Dear Corporate America,
please stop mailing dead people.
I just got a direct mail for my beloved grandmother, who dropped her body 5 years ago, for Gevalia Kaffe, some fancy coffee mailorder thing. I did the ethical thing: I got the no-postage-necessary envelope, and filled out a little note and I'm sending it back to them, saying please take us off your mailing lists.
Think about how many trees it takes to mail dead people.
direct mail has gotta' go.
yours in the trees,
Theo
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Zeitgeist of Obama
"HAPPY OBAMA NEW YEAR!"
Try yelling that to friends and strangers, it feels good and true. We are transitioning to a new era. The Bush Dark Ages are over! Humanity pivots and races into the Obama Age of Light. Personally, I am gleeful and at regular intervals dancing around the room.
Zeitgeist is an useful German word that means roughly "the spirit of times" or "the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation." There is a lovely zeitgeist afoot right now. There is a national mood that's new. I've seen optimistic and idealistic pockets of Americans, but I've never seen gleeful, idealistic national unity as a pervasive pop phenomenon. In the collective emotional body of the nation, there is an exultation and healing and relief! There is a sweet joy and gratitude and hope. America is back, baby!
We are experiencing the literal spiritual Rebirth of America. Everything eternally good and true about America is being brought forward. America stands for some powerful ideas that humanity needs: national unity from ethnic and racial diversity, religious tolerance, progressive inclusion of all for equal rights, the Rule of Law, and a fair legal system to administer Justice. And when a person or country stands for Good ideas, we are aligned to that great moral force that guides the universe. And so America is being plugged into the Divine again.
Obama is also asking us to expand our sense of identity beyond our ego to a greater identity as Americans and as humanity. Transcending ego is essential mechanism of a mystical spiritual experience. That unidentified spirituality lurks beneath pundit commentary. I heard an CNN commentator striving to overcome embarrassment as she said the mood on the DC mall had a flavor of the 'Brotherhood of Man." Go with it, sister, because it's a relief to not have to live inside the tiny prison of the ego, and to be released from the narcissistic self-absorption of the ego. It is joyful to start caring about our larger identities, like the country and the planet and the Brotherhood of Man.
Something died in the America during the Bush years. I, like many, was embarrassed by America's Imperial wars. America was torturing and abandoning the Rule of Law. Democracy became Corprotocracy and Kleptocracy. America became aligned to historical forces that need to opposed. The Bush version of America is not an America I love, but that I loathe! I am against the America that sends a War-Machine to other countries to steal the oil that we shouldn't be burning anyway.
They say that "Patriotism is the last refuge for a scoundrel." The Bushites wrapped themselves in the flag and the name and the symbols of America, and then totally abandoned the deeper meaning and purpose of America. In doing so, they turned the American flag into a phony-baloney fascistic propaganda tool. America isn't great because we have a nice flag. It's great because Jefferson's Bill of Rights guaranteed so many human rights that our political arrangement is an evolutionary leap forward.
America is great because we have traditionally been aligned to a great forward march of history towards greater liberty, dignity, distributed justice, and freedom. Bush has taken us two steps back, but now Obama has realigned the nation's moral compass on that great march. For example, in the inaugural speech, Obama said that we won't sacrifice our sacred ideals for expediency. He has promised to close the gulag prison at Guantanamo Bay. This is Good America returning.
America died and been born again. On Election Night '08, Norman Lear had an epiphany on this subject and eventually created some art about it at www.bornagainamerican.org.
So if we are Born Again Americans, then now what?
Well, first of all, this country is a bit of fixer upper and needs work.
Luckily, Obama and friends seem to have pretty good bead on where to go.
So how do we become allies of Obama?
How do we become Good Americans in a time of a Good America?
I don't know, but I'm willing to learn.
May humanity learn to be cooperative, supportive allies in the effort to heal the planet.
Happy Obama New Year!
Try yelling that to friends and strangers, it feels good and true. We are transitioning to a new era. The Bush Dark Ages are over! Humanity pivots and races into the Obama Age of Light. Personally, I am gleeful and at regular intervals dancing around the room.
Zeitgeist is an useful German word that means roughly "the spirit of times" or "the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation." There is a lovely zeitgeist afoot right now. There is a national mood that's new. I've seen optimistic and idealistic pockets of Americans, but I've never seen gleeful, idealistic national unity as a pervasive pop phenomenon. In the collective emotional body of the nation, there is an exultation and healing and relief! There is a sweet joy and gratitude and hope. America is back, baby!
We are experiencing the literal spiritual Rebirth of America. Everything eternally good and true about America is being brought forward. America stands for some powerful ideas that humanity needs: national unity from ethnic and racial diversity, religious tolerance, progressive inclusion of all for equal rights, the Rule of Law, and a fair legal system to administer Justice. And when a person or country stands for Good ideas, we are aligned to that great moral force that guides the universe. And so America is being plugged into the Divine again.
Obama is also asking us to expand our sense of identity beyond our ego to a greater identity as Americans and as humanity. Transcending ego is essential mechanism of a mystical spiritual experience. That unidentified spirituality lurks beneath pundit commentary. I heard an CNN commentator striving to overcome embarrassment as she said the mood on the DC mall had a flavor of the 'Brotherhood of Man." Go with it, sister, because it's a relief to not have to live inside the tiny prison of the ego, and to be released from the narcissistic self-absorption of the ego. It is joyful to start caring about our larger identities, like the country and the planet and the Brotherhood of Man.
Something died in the America during the Bush years. I, like many, was embarrassed by America's Imperial wars. America was torturing and abandoning the Rule of Law. Democracy became Corprotocracy and Kleptocracy. America became aligned to historical forces that need to opposed. The Bush version of America is not an America I love, but that I loathe! I am against the America that sends a War-Machine to other countries to steal the oil that we shouldn't be burning anyway.
They say that "Patriotism is the last refuge for a scoundrel." The Bushites wrapped themselves in the flag and the name and the symbols of America, and then totally abandoned the deeper meaning and purpose of America. In doing so, they turned the American flag into a phony-baloney fascistic propaganda tool. America isn't great because we have a nice flag. It's great because Jefferson's Bill of Rights guaranteed so many human rights that our political arrangement is an evolutionary leap forward.
America is great because we have traditionally been aligned to a great forward march of history towards greater liberty, dignity, distributed justice, and freedom. Bush has taken us two steps back, but now Obama has realigned the nation's moral compass on that great march. For example, in the inaugural speech, Obama said that we won't sacrifice our sacred ideals for expediency. He has promised to close the gulag prison at Guantanamo Bay. This is Good America returning.
America died and been born again. On Election Night '08, Norman Lear had an epiphany on this subject and eventually created some art about it at www.bornagainamerican.org.
So if we are Born Again Americans, then now what?
Well, first of all, this country is a bit of fixer upper and needs work.
Luckily, Obama and friends seem to have pretty good bead on where to go.
So how do we become allies of Obama?
How do we become Good Americans in a time of a Good America?
I don't know, but I'm willing to learn.
May humanity learn to be cooperative, supportive allies in the effort to heal the planet.
Happy Obama New Year!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Befriending Bacteria: Kombutcha, Candita and the Bottom Floor of Creation
We should Befriend to the bottom floor of creation, the bacterial microherds. These are the support system of everything we do. Inside our stomach is a million billion trillion creepycrawly little monsters, I mean, hard working digestors. I admit it's a little spooky on first glance, and that explains our naive society's heavy reliance on antibacterial soaps and antibioitics.
I recommend the Synergy Cosmic Cranberry Kombutcha tea as a way to introduce your belly to a new friends in the microbiobial "probiotic' community.
When we keep a healthy microherd, we are impervious to the baddies. Anti-microbial soap clear cuts the probiotic communities on the skin and leaves an open territory that the body must replenish and thus creates opportunity for sickness. Antimicrobial soap is a criminal abuse of consumer ignorance.
Likewise, Candita is a noxious, difficult-to-beat yeast infection that comes when the body is made vulnerable after heavy anti-biotics.
Humanity's lesson for the 21st century: Learn to live within the BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS in which we are embedded.
I recommend the Synergy Cosmic Cranberry Kombutcha tea as a way to introduce your belly to a new friends in the microbiobial "probiotic' community.
When we keep a healthy microherd, we are impervious to the baddies. Anti-microbial soap clear cuts the probiotic communities on the skin and leaves an open territory that the body must replenish and thus creates opportunity for sickness. Antimicrobial soap is a criminal abuse of consumer ignorance.
Likewise, Candita is a noxious, difficult-to-beat yeast infection that comes when the body is made vulnerable after heavy anti-biotics.
Humanity's lesson for the 21st century: Learn to live within the BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS in which we are embedded.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Obama and the Truth and Rebirth of America
Today at my chuch they had Jack Healy talk, in honor of MLK day, an organizer who was with Dr. King back in '63. The church was packed and the vibe was high. There is something profound afoot in this country. A rebirth of what it means to be American. For years, the American flag has been polluted with torture and war and waterboarding. But something is happening, and we are returning to that shining dream inside the American Experiment.
Obama says in an article from our Findhorn friends who advocate for visionary leadership
click here to read the article
that when he's talking the truth he can feel a special power in that isn't there if he's just being glib or clever.
i mean, it's an incredibly inspiring moment in our nation, this rebirth of what is possible.
People are pretty jaded about politics because we've been raped by savage heathens using all the sacred language to tie us in knots. And here comes Obama cutting through the clouds of illusion with spiritual clarity because he can actually talk about truth things and true issues without getting caught in a cloud of phoney language and posturing. That's was Obama's secret power in the primaries. All the other candidates felt compelled to speak in the gobbledeegook of triangulated posturing.
In the Hindu tradition, they talk about Satyagraha, or Truth Force, or Firmness in Truth. Gandhi named his movement after this and it explains alot about Obama's success.
Obama says in an article from our Findhorn friends who advocate for visionary leadership
click here to read the article
that when he's talking the truth he can feel a special power in that isn't there if he's just being glib or clever.
i mean, it's an incredibly inspiring moment in our nation, this rebirth of what is possible.
People are pretty jaded about politics because we've been raped by savage heathens using all the sacred language to tie us in knots. And here comes Obama cutting through the clouds of illusion with spiritual clarity because he can actually talk about truth things and true issues without getting caught in a cloud of phoney language and posturing. That's was Obama's secret power in the primaries. All the other candidates felt compelled to speak in the gobbledeegook of triangulated posturing.
In the Hindu tradition, they talk about Satyagraha, or Truth Force, or Firmness in Truth. Gandhi named his movement after this and it explains alot about Obama's success.
Friday, January 16, 2009
a picture of solar system
Here's a picture of the solar system on our house. These 80 evacuated tubes gather solar energy as heat, warming these wavey blue-ish sheets of metal that transfer the heat into proplyn glycal (or anti-freeze, like in your car's radiator), which circulates into the basement where it transfers the heat to a 500 gallon water tank. From here, the heat is then distributed to radiant floor heating. Awesomely warm feet in the winter, and free energy from the sun, though not free to put in the system, but with an expected 10 year payback in saved money on oil bills.
It's very exciting that the Obama administration is keen to help people hook up their homes on an environmental level.
A little insulation goes a long way.
I'm reading a book called "The Hot Topic" on the Climate Crisis and it says that investing in insulation and energy efficiency is by far the most cost effective way to cut carbon. So let's do it! Go Green America!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Comedy of the Madoff Economy
The unfolding story of Bernie Madoff has been fun to watch.
Bernie Madoff is, of course, the Wall Street titan busted for running a $50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme. It is fabulously ironic that Bernie Made-off made off with so much investor money. The Universe secretly runs on meaning, and people symbolically represent their true nature without even intending it. Assistant Treasury Secretary is Neel Kashkeri, as in Cash-carry. And Kashkeri certainly has carried out a ton of cash out of the Treasury to get snorted by his Wall Street pals.
It is sad/funny that Bernie Madoff is under house arrest, living large in his mansion still. How many poor black people are in jail for being poor? Ahh, but Bernie isn’t the class of citizen we use to fuel the great slave-machine of the Prison Industrial Complex. It reminds me of the proverb “They only hang the little thieves.”
So it was pleasant to see Bernie busted again for trying to mail $1 million in jewelry to relatives. Prosecutors want him to go to actual jail now, as this jewelry mailing violates his bail conditions. I wonder how they caught his wife at the post office? Was the box suspiciously heavy and jangling?
It is funny how Madoff perfectly symbolically represents the American economy. The US economy is running a giant Ponzi scheme. We have an $800 billion trade deficit annually. We keep borrowing, China keeps buying our bonds, we buy the cheap toxic crap. So, I guess the lesson here is: it’s only a Ponzi scheme if it’s small enough or after it goes belly up.
Another amusing story was the people sneaking into Madoff’s mansion and stealing a 5 foot bronze statue of Madoff! (I mean, it’s funny enough that Madoff has a statue of himself!) The statue was returned later with a note that said “Your days of plenty are numbered.” The note was signed ”the Edukators.” A German movie seems to have been the inspiration for this movie. (And the award for the guerilla marketing for film goes to....”)
It has been a pleasure to see Wall Street taken down a notch. These slick fellows with their suits have been racing an economic engine that’s consuming the world. Big Business has dismissively stonewalled on environmental regulation. Climate Change is breaking the sky and Wall Street blocks solutions. The thinking of paper pusher billionaires is sociopathically dissociative and cold-hearted and alienated from the Earth and the ecosystems that support biological life. It’s good that Wall Street’s blind confidence gets shaken now before we have full-on biosphere collapse in a few years.
Finally, it is joyful to see karma ripening for “The Masters of the Universe.” Wall Street has been dominating the world and the national dialogue for decades. Deal with the Climate Crisis? Nope, not economically feasible. Cutting down the Amazon rain forest? Nope, need the land for McDonald’s hamburgers. A terrible, foolish greedy mentality has run the world for too long. Robert Bly writes about “the greedy soul”, and how humanity is always struggling with an avaricious part of ourselves. The Muslims call these bundles of desires our 'nafs', and we purify them through effort and struggle to be good and generous.
Bernie Madoff suffers from a greedy soul. I feel a little sorry for him because he looks like a nice enough guy who won at the wrong game. He is just like thousands of other soft-handed, educated but amoral Wall Street money movers who have partied like rock stars on other people’s money for decades. And it’s satisfying to see them get what they deserve...
handcuffs.
Bernie Madoff is, of course, the Wall Street titan busted for running a $50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme. It is fabulously ironic that Bernie Made-off made off with so much investor money. The Universe secretly runs on meaning, and people symbolically represent their true nature without even intending it. Assistant Treasury Secretary is Neel Kashkeri, as in Cash-carry. And Kashkeri certainly has carried out a ton of cash out of the Treasury to get snorted by his Wall Street pals.
It is sad/funny that Bernie Madoff is under house arrest, living large in his mansion still. How many poor black people are in jail for being poor? Ahh, but Bernie isn’t the class of citizen we use to fuel the great slave-machine of the Prison Industrial Complex. It reminds me of the proverb “They only hang the little thieves.”
So it was pleasant to see Bernie busted again for trying to mail $1 million in jewelry to relatives. Prosecutors want him to go to actual jail now, as this jewelry mailing violates his bail conditions. I wonder how they caught his wife at the post office? Was the box suspiciously heavy and jangling?
It is funny how Madoff perfectly symbolically represents the American economy. The US economy is running a giant Ponzi scheme. We have an $800 billion trade deficit annually. We keep borrowing, China keeps buying our bonds, we buy the cheap toxic crap. So, I guess the lesson here is: it’s only a Ponzi scheme if it’s small enough or after it goes belly up.
Another amusing story was the people sneaking into Madoff’s mansion and stealing a 5 foot bronze statue of Madoff! (I mean, it’s funny enough that Madoff has a statue of himself!) The statue was returned later with a note that said “Your days of plenty are numbered.” The note was signed ”the Edukators.” A German movie seems to have been the inspiration for this movie. (And the award for the guerilla marketing for film goes to....”)
It has been a pleasure to see Wall Street taken down a notch. These slick fellows with their suits have been racing an economic engine that’s consuming the world. Big Business has dismissively stonewalled on environmental regulation. Climate Change is breaking the sky and Wall Street blocks solutions. The thinking of paper pusher billionaires is sociopathically dissociative and cold-hearted and alienated from the Earth and the ecosystems that support biological life. It’s good that Wall Street’s blind confidence gets shaken now before we have full-on biosphere collapse in a few years.
Finally, it is joyful to see karma ripening for “The Masters of the Universe.” Wall Street has been dominating the world and the national dialogue for decades. Deal with the Climate Crisis? Nope, not economically feasible. Cutting down the Amazon rain forest? Nope, need the land for McDonald’s hamburgers. A terrible, foolish greedy mentality has run the world for too long. Robert Bly writes about “the greedy soul”, and how humanity is always struggling with an avaricious part of ourselves. The Muslims call these bundles of desires our 'nafs', and we purify them through effort and struggle to be good and generous.
Bernie Madoff suffers from a greedy soul. I feel a little sorry for him because he looks like a nice enough guy who won at the wrong game. He is just like thousands of other soft-handed, educated but amoral Wall Street money movers who have partied like rock stars on other people’s money for decades. And it’s satisfying to see them get what they deserve...
handcuffs.
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