Not Minding What Happens

J. Krishnamurti, the great Indian philosopher and spiritual teacher, spoke and traveled almost continuously all over the world for more than fifty years attempting to convey through words - which are content - that which is beyond words, beyond content. At one of his talks in the later part of his life, he surprised his audience by asking, "Do you want to know my secret?" Everyone became alert. Many people in the audience had been coming to listen to him for twenty or thirty years and still failed to grasp the essence of his teaching. Finally, after all these years, the master would give them the key to understanding. "This is my secret," he said. "I don't mind what happens."

He did not elaborate, and so I suspect most of his audience were even more perplexed than before. The implications of this simple statement, however, are profound.

A New Earth - Awakening to Your Life's Purpose pg 198

- Eckhart Tolle

Family Warmth in America

Holiday Madness Begins:

http://us.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=0&.rand=3iv40vg6sc1k3

Three women and a child in bed were shot to death during a family Thanksgiving gathering in South Florida and a male relative was being sought early Friday

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/woman-shot-to-death-on-west-side.html

Cops: Man kills newly wed wife, then himself

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-poisoned-mom-27nov27,0,3745877.story

An 18-year-old Lindenhurst man has been charged with trying to poison his mother by pouring antifreeze into a coffee maker

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-addison-four-27-nov27,0,4950807.story

Thomas Mangiantini left a "somewhat distraught" note that offers a clue to why he fatally shot his wife and two sons before killing himself in their Addison home, police said Thursday.

Are You Ready?

Worth-A-Read Essay:

http://www.richardccook.com/2009/11/25/the-secret-history-of-our-time-the-pope-and-satan-war-and-the-anti-christ-revelations-and-the-last-days/

So what exactly lies ahead and when will it happen? Well, I am not a prophet and have no specific predictions to offer. But it seems obvious that it makes no sense to look to the larger society or to a government under the control of the criminally insane for assistance. It is time for people to help themselves, and, since I began to study these things 40 years ago, it has meant to me the formation of groups that can develop their skills enough to be self-sufficient.

I'm Just Saying...*

"How would you work with rude people?"

I was actually asked that in a job interview once. I answered, "I'd kill them with kindness." They seemed to like the response because I got the job. I realize now they were protecting their payroll jerks.

If I ever got that question again, I'd answer, "I wouldn't. I'm not working in a hostile workplace. I suppose I'd give the person a chance, everyone has a bad day, but the second time I'd make a written report to HR, the steward, whoever, and not deal with him (and it's always a him it seems) or her again. I will do all in my power to be respectful and kind to my coworkers. I demand the same."

I wouldn't get the job.

Employers have too much time invested in their jerky workforce. It's just too easy to control a "team" when all are bickering and lashing out at each other. A group respectful of each others talents and limitations working together doesn't need management. The Boss doesn't care about your morale. He (and its almost always a he) would rather see you beholden and miserable. Then you jump when snapped at. That's a good worker. It's even better when the jerky workers police themselves.

When someone is complaining about not being appreciated, it's not about being appreciated. Listen, the person isn't liking the process of creativity. Everything is difficult getting to the final product. There is no cooperation, no helpfulness, no friendliness in the drudgery towards the final product. Nothing to lift your spirit to get through another day. People and their rotten attitudes and petty power plays aren't worth it. That goes for all inter-personal relationships.

This rotten system demands miserable people to man its stations. To groom new miserable people to replace them with a new turbo-charged misery. This gives the blamers at the top all the excuses they need to secure their jobs. Happiness, contentment and satisfaction is the last thing wanted as it is unmanageable, as you can't talk sense to young lovers. Your job demands misery and internalized the better. Die at your desk, they will say good things about you.

I hear from everyone I meet how they hate their jobs, then the next sentence is justification on how they have to put up with "the bullshit". These conflicting emotions is what is leading to unwanted stress, heart attacks, strokes, bad life style choices all leading to bad health. First work gets you sick, now the modern employer doesn't even feel a need to offer the care to fix you. People are lined around the block to receive the misery offered and they are so happy to get it.

Striving for a better world begins in your own mind; being brutally honest with yourself and the conditions around you, your internal emotions and appraisal of the people you are with. I suppose working through the problems is possible to change the people around you with your kindness, but how much of a supply do you have when your kindness is considered a weakness to be taken advantage of? Getting off on the right foot in your relationships is what drives the experience and keeping the high ground. It is difficult not be dragged into the muck.

Dis-Organizing Once Again

Don't Look For Liberation Here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/business/19labor.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22unite%20here%22&st=cse

“I wanted to change conditions at my workplace,” Maria said. “I was ready to fight for respect for workers. But this entire thing felt like a total lack of respect. I quit the union because I felt this was psychological abuse.”

Help Stop The Madness

What Kind Of Parent? What Kind Of Cop?:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-nw-thu-tasernov19,0,3112429.story

A police officer in a small Arkansas town used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl after he said her mother gave him permission to do so.

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This Only Counts Present Day Soldiers:

http://rense.com/general88/record.htm

US Army Suicides Set Another Yearly Record

In A World Of Pain*

Stress Management:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6581495/Meditation-cuts-risk-of-heart-attack-by-half.html

Meditation is good for the body as well as the mind, scientists have discovered, as the practice significantly reduces the risk of a heart attack for people with heart disease.

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In A World Of Pain

I'm tired.

Exhaustion from despair.

Seeing absurdities.

False hope abounds.

I'm tired.

I'm so tired.

Struggle is pain.

Work is drudgery.

Fun is ridicule.

I'm so tired.

I'm so very tired.

Food is poison.

Friends are users.

Peace is gone.

I'm so very tired.

I rest.

Close my eyes.

Listen to my breath.

Separate my thoughts.

I rest.

I continue to rest.

Allow the mind to process.

Let the images come and go.

Judge the value.

I continue to rest.

I rest when I open my eyes.

I see more clearly.

I focus more intently.

I listen with compassion.

I rest everyday.

Mean Cats On Acid*

Every Job Fits This Description:

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/108148/stressful-jobs-that-pay-badly?mod=career-salary_negotiation

Stressful Jobs That Pay Badly

Pages upon pages of advice. Is there a problem here?

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=how+to+relieve+stress+at+work&fr=fp-today-na&fr2=mktg

Wear Blue Tinted Glasses:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/6578256/Blue-lights-installed-in-Tokyo-train-stations-to-stop-suicides.html

Japanese rail operators have installed blue lights at stations across the capital in a bid to deter passengers from killing themselves by jumping in front of trains

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Mean Cats On Acid

The American worker is bored to tears. Toiling in gossip-y little hell holes they turn on each other for entertainment.

The idealized vision of the "worker" still exists in some people's minds. People to take over the means of production and be the building blocks of a new society is their vision. It's sad, really, because the ones in America doing the heavy lifting are browbeaten, scared, spineless and conditioned to be a slave. They don't share the same vision and aren't going to sacrifice a thing for their betterment. This extreme miscalculation of the body leave the left-wing self-appointed leaders of the spontaneous revolution bitter, broken and frustrated.

They are still touting the picket line as a useful tactic. They still spend time printing fliers to hand out at the plant gate, except there are no plant gates anymore. Or spending an inordinate amount of time typing diatribes and manifestos to spam list serves and e-mailboxes, all totally unreadable. The solutions offered by these so-called revolutionaries seem like another, worse hell than the one we are in now, the slave mentality doesn't change, the machine needs cogs.

Good hearted people enter this quagmire and their spirits get crushed. The victories declared to be won are hollow, the crass manipulation of workers continues and they have to return to the fellow workers they are fighting for and be considered foolish. Along the line they discover there are no labor laws for protection, the organizations existing to protect them are simple rackets, and this world doesn't care for people who care. It's lonely and they don't fit in.

I spent the day watching television yesterday, all day. I saw several different commercials selling medication to treat depression. I saw an add stating 1 in 6 Americans suffer mental illness. Of course, throughout the football games, Cialis and Viagra ads for erectile dysfunction along with large RAM pick up trucks were for sale. This country is terribly mentally ill and we treat it as a means to profit.

The "workers" of this country are not going to advance in a uniformed cause until the "workers" of this country openly deal with their own mental problems. The mis-leaders of their organizations, instead of joining with management to terrorize their members by considering them numbers and threatening layoffs better recognize the humanity they are responsible for. It is not a business, a labor union is a force for social good. They should be holding classes on stress management, relaxation techniques, drug and alcohol counseling and showing a growing concern for their members' mental health. Teach people how to work together with interpersonal relationship seminars. Show them how to be compassionate to offset the greed that drives them now. Build a worker with the best qualities of humanity. Only then will the idealized Worker show forth.

Could've Been Me

The System Should Be Investigated For Manslaughter:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-suicidenov15,0,2044092.story?page=1

Police quickly blocked the street and began interviewing witnesses. At the Red Roof Inn, employees identified the man as a maintenance worker who had been employed there for just a few months.

Fight Back

At What Level Does The Corruption Stop?

http://blacksungazette.com/?p=1262

For anyone seeking evidence that the American working class is still a highly militant force- and that their “unions” are little more than a management organization of the bosses- the struggle at Ford provides an excellent case study.

Go Go Go:

http://counterpunch.org/lummis11132009.html

But if Obama made no promises to Okinawa, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) did. In its recent campaign, one of its public promises was to put an end to the plan to build a new US Marine Corps heliport on the sea off the town of Henoko, in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island.

Heroes In The News

Thousands More Like Him Needed:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226829/Soldier-faces-10-years-jail-desertion-highlighting-great-wrongs-perpetrated-Afghanistan.html

A soldier facing charges of desertion for refusing to return to Afghanistan has been arrested and charged with five further offences after joining an anti-war demonstration.

Must Get This News From Britain:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/11/cancer-new-york-rescuers

A spate of recent deaths of New York police and fire officers who took part in the emergency operation at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks has heightened fears that it could be the start of a delayed epidemic of cancer-related illness.

To Be Helped, Not Honored

Soldiers Shooting Soldiers? Never Happens:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/30794989/the_fort_carson_murder_spree/1

For the past several years, David Foy, a psychology professor at Pepperdine University, has been engaged in a study on the "spiritual consequence" of participating in war. Until now, surprisingly, very few researchers have examined how war affects a soldier's sense of morality or tried to quantify it. What Foy and his colleagues have found is that specific kinds of wartime experiences — notably the unintentional killing of civilians and the failure to save others from being killed — can cause "moral injury" to a soldier, as well as psychological trauma. The complex manifestations of PTSD — jumpiness, rage, sadness — are compounded by what Foy calls "changes in one's ability to perceive themselves as capable of acting in a morally appropriate way." Men who return from combat, he says, often see themselves as "damaged goods."

Extremely Sick Society

I Admit To Knowing The Feeling:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-shooting-reported-downtown-orlando-20091106,0,7958763.story

As Rodriguez was led to a police cruiser, a reporter shouted, "Why did you do it?"The 40-year-old draftsman offered only a cryptic response."Because they left me to rot," he said.

Gambling In Casablanca?*

Soldiers Kill. They Are Not Too Picky:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1106/p02s10-usmi.html

"This is an isolated and tragic case, and we're obviously in the process of obtaining more information as the events unfold," said Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh. 

Just Like In Iraq:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C572305%2C00.html?test=latestnews

"We have a terrible, tragic situation here," said Cone. "Soldiers, family members and the civilians that work here are absolutely devastated."

I'm A Human Being Over Here!:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_fort_hood_shooting_suspect

A cousin, Nader Hasan, told The New York Times that after counseling soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder, Hasan knew war firsthand.

"He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy," Nader Hasan said. "He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there." 

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Anyone tapping into EWS on a semi-regular basis saw this one coming. On one hand joining the military is defined in this culture as a "career choice" and on the other a slaughter by a stressed out officer is called an "isolated incident". No, it's a workplace murder scene not unlike the dozens that have happened in this country this year alone.

This government creates a huge, soulless killing machine staffed with brainwashed cogs, and is surprised when springs pop? The media spin is right on top of it explaining how the shooter must have been insane. I disagree. I say he is the sane one, screaming as loud as he can, trained as he was, pointing out the insanity surrounding him. He wasn't a cog, he was a human being and he was touched deeply by the human beings with PTSD that refused to be cogs and were deeply regretful of their actions overseas. He soaked it up and exploded. I did the same thing with the working people I was with, only weaponless.

It would be interesting to see just who he shot. Many times workplace shooters know exactly who gets the justice bullet. Were the fallen all "innocents"? I would conjecture they were not. They were trained killers going to do their job in a far off land. While I can have sympathy for their surviving families, would they have the same for the families of the Iraqis they killed? They are trained not to, unless of course, the humanity inside them hasn't been eliminated and it returns in the nightmare that is PTSD. Either way, those now dead soldiers were dead before they left for deployment. They joined the military to die, spiritually or physically.

Sha Na Na Sha Na Na Na Na

Obviously Needs More Time To Skateboard:

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-self-stabbing-110309,0,7284683.story

- Some might call in sick. Others might claim their car broke down. But a Denver man is facing charges for allegedly stabbing himself because he didn't want to go to work.

Take Over the World With This Mob?:

http://www.prisonplanet.com/pentagon-a-third-of-u-s-youth-too-fat-sickly-to-serve-in-the-military-most-of-the-rest-are-too-dumb-or-have-used-too-many-drugs.html

More than a third of American youth of military age are unfit for service, mainly because they are too fat or sickly, the Army Times reports, quoting the latest Pentagon figures.

Most of the rest are too dumb or have used too many drugs to qualify, the study shows.

The report says 35% of the 31 million Americans aged 17 to 24 are unqualified because of physical and medical issues. “The major component of this is obesity,” Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon’s director of accessions, tells the Times. “We have an obesity crisis in the country. There’s no question about it.” He also said young people, by and large, can’t do push-ups.

“And they can’t do pull-ups,” Gilroy says. ” And they can’t run.”

Modern Corporate Employment Policy:

http://www.henrymakow.com/feminism_is_key_to_making_of_a.html

Willie Lynch was a British slave owner in the West Indies. He was invited to the colony of Virginia in 1712 to teach his methods to slave owners there. The term "lynching" is derived from his last name. He advised slave owners to foster division, "fear, envy and distrust for control." Pit young versus old, light skinned versus dark skinned and most importantly, male versus female.

I Want My Cigarettes. Now.*

Be The Solution, Not The Problem:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/science/03tier.html?em

“Office gossip can be a form of reputational warfare,” Dr. Hallett says. “It’s like informal gossip, but it’s richer and more elaborate. There are more layers to it because people practice indirectness and avoidance. People are more cautious because they know they can lose not just a friendship but a job.”

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Martinis for All:

I belong to the working class. I might as well be in the psyche ward at Bellevue.

The great efforts of this century was to "organize" workers. Acronym groups appear to lead us to the promise land, only the first stop is the slaughterhouse. Union leaders that make 500% more than their constituents shouldn't be trusted or followed. If upon reflection, the individual paying his or her dues on a regular basis, would analyze such a situation with objectivity not one worker would join such an organization. But once they are in, they can never leave or their pension will be stolen and their health care terminated. The AFL-CIO job trust is the Hotel California of the working class.

This unfairness is perpetrated by popular culture and the hyper-competitiveness that is capitalism. We are trained with bogus myths at a very young age that never seem to leave our consciousness no matter how the world appears. Every coloring book page that goes on the refrigerator is a priceless Van Gogh. Sports revels in the "best", solidly reinforcing gender stereotypes and rewarding brute force to get there. You are better than the next guy... then you join the workforce with these attitudes only to discover you are a replaceable cog in the machine and are reminded daily of it. This causes the internal value system to rebel, only it rebels internally not at the system causing such disconnect. Television tells us everyday we live in the greatest county in the world. Your bursting anger must be your fault.

Look around your workplace. If statistics are correct, one-fifth of your co-workers are on a psychotropic drug to battle anxiety or depression. They have decided with their AMA MD's (the greatest drug pushers in the world) that this is what they need to get through their day, only thing is most of their day is work. This is what they need to go to work. Everyday at the job site is another episode of McMurphy in the Cuckoo's Nest for me.

Want to organize a group of workers to get justice? Here's my suggestion. Look around society and see what organizations have survived and how they do it. A group of people with mental issues meets weekly because what they believe is outrageous and doesn't fit into the "normal" thinking of society. They testify, break down in frustration, and receive support from the others in their sect. They hold hands and sing songs together. They sit down and break bread together. All in a secure regular location known for its tolerance and love of people. No one is turned away or deemed unworthy. All people are taken in for the goodness within and none considered crazy no matter what.

This is the model for success as is shown by the Christian Right and its twisted power has risen exponentially in this country with these tactics. Unions or solidarity worker groups will never succeed until they take on the issue of mental illness within their recruits. Capitalism wants us all crazy. Doing that sends us to cults and prescription drugs or anything to validate us or to stop the madness within. Inequality, injustice, economic pain are all symptoms of this mental illness because we accept the conditions most readily as appropriate. There are not alternatives in action to point to. It's easy to shut down thinking and become a cog than take the responsibility of your birth and be a human being. This is what capitalistic society demands of you.

The result of 30 years of labor organizing I have witnessed has produced many frustrated Don Quixotes tilting at windmills, damaging their family lives and physical health. Marching so far ahead of the parade they can't hear the brass band. Their idealism is to be admired, if only their self-righteousness doesn't spoil you on them first. They are truly the sane ones until lack of support from capitalistic induced insane fellow workers grinds their spirit down to a fine dust to be blown into the winds of history.

"Enough is enough" is the chant these days. I hear it as cry of mental anguish.

Dipped My Toe In*

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I Can Feel Her Pain:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_britain_beefeater

At issue is the alleged bullying of a contemporary trailblazer: Moira Cameron, the first woman to serve as yeoman warder at the Tower, which dates back to the 11th century.

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Regular employment almost got me. The allurement of working a job on the ground floor of exciting opportunities was offset by sleepless nights and no health care offered by the employer.

The man who was offering me this paycheck was well accomplished in his field. He has written books and practiced his trade for over thirty years. He is at the top of his game and, most likely, a multi-millionaire. He made all his decisions based on the paperwork in front of him and wouldn't think of making a move without all the t's crossed and i's dotted - except when it came to his employees. Then all inquiries about employment conditions were shuffled off with a, "Don't worry. I'll take care of you.", which may or may not be true. I didn't stick around long enough to find out.

The stress in his office was palpable. The staff was afraid and often browbeaten by him. (I didn't see it personally, but observing his megalomaniac habits it doesn't seem far fetched to me). They were all beholden to him in more ways than simply working for him. He knew how to manage his business but he sure didn't know how to manage people. They were simply to be used and their labor was demeaned and unappreciated. Talked a good game of respect, but didn't show it. All field personnel were considered "janitors", as if that is a derogatory term.

I simply am not ready to join the wage-slave world, although work doesn't scare me or wanting to do something constructive isn't in my plans. I demand to be appreciated and understood as a struggling laborer. I will not be constantly reminded of how I didn't measure up and how overpaid I am. My attitude is great entering these situations and horrible with ill health soon after I begin. I refuse to blame myself totally for work place problems when the environment is hostile, mean spirited and simply about profit for one arrogant individual. I'll use my own talents to create my own world, thank you very much.

Illusion and Too Real

Like A Slow Train Around The Bend:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/1116/opinions-great-depression-economy-on-my-mind.html

The only remaining option is to have the Fed create new money out of thin air. This is inflation. Higher prices lead to a devalued dollar and a lower standard of living for Americans.

For Once I Agree With The Pope:

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/137270/Vatican-condemns-dangerous-Halloween

Last year an estimated 60,000 black cats were kidnapped and killed in rituals in Italy

We Are On Our 9th Bob Dylan, as it is:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-kim-jongil-that-clinton-met-was-a-fake-says-academic-1812286.html

Japanese professor claims communist dictator has been replaced after dying in 2003