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Senate regressives block veterans bill

For all their bluster about patriotism and supporting our troups, the Senate regressives blocked Senator Sanders' bill to expand health care, education and job-training benefits for our veterans. This is just one more piece of evidence on an already monumental mountain that regressives lie when they say they care about veterans. They're really about obstruction to get nothing done just to make the President look bad, as well as to save that public money for tax breaks and subsidies to their task masters on Wall Street.

Alan Grayson on the XL pipeline

I got this in his email blast today and enclose it in toto below. He speaks well for himself so let's hear what he has to say:

"Forty-one years ago, when I used to get up at 5 a.m. to get on gas station lines with my parents, I started hearing about "energy independence" - a secure source of supply for our energy needs. Today, energy independence soon will be a reality.

For China. Thanks to the Keystone XL pipeline.

Q. Cui bono? ("Who benefits?") A. China.

The Chinese economy consists of taking raw materials and energy, making that into stuff, and then selling that stuff - a/k/a "manufacturing." Chinese leaders understand that in order for that model to work, China needs steady supplies of raw materials and energy. By how do you get a steady supply of energy, in a world where those supplies are dominated by a cartel, and are concentrated in a part of the world prone to war? In America, we've been trying to puzzle that out for four decades, without success.

Well, the Chinese have figured it out. They're going to get their energy from Canada, a stable country, and pass it through the United States, another stable country. They will pay the Canadians the world price for oil. They will pay us nothing, or next to nothing. So Uncle Sam is Uncle Sucker.

Facebook's myth of freedom

See this article of FB acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp. FB claims nothing will change in their new acquisitions but it that true? A few excerpts of the general ideas follow, but see the link for details:

"Already, there have been changes to Instagram [...] that bear Facebook’s fingerprints. As the social network snaps up more WhatsApps and Instagrams in its 'unite and conquer' plan to own each facet of our online social lives, it’s likely we’ll find it harder to escape Facebook’s ideas about personal data, good behavior, and privacy.

This is democracy?

We live in a democracy, right? Not so much. See this article, where Wall Street banks are literally blackmailing the Congressional regressives. If they actually consider a bill for a bank tax then the money changers will pull their campaign contributions. And the regressives will of course cave, for that money is their power, which is why they're in office, not for 'the people.' Unless by people we mean the very rich people, who tell them what to do and they do it. Also note that regressives here include those corporate Democrats, part of the same  ilk.

Of elephants and super theories

Continuing from this post. From Mark Edwards, ... An integral metatheory:

"One central aim in modernist social science is to search for theoretical monism [... which] still carries with it the Enlightenment dream of consilence, which is a monistic form of integration. [...] But this objectifying kind of grand theorizing is not the goal of the integrative pluralism that is pursued here. [...] This pluralistic form of metatheorizing aims for an integrative polycentrism" (51).

From Edwards, "Towards an integral meta-studies," Integral Review 9(2), June 2013:

AZ veto has other anti-gay State legislation running for cover

Yep, we the people can make a difference. There was such an uproar that several other States considering this religious freedom...I mean anti-gay discrimination laws are pulling the plug on their own bigotry now that it's been exposed to the light of day. See this article, which details how similar laws in the following States are following suit: GA, MS, OK, OH, HI, ID, KS, ME, MO, OR, SD, TN. Next project, rolling back voter ID...I mean voter suppression laws, in many regressive States.

So where did AZ anti-gays get their ideas?

Jon Stewart points out that although Megan Kelly of Faux decried the AZ anti-gay bill, she nonetheless wonders why those legislators would feel their religious freedom was threatened. Stewart provides clip and clip from Faux with the obvious answer. And of course the regressive arguments for backing out of it are because big businesses said it would hurt the State's economy, and the Super Bowl said it might go elsewhere. Not one regressive wants to back out of it because it is morally repugnant; they actually believe this crap which is why they passed it in the first place.

The story of Balder

The story of Balder. Seems mistletoe was his downfall due to Frigg's oversight. This may well be the origin of the expression "Friggen' A." Ok, that last part is my fanciful speculation, but the link has a lot of info on the real myth.

Even some at Faux Snooze think AZ's anti-gay law is bad

You know that law is no good when even some at Regressive Central think so. See this article where Megyn Kelly said that the law is "deeply offensive" and "potentially dangerous." And Brit Hume agreed! It's almost too much to believe when this draconian law is too much for these hard-core regressives.

Another regressive Obamacare story debunked

See this report. Her Obamacare horror story was proven false so she appears on Faux Snooze not to refute the facts but to say she's being victimized by those who did nothing other than present the facts of her case. Somehow in her mind, twisted by the likes of the Kochs, that amounts to intimidation? Presenting facts that would actually help her to pay less with better coverage for her cancer treatment through Obamacare is intimidation? This poor cancer patient is a victim all right, but of the Koch brothers and their ilk, for without the protections of Obamacare she would truly have an insurance horror story to tell.

Multimachy

In relation to the last post, I like today's word of the day, like building a straw man:

sciamachy \sahy-AM-uh-kee\, noun: an act or instance of fighting a shadow or an imaginary enemy.

It's like the sciamachy of the Mean Green Meme (MGM), which exists only in the minds of kennilinguists. Some variations on its straw MGM application might be plurimachy or multimachy. I like the latter because of the alliteration. And it sort of sounds like a malted mocha milk shake, complete with the foamy narcissism inherent to the kennilingus 2%. Anytime you hear a kennilinguist claiming the MGM defense we might say they are imbibing a mulitmachy, a variation on the 'drinking the Kool-Aid' metaphor. The telltale foamy mustache of which they are unconscious is a dead giveaway.

Or how about Machy Talkie? Or polymachy? Polymachy wanna cracker? Polymachy talkie? It adds that parrot quality inherent to kennlingus in its MGM mumbo jumbo.

Pascal's rules of metatheory

Balder started an IPS thread on this which contains the manifesto and some comments from the Facebook discussion on it. A couple of my comments follow.

There are various and sundry meta-theories. And no one of them covers all the ground, nor can it. Even if one, or a group, were to consider all extant meta-theories available. For that one or group would still interpret all meta-theories through its own pet meta-theory. That's the whole point of it takes a village, or the next Buddha is a sangha. Granted, I know this can easily be turned into a variant of the old meme green meme BS, which is inherent to the kennilingam meta-theory; if you don't agree with this meta-theory as transcending and including all others then by definition you are MGM. Layman includes this specious argument in his manifesto calling it MOA-1, and it's what Trish first noticed. And which is but one problem with using kennilingus as the base from which to build the meta-theory. But what do I know? I'm MGM or MOA-1, but only to a kennilinguist.

We the people can and do make a difference if we but engage

I'm enclosing excerpts of Senator Sanders blast email below, showing how if we get involved we can overcome the powerful forces of big money and bought legislators. This is what the latter do not want you to know, for they want you to feel helpless. Then they can continue their plutocracy unimpeded. We can and must continue to participate to retain our democracy, for rest assured the plutocrats want no part of that.

In discussing Obama's removal of chained CPI from his budget Sander said:

Unforgiven

It's been one of those days of depressive reverie on my age, infirmity, death and the regrets for paths untaken and opportunities lost. So when I heard this song on the radio it hit me hard.

The superhuman operating system

Balder started an IPS thread on Wilber teaming up with Robbins for this super hyped program. My initial response follows:

Recall my criticism of Facebook (in the previous post). We can see how this applies to the above superhuman and super sales framing for the legitimate goal of increasing human potential. The above sort of structure is bound to seriously taint the very thing its trying to achieve. Yes, the techniques sold will likely advance those who can afford it in certain ways in certain lines. But it will also keep us supporting the super capitalist model which will in reality limit the majority from ever even becoming aware of such potentials, much less pay for them.

More on Facebook

Balder gave a thoughtful and well articulated response here to this post on Facebook's manipulation. I responded in the next post of that thread as follows:

I'd agree that with tribes like yours--and I include myself therein--higher educational opportunities gives us immunity to some degree from being easily manipulated by the powerful shaping influences of super media like Facebook. But many without those opportunities and development are easily so manipulated to not only remain within their limited 'likes' bubbles, but their likes themselves are shaped by the very structure of said media. So this in effect enbubbles us too by thinking that because we are somewhat immune then so is everyone else, which allows us to continue to support said media by our participation.

Petition against AZ anti-gay law

Recall this post on nationwide anti-gay legislation. Now see the following from the Daily Kos:

Sign our petition to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer—urging her to veto the anti-gay “okay-to-discriminate” bill. Click here to sign.

The Arizona legislature has passed a bill that would allow businesses to discriminate against LGBT customers—or any other customers who they claim it would be against their religion to serve.

Gov. Jan Brewer only has until Tuesday to sign or veto the bill. Click here to urge her to veto.

Brewer has not taken a position yet, despite having vetoed an earlier version last year. But she is under increasing pressure from national right-wing groups, who have been pushing such discriminatory laws in state legislatures across the country.

Arizona already passed an anti-immigrant law. Don’t let them pass an anti-gay law as well.

Sign our petition urging Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to say “no” to discrimination and veto SB 1062—the “turn the gays away” bill.

Keep fighting,
Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos

Facebook makes you stupider

Here's Maher's new rule on how our news is being micro-managed to feed us only what we want to hear, and in the process making us stupider. Facebook is of course leading the way in this trend because it makes a fortune on catering to our self-contained world of 'likes' and 'friends.'

Does money make you mean?

See this TED talk below. It starts with an experiment of a rigged Monopoly game where one  player is automatically rich, the other poor. And rigged to advantage the rich player at every turn. It showed that the rich players end up believing that they somehow earned their privilege and treated the poor player terribly. It goes on to show that they've studied this in real-life society and it also holds true there. As income goes up, compassion and empathy go down. Whereas feelings of entitlement and self-interest increase. The richer one gets, the more likely to rationalize that greed is good. Rich people give less to others and are more likely to cheat to obtain a result. They are far more likely to feel above the law and break it, lie and engage in unethical behavior. They will even steal candy from children, literally.

Where the talk fails is near the end, where he says the rich can be nudged into being more compassionate and giving, and provides examples of some who do. Where this fails is in the valid critique of a rigged capitalist system by its very nature that creates the kind of increasingly self-interested, greedy, lying, cheating and stealing way of life from the beginning. His rich success stories of compassion and sharing might have more to do with those few rich who didn't lie, cheat and steal their way to the top to begin with. And the rest are beyond salvation is an economic system that creates and supports their bad behavior.

Regressive anti-gay campaign

Regressives just can't help themselves. Now there is a nationwide campaign to pass laws that allow a person or organization to deny services to gay people if said person/org opposes homosexual behavior on religious grounds. See this article for the details. First the Kansas House passed a bill to do so, which protects those who deny services to gays-- including employment -- by barring lawsuits against them for denying such services. This includes said protection for government employees providing social services. Similar legislation is being pursued in ID, OR, SD, TN, OH, OK, MS, HI and AZ. And in every case it is Republican-controlled legislatures making these proposals. Hence regressive is the right word for them and they must be fought and defeated if the US wants to join the 21st century like many other civilized nations.

MSNBC muzzles its hosts on Comcast merger

Recall this prior post on how there's a media blackout on the TPP, even at MSNBC. The same thing is happening now over the proposed Comcast merger with Time Warner. In this article it is noted that Writers Guild of America is petitioning the hosts of MSNBC shows to speak out against the merger, because to date none of them have. Not even Ed Schultz. It so happens that Comcast is the parent company of NBC Universal, so that explains a lot.

Blonde joke

This one is thanks to Santa Rosa Mark.

Keep up the fight against the Keystone Pipeline

Given the last post, we need to keep the pressure on the President to quit backing this environmental disaster in the making. See the cartoon below and remind him incessantly what he said and how he's going back on it. We can win this one too if we but commit to engage relentlessly with passion and reason.

President drops social security cuts from his budget

See this story. This is a huge victory for progressives that pressured the President with emails, letters, phone calls and petitions. Also it has majority popular support. The President heretofore has consistently suggested chained CPI increases to SS, which are in effect cuts in benefits. And he did that mostly to appease the regressives in order to get some kind of budget passed. But he's finally learning that to give in on cuts to the most needy to placate those regressives always backfires on him. And it's good policy for the rest of us. Keep up the pressure citizens. We are making progress.

AQAL revisualized

Continuing the theme of the last post, in this IPS post in the real/false reason thread I compared Bryant's Borromean diagram with the AQAL diagram, and how the latter could be modified to display the kind of overlapping of boundaries indicative of a fuzzy and/or paraconsistent logic. I created this crude 2-D representation of the AQAL diagram for the same purpose. Each quad overlaps with the others while still maintaining its own autonomy, and the center square is the infamous objet (fucken') a.

Dogma and developmental studies

Continuing in this post of the IPS real false reason thread, in reading Sattler's Integral World article on scientific dogma he provides an example from his own research in plant morphology. He, like most other scientists, was inculcated into an Aristotelian logic of strict, well-defined categories. But his empirical research was showing that some plants just didn't fit into one or the other accepted category. He came to accept fuzzy logic in developing a continuum morphology for those plants that were somewhere in between. Dogma refused to accept this but he said evo-devo has since proved his hypothesis.

Florida's insane kill young black men with impunity law

Stand your ground is leading to outright murder without repercussion. Well, murder of young black men only. If Travon Martin didn't prove it we have yet another case, where blatant racist Michael Dunn was convicted of 3 counts of attempted murder for the 3 he shot at and didn't kill, but the jury was hung on the one he shot at and did kill. WTF? It's that damn stand your ground law, which confuses everyone because it basically says you can kill someone if you feel threatened, even if there isn't actually a threat involved. Like in this case. But again, it only applies if you are white and you kill a young black man, because the latter by nature are scary. Again, WTF? Stewart skewers this bullshit law that has to go.

The Daily Show
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Sultans of Swing

This one's been playing in my head this morning.

Same as the old boss

Recent posts brought this one to mind today:

The dignity of work

The 1% exposed

Really Hillary, the 1% is being "unfairly persecuted?" See this Kevin Roose article, adapted from his new expose of the 1%, Young Money. Therein he talks of his crashing an initiation party of the secret society for the wealthy, Kappa Beta Phi. A few key excerpts follow, indicative of their general worldview. And they wonder why the 99% rail on them? And fear we are the hounds at the gate, as well they should, out to devour the wolves of Wall Street.

"The first and most obvious conclusion was that the upper ranks of finance are composed of people who have completely divorced themselves from reality. No self-aware and socially conscious Wall Street executive would have agreed to be part of a group whose tacit mission is to make light of the financial sector’s foibles. Not when those foibles had resulted in real harm to millions of people in the form of foreclosures, wrecked 401(k)s, and a devastating unemployment crisis.

Concrete universals and plurisingularity

Continuing from this post, I'm reminded of this post, Shaviro commenting on Whitehead's eternal objects:

"Eternal objects thus take on something of the role that universals...Platonic forms and ideas played in older metaphysical systems. But we have already seen that, for Whitehead, 'concrete particular fact' cannot simply 'be built up out of universals'; it is more the other way around. Universals...can and must be abstracted from 'things which are temporal.' But they cannot be conceived by themselves, in the absence of the empirical, temporal entities that they inform. Eternal objects, therefore, are neither a priori logical structures, nor Platonic essences, nor constitutive rational ideas" (18).

The TPP's revolving door corruption

See this story. The more that is uncovered about this deal the more it reeks of corruption. Two Obama administration officials involved in negotiations used to work for big banks and received outrageous bonuses to specifically take government jobs like this. No, the banks didn't pay these folks off to take these jobs because they believe in public service. It's obvious they paid these 'retirement' bonuses to directly influence the outcome of the deal to benefit the multinational corps involved. Given that released TPP documents show that corps in this deal can take governments to a tribunal for damages if said governments interfere in their profits, even if those profits violate environmental or other laws, I'd say the above claim is well substantiated. And these TPP negotiators being paid multimillion dollar payoffs to effect such corruption is further proof that the deal is rotten to the core. Seriously Mr. President, is this the way you redress our cultural inequality by perpetuating it?

Davis & White grab Olympic gold in ice dancing

Update: The video below is the same routine that won the gold, from the 2014 US championships. It's not the Olympic video, still apparently copyrighted and unavailable.

See this report. As a dancer myself I love this sort of thing. These 2 have worked 17 years to achieve this goal, an historic first for the US. I'm looking forward to watching their performance tonight on tv. YouTube had a couple copies of the performance but they were removed due to copyright. Congrats to the couple and thank you for the inspiring and beautiful performances over the years. A gold well deserved.

Perennialism and pluralism

Balder stated an IPS thread on this with a doc covering the Facebook discussion on the topic to date. The following is from the comments.

me: Tom Huston, 2/7/14, 10:43 am (p. 8 of the doc) said:

"Generally, overlooking a myriad of cultural and semiotic differences, I think the 'nonduality' in both Madhyamaka-inspired Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta is *essentially* resolved by all of the Buddhist traditions that made 'emptiness' into a noninvolved, Atman-like substratum of pure awareness/mind/rigpa/buddha-nature."

I and kela have argued against this for a long, long time. And I've long pointed out that this is in fact the remnant of Vedanta in those branches of Madhyamaka, also supported by Thakchoe's work.

Hal Blacker, 2/7/14, 11:24 am (p. 9) correctly notes that the above is typical of Vedanta, Mahamudra, Dzogchen and Shentong, while those that disagree are 'hard-core' Prasangika and the likes of Batchelor.

Meet the Press climate change fail

Mirkinson's article noted that today's scheduled 'debate' on Meet the Press (MTP) over climate change would be a complete waste of time. And indeed that's exactly what it turned out to be. Mirkinson noted that it's just bad journalism to set up two sides to this, as if there really is an actual debate on human-caused climate change when around 98% of climate scientists already agree on this. MTP's Gregory had to even interupt the regressive representative Blackburn on saying there is not consensus on this, basically telling her she was full of shit.

Polyphilia

Balder provided an extended quote from Divine Multiplicity here. My short comments follow.

A few points on this quote. There's a lot of en-and un- folding going on. Also an emphasis on interactive prepositions: across, between, beyond. All reminiscent of the fold thread, which weaves in some of these theologians and ideas.

The political aesthetics of postcapitalism

Maher on the Comcast/Time Warner merger

On his show last night he notes that these are the number 1 and 2 cable and internet providers in the country. With the merger they will be the only provider in 19 of the 20 largest US cities. And they are the lowest rated providers for service while having the highest rates. And Comcast has already admitted that prices will not only not be lowered but will continue to rise at the rate they have been. One can presume the service will suck just as bad if not get worse. All of which will continue to widen the gap of income inequality because the lower economic classes will not be able to afford internet service, which is critical in today's world for being able to express your opinions and engage in electronic petitions, etc.

One of the panelists said this deal will go through if we the people do not speak out against it. See this prior post on the petition to stop it. Take action now before you can no longer afford internet service. And/or your internet provider, given the court over ruling net neutrality, decides to slow down or even block your ability to access sites and information so that you can engage politically via the net. Yes, it is this serious and it is not hyperbole. Remember when Time/Warner couldn't extort outrageous rates from CBS and then cut off their programming? That is only the beginning the more consolidation we get in this business.

Maher's new rule on political candidates

He makes some good points and some better jokes about how we want new candidates for political office. The longer one is in any office the more shit sticks to them. He applies this to both Hillary Clinton and Chris Christie. Which is all the more reason to give Elizabeth Warren the Democrat nod in 2016. Recall this post on the latter topic.

Stop the Comcast/Time Warner merger

From the Free Press:

Comcast just announced that it’s buying Time Warner Cable. If approved, this outrageous deal would create a television and Internet colossus like no other. The fight to stop this merger begins today. Comcast is the country's #1 cable and Internet company and Time Warner Cable is #2. Put them together and you get a single giant controlling a massive share of our nation’s TV and Internet-access markets.

Fight to Stop the Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger.

No one woke up this morning wishing their cable company was bigger or had more control over what they watch and how they get online. But that's the reality we’ll face unless the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission do their jobs and block this merger. Stopping this kind of deal is exactly why we have antitrust laws. After a year of sustained organizing, we convinced the DoJ and the FCC to stop AT&T from gobbling up T-Mobile. With your help we can stop this deal too.

Take Action: Say No to Comcast/Time Warner Cable 

Krugman on the dignity of work

Now that the CBO has destroyed the regressive myth that Obamacare will destroy jobs, the regressives have shifted to another myth, that it will destroy the dignity of work. Krugman destroys that specious rationalization (aka bullshit). It is not dignity to work in a shit job that pays you less than you can afford to live, only hanging on to it so that you can keep your health insurance, if you're lucky enough to get even that. Obamacare frees us--yes freedom--from that sort of indentured job lock. And it puts added pressure on the assholes that maintain such slave labor jobs to raise the minimum wage and increase their benefit packages to keep employees, since many are free to finally tell them what they've wanted to all along: Take that job and shove it. The latter is giving dignity back to the worker. And employers now having to raise wages and benefits is giving dignity back to worker. Keeping them enslaved to the nonexistent largesse of greedy employers is not in any way dignity.

The media blackout on the TPP

See this article. There is enormous opposition arising against fast track for the TPP. And yet the news about it is largely silent. Media matters looked at major media outlets over the last 6 months and "ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS—have ignored the TPP almost completely." Only The Ed Show on MSNBC gives it attention on at least a semi-regular basis, but what about the other shows on that station? Not so much. Why?

Even MSNBC, which is supposed to be a 'liberal' network, is hardly so. Ed was their number 1 attraction at the 8pm slot opposite O'Reilly, his success largely due to his blatant and aggressive progressive stance. So what does the network do? Move him to the weekends to diffuse his rhetoric. Then they take him back to weekdays, but at a time difficult for many to watch given their work schedules. If effect they want to mute his effect because even MSNBC is part of the corpoartocracy that wants business deals like the TPP. Hence all the other hosts are afraid to even broach the topic lest they be moved to ratings-hell time slots. Or fired, like their former number 1 host, Olbermann.

Stop the XL pipeline

The following is from Rep. Raul Grijalva of the progressive caucus.

This is one of the shortest, easiest requests you'll ever hear from anyone: Help me stop the Keystone XL pipeline before it's too late.

The State Department just released its final environmental impact statement for the pipeline, and the clock is ticking. There aren't many barriers left. If TransCanada and the oil industry get their way, the deal will be done in a matter of months. This is one of the most important decisions President Obama will make during his presidency, and we need to urge him to do the right thing.

Please co-sign my comment below to President Obama, telling him to reject the Keystone XL pipeline. I'll be sending it to the president soon, along with the names of everyone who signs on in agreement, so I hope you'll add your name. 

Please reject the Keystone XL pipeline, based on its clearly documented environmental risks, the multiple corporate conflicts of interest it entails, and the flawed process the State Department used to support it.

Tell President Obama: Reject the Keystone XL pipeline.

Facebook is not your friend

Facebook Is Not Your Friend - watch more funny videos

The inside scoop on CEO pay

In this video Leo Hindery Jr. tells us that CEO and board of director pay in based on repeatedly proven false trickle down economics. And that what it's really about is cronyism and fraud. Not a surprise, except that he admits it.

Colbert lampoons O'Reilly's inflated self-importance

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Krystal Ball on Hillary Clinton's presidential bid

In the video below Ball pleads with Clinton to not run for President.While she deeply respects Clinton she feels the time is ripe for a people's candidate like Elizabeth Warren. Clinton sat on the Board of Walmart for several years, and recently gave two highly paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, telling them that they were being "unfairly persecuted." In a time of unparalleled inequality since the great depression, with the banks and top 1% reaping all the benefits of the economy, and with her husband largely responsible for the deregulation that created it, do we really want more of that? Ball says what most of us progressives are thinking: It's Warren we really want, and who is perfect for this time and place, who will restore the kind of America that works for everyone, not just the plutocrats. While Ball thinks Clinton running would eliminate Warren from entering the race, I think Warren could and will actually defeat Clinton in the Democrat primary, should it come to that.

fungoo

I was reminded of Caputo's review of a book on a debate between Zizek and Millbank in this post, where God is dead, or undead. Some comments on atheism, belief, Hegel's dialectic and more are therein. All of which reminds me of this fungoo, a poetic and bastard hybrid of haiku and fangul.

I see a ghost on the horizon

calling me to follow.

When I get there

loose rags on a tattered fence.

I look up and he's still there on the horizon, beckoning.

Reality check on Obamacare

See this prior post for reference. The following cartoon highlights the reality from the regressive lies about Obamacare.

Holacracy's unrecognized 'tension' (elephant) in the room

Update: For further discussion see this post and following.

Continuing from this post, in Klein's and Robertson's conversation there was a point on discerning an organization's purpose as different from what the individuals want it to be as their property (around 24:00). And yet that is exactly what capitalism is about, private property (including capital) governing the means of production, and that governed by top-down leaders (governors). Robertson realizes that the organizational structure of this type of governance is the problem, but he doesn't contextualize it to the broader socio-economic structure of capitalism, which is based on private property. Per the first statement above he understands that the organization is not the property of the founders or board members, yet still believes in an idealistic notion of 'free market' capitalism as a societal organizational structure.

At around 26:00 Robertson discusses how our ego assumptions and projections are made transparent by holacracy and thus allows for us to overcome them. I'm suggesting that capitalism is one of those assumptions and projections that is not at all transparent. Or overcome.

What happens when you stand by progressive convictions

See the below from the Daily Kos and consider showing your support for those who stand up to the regressives and defeat them. We must stand strong if this country is to keep moving forward instead of backward, for regressive forces are strong and have a lot of money. Every vote counts, every petition counts, every letter to a representative counts. Please get involved, for when you do we come closer to realizing the dream of a true democracy.

Republicans just caved big time. After months of posturing, John Boehner brought a bill to raise the debt ceiling to the floor of the House, and it passed—with no strings attached.

Sign the petition to Democrats: We win when we stand strong. Don’t cave to Republican obstruction or hostage-taking—ever.

So just as a reminder, here’s what happens when Democrats unite against Republican hostage-taking and obstruction:

• Government shutdown: Democrats won
  
• Debt ceiling crisis: Democrats won
• Filibuster reform: Democrats won
• Debt ceiling, part two: Democrats won

There’s a lesson to learn here: Democrats have the facts and public opinion backing them up on virtually every issue that comes before Congress—and when they stand together in the face of Republican hostage-taking and obstruction, they win.

Sign the petition now. Let Democratic leaders know you will keep having their back as long they keep standing strong.

Keep fighting,
Chris Bowers, Daily Kos

US freedom of the press ranking falls to 46th

According to this report, citing the Reporters Without Borders index. That's what comes with prosecuting the whistle blowers who disclose government crimes, and with massive government surveillance on its own citizens. All in the name of 'national security,' the common euphemism for the erosion of not only freedom of the press but personal freedom as well. See the article for examples.

The economic principles of shared success the 1% repress

Robert Reich said that we've forgotten the economic principles that once made the US the land of opportunity for all. No, those principle haven't been forgotten so much as repressed. Those principles led to just about everyone having a successful piece of the pie, including the rich. But they weren't rich enough, for they can never have enough, so they regressed to base human greed and took the economic system with it. Fuck if they care. Those repressed principles are per Reich:

Holacratic assumptions about capitalism

Continuing in the IPS anti-capitalism thread, in the Robertson/Klein conversation ( also see this prior post), another idea is this:

"What if businesses were more like the free market; full of innovation and iteration? They could evolve quickly, meeting the demands of the market around themselves, while simultaneously allowing all the people who run them to be more engaged and invested."

This is a naive view of 'free markets,' at least as they are today. He might be talking more about how Adam Smith originally envisioned them but capitalist markets today are not at all like this. They both need a good dose of the anti-capitalism thread.

The difference between metatheory and supertheory

Continuing from this post, see the discussion so far in that link. In the last few posts Balder brought up Sean's chart showing the difference.

Autocracy or custodianship

Here's an interesting article about the above topic. It doesn't frame it in P2P terms, but that's how I see it. One social organizational example in the emerging P2P meme is holacracy, as we've been discussing in the IPS thread anti-capitalism continued. (See the main discussion and comments starting on this page.) A few excerpts from the article highlighting the difference in leadership approach, noting of course that the autocratic way is the dominant one and why of course we have rampant inequality of the kind still maintained since feudal lords. And it ain't democracy in any way, for custodianship is built into its design.

Following are excerpts of the general idea. He goes into specifics for government, corporations and universities.

"Institutions in the United States are not meant to be owned by those who lead them. They are not possessions to be disposed of according to the will and inclination of managers or governors. Leaders are custodians who supposedly act in the collective interest of all those who have a stake in the institution's performance. The principle holds for public bodies, for private entities certified, charted or endorsed by the government, and indeed any organization whose purposes and modes of operation are stipulated in an enabling constitution or a basic set of rules. This conforms to norms and legal traditions of liberally constituted societies.

Pascal's indecent proposal for Wilber

See it in this IPS thread. I disagree with it and responded as follows:

I'm with Balder on this one. AQAL is lacking and needs to not only be compared with but integrated into (i.e. included and transcended) other integral and meta models. I'm with Edwards that there is no one meta-model that can handle it all and to presume such is part and parcel of a metaphysical paradigm, hegemonic and inclusivist to boot. Edwards has done extensive research into a host of other meta-models that take into consideration things utterly missing from AQAL, yet he finds the latter useful and includes it in the mix. Or to apply kennilingus to AQAL, it is (somewhat) true but (definitely) partial.

What I think of Facebook

I tried it but just don't see the point, unless you enjoy wasting time. I saw the below and it struck me as a succinct summary of the entire enterprise.

New Rules for the elderly

Last night's New Rules special comment at the end focused on how seniors get a lot of benefits compared to children, including boner pills and penis pumps. And they're using them like never before, having sex more often than many young folks. And yet they complain about government healthcare? They're getting to have more sex later in life that could heretofore be expected. And when they get VD, increasing on the rise in their population, they get government healthcare to take care of it.

Government by the People Act

From Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee:

In 2012 election cycle, Wall Street spent more than $200 million to influence elections. And, because of Citizens United, it's only going to get worse. 

The surge of corporate cash into our political system not only undermines our democracy -- it also prevents desperately needed reforms to address the growing income inequality that threatens the American dream. 

That's why Democracy for America is proud to join House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. John Sarbanes, the Progressive Campaign Change Committee, and a coalition of progressive organizations in the fight to take back our democracy by supporting the recently introduced Government By The People Act!

This new bill in Congress will help reverse the impact of Citizens United and end the legalized bribery that undermines the democratic process.

The Government By The People Act is already sponsored by over 130 Representatives -- now, we need to pressure the rest of Congress to endorse this bill by showing massive public support.

Click here to join DFA and the PCCC in signing on as a citizen co-sponsor of the Government By The People Act.

Reich on the real regressive agenda

Robert Reich does it again in another 2 minute video summing up how the regressive agenda is to deliberately keep most of us hungry and desperate so that they can feed us crumbs while exploiting our labor for unliving wages.

Money = speech at work

Stewart on the Obamacare CBO report

Recall this post on what the CBO actually said about Obamacare, versus the flagrant pull-it-out-of-your ass regressive lies about it killing jobs. Jon Stewart enters the fray, part 1 below. You can also see part 2 and part 3 at the embedded links.

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When is enough enough?

The material basis of near death experiences

The lanes have a new article on the above at Integral World. It covers an interview of Patricia Churchland by Alex Tsakiris. The latter is into metaphysical explanations of such phenomenon and Churchland is most certainly not. The Lanes point out that the so-called controversial nature of the interview is entirely manufactured by Tsakiris, and that Churchland comports herself clearly, lucidly an civilly. That Tsakiris states otherwise is more based on his dislike for her responses, which do not comport with his woo woo.

Holacracy and Conscious Capitalism

See this article showing that Zappos is now using holacracy. Therein it says that Mackey's org Conscious Capitalism is also using holacracy.

From this conversation with Robertson and Klein. The latter is the director of marketing and business development for Conscious Capitalism (CC), Inc. and is using holacracy with the executive team at CC:

"According to Brian Robertson, conscious capitalism can't happen until we find a better way to organize companies. While the movement towards purpose-driven business is great, the organization of the businesses that comprise it cannot weather the shift in the market as they are. If you take new ideas and apply old models, you won't get anywhere."

Now where did I hear that before?

Universal and contingent image schema and cognitive structures

On a practical level, the evolution of language is relevant to this previous post. If we have universal, neurolinguistic human structures then we might be able to correlate this with universal human cognitive structures of the type we all go through, the usual developmental hierarchy. But there are over 5,000 languages in the world, quite a diversity, so what is universal about language and what is particular to cultures, regions, dialects? And given the ontocartographical bent, even different climates and geographies? And does that say something about English language prejudices about cognitive structures?

This recent paper suggests that "language seems to have evolved along varied, complicated paths, guided less by neurological settings than cultural circumstance." It mentions Chomsky's universal grammar, and that there may be a limited repertoire of universals but contra Chomsky they are minimal and diversity is the rule.

Recall Lakoff challenged Chomsky's universal grammar for cognitive (embodied) linguistics, of which I've made much hay. Lakoff also claims universals like image schema that he claims cross all cultures. But in this post and following there have been challenges to this view, noting that some cultural factors indeed enact different image schema. And not only that, but cultural development can via downward causation actually create new image schema that were not there originally, given brain plasticity and growth.

Senate regressives blocking unemployment benefit extension

From the Daily Kos:

Join Daily Kos and U.S. Senator Cory Booker in urging the U.S. Senate to stop blocking the restoration of emergency unemployment benefits—which they did again this afternoon by one vote. Click here to sign.

Every week, 70,000 Americans lose their unemployment insurance—because Congress let emergency benefits expire in December.

Every week, that’s tens of thousands more families giving up medications, missing rent and mortgage payments or unable to find the money to put gas in their car to get to a job interview.

Freshman Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)—in his first speech on the Senate floor—advocated for a bill to restore these benefits, and has asked Daily Kos for our help.

Join Daily Kos and Senator Cory Booker in urging the U.S. Senate to stop blocking the restoration of emergency unemployment benefits.

Keep fighting,
Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos

CBO director sets the record straight on Obamacare job creation

You no doubt heard the regressive spin that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on Obamacare will eliminate over 2 million jobs. But that was a gross misrepresentation of what the report said, which was in fact the opposite. Even House majority leader Cantor had to walk back his previously outrageous bullshit which was proven wrong. See this report on what it actually said from the mouth of the CBO director, also in the video below.

Metaphysics and postmetaphysics, again

Continuing from the last post, to clarify metaphysics from postmephysics: If by metaphysics we mean ontology, our epistemic views on the ontic (real), then yes, postmetaphysics is that sort of metaphysics. I prefer the word ontology for that. What I generally mean by metaphysics is the sort of dualism that see a sharp distinction between the epistemic and the ontic, the relative and the causal, with the latter as a cause with teleos pulling the up the relative. Whereas what I mean by postmetaphysics is the sort of ontology like what I described in my linked diatribe, more closely akin to the OOO and SR crowd (in some respects) and the post-structuralist and alter-complexity dynamic systems crowds (in some respects).

Of gravity sinks, strange attractors and wet dreams

My last post from this IPS thread, continuing the discussion therein.

On this last point, kennilingus and the model of hierarchical complexity (MHC) assume a teleology. For the Lingam it is a morphogenetic gradient from involution that pulls evolution up toward it, like a strange attractor. For the MHC it is both Platonic ideal forms and Aristotelian universal categories. Both require that the lower be subsumed in the higher, and both assume that this higher is the real goal to which evolution is moving. Both require essences.

Note how the referenced system dynamicists still have a virtual dimension where strange attractors create paths which guide actual occasions. (Note the plural, attractors, so that depending on conditions different paths can be taken.) They seem like essences in that way but their attractors are entirely immanent, i.e., there is no essential or ideal dimension already in existence guiding this process with a goal 'in mind' (or in spirit, if you must). And this virtual dimension is intimately entangled with the actual domain, which provides the environmental conditions whereby the virtual can express. Under different environmental conditions a suobject will manifest in different ways. Any particular manifestation is not the way it is supposed to be according to a divine plan, or even some rational notion of ideal categories.

Jon Stewart on O'Reilly's farce with the President

No, O'Reilly didn't take this prime opportunity to inquire into international trade, loose nukes, middle east peace negotiation or the environment. You know, stuff one should discuss when interviewing the President of the US. But nooooo, instead Bill'O the clown focused on his and his network's created scandals, all of which have had numerous hearings and all have been proven to be false.

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Luhmann's "System as difference"

“Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere.” Gilbert K. Chesterton

I just read Luhmann's lecture "System as difference." I was hoping to find more support on the elements of individual endo-structures but did not. He did though discuss communication as the foundation of social systems, that it is an internal relation distinguished from an external relation (aka endo- and exo-relations). He mentioned Husserl's transcendental phenomenology, transcendental in that self-reflexivity is inherent to any consciousness that draws a distinction with its environment, yet it is also tied to the phenomenon in that environment and thus not an a priori essence.* This differential theoretical approach was an improvement over one that emphasized essences. This principle could equally apply to ontology and theology, but he doesn't elaborate.

Colbert on regressive hysteria over Super Bowl Coke ad

Imagine, regressives are fuming that a Super Bowl Coke ad was sung in English and Spanish and Arabic! And it has colored people in it! And gay people! All of which are completely un-American to those bigoted white folk. Colbert points out that the song's writer was a lesbian. Oh...my...whiteass...heterosexual...English speaking...GOD! Btw, white, English-speaking people are not originally from America. That would be those dark natives that speak something other than English.

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Senator Grayson's petition on the Farm Bill

He notes that not only will the Farm Bill cut food stamps, but it will cut them more in States with Democrat (blue) majorities. It does this by removing a home heating deduction that figures into food stamp eligibility. The result is that cold States that have higher heating bills will see an additional $9 billion in food stamp cuts. And the coldest States just happen (uh huh) to be mostly blue States, which will see 97% of the total cuts to the food stamp program. Please sign his petition to thwart these draconian and cruel cuts to the most needy.

Metaphysical causes and postmetaphysical differances

Layman Pascal has responded to some of Mark Edwards' criticisms in an IPS thread on the latter's work. My response starts in this post and follows. See above that for Layman's comments.

The kennilinguists, led of course by the Lingam, have proven time and again their totalitarian organizational structure via I-I, as well as their self-righteous indignation toward so-called lower levels and rampant group aggrandizement via their marketing strategy. Do you really doubt this?

As for vertical co-dependency, of course a student needs the teacher to train them and must submit to the teacher's expertise to learn a skill. But when we're talking about enlightenment it's not just a particular skill one learns but it's about one's entire being in the world. Every aspect of that being comes under control of the master. And this is of course what's wrong with enlightenment so framed in this all consuming, all subsuming manner as Master of Reality. If meditative state training were viewed postmetaphysically as just learning a skill that would be acceptable, but that's not what's going on.

Drone policy hypocrisy

Click image to enlarge.

Krugman on regressive Obamacare lies

As usual he counters lies with truth. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' regressive response to the SOTU picked one example of how Obamacare premiums increased by $700 when Betty in Spokane's old policy had to be cancelled because it didn't meet the new requirements. Of course a little fact checking revealed that Betty didn't even get a quote on the Obamacare site, since she refused to go there. And why refuse to even look? Because she believes the regressive lies about it. So what are the facts about Obamacare?

La Grange

Thought of this one today. I like the studio version, below.

Reform from within with a different kind of consciousness

Going back to this Chomsky video, he was asked if one tried to reform the system from within weren't they in effect just feeding the capitalist beast. He said no, that that was a necessary step on the way to libertarian socialism (LS). That we need to make progressive inroads to transform it from within. He provided numerous examples of LS systems past and present that are quite successful, but in themselves they do not change the dominant system. And when those systems get too successful on a larger scale, the not only the state socialists but the state capitalists will team up to crush them, for such actual democratic liberty is a threat to both of them.

Thing is, state capitalism operates within at least a nominal democratic political system. Granted it does everything in its considerable power to overcome that democracy, but it relies on at least maintaining the facade to prevent outright revolution of the kind that has decimated state socialism. So we need to use that pretense to justify progressive changes within the existing system by winning over the workers of America, the ones getting the shaft by the capitalist plutocrats and their political cronies in government. Time and again we see them give an inch here and there when popular sentiment rises up. And there is some support in our governments by way of some truly progressive politicians that actually believe in democracy and the people. Yes, they are in the minority but they hold true to the democratic ideals on which such constitutions were founded at the expense of actual blood  when tyranny and fascism ruled the day.

Obama tells O'Reilly that he is the problem

Bill'O the Clown O'Reilly landed an interview with the President today and, as expected, asked the President why people believe he created distractions from Benghazi and the IRS scandal. The President slapped him down, noting that it was the likes of O'Reilly and Faux Snooze that are the creators of such beliefs. Obama: "And they believe it because folks like you tell them that. These kinds of things keep on surfacing in part because you and your TV station will promote them."

Kansas law to virtually prohibit broadband access

See this article and it is not an exaggeration. This KS legislation is based on ALEC's model which will, in effect, insured no internet access in certain rural areas of the State. Meanwhile it will provide a monopoly in other urban areas. Which of course is right up ALEC's alley; monopolies on the one hand and restricting access to information on the other so as to prevent knowledge of their activities. The American way all right.

Beyond state socialism

This 2011 Chomsky interview is called "Beyond state socialism" and discusses primarily libertarian socialism. It was conducted in Norway, one of the happiest and most democratic countries in the world.