‘For those who believe, no proof is necessary, For those who do not believe, no proof is possible.’ [Stuart Chase, MIT]
Truth is stranger than propaganda!
unbridled
The brilliance of naive wisdom [or maybe that should be 'untainted wisdom'(?)].
Child prodigy Adora Svitak says the world needs “childish” thinking: bold ideas, wild creativity and especially optimism. Kids’ big dreams deserve high expectations, she says, starting with grownups’ willingness to learn from children as much as to teach.
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If you haven’t yet explored TED Talks - Most definitely ideas worth spreading – Go NOW!
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the power of the crowd
“A network is non hierarchical. It is a web of connections among equals. What holds it together is not force, obligation, material incentive, or social contract, but rather shared values and the understanding that some tasks can be accomplished together that could never be accomplished separately.”
[Dr Dana Meadows. Beyond the Limits (MIT)]
CROWDSOURCING: Formed by gathering or collecting; gathered into a mass, sum, or body; congregated or aggregated; as, the collective body of a nation.
The inherent intelligence of swarms has inspired many social and political philosophers, in that the collective movements of an aggregate often derive from independent decision making on the part of a single individual. A common example is how the unaided decision of a person in a crowd to start clapping will often encourage others to follow suit, culminating in widespread applause.
Such knowledge, an individualist advocate might argue, should encourage individual decision making (however mundane) as an effective tool in bringing about widespread social change.
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Supposedly the “Occupy” movement isn’t a big deal – 152 million images say different!
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GFC, how ‘real’ is it?
As I was checking out the new Blogger interface I came across this post that sat in my old account as a draft, forgotten since I moved to WP.
Its resurfacing seems a timely follow-on from my previous.
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Life seems to serve up coincidences in droves. Maybe so that we’d simply take notice(?). The more ‘awake’ you are, the less you need to prompt you to really see.
Actually, I never believed in coincidences. Not because I don’t believe they happen, but because my preferred label is synchronicity. To my atheistic, overly analytical, logical mind, that makes much more sense. Everything in this universe is connected by the mere fact that it is all jostling in the same space and time. In an environment such as this, cause and effect are the main factors at play: “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” But some way down the chain, the relationship between the cause and effect is generally not obvious. So we don’t see the relevance. Until the same message falls at our feet from a number of different angels at the same time.
Why am I talking about this? I received this joke in my email today, as well as a link to an article. See what you think.
“The financial crisis explained in simple terms:
Heidi is the proprietor of a bar. To increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers – most of whom are unemployed alcoholics – to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).
Word gets around and as a result increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar.
Taking advantage of her customers’ freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most-consumed beverages. Her sales volume increases massively.
A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi’s borrowing limit. He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics as collateral.
At the bank’s corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed.
Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.
One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager (subsequently of course fired due his negativity) of the bank decides that slowly the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi’s bar.
However they cannot pay back the debts. Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations and claims bankruptcy.
DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95 %. PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after dropping by 80 %.
The suppliers of Heidi’s bar, having granted her generous payment due dates and having invested in the securities are faced with a new situation. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.
The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties.
The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the non-drinkers.”
And then this in “The Boston Globe“, where many of the comments are exploding with skepticism. Yes, well, why doesn’t that surprise me(?)
Hrmmm? In maths, zeros are a non-factor. Ironically, in finance they seem to be everything. Are they in life…?
UPDATE:
This interview on MSNBC was just brought to my attention. Not sure who the guy talking is, but he makes note that he’d been talking this talk for three years. How long does it take to wake up!?
the end times are a new beginning
“All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.” [Victor Hugo]
Wake up world!
Modern ‘democracy’ is worlds removed from the original concept. It is supposed to be “a form of government in which all people have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.” – The word ‘government’ is derived from the Latin verb gubernare, an infinitive meaning ‘to manage’.
However, unless the country’s management runs referendums (eg.Switzerland), we most definitely don’t have any say, except in choosing the puppet which is going to supposedly ‘represent’ us.
How naive are we to be sold on empty promises, time after time. The political party makes no difference – each simply tailors their blatant lies to a select group of people, bamboozling the masses with what they want to hear until the corporate puppets get to where they can wield their greed.
There is absolutely no intention of keeping any promises that don’t serve the big corporates, since politicians serve those that ‘sponsor’ them into governing positions, NOT the interests of the people who voted them into those.
What is really distressing is that the machinations of the big corporates are for short-term gain which is at the expense of long-term sustainability.
Needless to say, the “democratically” run countries are being grossly mismanaged! The only way to resolve this problem is to create a new system, or at least one that upholds true democracy.
Buckminster Fuller [(July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983), architect, author, philosopher, futurist, inventor, visionary] summed it superbly:
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
MORE INFO:
What Comes After Money? Essays from Reality Sandwich on Transforming Currency and Community
Click to here to join the Wall Street occupiers and demand real democracy! (Avaaz.org)
Adbusters Occupy Wall Street Campaign
Exploiting Anti-Semitism to Destroy Occupy Wall Street
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Swine flu swindle
When panic swept the globe over the swine flu pandemic people rushed to get vaccinated, but was the vaccine actually effective?
20 million doses and $100M later, comes the grand revelation that the vaccine was at best, 50% effective.
I suppose some pockets are not concerned.
This in the Australian media:
click on the image for link to 'Sunrise' page
