PEERING INTO THE FUTURE

from Murph

Mankind has always tried to figure out what was going to happen next. We have an abundance of folk tales that talk about the success or failure of individuals making the claim they could accurately predict the future. We also have the non folk tales concerning this; Nostradamus, and a whole variety of channelers and those with some variation of the crystal ball. We have the very modern technological future prediction people also, in the form of statistical analysis and data collection like the time monks. My observations are that while some of the predictions appear to be true, most are not, and a very high percentage of the ones that turn out accurate are put into terminology that could fit a lot of events. Then we have the very few predictions that are specific and become a reality. There is always the question in my mind whether these predictions are the result of lucky guesses, or, from some form of knowledge most of us don’t seem to have, or, maybe they are just a whole lot smarter than the average bear, connecting the dots and coming to a conclusion that has only one outcome.

I have often commented that mankind throughout history has a very poor record of predicting the future; we seem to be thwarted in this endeavor by the caprice of the universe. There are far more surprises in store than accurately predicted outcomes.

John Michael Greer recently made an interesting comment on his site that has bearing on this. “Planning for the future becomes risky when, rather than starting from present realities and trying to figure out what can be done, it starts from a vision of a desirable future and tries to figure out how to get there”. Neither of these approaches has much to do with the actual predicting of a future event and then planning a response to it. However, upon examination of much of the written work around the future, I think that his statement has a lot of bearing on how we conduct ourselves in the present. Most of the doom and gloom stuff available to scare the pants off of us is an attempt to peer into the future. I talk to very few people that are enthusiastic about the current events shaping up around us, and view the future with some trepidation. Greer’s statement has more application than just attempting to side step the appearance of future events that are considered to be highly negative in nature.

My observations concerning most human activities seem to want to “start from a vision –and then figure out how to get there”. I think that all business models are of this kind. The problem with this model is unforeseen consequences. Despite all the planning and anticipation of variations of consequences of actions, there are always surprises. Then you are reduced to fighting fires of an immediate nature and are unable to proceed to the planned future goal. This I see is what has happened in our present situation, from the auto industries to the financial woes consuming the world. I suspect this is the result of not peering far enough into the future, but rather a very short sighted viewing, focused on the quarterly report rather than years into the future.

If we attempt to plan for the future by “starting from present realities and –figuring out what can be done”, we run into the problem of perceptions of just what the present realities really are. If your perceptions are not an accurate reflection of reality, you are going to make bad decision of what can be done. And boy, do the perceptions of the current ‘realities’ vary all over the place. The problem here is that only in hindsight can we with any reasonable accuracy say that we had the dots connected. An example is the resource depletion, particularly oil. If your perception is that we have another 100 yrs of plentiful oil, you are not likely to support any austerity and life style changes in its use advocated by those that perceive that we have reached Hubbert’s peak. Even those that advocate Hubbert’s peak admit that we can only see it in hind site because we do not have truly accurate information about the subject, that is, there is great question concerning the accuracy of the data on reserves and quantities of the stuff in the ground, and we also have the Russians declaring that there is a never ending supply because oil is not dependent on geological time.

I am currently going through Greer’s book, “The Long Descent” in which he has a substantial section he calls, ”The Stories We Tell Ourselves”. While the main thrust of this section is concerning modern civilizations penchant for looking at growth as good, it has much broader implications. We are constantly telling ourselves stories about who we are which of course influences what we decide to do. When we start examining these stories, we find that there is a large variance between different group’s stories. The stories about who we are from the Christian fundamentalists differs from the humanists stories, which differ from the scientific communities which differ from the political stories, right down to the individual perceptions and the stories that come out of that. If we ever had consensus about the stories, we sure seem to not have a consensus anymore, except perhaps on a very broad and generalized perception. As a culture, we simply cannot agree on a story. It then appears to me that we are not going to be able to agree on what to do as a culture. Thus we are experiencing a wide variety of solutions to problems and disagreeing on those solutions, often violently. We can’t even agree or obtain a consensus on the nature or significance of the problems. We do seem to have a fairly high amount of the population that agrees that we have an economic problem, but, we disagree on the nature of the problem, what caused it, and the solutions. Thus, “starting from present realities and trying to figure out what can be done” is nearly impossible.

No matter how honest, benign and dedicated to dealing with “the present realities” the political leadership is committed to, can a consensus ever be formed on the plan of action? Is there any action that does not contain the elements of oppression of dissent? What would it take to have a unanimous decision for action or even a 90% or even a 70% agreement? This is why fear is such a useful tool for politicians. Enough fear and you can get a super majority to go along with whatever you want. Will this new administration find it necessary to do what Bush and crew have done; use fear to get a direction for an agenda? Will the new administration have anywhere near an accurate appraisal of “the present realities” on which to base proposals for actions? And, if they have an accurate appraisal of present realities, will they be able to convince a vast majority of its accuracy and the subsequent action? No matter what is decided, someone is going to get hurt by it, and if enough get hurt, there will be violent opposition. I suspect it is an impossible situation with no real and satisfactory solution.

As a personal experiment, sit down and catalogue the stories you are exposed to and the ones you hold dear and believe in. Then do a critique of them, a devils advocate sort of thing. Anything change? Have a few doubts about those you hold close? How do the stories you don’t believe contradict the ones you believe in? What holds a grain of truth as you see it and what appears as total fabrication? Are your perceptions skewed by the stories? I find most people latch onto a story and defend it come hell or high water, regardless of the other stories circulating in their heads. I think it is a good idea to periodically sit down and examine our most cherished beliefs and try to objectively examine if they appear to be consistent with reality. Changing a stance on anything is not a sin. What is questionable is a lack of integrity, honesty and a good hard reality check.

How many people have you come across that will voluntarily give up much of what they have to better the situation of a larger group? On a population level, it is a very small minority, very idealistic and committed. I do see this happening in very small groups, like religious orders, but the general attitude of the general population have harsh restrictions on what they are willing to give up for the perceived common good. I have yet to hear about a billionaire impoverishing themselves for the general good. Even in the upper middle class, charitable donations have fallen off drastically in order to preserve a life style. And this is done at the recognition that the U.S. has one of the higher impoverishment populations of the industrial world. This is a readily observable problem, and yet there is no solid agreement on the causation or solution.

I think that the problems that we are experiencing presently have no viable solutions. We have allowed the present situation to develop over a long period of time and it sure appears to me that a whole different way of organizing how groups of people are going to live together has to be changed, that is, the crash of western civilization. But, then again, that is my perception of “the present realities”. I often agonize over whether my perceptions are of reality or just another story I am operating under.

I do think it is important for individuals to be aware of the stories they are buying into and realize that they may have absolutely no bearing or relationship to reality. This is a real problem for people living in complex societies. We simply cannot in a lifetime absorb and integrate all or even enough information to accurately assess reality. We may very well understand small pieces, but the big picture is always going to be cloudy. I think it is helpful and instructive to listen to those that claim an understanding of some piece, but still realizing it is a story that may or may not be true. I rather suspect that the future of the human race may very well rest on how well we determine the relationship of the stories to reality.

Heck of a Week, Wallstreet!

freeacre

Looking back over the last week, one can not help but notice that despite frantic efforts to shore up the economy by political leaders, bankers and pundits, the economy continues to take on water like a super-tanker stuck on a reef spilling its toxic load and poisoning all that it touches. As the world continues to deteriorate, the words of the Deteriorata come to mind from National Lampoon’s musical “metaphysical” counsel from years ago:

“You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.....
Deteriorata! Deteriorata!

Go placidly
Amid the noise and waste.
And remember what comfort there may be
In owning a piece thereof.

Avoid quiet and passive persons
Unless you are in need of sleep.

Ro-tate your tires.

Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself
And heed well their advice,
Even though they be turkeys.

Know what to kiss.....and when!

Consider that two wrongs never make a right
But that THREE.........do.

Wherever possible, put people on hold.

Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment
And despite the changing fortunes of time,
There is always a big future in computer main-te-nance.

Chorus

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.

Remember the Pueblo.

Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle and mu-ti-late.

Know yourself.
If you need help, call the FBI.

Exercise caution in your daily affairs,
Especially with those persons closest to you.
That lemon on your left, for instance.

Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls
Would scarcely get your feet wet.

Fall not in love therefore;
It will stick to your face.

Gracefully surrender the things of youth:
The birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan
And let not the sands of time
Get in your lunch.

Hire people with hooks.

For a good time call 606-4311;
Ask for "Ken."

Take heart amid the deepening gloom
That your dog is finally getting enough cheese.

And reflect that whatever misfortune may be your lot
It could only be worse in Milwaukee.

Chorus

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.

Therefore, make peace with your god
Whatever you conceive him to be---
Hairy thunderer, or cosmic muffin.

With all its hopes, dreams, promises and urban renewal
The world continues to deteriorate.

GIVE UP!

Reprise

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.”

There you go, Mr. Paulson, Mr. Bernanke, Mr. Bush, et al, feel better? The stock markets are crashing all over the world, central banks are printing money like mad, retailers are freaking because consumers are not planning to buy much for Christmas. It seems the story being told is not “The Night Before Christmas,” but the one about killing the goose that laid the golden egg. “Heck of a job, Wallstreet!” You have left no dollars on the table. You sucked every dime out of every person and source possible, then leveraged it a bunch of times, re-sold it over and over, and now this monstrous financial creature awakens … to attack the whole world. The mortgage and credit card holders do not have any more money to spend. The Asian markets and the Western Markets look like Mothra vs Godzilla. Men in suits are looking up in horror at the electric ticker tape and running down the street in droves. I can hardly wait for the “End the Fed” demonstrations tomorrow. I don’t know whether to break out the popcorn or the ammo.

Congress just authorized the national debt to go from one trillion to two trillion in a matter of weeks. Militia men speaking before congress in C-SPAN and U-Tube told our dear leaders that debt servitude, rendition, torture, and the erosion of our inalienable rights are not acceptable. It looked like all the blood drained out of the face of Sen. Thompson in the background as he sat there looking incredibly grim.

Nine huge ships filled with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil and grain were hijacked and ransomed by pirates. What? PIRATES? Raggedy, half-starved looking Somalian pirates off the coast of Africa, for gods sake, taking over tankers three times bigger than an aircraft carrier?? In the face of the combined navies of the world, is that nuts or what? What the f**k is going on here?

How about that clip on Huffington Post and several other sites showing the G20 leaders all shaking hands with everyone except George Bush? Whoa! There’s a national humiliation.

Clueless Detroit automakers were not granted more billions of tax payers’ money despite their lame pleas. They should be getting it from the oil companies that have profited all this time from their gas guzzlers, not us. And, now the rumor is that the Chinese are thinking about buying General Motors and Chrysler!! Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!!!! Excuse me while my head explodes…

Meanwhile, poor President-elect Barack Obama is steadfastly going ahead and putting together his new cabinet that supposedly will be up to dealing with this complete clusterfuck. All I can say is “good luck.”

Oh, and “Happy Thanksgiving!”

---

How Will You Spend YourTime?

freeacre

“Some things are worth believing in whether they are true or not.” So said Robert Duvall in “Second Hand Lions” regarding a speech he gives to young men about How to be a Man. He was talking about courage, loyalty, true love. It’s all about defining yourself, choosing your values, and deciding what makes a life worth living.

I’m waxing philosophical right now because a lot of things are coming together at once for me. For openers, I am reading both James Howard Kunstler’s “The Long Emergency” and John Michael Greer’s “The Druidry Handbook.” Both of these books with the backdrop of LATOC’s daily Breaking News financial and resource depletion horror stories and Survival Acres lamenting the demise of the planet and the ability of much of the populace to respond. (Their thought processes apparently restricted by the tightness of the anal sphincters around their necks.) He concludes that it doesn’t matter anyway because the climate change tipping points have already been reached, there is nothing we can do, and we, the fish in the ocean, and all but maybe sea slime are going to die off.

I quote him from one of his recent missives:

“A divided and bankrupt nation. A world running out of energy and food resources. A depleted environment. Oceans heating up and aquifers collapsing. Icecaps and glaciers melting rapidly. Energy demands skyrocketing. Massive ignorance and denial. Fascist and socialist policies and practices to herd the population. Resource wars and jockeying for energy around the world. Political and ignorant leadership still calling for failed policies and practices, including bio-fuels and dangerous technologies. Scientific reticence from experts who know better. Promises of a technofix solution with technologies that don’t even exist or are entirely unproven. Business as usual models in finance, industry, agriculture, mining, deforestation, shipping and on and on.

I could go on, but I don’t feel like it. In fact, I don’t really know why I’m bothering at all anymore, because I realize the futility of trying to change anything (and I’m not the Messiah). Nobody is going to change anything, and I mean nobody. We’re on this headlong train that already plunged off this very, very high cliff and we are going to crash with a sickening thud. Period.”

Admin has his dark days, as we all do. But, I am not so sure that things are set in stone. I distinctly remember when I lived in Tahoe and the area suffered a five year drought. The experts all reported glumly that it would take a minimum of five years of sustained higher than average rainfall if Lake Tahoe was ever to fill back up. The next year it rained like a son-of-a-bitch and the lake reached its brim in a few months.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s say that it is so.

We recently watched the movie “Iron Man.” It stars Robert Downey, Jr., an actor who, much like the planet, seems to have great resiliency. Anyway, in the movie, there is a scene where it looks as if all is lost. He says to his trusty assistant, “What does it matter? I’ll be dead in a week.” The assistant counters, “Well, then, this is an important week, isn’t it? How will you spend it?”

Hence, my search for a new religion, or philosophy if you will, to help me to deal with all this apparent chaos and collapse. For some reason I seem to have always been one to explore differing religions and philosophies. I was born to parents one of whom was a former Catholic and the other a Lutheran. I was raised Lutheran, but the entire time I attended Lutheran confirmation classes, I wanted to be a Jew. To this day, I feel sorrow for the young assistant pastor who had to deal with my unending challenges to everything he was trying to teach me. About a month after I was confirmed, I wrote a letter to the Church announcing that I would never darken the door of another Lutheran church due to them refusing to allow a black family to enter for Sunday services. It was at the height of the Civil Rights movement, and it was a great failure of my church at that time to adhere to what I considered to be Christian principles.

After that, I came across a Theosophy book at the library called “Some Glimpses of Occultism” by C.W. Ledbetter that got me rolling on metaphysics. I was fifteen. My parents, as well, began their own search and settled on a challenging form of Hindu thought called Radha Saomi, and became devotees of the Maharisha Saran Sing Ji. We became vegetarians and meditators in the land of Swedes, Pollacks... err, Poles, and the local Michigan militias.

After several years, I pretty much gave up on the Hindu practice, and went on to study existentialism and the Buddhism of Alan Watts and the Beat Generation. Then, on to the Dali Lama and Tibetan Buddhism. But, in California, I discovered the metaphysical Church of Religious Science, and found a spiritual “home.” After five years of study I became a Science of Mind practitioner. I served in that capacity at the Carson City Church of Religious Science for twelve years. But, that new age philosophy encourages one to read and grow and I began to incorporate The Feminine Face of God teachings into my own spiritual perspective. Eventually, I joined a women’s spiritual drumming/meditation circle and incorporated a lot of Native American traditions. I was with the circle for eight years before moving to Oregon. Since then, I have not hooked up with any official group.

So, with this ridiculously diverse spiritual background, why in the world would I be looking for yet another religion? Because I think we need one. We need to synthesize the best teachings of the others and root them in a planetary base. We need to cultivate a reverence for Gaia, Our Great Mother, The Earth. It’s going to take more than Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens or British Petroleum or wind mills to give people the strength and the motivation that will sustain us through the coming end times of financial and planetary systems collapse.

I want to be inspired. I want to see the sacred in all natural beauty. I want to be devoted. I want art and music and rituals that give me goose bumps. I want to crawl into the lap of the Great Mother and be comforted. When I die or when my loved ones die, I want to believe that they are welcomed into the loving embrace of our Mother, the Earth. Well, actually, I already do believe that. Is it true? I don’t know. But, for me, it is worth believing in. If something else works for you, believe in that. But, if we are to change the paradigm, our belief system must exhort us to live in harmony with nature. Of course, the Wiccan and American Indian traditions are centered in the sacred fabric of nature as well. If this line of thought catches on, it might pull some of the American (or Islamic) fundamentalist recruits from the line-up for Armageddon. That would be a plus.

So, when some pundit predicts in dire tones that our income might be reduced by twenty five percent, I’d like people to not panic. After all, I am living on about half of what I used to, and I am feeling pretty good. And, the more I get right with the natural world, the better I feel. So the next generation might be “reduced” to living in tents and dancing around campfires. It sounds good to me.

Trying to maintain this moribund culture is like fishing in the same spot just because somebody caught a fish there a hundred or a thousand years ago. Somebody needs to tell you, “Look, Dumbass, you have to move to where the fish are now, or you are going starve.”

I’m only a few pages into the book on Druidry. But what appeals to me is that it seems to be in the process of creation. While it honors many traditions from the past, it looks toward the future with eyes wide open exploring our contemporary relationship with the life forces of this wondrous planetary system in which we live. We are not cast out of the garden. We are a part of the garden. And, it’s our sacred duty to figure out how to be in harmony and nurture it. In Druidry, one is encouraged to plant trees, learn traditional skills, study ecological systems, make medicine, write poems, and play music as part of one’s spiritual practice. I am not trying to jam it down your throat, but I think it is a healthy response to the situation we are in. Worth looking into at any rate.

We have been out of touch with the earth for so long that we don’t have any idea what is possible. A friend of mine recently told me about black earth that has been discovered in traditional Mayan lands that was created thousands of years ago by pre-history people that is capable of growing incredible food crops. Who knows what secrets may be revealed if we start looking to the natural world instead of the man-made one for our salvation. Maybe there are ways to heal the mess we have made.

I look at Paulson and Bernanke and Wall Street and the G7, and the whole sink hole of our culture of debt and decline and all I see are dead men walking. This truly may be The End of the World As We Know It. Maybe it is time it was kicked to the curb.

Perhaps it is time to honor the North. Time of winter. Time to contract, evaluate, for some to die, for others to ponder what to keep and what to throw away. Time to make wise decisions for the Spring that will follow. For a lot of us, this may, indeed, be the last of our seasons. For others, it may be a beginning. Either way, these days are important.

How do you want to spend them?

WATCH FOR THE SHIT COMING AT YOU

WATCH FOR THE SHIT COMING AT YOU

This morning I got in my email such a stupid piece of shit I couldn’t believe it. I’m in a bit of a rage over it. This complete fabrication of reality comes from rather obviously a rabid, crazy, stupid, extremist, right wing influence peddling group ;

AmeriPAC info@conservativeactionalertsupdates.com and is reprinted below.

Democrats Wreck Bull Market

Biden Refuses To Answer Wealth Redistribution-Marxist Questions

"When I think about things when the lights are out and I'm tossing and turning in bed, it's how do we make sure we fulfill the commitments to the American people that we've made throughout this campaign." – President Elec. Barrack Obama

At the end of 2002, shareholder wealth stood at $10.075 trillion. After cutting the capital gains tax from 20% to 15% and the dividends tax from 38.1% to 15%, shareholder wealth grew all the way to a peak of $17.294 trillion in 2007. Estimates now put shareholder wealth at about $12 trillion.

OK, assuming the figures are correct, all of the attributes for the fall of this market was in place before the Dems took control of the congress. And, they voted with the white house demands almost completely. Plus, Obama is not yet president. He can’t control anything yet.

So, when the Republican Congress cut investor tax rates, $7 trillion of shareholder wealth was created—a gain of 70 percent. When Pelosi, Reid, and Obama took over, $5 trillion of shareholder wealth was lost—a decline of 30%.

It is questionable that the tax cut created the $7 trillion in wealth for shareholders. What did happen is that due to the 25-40 asset multiplier factor in banking, debt was increased by $7 trillion which through creative accounting was shown as assets.

If you want your 401(k) or other retirement plans to grow, your best bet is a Republican Congress that will cut nest egg tax rates and keep them low. When Democrats are in charge, markets price in expected tax increases.

What are they talking about? The cuts in retirement vehicles has taken place by robbing these vehicles to gain liquidity. Has nothing to do with the Dems other than they voted for all the Bush policies. Maybe indeed the dems will raise taxes. Now let’s see, just who will that effect? Sure not the lower 50% in incomes. Ahhh, those poor people with the $200+ K income per year. I’m sure they will become destitute.

Obama needs to redistribute YOUR wealth to honor his Campaign Promises

Just whose wealth is going to get redistributed? It sure as hell isn’t mine and the large majority of the lower 50% of the economic part of the population.

The public outcry of real Americans like you and Joe the Plumber is finally getting some light shed on Mr. Obama's wealth redistribution agenda supported by Socialist Democrats in Congress. The corrupt media can't hide it any longer. The plan is to bring an end to the America we know and love; to bring an end to freedom and liberty.

Socialist Democrats? Bull shit. You might want to call it egalitarianism but socialism, again bull shit. Hell, the biggest surge in socialism has taken place under Bush and policies and every since Reagan. Capitalize profit earnings, socialize loses, that is, the state puts the loses onto the general population. Government ownership in private corporations? That is called Socialism and what the current administration is doing with a vengeance.

They want total control of what you see, hear, think, and do. They will stop at nothing. NOW, they are aiming at your 401k and other retirement plans and they are going for the kill.

And just what in hell has the Repugs been doing? Control of the media is their expertise a-la Karl Rove.

Democrats Target Your 401k Retirement Plan with Taxes

Yes that's right, Liberals in government want to seize these assets for their own. Can you hear them laughing. Just look at what James Pethokoukis, the money and politics blogger for U.S. News & World Report has said:

In place of 401(k) plans, she would have workers transfer their dough into government-created "guaranteed retirement accounts" for every worker. The government would deposit $600 (inflation indexed) every year into the GRAs. Each worker would also have to save 5 percent of pay into the accounts, to which the government would pay a measly 3 percent return. Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, said that since "the savings rate isn't going up for the investment of $80 billion [in 401(k) tax breaks], we have to start to think about whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that's not generating what we now say it should."

And just what has the Repugs suggested for Social Security. Privatization, because the government has spent all of social security on wars and pork and substituted IOU’s. So let’s give control of your taxes in SS to the stock market. And take a look at what those investment vehicles for retirement consist of primarily. Notice how the majority is invested in a workers company stock, and the bubble economy that took a nose dive. Those accounts have been only numbers on a spread sheet for a long time and do not represent real wealth at all. Remember the Enron and World Com bubbles and the people burned by having company stock in their 401K’s? So indeed lets just all jump into the stock market in one form or another and see how much money is left over for retirement. All of the figures I have seen concerning the long term stock market gains for individual investors has been below inflation rate. Yes, some do gain handsomely. Most lose their asses. But talk to a few people that were depending on those investments for retirement. If you retired in a down market, you are screwed.

The Democratic plan is to SIEZE your 401k and take $80 billion that is currently the property of American citizens. Effectively, this plan will end all of the incentives that the majority of Americans not only enjoy but rely on. I am sure you or someone you know takes advantage of their employer matching their 401k contribution. Under the iron fist of the Democratic empire your employer would no longer receive a tax benefit for matching your contribution, so they won't do it. And you will lose half of your retirement contributions. And don't forget, that you will lose your tax breaks from the 401k plan also, so you'd be paying the government to let you retire. Sounds like fun?

Hell, we already pay the government to retire. I sure had to pay taxes on my 401K and that was during Bushes administration. And, notice that they don’t mention vestment. At the rate jobs are moved around, it’s amazing that anyone get 100% vestment. In today’s economy, the $80 billion they mention is a drop in the bucket compared to the $50 trillion in debt we have. Corporations have been cutting employee benefits as fast as they can, increases the bottom line you know. And notice that as unemployment figures have gone up in the last 30 years or so, stocks go up. Hey, anything here that looks funny to you? One thing for sure, the right wing does not advocate for full employment. In fact, back in the day of Greenspan, he publicly said that a rate of 4 ½% unemployment was necessary for a healthy economy. Now why would that be?

Don't let the tyrannical rule of socialists take hold, put a stop to the unholy trinity of the Democrat controlled Senate and House and potential president Obama. Do not let Barrack Obama bring an end to this great country!

And just how in hell would this be stopped? By donating money to this bunch of sleazy ass holes as is below. Now there is a real solution.

We need your help and your donations to win the fight for truth. Send this email to everyone you know and have this video viewed.

Mr. Obama has always been against an individuals' right to control and spend their own savings. He has a narrow, selfish and myopic view of the world we live in and the idea that he can tax whatever he wants to whenever he wants to.

And of course narrow, selfish and myopic views of the world is a characteristic only of the Dems. Sheeesh!

SELECT HERE Stop the Socialist Wealth Redistribution Agenda!
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/ameripac/?a=1874

In 1981, President Reagan, a GOP Senate, and a working majority in the House pushed through cuts in the capital gains, dividends, and corporate tax rates. Shareholder wealth grew from $1.3 trillion at the beginning of 1981 to $3.4 trillion at the end of 1989.

And again, who controlled most of the shareholder wealth, just once more let me know.

In 1994, Republicans took over both Houses of Congress. Government spending restraint and a capital gains tax cut followed. Shareholder wealth grew from $5.7 trillion at the end of 1994 to $15.4 trillion at the end of 2000.

Spending restraint? What the hell are they talking about? They evidently took out the Clinton administration in that paragraph. Sigh.

In 2001, Democrats took the Senate when Jim Jeffords switched parties. Shareholder wealth fell from $15.4 trillion at the end of 2000 to $10 trillion at the end of 2002—a nosedive of 50%.

Now just how in hell did a majority of one in the Senate accomplish that? Please tell me how. Especially when both the house and senate were rubber stamping everything the white house asked for with almost no opposition. And of course 9-11 had absolutely nothing to do with this. No explanation of why this is a world wide problem either, not just U.S. My fingers are starting to cramp into fists.

In the 2002 elections, Republicans won back control of the Senate. In 2003, the capital gains tax was cut from 20% to 15%, and the dividends tax was cut from 38.1% to 15%. In 2004, they expanded their majorities in the House and Senate. Shareholder wealth grew from $10 trillion at the end of 2002 to $17 trillion at the end of 2006.

Again, just who was it that controlled all this paper wealth? I think this was called an economic bubble for which we are paying today.

In the 2006 elections, Democrats took control of both sides of Capitol Hill. Shareholder wealth fell from $17 trillion to about $12 trillion today. Markets have priced in an anticipated capital gains and dividends tax hike.

Oh really? Anticipation indeed. Notice that the tax hike did not take place and the market is still in free fall. I also notice that nothing was said about during the 50’s when corporate taxes were much higher and the stock market was going up. Of course, back then stocks were mostly valued in real wealth of the company, not shyster accounting schemes as is today. And, still no explanation of why this economic slide down is world wide, not just in U.S.

The lesson is clear—Republican majorities in Congress create new tax cuts on shareholder wealth, and prevent tax hikes on shareholder wealth. This creates an environment where shareholder wealth goes up over time. Democrat majorities threaten shareholder wealth, and markets price in anticipated tax hikes.

The Obama-Biden campaign refused to answer real questions about the economy, tax increases and where the money would come to spend. They are unqualified and worried they cannot deliver on economic promises with their views and policies, and avoiding the real truth.

The media will continue to follow Obama the prince of spin down the economic road of ruin. We need you to see and hear the truth about an Obama economy. We need your help to keep the Democrats out of your 401K's and other assets and mindlessly print, collect and spend your tax dollars.

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Those of you who have been coming to this site for any length of time know that I am radically opposed to both the corporatist parties; I couldn’t be paid to support either one. Both are headed up by a plethora of liars, thieves and power hungry assholes. I do hope when you all read this article you are able to pick out the utter bull shit it contains. To blame the Dems for the Bear market is one of the most absurd things I have seen so far. Freeacre and I had commented to each other just after the election that now the blame game begins and the Repugs are going to heap on the Dems great finger pointing and name calling and blame everything negative on them. They flat out are NOT going to take ANY responsibility for their part of the mess. The fact that I know with absolute certainty that this kind of propaganda is going to sit very well with a large amount of the population, can only reinforce the view that the general population is made up of idiots. I’d sure like to see a plan to keep that kind of idiocy completely away from the voting booths. I sure would be surprised to see that the general population rejected this bull shit.

Evidently the authors of this bit of trash also feel it is just dandy for the economy to completely focus the country’s wealth into the least hands that it can. The article doesn’t bother to point out just who had all of this wealth that they are so proud of, nor how it was generated, nor in what form it was (all paper assets), nor that the Dems gave Bush everything that he wanted during the downslide. They also haven’t explained the Obama appointments to various posts that are the old guard that the Repugs have used for years.

I expect to see the right wing ideologs putting more and more of this kind of crap out into the population. I would even suppose that there are those putting it out that actually believe it. Talk about creating division in the population. Yeh right, lets all pull together now, cross ideological lines and sing Kum-By-Ah, in 5 part harmony of course.

By the way, inserting that article seemed to completely tear up the formatting of this post. Please excuse as all my efforts to straighten it out fell short.

POKING THE HORNETS NEST

from Murph

Oh dear, we have had the hornets nest poked with a stick? Lol.

The last post has gotten up to the 55 comments which begins to become a bit clumsy. So, to continue the current discussion and still leave open comments on the election today, I am offering some comments on the last post. I find the last post comments to be stimulating and hope that continues.

For Rockpicker and Truthseeker’s latest comments on energy production. I will offer these comments.

Unless I am not understanding the implications, all of the over unity systems I have read about, they are to produce electricity. I for one, cannot dispute the validity of the claims. I don’t have the facilities, time or money to explore and either dispute or validate the claims. To be honest about it, I would love to be able to. However, if it is true that we are running out of carbon resources, (oil, coal, gas), regardless of how we produce electricity, the impact on society will be enormous. If we remove cheap readily available oil, then we also remove all plastic technology, most of food production methodology, most metals production, and a host of other means of satisfying our complex modern civilization’s needs. Production of electricity will not replace that part of our living infrastructure. I doubt that there would be areas of transportation where electricity could be substituted either, ships and planes for starters.

My next question is how much other energy sources, oil and gas in particular; would it take to change over to a new method of electrical production and utilization? I would submit that to do so would use a huge amount of however much is left to exploit which means that other uses would have to be sacrificed. Then the question becomes what we will do without while we make the change over, even if we stipulate that there is enough left to accomplish it, and that there is sufficient time left.

Personally, I would like to see a better method of producing electricity than we have now. But I don’t think it would solve very many of our current problems in the future resulting from resource depletion, especially in the realm of energy. Kunstler’s book, The Long Emergency has some things to say on this subject. It may very well be true that there is no immediate lack of energy and the scare tactics concerning peak oil is a hype job. There may be actual validity to the Russian contention that oil is produced by the earth’s core. I read much on the arguments concerning oil, its formation and extraction. We either believe that this earth has limited resources or that it has inexhaustible resources as a basic premise, and a premise it is since we are unable to prove either side except in hindsight. If the future shows that resources (particularly oil) are inexhaustible, then I would contend that we have misused them incredibly. If they are limited, we have followed a fool’s path. In my quest for data on oil, it appears to me that the data I have seen is pretty solid with a margin for error. I do think that oil is a non renewable resource, (at least in terms of mankind’s lifespan) and I think that oil in particular, will become too expensive in terms of energy expenditure to extract. That is, using a barrel of oil to extract a barrel of oil is a zero result game. It also appears to me that new pools of energy discovery has also hit a zenith. I am very reluctant to bet that this is not so.

Personally, I am very reluctant to bow down to the concept that technology will save modern civilization, even if there was a will to actually do so. We have had the technology to avoid what appears to be happening currently, and it was not utilized. From the simple Pogue carburetor in the 40’s right up to the present. As the comments observed, there have been many technological innovations that were smothered by those that stood to lose by their utilization. I rather suspect we can expect more of the same until this whole system collapses. If/when that happens, it may be way too late to utilize these innovations. Our whole system is driven by profits and growth. Until that changes, anything that threatens the big boys power and wealth generation will be suppressed. . It sure appears to me that technology is what has gotten us into the current situation. I do not expect it to get us out of it.

John Michael Greer is an interesting personality. I have been following him for some time. I could not contradict that he sure enough appears to be an intellectual, arrogant snob. That does not make him either right or wrong in his arguments. He has taken a swipe or two at me when I have put up comments on his blog. A long time ago I also had that accusation thrown at me by a man I considered having a fence post mentality.

It seems obvious to me that Greer spends an enormous amount of time reading and studying a very wide range of materials. Again, that alone does not either validate or invalidate his conclusions. I have spent a fairly large chunk of my life around similar personalities. I found them stimulating, irritating, occasionally infuriating, and often enough proved right. Consequently, I read Greer for his nuggets of perception and not to either reject or become a disciple of his thoughts. We have on this blog people with great passion for one or another position on a great many subjects. We do not have crystal balls to peer into the future; we have only current and past data with which we make conjecture about the future.

I agree with Ras and her comments about finding a virtually free (or very cheap) source of electrical energy, or any energy source for that matter. Unless the system of endless growth and profits is changed, we will make this planet uninhabitable sometime in the future. That is, unless we want to contend that human kind can exist separate from the environment. But, at this time, living in a moon type of environment is not my idea of a way to live and I suspect that it wouldn’t work anyway despite the science fiction ideas around that. I further suspect that genetically there is a limit to human adaptability to a radically different environment, regardless of being able to create an artificial environment as a temporary expediency, like living on the moon or Mars. Besides, there is some sparse evidence around that says that the moon and Mars were once inhabited. If this is an actuality of the past, we can then conclude one of two things. Either those inhabiting other planets in our solar system were completely different than humans, or, the ecology/environment of those planets has changed dramatically. For me, I spend little time on that speculation. We got enough serious problems on our own rock ball to contend with.

TRICK OR TREAT

From Murph

TODAYS HORROR STORY;

or, what’s the new crap this week.,

Or, Scotty, beam me up and hurry,

Or WTF?

I simply cannot believe what every new week brings up in new revelations about what our government is doing. Every damned week it’s something new. Which doesn’t beat out the daily revelations, but … all I want to do is curse today.

Over the weekend, we learn that the government wants a bunch of these “Big Dog” robots, equipped with munitions capability and discernments to be able to restrain “uncooperative humans”. They want packs of these things. Geez, wonder when the hot heads will start laying traps for them. You know, land mines, big bore rifles and such to knock them over. Hey Hank, see that critter over there? Let’ use it for target practice for the 50 cal. Geez Bob, that’s over a mile away. That’s ok Hank, give it a shot. Meanwhile Pete is laying land mines around his place and making plans to lure them in. he he he.

The pentagon also ordered a bunch of the “pain rays” for crowd control. You know, the ones that operate on microwave bands and can cook a person from the inside out. I guess that gives a new meaning to ‘block parties’? Oh ymmmy, please pass the thigh of that homeless person that they cooked up for us. The pecks were too thin from not eating enough and got over cooked. Or, please pass the… oh hell, I digress.

The last bit of news is that FEMA wants a 100 mile band on 100% of our boarders that is ‘constitution free zones’ where you can be stopped for any reason, or no reason at all, searched, detained on suspicion, or god knows what. Of course that band contains a little over 2/3 of our population. YouTube has some interesting short films by people that encountered homeland security road blocks and check points 60 miles or so from the Mexican boarder. Hey Hank, got your pistol ready? There’s gonna be a bunch of em at the next check point. Better hope they didn’t bring tanks. And no Hank, they aren’t for taking home as trophies. Watch the dogs though, don’t want them getting a stray shot in em, it’ll spoil the coon hunt.

I don’t believe this shit.

Remember the movie “Signs”? A friend of ours that came from Detroit saw it after we told him it was a neat movie. We asked him what he thought of it. He said he didn’t like it. We were a bit taken back until he explained. He said not one person in the movie was armed, first off, and he also opined that if they had landed in Detroit the street gangs would have the ship stripped out in half an hour and be selling ray guns on the street the next day. He thought it was very unrealistic. Sigh. Fantasy meets up with reality.

So where is the resistance to the alien takeover right now? I just gotta classify these people working for FEMA and Homeland security as aliens. Not sure of the scales, never seen one nakid yet. But ya never know. Maybe we should be searching the ground for shed scales or skins wherever they have been. At least we could confirm it then.

Oh my god, what have I just said. Oh man, of course it is for our own good. Got to keep all them terrorists on edge and marginalized you know. Plus, if all them good quality folks doing the enforcement of the rules out there weren’t working, we’d then have another 30 million people out of work, can’t have that. The government and its agencies employ over 50% of working people today. By god,we are gonna beat this economic downturn by hiring more security people, for our own good now, let’s not forget that part. Got a feeling there is going to be a hiring surge in prison guards pretty soon. Although in “Cool Hand Luke” they seemed to live pretty good. But I digress again.

Considering that the human slave trade has been growing lately, and the predominance of it is for sexual slavery, I guess we all can plan on not having to worry about worn out clothes after a while.

We just got through watching the old movie “The Hustler”. Haven’t seen it for a very long time. Made me think that is what has been happening to us as citizens of the country, we’ve been hustled. When will we all learn that there is more to life than making money.

I have been seeing more articles lately talking about class warfare. The two I have seen lately that are well done is on Cyernals Journal and Thomas Pains corner. On Pains site the article (Spreading the Wealth: The politics of class warfare. http://www.bestcyrano.org/thomaspaine/

On Cyerno’s Journal, http://www.bestcyrano.org/ the lead article on the Bourgeoisie is worth reading.

Yup, we are and have ever been, in a class warfare with some bunch at the top of the social and economic ladder. We have revolutions that attempt to equalize things a bit for the working class. The great American experiment was intended to make things a bit more spread out, but the adulteration we are experiencing today is the greatest concentrating of wealth to the elites and bourgeoisie the world has ever seen. Those that do the actual producing of wealth benefit the least. I wonder if that will ever change.

I just don’t know folks. Tonight I am slightly speechless. So, a short post. Murph

This addendum is from Freeacre on the subject.

Just to throw in my two cents here, I want to add a few other aspects that are leading to nosebleed level stress moments right now.

The marathon election process is coming to a head in a week. Good God, what an exercise that showed just about everything that is sick and wrong about our political arena. Billions of dollars spent on it, for openers. The divisiveness in our culture is just so depressing. Can’t seem to get any groups to agree on much of anything. Petty, mean-spirited control freaks running most of the campaigns. Ron Paul and other alternative thinkers shut out altogether by the media. Important subjects totally taboo. It just makes me sick. And, now we have to worry whether the neocons are going to try something outrageous to suspend the elections altogether between now and election day. Or, if the election will be stolen again by Diebold election machines that flip the vote or by the voter purges that have been engineered by the suspiciously silent Carl Rove over the past year or so.

The potential stock market crash and the trillions of dollars the bailout has added to our national debt is like watching a horror movie in slow motion. Trillions of dollars are evaporating out of the budgets of states, cities and counties, 401Ks and now pensions. I expect the dollar to die just about the time I am to collect my first social security check in February. So it goes…

On All Hallows Eve, I think I may be found self-medicating with the Halloween candy. I may just be sitting there with the porch light off and eating Snickers bars and peanut butter cups from the bowl in my lap. This year “Trick or Treat” has taken on a whole new meaning…

I must remember to leave the mental door open for the “treat” part. Maybe something good will happen out of all this mess.

Heart Songs from the Campfire

freeacre

Today is the official anniversary of the Troutclan Campfire blog site. Note that we just passed the 25,000 hit mark as well. It also happens that the stock market is tanking, once again. If you listen closely, I think you will be able to hear Dude's oft repeated lament, "We're doomed!" in the background... lol. There is an astounding array of bad news out there today - from LATOC, Survival Acres, Prison Planet, What Really Happened ...you name it. My worst so far is the "Big Dog" scenario where the Pentagon has commissioned robots to round up "uncooperative" humans... Personally, my weird-shit-o-meter is pegged. All my Sarah Connor, Terminator, fantasies seem to be manifesting. Good grief.

Time for some soul food.

For a treat, we are posting a collection of the poems that Rockpicker has written and posted on our site through the year. We are, of course, grateful and appreciative of the poetic contributions that others have submitted as well. But this collection affords the opportunity for people to cut and paste them so that if you want to, you could create your own collection to keep through time. We are so fortunate to have such a poet in our midsts, and it's good to pause and let his perspectives strengthen and enrich us.

Waiting For The Signal

These pages that bring us together
are the fire in the cave above the stream,
no dream we move in and out of, faceless,
expendable, waiting for a burst of wings
to spill our pooled bones like coins
over the chilled and silent ground
we fell in love with so long ago,
singing the green hills homeward
under that shovel-shouldered sun.

Fatigue works grim the stone of souls.
No talk is needed to believe the bleeding
will be ours all too soon. Needled dust,
that settled itself in naive lungs, cuts
with each rasp, yet the bleeding
won't be stemmed. Quick, black tongues
flicked from windows, floors below dustified
slabs, while the Street slumped with peanuts
beside its beer, locked on the game.

In our rush of voices a stream curses
the murmur of pines. In our names,
what we begged for never to be done,
is done with no shame. And the day
drags its blindered self to toil. Night trades
whiskey pete for oil, while down slope,
death-drummer birds with blazing eyes
ascend the holy crags to kill dissent
before we waking innocent arise.

-12/10/05


Conundrum

When a bunker buster
falls in the desert
and no one
shows you photos
of the shadows
of little bodies
etched on concrete walls,
is the wailing
of mothers
drowned out
by the whirr
of rotors?

-for FP


An Act of Extraordinary Courage Observed While Planting Tomatoes

Angry Raven
banked in black
over legumes
and lit behind
the chokecherry,
at the back shed's eave.
He paced the peak
and garbled
a throaty protest.
I ignored his peave.
Shadows stretched
like cats across beds.
Welcomed shade turned chill.
There was squash, still.
Raven crowed brave
from safe spruce,
gawked quizzical from crab.
Nerve enough or calculated ire
worked him into swoop
and grab. A defining clack
of black claws scraping plastic
told the truth. Mute owl,
on his guarding post,
perched moot.



Grieving For Falluja, Election Day, 2005

I'm waiting empty in a cold house,
with shamrocks, the dog and favored books,
listening for the old tread of new boots,
gunning to kick in this loose-hinged heart.

The angry hands of those with much
to lose, I imagine, close on me.
They drag me, incendiary,
into their unmooned dark.

An unfinished whiskey on the table
is how my neighbors find me gone.
No bloated stench. No skeletal sneer.
Only that storm door banging mad in wind.


Jets vs Pittsburgh,
Coldest Day of the Year

In America,
on Saturday afternoons,
in the little box
over the backbar,
a pointless struggle,
(waged repeatedly
by aging boys
who too soon
will find themselves
ungainly
in a gainful world,
sipping micro brews
in glass- blocked bars,
Saturdays, applauding
new boys who run
old plays,)
somehow leads one
through translucence,
to dead -weighted air
hung dull
as a final nell
and somewhere, far away,
to dusty sunlight,
(a sweetly putrid moon,
perhaps,) under which
adrenalized boys,
old beyond years,
strain senses
to keep alive.


Magnetic Ribbons and the Yellowcake of Faith

When we wake puking shame
at last, and know the dream
for sham, embraced en masse...
When bells that rang victorious
hang mute, their tarnished claims
ignored in disrepute, and
bitter sons, having been all they
could be, can't wish back innocence
or the leg below the knee...

(This brash regime's trimmed reason
from its ranks, its black guard
in the street, protecting flanks.)

...then will we heed the schemers'
gloating leer? "There's no future
for dissidents here."
Row on row, with hand
in trembling hand, it's come to this.
We dreamers need to stand.


Montana, July

It's the wet 'yes'
of a girl’s kiss
in grass, with
shooting stars
at elbow
and foot,
her rapt eyes
unwrapping
your plain length
in kinickinick,
in beargrass air.
The pungent
urges
of earth
and salty hair
twining
like tongues.


Planting Garlic On A Cool October Sunday,
While Waiting for News Of The Collecting Armada

The tick of hooves on concrete trumps
my digging. Across Mill Street
an anxious doe changes course
on noticing my form. It's nearly dark.
This light of a weekday's usually safe, she's
come to know. But elbows and knees
that should not be here flailing put her off.

I straighten in fading daylight with my spade,
take account of the small pile of carrots
I have made and think of ships massing
in the Gulf. Apples stoop barren
at the end of this plot. They bloomed
to beat Memorial bands, then bore
almost nothing. Cowbirds worked Labor Day

to pick their poor limbs bare.
And so I'm here, bent on a spade
in failing light, wondering, will our press
speak of camps built to incinerate
dissenters' bones? And will my neighbors,
who think it impolite to talk politics,
see her white flag brandished in alarm?


Stopping For Pelicans On A Summer Evening

Driving the Road to the Buffalo home,
Oldensoul, over my shoulder, spots
a helix of featherworks bursting
the cloudless blue near where
roads and waters merge. We pull off.
Low over yellowing grass, black wings
work the yellowing grass for what
it's worth, unaware, or perhaps,
unimpressed, by the grace overhead.

Flashes of winged bodies appear
out of nowhere unencumbered in air.
They flare white, a hundred points
of light, a flock of blossoms,
each banked turn when sun hits right.
Up and up they climb, uninstructed,
free, repeating explosions of ecstasy.
It takes our breath. They bloom,
fade and bloom again, delirious

anarchy on zazen wind.
This whirling is a public mirth, a stirring
of rapture, loosed of earth. And isn't
this coming together of a green day
with affirming moon and the scent
of new-mown hay a way to sing
our love song back to a black-winged world?


Prayer For MF's Quick Recovery

I have walked the Camas side
of Schmidtz, in bitterroot moons,
beheld the dew-jeweled hills
in succulent June and I have slept
entwined by the lapping shore,
soundly, with a late-found love.
I want no more.

A bright half-moon over Dunkelburg Ridge,
northwest flank of the Flint Creek Range,
and we snuggle under fiberfil and wool
in a long- shadows meadow
at the nape of the hill.
The great bear circles above,
pointing the way for moss on firs.

My love concurs. Days exposed
and drooping, with tape and pills, are still
willow-wandering days. Let detractors
go to hell. Beyond the tops of cedar posts
and faceted glass, hills ripple green
with cheated grasses. They open wild,
accepting faces in riotous prayer. Aho.


After An Ice Storm On The Allegheny Plateau

Beyond the sumac tangle, where a thinning father saws,
a grandmother shagbark hickory sags with loss.
Split limbs scrape like clay shards tied in wind. Wind
the sawyer knows and ice conspire some bad years
to open crowns and let a good sun in. He revs
his Stihl. Green pulp sprays from kerfs and sticks
to boots, consecrating snow like scattered ash.

You stand a distance off and dream the taut trunk limber.
Remember a girl, smart, green as whip? You loved her.
This ancient snag, lithe in youth, was left by men
long dead for shade. You like to think she chose her ground,
bolted free of gloom so deep a bright moon hurt, and ran,
breaching walls to reach this mid-field stance. You're
confused. The figure you remember kept running.

Some bad years snap the stoutest dreams like twigs.
Cures fail. Stunned villagers inter a shining son.
A wife says 'leave.' Once each life thin fathers
flesh-out plans to restack stones, slash brush
and honour the old delineations. Buck the shattered way
life doesn't go. Toss rounds to boys who still trust dreams
and cart your grief like cordwood home in snow.


Contemplating the Artist Caught Red-Handed

We arrived home flushed with the day
to find him hooting up a mouser's moon,
two poles away, hunched against a final smudge
of light. He perched so still, I wondered, plastic?
You whispered, 'so skilled a rendition of terror
one must heed.' I hooted, too, in yellow gloom.
And off he came, low over lilacs, in a whoosh
of wings. We thrilled in his twilight blessing.

Days later, I collected his broken fluff
under spruce boughs in the children's park.
I sat in a swing, dragging lines in sand,
and pressed the tips of his talons into my thumbs.

Across brown grass, past the aqua crater
of the wading pool, a wooden seesaw
weather-checks in sun. Lives lept from
seldom are remounted, or redone.
In this time of fallen heroes,

the kids have painted an American flag
on the concrete block outhouse beside the library.
Hands dipped in paint and pressed suggest
an aggressive future foreign policy.
I count sixty-seven stars. One flares fire-engine red.

-for Marjorie

Still, I'm setting stone
on a rich man's house.
In the space overhead,
between the sofit
and scaffold planks,
two jets, tail- to- nose,
fly west the walk-plank
slice of sky each day
around one. In an hour,
they return, dead on,
their contrail straight
as a shovel handle,
propped inside a grave.

Roots

Night falls like a woven throw
over the shoulders of the apples.
I lean on the fork handle stuck deep in sod and let the evening
chords of redwings thrill me.
Still, day dies sad.
The tangled skeins of rhizomes,
shaken free of worms,
heap behind me like regrets
I pile and never burn.

-rockpicker