Headed to... ?

Just watched this video from RT that I found on Gerald Celente's blog. The interview is with Paul Craig Roberts and he discusses the process of America becoming a third world country. We are headed this direction fast, and as he sees it, we are already pretty much there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIisOdwAIho&feature=player_embedded

I watched another video (3 parts) today from Max Keiser's show, On the Edge, consisting of an interview with David DeGraw. A similar message to the video above, he discusses the overall degradation of economies and societies on a global scale. He points out the unsustainable nature of every aspect of growth in the human species and societal structures.

http://maxkeiser.com/2010/10/10/ote76-on-the-edge-with-david-degraw/

Finally, I watched the October 8th episode of Democracy Now, The War and Peace Report. Overall, some interesting stories, but particularly interesting was the segment on the foreclosures and frauds committed by banks, forcing many people out of their homes. Luckily, Obama vetoed the bill that would have allowed for continued fraud with the mortgages and foreclosures. The Ohio Secretary of State speaks passionately and convincingly on the issue.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/8/ohio_secretary_of_state_jennifer_brunner

A further story in the episode shows previous Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu giving a speech discussing the importance of global warming awareness and action. He seems like a truly wonderful and genuine man!

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/8/nobel_peace_prize_winner_archbishop_desmond

Meditative creation

I have the urge to write about all the aspects of what I might term, my extensive doodling hobby, that I greatly enjoy. I occasionally doodled throughout my life, but the hobby took up new importance after graduating from college. Being constantly bogged down with never-ending work can really limit your activities. It did so for me, because every activity that was not part of the “work load” only made me feel guilty of wasting time, so those extracurricular interests were hard for me to develop in myself. This is just one aspect of being finished with school (for now) that I am greatly appreciating at this time. It's freeing to be able to develop new and different aspects of myself, abilities and interests.

I began my extensive doodling career with just a pen or pencil on paper. My artistic ambitions grow through phases of different mediums, techniques, and/or styles. From my pen/pencil art, I began to experiment more with colored pencils on paper. Then, I moved to markers, sharpies to be specific. I began experimenting with paints, acrylic and tempera. Initially, I started painting cardboard boxes, figuring that these kinds of things could only be improved. I have since taken to the tendency of painting... well, everything. I paint boxes, clocks, tables, sticks, shelves, chairs, jugs, cups, really anything I can get my hands on. If I ever own a house, I can guarantee that with enough time, the entire house will be covered, inside and out.

I have also gone through phases of painting with fabric paint on clothing. And I enjoy creating other things like earrings, outdoor structures and delicious, creative foods. The process of creation is an essential part of my life. It is an outlet that provides something to me.

I am currently working on one of my largest, and so far my favorite painting yet (among other projects). It's just a large board I found in the trash. Each stroke brings a new element to consider. The intent behind each stroke varies. Sometimes, I visualize clearly my next move, other times I go onwards with only a vague idea of what my hand is about to do. I spend a lot of time looking at my work. It's a fascinating process that has no backwards and forwards. It is only in the present. There is no error. Every “error” becomes part of the new picture. It may take me away from my first image of what was to be, but this never distresses me. It only enhances. It is part of the essential process.

Creation brings me to the present. I cannot conceive of the end to anything I am making. I look only at what is and usually think only as far as my next immediate move. Sometimes I do sit for a while, looking and imagining further possibilities in the drawing or painting, where I want to go with it. But as I work and create each new stroke, the picture itself changes and is therefore never predictable. Something about this unplanned, unpredictable, organic-feeling process is extremely calming and centering. I believe it is a meditative process. Creating almost always has the power to erase negative thoughts or cyclical thinking patterns I may be experiencing. As I said, it is in the present and brings me to the present. I honestly believe that my experiences with “extensive doodling” have given a new depth to my life and changed me in a very positive way.

Campaign for real milk

Over the weekend I went to Indy to visit an event hosted by the Indiana State Museum called the "Hoosier Harvest," where different farms and various food and health related groups from Indiana set up stands with their products and projects. I went specifically because Fields of Agape, where I've started volunteering (well, sort of, but I am paid with plenty of food!), was setting up a stand there. It ended up being really fantastic actually! But, what I really intended to write about here was this group starting a campaign for real milk. Here's there link to the real milk campaign:

http://www.realmilk.com

Another campaign they were advocating can be viewed here:

http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/

Real milk comes from cows who are fed their actual diet of "green grass in spring, summer and fall; stored dry hay, silage and root vegetables in winter." It is raw milk, which means not processed in any way- not pasteurized, homogenized or de-fatted. I will just highlight a few particularly important, interesting and/or possibly very surprising quotes here that you can read more about on the website:

"Vital nutrients like vitamins A, D and K2 are greatest in milk from cows eating green grass, especially rapidly growing green grass in the spring and fall. Vitamins A and D are greatly diminished, and vitamin K2 disappears when milk cows are few commercial feed. Soy meal has the wrong protein profile for the dairy cow, resulting in a short burst of high milk production followed by premature death. Most milk (even most milk labeled "organic") comes from dairy cows that are kept in confinement their entire lives and never see green grass!"

"Worse, consumers have been duped into believing that low-fat and skim milk products are good for them. Only by marketing low-fat and skim milk as health foods can the modern dairy industry get rid of its excess poor-quality, low-fat milk from modern high-production herds. Butterfat contains vitamins A and D needed for assimilation of calcium and protein in the water fraction of the milk. Without them protein and calcium are more difficult to utilize and possibly toxic. Butterfat is rich in short- and medium-chain fatty acids which protect against disease and stimulate the immune system."

"Galen, Hippocrates, Pliny, Varro, Marcellus, Empiricus, Bacchis and Anthimus, leading physicians of their day, all used raw milk in the treatment of disease. During the 1920s, Dr. J. E. Crewe of the Mayo Foundation used a diet of raw milk to cure TB, edema, heart failure, high blood pressure, prostate disease, urinary tract infections, diabetes, kidney disease, chronic fatigue and obesity. Today, in Germany, successful raw milk therapy is provided in many hospitals.

"Studies show that children fed raw milk have more resistance to TB than children fed pasteurized milk (Lancet, p 1142, 5/8/37); that raw milk is very effective in preventing scurvy and protecting against flu, diphtheria and pneumonia (Am J Dis Child, Nov 1917); that raw milk prevents tooth decay, even in children who eat a lot of sugar (Lancet, p 1142, 5/8/37); that raw milk is better than pasteurized milk in promoting growth and calcium absorption (Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 518, p 8, 1/33); that a substance present in raw cream (but not in pasteurized cream) prevents joint stiffness and the pain of arthritis (Annual Review of Biochemistry, 18:435, 1944); and that children who drink raw milk have fewer allergic skin problems and far less asthma than children who drink pasteurized milk (Lancet 2001 358 (9288):1129-33)."

These are merely three of many pertinent and informative quotes to be found on this website. There are TONS of links on the site to outside articles, scientific studies, safety analysis, health effects, political and legal issues, historical context, media involvement and coverage, books, blogs, videos, journals, newsletters and on and on. I've been somewhat familiar with the raw milk benefits and surrounding legal issues, but this presents some amazing information that isn't easily accessible to us, the consumers. Read on and spread the word!!

Living in revolutionary times

Ah! Ron Paul is amazing!! He is spot on, everything in this interview with him.

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/10/02/wall-street-journal-warns-america-brink-revolution-6218/

Who's really behind the disruptions?

A news report from RT positing the possible involvement of the CIA in the failed coup attempt upon Ecuadorian president Correa. For those who haven't heard, the president was kidnapped by police in Quito, Ecuador and held hostage in a hospital until the military came in and rescued him amidst much gunfire. It's reported that the police did this in protest to Correa's plan to cut promotions and wage raises. They discuss the role of the CIA in planning these types of disruptive events in countries with leaders coming to power who do not follow the United State's desires related to things such as trade policies or general American approval, support and compliance. They also discuss in here the reasons for the lack of coverage in America of this event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuWpgRQuXU4

More links and some movies

Yesterday I watched a 45 minute documentary about the global financial crisis. It gives a good overview of how we got into this situation- a recipe for the greatest depression yet- for anyone interested in an introduction to these topics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ECi6WJpbzE&feature=player_embedded#!

On that note, the following is a link to 3 posts about hyperinflation from a very good blog. I'm not going to say much about it yet, because I need to reread it. It is full of information, but difficult for me to follow at times, hence needing to reread it. If you take the time to digest this, I'm sure it will fill your mind with constructive and important thoughts.

http://fofoa.blogspot.com/2010/09/just-another-hyperinflation-post.html
http://fofoa.blogspot.com/2010/09/just-another-hyperinflation-post-part-2.html
http://fofoa.blogspot.com/2010/09/just-another-hyperinflation-post-part-3.html

Aside from this, I recently watched a movie called Fire, set in India, directed by Deepa Metha. A couple years ago I watched her film, Water, which was also deeply moving. Both films deal with taboo issues in India and people who remain forced into the periphery. Water was about how widowed women, or even children, are sent basically to "widow camps" where they are required to remain for the duration of their lives. This affects even children who may have been married off at very young ages. Fire dealt with the cultural intolerance towards lesbianism. Both of the films displayed the pervasive inequalities that women in India endure. She has made another film, Earth, that I hope to see after seeing these two pertinent, thoughtful and highly emotional films.

Surface giving versus life changing

Wendell Berry discusses the inherent flaw of giving money in place of action as a method of doing good in the world. I have come to understand the importance of beginning within the self as opposed to working to smooth over the damage in the external. One method deals with the results, while the other deals with the causes. To create real change, we must work to solve the systemic problems. This involves a much deeper, more complex and extreme change. The act of giving money is an example of attempting to contribute positively to the consequences of a system within the context of the very system that is causing the damage.

"The giving of money has thus become our characteristic virtue. But to give is not to do. The money is given in lieu of action, thought, care, time. And it is no remedy for the fragmentation of character and consciousness that is the consequence of specialization. At the simplest, most practical level, it would be difficult for most of us to give enough in donations to good causes to compensate for, much less remedy, the damage done by the money that is taken from us and used destructively by various agencies of the government and by the corporations that hold us in captive dependence on their products. More important, even if we could give enough to overbalance the official and corporate misuse of our money, we would still not solve the problem: the willingness to be represented by money involves a submission to the modern divisions of character and community. The remedy safeguards the disease.

"This has become, to some extent at least, an argument against institutional solutions. Such solutions necessarily fail to solve the problems to which they are addressed because, by definition, they cannot consider the real causes. The only real, practical, hope-giving way to remedy the fragmentation that is the disease of the modern spirit is a small and humble way- a way that a government or agency or organization or institution will never think of, though a person may think of it: one must begin in one's own life the private solutions that can only in turn become public solutions...

"If a consumer begins to think and act in consideration of his responsibilities, then he vastly increases his capacities as a person. And he begins to be effective in a different way- a way that is smaller perhaps, and certainly less dramatic, but sounder, and able sooner or later to assume the force of example." (Berry, 23, 24)

The perspective presented here is aligned with the Buddhist philosophy. When we are unaware, or disconnected from ourselves, we can only bring harm to the world around us. An untamed mind is like an elephant tromping through a forest and causing destruction without thought (only a metaphor, not an actual criticism of elephants obviously). There are many examples of people in this condition. People with a specific hatred for another way of living are a good and unfortunately common example. Whether they choose to direct their hate based on race, gender, class, sexual orientation, political affiliation, religious beliefs, etc., these people lack a base understanding of themselves and in turn, cause pain in the surrounding world. Turning inwards and leading by example is the only true form of creating change. This path is not limited to the saints and monks. Every individual can achieve this heightened awareness with time, understanding, patience, practice and dedication. The first step is looking beyond the assumptions and restraints placed upon us by society. The assumption of money as necessity is one such externally placed value of this time and place. I am not trying to advocate for a money-less society, but merely considering the possibility will open our minds to other ways of living.

Although it can be intimidating to choose a path diverging from the security of the main road, I hope to not let myself be overrun by this taming to normalcy that occurs on the large scale. I also believe that Americans and global citizens alike, will soon be forced to challenge their old systems of security, when they begin to crumble and expose their hollow, unsustainable, exploitive nature. Unfortunately, we tend to accept what appears to work, without the much needed reflections, until what used to appear to work, eventually fails us.