Gulf Oil Spill

Monday, May 24, 2010

Gulf Oil Spill:

You are not doing enough. YES, YOU!

This will turn out to be the greatest ecological disaster of all time – man-made, natural, or otherwise.
This will be the greatest ecological disaster of all time. Listen to those words and repeat them. This is not an exaggeration. This is a prediction.

Here is why. There are two problems. The obvious one is what is happening to the Gulf of Mexico. This will expand to the Caribbean and then to the Atlantic. This will actually reach Europe – and sooner than you think. Worse than you think.

Here is the second part of the problem which no one is paying attention to except me. What happens when the oil leaves its current location underground under the ocean? Do you think that the space it vacates just stays vacated? Do you really believe that a void is allowed to stay by the forces of nature? No. Natural forces never allow a vacuum. It is against natural law. The oil now underground will be replaced. It may be by dirt, mud, water, additional oil, or something else. Eventually this unnatural space or void will move to a place that cannot handle it. That will be when the catastrophe of all catastrophes will occur. No one knows what that will be because no one has ever experienced it. This kind of sudden, massive, quick void and filling of said void of this size and speed is unprecedented in history. This will turn out to be the greatest disaster of all time.

Your scientists will pooh-pooh my prediction and using nothing but scientific sounding conjecture will declare everything is fine and I am absolutely wrong. There will be no underground void and surge to fill it. They will behave as if they are absolutely certain – they will be absolutely wrong.

The Noble Eightfold Path
Wisdom
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
Ethical Conduct
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
Mental Development
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.
1. Right View
Right view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realize the Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.
2. Right Intention
While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.
3. Right Speech
Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.
4. Right Action
The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts.
5. Right Livelihood
Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided.
6. Right Effort
Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavors that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.
7. Right Mindfulness
Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualize sense impressions and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facticity of the original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex interpretative schemes. All this happens only half consciously, and as a result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear perception and it penetrates impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualization in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena.
8. Right Concentration
The eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness, although at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration. Concentration in this context is described as one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means wholesome concentration, i.e. concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday situations.

You will enjoy: “you are here” by Thich Nhat Hanh

SNL is the only show in TV history that is 100% driven by the cast.

SNL is the only show in TV history that is 100% driven by the cast. If the cast is awful the show is awful. If the cast is great the show is great. There is no arguing that. It is also the most difficult show to be a cast member of; with a 100 hour plus work week that can only be survived with the help of coke, speed, and/or whatever else keeps you awake – paranoia? That too, because it was all on your shoulders like with no other job!
Go back and look at the eras you loved and chances are you were laughing at Aykroyd, Belushi, Carvey, Chase, Crystal, Curtin, Fallon, Farley, Ferrell, Fey, Franken, Hammond, Hartman, Kattan, Lovitz, Miller, Murphy, Murray, Myers, Newman, Piscopo, Poehler, Quinn, Radner, Rock, Sandler, or Spade.
The show stinks now because the cast stinks now.
That is 100% on the shoulders of the management of NBC. How many idiotic things has this management team done? {Leno / O’Brien ring a bell?}. The way to improve late night, both on weekends and weekdays, is to literally flush out every single member of upper management at NBC – kind of like firing every single solitary incumbent in Washington DC is what’s needed there! This is the era of Incumbent equals incompetent.
In an era of media moguls with massive misplaced egos and arrogance, and absolutely zero talent, smarts, or good judgment to back it up – the absolute kings of the hill among them are the nit-wits atop the management turd pile at NBC.
Terminate them and problem solved: instantly!

All of Washinton is out of touch with America.

There are three “equal” branches of government in America. All three are clearly equally out of touch with America, the American voter and the citizens of America, voters or not. All three are in need of change. None are listening. All are strident political partisans. All must be removed.
None ‘get’ the constitution. None ‘get’ what American was, is, and will always be about.
Incumbent equals incompetent. Boot out all incumbents the first chance you get. Keep new rookies in for two terms max – then boot them out as well. After two terms in Washington, they all completely forget everything outside Washington.

WHAT AMERICA NEEDS NOW IS AN “I.V.” – INDEPENDENT VOICE

Friday, February 12, 2010

WHAT AMERICA NEEDS NOW IS AN “I.V.” – INDEPENDENT VOICE

America is in trouble – deep trouble. National Government is on life-support. Nothing gets done in Washington D. C. Nothing will without a sea change
[ http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/312800.html ], and soon.

The people of America are furious. Just as the 1976 movie NETWORK said so succinctly: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”
That is the American people, the American voter, speaking - yelling.
Even more loudly than in that movie from 1976:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ELleCQvew

Washington is not listening. The media are not listening.
Washington is too busy kissing the keister of the 20,000 [not an exaggeration] or so lobbyists currently entrenched in D.C.
The media are too busy listening to, and presenting the mutually radical views of the psycho-left-wing and the psycho-right-wing. A bird with those two wings can’t fly – not even the American eagle.
The left and the right each represent less than 5% of the American public. The remaining 90 + percent that Nixon used to call the “great silent majority” are left with no voice. None.
What we need in the media is the voice of the independent middle; and I’m volunteering. Have a time slot on your radio programming that is pretty dead and going south fast?
I volunteer to fill it with an I.V. for America – The Independent Voice… the moderate voice reflective of the vast vast majority of Americans. “Talk for the rest of us.”
Don’t think it will get ratings? The ratings of the Left are in the sewer. They succeed by sheer numbers – 90% of the media are leftists. FOX gets by far the best ratings for one, and only one simple reason: they are alone. There’s only one of them compared to the vast army-mob from the left. They thrive by default.
But neither extreme could possibly come close in ratings to a venue that reflects and speaks to the 90% now ignored. Give that 90% a voice in the media and they will surly use it. The ratings will follow – and blow away the rest of the current media that only represents the extreme 10%. Represent 90% instead of 5% or 10% - no-brainer!
Sure moderate middle-America has sat silent for a long time and you are within your rights to think that it will continue… unless, of course, you are paying attention.
Does the Tea-party movement get all that buzz and attention from the people because the core leadership are geniuses? Of course not! Most of them can’t put an intelligent sentence together –much less a movement, a party, an organization. But they are thriving. Why? Because despite their mountainous flaws, they reflect something somewhat close to what the American voter thinks. And because the American people are no longer sitting on their hands and observing. They are sick of observing. They are sick of not being represented. They are sick of poor choices in the voting booth. They are sick of poor choices in the media too.
The American people are furious that no one is really seriously doing anything about jobs. Health care? Give me a job – let me worry about my health care!
Too big to fail? How about too big to live? Kill the big bank and let the old fashioned small town bank grow out of the fertilizer left by big bank’s dead carcass.
A bipartisan congress? Simple. Incumbent equals incompetent. Boot out all incumbents. Replace them all with rookies. Think rookies will screw up Washington because they are too wet behind the ears to get it? How can they do any worse than the road-kill we have representing us now? They couldn’t possibly!
Want more topics for discussion? Just ask!

So, again:

I propose “TALK FOR THE REST OF US”. That “I.V.” I spoke of. The INDEPENDENT VOICE that the American people are craving right now. No viewpoints barred. No topic taboo. No radical unscathed. No voter left out. Focus to be on the real majority of the people of America.

I fill that role. I am an independent. I work, dig, explore, and function independently. If you are looking for another “yes man” for the left or the right, I do not fit the role. If you are looking for an “oh yes I can! man” no one is better suited for the job than I am. The politically correct term is ‘assertive’. The accurate term is ‘aggressive’. I am both. I am radically moderate - radically independent.
LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! WUSA-radio

Respectfully,
Dwight M Lee
Dwight M. Lee

It’s about Jobs – It’s about Time

It’s about Jobs – It’s about Time

The vast majority of pundits and politicos are dead wrong about the message being sent to Washington by the voters of Massachusetts Tuesday.

The real message is simply this – it’s about jobs! The incumbents, both Democrats AND Republicans, are not doing enough to get the jobless rate down from 10% to 5%. Until the jobless rate reaches 5% again, you will see incumbent after incumbent being defeated or at least frightened by the voters of this country pounding this message into their thick skulls.

The incumbents are battling over health care instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are worrying about illegal immigration instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are bailing out fat cats instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are continuing two wars instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are sweating climate change instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are pushing the greening of energy instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are spending the voters’ grandchildren’s money instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are plunging the country into ever deeper debt instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are watching U.S. jobs go overseas instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are expanding ugly partisan politics instead of getting voters jobs.
The incumbents are growing ever more arrogant (if that is even possible) instead of getting voters jobs.

This is not the Republicans versus the Democrats. This is the Incumbents versus The Voters.
Martha Coakley was a terrible candidate. She was not an incumbent, but she was not the least bit unusual. She and the Democratic Party in Massachusetts assumed this senate seat was hers. It was hers to lose and she did.

Politicians are amazingly unresponsive to the people who vote them in and can - and increasingly do - vote them out. Incumbents – especially multi-term incumbents – continue to demonstrate the shocking viewpoint that the voters just don’t get it; and we will do whatever we choose to do for them because we know better. We are untouchable. If they continue to push what the voters don’t want without paying the least bit of attention to the voters – the incumbents will pay with their own jobs.

Get the American voters jobs or you lose yours!

So the questions that the voters want answered are these:
· Can Washington hear the American voter?
· Will Washington hear the American voter?
· What if anything will they do with the very clear message?
· How long will it take for jobs to move to Job One?
· When will they start listening to the voters desires about health care?
· Just how big will the outsider landslide be in November 2010?
· When – if ever - will Washington politicians finally ‘get it’?
~~ Dwight M. Lee

The Arrogance of the Left

The Arrogance of the Left

The shocking plunge of Martha Coakley’s credibility as a candidate in the U.S. Senate contest between Democrat Coakley, the state's attorney general, and Republican Scott Brown, 30-point dark horse underdog challenger in the campaign for the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated upon the death of Ted Kennedy, is proof of the arrogance of the Left in America.

Candidate Coakley lost just slightly more credibility every time she opened her mouth as when she chose not to speak. Her conceit has quickly become legend.

What do you want me to do, shake hands with the crowd in the cold in front of Fenway Park? She asked incredulously, shortly after an NHL hockey game was played there. Fans thought nothing of sitting for hours in the cold to watch a game with few implications. Not nearly as many implications as the shocking arrogance of Coakley’s comment, and her abject lack of interest in communing with the people of Massachusetts.

Schilling is a Yankee fan, misspoke Coakley to an incredulous interviewer in one of dozens of the misguided candidate’s blurts demonstrative of her terminal foot-in-mouth disease. Even Rumpelstiltskin knows Schilling, the retired Red Sox hurler, hisses at the Evil NY Major League Baseball Empire as enthusiastically as any rabid Sox fan in New England.

Yes, Martha “Emelda Marcos” Coakley lost this race equally as much as Scott “pin-up boy” Brown won it with his unceasingly hard work attempting to become better known to the voters. The arrogant Left lost this race as surely as the surging rebound Right won. The vote was as much against Coakley as it was for Brown. It was as much against the elitism of the left as it was in favor of the cynicism of the right.

If three months ago any Massachusetts Republican had told any Democrat that Coakley would plummet as much in the polls as she did – the laughter would still be reverberating from Pittsfield to P-town.

If nine months ago anyone had told anyone that the Obama-Democrats would plummet as much in power, pull, and popularity as the president and his supporters have in under a year – the laughter would still be reverberating throughout the country from Obama’s Hawaii to Kennedy’s compound on the Cape.

Sports are as vital a part of the landscape and character of greater Boston, and all of New England for that matter, as their pride in the fact that several hundred years ago the Tea Party concept was invented here. Coakley has one last chance with the voters of Massachusetts. She can be a good sport in accepting her loss as her own failure. Massachusetts sports fans know failure intimately – much more intimately than they ever came to know candidate Coakley – and that in the end was her greatest failure. She simply didn’t care to share herself with the only people who matter in this unique country – its citizens.

Next will come the post mortems. Pundits from all sides will bounce this result around in the air like a hacky sack. But the real adventure in the purely American sport of politics will be to see several things:
· What will the Republicans do with this exhilarating win?
· How long and how high will their rise be?
· How soon will they screw up the opportunity?
· Just how soon will the ferris wheel find the opposing parties curling back around again?
· And at what point will we all be saying “Here we go again”?

~~ Dwight M. Lee