Morrrrrrpm's!

DIESEL, Rudolf Christian Karl   1858 - 1913
                                          -- largely unsung hero of the revolutions-per-minute business


     In most particulars, diesels don't measure up well to gas motors.  Compared to gasoline engines, they're heavier, more expensive, 'dirtier,' noisier, and vibrate more.  Recent technological advances have somewhat improved their weight, expense, noise, and vibration problems, still...
     In one other particular, diesels' advantages far outshine their gasoline-powered cousins:  It's the FUEL, Virginia!  Diesel fuel is known as 'low-grade and comparatively unrefined.'  Then what is it about this poorer relative of petrol that makes it so all-fired exciting?  Why did Rudy's original design parameters center around 'low-grade, dirty' fuel?
     I suggest his original intentions might be not only enlightening, but inspirational to us today.  While lately, trick market moves have erased the at-the-pump economy of its lack of refinement, this low-grade fuel meant bypassing the refinement steps required for petrol, making it cheaper to produce.  It also means, even more importantly, that diesel and jet fuel can be produced from feed-stocks other than petroleum!  Mysteriously, this detail has since been obscured, almost lost in the petro-smog.  Also near-buried is the fact that these alternative feed-stocks yield Bio-diesel, far cleaner burning than the petro-versions, with big, immediate atmospheric benefits.
     It gets more important, yet:  Mr. Diesel was particularly aware that Bio-diesel feed-stocks, specifically HEMP cultivars for seed, would mean the DECENTRALIZATION of this energy source;  Every neighborhood could grow its own, harvest its own seed, press the seed for fuel locally, and be left with the finest high-protein food as a by-product.  In the process, the cultivation of this one crop for fuel would:
     *Soak up CO2
     *Provide shade, cooling the earth
     *Fix nitrogen in the soil
     *Generate oxygen for breathing creatures (US, and so on...)
     *Control weeds
     *Aspirate moisture back into the atmosphere
     *Yield high-grade, tasty, non-toxicant, protein-rich seed-meal FOOD
     AND
     *Yield 4,726.3 gallons of methanol per year per acre (2 gals methanol=1 gal 96 octane petrol)
                                                           -- John J. Wise, Mobil Oil           
                                                               Industry Public Witness Panel Testimony
                                                               Before the 95th Congress of the U.S.           
     Such DECENTRALIZATION would mean LOCAL energy independence, cut deeply into the energy monopolies' rigged market advantages and undermine their illegal political pull!  PRESTO!  Big Problems solved! 
     So, remind me once again who profits most from the failed and failing Prohibition of Hemp (besides criminals, the pharmaceutical, synthetic and timber fiber and chemical industries, 'corrections professionals,' and various clueless religious wackos)?

'Free' Elections

There may be no one evil greater

Than choosing the lesser of two

Choosing the lesser of two evils

And expecting anything good

Choosing the lesser of two evils

And expecting anything other than evil

Choosing the lesser of two evils

As if evil has a 'lesser'

Choosing the lesser of two evils

Like there's a choice in it

Choosing the lesser of two evils

Like in choosing, there will somehow be gain

Choosing the lesser of two evils

And getting used to it (and used and used and...)

Choosing the lesser of two evils

Accepting that it's 'just the way it works,'

When it never did, it doesn't now, and it never will.

Volunteer Army

     Machiavelli, festering little mole-rat, butt-nuzzler that he was, did make one valuable observation, even in his bloodthirsty swoon for Power.  He noticed, in his infinite avarice, that one's troops would fight far longer and harder for love than for money, even to their deaths.  He saw that a soldier who loved his prince, his village and family, was worth a hundred mercenaries in battle.  He advised the prince who wanted to win in war to first gain the love of his army, since hired killers turned and ran from danger, having showed up mainly for the cash and prizes.  The lesson here is that allegiance based on love prevails over that based on personal gain.  This astute conclusion happens to resonate directly with the 11th commandment, in the words of Jesus Christ, that we "Love one another."  What a concept:  Without love, you won't really get any power, or hold any.  The prince, whose love of power excludes all others, must viciously exploit the love of his subjects like any other resource at his command.  Yes, Virginia, the rich are 'different.'
     This most ironic fact holds true for the very foundations of war.  There is no resource exploited in warmaking (none; zero; not any) which is not provided solely by the matrix of Peace.  Without this initial Peaceful providence (literally: for Life), there can be not one thread or button of clothing; not one shoe for one foot; not one bean or crumb of bread; not one swallow of water; not one wheel or motor conveyance; not one drop of fuel nor one candle; not one rifle nor one bullet; not one grain of gold, nor one copper penny; not one troop.
     War is a parasite upon the body of Peace and always has been.  Peace pays all the bills, and war pays not one dime, and takes all the credit by force.  War even blames Peace for all the trouble.  In the words of the infamous von Klauswitz, "The sole cause of war is undefended wealth."  No burglar ever accused his victims more clearly.
     War is dependent upon Peace, not just a little, but entirely...not just remotely, but directly.
     ONE EXAMPLE AMONG THE INVARIABLE MULTITUDE:
     A great of deal of note has been taken about WW2's conflicts in the Pacific, particularly the turning of fortune to favor America's efforts in the air there.  There were many factors which contributed to the U.S. gaining air superiority, and among them was one which has received almost none of the attention here that it deserves, then or since.  Then, it certainly did get the attention of individual enemy pilots and their air command, since it literally shot them out of the sky.  The U.S. deployment of the Lockheed P-38 fighter-bomber changed everything in the air.  Previously, U.S. aircraft had been slower, less maneuverable than the enemy's 'zeros,' and thus were losing the air war consistently.  The legendary P-38 as a weapon has indeed gotten well-deserved attention; it's near-sonic speed and amazing agility, its ability to concentrate heavy firepower on a target, brought victory after victory.  The audacity, heroism, and fighting skills of its pilots achieved mythological status, and rightly so. 
     But there's another element to the deployment of this ferocious aircraft which has gone almost totally ignored; one element of the utmost importance, since without it, none of the rest of it would ever have happened.  The appearance on the scene of what they called the 'fork-tailed devil' was just the first jolt to enemy airmen and their ambitions.  They then quickly realized, and said so loud and clear, that these deadly craft were being made and put in service faster than they could be shot down.  The question is:  Who performed this most urgently needed miracle of production, and did it so triumphantly?  The answer is:  A cadre of Human workers, largely women, born of and developed in the bosom of Peace.  This working population, along with their farms, mines, mills, foundries and factories, were willingly conscripted from the rolls of Peace into the service of war.  The point is:  War can go nowhere without these legions of Peace and their productivity and loving commitment.
     Put that in your pipe and smoke it, all you remote-control 'heroes' over at the Pentagon!
     And to each one, civilian or uniformed, who's asked to contribute to hostile action anywhere without a lawful Declaration of War:  Think about this before 'going along.'
     A most patriotic salute and Highest Commendations to the Bradley Mannings of our world.

Problem Solving Skills -- Note 10 -- Letters; 'Bibliography'

     "American Revolutionary Scoop:  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia Steps in DooDoo Three Times and Nobody Says 'Shit!'

     A couple days before the election, a small article in the S.F. Comical quoted Justice Scalia's comments on some cases currently before the Court.  He openly expressed his prejudice on the issue in these cases.  He further admonished his audience that the Constitution gives us no such right as that for which petitioners are seeking Court protection. 

     Well, excuse me, Judge, but you better back your black-robed ass up!  Back way up!  With all due respect, you professional pinhead, you're missing major points of the legal arrangement, here, t'wit:

     One - An officer of the court is never to discuss a case pending before the court.  This is a fundamental rule of jurisprudence.  You blew it.

     Two - You say your alleged mind is made up on this issue before you've heard the case.  This so special.  Why then would we need to take the time or go to the expense of hearing these cases if you already know what's right?  The Supreme Court could close, the Justices and all that staff could pack up and go home, saving us taxpayers a bundle.  Homeless veterans could then take shelter in all those fancy buildings you vacate, with the carpets, air conditioning and call girls.

     Three - This is the important part.  In your long and illustrious career 'reading the law' is it possible you missed this point about our Constitution, supreme law of the land?  This point about the Constitution (indeed the point about the whole American revolution) is this:

     The Constitution does not give us our Rights.  The government does not give us our Rights.  No judge anywhere gives us our Rights.  What the Constitution does do is regulate what lawful government can do and cannot do.

     This point is most clearly and emphatically made in Amendment IX:  "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain Rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People."

     How could you miss so simple and clear a statement, Justice Scalia?  Do you think it unimportant?  Do you see it as not binding somehow?  Are you out of your overeducated fucking mind?  Are you hypnotized beyond your own comprehension?  Do they do like selective lobotomies there in the rarefied strata you inhabit?

     We retain the Right to discreet and objective justice.  We retain the Right to public servants who daily exhibit their awareness of their place.

     These seem such uncomplicated requirements, yet you've given us magpie running in tight circles to the right.

     Bad justice!  Bad, bad, bad!"



     -- Rick Weddle

~1984, letter to Justice Scalia, and printed in the Memo, a bi-weekly 'shopper' in Ft. Bragg, CA

* * *

An Addition for

Webster's Collegiate

"Dear Editor,

     I figure if we humans are going to allow 'larger forces' to snuff out the one viable biosphere in the known universe, we should at least have a name for these ubercritters.

     New word:

     corpirate  (kor - pi - ret)  n.  Latin corp, body, and Latin pirata, pirate or the practice and practitioners of illegal violence on the seas and shores.  (1) Any of numerous members of the synthetic organism, corporation, as individuals or in aggregate, or any of these man-made life forms' human appendages (stockholders, employees, advocates, subverted governments, etc.).  Ubiquitous and dominant life form on planet earth, its salient feature being warfare [for gain] against individual humans, groups, resources, the biosphere as a whole; responsible for our planet and all its contents now being casualties of war, but specifically and intentionally not responsible to anything; the root cause of terrorism....Adj. Of, or like, the corpirate organism, as the structure of organizations modeled after the corpirate (civic, service, fraternal, religious and political partes, their operatives, actions and philosophies).

--  Rick Weddle, Kapa'au

Hawai'i Island Journal, May 1-15, 2004

* * *

Suggested 'Required' Reading

[While not a comprehensive list, this might point anyone interested in the 'right direction.']

'Conspiracy for Empire; Big Business, Corruption and the Politics of Imperialism in America, 1876 - 1907'

--  Luzviminda Bartolome Francisco, Jonathan Shepard Fast

'Confessions of An Economic Hit Man'

--  John Perkins

'Theodore Rex'

--  ?

'Seven Pillars of Wisdom'

--  T. E. Lawrence [of Arabia]

'Dams and Other Disasters; A Hundred Years of the Army Corps of Engineers in Public Works'

--  Arthur E. Morgan

'The Sovereign State of ITT'

--  ?

'The Proud Tower'

--  Barbara W. Tuchmann

'A People's History of the United States'

--  Howard Zinn

Problem Solving Skills -- Note 9 -- The Final War; Surprise!

     Every expert in the arts of conflict, past and present, emphasizes the importance of the element of surprise.  With this element, superior numbers and overwhelming force can be defeated; history is full of celebrated examples.  Surprising an opponent is achieved by camouflage, covert action, sneak attack, or diversion, etc.  Using ruse and subterfuge to hide your own strengths and intentions, using diversion to obscure your positions and goals to confuse your opponent are famously successful strategies in war, business, and politics.  Surprise maximizes the chances of victory, both to reap the benefits of conquest and to minimize the cost to one's own side.  The success of this principle is so prevalent, we can call it the Rule:  Victory Goes To The Most Devious.  The triumph of the Devious is so obvious, almost invariable, it's become a given in open conflict.  In Human vs. Human contests, everyone seeks to command the element of surprise against their foe, and to guard against the foe's use of it, to be vigilant and quick with counter-measure.

     How much more certain victory is, then, if one engages an opponent in a conflict which is not even recognized as conflict by that opponent.  A secret victory might be quickly consolidated and enforced by the victors with little notice taken by the 'target,' the victors assuming as camouflage the guise of those so conquered by stealth.  The conquered may be convinced by Diversion that they are themselves identical with their conquerors.  The victors in such a covert, even bloodless operation, having achieved dominance, are then free to exploit, undetected, the 'conquered' people, their allegiance, their labor, lands and other resources, and to obtain tribute as a matter of the course of conquest.  Once dominant, such victors are also free then to write 'history' as they wish, and to prescribe further definition of anything and everything, also in accordance with their own primary interests, and to further their goals.  Thus, those so covertly conquered may have their governments quietly subverted, their markets manipulated, their media supervised and censored, their institutions of higher learning 'sponsored' into compliance, their very thinking and ways of Life influenced, slanted for the conquerors' benefit, all to the victors' growing advantage, all at the growing expense and with the cooperation of those so conquered.

     Here, the prudent victors, in a kind of assimilation-by-confusion, might continue to obscure their original takeover, encouraging the conquered to identify with their new, covert captors, and to miss entirely the discontinuity between their pre-conflict and post-conflict circumstances.  This 'spell' might be reinforced, its reach extended by further engaging those already subjugated in more violent, open conflicts with other Humans...and by exploiting and aggravating any simple differences between Peoples (race, sex, class, culture, religion, country of origin, political 'parties,' etc.)...the ultimate Diversions.

     Surprise!  This is not a hypothetical, fantasy conquest;  it has in fact already happened...is happening...here, in the United States of America.  The covert coup accomplished by the Corpirations during the American 'Civil' War, and as announced so clearly by Abraham Lincoln in 1865, has changed nearly everything about the world we live in.  When the Corpirations began 'calling the shots,' the distinction between their 'principles' and those of Humans became of paramount importance.  Yet little notice of this crucial distinction has been made, then or since.  It is fundamental to the Corpirate interests that this difference remains obscure, that their interests continue to be defined as identical with ours in the minds of Humans.  Obscuring this distinction works to camouflage the original coup and its perpetrators, continuing on through today.  Observing that in fact there is such a distinction immediately makes several things starkly clear, among them:

     1.  The distinction between Corpirate interests and the interests of Humans does in fact exist, and is so vast as to be the salient feature of our present 'civilization.'  The sole expressed 'principle' of the Corpiration, maximizing next quarter's earnings, disallows any Human sensibility, denies any Human Right which comes into conflict with it.  A Corpirate officer or agent is required by law to make decisions which maximize profits ONLY, to the specific exclusion of all other 'principles.'  This has resulted in rife examples of things which make so many millions of dollars, no one seems to care or notice they make no sense (the Nuclear Mistake, for instance).  The presence in our midst of nuclear power generation is one of the foremost of these glaring examples.  We have largely come to think of nukes as somehow necessary to meet 'our energy demands,' widely ignoring that they are history's most dangerous way to boil water, and history's most costly, both immediately, and in the Long Run, for us Humans and for the rest of our Biosphere.  A Corpirate officer or agent must therefore remove themselves from Human sensibility far enough to execute their duties to the Profit Imperative, rendering themselves fundamentally Unhuman in the process.  A nuke meltdown is not an accident;  it's a mistake.

     This Unhumanizing process has been the main contributor to our catalog of 'Synthetic Problems,' mentioned previously.  Yet we Humans have so closely identified ourselves with the Corpirate organism, we readily assume the blame for these artificial disasters because, well, we can't seem to help being fallible;  the infamous Human Error gets all the bad press which would properly be tagged to the Unhuman processes of the Corpiration, our secret, remote-control Ruler.  I believe it's crucial to make this most important distinction and to get used to making it...to keep right on making it.  In fact, viewing the long list of Synthetic Problems properly, we'd say that these difficulties were not really created by Humans, but by the Unhumanizing processes of the Corpiration.  People contribute to these problems only to the degree they've been Diverted by these Unhumanizing processes.  This is not to entirely absolve Humans of all responsibility, but to Redefine the Problem toward a more manageable grasp.

     2.  The traditional success of the camouflage of this distinction has made possible the dominance of Human affairs illegally by Corpirate interests on a global scale.  Whenever we buy a gallon of gasoline, we subscribe to the Corpirate definition of 'our energy demands,' hooking ourselves to the addictions enforced by the Corpirate organism.  This is no simple puzzle.
     Were we to become widely aware of this difference, to recognize the basic Unhumanity which has secretly come to rule us, we'd be quickly Redefining our world, how we think about, and how we act in it, each of us, for our own Good, and for our People.
     For instance:
     Did Corpirations then (during the American War Between the States) in fact do willful violence, quietly, to the American system of givernment, dissolving the Sovereignty of the People of the United States of America, and of other countries elsewhere?  Yes, they did.  Do they continue to do so?  Yes, they do.  The horror of September 11, 2011, was a direct and predictable result, among many others.

Problem Solving Skills -- Note 8 -- Exercising Redefinition

     To redefine a growing problem toward a more accurate grasp would tend to make solving it possible.  This would liberate us from the problem's dangers and from ways of thinking and acting which contribute to the problem.  This changing of definition and how it determines thought and action may prove to be Revolutionary;  that's my goal here, to have even some small effect.
     My personal, vital connection to Creation is the Base Criteria for redefining our 'Problems,' here.  As such, it is no more and no less than any other Humans'.  This Base Criteria quickly makes several things evident;  among them:
     1.  This redefining process will take some real effort over a period of time, since it is notably different than definitions currently accepted.
     2.  While liberating, I anticipate that this process will cause some disturbance (disturbing to myself and/or to others).  Objective:  Place this 'disturbance' where it belongs...on 'Diversion.'
     3.  Engaging in this process alone is no more than an isolated mental exercise.  While personally gratifying and liberating, no real, wide effect could be achieved without others working in the same or similar processes.  I have to believe this is now happening widely and that communication among us will have cumulative effects toward lasting, positive change.
     4.  It may be too late.  The Old Definitions' destructive momentum may already have overtaken us, rendering positive solutions futile in the long run.  This can't and won't stop this effort.  We can't know until we try.  The Old Definitions of 'The Way Things Work' depict our growing problems as a Big Train Wreck Waiting to Happen on a global scale.  Almost everyone knows this, or feels it instinctively.  The New Definition says flatly, "It's not waiting, this is The Way Things Do NOT Work, with a vengeance."

     The Base Criteria -- our shared mortal interconnection with Creation and each other -- is clearly the wellspring of my life and will be my guideline here.  Adhering close as possible to it properly informs thought and action, and supplies accurate definition and firm foundation of principles.  I do this simply because it makes Good Sense, for my own Good and for my People.  As it happens, adherence to this Base Criteria is also consistent with all the great spiritual teachings -- 'Doing the Right Thing, For My Own Good and For My People.'  Since this Base Criteria is shared in common with all Living Things, the expression, 'my People,' as used here, designates all Humans, to the specific exclusion of any Corpirate Beings. 

     Where this Redefinition comes into conflict with previously accepted notions, Redefinition will take priority, superceding previous Definitions.  This will likely require rejection of dearly-held 'beliefs,' abandoning long-accepted dogmas which oppose Redefinition.  These opposing beliefs and dogmas are reclassified as Diversions.  These Redefining operations will take some effort to perform, and will take some time in which to adjust to them.

* * *

  REDEFINING 'OUR ENERGY DEMANDS'

     We hear this phrase, 'our energy demands,' quite a lot.  Each of us uses energy in various ways throughout any given day, and we each have vague ways of defining those uses:  our 'needs' for energy; kinds of energy we use; sources of energy available to us; how we use those energies; what those energies cost immediately; how those costs seem to rise continuously.  Lately, it's been more widely discussed that about 80% of the average household budget goes for energy in one form or another, after taxes.  Also becoming more widely known recently is the fact that of an average household energy budget, where water is heated by an electric water heater, 80% of that budget goes to heat water.  Passive roof-mount solar water heaters cost about $5k, utilities usually offer $1k rebates, for a net investment of $4k.  Thus, saving about 80% of your household power bill for the first three years will pay for the passive heater and installation, and it will last for another 17 years or so, supplying FREE energy.  This example is liberating in two very important ways.  First, having taken the Old Definition of 'energy demand' from merely vague to specific and detailed, this Redefinition has locally realized the use of FREE power to save a lot of money.  Second, and maybe more important, this Redefinition has shown that this household was previously shackled to a centralized energy that devoured most of the budget.  Further, being thus trapped in a taken-for-granted 'energy demand' makes slaves of consumers, who are then forced to pay for the privilege, not just of using the energy there, but of perpetuating the energy-slave system itself.  Utilities suppliers won't be found encouraging consumers to Redefine their own 'energy demands' toward sources of FREE and CLEAN and DECENTRALIZED energy, because their Bottom Line would suffer mightily...next quarter's earnings would plummet like a lead duck.  They will instead be using some of your hard-earned money for Diversion, painting themselves, 'green,' and otherwise dolling themselves up as just plain folks, concerned as anyone else about all this global warming business...diverting our attention, subverting 'our' leaders.

     It must not go without saying also, that utilities suppliers usually generate the power they sell us so dearly by the dirtiest, costliest, most dangerous means known:  Fossil Oil, Coal, and worst so far, Nuclear fission reactions.  These resources lent themselves to monopoly exploitation from the start.  And from the start, Corpirations controlling these resources have wielded undue influence in all levgels of 'our' governments, gaining and consolidating power over us illegally, with our money.  Cleaner, more user-friendly energy sources have been suppressed and sidelined, patents cornered and overpriced.  Addiction to Fossil Means and the Slow Bombs that are nuke reactors has been imposed and enforced by habit, by propaganda, and by government subversion.  These nefarious forces have supplied us with our Old Definitions of 'Our Energy Demands,' and of how to fill those demands.  The Old Definitions have their hands deep in our pockets and then some;  they've had us Over the Barrel, forcing their Definitions into us from behind for so long, we've grown accustomed to it.  We still sign up for their 'energies' eagerly ('we have to...don't we?'), and the best we can come up with is to whine about how much they're charging us to get screwed.

     Recall the bright rays of optimism which briefly peeked through the rad-smog in 1973.  Remember our first 'energy crunch?'  When OPEC upped the price per barrel of petro then, American consumers did a most spectacular, even miraculous, thing:  They showed they could significantly kick the petro habit, with no planning whatever.  As a mere panic reaction, consumers automatically dropped gasoline consumption by a stunning 30%!  Think what this demonstrates about the Primary Power of the Consumer in this market and others!  Think what this means to the bean-counters who run EXXACO (and the White House, etc.)...  Imagine what creatively Redefining things like 'Our Energy Demands' could accomplish.

     Needs?  Car; other car; truck; SUV; dune buggy; snowmobile; jet ski; electric knife; hair drier; clothes drier; dish washer; water heater; boat; weed eater; lawn mower; hedge trimmer; motorcycle; other motorcycle; ATV; motor home; exercise machine; air conditioner; other air conditioner; airplane; swamp buggy; chain saw; chipper; leafblower; log splitter; computer; other computer; cel phone; other cel phone; video games; other video games; tv; other tv; other tv; heater; other heater; fan; other fan; lights; other lights; stove; other stove; refrigerator, freezer; other refrigerator; other freezer; washing machine; electric can opener; bbq grill; camp stove; drill press; jigsaw; table saw; circle saw; drill; planer; joiner; lathe; other lathe; air travel; trucked food; food production, harvesting, processing, marketing; trucked fuel; trucked waste; trucked water; fresh water supply; fresh water treatment; waste water treatment; various other communications and entertainment appliances; surveillance appliances; packing and packaging; paper (its harvesting, processing, distribution, use, waste-contribution); waste stream 'treatment, disposal, and recycling'; batters; other batteries; fuels; chemicals and supplies to support all this; paints; plastics; adhesives; synthetic textiles; synthetic pharmaceuticals; lubricants; additives; cosmetics; acquisition and exploitation of resources (forest; mineral; energy; food; Human); 'defense' apparatus; media 'news'; infrastructure (highways, bridges, dams, flood control, construction); infrastructure maintenance; government; government maintenance; personal political campaign contributions; personal share of Corpirate campaign contributions (what you pay in original purchase price of goods and services that is then spent by the Corpirations to manipulate government offices behind the scenes to keep you hooked); 'lobbies' (the vast business of special interests who herd the public around like tax-cattle); 'justice'; 'corrections'; advertising (public display of products and services, and publicity supporting the necessity of these products and services; expansion of all the above in the name of 'growth'...

     Are all these really needs?  When we buy them, what are we getting for our buck?  Buy a gallon of gas for $4, it gets you down the road maybe 25 miles.  It also gets you a subscription to a system that's centralized specifically to be beyone your control.  This system illegally controls 'your' government, carefully maintaining the illusion of 'democracy' at work.  It defines 'Our Energy Demands' and how those demands will be met.  It generates a barrage of propaganda to trivialize and discredit warnings about global warming, acid rain, petro-cancers, and the calamitous effects and massive hidden costs of nuke power.  It determines government policy, up to and including the use of armed force to secure resources here and there around the world for profit.  This system makes undeclared (illegal) war, under the Stars and Stripes, putting 'our' troops in harm's way (killing our People and others) on intelligence which ranges from Poor to None, for profit.  These war crimes fit the Definition of Highly Organized Crime, funded by our tax dollars, bathed in blood.  'Collateral Damage' is the cynical euphemism applied to the hundreds of thousands of innocent bystander casualties...men, women and children...we've not bothered to memorialize by their names, their number, or even by the pound.  It is the greatest apparatus for betrayal, murder, slavery, and theft for cash and prizes in all of history, so far.  Others around the world are ominously taking the Yankee Hint; lucky us.

     T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) saw this coming in 1917, warned about it in 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom,' and did all he could to prepare People within his reach for it, then.  The sordid, bloody history of Yankee involvement in Saudi Arabia from the start is chronicled by the adventures of Kermit Roosevelt.  He intentionally committed People there to 'deals' which they could never fulfill except by giving up control of their petro resources.  'Confessions of An Economic Hit Man' (author?) confirms this policy of covert coercion in some chilling detail.  It has become The Rule in 'our' foreign policies.  The resulting emergence of 'Muslim Fundamentalism' was not only predictable, it was predicted.  We don't need a crystal ball or 1-900-psychic number to tell where these Oil Wars and foreign 'terrorists' came from, and where all this is heading.  It's an ongoing Crime Against Humanity...it's the way they do business.

     What is the cost of a gallon of gas beyond your original $4, and beyond the ongoing and escalating violence it requires?  The CO2 contamination of the atmosphere will cost you and your children and theirs the air you breathe; it will cost you the weather, the rain, the crops, the rivers and lakes and oceans, from the effects of global warming and acid rain, to say next to nothing about rising radiation levels.

     After taking this mess into consideration, realizing you've gotten used (!) to paying and paying for it, making it all possible, even 'inevitable,' think about this:  You've paid into this system after you paid your taxes.  This system uses your taxes to run 'your' government which is actually illegally in the control of the Corpirations, for the benefit of their Bottom Line ONLY, to the express exclusion of all other benefits...and these same commercial interests generally don't pay any taxes whatever.  Not to be stopped there, the Corpirations then help themselves to Mega-Welfare in the form of Oil Depletion Allowances, and so on...and on...at your expense.

     If any benefit is to be realized by Redefining our Problem, it will be in manifesting the True Power that resides in the Consumer, and always has; this is the Cleverly Guarded Secret of the Marketplace:  WE hold the purse strings; all wealth comes through the hands of People who create it.  WE only turn over this wealth in ways we are conviced are appropriate, or 'needed'...ways we are trained to.

     Where could be found someone to plant trees to soak up CO2, to shade and cool the planet, to make some oxygen?  Where could be found someone who might see the need?  Where could be found someone to convert their air-cooled motorcycle to ethanol fuel?  Who might suggest that fuel crops, instead of stealing ground from food supply, could be decentralized and planted in and harvested from the right-of-ways of freeways, railways, 'extra' parking lots, roof tops, abandoned industrial and military sites?  Who might suggest cancelling the Corpirate-Welfare State, like Oil Depletion Allowances, and applying that cash to developing means to take advantage of the FREE POWER that fall on the ground all around us unclaimed, as yet?  Who might suggest stopping the use of fossil resources for our very survival and that of the planet?  Who might suggest putting to work those who've profited so mightily from these vicious Diversions in works of reclamation, restitution, and renewable energy resources, to say little about criminal and civil justice?  Who might suggest convening Public Grand Juries to provide indictments for War Crimes, calling for criminal charges against these Corpirations, their officers, agents, operatives, and major stockholders?  Who might suggest charges of Treason against those in American public office, sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution, who've betrayed that trust in covert service to those Corpirations?  Who might imagine that we even have such Power...that we have these Rights?  In the absence of lawful mechamisms to effect these changes, where might we find the means to establish such lawful mechanisms?  When?  In accordance with our Redefinition, I suggest the answers to these questions are:  Us.  Here.  Now. 

Problem Solving Skills -- Note 7 -- Mission/Diversion

     Currently supplied definitions of our Problems/Solutions are mostly failures.  The growing seriousness of the consequences of these failures compels redefinition, and compels us to be quick about it.  Asking that you correct me if you think I'm wrong, I humbly submit the following suggestions:

     I call this planet Good; since it's the only one within reach in the known universe capable of producing and sustaining Life; since my personal existence springs from it and will return to it, and is sustained by it in the meantime.  I call this planet Good enough to be glad for, Good enough to pay attention to for its own Good on its own terms, for my own Good and for my People.
     This is a direct link, by blood, between myself and Creation and its Author(s).  I acknowledge that all living beings have this identical link, however various its appearance and expression.  I count these variations among our great benefits, not only to be tolerated, but to be celebrated, to be thankful for.
     This relationship's clarity and simplicity supply (1) definition of appropriate paths in Life (my 'Mission'), and (2) distinction between that Mission and Diversion from it.
     I am Free, then, to distinguish between Natural Problems (ones we confront just being alive on Earth), and Artificial Problems (ones caused by actions I, or we, take).  Since no sane person would add to our famous Natural Problems by contriving synthetic ones, I'm Free to see all Artificial Problems as results of mistaken definitions and the erroneous actions which flow from those mistakes.  If I then make two lists of Problems, one Natural, the other Synthetic, and compare these lists, I immediately see huge, glaring differences:

     Natural Problems are, by the present Definition, processes outside our control which are necessary parts of the fabric and dance of Creation.  We may avoid them by removing ourselves from their vicinity, or we may minimize damage from them by taking shelter, putting on appropriate clothing, or otherwise adapting for surviving them.  [veredict:  survivable]
     Synthetic Problems are, by the present Definition, processes within our control, that are made by hand, in error;  courses of chosen action, ignoring any man-made, unnecessary dangers.  These artificial problems could be avoided by simply not making them.  Then to wilfully create these difficulties puts avoiding them out of the question.  With these 'extra' problems in our midst, to then try adapting or adjusting to them accommodates them, institutionalizes them, perpetuates them.  Accommodation requires rejection of the definition of these contrived troubles as problems at all.  We are encouraged to define them even as solutions.  [verdict:  not survivable]

     Natural Problems are relatively few, and have always been so.  Wildfire, volcano, earthquake, hurricane/tornado, tsunami, flooding, even disease problems, have long been with us.  These have been isolated and localized, with limited consequences for most of our history, even before we learned to write.  Awareness, planning, prudent action, and reasonable hygiene have successfully minimized damage from these problems.  [verdict:  survivable]
     Synthetic Problems are very many, rapidly increasing in number and severity, and began arising coincidentally with the 'agricultural revolution.'  What we call written history is a record of Humans creating synthetic problems they called 'civilizations' which then killed those same civilizations, time after time, every time.  Overpopulating our resources, over-exploiting our resources, warfare, pandemic diseases, individual peril, and social and ecological destruction are not unfortunate side-effects, they are the certain, invariable consequences of accommodating synthetic problems in larger Human populations.  Erroneously calling such synthetic problems 'solutions' denies the very possibilities of awareness, planning, prudent action, and reasonable hygiene as means of protection.  [verdict:  not survivable]

     Natural Problems have always been widely recognized as such.  Wildly different means have been devised here and there to successfully avoid their dangers and minimize their toll.  We see this with some pride as the Mark of our Species; we communicate, adapt, adjust, and prevail.  [verdict:  survivable]
     Synthetic Problems have almost never been so recognized, neither as artificial nor as problems.  From the first armed thugs and warlords, synthetic problems have been the means by which the bully gained and maintained power over his victims.  When 'royalty' came along, born likewise of betrayal, murder and theft, these synthetic problems took on the camouflage of the 'will of god.'  Divine Right guaranteed loyalty, even Belief in the rightness of the course of Synthetic Problems.  These systematic, 'Holy' Synthetic Problems have always relied directly upon a mass of victims or subjects, compliant and docile enough to subscribe to and cooperate in the Synthetic Problems of the Realm, a population not willing or able to define the Ruling structure as a Synthetic Problem.  It is often said that 'if people keep doing it, it must be natural...'  We are even encouraged to accept Synthetic Problems as part of our inherent makeup, that warfare is part of Humans' most fundamental nature.  [verdict:  not survivable]

     Our highly-regarded American Revolution was a concerted effort by Humans to outlaw Synthetic Problems.  It resulted in a Law in black and white specifying how a lawful government would look and what a lawful government could do and could not do.  It guaranteed in writing that Humans would thenceforth be Free to act individually and in concert to deal with Natural Problems and to prohibit Synthetic Problems.
     So, what happened?!
     The BIG Synthetic Problem, the Corpiration, sneaked in under the tent, got itself secretly crowned King of America, and has been running the Show by remote control ever since, that's what happened.  And almost no one has recognized it.  Few who do can even believe it.  Too bad.