Glad to see President Obama again show some fire in his soul.

And to see that Reason tempered with Compassion is finally again predominant in the White House.

I do not glorify war. But the problems of the world, and those truly psychopathic ones with their armies of suicide soldiers drunk on ugly religious lies don't just disappear because we decide to ignore them.

The right-wing critics of this President are fundamentally racist and corrupt, their arguments are meaningless. The left-wing critics, including many dear friends, seem less than willing to put themselves in his shoes before making blanket condemnations.

IMHO, of course ;-)

http://www.fraterdeus.com/cda/

This is my comment on the NYTimes Blog entry here:

Can Meditation Curb Heart Attacks? - Well Blog - NYTimes.com http://bit.ly/91ZNm6

Meditation is not a contest. TM is perfectly fine, but claims that it is "better" than other paths practiced with equivalent intention and deliberation are spurious.

Any calming of the chattering monkey-mind is better than no calming of the chattering monkey-mind. Are some practices more or less effective per unit of effort? No doubt, but effort is effort and results are results even so.

Allow the 'right-brain' symbolic mind, with its non-linear broad-field awareness, a quiet moment, and it's like a wave of calm floods into the brain.

The sequential, word-based 'left-brain' knows how to tighten the ratchet of logic, important for certain kinds of problem solving. But without relief, tightens also the ratchet of worry and anxiety,The right-brain has the key to relax the ratchet.

Both are necessary for human self-awareness, but the 'modern' materialistic, fearful, survivalist world view forces the calm voice into the background. (It's not only modern, but part of our very humanness, in fact)

Meditation, ritual. dance, love, food, traditional uses of herbal and fungal "healers", all have a place in the human aspiration to calm self-awareness. Worry is like friction, good for making progress in a tight situation, but also damaging and wasteful of our energy and attention.

Meditation is simply a way to quiet that racket so that our already present balm can flow forward....

Quantum Magick and Love Quarks http://fraterdeus.com

For every left-wing/right-wing ranter out there - and there are plenty on all sides - there is barely a voice attempting to point out one or two simple facts. The Dow Index is over 10000. OK.

Unemployment is over 10%. Yep.

How are these related?

Has the "government" (oh, eveil, eveil, government) decreed that "ALL THOU STOCKS SHALL RISE, AND ALL THEE SPECULATORS SHALL ENJOY WHILST ALL THOU REST OF YAS CAN STUFF IT"??? Nooooo....

Before people can get jobs making stuff, there has to be a demand for what they are making.

If them's that got money just sits on it, there's no demand for the stuff. If them puts their money in the market and they takes some profit, they will have money to SPEND on stuff. Like it or not, that's how it works.

On the other hand, yes, we SHOULD, as a society be spending COMMON treasure on our schools, roads, HEALTH CARE, etc. But does bashing the Dow Jones have ANYTHING to do with any of those public goods???

Nope. If the markets rise, the profits of the companies, and the capital gains of the investors will be taxed (MUST be taxed) and that will help to pay for the common good. Yes, we need more public spending (as Paul Krugman argues regularly), but again, bashing Wall Street gains nothing. Tax the bastards sure, but don't kvetch about their investing. It just smells of sour grapes.

Now, the selfish 'freedom-loaders' of the ranting Rasputin right, who want the society to pay for all their money-making infrastructure, but only by taxing SOMEBODY ELSE, are hypocrites and foul-players all the way down.

Their aim is to disable any and all progress by the new President, firstly so they can return to the corruption of their slimy-palmed ways (see Bush Interior Department, Division of Mines, for example), and secondly because they are unrepentant racists.

Doesn't matter if the Democrat is black or not, the right uses their loaded codes for 'welfare cheats' 'speak English' 'unwed mothers' 'pervert marriage' to solidly jab the elbow into their under-educated barely literate base. Get 'those people' out of power at any cost, they say, and you'll "Love America" - meaning, simply, "Hah, now we've got the cookie jar for ourselves again!"

My dear friends on the Obama-bashing LEFT, on the other hand are, as usual, guilty of good, even wonderful, idealistic intentions, and all too often blithering idiots when it comes to ACTUAL PEOPLE and EVENTS in the REAL WORLD. It's "progress not perfection", people, ok??? Or will you stamp your feet and take your ball and go home???

I am no apologist for capitalism nor for stupid Democratic strategists who seem to be congenitally incapable of grabbing the bull by the horns and making good use of the historic opportunities they now have. And I do believe we need to keep reminding them that - as George Lakoff said - there IS NO CENTER in politics. If you can't keep your own base enthusiastic, you have made a miserable mess of all your potential.

Still, I think that our new President is a hell of a lot smarter than 98% of his critics.

The idiots who captained the ship of state between 2000 and 2008 ran it three miles up on the shore. Before you can turn the damned ship around and actually go somewhere useful, you have to GET IT OFF THE BEACH!

(my replies to a thread on Facebook regarding the idea that pandemic disease is something that 'souls' choose as their way of leaving the earth)

"Every soul chooses its time of birth. Every soul chooses its time and method of death. There are no accidents or untimely deaths. Honor soul's cosmic journey as a powerful being learning lessons." -- from s Facebook thread

--

Uh... Not sure I buy all this. There's something about the Holocaust which makes me very nervous about such philosophy.

--

All in favor of positive energy, but as Aslan likes to say, there's no telling another's story. Karma is not obvious, it is very subtle, and Quantum Theory shows that everything is accidental... Karma, if anything, has more to do with our reactions (actions/reactions) to random events, than to do with sequential cause and effect.

--

S., I have been pondering some of your statements way up near the top. For instance: "all souls experience the effects of either merit karma or demerit karma."

There is nothing in the action of karma that relates to merit or demerit. Karma is like gravity, not like judgement. I think perhaps there is some anthropomorphizing of natural law there.

I'm not so sure, no, in fact I'm quite sure that I wouldn't be so certain about the states of 'souls' between lives, or the 'choices' that 'souls' make. These images may be the experience of an experience, but they are not universal nor absolute.

No teacher can teach that which is. No word can tell it. No experience can be transmitted. No tradition teaches truth.

Thus the sage remains silent, eh?

Nonetheless, the end is the same. Illumination, not illusion. ;-)

--

Another thought about karma, in particular, regarding 'choices' which are not 'choices'. Suffering is not always chosen. It may be the 'karma' of those who impose violence, not that of the innocents who suffer it.

After all, that is the core teaching of the christian tradition, no? The guy was blameless, but got nailed anyway. Whose 'karma' was that?

Calvinism is the religion of blaming those who suffer. "If you're poor it's because god hates you, you worthless sinner." etc etc.

New ageism ain't any better, and finally, H1N1 could care less about karma.

So, indeed, we practice compassion and lovingkindness, not for the good karma, but because it raises the boat for everyone.

But wash your hands!

;-)

http://www.ru.org/book-reviews/the-god-theory-a-book-review.html

A devout Christian (as Prof. Haisch apparently is) does not need to rely on his PhD in Astrophysics to 'prove' his belief in a creator God. I suppose it's a good way to fill up a book, but there is no evidence from science for his belief.

While consciousness may very well drive the development of complexity in the 'lower dimensions' from a seat in the vibrations of the higher (vis brane cosmology), there is no reason or evidence to believe that there is some omniscient or omnipotent individual involved.

Far more likely, and more satisfying to Occam, would be that complexity arises out of quantum or string fundamentals, and that elements of consciousness aggregate into motivational thresholds by vibrational synergy and coherent harmony. Where is the prime driver? In the relationships between infinite "conxels" (consciousness 'pixels').

Deists, in general, are very small-minded, despite their PhDs or whatever. They seem to need to anthropomorphize the cosmos. Perhaps it helps them feel more important. More likely, none of us are important, cosmically, as any rational observer would see.

Still, seeking stillness in the mind, it doesn't hurt to give some attention to the smallness of our home planet, thus magnifying the glory of the Infinite which we best experience through dissolving self-importance.

Sad that the perceived 'market' value of humanity's cultural inheritance is sinking like Citigroup stock. More emphasis on history, ethics and an awareness of the dependence of the individual on a healthy social milieu might have spared us the current tsunami of financial greed and economic misery.

While the demand for technologists, scientists and mathematicians skyrockets, the lack of human perspective and vision in business management and financial 'planning' has created a maelstrom which drags the whole world down into chaos.

On the other hand, perhaps only the elite can be expected to "Know Thyself" as the ancient motto charges. Perhaps the rest of 'us' shall be proscribed to soulless machinelike lives, tuned to specific tasks like worker bees... If so, there's not a lot of hope for democracy.

The NYTimes article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/books/25human.html?em

Michael Pollan: “Even if you don’t think agriculture is a high priority, given all the other problems we face, we’re not going to make progress on the issues Obama campaigned on — health care, climate change and energy independence — unless we reform agriculture.”

Michael Pollan is the Copernicus of food, seeing beyond the curtain of the glorious megafarm illusion (see http://themeatrix.com) to the real universe of the connection between our lives as energy/food consuming creatures, and our impact on the planet and the species we have turned into fodder for our endless appetites.

My concern is that humans, American humans, have utterly divorced the question of food from any awareness of our collective impact on our own home. While organic foods are still gaining in popularity (though more slowly today due to the economic crunch), it is largely not environmental concern which drives these choices, rather intense personal worry about the health impacts, particularly on the purchaser's children, of the products of industrial agriculture. While this is understandable, it does not address the problem. Organic agriculture can be as wasteful as industrial, regarding its energy inputs, the costs involved in transport, etc. Still on balance, an acre farmed organic is far less harmful to the air and water, and encourages a smaller scale more respectful use of our commons.

The largest abuses, however, by far are in industrial meat production. Water, oil, grain, antibiotics, all are lavished on the poor steer, hog, hen or lamb, crushed into a crate without an inch to stretch their hormone distorted legs. Huge blood-soaked factories grind these barely living pain-filled creatures into meat for the appetites of a population which simply doesn't want to know the costs of their hunger.

The costs are now becoming clear. The planet cannot afford a human culture addicted to cheap meat. While we may be aware of our personal "oil/energy" footprint, considering our driving habits, our thermostat, our extra sweater, we easily forget that 'agriculture' -- the production and the transport of food -- is the largest consumer of oil on the planet.

What food we choose for our tables concerns not only our own health (of which we remain also too often woefully, or rather defiantly, ignorant), but literally the health and survival of the ecological spheres which support life on our planet.

Kristof NYTimes article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/opinion/11kristof.html?em

(Peter Fraterdeus worked as a consulting web strategist for a major organic food cooperative from 2002-2007.)

Peter Fraterdeus Exquisite Letterpress http://slowprint.com

--

ParlorTricks mailing list ParlorTricks@eiotx.net http://www.eiotx.net/mailman/listinfo/parlortricks

http://www.betweenthecolumns.com/2008/10/obamas-infomercial-live-blogging.html

hi Jon

Thanks for your note, as well!

Yes, Barack Skywalker may have learned the ways of the Force, but the "Death Star" of DC has a way of leaving no good things unpunished.

There's nearly infinite inertia in that dense matter, and it will take a leader of epochal stature to bring enough of We the People's conscious energy to bear on it to change the direction.

I think that our Man is on to an extremely important principal, though: one cannot confront such mass directly. In the same way that a tiny tugboat can turn a giant tanker, you approach it from the perpendicular dimension. Again the principal of transcending the unidimensional dichotomy of right-left, finding a vector which the 'traditional' operators never suspected, never heard of, had never imagined.

NO doubt, however, that Barack will be challenged to the extremes of his capacity. I'm praying for him and his family, and for all sentient beings... and I'm not the praying type.

The thing is that the Matrix is not controlled by the President. Unfortunately, it has taken on a will of its own, modeled after that of the private interests which have greatly usurped the commons (see Jefferson's and Madison's concerns about moneyed interests versus democracy)

So, yes, I think he understands that there is only so much one can do. But FDR and TR took on those interests and set them back for a while. It takes a magnificent disaster for the People to wake-up sometimes....

You gotta love it, though, when GWB says yesterday "Capitalism is not broken..." Oh. My. God. Now the SH*T must REALLY be gonna hit the fan!

After a nearly flawless campaign, in both strategy and tactics, Barack Obama and David Axelrod have clearly left both their opposition and the 'pundit class' gasping for air in their dust.

Obama projects an air of confidence and inner clarity which seems to derive from something akin to advance knowledge of outcomes. His focus goes beyond garden variety IQ. It becomes apparent that he is, in addition, simply more conscious than the typical pundit, or politician, from either party.

The best analogy I can think of is from a long time favorite book, Flatland by Edwin Abbot

In the book, the three-dimensional Sphere has the ability to stand inches away from a Flatlander and observe them without being seen, can remove Flatland objects from closed containers and teleport them via the third dimension without traversing the space in between, and is capable of seeing and touching the inside and outside of everything in the two-dimensional universe; at one point, the Sphere gently pokes the narrator's intestines and launches him into three dimensions as proof of his powers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland

Obama's keen observation of human behavior, political behavior in particular, gives him a raised vantage point from which he has been able to ascertain the motives and trajectories of his opponents and adversaries. He has been able to anticipate and frustrate every attack, and simply step aside, like a kung-fu master, as his opponent misses swing after swing.

His understanding of the power of language gave the lie to both Clinton's and McCain's whining about "he's all just pretty words".

After all, leadership is exactly about finding the words to invigorate and empower ones listeners. Without language, we have no polity, no public, no common good. This is, of course, also the danger, for, as George Lakoff said, there is no other weapon in the struggle of ideas.

George Lakoff, in fact, must be feeling pretty well vindicated himself, after his disabuse by the DLC centrists. His star shown during Howard Dean's campaign, but was quenched by the 'realists' who claimed that his message was 'only about words'.

Barack Obama understands the Force of human political strategy, like a Jedi Knight, he able to re-frame powerful attacks by dynamically altering the dimension in which the battle occurs.

I expect that there will never have been a human more conscious of the pitfalls and potentials of power as he enters the People's House, as our next President, our leader and our humble servant.

Parlortricks Subscriptions: http://www.eiotx.net/mailman/listinfo/parlortricks

Quantum Magick & Love Quarks Blog: http://fraterdeus.com

Unfortunately, most astrologers don't either.

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/your-astronomical-sign.html

My response to the article follows:

This is old news, of course... ;-)

Nonetheless, IMHO:

The qualities of the signs are based on the relationship to the equinox itself (and, in my view, the length of the daylight hours), not to the background "wallpaper" of the fixed stars. There are four 'elements' and three 'qualities' which iterate through the twelve signs.

Aries is "Cardinal" (containing the initial signature qualities of its season) "Fire", appropriate enough for the Vernal Equinox, as the lengthening days raise verdant. (Of course southern hemisphere astrology would need to invert the cycle, not a problem, since the length of the solar day is the appropriate 'impulse' here, not the "effects" of distant points of light). Taurus, the "Fixed, Earth" middle of the vernal season is traditionally associated with the fecundity of the Earth, a time for planting...

Gemini, the mental "Mutable, Air" sign comes as the season changes (mutable) into summer, and the breezes of late spring invigorate the mind (poetically speaking, of course) (and "Cancer" the first--Cardinal--sign of Summer brings Water to finish the elemental cycle, etc)

While I am not an apologist for astrobabble, I can easily see that the diurnal and lunar cycles have an effect on biological scales, and seasonal affective disorder shows the same on neurological and psychological scales.

What unbiased scientist would discard the 'old wives tales' of astrology, now that we see the economic and therapeutic value, for instance, of herbs used for millennia by Amazon shamans? 19th and 20th C arrogant Euro-centric academics imagined that they already knew everything there was to know, dismissing the iterative and augmentative observations of 1000s of generations of intelligent humans. We do so now at our own peril, both intellectual and global!

:-)

http://fraterdeus.com Quantum Magick and Love Quarks

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/wanted-intelligent-aliens-for-a-research-project/

Any more takers for the Burns quote? :-)

Thanks to one very perceptive human (O.J.) for these regular reminders that piercing intelligence need not be stuffed into a dry old shirt...

Speaking as a part-alien, Olivia makes me proud of my human part!

Symbolic consciousness is not a particularly good fit with biological neurological systems, but humans have selectively evolved brains which are better able to hold abstract symbols in contemplation. This is not at all to say that other intelligent earth creatures have no such ability, but the human brain is highly adapted in its attempt to do so.

Language and symbolic consciousness are 'alien' in the sense that they have arrived only after billions of years of biological evolution.

However, the match is by no means perfect! The Buddhist and other contemplative practices are tools for self-calibration and have developed and thrived due to their success at moderating the neuro-symbolic conflux.

http://fraterdeus.com Quantum Magick and Love Quarks

PF

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/diamond-and-kashyap-on-the-recent-financial-upheavals/

My comment on the good points and information raised there:

Thanks to Ronnie Reagan for the good times, eh? The 'free-market' dogmatics seem to think that the Law of Gravity is also subject to their whims. But what goes up must come down.

The sad thing is that the same lessons are given decade after decade, even century after century, but the reality is that humans are not wise. Our perspective, neurologically, is barely 24 hours. The global economy is much too large to be entrusted to the selfish biological drives that covet McMansions and $10 million condos in Manhattan or Houston.

Unfortunately, American politics panders to the lowest common denominator, with the results of the last eight years a clear example.

Peter Fraterdeus blog: fraterdeus.com

Thanks to a number of Parlortricks readers for insightful replies to my previous post "George Lakoff: Don't think of a Maverick"

Howard wrote:

Peter, It's not a simple problem...I don't know how they should deal with it, either. I think that dignity goes a long way, but people are somehow snowed by Palin. Part of it is that she is a FRESH FACE. Great strategy to unleash someone who nobody had seen or heard, so she sounds fresh.

Yep. It's a pure Karl Rove masterpiece. However, I think that Obama has known such a moment would arrive, and they are responding with the plan. It's ok to be boring with policy wonkishness for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping that he will save the best for last... three weeks from mid-October onward of soaring inspirational dynamism. It will be time then to leave McPain in the dust of herstory.

The campaign is so long that it wears out the public, and the candidates, too, I think.

Indeed.

In some ways, Obama needs to grab the ball and then hold it to run down the clock.

His ground plan and operation will be executed successfully, as it was in the primary campaign. He struggled against Hillary in the late primaries but never gave up his early lead and stunning early success. This was the strategy and it was executed as it needed to be. It don't matter if it's pretty, what matters, in this game, is whether you win!

Ren wrote:

Peter, I kinda like the idea of "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". It really bugs me when the supporters start criticizing their own people. That's all people who can't think for themselves need to hear... "Sarah Palin is effective and Obama is not effective" (they don't even hear the rest of the sentence...that the Obama campaign is not effective in dealing with her...whatever that means). What crap. She's an idiot and he's not. That's all they need to say. ...

Yes, I agree. And you are effectively criticizing Lakoff using his very own idea!

I do feel like George Lakoff has a very important point, though, that it's not about numbers or policy or issues.

It's about who can be a leader of hearts and minds together. A leader whose personal commitment and ideas should inspire us all, American, Earthian, Human. That we aspire to make manifest an awareness of the inter-relatedness of all life and to make being a good American about being a good human being, and a responsible citizen and inhabitant of Our Only Home Planet.

Not about McPain's "Country First" but "We the People".

LEADERSHIP >> IS << ABOUT THE SPEECHES YOU MAKE

Building consensus, pointing direction and raising optimism is what a leader does! Obama does that very well, and I look forward to his returning to that role full time.

Dorothy sent this link to Andrew Sullivan's article in The Atlantic : "McCain's Integrity"

For me, this surreal moment - like the entire surrealism of the past ten days - is not really about Sarah Palin or Barack Obama or pigs or fish or lipstick. It's about John McCain. The one thing I always thought I knew about him is that he is a decent and honest person. When he knows, as every sane person must, that Obama did not in any conceivable sense mean that Sarah Palin is a pig, what did he do? Did he come out and say so and end this charade? Or did he acquiesce in and thereby enable the mindless Rovianism that is now the core feature of his campaign?

Full article: http://www.truthout.org/article/mccains-integrity

And now, with Beyond the Palin having finally deigned to be interviewed by the fourth estate, we see, as the New York Times Editorial Board put it:

"""It was bad enough that Ms. Palin’s performance in the first televised interviews she has done since she joined the Republican ticket was so visibly scripted and lacking in awareness. What made it so much worse is the strategy for which the Republicans have made Ms. Palin the frontwoman: win the White House not on ideas, but by denigrating experience, judgment and qualifications."""

Full editorial: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/opinion/13sat1.html?em

I am seriously beginning to wonder if the Republican strategy is built on mental illness. Maniacal delusions of grandeur in those raising this intellectual light-weight nutcase Governor to an undeserved pedestal, added to the denial-of-reality psychosis of glazed over lower-middle-class sub-racists ("I'm not racist, but I'd never vote for a Muslim") creates a hot bed of know-nothing populism that only a Hitler could know and love.

John McPain has sold whatever was left of his soul to the reigning demons of Pennsylvania Avenue, hoping in exchange to get the keys to the mansion. By recruiting a full fledged neo-Aryan Amazon to his side, he diminished himself into irrelevance. How dare the Repuglicans complain about references to his age. If Sarah Palin isn't a good enough reason to consider McCain's health and welfare, what the hell is?

"Country First"? What a load of * * * * coming from these obscene neo-fascist theocratic panderers.

Fortunately, there are hundreds of millions people, Go Team!, who now see through this crap.

I just hope they get out and vote in November. ESPECIALLY in IA, WI, PA, OH, MI, CO, MO, FL, VA, etc etc!

Both MoveOn and the Obama campaign have rolled out voter contact tools, which enable supporters to contact both current supporters as well as 'undecided' voters in critical swing states.

http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/create.html

http://my.barackobama.com/n2n

Resist Cognitive Dissonance!

Keep the faith!

P

PS Keep writing!

http://www.alternet.org/election08/98453/

Must reading for the Obama Movement.

--

Don't Think of a Maverick! Could the Obama Campaign Be Improved?

By George Lakoff, AlterNet. Posted September 11, 2008.

Obama's task is to reveal McCain as an elite DC insider and to convince conservatives to believe in Obama's leadership abilities.

Throughout the nomination campaign I was struck by how well the Obama campaign was being run, especially how sophisticated the framing was. But recently I have begun to wonder. It looks like, in certain respects, the Obama campaign is making some of the same mistakes of the Hillary campaign and the Kerry and Gore campaigns.

The Dayton speech on education had fine policy, but was the first really deadly dull Obama speech I've heard. It started out with lots of numbers. True, but dull. And he is promising more of the same policy wonk speeches. He's right that we are facing serious realities, and he's right to say what he intends to do, but the old inspiring Obama just isn't there. And the surrogates -- Biden and Hillary -- are policy-wonking it too.

I hope I'm wrong. Given my great respect for those who ran the nomination campaign so well, I wonder if I should say anything at all. But, as I predicted, Palin has turned out to be effective and the Obama campaign has not been effective in dealing with her. I've been getting loads of email asking me to say something to the campaign. So with some hesitation and a great deal of respect, I will simply point out what I see.

Four years ago I wrote a book called, Don't Think of an Elephant! The title made a basic point: Negating a frame activates that frame. If you activate the other side's frame, you just help the other side, as Nixon found out when he said, "I am not a crook," which made people think of him as a crook.

Read the whole essay:

http://www.alternet.org/election08/98453/

George Lakoff is the author of Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate' (Chelsea Green). He is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley and a Senior Fellow of the Rockridge Institute.

My comments at NYTimes Opinionator blog:

"No Quiet During the Storm"

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/no-quiet-during-the-storm/

Thanks to commenter, Jenny (comment #16), which I repeat for emphasis:

Why is there absolutely no coverage in the Times about the unlawful, violent arrests of journalists covering the RNC protests?

Or the SWAT team-like, pre-emptive raids on lawful protesters and journalists over the weekend? This is a HUGE civil liberties story.

Here’s a link: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

Yes, why IS there no coverage???

Amy Goodman, an accredited and widely respected progressive voice from Democracy Now, was arrested with two of her crew while trying to cover this travesty.

http://freepress.net/

Sign petition here: Take action at: https://secure.freepress.net/site/Advocacy?id=281

We have become Iran, China, Russia. If the same thing were happening in Bejing, Moscow or Teheran, the main stream media, our great "Fourth Estate" would be shouting from the mountaintops about the denial of basic human rights.

Our "Fourth Estate" has largely abdicated its former honor in favor of the slinking mien of the lackey of the "Ministry of Information"...

"No Quiet during the Storm" -- a misleading headline if there ever was one.

I assumed that here finally the Times would report on the neo-fascist police action taking place in St Paul.

PREEMPTIVE ARRESTS of amateur videographers? Professional Journalists???

What country am I in???? This is an insult to all Americans, a vile insult to the Constitution, and a massive dereliction of duty on behalf of both the "Fourth Estate" and the Constitutional Officers, whether Fed, State or City who are allowing this police action.

High School Politics at the Highest Level...

Oh, and by the way, Sarah Palin's drama queen entrance is having exactly the effect planned. Firstly, to foment delirious outrage amongst liberals, progressives and anyone who's actually paying attention. That creates a perfect backdrop to distract and deceive...

As Bob Herbert notes in his excellent column today:

Palin is the latest G.O.P. distraction. She’s meant to shift attention away from the real issue of this campaign — the awful state of the nation after eight years of Republican rule. The Republicans are brilliant at distractions. Willie Horton was a distraction. The chatter about gays, guns and God has been a long-running distraction. And we all remember the Swift-boat campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/opinion/02herbert.html?em

Palin is not an attempt to gain PUMA Hillary voters, but an extremely calculated and targeted bait for the evangelical 'influencers' who would have sat this one out, because they are disgusted with both Bush and John McCain (McSame).

Please see George Lakoff's sharp and clear analysis here:

Lakoff: Palin Appeals to Voter Emotions -- Dems Beware http://www.alternet.org/election08/97193

The initial Democratic response to Palin indicates that many Democrats have not learned the lessons of the Reagan and Bush years.

Fortunately, I think the Democrat who does matter, Barack Obama, DOES get it.

So, onward. It's going to be a great season...

I'm optimistic that the Repuglicants will swing wildly and never connect. May Gustav be their prophet.

Go Cubs! gObama!

Join Parlortricks! http://www.eiotx.net/mailman/listinfo/parlortricks *****************************************************************************

Peter Fraterdeus Exquisite Letterpress http://slowprint.com

New! SlowPrint Newsletter! Signup: http://tinyurl.com/slowprint Current: http://slowprint.com/slowprintnl

Please take four minutes NOW to help preserve the People's Freedom from Government Surveillance. The House is voting this afternoon on the FISA Reauthorization "compromise".

While I'm a political moderate, at least in terms of what I think is possible, given the history of human self-government, I am absolutely disgusted with the current capitulation being engineered by the Congressional leadership on the issue of the (p)Resident's illegal wiretapping, and the illegal collusion of the giant Telecoms allowing this to take place.

I highly urge every Parlortricks reader (and every concerned citizen!) to have a look at the urgent update from Moveon.org (below), and CALL Senator Obama's office and tell him to stiffen his resolve against such a deal. (Last October he said he would support a filibuster against it)

Senator Barack Obama
Phone: 202-224-2854

Senators Feingold and Leahy are as outraged as I am about this, and I think our Nominee must come down on this question with a very strong statement that it is NOT time to turn our backs on the Constitution.

The ACLU, EFF, and many other groups have been working for months to defeat this, only to have the Democratic "leadership" -- in particular Rep. Steny Hoyer (see Greenwald article reference in MoveOn footnotes below)-- undermine ongoing efforts to define and determine culpability in the question of ILLEGAL SURVEILLANCE of Americans, and the COLLUSION of the major telecoms in this matter.

While I am a strong supporter of Obama's candidacy, it would be a serious undermining of his credibility on civil rights and constitutional issues were he not to reject this "Telecom Immunity"

I highly recommend Glenn Greenwald's series of posts at Salon.com (See MoveOn footnotes below)
Greenwald has been reporting on this issue for many months now, including the numerous times it was thought that public pressure had killed the threat.

However, we see now that just like Count Dracula, these things can arise from the dead unless there's a very dramatic stake put through its heart.

It's time to kill the FISA Capitulation Bill once and for all.

NOTE: Please CALL YOUR SENATORS AS WELL AS OBAMA.
While the House may have already voted, the Senate is the final barrier to this bad law.

Tell Obama (and your other own Senators if you're not from Illinois) that there is noever a good time to turn your back on the Constitution.

Thanks for caring.

Peter

PS, you may very well get voice-mail at Obama's number. I did when I called a few minutes ago.

Just leave a short message, saying you are a supporter of his candidacy, and a constituant (if you are in Illinois), and that you are outraged by the potential Democratic capitulation regarding Telecom Immunity in the FISA reauthorization.



Today's MoveOn.org statement is here:
Yesterday, some congressional Democrats cut a deal to let companies that helped President Bush break the law off the hook. Barack Obama's promised to oppose such a bill in the past. Can you tell him we're counting on him to stand strong against "immunity" for lawbreaking phone companies?

Senator Barack Obama
Phone: 202-224-2854


Dear MoveOn member,
Yesterday it was announced that some congressional Democrats cut a deal with President Bush to give a get-out-of-jail-free card to phone companies that helped Bush illegally spy on innocent Americans.1 Senator Russ Feingold says the "deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation."2

Barack Obama took a bold stance on this issue last year, vowing to "support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."3 We need him to announce that he'll continue this strong position when the bad "deal" is voted on in the Senate.

Can you call Senator Obama today and tell him you're counting on him to keep his word and stand strong against immunity for lawbreaking phone companies?

Senator Barack Obama
Phone: 202-224-2854

Please help us track our progress by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSIL_2&cp_id=759

These companies helped the Bush Administration illegally spy on the emails and phone calls of innocent Americans. By giving "immunity" to these companies, all lawsuits brought against them by civil liberties groups would be thrown out of court. That means we may never find out how far Bush went in breaking the law. And once it's done, it can't be undone.

Supporters of today's deal say it doesn't guarantee immunity—it just kicks the issue to a court to decide. But that's deceptive. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) points out:

"It gives [Bush's] attorney general the power to decide if cases against telecommunications companies will proceed. The AG only has to certify to the FISA court that the company didn't spy or did so with a permission slip from the president. A note from the president is not a legal defense. Allowing phone companies to avoid litigation by simply presenting a 'permission slip' from the president is not court review."4 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group working with the ACLU to hold these companies accountable, adds, "whatever gloss might be put on it, the so-called 'compromise' on immunity for phone companies that broke the law is anything but a compromise...no matter how they spin it, this is still immunity, period."5
President Bush and the phone companies know that the facts are against them. A judge appointed by President Bush's father already wrote one opinion finding that "AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal."6

But we'll never know how far their illegal actions went unless we fight back now. Can you tell Barack Obama you're counting on him to keep his word and stand strong against immunity for lawbreaking phone companies?

Senator Barack Obama
Phone: 202-224-2854

Please help us track our progress by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSIL_2&cp_id=759

Thanks for all you do,

–Nita, Adam G., Patrick, Ilyse, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
  Friday, June 20th, 2008

Sources:

1. "George Bush's latest powers, courtesy of the Democratic Congress," Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com, June 19, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3820&id=12919-1021210-C9I7Bbx&t=5

2. "Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On the FISA Deal," Statement of Senator Russ Feingold, June 19, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3822&id=12919-1021210-C9I7Bbx&t=6

3. "Obama Camp Says It: He'll Support Filibuster Of Any Bill Containing Telecom Immunity," Greg Sargent at TPM Election Central, October 24, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3828&id=12919-1021210-C9I7Bbx&t=7

4. "Facts on the Senator Kit Bond's (R-Mo.) FISA Proposal," June 13, 2008 http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spying/35652res20080613.html

5. "Prepared Statement of Eff Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston on Immunity 'Compromise,'" Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 18, 2008
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/EFF_bankston.pdf

6. "Targeting Steny Hoyer for his contempt for the rule of law," Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com, June 17, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3821&id=12919-1021210-C9I7Bbx&t=8

Peter Fraterdeus
Exquisite Letterpress
http://slowprint.com

Strange how Eros moves us,

in paths bright and dark,

from ecstasy to despair.

At once soaring,

    wings lifting, graceful effort

    among the winds

And then, once again,

    folded under to plummet,

    as only a heart can fall,

    towards a frightening yet

    familar gloom.

In the atmosphere of desire

fly the raptors of love

sharpened talon and eye seeking

the vulnerable and careless heart.

Yet how often has this hungry hunter

become the prey, in turn, as the

surface of the mirror dissolves

and opens onto a different sky.

Obama's Campaign: An Emotional Escape Hatch from the Bush Era

Barbara Ehrenreich, Barbaraehrenreich.com http://www.alternet.org/election08/77193/

and

Is a Liberal Renaissance in the Making?

By David Michael Green, AlterNet http://www.alternet.org/election08/77271/

--

As a young Cubs fan in 1969, I learned the hard way about leaning too hard into ones hopes and wishes.

Progressives are notoriously hard to placate, and even if Obama were to gain the White House, his time will be spent picking the incredible burden of ten thousand nits from the left along with the typical constant barrage of bullshit from the right.

Let's not burden our good fellow human with the curse of great expectations, but agree to first consider what we... I ... am willing to do to lighten his load when the time comes for leadership. When each and every citizen accepts the responsibility to lead by example and to help those in need, and to share the gifts of mind and nature for the greater good, we will deserve the boon of the finest leader the generation has to offer.

My darkest fear is that Obama will be too good for the country, the promise he offers becomes a sacrificial offering to the demons of selfishness.

On the flip side of all the optimism, I fear deeply for him and his family, including his Kenyan grandmother...

--

I find much of the commentary online to be miserably depressing. There are millions of people shooting from the hip, writing for the sheer idiocy of it.

In addition, while the supposed Hillary supporters bitch constantly about Obama, and how "the Obama groupies" are bad-mouthing Hillary, I have yet to find anywhere that this is actually happening.

I am extremely suspicious of anyone who posts ugly defamatory language about either Obama or Hillary. As a looong time internet user (since like 1984) it seems very likely to me that much of the vitriol is coming from 'agents provocateur' who are deliberately setting fires to start a flame war.

These people may very well be right-wing hacks deliberately fomenting antagonism in the Democratic camps.

The real struggle is not between East and West, or capitalism and communism, but between education and propaganda. Education means teaaching people to see the reality around them, to undersand it for themselves. Propaganda is exactly the opposite. It tells the people, "You will think like this, as we want you to think!"

Education lifts the people up. It opens their hearts and develops their minds so that they can discover the truth and make it their own. Propaganda, on the other hand, closes their hearts and stunts their minds. It compels them to accept dogmas without asking themselves, "Is this true or not?"

The trouble is that this is not only a conflict of ideology. It is a conflict of tempo. The tempo of propaganda is feverish, nervous. It is the pace of television and radio. It is the pace of the newspaper headline, the cry of the vendor in the street. Whereas education goes at a slow pace. It is the pace of teachers talking with their students. It is the pace of a man reading by himself in a room. It cannot be hurried or speeded up and remain education."

This is my comment to this blog post: http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/men-and-women-different-but-equal-whats-the-problem

Culture, of course, is a product of the interaction of humans of all genders and all levels of intellectual capacity. It is also the social expression, at the most fundamental level, of primate behaviors which underlay 90% or more (has it been measured?) of human behavior.

It occurs, if one gains some distance from the idea of the implicit supremacy of the human animal, that male or female, humans operate pretty much just like other organisms, that is, they tend toward self-preservation, reproduction, and pecking order, in roughly that sequence.

Interestingly, the ancient Hindu thinkers describe exactly this, as these represent the first three "chakras" which are, in essence, those domains into which we channel our energies.

Of course, the next (fourth) chakra represents the network, the idea that what's good for the whole is good for me. This idea of transcendence, which is embodied in empathy and compassion-- the altruistic impulse-- also has biological roots, but in fact, can not be enjoyed without a certain loosening of the demands of the first, most primitive, and most divisive, focii.

Men and women, different? Not very much, in my view. Overly aggressive men are in large part a biological response to selection by women over tens of thousands of years.

Fortunately, men are beginning, at least in the West, to respond in kind to lower demands for physical strength, and more verbal skills. (Unfortunately, our worst are still as bad as ever)...

Give us a few generations, we're slow learners

:-)

From http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0881991.html:
""" """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ [quote]
The Nine Muses
The Nine Muses were Greek goddesses who ruled over the arts and sciences and offered inspiration in those subjects. They were the daughters of Zeus, lord of all gods, and Mnemosyne, who represented memory. Memory was important for the Muses because in ancient times, when there were no books, poets had to carry their work in their memories.


Calliope was the muse of epic poetry.
Clio was the muse of history.
Erato was the muse of love poetry.
Euterpe was the muse of music.
Melpomene was the muse of tragedy.
Polyhymnia was the muse of sacred poetry.
Terpsichore was the muse of dance.
Thalia was the muse of comedy.
Urania was the muse of astronomy.

""" """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ [end of quote ]

Which brings to mind the words spoken to the Thrice Great Hermes (or Thoth to the Egyptians).
A comment about the effect of a new tool on knowledge, from the first chapter of my unpublished book on Typography for the Web (1997)

"This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the
learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they
will trust to the external written characters and not remember of
themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not
to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not
truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of
many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be
omniscient and will generally know nothing;"

--- Thamus speaking to Thoth, "Phaedrus", Socrates
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thoth was the Egyptian god of writing, and Thamus's complaint concerns the
invention of writing. Obviously, the world would now go to Hades in a
handbasket, and just as obviously, Socrates was right.

Although, as my very living has depended for decades on these very symbols, I can't say I regret the invention of writing ;-)

and on another track, this from AEsop, regarding my feelings about tolerance for the intolerant.

""" """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """
The Farmer and the Snake

ONE WINTER a Farmer found a Snake stiff and frozen with cold. He had compassion on it, and taking it up, placed it in his bosom. The Snake was quickly revived by the warmth, and resuming its natural instincts, bit its benefactor, inflicting on him a mortal wound. "Oh," cried the Farmer with his last breath, "I am rightly served for pitying a scoundrel."

The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.

""" """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """ """

Or,

No good deed goes unpunished!

In good part, progressive humanists have seen our world view undercut by the ignorant ravings of flat-earth 'intelligent design' free-market enterprise-zone schemers exactly because we have allowed their self-serving cynical fascist framing of the common enterprise to go essentially unchallenged in the public sphere.

I for one am absolutely fed-up with the bullshit* passing as 'ideas' from the so-called right wing.

There is no legitimate philosophy which allows the selfish, the corrupt, the deranged and the evil full and free access to the public purse, and gives them overwhelming means, under the color of 'legitimate authority', of fatally striking any who oppose their schemes.


* as defined in "On Bullshit " by Harry G. Frankfurt, bullshit is distinct from the mere lie, as the liar has at least enough respect for the truth to attempt to deny it, while the bullshitter will say whatever it takes to gain their desired result. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit

(Times Select required to read the original,unfortunately)

http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=50

The fact that the monothestic religions all purport to address 'doubt' (not atheism) in their dogma is not an argument which supports the treatise proposed (or implied) by Prof. Fish, which seems to be that atheism discounts the possible validity of religious writing by not crediting it with its own internal discussion. Perhaps a better analogy is that of the neurotic or schizoid personality who has to constantly argue with himself over whether to believe the voices in his head.

Man, if anything, is the only creature who assigns himself such self-importance in the universe so as to presume the ability to debate original causes.

Pure observation, as Lucretius wrote and Epicurus taught, dissolves the need or the desire for a single Author. The scientific method of reason and observation, although weakened by the often excessive egos of its apologists, is nonetheless that through which the most true expression of original cause may be eventually discerned.

All the rest is comfort against mortality... Pleasant enough, but fairy tales nonetheless. When these are magnified through the manipulations of alpha-male primate behavioral patterns into "Divine Writ", upon which all manner of evil may proceed unimpeded by love or reason -- THAT is the original sin.

http://www.fraterdeus.com/qmlqblog/archive/2007/05/12/a-short-visit-to-galway

A two hour train ride this noon down to Galway to see some water, then back to Tullamore on the 6:05

In four hours I met three memorable characters... the youngest perhaps about 60, by the name of Peter Mackew. I met him sitting along the quays drinking Guinness with his friend Santy, who is called Santy on account of his enormous white beard and mane....

They sat a ways up Mill Street looking over the old millstreams, where the flow of the River Corrib is divided with lichened granite, hewn stone walls covered with tiny flowers, ducks paddling, and the roar of the old spillway. I said, must be a good view from here, and sat down with them.

Peter said, with a wave of his hand, "Here's my garden... it is lovely isn't it" Santy sort of mumbled something... I learned that he doesn't speak at all, after a stroke, but nonetheless very communicative, offering observations (mummo mumo) with hand movements referring to the ducks, the rain, the people walking by.

After a while I pulled out the whistle and played a little something, a cappella (so to speak), not really a tune, but just how I like to play in such a scene... Santy applauded, Peter says "good man"... and Santy, being Santy, of course, gave me a gift...

A lovely white marble pebble the size of a fig from Galway Bay, I presume. Worn and warmed for who knows how long in his rucksack. They noted that having sat on the rain wet ground, I would also be carrying some Galway mud back to Tullamore.

--You'll be needing to get back to the station, we're walking that way. Santy saw some friends across the way, Peter said, he'll catch up, he knows where I'm going...

We walked up to the far end of Eyre Square in front of the station, to Richardson's Pub [1] where it was indeed my honor to buy a round for my street wise friend. Peter and I sat for an hour talking about the state of the world... and how it got this way. After a long chat, we parted ways with an exchange of addresses, and I wandered toward the station.

With fifty minutes before the train, I had time for another Guinness, and turned the corner north of the station to see what options appeared. Murtagh Rabbitt's seemed a good spot to step out of what had become a steady soaking rain. Moments later I was talking to (or trying to understand the very softly spoken strongly Irish English of) an elderly fellow who looked at my beret and my fiddle case, and said, so you are against the nukes, eh? I display the traditional peace symbol on both, and of course, that "chicken foot" is originally the sign of the nuclear disarmament movement.

Eventually we talked about bees* (they are in the air, appropriately, Peter and I having covered this topic earlier), and oh, many topics, indeed. I, in turn, then had a pint of stout thanks to this old railway man, who worked for years on the London Underground. The bartender was French, young and beautiful, with her raspberry-fringed hair and strategically placed mole (how is it?). She reminded me that I've never seen Notre Dame. I've seen San Marco in Venice and the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, Notre Dame should be 'de rigeur'...

At five to six, your man and myself head for the platform, about four minutes away, only to find a long queue of day tourists waiting to get past the collectors. No panic... Made our way through the line, and onto the train, into the seats and within thirty seconds we're on our way...

P.J. (Patrick Joseph ) alighted in Athenry, with a sparkle in his eye...

*Bees, the wingéd one. Not a typo about beers.

[] http://www.galway.net/galwayguide/showyp.shtml?id=696 [2] http://www.athenry.net/history.html

You can continue to get Parlortricks, my occasional email publication... or manage your subscription, or even, if necessary, unsubscribe Sign up here http://www.eiotx.net/mailman/listinfo/parlortricks

Feel free to pass this along if you think it would interest a friend!

AzByCx DwEvFu GtHsIr JqKpLo MnNmOl PkQjRi ShTgUf VeWdXc YbZa&@ -:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:-*

Peter Fraterdeus http://www.fraterdeus.com http://www.galenaphotos.com Galena, Illinois http://www.alphabets.com

Photography Irish Fiddle Political Observation Philosophy Fonts Lettering

Welcome to the first Parlortricks of 2007!

We pause to acknowledge the 3000 American service members killed in Iraq, ringing the toll at the end of a bloody year. And the six hundred thousand Iraqis killed one way or the other, and the death of the tyrant, conveniently no longer around to be asked embarrassing questions about his buddies in high places in the US government.

In response, we are hearing about a "surge" of additional troops to be sent to Baghdad. In a ploy with Rovian fingerprints all over it, the White House began planting "surge" stories in the national media with barely a pause to acknowledge the Fall of the Rummy after the Thumpin' (a reporter at the White House asked Bush, is that thumpin' without a 'g', or thumping with a 'g'?) in November.

It's a textbook case of media manipulation and contextual framing, using the innocuous word "surge" which has all kinds of positive connotations. Metaphor is the mechanism with which we understand the symbolic world around us. "Surge" is a metaphor which brings to mind images such as "cleansing", "oceanic", "powerful", "electric", "instantaneous", "momentary", and so forth. How convenient to be able to describe a major ESCALATION of a disastrous war as a "temporary, powerful, cleansing of the inSURGEnts" which will give the Iraqi 'government' the instant control over their streets, water and electricity which has thus far eluded them.

Will this ESCALATION be momentary? Cleansing? Instantaneous? Not at all. But in the world of metaphor, the ten second sound bite can utilize our fractional attention spans to plant a fuzzy feel-good image of a Clean, Sparkling, Effective, Powerful Spark which will vaporize the inconvenient truths that we, and the world, confront in Iraq.

Fortunately, there are powerful voices coming back to deny this image its power and to throw off the wizard's cloaking and show the 'magic' for what it is.

Barak Obama called this 'the McCain Strategy' -- a good pre-emptive strike against the supposed front-runner on the reborn right-wing side of the Repub party.

If the Democrats and progressives can continue to quickly recognize and destroy the Rovian wolf-in-sheep metaphors, the public will help keep the media honest. But it takes constant vigilance to preserve the language, and protect our sacred honor.

/.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:.

OK, so NASA under the Bush regime is a cover for space wars, and money wasted on sending a guy to Mars (Why? so we can open opportunities for WalMart?)

But this is a great piece of astro-photography, from a master of the genre.

http://www.astrophoto.fr/iss_atlantis_transit.html Yummy telescope ;-)

/.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:./.:.

Please ask your friends to subscribe to parlortricks! http://www.eiotx.net/mailman/listinfo/parlortricks Feel free to forward this email far and wide ;-)

In fact, if you rreeaallyy enjoy Parlortricks, you can donate something to keep the servers running! http://www.fraterdeus.com/eiotxsubscribe click on "PayPal Donate"

parlortricks is a service mark of semiotx, inc. Copyright ©2007 - semiotx, inc. - all rights reserved