Officer Powertrip Becomes Humbled

When Ryan Moats tried to get to his dying mother-in-law's side he was treated to a verbal lashing by a bugged out cop. What could be going through officer Powell's mind as he lambasted the NFL player for running the red light and having a bad attitude. Obviously common sense wasn't flowing through his brain because he acted like a fool. It calls to mind the incidents I have had in my days growing up with unreasonable officers who behave as if the job has gotten to their head. This mentality is dangerous and irresponsible but I don't think you can just pin it on one man but have to open the responsibility to a culture of oppression. The law enforcement ethos seems to thrive on this type of behavior.

Once again we are treated to the celebrity buzz as everyone is quick to mention this incident involves a professional athlete. While I commend Ryan Moats for maintaining a cool head through the incident and not allowing it to escalate any further, I also have to think that if he wasn't who he was, would he still get the media attention? Cetainly somthing to think about.

Lets see sense seep into the theater of law enforcement and not this type of inane behavior. And to all the cops that act like human beings I also ask that you become a force to stop this nonsense from your peers because silence equals tacit approval.

Like Zinn said, "You can't be neutral on a moving train."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/033009dnmetinterview.4a6b471.html

Market Ticker First Quarter Wrap-up

I ran through this entry and found it valuable in light of the times. Basically Denninger is saying we need to lower our debt or perish, and that the current policies are not allowing this to happen. We could have helped ourselves last time the economy contracted back a few years ago but instead pumped it up with hot air setting the timer to the present calamity. Now the games being played hold more dire consequences as the balloon has expanded in a way that could pop into quite a nasty little mess. When we were children didn't anyone tell these people not to play with fire. I think it was Denninger who compared the Bureaucrats to arsonists watching their fire and rather than dousing the flames with water have brought in more oil to their infernal party of demise. Of course those are in my words but carry his message. As a matter of fact directly check his report out here:

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/911-Three-Month-Wrap-Up-1Q-2009.html

You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train: Zinn

I just rented the documentary of the title of this entry and was treated immediately to several great quotes from Howard Zinn.

"They say we are disturbing the peace but there is no peace, what we are disturbing is the war."

"If you don't know your history then it is like you were born yesterday."

"I've always resented the smug statement of politicians, media commentators, and corporate executives who talked of how, in America, if you worked hard enough you would become rich. The meaning of that was: If you are poor, you haven't worked hard enough. I knew this was a lie, about my father and millions of others—men and women who worked harder than anyone."

"...if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

Right on!

Be Inspired!

Take a gander at this really cool vid called "Inspired" from Youtube user:

http://www.youtube.com/fckuvrymch


She pulled together snippets of several users videos to create a wonderful snapshot of the societal changes we are facing.




Well its bedtime so I will post this baby and add to the blog in the morning. Enjoy!

FeverIAm Links

FeverIAm as always has left us lots of little breadcrumbs to follow along the yellow brick road and I will give you a quick rundown of what he has provided us.

He begins by linking us to an article in Times Online (UK) about flaws in a database designed to protect children which may actually endanger children by assisting ppeople in locating them through information obtained via the database called ContactPoint:

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article5962974.ece

Our next stop is in reference to the fact that the BBC has announced they will begin monitoring social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo, and Myspace. They claim they need to track down criminal gangs and terorists but the Civil Liberties folks are up in arms. In his recent video FeverIAm (Mike) pointed out what self respecting terrorist would be broadcasting their intentions over these sites. The snoopers claim they don't care about the content of the interactions but rather seeing who is talking to who.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7962631.stm

He then leads us to a website letting out a call to be mindful of videos forwarded by friends via email that lead to dodgey websites which could be set up to profile you as a possible threat to the existing power structure. The technique is called Memeering and the explanation shows how falling into multiple categories which challenge the powers that be could land you in a round-up to get you out of the way before pivotal stages of the developing storm. It reminds me of what we have seen here in the USA centered around the political conventions in the last 5 years.

http://www.urbansurvival.com/week.htm

If you are not scared enough we go next some articles about the battles being waged against terrorism starting with small groups inspired by Al Qaeda trained and possibly living in the UK waiting to levy an attack.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5041633/Anti-terror-strategy-highlights-threat-of-small-terrorist-groups.html

Gordon Brown on the escalating offensive being prepared against terrorism.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/22/gordon-brown-terrorism

Flaws in the counter-terrorism efforts of the UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7961934.stm

Now as I look over the content from his March 25th entry I see it is chock full of links so rather than attempting to briefly describe them all just go here and take a look for yourself

http://feveriam.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/still-here-in-aarhus-enjoy-some-of-the-stuff-im-reading/

I realize that following these links and attempting to get my arms around them can be time consuming and in the passage of time they become less critical as new developments take their place in prominence. Thus I am contemplating ways to keep up with his flurry of information as well as others, my varied interests and finally all of the Economy Crisis data I've been coming across. This entry will do for now until I can better present "Whats going on." It takes a little while to get one's feet planted so to speak.

I realize it may be overkill to be broadcasting the same material which you can get direct from the source but as my insights develop I am sure I can make this venture worth the read. I request that if you have found your way here to stick with me and also to chime in with your thoughts. Remember the game we are playing is our Lives.

Bucky on Specialization

Specialization may be the way we are corralled in our work-a-day lives (nowadays if we are lucky), but it is not our natural way of being. According to Buckminster Fuller in his book, Operating Manual for the Spaceship Earth, specialization causes extinction, and forcing oneself into a form of slavery where you bargain your freedom for a safe position in society. Shame on us if we jump off the deep end and open up our possibilities. These days with so many people out of work I am sure a lot of people are finding the need to de-specialize.

Fuller says look at a healthy child. See the wonder and curiousity. See how that child is far from specialized as they go about exploring and understanding their world. That is the same search for knowledge we stifle as adults in our cubicle and apartment based societies of brick and concrete. We put each other and ourselves in boxes unnecessarily. I am glad I had Bucky's handy little Operating Manual nearby to point that out.

Around the Horn

That is baseball talk for those of you that don't know and it is when they throw the ball around the diamond after a strike out. I have copped the term to indicate my Rundown on the goings on of my favorite analysts of the gloom and doom we are now facing.

TheModernMystic has left us with a video to ponder over the next week while he travels



FeverIam said he has a video processing now but left this ominous message on his blog that he has been warned. He won't go into details but he left clues and they are disconcerting. He takes it as a warning to backup his stuff. Ouch! We all should be backing up our stuff because you certainly can't trust our HOSTS to protect our data.

http://feveriam.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/ive-been-warned/

Take note of the link at the bottom of his entry about the Cardinal of Chicago meeting privately with Obama.

Obama Woos Investors

The eagerly awaited new plan from the US to save the economy and find a way to clear some of the bad assets off the balance sheets of their biggest banks is unveiled today. Wall Street initially reacted positively with the S&P up 7%. This plan is getting a better initial reaction than past plans. The idea is to get private investors in on the game and begin the task of setting prices on these toxic assets. Several of the organizations that would be asked to participate are showing early receptivity as seen by the comments from representatives of Blackrock out of NY, and PIMCO. The plan comes at a tumultuous time when not only is the fundamentals of the economy in dire jeopardy but public sentiment is boiling over regarding the AIG executive bonus fiasco. Now the very same people who the American taxpayer is so livid over for their pocketing of bailout funds are to be wooed into this latest concocted solution with the lure of double digit profits. Is it any wonder why Wall Street is reacting so well to this plan. The new plan looks to line the coffers of the very same people that got us into this tsunami in the first place.

Besides how positive can we be at this point when we see the mishandling in the past. The earlier plan called the Super SIV failed to garner private investment interest back in October of 2007. Then the TARP plan that came out late 2008 also failed. Now as we leave the gate on this one reactions seem to be more upbeat. They have finally made an attractive offer to investors as they court insurance companies, as well as hedge and pension funds. Of course the verdict is not out yet since we are just getting rolling. With so much at stake and so many snags abound it makes one wary of any new grand solutions. Mind you this is all supposed to unclog the economy and get things moving again. Even if it does that we have a lot more hurdles to overcome. In his typical fashion Obama tempered enthusiasm although he assured us we are "moving in the right direction." Wall Street certainly thought so with three firms that stand to benefit from the plan all rising, Blackrock Inc up 18%, Blackstone up 24%, and Fortress Investment Group up 37%.

Lets hope we are because in the wake of public sentiment over AIG and the clamoring in Congress things will have to look really promising if they are going to dole out anymore money if this plan expands. The price tag not unlike the Iraq War seems to keep going up like the debt itself. The other variable is what is the plan to coax the toxic assets from the banks at a severe loss. There are no guarantees the banks will give up their assets. Richard King of Invesco said banks may not "sell securities at below current marks."

It becomes a fools game when the US Government continues to have to go to same people that got us into trouble and ask then to help us. Maybe this is the way the game has to be played but it sure hurts and I have half a mind to think there was a better way. We've handed and continue to hand over the store to the honchos who've raided our cookie jar. What is going to stop them from doing it all over again? The firms that are excited about the plan stand to make some money, the banks can fight another day, and the taxpayers continue to hold on to a shred of hope as the rug keeps getting pulled out from under them. One view that fell from the pack today that I thought was interesting was from Kenneth Windheim of Strategic Fixed Income who said it would be cheaper to nationalize the banks, bring in new management, and sell off the assets. That may be a simplified way of looking at it, and I know Nationalizing banks is a big scary step but in the predicament we are in it sounds like it m ay end up happening anyway even after all of this tinkering.

Link to Reuters Article
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-CreditCrisis/idUSTRE52M6YV20090323

Link to Bloomberg Article

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a6o1E0WQ5jPM&refer=news

Narcissism

In order to unwrap the idea of a Hero, our guide Ernest Becker brings us to the concept of Narcissism. It is funny how we keep finding ourselves back at the Greeks. Freud showed us how we repeat the tragedy of self absorption from antiquity.

Becker quotes Aristotle's definition of luck as when the arrow hits the other guy.

As Becker puts it:

Narcissism is what keeps men marching into point-blank fire in wars

Man's animal nature overrides his ability to help his selfishness. His narcissism becomes inseparable from how he sees himself and develops his sense of worth.


Wikipedia Says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_(psychology)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/narcissism

The Hero's Burden

Becker begins the first Chapter of Denial of Death centering the concept of heroism as a truth that encompasses our main calling on this planet. He sums up the whole creation of social science from Freud to Marx as an expostion on the details of heroism.

According to Webster's Hero is defined as:
1a.)a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability, 1b.) an illustrious warrior 1c.) a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities

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

With our fascination with superheroes and calling firefighters heroes on 9/11 you can see how important this concept is to our human psyche.

Otto Rank's Art and Artist is Beyond Praise

Ernest Becker mentions seeing Frederick Perl's call Otto Rank's Art and Artist "beyond praise', and he couldn't imagine any book dealing with science could be such a thing. He immediately searched it out and read it finding this to be true. He said Rank is "something else" as in he is ouot of this world or some other hip way to describe his genius. He warns us that Rank is hard to read but to experience the full joy you must go direct to the source and Becker only outlines the scope of Rank's system of thought.

From Wikipedia entry on Rank:
In 1974, the cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker won the Pulitzer prize for The Denial of Death (1973), which was based on Rank’s post-Freudian writings, especially Will Therapy (1929-31), Psychology and the Soul (1930) and Art and Artist (1932/1989). The feeling of anxiety, writes Rank in Will Therapy (1929-31), divides into two currents, running in opposite directions: one toward separation and individuation; the other toward union and collectivity.

Myth of the Birth of the Hero (Rank):
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/mbh/index.htm

More Eros, Less Strife

Creating harmony out of the array of views. We don't want to bog ourselves down in arguing or closing in around our beliefs self-righteously but rather search for the unifying thread of truth and logic that permeates throughout all of the fields of human inquiry. So much is staked out in our petty wars and ego plays for no resultant good. Becker sees this basically as the engine propelled by the denial of our fear of death.

According to Norman O. Brown the world needs more eros and less strife.

What is Eros? Becker defined it as "the urge to unification of experience, to form, to greater meaningfulness."

Wikipedia Link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_(love)

More Becker quotes from the Preface of Denial of Death: knowledge is "strewn all over the place, spoken in a thousand competitive voices." "there is no throbbing vital center.", "there has to be revealed the harmony that unites many different positions."

"harmonization of the Babel of views on man and on the human condition, in the belief the time is ripe for a synthesis that covers the best thought in many fields from the human sciences to religion."

"not to oppose and to demolish opposing points of view but to include them into a larger theoretical structure."

"the problem is to find the truth under the exaggeration, excess elaboration, and distortion."

The Synthesis of Ernest Becker

In 25 years of reading through so many different opinions it comes a time to pull together from all of these voices and speak my own. I feel drowned out by the opinions and assertions that bandy about while I am left silence or driving friends and family with my disjointed rants. No longer could I get by with rambling stories about all of the evils, mysteries, and fascinations in the world to be uncovered and examined. I needed to pull together something more cohesive. I needed to create a synthesis of all the pieces and find the patterns. I can get so bogged down by details and repetition that I lose sight of the underlying structure. Of course as I get my footing into the writing element over time my voice will come to the fore. In the meantime I apologize for my shortcomings in expressing my vision as it comes to me along the way.

A synthesis is a combination of parts that form a whole. With this in mind the beginning piece is very crucial and thus must be the cornerstone of the whole work. I push forth the cornerstone of my investigation revolves around creating harmony from the array of elements. In the book, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, the word synthesis is used in 6 of the 12 reviews of the inside cover. They proclaim such things as; psychophilosophical synthesis, a new synthesis, a brilliant passionate synthesis of the human sciences, a desperately needed synthesis of the most important discipline in man's life, creative contribution to a synthesis if this generation's extensive explorations in psychology, a profound synthesis of theological and psychological insights about mans nature. Sounds mouthwatering doesn't it. It makes you want to read the book. The book is quite good and I plan to get into it during the course of things.

The quote at the start of the preface of Denial of Death is from Otto Rank who was a student of Freud and is the primary focus of Becker's book along with the work Of Norman O. Brown. The Otto Rank quotes is as follow:

"for the time being I gave up writing - there is already too much truth in the
world- an over-production which apparently can't be consumed!"

Becker defines his mission as:

"show that the fear of death is a universal that unites data from several
disciplines of the human sciences, makes wonderfully clear and intelligible
human actions that we have buried under mountains of fact, and obscured with
endless back and forth arguments about the "true" human motives.. here in the
end of the 20th century and we are choking on truth"

I venture to say it has only got worse.

Related Links:

Pulitzer Prize Winning Book:

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

Documentary Film about Becker's Work
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_from_death

Synthesis Defined
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=synthesis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesis
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/synthesis

Blog Essay regarding Becker, Rank, and Past Imperfect.
http://peripateticphilosopher.blogspot.com/2006/06/past-imperfect.html

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

Iranian Reaction to Obama Video Message Lukewarm at Best

The Ayatollah reacted to Obama's Video Message saying he will wait to see real changes in U. S. Foreign policy.

From the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/world/middleeast/22iran.html?ref=world

“They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad.
Still, he left the door open to better ties with America, saying “should you change, our behavior will change, too.”

He also took exception with Obama wishing the Iranians a New Year message and calling them terrorists in the same breath.

So the volley begins...

Arrested Man for Feeding the Homeless

Talk about laws doing nothing but causing a nuisance. This man was arrested for feeding the homeless because there is a city ordinance stating you need a permit to feed more than 25 people. He fed 30 so they arrested him.

Fun With Words: Defining Power

Power is defined in my Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary as a possession of control, authority, or influence over others.

According to Dictionary.com:
1.
ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something.
2.
political or national strength: the balance of power in Europe.
3.
great or marked ability to do or act; strength; might; force.
4.
the possession of control or command over others; authority; ascendancy: power over men's minds.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_power

Politcal Power is seen as an act of domination by its very definition.

Anthony Robbins provides his understanding of power in his book, Unlimited Power as such:

“I don't think of power in terms of conquering people. I don't think of it as something to be imposed. That kind of power seldom lasts. But you should realize that power is a constant in the world. You shape your perceptions, or someone shapes them for you. You do what you want to do, or you respond to someone else's plan for you. To me, ultimate power is the ability to produce the results you desire most and create value for others in the process. Power is the ability to change your life, to shape your perceptions, to make things work for you and not against you. Real power is shared, not imposed. It's the ability to define human needs and to fulfill them—both your needs and the needs of the people you care about. It's the ability to direct your own personal kingdom—your own thought processes, your own behavior—so you produce the precise results you desire.”


There is a difference between Imposed Power and Harmonious Action. There has to be value on both sides of the bargain or else you produce misery when might and deceit are the tools.

Karl Denninger lays down his laws

In today's Market Ticker Karl Lays down his laws over Executive Pay.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/890-On-Executive-Pay.html

He says all executives from companies forced to take government funds need to follow the same guidelines as federal employees. He also talks aboout giving voting rights to shareholders on par with the political voting system.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous at AIG

There are now tour buses going up to the houses of AIG Executives whose names have leaked out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/nyregion/22cnd-tour.html?hp

Strange Days Indeed. It turns out the bonuses paid are higher than previously announced and are really 218 Million

Pay Attention! The Truth is behind the AIG HYPE!!!

CNN American Morning yesterday had Ron Paul break down the bonus HYPE and the real story which is the 700 Billion misappropriated funds not the 165 Million.

CNNs Kiran Chetry mentions the 1 Trillion we dropped into the atmosphere from out of nothing. The bill gets rammed through the Govt. and then they read the fine details. What a joke. And then on top of it the same man Geithner talks about moving swiftly amid talks for his head over his Bill loophole with Chris Dodd.

It is the moneyfunneling that is bigger than the corporate greed context

Youtube Page Up and Running

Now I have got my youtube page in the early works stage and a brand new playlist

My Youtube page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/EyesOnNow

And the FeverIAm: Ides of March Playlist:



It is in reverse chronological order starting with Mike's most recent posts. Enjoy, and stay informed.

Many Thanks,
David

Obama and Iran

Obama is reaching out to Iran which shifts the outward appearance of U.S. policy for the first time in over 50 years. He mentions the holiday of Nowruz, a ancient Persian holiday representing the first day of spring and the New Year of the Iranian calendar.

Wikipedia contained an interesting entry about the holiday of Nowruz:

...An important day during the time of the Achaemenids (c. 648-330 BC), where kings from different nations under the Persian empire used to bring gifts to the emperor (Shahanshah) of Persia on Nowruz.

Here we have Obama, a leader from a different nation offering the gift of renewed relations. How long has this idea been incubating to reach out to Iran in this way? And what is the foreign policy reasoning?

He begins by speaking directly to the Iranian people and their leadership. After giving them recognition for their great contributions through history he talks about the strained relations the US and Iran have had for 3 decades. 1979 was the year of the hostage crisis and the overthrow of the US inserted Shah.

Guardian Article and Obama Video:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/21/barack-obama-iran-video-message

Now using the renewal of the holiday he is reaching out to allow Iran to enter into its rightful role on the world stage. It comes in interesting times when Iran is brokering deals around the world for its oil resources. And at the same time the US is losing its superpower status by the minute. After the rhetoric of the Bush/Cheney buildup against Iran one is left to wonder if this is a dramatic shift or merely trickery in disguise.

What is going on now?

Hello folks,

Lately I have been following several people on youtube. The primary individual has been a man by the name of Mike with his channel called FeverIAm. I originally came across this channel from a mention by TheModernMystic who I have been also following.

I will be using this blog to follow the events of the world through the eyes of myself, him, and a host of other sources around the globe to get a handle on what exactly we are witnessing.

The wake up call is upon us so there seems to be no choice except to forge onward with our EyesOnNow, hence the name.

The most recent video by FeverIam


After covering Google's Street Views entry into the UK and the crazy things being caught on the cameras he moves into the Barack video message to Iran.




This message appears as a new era in relations with Iran. Why is this happening? This is a gesture that needs to be examined very closely.

FeverIam's Youtube page:


TheModernMystic's page:


I will be expanding this blog as I go along. I did want to get the foundation out there so when I can structure it better the groundwork is here.

Thank you for your time and attention.