Sad!

Coming soon to a venue near you!

Friends, as if the world is not bad enough what with a financial crisis, share market collapse, global warming, wars, Presidential elections, etc, Reuters carries the story that we are also in the middle of an Ecological Crisis.

Two planets will be required to sustain current lifestyles within a generation, the conservation group World Wildlife Fund said recently in its Living Planet Report. It claimed that over three quarters of the world’s population live in countries whose levels of  consumption are outstripping environmental renewal. The Report warned that economic impacts will include increasingly high costs for food, water and energy.

Jonathan Loh of the Zoological Society of London said in the Report that the dramatic ecological losses from pollution, deforestation, over-fishing and land conversion were having serious impacts. He said that, "We’re acting ecologically in the same way as financial institutions have been behaving economically — seeking immediate gratification without due regard for the consequences."  He stated that the consequences of a global ecological crisis are even graver than the current economic meltdown.

Read more…

Can America Change Its Spots?

Friends, as the election draws near I admit to having real fears about the future of America.

I know from the comments on my blog over the last few years that there is great hope in the hearts of many decent, thinking Americans that the election in eight days will see a real political change following the absolute disaster that is George Bush. There is the same hope in the hearts of many people from many countries around the world, including me.

But whether Obama wins or McCain, using fraud, gets over the line, what difference will it really make? For change to take place there must be a change in the things that motivate Americans. What are those things?

Well, we have religion. Whether it’s Obama or McCain who wins, nothing will change in the evangelical institutions or in the mainstream Churches. They will still continue to spread their superstitious nonsense and capture the minds of the gullible and claim that God blesses America and will reward members of their flock.

What about the economic system? There is real division in America about what economic system is best: a liberal, government-controlled, semi-socialist one or a market-driven, small government, survival of the fittest one (which seems to predominate). Nothing is likely to change there although the world financial crisis might bring about a temporary change in some regulations. But that won’t last long because Big Business, supported by the Media, still pulls the strings of Republican or Democrat politicians and Big Business still wants to do whatever it likes and pursue mega-profits without answering to anyone or caring about environmental damage.

Read more…

Antidote For Indoctrination!

"I, (insert your name), have been fed a tissue of lies. My country is not the greatest country in the history of the world but is instead a class-riddled, militaristic, faith-crazed, right-wing rogue nation.

I am not a member of an elite group of people but merely a citizen of a mediocre, violence-loving nation, one with only five percent of the world’s population, a nation which is filled with corruption and greed and racism and inequality.

I would like to apologize to the world for the wars and killing and destruction my imperialist nation has engaged in over decades and for the rapacious economic exploitation it has carried out across the world, exploitation which has not only brought hunger and starvation and suffering to many but has seriously damaged our planet.

Please forgive me and my country! Hopefully, following the interminable election and with the help of other countries, we can resolve our glaring deficiencies and do better, perhaps even become selfless peace-seekers and responsible world citizens."

Is The World Getting Too Much For You?

Friends, we live in difficult times. Storm clouds gather ever closer.

Meditation, for a time, allows you to escape from your immediate troubles,

helps you to put the chaos of the world into perspective, to review your values.

It makes you see that you’re simply a temporal part of the cycle of life,

one that is filled with joy and pain, with deception and truth,

with love and cruelty, with sickness and vigour,

with hope and despair, with gain and loss,

with rapid growth then slow aging. 

Eventually, there’ s acceptance.

Then death comes and,

with it, endless

peace.

Is Another American Civil War A Possibility?

Friends, putting together information from many sources: comments on my blog, comments on other blogs, articles written about the the Presidential election over many months, watching the Presidential debates, watching CNN and Faux News, watching the growing turmoil over the financial crisis in America, etc, it is obvious that feelings are running high in the U.S. of A.

A real divide seems to be opening up or, more correctly, old divides which have been hiding under the surface of American society for centuries, appear to be re-emerging. For example, the issue of electing a ‘black’ person to the office of President is causing the long running issue of racism to resurface. One survey I saw a few months ago said that more that 80% of white Americans had negative feelings about coloured people, this in spite of the fact that Americans claim they have little or no racism.

The big question that is raging in America is: what will white Americans do when they get in the voting booths? Will those who said they will vote for Obama actually do so or will they preference another white male even if he comes from a party which, after Bush, has zilch credibility.

As well as the racial issue, the global credit crisis and the amount of Government intervention thus far has reopened the fierce debate between extremists in the Liberal and Conservative camps. Despite the current evidence which shows the total failure of the free market system because of the lack of stringent Government regulation and control, there are still Conservatives who, like flat-earthers, still extol the virtues of capitalism, who still want the Government to sit on the sidelines, impose few taxes, and allow the Robber Barons to have their way.

Read more…

Bomb-Bomb-Bomb. Drill-Drill-Drill.

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT.

"President Palin, thanks for allowing this interview, your first since taking over from…"

"Let’s not look backward. What’s done is done. God works in mysterious ways. I can’t talk for long, my beautician is coming."

"What was your reaction when you got the call?"

" I was looking through my window at Russia when the phone rang. I was thinking it looked much smaller than it does on the map. I was also wondering what to have for…the polar bear roast or the moose ribs."

"And how does it feel to be in the hot seat?"

"Well, I’m pretty shapely so the chair is fine though I’d prefer something in pastel colours, perhaps off-green or blue."

"And the large sign on your desk, is it to be your…?

"Everyone needs a motto, something to live by, something like: IN GOD WE TRUST."

"But Bomb-Bomb…"

Read more…

What Would Jesus Do?

Friends, I must admit I’m in a state of confusion. It may be terminal!

All the news headlines, on television, in the print media, say we are in the middle of the worst financial catastrophe since the Great Depression. Various countries are described as being in recession or verging upon it. Some have even mentioned the unmentionable: a looming depression!

Our Prime Minster has just approved of a ten billion dollar package. He has just guaranteed all deposits in financial institutions. He is giving large cash payments to pensioners. He talks non-stop about a world crisis, about saving Australia, about keeping the faith and, above all, not to withdraw your funds. A run on the banks is not on his agenda!

However, last Friday, American time, the Dow tumbled. Yet, today our time, the Asian share markets rose, an unusual occurrence. Australia rose by nearly four percent, others around three percent. Europe is predicted to achieve gains tonight.  UPDATE: 21/10. The Dow rose by 413 points on Monday! Wow! Asia will go crazy today.

Now, call me old-fashioned if you will, but how the bloody hell can we be in the middle of a total financial and economic disaster yet people are still investing millions in the share market? Are such people mad? Should they be certified? Are they willingly committing financial suicide? Or is something tricky going on that we, the sheeple, don’t understand?

Read more…

Democratic, Faith-based Capitalism. Yeah!

Friends, this morning I heard the most powerful semi-human in the world, George W Bush, use the term ‘Democratic Capitalism’. Excuse me for being somewhat baffled but I thought that democracy was a political system and capitalism was an economic system. Of course, in George’s tortured mind, such distinct distinctions have no meaning. 

From the balance of what he said it seemed that he was still extolling the wonderful virtues of free markets but cautioning that they needed a bit of regulation now and again to save them from their excesses or, more correctly, from the excesses engaged in by a mere handful of folk who, unwittingly, had made a few dubious investments. By joining capitalism with democracy perhaps he hoped to lift the meaning of capitalism from its current putrid low? But perhaps he didn’t go far enough!

Now look, I don’t want to be presumptuous here. Surely it’s not my place to offer advice to the Commander of the World. However I suggest that he adds ‘Faith-based’ to the mix and, in the future, talks about Democratic, Faith-based Capitalism. I’ll explain why later.

Now I realize that there will be some among you, smart people that you are, who will be scratching your heads. There will be those who will be asking yourselves questions like:

- Hasn’t capitalism brought about great inequality in the world and a selfish me-first attitude and, currently, a financial crisis?
- Hasn’t unregulated capitalism led to, dare I say it, global warming?
- Hasn’t capitalist greed generated wars like those in Afghanistan and Iraq?
- Hasn’t capitalism ripped off people all over the world, led to deforestation, genetic modification of our food, the poisoning of the air, soil and water, even lung cancer, etc?

Read more…

The Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

Friends, this is an interesting photograph, one from Reuters. It looks harmless but it can be viewed at many levels.

It shows Obama and McCain at a New York fundraiser for the Catholic Church warmly shaking hands (aren’t they enemies?). A beaming Cardinal is in attendance along with lots of rich, influential men in white ties. Given that 4 million dollars was raised for charity obviously there are no ordinary folk to be seen among the powerful glitterati (teachers, taxi drivers, plumbers, etc). I wonder why?

The photograph shows well-dressed representatives of the three main power groups in the world today: the religious, the political and the economic. They all appear to be happy being together. Perhaps they share a common interest, one that stretches well beyond just having a happy night with lots of good food and wine?

The truth is that, across the world, these three groups need each other to maintain or increase their respective grip on power, influence and wealth. They belong to a class that you and I have no access to. They live a lavish lifestyle that we can only read about in magazines.

The Cardinal lives in a palace. Look at how he’s dressed. He is a high-ranking member of a religion that, like many others, using fear and superstition, has incredible power over the lives of millions of people. His church, like many others, has enormous wealth, much of it extracted from the poor. Why then does it need to raise money for a charity?

Read more…

Reflections Upon A Final Debate.

I watched the debate in full. It was a sad affair watching these two ambitious men battle each other for the Presidency: one too old and scarred, one too young and inexperienced.

Each man is desperately vying for four years of immense power and glory against the backdrop of a nation that is in recession, is largely bankrupt, is involved in two unwinable wars and whose financial, real estate and health systems are stuffed as is their world image. What was that song, the one about "The Winner Takes It All" ? In America’s case, there’s not much to win!

They both repeated the familiar, boring mantras they’ve chanted endlessly for more than a year. They each adopted the stereotyped roles their minders had schooled them in: Obama the ‘Professor’ standing for Big Liberal Government with strong  control and regulation; McCain the ‘Maverick’ standing for the Conservative idea of Small Government, free markets and the rights of individuals to rise or fall as their own efforts dictated. That I can recall, thankfully neither of them repeated the ridiculous, odious claim that America was the greatest nation on earth or that Iran could well be nuked, etc.

Read more…