Listen
Think our leaders are listening? Think they’re actually interested in stopping to engage?
Fear
Be afraid, Americans, be very afraid. It’s all about fear. We are on our own.
Alternatives
Ron Paul is the only U.S. presidential candidate talking about alternatives in health care. Shouldn’t people have some say about the treatments to which they are subjected? Seems reasonable.
Drinking Sugar
Don’t eat refined sugar. It’s poison. Instead, drink it raw right out of the cane.
Focusing or Multitasking?
Focus. Step by step. Master each task. Do not multitask. Just watch the Shaolin monks in China training (here, here, here) for a jarring lesson in focusing. I can’t find a better example anywhere. Or go on being distracted and flitting from thing to thing while mastering nothing.
Empty Garage
Life after the car. Well, you may as well use the garage and front lawn, right? No sense wasting space.
Selective Outrage
It was interesting watching the Internet light up against SOPA/PIPA. I see even the mainstream media noticed. If this activism influences legislators and the American president to do the right thing (for the people, I mean) that would certainly be a good thing. Internet freedom is important because it’s a free speech issue and that touches everyone. However, by comparison, I can’t help but wonder about the relative silence when President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act a few weeks ago. The reaction to that little gig sounded like a field full of crickets chirping away across the Internet. What gives? Oh, well. I suppose if Americans aren’t outraged by an American president killing American citizens without due process, then why worry about something as innocuous as a little “indefinite detention” tucked away in the NDAA, right? As long as I can get net access in my cell I’m ok, eh? Rock on.
Free
“Americans often proclaim our nation as a symbol of freedom to the world while dismissing nations such as Cuba and China as categorically unfree. Yet, objectively, we may be only half right. Those countries do lack basic individual rights such as due process, placing them outside any reasonable definition of “free,” but the United States now has much more in common with such regimes than anyone may like to admit.” — Jonathan Turley, Washington Post
Better Art Through Technology?
Here’s an excellent documentary on how technology liberates talent — PressPausePlay. Technology has enabled everyone (well, not everyone, but more than just the elite) to express themselves and create and distribute their content globally. But are there any down sides to this trend? Will art suffer as a result of these new easy-to-use development tools where anyone can be an artist? Some interesting opinions are articulated here. I tend to agree with the liberation of talent part of this issue on an individual level. The more art the better. But on a macro level I’m more concerned about the use of technology to constrain civil liberties and invade privacy. That’s not addressed in the film, but to me it’s the elephant in the room of any tech discussion these days. And I couldn’t get past it here. But as far as it goes, PressPausePlay is a very good view.
Open, Closed
It’s always a challenge keeping things open …
Dangerous
Fascinating that Ron Paul is considered “dangerous” out there. Dangerous to who?
On Time
Rain, sleet, or snow …
Summer or Winter
January or July? Which do you prefer?
2012: Diving into the Dark
Here’s James Howard Kunstler’s take on 2012 and beyond: 2012 Forecast: Bang and Whimper. Warning: It’s all pretty dark. In fact I’m not sure who is worse, Kunstler or the Mayans. Kunstler publishes a weekly podcast as well, so you can pick a regular pile of gloom right on your phone to distract yourself on those long train rides home. I listen all the time. He’s very informative and entertaining, and his stuff rarely makes it into mainstream commentary. Basically, Kunstler talks about how industrial society is collapsing and how we’ll all live in the (near) future. Oh, well, I’ve been complaining about how complex life is getting and I’ve been feeling the need to live a more simple and mindful life Kunstler’s advice/prediction for Japan’s move to a pre-industrial state seems timely give where I live). Be careful what you wish for.
Here or There
Are you here? Or there? The biggest problem I have with my phone is that it takes me away from here and transports me over there. It’s rude when you’re physically with people in a space, but even while alone I find when I’m poking around on the phone I completely miss what’s going on right around me.
Rush
Why do people in cities rush all the time? Train stations in Tokyo are utterly frantic places. It’s difficult to walk slowly and mindfully among the cortisol-soaked masses buzzing by in every direction. But why? Out in the country among the trees no one worries about saving two minutes – literally — by diving on to that express train. Why the hurry? Are we that inefficient that we can’t take it easy getting from place to place?
Eat
If you had to, could you feed yourself? Or are you dependent on credit cards and supermarkets?
