Europe Attacks Libya Bad Karma

So how have we all done since we decided to attack Libya?
For humanitarian reasons
to save the poor oil from being hurt

March 18, 2011 DOW 30 closes at 11,859
Today 9/22/11 Dow is down around 10,751
a drop of more than 9%.

And Europe today in the news looks like it is about to collapse.
There are consequences to actions. Bad karma is bad karma.

Here is what I see as the metaphor.

In Los Angeles the police encounter a mentally ill homeless man and beat him to death.

That should not happen.
We should not be killing. Authority should not kill.
We should work toward our noble goals without killing, without even the threats
without the bullying
with compassion
with patience
with kindness

The Real Solution

there is a real solution to the problem that is not a problem
we are individuals
each lives their own one life

there are plenty of people doing very well right now
how do they do it?
why is it that many are doing well and yet many are not doing well?

Each should merely do a good job taking care of whatever they can take care of.

that is the real solution,
and it looks like
diligence
responsibility
sobriety
honesty
care
and it looks like
working on this every day, working on doing well with whatever you have
taking good care of whatever you do have
and not worrying about what you don't have

and here is another formula

MORE PATIENCE
MORE KINDNESS
be happy now with what is here now with what is real

Envy

Jogging around the neighborhood I noticed some things to envy.
Big beautiful homes, new homes
fine automobiles
and I thought about the enviable careers and families and vacations
and on and on and on....

But I always tell myself to not envy. Envy is just painful for me.
But what to do? What remedy for envy?

So here is a thought.
While I may envy the big beautiful new home, do I envy the labor and sacrifice that someone made to get that home?

So if I look at the total picture, maybe there is less to envy.
And what about me?

Do I inspire envy?
I am fit. I jog every day.
I see others who are not fit. I see one man in a wheel chair.
Does he envy me? I hope he does not.

Remedy for envy
contentment with one's lot.

Is College Worth It?

I heard on the radio today that college graduates make more money than people who are not college graduates.
So it must be true!
But what is the cause and what is the effect?
In order to get a degree you probably need to be
smart
diligent
responsible
ambitious
maybe even connected and lucky or talented

and if you are all those things or have all those things
wouldn't you make more money no matter what?

what you really need to do is compare two groups of nearly identical people except one group has degrees and the other doesn't
how do they compare regarding income?

Take Care

that is what people say to each other nowadays
I wonder when that became the fashion?

TAKE CARE!

replacing
have a nice day
or what other remarks?

not a greeting but a way of saying goodbye
ways to say goodbye

'till we meet again

ciao

take it easy

parting phrases

what are they saying in your neck of the woods?

Government Says

WE WILL HURT YOU

government says we will hurt you

DO THIS! or else we will hurt you
DON'T DO THAT! or else we will hurt you

and how many examples do we need of government hurting people?

police brutality
punishing taxation
punishing regulation

For masochists, this is a great place!

And if you bring this up, they say the alternative is anarchy
NOT SO!

there is a middle path
as many associations as possible should be totally voluntary
and whenever any rule is proposed that violates the principle of the voluntary
it must be given special scrutiny and leaned against

lean against government pain
government control
government cruelty

remember what freedom means

We Are All Jews

I bet that every person on the earth today has somewhere a Jewish ancestor.
Jews have been around a long time.
Maybe 4000 years
and they have always liked to travel
And they have interbred with the locals
so now I believe just about everyone has a Jewish ancestor

and anyway
we are all related
we are all cousins
we are all human

and we originated most likely in Africa
so we are all Africans

The Sound Of Silence

Here is a song we all know
I just watched Paul Simon perform this song at the 10 year memorial for 9/11.
Was it appropriate?

What does the song mean?
It seems to mean different things to different people.

Maybe that is good. Maybe it just holds up a mirror to help you see yourself in the dark.

Is it about how people don't communicate?
Is it about idolatry? "THE NEON GOD"
Is it ZEN? What is the sound of silence?

Is it about prophecy itself, and the ambiguity of prophecy?

"VISION PLANTED IN MY BRAIN"

I was not sure it fit with the memorial. The event is so specific. A lot of people died all at once and left children and spouses and friends bereft. And that is a terrible and sad thing and impossible to understand. So a song that cannot be understood may be appropriate.

But I am left with a doubt about the whole thing.
Not to denigrate anyone...but we are all bereft, we have all had losses, and we will all lose everything in the end. So why this special attention for these folks?

I also now am thinking of some recent natural disasters like the tsunami in Japan and the tsunami of 2004 in the Indian Ocean. The latter killed more than 200,000 people.

So, what I hear is an egotism. I hear a cry that my problem is important. I hear a lot of ME! ME! ME!
And that is all and each. We are all doing that for our own situation. We are all praying for help and salvation and to get what we want.

In conclusion, I wrote a lyric recently. It is a work in progress, it talks about these issues of hope and faith and truth.

Take time
for imagination
what you wanted is here
now look
just open up your eyes
the truth
shining like a star
the light
shining around you
so much brighter than the light
you
imagined

hope was
something to hold
onto
let it go let it go
and faith
you got down on your knees
to pray
now your prayer is answered
so
what was the question?
does it matter when you find
truth
delightful?

More Mister Bix

never give up

keep on
keepin' on

let go and fly

Real Causes of Unemployment

"...excessive union wage-rates, minimum wage laws, excessive and prolonged unemployment insurance, and overgenerous relief payments."
Henry Hazlitt, "ECONOMICS IN ONE LESSON"

So the government is the cause of the unemployment.
It is all about supply and demand and substitution.
If you really desire a job, you will take the wage that the market offers and you will be employed and have an opportunity to improve your status.
Or you can hold out for the better job and remain unemployed.
It is a choice.

And government policies lean in the direction of helping people who choose not to work.
Government interference is the real cause of unemployment.

Did Libya Adventure Sink The Economy?

Things are looking bad for the world economy.
How close are we to a new recession?

When NATO decided to get involved in the Libya Civil War,did they consider the economic consequences?
The price of oil shot up, putting a damper on the economy and possibly tipping us back into recession.

And this time it could be even uglier.
And the same old group is selling short and dumping stock and hurting confidence.

I believe we don't need to go into recession, but the main issue is confidence, and that is being destroyed now by the political rhetoric we are being subjected to.

Time to wake up
time to realize we have more than we need
we don't need to be greedy or to panic
we need to be peace

Rebebalize

To rebebalize
to thoroughly work over the food on your plate, taking it apart in order to examine it minutely, taking out any bad parts and then reorganizing it in little mounds on your plate before finally eating it.

Local Parasite

In my neighborhood we all put our recyclables in special blue containers
to be picked up by the trash authorities
However,
some people make a business of looting these containers and selling what they collect
You might think this is harmless
or enterprise
or self help
BUT
it is actually stealing, and does not help the community
All the stuff they take would have been picked up and recycled by the city and the profit would go to the community, not to this parasite
and the thing that bothered me this morning was the strong smell of exhaust
This guy has an old minivan that he loads up. It needs work. It needs repair. It is producing a lot of pollution! Very bad exhaust.
So this guy is an antisocial parasite.
He should not be doing this. It is harming not helping. It helps him....
And who is he?
If I had to guess, I would say he is an illegal immigrant.
But maybe he is just a local trying to get by.
I wish he would get a real job. Or go back where he came from.