Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category

Ron Paul as President of the United States will be a mistake. It will be a mistake made for the same reason we elected Barack Obama. We are unconscious and as such have our priorities wrong.

The passionate and dedicated following that the young have with Ron Paul stems from an understandable source: idealism.  Most of us, before we have experienced life and what it takes to live it, see things in absolute terms. There are few shades of gray for the young and so, Ron Paul, in his certainty and straight forward talk holds great appeal.  For those who no longer qualify as the idealistic young, Paul stands for the straightforward talk, especially about the economy, that many have been hungry for in politics and government.

But as with Barack Obama, too many voters seem unwilling to go deeper into who this man really is and what we know about his character.  So let me make just three points as to why Ron Paul should not be the Republican candidate and, regardless of any independent candidacy, should not be President.

1,  For 10 years Ron Paul oversaw a newsletter that went out under his name that published racist and anti-Semitic positions. Now, confronted with questions regarding how that could have occurred, he has responded that he didn’t read everything that went into the newsletters and he didn’t know it said those things. Giving him the benefit of the doubt that he neither read nor knew about racist and anti-Semitic comments, he is unqualified to lead any organization, least of all the United States government with such an admission of leadership incompetency.

2.  Ron Paul rails against earmarks. Those pork barrel expenditures that members of Congress pack into legislation to bring taxpayer dollars to their districts for pet projects that benefit their constituents.  The “game” Ron Paul plays.. and that’s his assessment not mine…is that he puts the “pork” into the legislation, then votes against it, knowing it will pass without his vote. Then he can say “I voted against it” and wave the banner proclaiming he’s on the side of cutting waste and crony capitalism.

3.  Friends are important. If you have any you know this. You also know you choose your friends because you and they share certain basic values. Friendships as between nations are no different. Israel is a friend of the United States. Ron Paul is a moral relativist and, as such, makes no distinction between Israel and terrorist states seeking its annihilation. He is very clear that he would cut off all aid to Israel and force that nation to defend itself on its own in the midst of a sea of hostile Arab nations.

Maybe there is more. I don’t really care. The above are enough for me to feel as strongly as I do that electing Ron Paul would be a statement about us. It would say we are still unconscious and that we care more about the economy than we do basic human values and our national character.

As an afterthought, if he is the Republican party’s nominee, he will also guarantee us 4 more years of Barack Obama and, if we are still standing at the end of that, 4-8 years of Hillary Clinton if she runs as his Vice President.

I can close with only two words. Wake up.

 

My support for Rick Santorum is not new. But based upon Robert Reich’s column in “Business Insider” today, my passion for that support is renewed.  Not that I needed any further reason to think Rick Santorum should be the Republican Presidential Nominee and the next President of The United States. I have all the reasons I need. He was an industrious United States Senator. He is a man of obvious spiritual, ethical and moral convictions. He appears to be a devoted husband and father.  He’s in favor of smaller government with less government intrusion into our personal and professional lives.  In short, Rick Santorum is type of person, and candidate, we always say we are looking for and can’t seem to find.

Robert Reich hypothesizes in his column that the Democratic ticket for 2012 will be Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, with the Secretary of State and Vice President Biden trading places for a second Obama Administration. I speak virtually no French but I can muster up one word: q’uelle nightmare!

Vice President Biden has no discernible diplomatic skills. Further, more often than not, he says things that either confound the listener or embarrass the Nation…not to mention himself.  Joe Biden as our “Best International Foot Forward?” Really? Joe Biden…whose foot seems most often to find its way into his own mouth? How unconscious would we have to be to allow Joe Biden to become Secretary of State?

As for Hillary Clinton, I don’t trust her. I don’t believe her. I think she is manipulative and ambitious to a spectacular degree.  I think she compromised herself to stay with a man who publicly and privately humiliated her for the exchange of a promise to support her insatiable need for power.  Politically, she is as pro big government as Barack Obama, misread the “Arab Spring” and Qaddafi as Secretary of State, and has been no friend to our friend Israel. She has sold her soul to George Soros and they are both Progressives who seek personal wealth and power in a “New World Order.”

So I have to thank Robert Reich (an insider himself) for posing the possibility that if I and many others aren’t awake enough to see the train wreck coming down the tracks, we could actually wind up with 4-12 more years of out of control spending, concentration of power within a select group of individuals who seek to reduce the United States to an insignificant player in a new world order of their own making.

Remember, Barack Obama is the smartest guy in the room, right? And Hilary Clinton is the smartest woman in the world, right? So much for intelligence with without core beliefs (Obama) or intelligence without ethics (Clinton).

The 2012 Presidential election isn’t about money. It’s about character. We need Rick Santorum because, yes, he’s bright. Yes, he has proven he knows how to accomplish legislation for the public good. Yes, as a Republican in a Democratic State he earned the trust of its citizens. But, mostly, we need him because he walks his talk and is someone we can trust and be proud to call “Mr. President.”

Wouldn’t that be a refreshing change?

To be right up front, I didn’t know who Adam Carolla was until this morning. I do now. His interview rant against the Occupy Wall Street crowd has gone viral. Having listened to it I can understand why. It’s a no-holds-barred-expletive-riddled diatribe on where we’ve gone wrong as a society. But for me, it’s the last line Carolla utters that’s worth a follow-up.

Allison Rosen, the interviewer, closes with the observation, “So it’s like global sibling rivalry” and Carolla responds, “That’s what it is. It’s as old as the Bible.”

Enter the consciousness, and the reference point, we need to have about where we are. I am always a bit surprised when I hear someone say that there is no “playbook” or “manual” for living life. Of course, there is. It’s just that most people don’t like some of the advice (or “rules” if you like) and so they dismiss the work in its entirety.

The Old Testament, or Torah as I know it, sets forth the problem and sets it forth early. Cain and Abel. Isaac and Ishmael. Esau and Jacob. Shoots from the same stalk yet one envious of the others portion. Envious to the point of a willingness to destroy…and greedy to boot.

Carolla is right, but for his poor choice of vocabulary. Look around and what you see, from the “99%’ers” to the Islamist terrorists, to the multinational and agri-corporations is envy and greed. More is never enough, it seems. And if someone has “more”…even if they have attained it rightfully through just means and hard work, well…then let’s just destroy them and what they have. It’s positively Biblical in origin. Fortunately, so is the solution.

Do not covert anything that is thy neighbors.

We are all born with our “portion.” It makes no sense, and is an egregious waste of time, to resent someone else for theirs. Make the best of yours. Be grateful for what you have, accepting of what is, joyful for the gift of life, and enthusiastic for possibility. Gratitude, acceptance, joy and enthusiasm negate envy and greed.

Then, with all that spare time formerly used to begrudge and destroy, go about bettering yourself and the world around you. It’s a much better strategy. By the way, that strategy is in the manual.

“Behold I have placed before you today that which is life and that which is good; that which is death and that which is evil… And you shall choose Life, in order that you and your children shall live” [Devarim/Deuteronomy 30:15-19].

 

Today I listened to NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross. I don’t usually listen to NPR because their guests (and hosts) say things such as they did on today’s show. A guest said, “Terry, after you come back from break I have a juicy metaphor for you” to which Gross replied, “Oh good, we love juicy metaphors.” Its talk like that I find  pompous and painful… and I  went to law school.

But when I do listen it isn’t for news. It’s for perspective. I like to know what kinds of thought processes drive people who think and speak as if they breathe fresher air than most of us (no pun intended!).

As I listened today, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as two of Gross’s guests connected to or in support of The Occupy Movement, “pondered” in hindsight why the media, and they, had missed what has turned out to be the undesirable outcome of the “Arab Spring.” The fact that the “Arab Spring” has morphed into an “Islamic Winter” (the Muslim Brotherhood and another right wing Islamic party have won the majority of votes in today’s elections in Egypt) didn’t seem to bother them as much as justifying and explaining away how they could have missed noticing this train wreck waiting to happen.

For me, the outcome in Egypt is no surprise. But then again, I don’t listen to NPR or any other main stream media outlet. I listen to Glenn Beck. And yes, I know the very mention of his name causes agita in many people. However, having listened to Beck for the past several years I am neither uninformed nor ill-informed regarding the events that are currently unfolding domestically and globally. Call him what you will, the man’s gotten it right almost every time.

So what’s the take-away?

I think it’s that at more than any other time in human history, each of us must listen to an inner voice and follow its guidance…regardless of what the masses are doing, what the government is promoting, or what mainstream media is marketing. The experts are antiquated, corrupt, deceitful…or all three. They have only the interest of themselves and a select few in mind.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that as in the evolution of the caterpillar, that self-gorging insect who once filled to capacity with 300 times its body weight in food hangs upside down as Nature covers it with an encapsulating chrysalis in which the caterpillar is consumed and transformed into, and emerges as, the butterfly… so too we.

The self-gorging “powers that be” are maxed out on what they can consume. As they struggle for a way out of the mess they have created, Nature, by way of direct intervention from Source, is constructing a chrysalis which will consume them and from that broken down substance will emerge the best of humankind. The human equivalent, so to speak, of the butterfly.

In the meantime…be truthful, live with integrity and hold to patience. While doing those things, remember to breathe deeply and have trust in both the intention and wisdom of God. That which can create a process which transforms a caterpillar into a butterfly shouldn’t find us too hard to handle.

 

Despite the tendency for Democrats, especially Liberals, to describe Barack Obama as always being “the smartest person in the room,” I think time and circumstances have shown that observation to be more than a bit of wishful thinking. In the case of Newt Gingrich, however, it’s usually true. I make this point because I want an intelligent President, as you likely do as well. But I want a President who is more than just intelligent. Intelligence without an ethical and moral framework gets you the likes of Adolf Hitler.

Before you get all upset that I am comparing either Barack Obama or Newt Gingrich to Hitler, let me say, “No I’m not.”  I am simply making the point that given the fragile and transitory time we are living through, we had better be as concerned about character as we are about brain power.

It didn’t surprise me recently that Bill Clinton had good things to say about Newt Gingrich. I suspect they have a fondness for one another born of empathy. They are each intelligent, immoral and unethical. They have both said what is expedient and politically necessary, at any given time, to enhance their own standing. The have both publicly, and with arrogance, mocked their marriage vows and humiliated their wives. Bill Clinton may have given us a good economy, but he lowered the national moral/ethical bar to a new low. When I think of Newt Gingrich as President, I say to myself “No thanks. Been there. Done that.”

What we need is balance. We need it in every facet of our personal and professional lives. We need it in healthcare, finance and governance. We certainly need it in our leadership.

I have not made up my mind as to who I support or who I would vote for. But I look at the current possibilities and I see a few certainties. Barack Obama is incompetent and perhaps dangerously so. Herman Cain is history; Newt Gingrich is Bill Clinton revisited; Ron Paul is scary on international policy; Mitt Romney is very controlled and packaged…maybe a bit too much for my taste. Rick Perry says some very dumb things and does not seem large enough (figuratively) for the responsibilities that come with the office; John Huntsman has foreign policy and domestic executive leadership experience but seems a bit too idealistic for the practicalities of the job; Michele Bachman, while courageous and ethical, also seems to be lacking in “weightiness” (although I would so like to have the right woman in the job!).

At the moment, that leaves Rick Santorum.

When I examine Santorum’s public record, his personal life and listen to him articulate his current positions on the issues confronting us, I remain impressed. I think he is the balanced candidate that holds the most promise for a new direction, certainly one that is founded and grounded by experience, ethics and morality.

We are yet a long way off but the field narrows from here…unless some unexpected and unprecedented event or individual intervenes. For the moment, each of us should be asking ourselves, “Which individual will bring balance and integrity to a reality that has so lost its way?”

For me, as I write this, it’s Rick Santorum.

 

 

You’d think we were wiser, or at least smarter, than to believe that everything is fine just because Thanksgiving sales were up and the DOW Jones reacted positively to that fact. You’d think.

It astonishes me how many people remain asleep…unconscious…unaware. And how many others are living in a world of denial. I understand the tendency to bury one’s head in the sand, so to speak, in the face of so much bad news and uncertainty. Admittedly, these are trying times.

But denial never gets you anything other than delayed truth. It doesn’t obliterate it.

Here’s my latest take on fear. It’s been the tool of choice for controlling the majority of people on earth for, at least, the last 5000 years. I think it’s time we stopped buying into the illusion that energy is scarce and costly, that remedies for illness are limited to choices predetermined by a few and sanctioned by government, that politicians need be corrupt and we need to accept this as a given, and that corporations and banks need to be insatiable entities satisfying their endless hunger for money and control at the expense of those who reply upon their services and trust in their good intentions.

Energy is free. It’s in the air…the “space” all around us and extracting it has gotten everyone discredited who ever proved that to be true. Buddhism, and even physics, assert that out of “no-thing-ness,” or the void, came everything. Well, if there is nothing in the void, then it’s devoid of light, also. So light is not the Source of all that is… darkness is. And darkness is not a bad thing. Its no-thing and holds the potential from which every-thing manifests.

For these past 5000 plus years we have been living under the fear-based illusion that to break the rules gets you cast into hell (the abyss), or prison, or just plain outcast from mainstream society. As if the abyss is bad. I would ask you consider that the very thing we have been told to fear… the dark, the unknown, the “other”… is, in fact, the Source of true power. And those who have known this truth, in both religions and governments worldwide, have used that illusion to manipulate us with fear-based thinking for most of human history.

Wake up! Now! Fear is a tool to control you. That’s why there is so much “bad” news. That’s why economies are collapsing. The insatiable individuals and companies that have run our reality by fear are panicked. They are desperate and the only way they can hang on to their power is to make certain you are more frightened than you’ve ever been in your entire life.

It’s a game. Its not real. Refuse to play. Step outside the box. Follow your own inner guidance. Link up with like-minded people and stay the course. We are on the threshold of a brave new world and it’s not one ruled by one world government. It’s a world imagined by billions of individual, creative, compassionate souls who have awakened to say:

Enough.

 

The euro is crashing. Pakistan is irate at the West and it has nuclear weapons. Inflation is on the rise. Iran has threatened to attack Israel and NATO bases in Turkey if its nuclear facilities are attacked.

These are just today’s headlines.But this post isn’t about the headlines. It’s about the effects of those headlines and many others.

Until recently, there was much uncertainty around. Now, the uncertainty is turning to fear. Fear is not an emotion a world in transition can afford to ignore…or indulge. We must be vigilant and aware that in the absence of leadership, much destruction and evil can gain a foothold as we reorganize and reprioritize our world.

Whether in the public or private sector, events have confirmed that our “leaders” are either incompetent or corrupt.  We are, in fact, seemingly without guidance or direction.

This is an illusion.

Guidance and direction are located within each of us. No one will come to the rescue this time. No single individual has all the answers…but every single individual holds a piece of the finished puzzle within themselves. The first order of business is to recognize this fact. The second, to go within and access it. The third, to bring it forth with courage and conviction.

What is in your heart and what are you willing to do about it?

What unexpressed truth are you harboring?

What do you know needs to be done?

You are the leader the world is waiting for and only you can exhibit that fact in your daily life. Begin there. Live the ethics and morality you know are lacking in the world. Demand truth and integrity from yourself.  Don’t await any external solution because the answer is eternal and only available within.

Gandhi said it best: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

And so it will be.

 

Adbusters, a Public Relations firm located in British, Columbia, is a company with a website of interest to me. It should also be of interest to you…if you want to understand the manipulation and money fueling the “Occupy” protestors nationally.  Adbusters is financed in part by the Tides Foundation, a George Soros organization. Soros, you may or may not know, makes sport of manipulating global currencies and politics. Which means manipulating you.

On their website today, Adbusters is advising and directing the protestors as follows:

“We’re living through a magical moment … OCCUPYWALLSTREET has catalyzed into an international insurgency for democracy … the mood at our assemblies is electric … people who go there are drawn into a Gandhian spirit of camaraderie and hope for a new kind of future. Across the globe the 99% are marching! You have inspired more than you know. People are digging into Act One of the long Spring.”

A few observations:

1.  Democracy is not an American aspiration. Democracy is mob rule. We live in a Constitutional Republic by deliberate design of the men and women who were sufficiently educated and enlightened to know the difference.

2.  Gandhi never advocated defecating on police cars, carried signs that said “Eat The Rich” or espoused getting “all the Jews out of the country.” Gandhi was abut peaceful, unwavering commitment to the dignity of individuals and national self-determination.

3.  It’s apparent that “digging into Act One of the long Spring” is a planned strategy intended to unfold over time while making unequivocal demands accompanied by continued disruption and unrest.

If there was ever a time for individuals to think for themselves, rather than as a monolithic herd, it’s now. Group think will get us mob rule. Just look at the photos of the rebels who found Ghadaffi. While I have no love of the deceased dictator, rational and civil people who think for themselves don’t pull and pick at a body as animals over a carcass might do.  And that’s giving short shrift to the animals, since they do it for the sole purpose of obtaining nourishment.

Let’s be conscious and aware that whether it’s Vice President Biden giving out false statistics on crime rates in Flint, Michigan in order to scare us into passing President Obama’s jobs bill… or a Canadian P.R. firm doing the bidding of its financial backer by cleverly manipulating public opinion and passions…it’s up to each of us individually to discern truth from fiction and have the courage to act upon our findings.

Unless you are willing to do that, you’re in for more Hope and Change. By the way, how has that worked out for you thus far?

Many of the “king makers,” power brokers and financial backers of the Republican Party are aggressively trying to engage New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to announce his candidacy for the 2012 Presidential nomination.  A general concern for the viability and/or electability of the current array of candidates has people still shopping for the candidate who can beat Barack Obama, or whoever is the Democratic candidate in 2012.

I, too, would like to see the Governor enter the race.  But my reasons are not those mentioned above.  I don’t think it’s about beating Barack Obama.  Despite what others may think at this juncture, it’s my conclusion that Obama is a one term President.  His failed economic policies combined with recent unfolding scandals, such as Solyndra, Lightsquared, and Chicago union leader Dennis Gannon guarantee it.

Beating whoever the Democratic candidate will be is not the issue, although those with political and ideological “dogs in the hunt” will reason so.  It’s about restoring a sense of truthfulness, leadership and accomplishment to the Presidency.  It’s about telling the people of this nation the truth and thereby giving them an opportunity to do what Americans do best… rise to the occasion.

Chris Christie is an attractive possibility because he instills in us the certainty and sure footed-ness that we want in both our own lives as well as in our leaders.  He exemplifies the qualities that speak of true leadership capability. He keeps his word. He is courageous. He is an independent thinker. He speaks truth to power. He teaches confidence through self-confidence. He sees what needs to be done. He is a man of action. He accepts responsibility.

The world is standing at the precipice and gazing into the abyss. There is much confusion and fear as we face the unknown. There are those who would exploit this moment and encourage us to take the next step into that abyss.

While each of us must ultimately take personal responsibility for our decisions, even the Jews of ancient Egypt required a leader to show them the way. We are sent the leaders we need. If it turns out that Chris Christie steps up and answers the call, let’s be grateful for the opportunity to turn from the abyss and pray we have the clarity to know which way to go.

Phew. It’s going to be a busy week!

Palestinians plan to seek United Nations approval for an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and pre-1967 borders by brining the proposal to a vote in both the General Assembly and the Security Council despite the United States having made clear its intention to veto such a proposal in the Security Council.  Israel is shoring up its internal defenses in anticipation of possible pro-Palestinian marches or, worse, terrorist activity.

This week, Friday to be exact, NASA’S Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), launched in 1991 and weighing 61/2 tons is due to breakup as it burns through the atmosphere and land somewhere on earth. While some of the pieces are expected to survive the burn and impact earth, scientists have estimated that with 70% of the earth being covered in water, the likelihood of any of those surviving pieces from the bus-sized orbiter impacting a person is 3600 to 1. I know that totally eliminates any concerns I have.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, along with the Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank have decided to “provide dollar liquidity” (read as print more money) to help stabilize the highly unstable banking system in several EU member countries.  This “international stimulus” seems like a tried and true approach given the apparent success of the two stimulus efforts here by this Administration and its economic geniuses guiding monetary policy.

Finally, malcontents and other assorted groups with a variety of issues but an apparent common goal… to bring down Wall Street and/or the U.S. government… have begun pitching tents in New York’s financial district this weekend with the intention to stay put until their goal is achieved. Soon, they will be joined, in spirit, by those organizing October 6^th as a national day of protest wherein they will begin sit ins at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.

Phew. I’m tired and it’s only Sunday morning. The week hasn’t even begun.

Assuming the Palestinians and other Arab nations do not react violently to a negative outcome to their quest for statehood via the UN (my 18-year-old daughter is in Israel for 9 months)…and NASA’s UARS doesn’t fall on me (or anyone I know) as the “1 in 3600,”, …and someone in this Administration wakes up before we can’t even afford to buy the paper to print more money on…and those sitting in on Wall Street and the Capitol go home realizing they have neither the spiritual motivation of Gandhi nor the political will of Martin Luther King…I’m still left with a pounding headache at the possible wrong turn any of the above might take.

So what’s the solution?

Its faith and trust. I have faith and trust in a Divine Pattern of love and unity. Does that mean I can sit back and silently wait? No, I’m part of that pattern and, as such, have to hold my space. My space, as I see it, is to be an individual standing for what is good and true:

To say out loud that Palestinians should have a state of their own but not at the expense of the State of Israel and not by appropriating, through threat of violence, what is not theirs.

To say out loud that The Federal Reserve, and its very secretive members, seem to be clueless about our current financial situation. Given their repeated errors in judgment they should be stripped of their power while we open the discussion to alternative ways from alternative minds.

To say out loud that it is right, just and necessary to speak out against greed and corruption and to become active in changing course…but not when destruction is the only goal and where no plan exists for rebuilding anew from what remains following the breakdown.

To say out loud that NASA… well, what can I say? They meant well. Besides, there are physical laws and one of them is “what goes up must come down.” I just hope with everything else going on this week that 70% ocean and 3600 to 1 turn out to be sufficient odds.