06 March 2011

I do this radio show Paradigms every week, well most weeks. Sometimes I haven't got a show so I don't force it. But it's most weeks. I continue to amaze myself.I don't know how many people are listening, but I am putting out some good stuff that offers a lot of ideas and inspiration and real solutions for what ails us as a society, as a world. The quality of communication coming from guests on the show is so satisfying for me. I hope others are feeling fed. I sure am.

For instance, the show that will air on WBKM tonight. Usually I do interviews and combine them with music. Tonight is a broadcast of the panelists at yesterday's Town Meeting in Montpelier Vermont hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders. The topic was corporate personhood. The panelists were radio host and author Thom Hartmann, president of Public Citizen Rob Weissman, Professor of Constitutional Law Cheryl Hannah, State Senator Ginny Lyons, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream.

Anyone who listens to this show and checks out some of the links at the show's website will be educated on the history and ramifications of the Citizen's United decision, and will have tools to help reclaim this country from corporate domination. I hope a lot of people get involved!

20 February 2011

Today I put together this Special Report on what's going on in Madison, Wisconsin.

19 February 2011

I am plagiarizing myself. Facebook is interesting. I continue to meet interesting people and have provocative conversations. I just want to save some of my own thoughts here, and share them.

Regarding the political model of "right" and "left" this is a binary either/or model which doesn't work. What if, instead of a 2 dimensional set of axis points we have 4 dimensions, include space and time...then what are the possibilities? It is easy to think in terms of the individual. We live in an individualistic society. But if you pull your consciousness back, out, up, and become a witness to this planet, you can see that this is just a field of life, one pond, and the ecology of this pond has the same cycles that any pond has. Different nutrients are available, different species thrive on different things, and as nutrients are consumed and become something else, the life forms adapt or die off and new ones take their place. It's an ongoing process. The fact that we have consciousness means we can to some degree choose our direction. If we think in terms of the space we live in, and the way time progresses, look at what resources are available and at what cost, and turn to human inspiration and creativity as a synergistic whole rather than focus on the acquisitions and accomplishments of the individual to the exclusion of the group, then what happens?

What's happening in Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee, with the attempts to bust the unions from the republican legislatures and republican governors, that will not happen here in Vermont. What is happening here that is connected, however, is the presence of these weapons manufacturers. Vermont is part of the war machine because we allow military industrialists to use the resources of this state (people, electricity, etc) for their gain. If people can see the connection between the breaking of the middle class, the war the republicans have declared on the US (and yes Dems too) and the presence of the military industrial complex in our state, perhaps people in Vermont would rise to the occasion and demand an end to their presence here. I know a lot of people will cry jobs and money, but look at the price?

Poor working and middle class people vote for republicans against their own interests because they are hypnotized by the right wings BS. The family values christian stuff resonates with a lot of people because they are scared. Back in, oh 1935, the Germans were scared, and boy did they want someone to blame for their problems, and their chancellor served them up a number of scapegoats...sound familiar? We are the chosen race blah blah blah...same line as the right or should I say white wing. Concentrate the wealth, blame the poor but exploit them and increase their numbers, etc.

A 15 yr old girl in St. Albans, I think it was, got away from two mid 20's males in a white van...good for these girls! Hey all the men out there, it is our job to let each other know that this shit is not OK! Tell your sons, your brothers, your friends, your fathers. When you see or hear another man being an asshole towards women, call them on it! By not naming this and calling each other on it, the really sick men imply a tacit permission. This must stop.

A corporation is a legal entity that is staffed by people. Most corporations are designed to be self perpetuating. Unfortunately since a corporation is not a person but a group of people following the mandate I just described, corporations lack the ability for empathy, and easily become psychopathic in their actions. We see that clearly in major corporations around the world and in governments which have become, essentially, corporations that serve other corporations.

16 January 2011

The sun is shining through the clouds. It’s in the high 20’s F outside, not really cold. Occasional snow floats down from the sky. The stoves in the house are keeping it warm in the earthship, around 50 F.

I am in a period of time where I am working on projects and awaiting/inviting inspiration for others. There are no demands on my time. It’s quiet. I feel pretty raw. I am aware that I am avoiding a lot of feelings; of grief and frustration, and anger. Through the wonders of modern technology it is possible to avail oneself of lots of information, which is made available through corporate political and individual filters, about what is happening around the world today. The mental snapshot that is aggregated in my mind from the information I receive, is a distressing one. Really distressing. Of our people, my people, the other humans, with whom I share more similarities than differences, so many are in dire straits, through natural occurrences and human made ones. Humans are inflicting violence upon each other and upon Earth. The violence takes many forms, from outright physical violence to economic, psychological, and spiritual violence, violation. And earth is changing, in part due to human activities and most likely, as part of natural cycles.

Here I am doing what I can from within this context. I manage to touch a lot of people even being in a singular location. That’s a gift, a responsibility, and some solace. The ocean of feelings though is not reduced in quantity or scope or depth, and I have to gauge and measure and take care not to avoid it entirely but not to drown in it, not to be flooded, so that I can keep functioning. I imagine many people feel similarly.

It is a certainty that my friends and family are what keeps me going. I am sustained by you, both literally in terms of physical support, and in those unquantifiable ways of love and connection. That fills me with joy actually. My life is a great example of a journey into a more interconnected existence.