The Secret of Oz

From The Money Masters:

"...Thirteen years ago, in our documentary “The Money Masters” (co-authored by Patrick Carmack and Bill Still), we asked the question why are Americans going broke and the American middle class rapidly disappearing. To answer that question we went back and traced the history of modern banking which began over 300 years ago (with the founding of the privately-owned Bank of England). That history is, of course, still valid. With that historical perspective we were able to predict much of what has happened since we made that video. Many have called it prophetic - it was simply historically informed..."

Iraq's Secret War Files - Dispatches Wikileaks Special

25-Oct-2010

Edited highlights of tonight's programme.

Dispatches, Channel 4's flagship current affairs strand, exposes the full and unreported horror of the Iraqi conflict and its aftermath, revealing the true scale of civilian casualties; and allegations that after the scandal of Abu Ghraib, American soldiers continued to abuse prisoners; and that US forces did not systematically intervene in the torture and murder of detainees by the Iraqi security services. The programme also features previously unreported material of insurgents being killed while trying to surrender.

Channel 4 is the only UK broadcaster to have been given access to nearly 400,000 secret military significant activities reports (SIGACTS) logged by the US military in Iraq between 2004 and 2009. These reports tell the story of the war and occupation which the US military did not want the world to know.

The Diggers Song

Chumbawamba version

Billy Bragg version

Sex and Taxes

By Kevin Cantwell

       Plum black & the blush white of an apple

shoulder, melon & cream, in tones to list

       the flesh; in light, washed colors off at last

& textures sheer with damp I slowly pull

       from you with your quick help. Weekend's ample

procrastinations to forget the least

       of what we want to do. April, half a blast

of cold, half new light, green & simple.

       Now dusk. Now fear. We pencil what we owe

on this short form, our numbers good enough.

       The goose-neck glare undoes how we spent the day.

Each bite each bee-sting kiss each bitten O

       all aftertaste. Later, at the drop-off,

       postmark queue, we joke: "Now we can die!"

[ This poem originally appeared in the April 1999 issue of Poetry. ]


~ Source: Poetry Foundation ~

Buddhism & Psychotherapy: An Interview with Dr. Mark Epstein

From the interview by Jonathan Kaplan, Ph.D., on the Urban Mindfulness blog:

In what ways, do living and working in the city facilitate or hinder the cultivation of mindfulness or contemplative practice?

City or country, it's the same challange.  There's never enough time for contemplative practice, there's always more pressing things to attend to.  The concerns of daily life are like the waves in the ocean; there are an infinite number of them, wherever you are.

What suggestions do you have for people to practice mindfulness in the city?

Practice.

How has your experience of the city changed as a result of your meditation practice?

I love the city.  I moved here after I was already practicing and loved it right away.  I still do.

What is the most significant way in which your practice of Buddhism has influenced your practice as a psychiatrist who does psychotherapy?

It taught me to see my patients as already free.

Based on your work with patients, what is the most common obstacle to the development of a meditation practice?

Procrastination.

What advice do you have for patients (and others out there) who say that they can't meditate?

That's no excuse.

Meditation and psychotherapy are sometimes accused of being very self-centered pursuits.  By engaging in these activities, how can we improve our world or address some of its injustices (e.g., racism, hate crimes, etc.)?

It's not clear that it makes much of a difference but sometimes they help individuals to feel more empowered.

In your experience, which Buddhist principle is the most difficult for Westerners to understand?

The easy answer is shunyata or emptiness which nobody understands.  But Westerners might have a particularly difficult time understanding love.

~ more... ~