Basic income is a freedom issue

See this article. It's not that a basic income would make us lazy. The real fear of the corporations and rich folk opposed to it is that it would give us freedom from their slave labor pool. But I thought America was about freedom? An excerpt:

"Not everyone will be on board to sever the age-old ties between poverty relief and tough demands on the poor. The basic-income approach will be resisted by employer interests because it violates that venerable principle, and will make workers more powerful over time by reducing their dependence on any one employer. A generous basic-income policy could, in other words, transform class relations."

Jesse Graff makes history

On American Ninja Warrior, being the first woman to ever complete stage one of the finals in Las Vegas.

Bless the Broken Road

Edgar family band on AGT last night. They are one of my favorites and I hope they make the finals.

US media IS a reality show

Because that's all they'll report on. It's all about entertainment now and since Trump is an entertainer he gets lots of free press. It sells ads and that is their only concern. Anything of substance, like Clinton's proposal on mental health, is just too boring to cover and it won't sell anything. There is no longer any concern for public good, heretofore considered news, involved in our media.

Kaepernick: Protest IS Patriotic

So argues Hartmann in this clip, given all the political correctness by conservatives claiming Kaepernick is unpatriotic for sitting down during the national anthem.

Apple lied about its taxes

See this Reich FB post. First Apple lies about paying its US taxes, then lies to the EU about its taxes there. The EU has caught them in their lie and says Apple owes them $14.5 billion in back taxes. So Apple, after pulling jobs out of the US over taxes, is now threatening to pull their jobs out of the EU over taxes. Such good corporate citizens they are. Remember that next time you have an unconscious consumer itch to buy one of their products.

Greenwald on the media & questions about the Clinton Foundation

See this from Democracy Now. A brief Greenwald excerpt below. See the article for much more.

"Well, I mean, the problem here is that the context in which this is all taking place is that the Republicans have nominated this truly unstable, dangerous and often terrifying person who obviously should never get anywhere near the White House. And so, there seem to be a lot of people, including in journalism, who think that because that’s the case, the Democratic nominee, who has all kinds of flaws and vulnerabilities and ethical clouds surrounding her, should sort of get to waltz into the White House free of challenge or questioning, because somehow it’s our civic and moral duty to make sure that Donald Trump loses the election. And although I do think that Donald Trump getting anywhere near the White House is very dangerous, I also think it’s very dangerous to allow someone to gain extraordinary amounts of political power, even more than they already have, without being challenged or questioned by an adversarial media. The role of journalists should be to shine a light on both of them. And there’s a lot of light to be shined on what Bill and Hillary Clinton had been doing in terms of unifying private wealth and oligarchical financing and enormous amounts of political power in ways that blur every single conceivable ethical line."

Colbert on Trump's health report

Yeah, the bogus report that Trump wrote and got some hack to sign off on.

George St. Pierre returns

According to this story he will return and fight Connor McGregor. I don't know if this is real or not. If so, I hope he fights better than he did against his last opponent, Hendricks, which he barely won by split decision. Hendricks turned out to be a hack when he fought and lost to many others, including no name nothings.

Thakchoe on ultimate truth and reality

From his book The Two Truths Debate (which is available for free here):

"Gorampa argues that ultimate truth is ontologically unconditioned, and hence it is not a dependently arisen phenomenon; it is distinct from empirical phenomenon in every sense of the word...it is an absolutely timeless and eternally unchanging phenomenon" (73).

And Thakchoe reminds us that Mipham, the eminent Nyingma-Dzogchen proponent, is in agreement with Gorampa on this (42). In footnote 170 Thakchoe says: "Mipham not only attempts to show that ultimate truth is the only truth but also takes one step further to show that ultimate truth is an absolute, therefore truly existent" (188).

For more discussion on the topic see the IPS Batchelor thread.

Direct experience of reality itself & the fourth turning

Wilber has always posited the above. And if one thinks that's old school Wilber IV, recall this from his recent video on the fourth turning: "The idea being to clear the mind of any and all concepts about reality so that reality itself could be directly experienced" (5:20). Immediately following Kennilingam goes on to say that every branch of Mahayana agreed with the last above statement. (Wrong, see the Batchelor thread.) And he then admits that the third turning was Yogacara, which also is in agreement with that statement. That is true, but again it is a continuation of a of metaphysics of presence, not at all the kind of postmetaphysics Batchelor talks about. Or Nagarjuna or Tsongkhapa, for that matter. At 7:00 he notes it's time for the fourth turning, and with that I'll agree. But it's Batchelor's sort of postmetaphysical turning, not the metaphysical rehash he's talking about in the above quote that he apparently wants to retain.

Consciousness per se and Khora

A brief excerpt of my writing from this discussion thread entitled "What 'is' the differance":

Derrida's descriptions of khora and differance superficially appear to be like Wilber's description of consciousness per se in Integral Spirituality (Shambhala, 2007). For example Wilber says in Chapter 2:

"This happens to fit nicely with the Madhyamaka-Yogachara Buddhist view of consciousness as emptiness or openness. Consciousness is not anything itself, just the degree of openness or emptiness, the clearing in which the phenomena of the various lines appear (but consciousness is not itself a phenomena—it is the space in which phenomena arise)" (66).

Compare with this from Caputo's Deconstruction in a Nutshell (Fordham UP, 1997):

“But something like khora is 'indeconstructible' not because she/it is a firm foundation, like a metaphysical ground or principle... Rather her indeconstructibility arises because she is...the space in which everything constructible and deconstructible is constituted, and hence...older, prior, preoriginary. Far from being a likeness to the God of the monotheisms...[it] is better compared to...the incomparable, unmetaphorizable, desert-like place without properties or genus....which is not be to confused with the Eternal, Originary Truth...of the intelligible paradigms above” (97-8).

Thompson on consciousness and materialism

A short quote from Waking, Being, Dreaming:

"I describe a dialogue on this question I had with the Dalai Lama at his refugee home in Dharamsala, India, and I explain the basis in Buddhist philosophy for the Dalai Lama’s view that consciousness transcends the brain. I argue, however, that there’s no scientific evidence to support this view. All the evidence available to us indicates that consciousness, including pure awareness, is contingent on the brain. Nevertheless, my viewpoint isn’t a materialist one, for two reasons. First, consciousness has a cognitive primacy that materialism fails to see. There’s no way to step outside consciousness and measure it against something else. Science always moves within the field of what consciousness reveals; it can enlarge this field and open up new vistas, but it can never get beyond the horizon set by consciousness. Second, since consciousness has this kind of primacy, it makes no sense to try to reductively explain consciousness in terms of something that’s conceived to be essentially non-experiential, as fundamental physical phenomena are usually conceived to be. Rather, understanding how consciousness is a natural phenomenon is going to require rethinking our scientific concepts of nature and physical being" (33-4).

Academic philosophy is a luxury decoration on society

Says Daniel Dennett here. Welcome to the club buddy. More:


“A great deal of philosophy doesn’t really deserve much of a place of the world. Philosophy in some quarters has become self-indulgent, clever play in a vacuum that’s not dealing of problems of any intrinsic interest.”

"Dennett says much of philosophy is little more than a 'luxury decoration on society,' and he complains many of the questions studied in both analytic and continental philosophy are 'idle—just games.' For philosophers to be of real use, they should engage with the world, he says—as he does alongside those in interdisciplinary fields, such as philosophy of biology, philosophy of mathematics, or ethics."

True Trump patriots

This video listens in on CB conversations between a 'patriot' convoy. The radio conversations start around 1:35. But it's PC to call them racist?

Through Trump-colored glasses

What the world looks like to Trump and his followers:

Our Revolution smells rotten

Following up on this post, Democracy Now discusses the revolt with the new Chairman of the Board and one of those staffers that quit over Weaver and setting it up as a 501(c)(4) organization. Such a legal set up prevents it from organizing and communicating with individual progressive candidates like Canova. Hence why they abandoned Canova in FL against Wasserman-Schultz, likely leading to his defeat against the most prominent corporate Democrat who rigged the DNC against Sanders. Something smell really foul about this new organization.

From causal thinking to wisdom and spirituality

In my discussions with the Yahoo Adult Development forum I always found a sympathetic ear from Eeva Kallio. Here's her article "From causal thinking to wisdom and spirituality," which explores alternative framing for adult development in terms of integrative thinking, more akin to a Gebserian (a)perspective. Some of the issues therein have been explored earlier in the real/false reason thread.

Who was here first?

Former Trump supporters speak out

Trump is a 12-year-old who gets more bizarre by the day and folks with any semblance of reason just can't take it any more. But some still hold on because they think Clinton is worse.

Trump writes his own clean bill of health

And just has a gastroenterologist sign it within 5 minutes as Trump waits nearby in his limo. Just another example of the all hype no substance of this embarrassing candidate for the highest office in our land.

Clinton Foundation apologists

This article explores said apologists and how they cherry pick certain facts while ignoring others. An excerpt:

"But in challenging the overall credibility of the AP story, Clinton surrogates and allies are going well beyond a reasoned critique in an effort to downplay the serious ethical issues raised by Clinton Foundation activities. [...] In fact, the more Clinton’s allies have worked to defend big money donations to the Clinton Foundation, the more closely they resemble the right-wing principles they once denounced."

Revolt in Our Revolution

Sane Progressive explores how all of the 13 Sanders' campaign leaders opposed the appointment of Jeff Weaver to head Our Revolution, as well as taking billionaire contributions in direct conflict with a major tenet on the campaign. 8 of those leaders resigned.

Alt-right not worried about Trump's immigration softening

In this article some in the alt-right see Trump's softening on immigration as just rhetorical strategy to win more votes while really not changing his original racist message. It's very much like how we progressives view Clinton's rhetoric on the TPP and Wall Street money as nothing but spin to garner votes while we know full well she still backs such corporatist policies.

Hartmann on alt-right being mainstream Republican

Hartmann explores this issue too, showing that it's not just an alternative fringe right movement but has been in its mainstream all along.

Alt-right is the mainstream Republican view

Here's Cousins discussing this new term for an old Republican view. It's not really an alternative Republican view, it's just that Trump has allowed the same old view to be blatantly expressed rather than couched in dog whistle metaphors.

Trump is a 5-year-old

See the LA Times editorial on the  subject. This is why Trump appeals to so many others who are also developmentally stunted. What does it say about our society that so many are so childish to engage with this "I know you are but what am I?" rhetoric? We really need to have higher standards for voting. Immigrants to this country have to take an exam proving they know something about it. And pass an exam to drive a car. Seems reasonable to me that voting would require at least a modicum of civic information and level of adult development.

Britney Spears Carpool Karaoke

Only little people pay taxes

That's how it works in the US. If we decide not to pay our taxes until our tax rate is 'fair' we go to jail. And yet that's exactly what the CEO of Apple said and they owe $billions in taxes. These welfare queens use all of America's infrastructure and workforce, yet stash their money in offshore tax havens and don't pay into the system that supplies them with customers and cash. Yeah, that's fair.

Colbert on Trump's 'softening'

Trump has been adamant all along that illegal aliens were to be immediately deported and then he'd build a YUUUUGE wall to keep them from coming back. But now Trump is peddling perhaps letting the good Mexicans stay and just sent the murdering rapists back where they came from. Colbert pokes fun not only about this turnaround but on who Trump goes about eliciting supporter feedback on the issue.

Sanders supports universal healthcare in Colorado

See this story. CO is one of those bellwether states that leads the nation in progressive action. In this case, CO has introduced a ballot measure to institute universal healthcare. Unfortunately, some corporate Democrats oppose the measure because it would curtail private insurance company profits.

Stand By You

"Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through hell with you."

This particularly hit home when my mom went through the hell of three successively debilitating strokes at the end of her life and I walked it with her. RIP mom.

Giuliani is the sick one

WaPo lampoons Giuliani for his conspiracy theory about Clinton being seriously ill with absolutely no evidence. Turns out Giuliani is the one acting seriously mentally ill given the lack of facts and projecting that onto Clinton.

Rifkin on investing and connecting

In this video he addresses the recent 7th European Summit of Regions and Cities in Bratislava:

Reich on Uber

From this FB post, copied below:

On Friday, Uber told its private investors (such as Goldman Sachs) that its losses continue to mount. In the first quarter of this year it lost about $520 million; in the second quarter, more than $750 million. Last year, Uber lost at least $2 billion. Since it began, it’s lost at least $4 billion.

Startups often lose large amounts of money as they build their markets and battle for market share. Even Amazon posted losses in the early years. But Amazon’s biggest loss ever totaled $1.4 billion, in 2000. Uber topped that number last year and is on the way to doing it again in 2016.

If you vote Republican

This is what you got for your vote.

Post meta(sta)sizing

I saw this interesting post forwarding LP with a meme about going postmeta and quoting Morton. Ironically, Morton is referring more to LP's meta(sta)sizing and is aligned with those tired of all the meta-shit. So check it out and you decide.

Meta(sta)size: When metatheory as incessant categorization and stereotyping breaks free from its embodied roots and metastasizes like cancer, thereby destroying said body.

Why is Sanders not helping Canova?

So Sanders launched ourrevolution.com to support progressive candidates. Yet he hasn't been down to FL to campaign for Canova and the primary is in 5 days. This is the most significant race in the primaries, as Wasserman-Schultz is the most public face of Democratic Party corruption. If he defeats her that will send shockwaves throughout the Democratic Party and lend huge momentum to what Sanders' espouses in our revolution. So why the hell is he sitting on his hands when Canova needs his help right now?

A closer look at Trump's 'pivot'

Seth Myers takes a closer look and it's not only accurate but quite funny. Trump's so-called pivot is to be not only more of the same but to ramp it up to even further bizarreness. With his new team they continue to deny reality, like the polls, with grade school responses. And attacking Clinton for an imaginary illness is the height on fantasy-based paranoia tactics. This campaign has jumped the shark long, long ago and it seems their only purpose is to see how far off the tracks they can go and gullible people will believe them. It also seems a promotion for the new (un)reality show Trump will launch after he loses badly in the election.

Edgar band

My favorite performance on AGT Tuesday night. They moved on to the semi-finals last night.

Philosophical impact

See this article on the 50 most influential living philosophers. We discussed a number of them in the Ning IPS forum as being 'integral,' e.g. Nancy, Habermas, Badiou, Butler, Chalmers, Clark, Harman, Morton, Priest, Singer. Yet none of them are explicit metatheorists, at least in the language used by kennilingus or Meta-Integral. And there are none of the latter on the list. Recalling ITC '15, which is having a greater impact?

We used to belive in science

But that was in ancient antiquity here in the US. Borowitz explains below:

MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report)—Historians studying archival photographs from four decades ago have come to the conclusion that the U.S. must have believed in science at some point.

According to the historian Davis Logsdon, who has been sifting through mounds of photographic evidence at the University of Minnesota, the nation apparently once held the view that investing in science and even math could yield accomplishments that would be a source of national pride.

Fox News sexual harassment lawsuit

See this story, headlined "Fox operates like sex-fueled, Playboy mansion-like cult." No surprise that it's a regression to a time when America was great a la Mad Men, hence the need to take their country 'back.'

Searching for the centaur

Following up on the recent posts on metatheory, Wilber has stated that a key way to achieve the integral level is to use AQAL as the integral operating system. That just by so doing it inculcates integral development. As but one example, see this ad for the superhuman operating system, as it is now called.

"But the Superhuman Operating System isn’t simply a map of our early development or a means to better understand yourself, or your spouse, or your boss (although it helps with those things tremendously). The Integral map shows us where we are going, where our emerging potentials are, what they look like, and how we can consciously and intentionally develop them. It shows us not only how to realize our unique greatness but how to actualize it, catalyzing the psychological and spiritual evolution, of ourselves and our planet."

And what I'm saying is that one doesn't need that operating system, or for that matter to use any metatheory, to realize an integral or metasystematic level. As one example, see this Ning IPS thread on Dierkes '15 ITC paper. E.g.:

Colbert catches up on Trump

He was off for two weeks so he catches up on what Trump has been up to.

Another danger of metatheory

From Esbjorn-Hargens in Metatheory for the Twenty-First Century (Routledge, 2015):

"[...] From time to time I arrived at the provocative idea that integral theory might not be as integral as it thinks or aspires to be. I came to feel that there is a real danger in assuming integral theory has included most of the enduring truths from many domains simply because it arguably has a framework and set of distinctions that could do so. [...] So I began to realize that within integral theory there might be some important pieces of reality not yet integrated, maybe we as integral metatheorists were putting some square metatheoretical pegs in round application holes, and some things just do not always fit neatly into the four quadrants" (102-03).

The danger of metatheory

From Mark Edwards' book Organizational Transformation for Sustainability: An Integral Metatheory (Routledge, 2010):

"There is a danger, however, that when the conservative side of metatheory stops being flexible and creative, the situating of theories and lenses becomes a process of typing and categorization. The AQAL framework may be particularly prone to this problem because of the prescriptive manner in which it is used. The fundamental task of metatheorizing is not to be able to categorize theories within some preexisting, overarching framework but to ensure that the unique contributions of middle-range theories are accommodated with the metatheory" (208).

Trump now monogamous with Fox

See this story. Now he'll only appear on Fox from now on. Going on other networks he has to answer all sorts of  tough questions. Fox of course will just pitch softballs and suck up to him. I can't wait for his debates with Clinton; she is going to skewer him.

Trump and his followers

This pretty much sums it up.

Clinton's incremental change misdirection

Yeah, like we believe this one.

Lakoff on Trump

This is his followup article on Trump. He gives Trump credit for using language effectively and provides some examples of how he does so. It may or not be conscious but he does it nonetheless from years of experience of selling crap to gullible people. And it works for a certain segment of the populace that shares his authoritarian worldview.

Relational spirituality

From another angle, here's one of my favorite pieces by Heron on relational spirituality. The obsession with individual state experience passing as higher levels of spirituality is akin to the obsession with meta-complexity passing as higher levels of cognitive development. In both cases it has more to do with the relational space between prepositioning both states and stages. His website is here. From the first link:

"On this account, the whole meme system collapses, with its claim to portray an evolutionary logic. The green meme description is superficial, and is itself green in the sense of callow, inexperienced and immature, because it cannot grasp the depths and the challenge of relational spirituality. The yellow and turquoise memes, as described, simply have no warrant or grounding in any kind of relational spirituality, and read like the conceits of self-appointed philosopher-kings. The edifice is doomed to an early demise, which is just as well, since, given its radical omissions and distortions, its use is bound to be counter-productive.

The pro-Clinton bots

Here's a great letter from someone voting for Clinton but also realizing she's not only no saint but not a very good progressive candidate. The author, like me, was a Sanders supporter but came to realize that given the available choices Clinton was better than the yuuuge disaster that is Trump. She, like me, also realizes that unless we progressives hold Clinton's feet to the fire with the threat of being primaried in four years she'll easily slip back into here true corporate self. The problem for her, and me, is that pro-Clinton acolytes won't accept any of her true and considerably negatives. And anyone that does is berated and belittled. The author is right though: If we don't get up the fight for progressive values and policies we'll not only lose this battle but the war. And those Clinton sycophants will just go along with the tide and not keep up that necessary fight. Now if she could just convince the Sanders bots of this necessary voting strategy while keeping the fight alive, as they are just as bad as the Clinton bots.

Judges calling out voter suppression

Hartmann explores how three recent court cases ruled that the faux Republican reason for voter ID laws was not in fact the intent of the laws but rather to suppress certain segments from voting.

Extreme vetting of Trump supporters

In this clip The Daily Show explores Trump's own standards for extreme vetting on his own followers. Those standards are, from the horse's mouth: "Extreme views about religion such as [...] the suppression of women, gays, and non-believers." Many of Trump's followers would never have passed this extreme vetting and they're already here, to wit:

Trump's first campaign ad: Be afraid!

See this article. It's all about activating our fear reflex, as a trainload of illegal immigrants enter the country courtesy of Clinton to rape and kill us. This strategy does tend to work on the ill-informed who are easily riled by fear and prejudice. But I'm guessing that most of us, through education and proper parenting, won't fall for this obvious tactic to engage our lesser impulses and drives. Hence Clinton's correct framing of how we can create love and compassion together, thereby activating our higher angels.

A sensate connection with life

Continuing from this post, check out this article form the 2015 Integral Theory Conference: "Gebser's structures of consciousness and somatic development." It reinforces what I've discussed at length in the Ning IPS thread on the fold. We need to fully integrate previous structures but we don't return to the original state in which they emerged. This is especially important since we entered the deficient  rational stage which has unbalanced the earlier structures. A large part of that deficiency is to "due to the introduction and solidification of perspectivity. The practice of arranging individual elements along a sequential line skews one’s view on reality. Any language arising from the rational structure will naturally describe a perspectival world" (28).

The emerging integral consciousness is an "integration of all structures of consciousness [and] is not to be confused with an 'expansion of consciousness,' which would indicate a quantification of consciousness" (29). It is more of an intensification and coherence of all existing structures. "This shift away from linear perspective requires a sensate connection with life" (29). How do we do that? While the paper didn't go into detail on that, it die go into detail making the connections between structures of consciousness and the nervous system. The earliest archaic structure was related to the dorsal vagus complex. The magical structure is related to the sympathetic vagus complex. The mythic structure relates to the ventral vagus complex and the rational structure to the neo-cortex.

Former Trump campaign manager engaged in a felony

See this article. It turns out to be true Manfort was lobbying in Washington for a pro-Russian political party illegally, as he didn't register this activity. Also of interest is that the money was laundered through the Podesta Group, founded by the Chairman of HRClinton's campaign. There's plenty of corruption to go around on this one.

Right-wing extremists a bigger threat to America than ISIS

From this article. Funny how I never hear of this from Fox Snooze:

"They and untold thousands like them are the extremists who hide among us, the right-wing militants who, since 2002, have killed more people in the United States than jihadis have. In that time, according to New America, a Washington think tank, Islamists launched nine attacks that murdered 45, while the right-wing extremists struck 18 times, leaving 48 dead. These Americans thrive on hate and conspiracy theories, many fed to them by politicians and commentators who blithely blather about government concentration camps and impending martial law and plans to seize guns and other dystopian gibberish, apparently unaware there are people listening who don’t know it’s all lies. These extremists turn to violence—against minorities, non-Christians, abortion providers, government officials—in what they believe is a fight to save America. And that potential for violence is escalating every day."

Trump in Game of Thrones

A fitting place for him.

Trump's campaign gets more explicit

It was previously reported about Trump's new staff. The below video shows how the Breitbart guy has a long history of white nationalism, as does Trump. So good, let them go full tilt with that strategy.

Naked Trump statue

In Union Square, displaying his tiny penis. "The emperor has no balls." It was removed with this public statement: "NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small," said Parks Department spokesman Sam Biederman.

More on metaphor and metatheory

Continuing from this post, Murray reiterates some of Edwards' et al. points. E.g., that categories often overlap and that categorizing too rigidly leads to miscategorizing certain things to fit into a one-size-fits-all schema. Hence Edwards' far broader lens categories usually missing from AQAL. And as I noted previously, Edwards admits that all those lenses seem as if to be inherent in ontology itself due to their continual recurrence. Indeed, image schema preposition those lenses.

Murray also addresses the crux of this thread in that too much metatheory can obstruct what is feels like to examine what's behind it. We need to critically examine our assumptions and epistemic drives, to explore the unconscious metaphors we use in support of it.

"This is not a purely intellectual exercise, but a phenomenological process of feeling into the movement of such drives as sensations within the body, as they arise in the moments of thought and discourse" (14).

I must take issue though with Murray in that he claims L&J do not address development (footnote 43, p. 16). As part of this thread's inquiry attests, one can display development without using the language of a metatheory about it. E.g., the whole edifice of abstract thought arising form image schema to basic categories to metaphor to proposition is indeed a developmental schema. So too is how philosophy is built on this developmental schema, with implicit claims to a more accurate and embodied philosophy taking account of this trajectory. It doesn't have to frame it in the language of development to be developmental.

So much for private business being more efficient

The Federal Government will no longer use private prisons due to this study debunking their sales hype bullshit.

The real takers

This diagram shows the real leaching takers of our society.

The Disclose Act

Subject: The Koch Brothers find democracy inconvenient -- let's expose them

I signed a petition to The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate which says:

"The Koch brothers are spending millions of dollars to keep voters from knowing who is trying to influence their votes. Congress must pass the DISCLOSE Act to protect everyone’s right to know who is spending money on our elections."

Will you sign this petition? Click here. Thanks.

American Anti-corruption Act

It's a good, workable plan. Want to help?

Postmetatheory: outmeta-ing the meta

Following up on this post, then there's postmetatheory as highlighted in the Introduction to "Metatheory in the 21st Century." I appreciate that Murray's last chapter was valued for 'prepositioning' metatheory itself, something I've long harped on in the relationship of image schema to differance. Also how it anchors abstract metatheory in the body, for without that it's just more 'complex' but less 'real,' more metaphysical and less postmetaphysical. Of course it we use metatheory's usual definitions and assumptions then postmetatheory would transcend and include and thereby supersede metatheory, thereby outmeta-ing the meta. Poetic justice, that. (A draft of that chapter can be found here). E.g.:

Our revolution

Hartmann talks about Sanders' new national movement to elect progressive Democrats and hold accountable corporate Democrats. The revolution continues.

Trump v. Clinton

538 on Trump's new campaign staff

Following up on this post, 538 sees the new staff as doubling down on a losing strategy that can't face reality. This is great news, as it will be a huge win for America when Trump loses in a landslide to a girl, hopefully to disappear from the spotlight forever.

Bill Black on Clinton's transition team

See the video below. The transition team will set the tone and policy priorities for at least the first term of a new administration. And this team is corporate cronies all the way to the bank. So Clinton's actions, as usual, belie her rhetoric and reveal her true self. And yes, even taking that into account, she's still better than Trump and the GOP because the progressive movement has at least a glimmer of influence because she needs our votes. Trump and the GOP have no need of us whatsoever so will go full speed ahead with the neoliberal agenda.

Is meta-theory necessary to an integral life?

I started this inquiry at FB IPS and at Ning IPS.  Is integral all about meta-theory? And does one have to be involved in meta-theory to be integral? Even more broadly, do we have to meta everything? So I'm curious about how one can be integral and not necessarily participate in meta-theory. It seems most discussion that claim integrality usually go through delineating AQAL, as if that is what defines it in toto.

I'm reminded of Gidley's work. She talks about the difference between research that identifies postformal operations (PFO) from examples of those that enact PFO. And that much of the research identifying PFO has itself “been framed and presented from a formal, mental-rational mode” (109). Plus those enacting PFO don’t “necessarilty conceptualize it as such” (104). And of course this now infamous Gidley quote:

"For Gebser, integral-aperspectival consciousness is not experienced through expanded consciousness, more systematic conceptualizations, or greater quantities of perspectives. In his view, such approaches largely represent over-extended, rational characteristics. Rather, it involves an actual re-experiencing, re-embodying, and conscious re-integration of the living vitality of magic-interweaving, the imagination at the heart of mythic-feeling and the purposefulness of mental conceptual thinking, their presence raised to a higher resonance, in order for the integral transparency to shine through" (111).

So how do we DO that? And is a meta-theory necessary to do that?

I'm also reminded of this Ferrer essay on integral transformative practice, abstract below:

America is Number One

But number one in these categories is not a good thing. The list is below; see the article here.

#1 The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and the largest total prison population on the entire globe.
#2 According to NationMaster.com, the United States has the highest percentage of obese people in the world.
#3 The United States has the highest divorce rate on the globe by a wide margin.
#4 The United States is tied with the U.K. for the most hours of television watched per person each week.
#5 The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use on the entire planet.
#6 There are more car thefts in the United States each year than anywhere else in the world by far.
#7 There are more reported rapes in the United States each year than anywhere else in the world.
#8 There are more reported murders in the United States each year than anywhere else in the world.
#9 There are more total crimes in the United States each year than anywhere else in the world.
#10 The United States also has more police officers than anywhere else in the world.

Capitalistic self-interest kills trust and the economy

See this article for the details.

Aetna pulling out of Obamacare

Why? Because the Justice Dept. refused to approve its mega-merger with Humana and thereby reducing market competition, aka monopoly. Of course Aetna said it's because of the losses it is incurring from having to take on sick patients. It is of course true, but it is also true that other areas of its exchange business is booming and more than makes up for those losses in healthy profits. It seems the bottom line is Aetna and the health insurance companies generally want less competition to charge whatever the hell they want and limit coverage. In other words, they want to go back to the good old days of people literally dying so they can make a killing instead of a healthy profit. The Republicans are of course on board with this.

Trump campaign changes

See  this story and it's great news. Trump decided he didn't want his advisors saying he needed to behave more Presidential; He just want to be himself. Which is of course what's got him to this place so low in the polls. So his new chief campaigner, a Breitbart (so-called) News hack with conspiracy theories coming out of his bleeding wherever, is now running the show. He was chosen because he agrees with Trump that Trump should continue of his usual course of insulting everyone, inciting violence and spouting insane nonsense. Great news! This will further sink that bloated ship to oblivion.

>100 GOP officials want to dump Trump

And said so in a letter to the RNC:

"We believe that Donald Trump's divisiveness, recklessness, imcompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck."

Clinton picks TPP and fracking advocate to head transition team

See this story. First she chose Tim Kaine as her VP pick, an avowed TPP advocate. And not she picked Ken Salazar to chair her presidential transition tea, who is an avid supporter of both fracking and the TPP. So this really puts to the test Clinton's so-called stances against those things. Meaning it appears it was all talk to get votes. See the articles for many more details.

CJ & Alexis

Winners of the Allstar division of Swing Fling 2016

Sweden's gun control works

Michael Moore: Trump is trying to lose

See his article here. Moore claims to know the following, but how he won't say. Trump only ran for President to boost his negotiating power with NBC for his show Celebrity Apprentice. He never expected nor planned to win the GOP nomination. But when he did he realized he's have to actually work for a living and has ever since, consciously or not, been trying to be so outlandish as to sabotage the campaign and get the hell out.

Why Republicans hate the post office

God forbid should we have a public service that works well.

Like every job I ever had

Sure, they paid lip service to being autonomous and creative, but in reality they just wanted a good dog to obey.

Populism is dead

So says Thomas Frank in this piece. Now that Trump has self-destructed and a Clinton Presidency is likely, Clinton can return to her true agenda as neoliberal hack in the one-party system. She's now openly courting Republicans and has long courted the big banks and Silicon Valley. Her policy proposals are returning right, like with Kissinger and war mongering. And Trump, as a faux populist, will be used by the neoliberals to exemplify the futility of the populist movement and destroy its credibility, since Clinton will quickly abandon that mantle.

Why major media never discusses the issues

In this video Hartmann accurately describes how major media never discusses any issue any more like they used to. Any issue, like even minimum wage, or tax rates. Or anything. On most issues the public sides in polls with the progressive take, like increased minimum wage, higher tax rates on the rich, legalization of marijuana, against free trade deals like the TPP--the list goes on and on. And yet not a peep on any of this. Why? Because major media is big business and to actually inform the public on issues would be to defeat their purpose, which is against all of those issues for its own corporate gain and nothing else.

Trump the snake oil salesman

This article shows how the GOP itself bought Trump's sales pitch of being an ultra-successful businessman. The facts though are quite to the contrary. But Trump is really good at selling how successful he is, even if it's the furthest thing from the truth. In other words, he's good at creating a fantasy with no basis in reality, and people want to believe in that fantasy so they accept it in good faith. But a fantasy it is, never to stand the light of actual scrutiny. And those already sold will not tolerate the reality, for it would destroy their hoped for dream.

Wall Street Journal on Trump

See what this conservative media bastion said here. Basically Trump needs to get his act together by Labor Day or he should drop out and let Pence head the ticket. If he doesn't then the GOP should give up on him and focus on winning the down-ticket races. It's fun to watch the GOP in such desperation at the monster they created.

So why do you suppose that is?

And it most certainly is.

Canova and Wasseran-Schultz debate

It finally happened after repeated stonewalling from WS. Just watching part 1 I am disgusted by WS's answers, how she avoids answering questions and continually redirects it to her inane and irrelevant talking points. The moderator is supposed to curtail this sort of domination and yet WS had nearly the first 10 minutes solely to herself.

The evolution of consciousness?

From Frank Visser:

"These notions of inherently superior states or levels of the evolution of consciousness conflicts with some anthropological perspectives."

Hatsune Miku

She is an animated holographic performer, a major sensation in Japan. Learn more about her at this wiki. Her YouTube page is here. A sample performance is below. A phenomenal production. The body language is so accurate and, yes, emotive. The virtual has become actual.

Clinton has 88% chance of winning

As of today on 538. Granted, that Trump has even a 12% chance doesn't say much for Clinton.

The forumula to defeat Trump

Even turd blossom Rove knows that Trump is destroying his candidacy by responding to the slightest challenge or insult. The interviewer says Trump should be a New Yorker and fight back on everything. Rove says it only hurts him, because it keeps him off message and just being petty and petulant. He's right, Trump can't help himself. He is basically a child that has no impulse control and only knows how to strike back blindly with anger and ineffective hyperbole. So keep it up progressives. Keep insulting the little boy with little hands and a little penis. You'll be rewarded with him appearing more and more each time as the child he is as his poll numbers keep dropping to probably the biggest landslide loss in US electoral history.

Trump on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory

See this Scientific American article, which compares Trump and others on this scale. Not surprisingly he scores higher than Hitler. See the article for details; the graph is below:

Who is politically correct?

For conservatives, calling out racism, bigotry, misanthropy,  xenophobia and and so forth is being politically correct. No, it's just being correct. Once again they turn facts into just opinions, since facts and science are no longer part of their worldview. And they can't see that by doing this they are the ones in effect being politically correct!

Syntegral tai chi & partner dancing

And the last post reminds me of how this manifests in the practice of tai chi and partner dancing. Regarding resistance, according to the Tai Chi Classics one can "using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds." To do this one must "distinguish clearly between substantial and insubstantial." Both are accomplished via compression and leverage, both within one's body and by applying them to another body. Compression and leverage are accomplished by maintaining 4 ounces of resistance or pressure between them at all times and through all changes. Without this resistance our biomagnetic and biomechanical energy does not flow with enough force to move much of anything, much less a thousand pounds.This is also critical in partner dance connection/communication.

Syntegral inter-bridging

Continuing from this post, recall this paper by Edwards et al. Some excerpts:

"By interpreting the bridge as a relational metaphor, and reflecting an inter-relational ‘space between’ of positions, the paper contributes to a different view of integrating pluralism in organization studies. Following an embodied realism, first bridges and bridging are presented as phenomena, media and metaphors for connecting and separating. Showing their ambivalent character the role of bridges as metaphors and metaphors as bridges are discussed in relation to organisation studies and as transition zones for paradigms. Based on an integrative orientation, mediating qualities of bridges and bridging are outlined for gaining a decentered, but interconnected understanding of organising. The final part discusses some implications for organization studies" (abstract).

Start with worker self-directed enterprises

This is Richard Wolff's latest contribution to The Next System Project. A short excerpt:

"That is to change the who and why of key economic decision making at the basic enterprise level. For the economic system to serve the people, the people need to be in charge. Historical efforts to do that at the macro level through government either failed when confronted by determined private capitalist opposition, as in the U.S., or failed by giving too much power to too few in the government, as in the USSR."

Trump's strategy isn't working

It almost seems like he's trying to lose. But the hate and racism he's instilled in his flock only makes them support him more the more he goes completely off the rails.

Why the media hates WikiLeaks

Following up on this post:

So much for positive thinking

This article provides empirical findings on just what sort of attitude is conducive to success. And it ain't that positive thinking crap. Some clips. First on the positive:

"In some situations, happiness carries far more serious risks. It’s associated with the cuddle hormone, oxytocin, which a handful of studies have shown reduces our ability to identify threats. [...] 'Happiness functions like a shorthand signal that we’re safe and it’s not necessary to pay too much attention to the environment.' Those in a continuous happy haze may miss important cues. 

"Of all the positive emotions, optimism about the future may have the most ironic effects. Like happiness, positive fantasies about the future can be profoundly de-motivating. [...] Graduates who fantasise about success at work end up earning less, for instance. Patients who daydream about getting better make a slower recovery. In numerous studies, Oettingen has shown that the more wishful your thinking, the less likely any of it is to come true.

Now the cranky negative, more my style:

The so-called news

In this clip Hartmann lays out how the news is no longer about actual news or issues of substance. Now it's pretty much reality TV all the time because it sells, and making money is their only bottom line. Even the President of CBS admitted that while this circus is not good for the country it sure is good for CBS.

The news used to function to keep citizens informed so as to make informed decisions about who to put in office to represent them. Those days are long gone, as the giant corporations who provide the advertising dollars now keep us dazed and confused with nonsense so that we do not have the information necessary to keep our government or media in check.

Michael Moore's letter to Ivanka Trump

See it here. Moore appeals to her humanity, and to her father's, in imploring her to have an intervention because her father is ill. He treats both of them with respect and honor and pleads that she intervene for the sake of his health and that of the nation. While there is a no doubt a bit of sardonic wit it is also sincere and touches the heart. I hope it gets through to Ivanka and that they indeed do have a family intervention.

Trump's poor pre-frontal cortex gives up

See this Onion piece, wherein Trump's pre-frontal cortex is so overwhelmed at trying to control the rest of his impulsive brain that it gave up in surrender.

The Pentagon can't account for $6.5 trillion in 2015

See this shocking story, wherein a Department of Defense Inspector General report revealed that the Pentagon never audits its finances as they are required by law. Pentagon employees were routinely told to make it up to match the Treasury's numbers. This accounts for why hawkish legislators say we don't have money for social programs, because a lot of disappears into the black hole of the military industrial complex never to be seen again. Some of that missing money, I have no doubt, lines the pockets of said legislators off the books.

Virtually prepositiong the actual

Continuing from this post, and responding to Serge's post here:  

Prepositions, in addition to functioning as linguistic markers, also function in the center to virtually pre-position the actual domain. Hence their dual role of prepositioning the other parts of language as well as serving as the objet a, the subsistent, a priori differance of Khora. Which, btw, is not the same as Wilber's absolute realm of consciousness per se in distinction with the relative world of form (in this thread).

70+ Republicans send letter to RNC chair to dump Trump

Here's the story. A sample:

“We believe that Donald Trump’s divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck. This should not be a difficult decision, as Donald Trump’s chances of being elected president are evaporating by the day.”

Critical integral realism

Balder provided an excerpt of his 2015 Integral Theory Conference paper, "integral in-dwelling," in this FB post. I provide an edited excerpt below. The paper can be found here.


"The 'meta' in meta-integral means not only beyond, but between. [...] We are always delimited and sustained by an overdetermined excess -- the ontological excess which is our milieu, an overflowing between-ness which always escapes final dialectical synthesis in our individual projects of self-determination (or integral theory-building). [...] Critical Integral Realism (or just Integral) is inherently multiple – it is a community of views, not a monolithic system."

Wall Street transaction tax

Reich explains why it's a great idea, and counters the Street's lies against it.

Republican ideology lacks empathy

Here's Hartmann on the topic. That doesn't mean the ordinary folk that are duped into voting Republican lack empathy, only that they are duped by the false reasoning that props up that worldview: enlightened self-interest as the invisible hand somehow magically helps all of society. Note that this ideology has never actually worked, but that would be a fact and those don't count.

Trump on unfair media that reports what he says

It's just so unfair to report the actual news. Borowitz nails it again in this piece, copied below:

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—The Republican nominee Donald Trump tore into the media on Thursday for what he called their “extremely unfair practice” of reporting the things he says.

“I’ll say something at a rally and I look out and see all these TV cameras taking every word down,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “No one in politics has ever been subjected to this kind of treatment.”

“It’s unbelievable and, frankly, very unethical,” he added.

At a rally in Florida, the candidate lashed out at a TV cameraman whom he caught in the act of recording his words for broadcasting purposes.

“Look at him over there, picking up everything I’m saying, folks,” Trump shouted. “Get him out of here.”

Morning Joe on Trump

Republican Scarborough used to be a big Trump apologist but he's had enough. He gives the usual litany of Trump blinders but to suggest assassination was a bridge too far. He now wants all GOP leaders to denounce Trump and revoke their endorsements. He thinks Trump should be removed from the nomination and find someone else ASAP.

Senator Warren on Trump's death threat

From her FB post:

"Donald Trump makes death threats because he's a pathetic coward who can’t handle the fact that he’s losing to a girl. Your reckless comments sound like a two-bit dictator, Donald. Not a man who wants to lead the greatest democracy on the planet."

When even Fox News thinks Trump suggested assassination

Then you know it's a serious matter. They scoff at Trump apologists twisting themselves in pretzels that he didn't really mean that.

Reich on new Clinton emails

From his FB post, linking to this NY Times article:

"A new batch of emails released yesterday by the Department shows sometimes overlapping interests between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department when Hillary served as secretary of state, raising new questions about whether the Foundation rewarded its donors with access and influence at the Department. In one such communication, a Clinton Foundation executive in 2009 sought to put a billionaire donor in touch with the United States ambassador to Lebanon because of the donor’s interests there. In another, the Foundation appeared to push aides to Mrs. Clinton to help find a job for a Foundation associate. Her aides indicated that the department was working on the request.

Making sense of Rifkin's third industrial revolution

The P2P Foundation here takes a look at a Ph.D. thesis: Making Sense of Rifkin’s Third Industrial Revolution: Towards a Collaborative Age. McAllum, Michael J C. Thesis submitted to The University of the Sunshine Coast. Under the supervision of Dr. Sohail Inayatullah & Dr. Marcus Bussey. Submitted: June 7, 2016. The article is an in-depth look at the thesis, which is an in-depth look at Rifkin's work.

Trump and the return of the repressed

In this Ning IPS post DavidM58 analyzes Trump from a Gebserian perspective. He sees Trump as a regression to the magical structure, hence the lack of reason or facts in Trump. Such a regression leads to the deficient magical structure. It is also relevant to this Ning IPS thread, in that the return of repressed prior structures is a "double movement," akin to the fold. The mental structure, when faced with this, has two options: 1) regress to the previous level and its deficient phase or 2) integrate it into a healthy integral-aperspectival awareness.

Trump incites Clinton assassination

Yes, he actually did in this clip. Also see this story.

Hartmann agrees that Trump is same old trickle-down

In this video he reiterates Taibbi given Trump's recent economic plan speech. Trump's anti-trade deal rhetoric flies in the face of what he's actually proposing.

Matt Taibbi on Trump's economic team & proposals

Following up on this post, Taibbi explores Trump's economic team and proposals in the video below. It's pretty much the same old rich white guy trickle-down shit, cut taxes on the rich and they'll magically create jobs for everyone. So Trump is not a new and different leader, just more of the same tried and failed plan that works for the wealthiest and no one else. All his advisors are of that club and like things just dandy the way they are.

Just a dressed up dog's life

Just about every job I ever had.

White privileged voting

Thom makes a strong case that voting from one's white, privileged conscience will elect those who will cause many to suffer who are not in that class, which is most of American these days. So ok, vote to assuage your conscience but realize that in effect you're voting to turn back Obamacare, reduce or eliminate social programs including welfare and food stamps, building a Wall on the Mexican border, keeping Muslims out of America, getting more Republicans on the Supreme Corp that will rule to further curb voting rights and enable big corporations. The list goes on and on. If one is truly progressive and wants to enact progressive programs, giving the election to Trump and the GOP defeats all of those programs for many years to come.

Democratic eco-socialism

From the Next System Project. Also see the referenced paper on the topic here.

Some TPP facts

Check the text yourself.

Trump's economic team

See this article for the names and details. It's all rich old white guys, mostly non-economists, and mostly those into hedge funds, fracking, tobacco, banking and guns. No labor unions guys or labor economists, no climate scientists, no women's rights advocates. Just what we need to fix our economy, eh?

I See Fire

Time to dance some west coast swing.

50 Republican national security advisers denounce Trump

See this article. 50 of them signed a letter that said the following:

“We are convinced that [Trump] would be a dangerous President and would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being. Most fundamentally, Mr. Trump lacks the character, values, and experience to be President. He weakens U.S. moral authority as the leader of the free world. He appears to lack basic knowledge about and belief in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws, and U.S. institutions, including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary.”

See the rest of the letter at the link.

Chomsky on voting for the lesser evil

See his entire 8-point argument here. Following are just a few of them.

3) One of these candidates, Trump, denies the existence of global warming, calls for increasing use of fossil fuels, dismantling of environmental regulations and refuses assistance to India and other developing nations as called for in the Paris agreement, the combination of which could, in four years, take us to a catastrophic tipping point. Trump has also pledged to deport 11 million Mexican immigrants, offered to provide for the defense of supporters who have assaulted African American protestors at his rallies, stated his “openness to using nuclear weapons”, supports a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. and regards “the police in this country as absolutely mistreated and misunderstood” while having “done an unbelievable job of keeping law and order.” Trump has also pledged to increase military spending while cutting taxes on the rich, hence shredding what remains of the social welfare “safety net” despite pretenses.

Trump the biggest liar in Presidential history

As if this is any surprise. Yes, the biggest liar ever according to historians. The truth never mattered much to conservatives though, so not a surprise.

Trump makes ties in China

So why not make America great again by making your products in the USA, eh Trump?

Trump already making excuses for being a big loser

In this video Seder explores how Trump is already preparing for a loss by saying that the voting system is rigged. True, with voter suppression laws that favor him and his corrupt Party. But that's not what he means. He is delusional and is seeing the writing on the wall that the majority in the US just doesn't want him. And he'll never admit that he honestly lost.

The most important issue

Per Maher, that is defeating Trump. Yes, liberals can still have their pet social issue, but that must take a back seat to the primary issue of keeping a raving lunatic from the Presidency.

Julian Assange interview on Real Time

Maher agrees with the mission of Wikileaks but had some reservations about what seemed a personal vendetta against Clinton with the DNC email leaks. Assange calmly explained that he did the same thing to others so it's not personal, just exposing corruption. Maher asked then why not hack into Trump's tax returns. Assange replied that they're working on it. That would be great to see those returns.

Sanders encourages supporters to vote Clinton

In his LA Times op-ed today. He's right on all counts that Clinton is far better than Trump. He has convinced me and hopefully he'll convince the rest of his supporters. It's a really clear choice.

The bullshit conservative spin justifying the following

This is what they mean by political correctness, thereby justifying such atrocity.

Clint Dinosaur

He longs for the good old days.

In other words, Trump v. Clinton

An honest first date

If only they could really go like this. Of course that would require people being honest with themselves first to know their own issues, and be willing to honestly share them with another. Fat chance, huh?

Cracking the Code

Following up on this post, another good reference on framing is Thom Hartmann's book Cracking the Code. We have a Ning IPS thread on the book here. Hartmann also talked about it on his show today, below. 

Eclectic Method does a Carpool Karaoke mashup