Society does not love it's unmaskers.

"Society does not love it's unmaskers."
From Ralph Waldo Emersons' essay on "Illusions".


I think that consciousness is a variable frequency receiver. And, perhaps when tuned to different frequencies, it provides us with views of realities as they exist beyond the illusions and influences that form what we call reality. Are there many frequencies affording views of many realities? It's likely.

Once in awhile, I consciously or unconsciously turn off all noise and input. For a microflash, an instant, I see things that are very different, completely counter to my "normal" construct. It happens so fast, and for so short a moment that I can't quite lock onto the images, but do retain a feeling of it. In this process, I'm not "looking for something". It only happens when I let go of everything I think and believe, without exception or expectation. I let go of my default "frequency" and spin the dial.

I haven't yet given in to repeated and prolonged frequency tuning. Why not? For one thing, it's disorienting. But moreover, I fear that once the veil is fully parted, I'll never be the same. I'll no longer be able to function in our particular perception pool. I fear that I'll be significantly changed. that like Jerzy Kosinski's "The Painted Bird" I'll be unwelcome - isolated, shunned by friends, family and peers - thrust, alone, into a profoundly disconcerting process of coming to terms with what I've seen - and additionally denied the reassurance of sharing the information with like-minded people. I guess it's about being ex-communicated, exiled, banned, banished from the tribe.

All the "religions" and the "masters" have names for this. I suspect that those who've had the full experience, share with us the abridged version. I think there are a few reasons for that. Words can't convey the experience. Most of us won't (or can't) integrate the information. Fear of being thought mad. Those reasons I can imagine.

Perhaps they're "masters" because they're a lot stronger and more courageous than I am. Perhaps they can handle it better. Perhaps they, somehow aren't as disoriented by what they see. It's possible that I just can't take it, that I don't have the mental, spiritual or psychological tools. I don't know. I think that while new and profound to me, it's likely that many people (including many people I know) have the same or similar experiences.

I suppose this expression might alienate some of my friends. I hope not. I don't think I'm crazy. I think I'm sane. I think we all are. I think we all know, or at least suspect that what I'm talking about is true. Without guidance or external support, we doubt our own intuitive wisdom. I think most of us avoid loneliness/aloneness and isolation from the herd, at virtually any cost.

I'm reminded sometimes of the movie "The Truman Show". If you haven't seen it.... it's a hoot! If you have, you know what I'm talking about. I also watch "The Matrix" every three or four months.... To me, it's a reminder that our "reality" is pretty carefully constructed to maintain the images, thoughts and feelings that keep us in line as productive units of energy.

I don't believe we're all at risk of detection by an actual "Agent Smith", but that we do carry a personal "Agent Smith" around in our heads who's responsible for seeing to it that neither we, nor others detect or disrupt the matrix, the illusion. We shun, avoid, ridicule, invalidate or eliminate anyone who might cause disruption to the illusion. It's our collective illusion. It's the illusion we're all comfortable with. Unconsciously and unrelentingly, we reinforce it for ourselves and others.

Often I feel like I'm walking around in a state of conscious, ambulatory suspended animation, as though everything is moving very slowly. Sometimes it seems the world around me is melting. Not actually melting , (though it actually is) I'm referring to the dissipation of attachment of meaning to any feeling, thought, word, event or object. At other times, in that state of consciousness, what I see and hear are pinholes in the membrane of illusion, from which a great flood of luminous information expands omni-directionally.

I often exist in a state of consciousness wherein, nothing is "only" as it seems. A thought, a word, an image, an object is not only what it seems, but also, is an energy link that opens to reveal all the truths about the event in unlimited time and space, and in relationship to all other aspects of reality.

I find myself sitting in awestruck silence listening to people talk. I hear someone make a statement or ask a question and the waves begin to roll. Where does this question begin and end? My mind travels back through the myriad factors of influence in the human experience that have formed and affected the question. How far back in human history is the birthplace of this question? What permutations of time and events have modified the question? What is the root question, the underlying, the subtext, the unasked question within? How do I find a starting point for response? In trying to answer a question with as much truth as will serve the one who asks, it's important to find a starting point that has at least one anchor in the familiar, that people recognize and relate to.

Though it might not seem so by this writing, more and more, it seems there's less and less to say.

Am I losing it? Depends I suppose, upon who you ask.

Sometimes in moments that aren't "special" in any way, I have what is (for me) a pretty special experience. Sitting on a park bench, I lean over and pick up a leaf, a coin, an insect. As I'm looking at it, my consciousness will shift, without prompting, to a view of the object, and me holding it, on planet earth, in this solar system, in the Milky Way Galaxy, from somewhere beyond the outer edge of the galaxy. I become aware of seeing from somewhere, in some time, a mass of billions of suns, billions of solar systems and galaxies spread across billions of light years. What we call "our" solar system, nor even "our" galaxy can be recognized individually.


Following that view, my awareness slides into a view of the event from within the atomic structure of the object, the hand that holds it, the body the hand is attached to, all the earth and beyond.

It seems that more and more, events or experiences are processed from a super macro then a super micro view, in no particular order. One view is followed by another. Following these perspective or awareness shifts, I most often discover myself in a state of awe, motionless, after doing something so simple as looking at an object. An object, an event, a person, at once utterly without meaning, and profoundly meaningful. Unique, but not separate- Comprised of elements from perhaps billions of light years away in time and space. The same elements that comprise me - and you.

I'm dumbfounded by the incomprehensible simplicity and complexity of an object, a being, a planet, a galaxy, a universe. I say "a" universe, not "the" universe. The idea that there's only one universe called "the" universe, is I think, a perceptual limitation.

This process creates lasting effects. One effect: The shifting of awareness seems to occur more frequently and fluidly as time goes by. Another effect: I seem to retain more consistently, a default view of reality that's centered in that overwhelming awe. It seems to generate
an expansive patience. Not to say it's made me an expansively patient person. But more and more, I recognize how particularly odd impatience is when viewed in the greater context.

Perhaps I attach meaning to it, thus I write about it. Perhaps my intent is merely to report the experience. For what purpose this report? I may have an answer or two - I may not. While I'm motivated to share this, there is also a big dose of "So What?" to the whole thing.

I do question and enjoy this process. I don't believe that my mini-perspective threatens in any way, the dominance or longevity of the illusion we live in. I doubt that the keepers of the illusion are scanning the blogosphere for key words that alert them to people thinking in "unapproved" ways. The idea that anyone would notice is more likely born of indulgent self-aggrandizement. I think the "Agent Smith" factor is generated by my own fear of expanding awareness. Could we, do we, generate a collective "Agent Smith" ? It's likely.

I do acknowledge that I really resist the idea of spending my last days in a "safe" environment. You know, the kind of safety that comes from being lobotomized, drugged, catheterized and tube fed on a restraint table, in a room where they never turn the lights off. I also resist the idea of being "disappeared" by those charged with the task of keeping us all safe from ideas and or processes that might melt down the illusion. Remember, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you. But other than that........ hey....... what have I got to lose?

And St. Francis ran from the courtroom, naked, screaming, "It's all Bullshit!"
And you know the rest of that story.

New Thoughts on Old People

I've noticed, over the past year or so a curious shift in my perception.

Used to be, when I'd see an old person, and by old I mean pretty old, you know, 80 or more, and particularly if they didn't seem to be doing so well, close to passing on, I'd feel sad for them. I'd wonder at all the experience and wisdom that would go with them, and that loss would make me feel sad for us and them. Sad for us because we need the benefit of that experience and wisdom, and sad for them because I suspect that as you get closer to your departure date, you must want to share and leave behind all you can. I imagine that doing so is probably the best way to believe that what you did here with your years, had some important value - made a difference.

I'd think of all the fun important stuff they'd no longer experience with us. I'd feel sorry that they'd miss births, and birthday parties and kids growing and achieving. I'd think of good food and fishing and love and conversations and laughter and travel and friendships and books and the smell of firewood burning in the winter and the crisp bite of clean, cold morning air and the satisfaction of scratching an itch and good wine and fresh, ripe, juicy peaches - and sooooo much more.

Of late though I've noticed myself thinking, "Damn they're lucky. They're gonna get out while the gettin' is good. They're gonna get out before it all comes apart". I feel glad for them. I feel glad that they worked hard, lived long, made their contributions and could hopefully feel content. I feel grateful that they won't have to experience the feelings of futility that would come from having to stay and watch a couple of generations of unprincipled thieves, power mongering lunatics and self-indulgent brats turn all their hard work and sacrifice to rubble. So clear and sincere is this new perception that it's sometimes accompanied by a twinge of jealousy or envy.

For me, that's a new and somewhat sad set of feelings.

I see the old ones, and myself, as blessed to have lived during one of the most exceptional times in human history. The past 50 or so years in America have been years of the most outstanding wealth, security, and opportunity ever seen on planet Earth. Granted, it's not been perfect and not everyone has had the same experience, but for a larger population than ever before, it's been incredible. This window of time in America has been an anomaly though, relative to the previous short experience of human life. Even the most sincere deniers are coming to realize that this short, illusion based reality is not sustainable. The house of cards is about to cave in upon itself.

Pending challenges for those who've taken physical, emotional and spiritual refuge in this house are many. Food, water, shelter, clothing, medicine, transportation, affordable energy and virtually every other commodity that we've come to see as certain entitlements, simply are not. We may come to see the ones who've died of late as having had perfect timing. We may be grateful that loved ones who had long and wonderful lives, did not live to witness what's coming.

The crew we sail into this storm with are a couple of generations of young people who don't know how to do anything. There are of course exceptions, but largely they can't build anything - they can't fix anything - they can't grow, preserve or cook anything. They can't delay gratification, sacrifice anything or put the needs of anyone else ahead of their own. They can't use critical thinking skills to evaluate the varied dynamics of decisions today or chart the potential outcomes of their choices. They are largely unable or unwilling to do hard work (or even to work hard). Granted, there are many who can and do exercise some of the above skills to some extent. And some who are clearly outstanding exceptions on many issues. But overall, we have encouraged a multi-generational malaise of entitlement, laziness, indulgence and expectation, unlike anything before in human history. And most of us are guilty to some degree of all the same failures. We have effectively disabled both ourselves and our youth.

We have failed to exercise and teach by demonstration, common sense, conservation, reverence for the wisdom of the elders, and humility. Nor have we demonstrated the necessary skills required for cooperation, community building and rational conflict resolution. These skills have been allowed to atrophy and drift out of our daily lives.

I don't blame the young. I don't blame the media, the government, the bankers or the myriad other ignorant entities. I blame us. I blame me. No one held a gun to my head and forced me to participate in the madness that's brought us to this point. I blame myself as part of the "us". The Tao Te Ching says "When we blame others, there is no end to the blame". When I take responsibility for what I have done and not done, the buck stops here. No, I am not alone in this burden. Yes it's a "we". But, I am my very own special part of the "we". I carry my own burden of responsibility. Yes, it's my fault.

We let it happen to us and to them. We tend to isolate the "old ones" in containerized communities and deprive ourselves and our spawn of their wisdom. Man is such a slow learner that depriving ourselves and our youth of the experience and wisdom of the old will prove to be especially painful. Perhaps even as painful as the rejection, marginalization and devaluation of people who become old. Perhaps their sin is that they require more attention in their last days, than our insatiable selfishness can spare .

We have overwhelmingly succumbed to the narcotic siren song of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The assurance of eternal ease, ever increasing convenience and prosperity, just in time inventory, subsidized food and energy and god help us...... credit - were all false assurances - illusions we chose to believe.

The bible has some good advice and good admonitions on the credit subject.

Borrowing (if you will) from Proverbs 22:7 :

"The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender"

Good counsel. I believe that Good Will Shakespeare said "neither a borrower nor a lender be". Now we know why.

Debt, credit, arrogance and disregard for others and our planet, along with the attending, inherent moral and physical decay (as we all know) may have contributed more than any other elements, to our pending implosion. Enough on that topic. We all know it. I think we always knew. Perhaps we hoped we could change the rules of the universe, if we just denied it long and sincerely enough.

The proverbial shit is about to hit the proverbial fan. The self-regenerating and socially encouraged addiction to distraction and denial will be one of the most painful detoxes we'll experience.
That rehab process will be but a fraction of what we're gonna have to confront.

Sorry folks, I know it's not fun to think about. I'm in the process of kicking my own denial habit. I don't think I'm a harbinger of doom. I don't think I'm saying anything that isn't being witnessed and felt by most of us. I guess if I thought there was still time for warm, fuzzy distractions............ I could watch tv.

So yes, I see old people who seem ready to go, and sense that their timely departure will in fact, be a gift of grace. God bless em'. Thanks for all you gave us. Thanks for all you tried to teach us. Sorry we ruined it. Now we'll do our best to clean up our mess. Perhaps now we will have the humility to honor the wisdom of the elders. Perhaps now we'll honor our obligation to those who follow us. Perhaps there's hope for our redemption.

There are pockets of hope, consciousness and opportunity growing and expanding in our communities. Many people will not give up on the commitment to make the best of this situation. We must all actively contribute to the "solution" processes.

Peace Ya'll

The Little Things

I am easily confounded and entertained by examining the "little things".

"Little things" like our collective capacity to accept as true, that which is not true. Our language reflects this capacity. In daily dialogue, we use references that are, at the least, inaccurate.

A few examples of commonly accepted falsehoods readily found in daily language:

We say, "The sun is rising". Of course the sun is not rising. The earth is rotating toward the sun, thus creating the "illusion" that the sun is "rising". The same sort of "illusion" reference is true of "sunset". To say that the sun rises, or sets, isn't true, yet we commonly declare it.

We say that we "see" an object. Not true. We see the light reflected from the surface of an object. We in fact, never see the object itself. If there is no light, can we see the object? Can we see it in darkness? No. We don't "see" it. To say that we "see" an object isn't true. Again, these are "little things".

I often hear people say:

This is my home, or I own my home. I am a homeowner.

Well candidly, unless "my" home is fully paid for, and I hold the unencumbered deed in my name, I do not own my home. Sorry. Not true. The bank or some other entity owns the home I call my home. Even if I hold the clear title, I still owe taxes. If I don't pay the "taxes" on my home, some "other entity" i.e. "the nice government men" seize my home and close out my illusion of ownership. As long as there are taxes on my home, there is a permanent lien against my home, for money owed to government. The nice government men hold the perpetual mortgage through levied taxation. Then of course there's "eminent domain" but that's another can of worms.... So.... own my home? Sorry. Not true.

We say that an object is "solid". Not true. The matter in everyday objects (including our own bodies) contain far more "space" between the atomic components than matter. Our "scale of sensory perception" creates the illusion that a coffee cup is "solid". Nonetheless, to say that an object is "solid" isn't true.

Of course when one thinks about it , it's obvious. But, what does it mean?
Should we not ask or wonder, how is our perception influenced when we use illusion affirming language? If we misrepresent reality in our language , and if "words are the tools of thought", do we not also risk misrepresenting reality in our thinking?

Some argue that these references are "common usages". Agreed. However, the question remains, how does a consistent reinforcement of falsehoods affect our minds and our lives? Is "common usage" a valid justification for consistently reinforcing untruths?

Could it be that the "common usage" claim is merely a by-product of a mental process that attempts to jealously defend itself? Referencing reality in ways that are inaccurate, must surely affect our thinking. Does it seem likely that continually justified use of illusion affirming language, would have no individual and/or collective influence upon us?

Does it make any difference? Perhaps.

We've all heard the adage........ "If you say it (or hear it) enough times, it becomes true".


What if... continually referencing reality inaccurately, stating untruth, as truth, does make a difference in the way we think, perceive, process information and make important decisions?

Is it possible that reinforcing known falsehoods might produce a "brainwave driven shield" ? An organic mechanism that not only blocks detection of it's influence, but could in fact, block detection of the mechanism itself?

Could we carry around a mental "cloaking device" that's so subtle and so effective? Could it so convincingly "self-deny" that we are unable to detect the device or it's applied limitations to our thinking? Are we running a "blind spot" generator in our heads?

Could we be inadvertently nurturing within, an invisible, internal, self-concealing brainwave driven, denial mechanism? Inconceivable?

Wouldn't one of such a mechanism's primary functions be, to make it's existence seem inconceivable? Plausible deniability? If we consistently reinforce what is not true, as true, isn't it likely that such a "mobius mirroring mechanism" would also reinforce what is true, as not true - "truth as untruth"? Could we all be living with a virtually undetectable, organic, self-regenerating, self-protecting "virus" within our cerebral computer programs? Inconceivable?

Would it seem sensible to wonder and to wonder how we might be influenced?

We willingly (if unconsciously) language our inaccurate perceptions of reality, as genuine reality, as truth. We apply the weight and value of "truth" to that which is not true. So necessarily one of the most fundamental questions arises. What is "truth"? The answer(s) to this question are as slippery as deliberations on what is "good and bad". But we can keep it simple for the moment.........

Truth..... according to whom? One persons truth is not necessarily the next person's truth. There are however, collective agreements. With few novel exceptions, we collectively agree that the earth is spherical. Not so long ago, the collective agreement was that the earth is flat. Not so long ago, the generally agreed "truth" was that the Earth was the center of the universe. And that God had rendered it so. In the collective agreement bank, that was the "truth". So powerful was the commitment to that thought/belief/truth, that Galileo was imprisoned for sharing his observations supporting a helio-centric solar system. The geo-centric beliefs have since been replaced with views based on more accurate information. In essence.. more truth.

How many other "flat earth" type truths are in our collective psyche? What are our collective "blind spots"? Are those "blind spots" supported by our language?

Does our continued unconscious reaffirmation and acceptance of "little things" like "sunrise" impair our consciousness and support and even increase our capacity to believe more highly impacting, subtle or outrageous illusions? Are we self- programming to accept as truth, attitudes and beliefs that reasoned consideration would dismiss?

Who has the time to actually think about what we think and believe? Who has time to think about how those thoughts and those beliefs affect our interpretation of and expression of reality? Who has time to actually examine how and what we language, how we program ourselves, our peers and the upcoming generations?

Many would argue that anyone with enough time to think and write about things like this, has way too much time on his hands. Perhaps.

Uh-oh....... the concept of time...........
The concept of time is not a fixed truth? There's a big one we all know and almost completely avoid evaluating. Tear that one open at your own peril, and only if you're willing to toast to a crisp, most of the fundamental perceptions that hold your world together.

It's all too much! Let's just carry on.

Let's just go on saying that we own our homes, and that the sun rises in the east every day............ let's go on saying that promptly at 6:00 am... in fixed time, we taste coffee with solid taste buds, drunk from solid coffee cups... , and saying we are certainly not nurturing a self-deception virus in our brain program. And, let's go on saying that illusion affirming language, thoughts and beliefs couldn't possibly affect us.

It's so much less challenging that way, and these are little things anyway.

Ahhh...... Submit to the sweet, warm, narcotic bath of illusion, denial and unconsciousness, ........ Let's Go Shopping! Let's Take the Kids to Disney World!
Sometimes, I so crave to cave....... Gotta love it.......... The Astonishing Experience of Being Human

Less is More - So Much More

I don't get it......

Here we are as a nation, hobbled and utterly dependent upon a fossil fuel transportation system that has shown itself to be completely insane, inadequate and inefficient.

Early in our nations history, the electric streetcar systems in major cities were junked, in favor of gasoline powered buses.

That these changes were initiated by GM and Chevron is documented. The reasons behind the changes are self-evident. Follow the money, as always.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist (although we have plenty around here) to figure out that we've made bad choices in the past.

What causes me deep regret is that we continue to make the kinds of choices we do. When I say "we" I refer to the publicly elected officials that are, I suppose, representing the will of the people. If in fact that's true, that the politicians are representing our will, lets ask ourselves why are we the people so ignorant?

Example:

The newly elected mayor of our fair city recently took his "first" ride on the local public transportation system. Hmmmm.... Seems to reflect a disconnect between officialdom and publicdom. However, interestingly enough, within weeks of his initiation into the joy of our bus system, comes the front page announcement in the local paper " Bus Fares To Double". Hmmmm Ok..... I guess that must mean that the representatives of the peoples will, have realized that we need to increase our astonishingly low bus fares in order to increase the quality of our astonishingly poor bus service...... Hmmmm..... that would seem fair.

But I'm afraid not. The article goes on to say that the fares must be increased to "maintain the current level of service". Hmmmm..... how bizarre is that? That's scary...

But I wonder why there's no aggressive implementation of public transportation.

How are we spending our money?

Are we spending it on public transportation? Or, are we spending tens, hundreds of millions of dollars on new courthouses and government buildings,so that we can deal with some of the fallout of our bad decisions. Bad decisions that lead to the outrageous costs of failing to do something so obvious, simple, and relatively inexpensive, as high efficiency public transportation.

Suppose we were to invest in a state of the art, highly efficient, highly effective public transportation system. That could cost a few million dollars. What would happen?

Or, suppose we don't. Suppose we just stumble ahead, charging people (in economic crisis) more and more money for the same inadequate service. If we continue to spend less on causes and more on symptoms, we actually get more.

We get more:

More cars on the road.
More auto insurance money leaving the local pocket for megalithic insurance companies on wall street (that are by the way MORE and MORE likely to default).
More gas money leaving local pockets for giant oil companies.
Wear and tear on the roads. More poor/dangerous road conditions.
More maintenance expenses.
More toxic chemicals in landfills, in runoff to the river, and in the air.
More air pollution. More traffic congestion. More road rage. More accidents.
More speeding through school zones. More drunk driving.
More offenders (major and minor) to process.
More police, sheriff and state trooper cars/trucks and fuel to apprehend and transport more offenders.
More money spent on more courthouses and government buildings and personnel.
More insurance rate hikes.
More people in hospitals, more in prisons, in jails, on probation and parole.
More work time lost in going to court and or jail.
More money spent on lawyers.
More sheriffs and police and jails and jail personnel.
More aids and More hepatitis and More tuberculosis contracted during incarceration. More opportunity to freely distribute these diseases to the community at large.
More families torn apart.
More people without insurance,or licenses to drive.
More people without licenses forced to drive illegally to work, school, hospital.
More offenders to apprehend and process.
More limits to employment by having More people with criminal records.
More time spent waiting at the Motor Vehicles Dept.
More unhealthy people who simply lack a little exercise who can't safely ride a bike.
More stress because of it.
More reluctance to ride bicycles because the traffic is so dangerous.
More people spending more money on cars they can't afford.
More young people being taught to believe that they are only as cool as their rides. More bankruptcy. More lost work hours. More inability to repay loans.
More stress in meeting mortgage payments. More foreclosures. More homelessness. More burdens on social services. More stress. More drinking. More drunk driving. More repossessions. More borrowing from payday lenders. More defaults.
More people driving illegally. More people driving unsafe cars.
More children exposed to second hand smoke, trapped in cars with smokers.
More asthma. More heart disease. More unemployment.
More emergency room visits. More drug abuse. More stress. More medical bills.
More chances to drive home from the bar drunk rather than ride the bus.
More unpaid bills. More overburdening of local and state health systems and costs. More rage. More drinking. More drunk driving. More stress. More domestic violence. More sick kids who'd walk to the bus or bike, if the roads were safe for kids on bikes. More obesity. More driving while texting or talking on the phone.
More isolation from neighbors/community members. More family budget drain. More stress. More rage. More money lost to auto fuel, repair, registration.
More consumption of gasoline and oil. More poverty. More hunger. More theft.
More burglary. More crime. More criminals. More victims.
More enslavement to auto and oil corporations.
More debt for auto style and status. More anger.
More money stripped away from theatre, dance, music, education, food, heating bills, shoes, books, schools, libraries. More money taken away from counseling, parenting programs, programs for the disadvantaged, the young and the elderly.
More burden on overburdened families. More ignorance. More stress. More rage.
More class-ism taught, via expensive cars as symbols of wealth and personal worth. More damaged self esteem for those who can't afford fancy cars. More rage.
More prime farmland and potential parks and community land, committed to sprawling car dealerships.
More prejudice, distance and anger between those with more, and those with less, as measured by how nice a car you drive.

And frankly there's more..... much much more.... but this is a good start on the list of how much more we receive when our fearless leaders spend less developing and operating a rational public transportation system, and more on policing and punishing the social ills that result from policies that weaken our economy, our freedom and our dignity. We spend thousands of times more for the problems that they encourage, than the solutions we could implement.

It may be easy for small minded bureaucrats to dismiss this thinking as coming from eco-nuts who hate cars and think that public transportation will save America and the world...... That's not true........ It is true that the enormous time and financial burdens that result from not having good public transportation contribute to these social ills in ways much more profoundly and far reaching than average people want to think about. But our leaders are supposedly above average thinkers. That's one of the requirements of leadership..... Right?

Good public transportation alone will not save the world. But any rational thinker can see that good public transportation provides an outstanding step in the right direction and returns phenomenal value for the dollar. I dare say a 10,000 to 1 ratio describes how much more value a dollar spent on public transportation has, over a dollar spent on more courthouses and jails.

Wake up folks...... we're sinking with our of "band-aid thinking".

We need to learn how to bail and row this boat together. The above described costs and impacts are not imagined. This is reality. It's playing out every day and growing. Ask the cops, the judges, the lawyers, the D.A's office, the hospitals, the school teachers. Ask the probation and parole officers. Ask the guards at overcrowded prisons. Ask the businesses. Ask the banks. Read the police blotter. Ask the state and local road crews. Ask the state and local budget offices. Ask the people who are broke. Ask the ones that are going broke. Ask the bankruptcy lawyers. Ask the "repo" men. Ask the debt collectors. Ask the priests and pastors. Ask the daycare personnel. Ask the graffiti removal squad. Ask the drug and alcohol treatment facilitators. Ask the aid to families programs. Ask all these people if something as simple as an efficient public transportation system, could keep enough money in our economy to help mitigate these problems. Ask whether more money and more mobility would improve the quality of life for all people of all social and economic stratas.

Will a 21st century public transportation system solve all the problems of humanity? Of course not. But simple things make big differences. Does it make more sense than spending on ever growing, ever more expensive courthouses and bureaucracies, police and judicial and jail and prison budgets, that are already inadequate by the time they're approved, and over-budget long before they're built?

Does it make sense to start addressing the causes of our social disorders rather than pouring never ending (and ever more scarce) budget resources into band-aiding the symptoms? Could something as obvious and simple as a functioning public transportation system make a difference? Could it save enough money to make a difference. Yes. Build an alternative while you still have the time and resources. If you're truly leaders.

Or hell , just keep dumping the bodies of the victims of our social and economic failures, onto the burning, toxic and explosive trash heap of "Private For Profit" jails and prisons. Let the men, women and children who've been failed by their leadership go on paying the price.

We're From The Government - We're Here To Protect You

Good Morning......


The mad scientists of the US Government, in concert with the Fed, the IMF, and The World Bank and private banking worldwide, have joined forces to protect the peasants.....

This team of "Protectors" has been scouring foul and stinking graves during midnight harvesting missions. They've taken the dead, dying and diseased parts of the government and financial "industries" and cobbled the parts together into a Savior.

They've conducted secret experiments in their "laboratories" deep beneath the castle on the hill. And finally, with a stroke of masterful genius, ( and congressional complicity), they've fired a multi-trillion dollar (oh yeah) a multi-trillion dollar lightning bolt into it, creating the ultimate protector. In their omnipotent genius....... They've given us:

BANKENSTEIN

All Hail Bankenstein!

....... Yes Bankenstein - a lumbering, staggering, multi-headed beast that communicates with irrational, indecipherable bursts of techno/finance gibberish called Bankenbabble. Bankenstein need not communicate coherently. The fact that Bankenbabble doesn't make sense to we simple peasants, only further demonstrates our need for him and his masters.

Bankenstein is cheap to feed.

1) He eats real value, cash, tax revenue, interest, earnings and savings (past, present and future). (All stuff that peasants produce)

2)He eats unsecured debt and accurate but devastating financial and accounting reports. (All stuff that mad scientists produce).


3)His primary source of nutrition is thankfully free and unlimited.....
- simply, all the worthless money the Fed can print.

Bankenstein's excrement?

1) He excretes the debt of the mad scientists (which he perversely and considerately re-ingests)

2)He excretes the processed profit for the mad scientists, which they sift from his waste and hoard.

3) He excretes favorably adjusted accounting and financial reports.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.........

4) Bankenstein excretes insurmountable debt and poverty for the peasants. This, the predominant element of his excrement, floods unrestricted from the beast. It's of course carefully managed by spreading it a mile deep on the surrounding peasant villages. It's a wonderful gift. It's a fertilizer that'll help grow our peasant economy.

No wonder I feel that everything is warm and peaceful...

Gosh, think Bankenstein will be rewarded with a mate... huh?
Gosh I wonder if they'll name her
Marsha, Marsha Law....?

But hey, really, how much "protection" do we peasants really deserve?

Introduction

Welcome............. This should be fun........

The heading/name of this blog "Risky Thinkers" describes those folks among us who are willing (or unable to resist) taking the risk of thinking above, below and beyond the norm.

What's risky about that? The primary risk is to the thinker. Madness is the risk.

I've recently found myself saying "If you have the courage to look at what's really happening, be prepared. You're gonna' need every shred of that courage to deal with what you find".

When one considers reality deeply, such considerations eventually tear a hole in the
"fabric of illusion " that holds us together individually and collectively. Our innate capacity for denial (and the comfort it affords) begins to dissolve. What also dissolves is the matrix of security and certainty provided for us by corporations, religions, governments, media and social programming .

We put into place psychically, all the pieces necessary for a perspective of the internal/external universe that's compatible with the collective illusion.

Through "courageous vision" the "collective illusion" begins to fail and a great void opens. Risky thinkers confront the risk of letting go of the illusion and tumbling end over end into the void.

So..... for those of us who seem to be unfortunately, immutably, relentlessly, unavoidably committed to knowing, to paying attention to the man behind the curtain....both within and without.... Here's a place to think and read and write and play and cry and be lost and be found..........

Perhaps we can make it just a little less lonely in the void.

So, Welcome Risky Thinkers! Please share your observations on "the greatest adventure".

Thanks......


Jacques Conejo