in a positive manner, if the research of some of these scientists is to be believed".

This is not to be taken that I am strictly a believer of the mechanistic world view. But I am continually reminded that we have on record a whole bunch of snake oil science that has been used to dupe the public out of money. In my view, much the same as is going on today, and not just in the health field.

I am convinced that the major problem with science today is statistics; the plotting of data points and accepting of groupings and rejecting of that data which falls out of that grouping. I think it is a very flawed means of analyzing our environment. The sick part of this is that those in charge and making the decisions use this type of science to enforce public policy. I repeat, this methodology is seriously flawed in its assumptions and conclusions. No statistical data will ever give causative explanations and that is what we need. I see that the PTB have a vested interest in our never seeing most of the causative explanations.

Anonymous said...

Truthseeker & Singapore - thanks so much for your input. The true strength of this site (and what makes it so unique) is the comments section, in my opinion. We have a vast resource for tangible, emotional, mental, and spiritual support in the campfire collective. I am continually blown away. I am so grateful to all of you.
Gee wiz, Singapore, I don't know, but rather than pack your apartment with more technical stuff, maybe you ought to store up some more food. That is something that can always be used in any event. And, due to inflation, even your wife will admit that you may as well buy it now because the prices will only go up later. That bird flu threat is probably more immanent where you are than for us right now on the North American continent. If you have to be stuck in the apt., you can't eat all those test tubes and stuff. Do you have a dehydrator? You can buy a bunch of vegetables and dehydrate them. They can be stored very compactly that way because they become very light with all the water removed. Can do meat that way as well. Add some liquid smoke, and it tastes like jerky made over a fire. Just marinate some thin slices of meat in soy sauce and terriake or other good sauce, then dehydrate.(Follow directions to make sure that bacteria, etc. is killed.) Good stuff as a snack, and in an emergency it is something you can take with you and doesn't require cooking.
Our experiment with living on our supplies for a month after Christmas worked out real well. I only ran out of a couple of things (onion salt and caraway seeds). I made Reuben sandwiches with homemade pumpernickel bread, and didn't have quite enough caraway seeds. I used canned corned beef, canned sour kraut, and cheese that I had on hand. We did not suffer for anything except fresh salad.
Also, in regard to the threat of disease, what do you think of keeping a supply of Yin Chiao (Chinese herbal liquid) for immune system support? We keep it in the refrigerator and take some whenever we feel we might be coming down with something. Seems to work very well.
And get those blankets! Or, you can go to a thrift store, buy some used sheets, cut them up to make squares, sew them together, fill with some sort of batting, sew all the filled squares together and have a nice, warm quilt! Maybe you could get the kids to do it.

Anonymous said...

Singapore Guy,

I have to laugh, 22 degrees C? LOLOL We have over 3 feet of snow on the ground and it is consistently getting down to 0 C and below that at night, and right around 0 C during the day. We haven't had any really cold weather this winter yet. When it gets down to -28 C is when I get worried. Things start to not work when it gets that cold.

In my opinion you should start unloading some hard stuff and getting more food and water stored. Anything more than adequate food and water is a bonus in bad times.

Anonymous said...

Stoney

Love your comment.

It is true that we have optimism or hopes anyway for the best of some things, particularly progeny.

I am not sure that all humans are born optimistic. I will agree that it appears that most do, but verifying that would be tough. In any case, how we perceive our circumstances and what is happening around us as we grow up very likely will change us to pessimists anyway. The nice thing is, we do have the choice of examining what is happening and making a decision about it.

Yup, get lots of lube cause it's gonna be needed.

RAS said...

Lighten up on Singapore, huh, Murph? He comes from a semi-tropical area; 22C there is like -28 where you are. ;-)

I definately agree that more food and water would be the way to go. Those and warm clothing are the main things you need in a survival situation -everything else is optional.

This has been a bad winter here. The worst I've ever been through. The other night we had tropical storm force winds move through -only the temps were in the 40s and 30s instead of the 90s. I'm currently nursing my 3rd (I think) cold and praying for March. Imbolc is Saturday -that means we're halfway to the equinox!

mrs p said...

MF: thanks for the hello.:-) I'm okay...it's not that bad here. Just the usual small beach town city life congested with socker moms & over priveledged teenagers talking on the phone while driving their parents overpriced SUV's). The train tracks run right through the town and a million army & news choppers fly over everyday, (they're suppose to be out over the water) but other than that it's fairly quiet. A little off subject but here's a great tonic for everyday energy and immune system boost: Mix the juice of 1 juicy lemon, 3 Tablespoons of real Maple syrup and a quart of water. I usually double the recipe and sometimes I add just a pinch of red cayanne pepper when it's for colds, etc. but it's nicer without that. It tastes like lemonaid but is a great electrolite replacer and the vitamin C in it gives great healing and energy. Off subject here but what does everyone think of Edwards dropping out? We voted for him with absentee ballots, now our votes are null & void according to the registrar of voters. In CA, no people registered as non-partisan were allowed to vote in the primary except on the Dem or the Independant party's ballots. Although seemingly a true politician he did speak out against poverty & the corrupt corporations having their way with policy. Just curious if any of you are going to bother with voting in November? Seems like a dulusional waste. pesimistic-mrsp

Anonymous said...

From singapore

Yin Chiao is very good but also expensive for the really good ones e.g. 1930s top grade chinese tea leave 100 gram costs a cool S$130,000 as reported in the local news paper recently. This is equivalent of 3 to 4 new good cars for 100 grams of tea leaves.I recalcluated, if I use up every available physical space in kitchen and even the toilet I can squeeze about maximum 58 to 59 days of food in my apartment, but I am sure every one will be very shocked that canned food is stored in the toilet. Chinese new year is coming so the local supermarkets are open 24 hours this weekend only, so it is easier to "smuggle" food into my home. I just have to sell more gold for funds. I only lack food, I have full chemistry lab at home so I can reproduce pure water from sea water, using solar panel/batteries/even sunlight as I have full set of equipment of 200 laserdiscs 30cm/12 inch diameter. I have already stored 1,000 litre of water at home in case of emergency. Military grade/Top range gas masks/medical suits (As seen in I am legend) are controlled items in singapore so I cannot possible get them easily. Radiation detectors are also controlled items too.

Anonymous said...

Holy Shit, Singapore, that must be some hellacious tea leaves for $130,000! The stuff we have is a liquid that has a medicine dropper, and you just take some under the tongue. Made of an assortment of Chinese herbs we don't have here. Well, the area around Singapore probably has good things to eat that grow on trees most of the year. And fish. Probably could get by. I'd hate to hear that you drove Mrs. Singapore insane by storing food in the toilet. Maybe you could construct a still out of all those supplies and trade alcohol for food. lol.
mrsp - I liked Edwards, too. I sent him and Ron Paul money. I admit to being torn. I think that black faces in the White House would be good for our image, but Obama is still too corporate for my taste. Paul has virtually no chance to get the Republican nomination. If he and Kucinich run on an independent ticket, I'd vote for them. Still sending money to Paul, just to support getting the word out on the Federal Reserve, etc. If all else fails, I might vote for Cynthia McKinney and the Green Party. Her website All Things McKinney has good things on it. The whole thing is an exercise in futility, especially in light of the voter fraud conspiracy and the media lockdown on information. I haven't been so depressed around an election since Nixon was elected in '68. Back then, I think I voted for Shirley Chisholm. You'd think I'd get used to this crap by now.

goritsas said...

freeacre,

Just in case you didn't know, in many parts of the world the phrase "the toilet" doesn't mean just the bowl (or pan as it's also known) and cistern (that is sometimes only a bucket or other contrivance that holds the water for "flushing"), it also includes the enclosure that house said bowl and cistern. :)

It is very likely that Singapore is using the space within the enclosure to store food and not actually using the bowl itself as cupboard space.

Anonymous said...

Latest economist article released 31st Jan 2008 seems to indicate that the war against iran will soon occur, especially as the russians have made final delivery of 82 tons of nuclear fuel, and I recall that some one mentioned that March 17 2008 the iran nuclear power station will open and March 24 2008 is Iran election. Has Iran won ?
www.economist.com/opinion/
displaystory.cfm?story_id
=10608425
As the iran enrichment machines spin on.
www.economist.com/world/
asia/displaystory.cfm?
story_id=10601584

Anonymous said...

Geez, I just read some of that crap on economist.com -wow, it was like reading Fox Noise!

Went to rense.com this morning which posted a link to a Youtube clip of Montel Williams bith-slapping a few Fox Noise mouthpieces for spending hours upon hours of airtime on the death of Health Ledger and NO airtime to the 28 soldiers who were killed in Iraq this month.

Finally, somebody speaking some sorta truth on Faux Nosie. Of course, The Matrix has fired Montel Williams for his "uncalled for" outburst.

We're doomed boys and girls. Doomed.

Later-

Dude

stoney13 said...

Freeacre,

I'm having strange visions of Sinapore Guy, resplendant with his many tattoos, seated on a toilet, munching a Ruben sandwich!

I will now smoke pot untill these visions go away!

Anonymous said...

Hey, a good portion of the Middle East is cut off from the internet.

Was clicking around and found someone who said that it really can't happen unless it was deliberate.

The one country NOT affected is Isreal.

Hmmmm......

Do ya think something is afoot?

Later -

Dude

Anonymous said...

I'm happy to learn that "toilet" just refers to the bathroom, goritsas. Thank God.Please don't take offense, Singapore Guy. We just like to kid you because you are such a one-of-a-kind fascinating individual.And, it's a real treat to get your perspective from Singapore.
I just can barely get my mind around the possibility of initiating a war with Iran. WTF? And, the new NATO paper recently out that tries to justify a nuclear first strike so that no one else gets to have a first strike. Does this sound like "Dr. Strangelove" or what? We deal with dictatorships all the time. We buy oil from other Middle Eastern sources, why not Iran? It seems it must be about Iran's stance that compound interest is forbidden under Islamic law, and that they would stop it, given the chance. So, we would kill millions in a WWIII scenario, and pollute the earth with thousands of years worth of radiation for some trumped up banking issues??? We must be resolute in our opposition to this policy. It is the height of insanity.
Stoney, "don't Bogart that joint."

Anonymous said...

Dude, I went to the rense site, too, and saw the Montel clip. He was totally right! To think that he was fired for having an opinion that was so true is just a travesty. That whole network should be shunned. I am no longer watching NBC news either because Brian Williams is such a suck up. Amazingly, CBS actually has the best news of the networks I can access, since I have no cable or satellite.
And the fibre optics thing...that is worrisome. Good grief.

Anonymous said...

freeacre...we fell in love with Ron Paul the 1st time we heard him speak...he's great and Kucinich too. It's too unfortunate more people don't know about them. It seems like things will have to be really bad before Americans will be "awake" enough to seek out the right people. I would take Ron Paul over all of them but couldn't get access to the Repub ballot in the Primary here. It seems like it's all set up and pre-determed to be McCain and Hillary...if we have an election? I can't help but wonder what these psycos will do to stay in power and continue on with their resource & genocide wars. mrsp-grim

Anonymous said...

ps: Cynthia McKinney got money from us, not a lot but what we could afford. There's always Russell Means too. There are more good people on the left than the pitiful choices on the right, save for Ron Paul...the rest are decrepid and devious.

Something we could do if any of you want...last night on Bill Moyers show on PBS, actually a local PBS called KPBS, he was showing a story where they asked all the candidates what "one book" or "writing" they would take to the White House? He asked for "your opinion" and said any of you can send your "one book" idea to "kpbs.com" and he's going to read the suggestions on the air next time. I haven't gone there yet but will and will suggest "Croosing the Rubicon." Maybe others could too or Deer Hunting...it's just that if a lot of us respond to the call, it might make it to the airways. Just a though. KPBS.com Look for Bill Moyers. msp

Anonymous said...

correction: KPBS.org
mrsp.

Anonymous said...

Duck & Cover Alert
This is a weekend of high anxiety for me. You know those fibre optic cables that were "broken" in the Mediterranean a couple of days ago? Well, now another has been cut off the shore of Dubai, crippling communications in Egypt, Dubai, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and most of all, in Iran. 100% of Iran is cut off. This just as Iran was about to unveil their oil bourse that would put oil up for sale not using the US dollar as the reserve currency. Israel has not been affected. All these countries would have probably traded with Iran's oil bourse. Meanwhile if they want to retaliate (or if anyone wants to create a really huge event for whatever reason), the weekend of the Super Bowl would be a perfect time. I'm more than a little nervous for the people in Phoenix.
Let's hope we still have the internet on Monday...

Anonymous said...

Good point freeacre. I was wondering about this under sea cable thing also. It is an odd set of circumstances. BTW, the Bill Moyers Journal section of the KPBS.org has a place where you can commnet without really going through a whole lot of sign up stuff. It's interesting to see what others are suggesting for the next president to read. mrsp<---going out for more storable food. Hang on everyone. Love and green smoothies.

Anonymous said...

Saw the latest on the cables on rense. Went to Will Thomas online to see what he's got on it. Nada, so far. But I bet "Hank" is a busy man this weekend. My guess is soon Will Thomas will have another major story. Hope we're still around in our physical forms to read it when and if it posts.

I'd say it's about time for Benjamin Fulford's Asian Protection teams to swing into action. If pre-emptive strikes are okay for the "Evil Empire," then they have to be equally justified when used by its "enemies."

What's with Phoenix? Is that where the game is being played tomorrow? Shows you what import we ascribe to the super bowl in our household.

RAS said...

I hope those cut cables don't mean anything. But, Iran is not 100% cut off -all they have to do is switch to satelite links for high-priority internet access (like their oil bourse). I'm sure the Russians would be happy to accomodate them on their sats!

If things went too far south I'd be bugging out; I live in an um, high risk area. (Yet another reason for me to move...working on it.)

This is the one weekend of the year, I really, really wish I had cable. No, not for the stupid Super Bowl. For the lingerie bowl. Yeah, I'm terrible. I know.

Anonymous said...

From singapore

Well my internet access is not cut off and it shows my addiction to internet too.

Anonymous said...

Singapore,

Any news about the cables being cut from your side of the pond?

Why would you deliberately cut the cables, if they can be repaired in just a few days? What's the point?

I don't believe they were cut. I think they were blown, and will be down indefinately.

Anonymous said...

By all means, keep us apprised of your situation, Singapore.

On a lighter note, ras, I hate to admit it, but although the Murphinator is indifferent to football, I have not missed a game. So, I'll be watching the Super Bowl. And, yes, Rockpicker, it's being played in Phoenix.

What in the heck is the lingerie bowl? LOL... I've never even heard of it!

Maybe this cable thing is just to make some sort of point to the Middle East. Maybe it will just end there. Let's hope so.

I just wanna have a nice, normal day, for once. I just want to eat my elk meatballs and Chex mix, kick back and have a couple of cocktails, relax, and enjoy the darn game. I need a break.

I hope we all have a good day. Love to you guys.
aho

RAS said...

Freeacre, the lingerie bowl is a, um, slightly different type of football played by beautiful, scantily clad women wearing (you guessed it) lingerie. Like I said, I know I'm awful!

Anonymous said...

My bad. Iran is not disconnected from the internet. I must remember not to believe everything that I read. George Ure, on Urban Survival, also has some additional thoughts on misinformation that is coming from the web.
After that nerve wracking weekend, I'm gathering what little is left of my positive thinking energy into hoping that people in tomorrow's primaries vote for Barack Obama over Hillary. He may not be perfect, but the movement behind him seems to have the right stuff. Tomorrow will be exceedingly interesting.

mrs p said...

My spelling is terrible...sorry. The book I suggested at KPBS.org (Bill Moyers Journal), for our next president to read was, "Crossing the Rubicon" by Michael C. Ruppert. I blew it when i first posted it with several spelling errors in my post. Just need to slow down and think more. Tomorrow will be intense, I hope we get the best of what we need in the weeks and months to come. I like Michelle Obama she seems down to earth, natural...free from any fake pretense or phony-ness. I hope J. Edwards and Kucinch get to be a part of the new administration. Bottom line, the guys in charge of the money and the pentegon need some serious butt kicking.

Anonymous said...

Got that right! We knew what you meant, mrsp.

I keep thinking about Palooka's little grain of sand shifting the pile. Nice image.

LATOC links an essay by Carolyn Baker which is good regarding a book on the collapse. Lots of good stuff on her site today.