Changing Places

Poway, California (92064) Conditions & Forecast : Weather Underground
93.6 °F

Oh good grief, it is hot today, and it’s only APRIL!!!!

Where is my cabana boy? My glass is waiting for some fresh ice cubes.….

like a flower waiting to bloom
Like a light bulb in a dark room
I am sitting here waiting for you to come home and turn me on
Like the desert waiting for rain
Like a school kid waiting for spring
I am sitting here waiting for you to come back home and turn me on
My poor heart, it’s been so dark
Since you’ve been gone
After all your the one who turned me off
Now your the only one that can turn me back on
Uh
My hi-fi’s waiting for a new tune
And my glass is waiting for some fresh ice-cubes
I’m just sitting here waiting for you to come on
Back home and turn me own.

They keep forever and sell well in the unemployment and free coffee and wifi lines at Starbucks….

But seriously, getting out of debt is a good idea.

Oh, and don’t buy stuff you can’t afford.

Bernanke: economic woes nothing like Depression | Reuters

The current economic slowdown is nothing like the Great Depression of the 1930s, in part because the U.S. Federal Reserve is far more proactive, Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

Bernanke, whose academic studies have focused on the Great Depression, said during that era the central bank allowed banks to fail, prices to fall and the money supply to contract, which contributed to the protracted slump.

“We now know the lessons from that,” Bernanke told the World Affairs Council. “We are certainly going to make sure that the financial system remains in good functioning order.”

My husband and I were talking about this, and noting that during the depression, three generations typically already lived together in one home, and usually only one or two of the men were working outside the home, or everyone worked the farm.

Today, we have typically three houses between three generations, and both husbands and wives working. Or we did. The collapse into one house has started — my husband’s parents already live with his sister, for health reasons and economic reasons. My good friend in L.A. is about to be forced to move back in with family if he cannot find a job soon.

In my own family, by the time I was 22 I had graduated college and had my own apartment, and worked all the way through college as well. Now, My 22 year old son is in community college, as is my 18 year old son, and only the 18 year old works, at a job with a friend of mine, at minimum wage. It is difficult for them to find jobs that mesh well with their school schedules, which are limited by class availability. Plus, there are seniors working minimum wage jobs to have health benefits, which limits job availability for the youngest in the work force. Right now we have the lowest level of teen employment since — you guessed it, the great depression.

As families collapse back into a single home, it won’t be like the great depression, but it certainly won’t be like the good times of the 90s, either. Most families now are making slightly less in terms of real dollars than they were in the 70s — and that’s with both parents working.

When I was 26, my husband and I bought our home, our “starter” home, which we still live in. Today, most of our 20 something friends and son’s friends can’t afford a home, and many of our 30 something friends still rent rather than own a home. We chose to stay in our home as we got older, since it is way more affordable than buying a larger home. Today, the Senate is choosing to bail out homeowners who bought more house than they could afford, and the home builders who built too many homes with a large tax break. And we wonder why people haven’t been more fiscally responsible, after years of cheap interest rates and “teaser” rate loans. We watch the big banks and CEOs get their bailouts, and wonder if we were stupid to actually only buy what we could afford.

So Ben, you might not think things are so bad, and comparatively, they are not — my parents’ families both had kids farmed out during the summers during the depression, quite literally, to work the farms and so they would be fed. We aren’t there and will probably not get to that point. But the economic costs of the mistakes of the last seven years are being felt by most Americans. I only hope this time they are smart enough not to be taken in by those who serve the rich and well off, and elect leaders who will truly support the well being of all Americans.

You think you are being responsible in your actions Ben, but you’re not. You’re just taking us further down the rabbit hole of the lack of personal, corporate and governmental responsibility. We need to end this socialism for the rich, and get back to taking care of ALL Americans.

We can’t afford to do less.

In other words: we were conned.

FT.com | Willem Buiter’s Maverecon | The Greenspan Fed: a tragedy of errors

During his years as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan’s statements reflected a partial (in every sense of the world) understanding of how free competitive markets based on private ownership work. This partial understanding also guided his actions as monetary policy maker and financial regulator.

Mr Greenspan consistently saw but half the picture when it came to what makes competitive market capitalism work. He recognised the central roles of greed, self-interest and competition. He failed to appreciate the complementary roles of non-strategic/non-opportunistic forms of altruism, solidarity and cooperation. Both competition and cooperation must be monitored and regulated, lest they become predation and collusion respectively.

Chairman Greenspan emphasized self-regulation, spontaneous order and the disciplining effect of reputation. He failed to appreciate the essential role external or third-party (i.e. state) enforcement of laws, rules and regulations. He did not understand the weakness of reputational concerns as an enforcement or self-discipline mechanism ensuring good behaviour, when credible commitment is limited at best in a world with short horizons and easy exits.

He failed to appreciate the essential role external/third-party (i.e. state) enforcement of laws, rules and regulations, and the indispensability of collective action when faced with the threat of the breakdown of trust and confidence.

Alan Greenspan’s period as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System represents to me the nadir of central banking in advanced economic-financial systems during modern times. While monetary policy was only mildly incompetent, the regulatory failures were horrendous. The US and the world economy will pay the price for Mr Greenspan’s misjudgements and errors for years, perhaps decades, to come.

By overselling, at home and all over the world, the virtues of American-style transactions-based financial capitalism and light-touch regulation, Mr. Greenspan has done more to harm the cause of decentralised, competitive market-based financial systems based on private ownership, than even Charles Ponzi.

The spectacular failures, first in 1997/98 and then in 2007/08, of the global tests of Mr Greenspan’s theory that global financial markets do not require global regulators and that even national regulators should use only the lightest of touches, did more to discredit financial globalisation and competitive market systems based on private ownership generally than any event since the 1930s.

Zhen. True, real, genuine, superior, simplicity. In the past, people accomplished in Tao were called Zhen Ren — True Persons — in part, perhaps, because it was they who pointed out the way.

The paintbrush doesn’t make pictures without a hand.
The zither makes no music in its case.
A votive painting cannot stop a bullet.
Place a shuttle in a loom and it cannot weave alone.
Put a key in a lock and it cannot turn by itself.

A plane needs a carpenter.
A book needs a reader.
A field needs a farmer.
A wheel needs a potter.
A boat needs a sailor.
An altar needs a worshipper.

In all these cases, it is the person who makes things true.
Why blame an object for being something it isn’t?
That is why, in olden times, one who followed Tao
Was called a True Person.

Deng Ming Dao, Everyday Tao

________

What is the image of the ideal person, the sage (sheng ren), the real person (zhen ren) in the DDJ? Well, sages wu wei, (chs. 2, 63). In this respect, they are like newborn infants, who move naturally, without planning and reliance on the structures given to them by others (ch. 15). The DDJ tells us that sages empty themselves, becoming void of pretense. Sages concentrate their internal energies (qi). They clean their vision (ch. 10). They manifest plainness and become like uncarved wood (pu) (ch. 19). They live naturally and free from desires given by men (ch. 37) They settle themselves and know how to be content (ch. 46).

Why do we blame other people for not behaving in the way we would like to see them behave? If we don’t show others the way, by our example and our teaching, we cannot blame them for being as they are. True, some will choose not to follow where we lead, or follow the path when it is shown to them, but at least we will know then that it is not that they haven’t been shown the way.

Why blame an object for not being as you would like it to be? Either find the right way to use it, find a way to fix it to your purpose, or find a different object. Sometimes a tool needs sharpening. Sometimes you must use a different tool. Sometimes, you must simply choose to do something else for a while until you find the right tool. Sometimes you need to create a tool that does what you want.

I’ve found myself much more patient and calm in my life lately, mostly thanks to studying Tao. The daily lessons I read help a lot, but it is really observing the world with Tao in mind that helps the most. I am more patient with other people, seeing that they simply haven’t learned a lesson yet. I am more patient when I need something, knowing it will come into my life. I am more patient with the world, knowing it will change.

When the time is right to do something, you will know it. Until then, be patient with yourself. That is a hard lesson to learn, but the most important. Things will come into your life at the right time if you let them. When something new wants to come into your life, ask if it is the right time. If not, let it go. If you are not sure, accept it and then see if it fits in. If it is the right time, embrace it as your own.

When something want to leave your life, that is much harder. But it still has to be accepted. Losing things, especially losing people, is so painful. But when the time is right for them to leave, they must. Accept it, and move on. The path continues on. Be a Zhen Ren, and follow your path.

Or, as my kids would say, “The cake is a LIE!”

Let them eat cake. | The Agonist

Iraq is the attempt to use the capital advantage of the US military to acquire the bottleneck resource of oil. It is bottleneck resources, those things which it is more expensive to shift the supply curve downward, than others. The capital advantage is not essentially American, but is the result of the leaving to the US the monopoly of global super power status. As such, it is an asset which is intrinsically linked to the position of the dollar.

The economic theory of the Bush was that the US would sell mortgage backed paper, and acquire the oil to expand the supply of this mortgage backed paper by invading Iraq and keeping the supply of oil at the point where expansion of mortgage backed paper, an exportable form of capital, was sufficient to pay the continuing trade deficit. It was not a good idea, but it was the best idea that stupid people could execute on. The coalition of the stupid was just large enough to dominate government, and since they knew that they would not do well in a smart economy, they were willing to break any law, destroy any principle, and make others pay any cost to make the Dumbconomy going. The linkage between cheap money, cheap oil and cheap land, on one hand, and invasion of Iraq on the other hand cannot be clearer. The invasion allowed both a huge spigot of government money to be poured into very specific sectors, and allowed setting interest rates far below what they could have been. These combined to prop up demand for sprawling outwards.

However, stupid people die stupid deaths. Iraq has been run by very stupid people. While not at the level of World War I bad generalship, an essential economic reality eluded them. That reality is that since the fight was over oil, the cost of that oil in military conflict would rise, inevitably, to the cost of buying the oil in the first place. Instead of seeking real military victory, the coalition sought a fake one, and used bribes to present a better face on the progress of occupation of Iraq than was the case. As we have seen from the recent Basra uprising, the shia militias understand that their acceptance of the current state of affairs is a very valuable thing, and they can, and will, at any time those bribes ebb in value, be able to attack critical points of the government. The United States, has, in effect, surrendered to the rebel forces, and pays them tribute to keep the situation in Iraq politically viable here at home – billions for tribute, but not one cent for victory. Since the children of the people who made Vietnam a disaster are now in charge of the US government, for however long it lasts, they are willing to do whatever it takes to remain in denial about their own catastrophic incompetence. Since it is more important for the current opposition party to be able to eat small greasy hors d’œvres than to govern the country – the believe if they back into power they can do less for everyone and have more freedom to just hand money to their friends – this current status will not be challenged. A few hundred dead soldiers, two hundred billion dollars of direct expenses and half a trillion in bail out costs are all to be paid by someone else.

The failure of Iraq was inevitable then, because it was a no brainer theory, and that meant it had to be run by people without brains. And so it was.

And not just water lines. All our infrastructure is starting to crumble around us. For what the stupid war is costing, we could fix our infrastructure AND fund alternative energy programs, and reboot our economy at the same time.

But no, we have idiots still in charge of the country…. sigh.

US Water Pipelines Are Breaking – New York Times

Two hours north of New York City, a mile-long stream and a marsh the size of a football field have mysteriously formed along a country road. They are such a marvel that people come from miles around to drink the crystal-clear water, believing it is bubbling up from a hidden natural spring.

The truth is far less romantic: The water is coming from a cracked 70-year-old tunnel hundreds of feet below ground, scientists say.

The tunnel is leaking up to 36 million gallons a day as it carries drinking water from a reservoir to the big city. It is a powerful warning sign of a larger problem around the country: The infrastructure that delivers water to the nation’s cities is badly aging and in need of repairs.

The Environmental Protection Agency says utilities will need to invest more than $277 billion over the next two decades on repairs and improvements to drinking water systems. Water industry engineers put the figure drastically higher, at about $480 billion.

Water utilities, largely managed by city governments, have never faced improvements of this magnitude before. And customers will have to bear the majority of the cost through rate increases, according to the American Water Works Association, an industry group.

Engineers say this is a crucial era for the nation’s water systems, especially in older cities like New York, where some pipes and tunnels were built in the 1800s and are now nearing the end of their life expectancies.

”Our generation hasn’t experienced anything like this. We weren’t around when the infrastructure was being built,” said Greg Kail, spokesman for the water industry group. ”We didn’t pay for the pipes to be put in the ground, but we sure benefited from the improvements to public health that came from it.”

He said the situation has not reached crisis stage, but without a serious investment, ”it can become a crisis. Each year the problem is put on the back burner, the price tag is going to go up.”

But not today!

It was a beautiful day for riding ponies at Happy Trails in Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve. My pony Thumper (a beautiful buckskin with a stunning highlight job – she claims it is natural) was not interested in going fast, so we had a leisurely paced ride through some gorgeous oaks and chaparral.

Too bad I’m no longer as cute as when I was little. Still love to ride, though!

from Wikipedia:

Mudita is a Buddhist (Pali and Sanskrit) word meaning rejoicing in others’ good fortune. Mudita is sometimes considered to be the opposite of schadenfreude.

The term mudita is usually translated as “sympathetic” or “altruistic” joy, the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people’s well-being rather than begrudging it. Many Buddhist teachers interpret mudita more broadly as referring to an inner spring of infinite joy that is available to everyone at all times, regardless of circumstances. The more deeply one drinks of this spring, the more secure one becomes in one’s own abundant happiness, and the easier it then becomes to relish the joy of other people as well.

The traditional example of the mind-state of mudita is the attitude of a parent observing a growing child’s accomplishments and successes.

Mudita is also traditionally regarded as the most difficult of the brahmaviharas to cultivate. To show mudita is to celebrate happiness and achievement in others even when we are facing tragedy ourselves.

The “far enemies” of mudita are jealousy and envy, two mind-states in obvious opposition. Mudita’s “near enemy,” or quality which superficially resembles mudita but is in fact more subtly in opposition to it, is exhilaration, perceived as a grasping at pleasant experience out of a sense of insufficiency or lack.

From my good friend John Pierce:

So, Fed Reserve Board Chair Ben Bernanke calmly
reassures the Joint Congressional folks yesterday and
the Senate today that there’s only a weak possibility
we could suffer a recession here in a couple of
months, but we’re not in such now…

Uh-huh. Here’s an idea, Benny. Both you and Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson get your lardy rumps laid off,
right frickin’ now, and instead of receiving any
severance you both have to find brand new jobs. Then,
we’ll see just how rosy your vision is, and how brave
you are. And maybe we could lay off our fabled Decider
and his Shotgun, too.

I’ve said it tiresomely. We’ve been in a recession
since at least JULY 2007. I’m living proof of this
economic slump.

Resilient economy my desperate for work ass!

Johnny

Best hopes for a new, wonderful job for you very, very soon, my friend…..

Since I get a lot of hits here for Snowman, there was a comment on the Snowman post today that this book is available right now on ebay. I don’t usually link to ebay auctions, but this is a very rare and hard to find book.

Book – Snowman by Tony Palazzo – eBay (item 250231854982 end time Apr-05-08 12:24:00 PDT)

The story of SNOWMAN the Cinderella horse!

1962 Edition by Tony Palazzo. Fantastic book about the true story of Snowman a plow horse saved from slaughter by Harry deLeyer. Snowman became a jumping star with Harry in the irons.

This was a library book and has a blue dot taped on the spine. The book is in good condtion. No writing on the pages and the hard cover is a little dirty and the corners frayed a little. Also there is a very faint light pink stain about an inch across on the back cover. Great and hard to find book!

How we look at the world matters — if we look for possibilities, we tend to find them. If we imagine things are impossible, it becomes harder to see what is actually there…. and sometimes it depends on what we are looking for…

Mind Hacks: Rock climbing hacks! (now with added speculation)

Psychologists have something they call affordances (Gibson, 1977, 1986), which are features of the environment which seem to ‘present themselves’ as available for certain actions. Chairs afford being sat on, hammers afford hitting things with. The term captures an observation that there is something very obviously action-orientated about perception. We don’t just see the world, we see the world full of possibilities. And this means that the affordances in the environment aren’t just there, they are there because we have some potential to act (Stoffregen, 2003). If you are frail and afraid of falling then a handrail will look very different from if you are a skateboarder, or a freerunner. Psychology typically divides the jobs the mind does up into parcels : ‘perception’, (then) ‘decision making’, (then) ‘action’. But if you take the idea of affordances seriously it gives lie to this neat division. Affordances exist because action (the ‘last’ stage) affects perception (the ‘first’ stage). Can we experimentally test this intuition, is there really an effect of action on perception? One good example is Oudejans et al (1996) who asked baseball fielders to judge were a ball would land, either just watching it fall or while running to catch it. A model of the mind that didn’t involve affordances might think that it would be easier to judge where a ball would land if you were standing still; after all, it’s usually easier to do just one thing rather than two. This, however, would be wrong. The fielders were more accurate in their judgments — perceptual predictions basically — when running to catch the ball, in effect when they could use base their judgments on the affordances of the environment produced by their actions, rather than when passively observing the ball.

One of the things I most enjoy about Tao is the opening up of the mind to see more potential around you — the world becomes a place where so much more is possible. And yet, there are new possibilities every day, and if you don’t take advantage of them, so what? More come along tomorrow… it makes life both more full and less stressful, less limiting. There is much less that has to be done right now. The world becomes one big affordance….