A Point to be Remembered...

The democratization of knowledge is essential to the advancement of any civilization.  Without it, certain portions of the society may advance, those with the access to the knowledge, but, for that civilization to truly achieve extreme sophistication, it cannot abandon any of its members to a second class status.

-Author unknown

10 Steps to Zen

Here are ten steps you can take to achieve inner peace and happiness; and you don't even have to be a Buddhist to do it...

1. Slow down, take it easy

2. Breathe right; deep into your diaphram

3. Less materialism, more spiritualism; get rid of the clutter and live simple

4. Less TV, more doing; reading, writing, singing or dancing

5. Less work more play (perhaps the hardest step of all)

6. Don't worry about things you can't change or the future; live more in the here and now

7. Less effort, more focus; do what is needed to be done, not what you feel like doing

8. Less driving; do more walking, jogging or cycling

9. Less intake, more output; less consuming, more creating, inventing and doing

10. Eat right; less garbage more nourish
Re-printed from Daily Zen in a Nut-shell

Ten Ways We can Starve the Wall Street Beast and Prosper...

In this age of Wealth Hoarding by the upper 5% percent of our society, here are a few things you can do to fight back and still prosper in-spite of increasing corporate domination of our civilization's asset's. Don't be a pawn in their game...

1. Shorten Your Home Mortgage: Less of your income will flow into their financially engineered Interest machine.

2. Think Local: Support the local economy, not Wall Street and the Mega-Corps.

3. Start a Business: A small side business like U-Pick fruits and veggies, or cheap child-care, just in case the Pink Slip comes...

4. Invest Wisely: Thoroughly research your 401K and Retirement accounts.

5. Check Out Credit Union Membership: Dump the banks, they are not on your side...

6. Don’t Use Credit Cards from Corporations That Abuse You: All of the following have one thing in common: Home Depot, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Macy’s, Sears, Zales. They all extend credit to their customers on a Citigroup credit card. Forty million customers are helping to prop up Citigroup and its anti-consumer, anti-citizen practices by using these cards

7. Brand Attacks: Chances are high that your local storeowners don’t have a PAC and lobbyists on K Street working against your interests? Reward them with your business and starve the S&P 500 firms until they get the message.

8. Return the Courts to Workers: Many of the largest corporations force workers to sign away their rights to the Nation’s courts as a condition of employment. It’s called mandatory arbitration and it’s an unfair process that is rigged to favor the corporation. If you interview for a new job, ask if the company has such a policy and walk away if they do.

9. Complain: Don’t let shady practices go undetected. Write a detailed report and file it with the appropriate body: local district attorney, state attorney general’s office, consumer protection groups; and write a letter to the editor to the local paper.

10. Just Say No: To frontal nudity photographs/skin radiation/genitalia groping; all just to board a plane. Don’t fly. You will be standing up for civil rights and starving Wall Street. Body scanner companies trade on Wall Street and the banksters are hoping domestic surveillance is their new cash cow.

And above all, realize that ALL current political party's are tainted by corporate control.

If everyone followed these steps, we can change our system on an individual basis. Just be prepared, if you do, because you will soon be assualted by hordes of well meaning but deluded people telling you how un-American you are for standing up for your rights. Have faith, and be persistent... Don't let the drones wear you down.

This article is a summary of the info contained at AlterNet

Ten Rules for Dealing with Police.

Your Constitutional Rights only apply if you know and assert them.

The ten rules are...

1. Always be calm and cool: a bad attitude guarantees a bad outcome.
2. Remain silent: what you don't say can't hurt you.
3. You have the right to refuse searches: saying no to searches can't be held against you.
4. Don't get tricked: remember, police are allowed to lie to you.
5. Determine if you're free to go: police need evidence to detain you.
6. Don't expose yourself: doing dumb stuff in public makes you an easy target.
7. Don't run: they'll catch you and make you regret it.
8. Never touch a cop: aggressive actions will only earn you a more aggressive response.
9. Report misconduct: be a good witness.
10. You don't have to let them in: police need a warrant to enter your home.

Portions of post reprinted from the following...
http://www.alternet.org/rights/148860/10_ways_to_outfox_cops_that_are_abusing_their_powers_to_trick_you/?page=2

Quote of the Day...

I am God, and all other gods are my imagery. I gave birth to myself. I am millions of forms ex-creating; eternal; and nothing exists except through me; yet I am not them— they serve me.
- A.O. Spare

How "Harvest" Festivals are More Pagan than Halloween...

It is time again for the Great American Tradition of Halloween. Unknown to most, many of our customs from this popular holiday are actually very modern in origin. The parties, Trick or Treating, and outlandish costumes are a wholly modern invention, created to keep children off the streets and out of trouble.

In the past, especially the 19th Century, it was customary for delinquents to go out and cause havoc by burning down buildings and performing a whole host of other frowned upon activities. It finally reached a point where it could not be tolerated any longer, and the custom of Trick or Treating, and throwing lavish Halloween and Costume Parties began, to keep the children out of trouble. It was also a plan to teach new Halloween traditions to the littlest ones and prevent future generations of delinquency.

This Holiday does fall upon the same date as the old European, (mostly Irish) festival of  the end of the harvest season called Samhain. In the Dark Ages, The Roman Catholic Church aimed to replace Samhain with a succession of church approved holidays falling on roughly the same date. It was all part of a plan by the church to gradually integrate the past pagan practices into the new order of things the church brought about after the fall of Rome.

This has been carried on, into modern times, though this time by mostly Protestant religious organizations, the Catholic Church having long ago won the battle when most of Europe was converted to Christianity. Many of these more modern organizations have taken aim at what they believe to be ancient traditions, but which in reality are actually very modern inventions aimed at correcting social problems. They typically hold "Harvest" festivals, seeking to rid the season of it's supposedly pagan image.

The irony of this comes from the fact that the "Harvest" festival is actually more in line with the pagan Samhain holiday than the modern inventions of trick or treating, and spooky costumes. The old holiday was a celebration of the final harvest and the coming of Winter, the season when all the farm plants die off. The farm animals were also slaughtered for winter food supplies. It also marked the end of the old Irish year, who followed a different cycle than our current Romanic system. So in a way, the new alternative to Halloween, the Harvest Festival, is actually much closer to the original than the current modern practices of spooks and hobgoblins.

The irony. The more you try to escape from it, the more it is the same. My advice...

Just have fun and enjoy it! It is the best holiday around!

This Should not be Happening...

Socialist Europe appears to be winning the personal wealth game as we slip into a Mexican style economy.