Satan's Little Helpers by Louis Evan Palmer

This is "what if" time as in "what if they're right?" and "if so, how can that be?"

Let's start with "they" being the numerous sages who have claimed that what we see, hear, feel, smell & taste is an illusion. Note that it is not that it's like an illusion or that it's partly an illusion or that it's often an illusion. It is completely an illusion.

Let's add in the "they" who argue for the primacy of mind and theories about a holographic universe. Thought and feeling providing direction to the warp & woof of the world; providing impulse and fabric as well.

How does "god" or "true nature" or "supreme being" fit into this?

Here is a speculation based on various inputs & thoughts & intuitions.

Any name is too small to describe or contain or explain "true nature" and can only point at the inexpressible and ineffable suchness of it. It is all-encompassing, all-animating, all-sustaining, all-aware, all-knowing. It is beyond form and before form. It is everything and allows for everything. It is all forms yet it is no form. It gives rise to forms which is the appearance of forms which is what forms really are.

The creative force in any form (which includes energy and any created thing) is free will. The ability to choose and the fissioning of awareness gives rise to a universe. The power of individual minds to create singly or in consensus brings forth the forms of this universe. It is a dance, a concert, a choir. But none of the creation is "true nature". It is all the will and thoughts of the numberless entities that chose this or that. Wanting and desire is a choice. Loving and hating is a choice. Stars and planets are a choice.

How big is a mind? How powerful can a mind be? If this universe was created by mind and sustained by mind, could it be under the direction of a mind immensely more powerful than any one of ours, yet less than "god"? Can an entire universe be the "creation" of an extremely powerful entity? Is it necessarily a godlike production?

Satan is supposedly an entity that has a lot of Earthly power & influence. But what if it's much more than that? What if this whole universe is "his"? And we are here by our choice? And "the fall" is our decision to choose & cling to this universe & this world & this life. The problem being that while our minds & intentions drive the things of this universe, its entire substance & energy & being derives from "god" and our blindness & deafness of that is a lot of what traps us here and dumbfounds us.

So "god" is everything but demands that we create; we are the creators; "god" has no will - why would "he" or "she"? We think & intend & feel every form and relation and "god" actualizes it, becomes it. "god" gives us every single thing we want but we don't see it because we see only the forms and not the essence and the source. And the whole trick of this dimension of reality is to entrap beings, us, with the panoply of causality & beauty & horror & afterlifes & always having something to discover. It doesn't matter - the goal is to keep as many as possible for as long as possible. And to keep them thinking that this is the work of the supreme being. And to sing Satan's praises as "god's" - a beautiful sunset, a baby, a summer sky, birds on the wing, music, the stars. And to blame our own sins on "satan".

What if each & every aware being is completely connected to "true nature" or "god" because that is the nature of existence but we are being convinced or tricked into pouring our creative force, our mind & intentionality, into this universe; helping to sustain it and expand it; in effect, increasing its hold on us and ours, adding to the prison that binds us all?

"Here is the secret principle, without equal, the principle that calms all suffering, the truthful principle: Homage to you, knowledge that has gone, Gone beyond and beyond the beyond." — The Prajanaparamita’s Principle

Then this universe is the universe of the beings; this universe that we will & intend into existence is manifested by "god"; the evil in it is ours, the good as well, but "god" or "true nature" is beyond that, an infinite well of potential & form & relation, which we call up according to our motive & intent & understanding & wisdom.

With that view on things, a book like "Peter Pan" is a profound insight: "Think a happy Thought!"

Satan's Little Helpers, The Way It Can Be, Louis Evan Palmer, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications.

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Artifacts of Vision by Louis Evan Palmer

The greater the level of interaction we find we have with what we "see", the greater the question is as to what we do not "see" and how and why we "see" the way we do.

The eye was the thing that most amazed Charles Darwin on his epoch-making sea journey and, indeed, this amazing organ is the gateway for some 80% of an average human's perception. However, as magnificient as it is, the eye is only part of the visual cognition process. Additionally, there are the optic nerves, one per eye, and the brain itself. There is also a nebulous thing called attention which calls forth other phenomena like the "will" and emotions and beliefs that colour, even shape, what we see.

We "know" what we see because it's been subtlely (and not-so-subtlety) explained to us until our agreement is effortless and unquestioned. Expectation plays a huge role in what we see; it does help us to process more quickly and more effectively, however, it can be more what we (think we) should see than what we consciously & unconsciously see.

The way vision is constructed, or our current understanding of it, is probably not what most of us thought. The understanding is still under construction but various surprising discoveries have been made over the last few centuries especially since the second world war.

For example, each of our eyes has an optic nerve at the back of the eye. This results in a blind spot where the optic nerve exits the eye on its way to the brain - there are no cones or rods. We don't see this hole in our vision for two reasons: firstly, the optic nerve is not in the same position in both eyes so the blind spot of one eye is covered by the other eye; secondly, even if using a single eye, our brain (or our brain-mind) fills in the hole.

Or, we blink every 4 to 6 seconds; it's very quick between 100-150 milliseconds. Why don't we see darkness at that moment? Why doesn't our vision appear as a series of snapshots? One theory was that a phenomenon called "persistence of vision" came into play - an afterimage stays on the retina long enough for the eye to blink and see again so we would in effect be seeing snapshots but not noticing it. A more recent theory is that part of the brain turns off during the eye blink and this is the part that would notice the darkness - so if we don't notice it's dark then as far as our vision goes, it isn't.

Even if "persistence of vision" doesn't seem to play a part regarding uninterrupted vision during eye blinking, it does allow us to see many flashing or discontinuous lights (and things illuminated by light) as continuous. If the light or image is sent at the correct speeds, our brain will intergrate them, it will make the discrete continuous . After light has hit the retina, chemical processes take over. A period of time, called integration time, is needed to process the image. More integration time is needed in low light.

A motion picture runs at 24 frames per second but by shuttering each frame 3 times, the flash rate becomes 72 times per second. That speed is faster than our brain can integrate so we do not see any flicker. Same thing happens with computer monitors which flash at some 75 times a second. Same thing happens with many regular lights especially fluorescent lights.

Another interesting vision-related phenomenon has to do with what light an average person can see. In our eyes, cones, which see colour, are able to detect within certain frequency ranges only. Rods detect lower levels of light. If a coloured light is dimmed, we will see it and its colour until it reaches the threshold for its frequency to be detected by our eyes' cones and then it will be seen but as a grey light - no colour; unless it's a red light, in which case, when it hits the threshold, the red light will disappear to our vision.

We have another blind spot which occurs at night. The center of our visual field is called the fovea - it contains only cones, no rods at all. Therefore, if an object is small enough to fit into that visual center and the light is low enough, we will not see it.

Many of the above visual artifacts have a strong physical component but there are other visual cognition phenomena that have much more of a mental aspect. One phenomenon is called "change blindess" and refers to how people can fail to notice significant changes from one scene to the next. Another phenomenon focuses on the role that attention plays in what you see but, more dramatically, what you do not see.

See http://www.aoa.org/x5352.xml
Or http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/15.html
And http://www.viscog.com/index.html

For the beckman video, for your first viewing, your task is to count how many times the players with white shirts pass the basketball among themselves, only focus on them. Then watch the video again.

This does not touch on "vision" when we dream, reports of remote viewing or OBEs (out-of-body-experiences).

Artifacts of Vision, The Way It Can Be, Louis Evan Palmer, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications.

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

The Idea of the Vanguard by Louis Evan Palmer

There are many questions that surround leadership. Who leads? How do they gain & maintain authority? How do they get people to follow & accept their orders? Or, more fundamentally, how do they assume power?

In the context of a social revolution, there are numerous steps: the building of a mythology, the laying of an organizational foundation, the cultivation or manipulation of the political & economic climate, the readiness to seize & exercise power, a convincing vision & plan and the means to effect a change in societal perception & control.

Key to all of the above is an organization, a political party, or more accurately, a vanguard within that party or movement. That is, a cohesive group who are determined & effective, who define & lead the transformation. And who are invariably small in number.

One of the most difficult challenges facing any leadership is effecting change. The challenge is only exacerbated by the fact that most change is ill-considered and wrong-headed. At least, most of the change that is proposed.

This naturally draws one towards the bedrock from which change should issue - accurate, valid analysis. Unfortunately, what often substitutes for it, is the spouting of charismatic or ideological leaders.

When the demogogues reign then the idea becomes that what gets done reflects the imposition of one group's will on the rest of the masses and that this usurption of public discourse and diminishment of the ability to dissent or resist is the exercise's true purpose. It is here that the idea of the vanguard - beloved of the old communist dictatorships - emphatically comes to the fore. The small group who leads. In some cases, it a small self-selected group; or, a self-selected leader and would-be high-office holders and flaks and fans and hangers-on but, most of all, the critical bolstering of the true believers who form the bulk of the vanguard, the true shock troops.

How Many Does It Take? The size of the vanguard is typically in the 5-10% range. That is, 5% of a given group directing the other 95%. Based solely on common experience, most of us would probably agree that 5-10% is a good number. Depending on the circumstances, we might even feel it could be lower - perhaps 1%. Certain conditions can act as multipliers so that smaller groups can act with the effective weight of a larger group.

But, the success of the vanguard dynamic depends on many factors, most of which are not commonly, or well-understood.

One noteworthy factor in this type of undertaking is whether a given vanguard can take advantage of any power or impact mulipliers. Typical multipliers are money, the ability to confer fame or honours or social access, the ability to provide sexual gratification, the ability to provide luxury & other physical gratifications including intoxicants, strong shared beliefs, strong bonds (familial, genetic, ..), control of media, control of production, control of wealth, willingness to be violent, kill or die, secrecy, control of social pressure, the ability to instill fear or awe or shock, social momentum, the ability to undermine a person's freedom of action or financial status or mental stability including false arrest, an actual or apprehended state of seige or threat, well-based or baseless blackmail, hidden alliances or weapons.

It becomes evident as one goes through a list like this that a vanguard will quickly end up as a dirty amoral bunch of thugs for a cause. The cause is intended to cleanse them, if not now, then later when victory has been achieved or, perhaps, their redemption will have to be pushed onto future generations. But for now, it doesn't matter and the job must be done!

All the usual suspects are potential vanguards including Jesuits, High-Financiers, Freemasons, NeoCommunists, NeoConservatives, International Criminal Syndicates, etc. etc. A truly effective vanguard must have a militant arm so it's logical to demand that they must have solid links into the armed forces & the police & the intelligence services. The vanguard must also be able to reward its members which, among other things, means access to lots of money & influence. The vanguard must have a political dimension either as a full-fledged party or with members, or access to members, in the major parties.

When looking for potential vanguards especially hidden ones in operation today, it's useful to search for somewhat cohesive groups that fall in the 5-10% range in any given region, social strata or community, profession or endeavour. For example, in some countries, homosexuals might be able to constitute a vanguard. Or, selected ethnic communities like emigrant Chinese throughout South Asia. Or, large prison populations as in the U.S.A. Or, university graduates who might be able to operate as a stealth vanguard? Or, special forces within the armed forces or police or intelligence services?

Of course, there can also be positive vanguards, filled with inspiring idealists who want to make a difference. These can be ecological groups, animal protection societies, anti-poverty and social action groups. These types of vanguards have been identified by some "intelligence" services as terrorists.

When it's successful, any given group that was active enough and assumed significant power might be called vanguard in retrospect; but, it's in the advance analysis where we want to be able to identify these potentially disruptive & destabilizing forces. Where are the vanguards?

The Idea of the Vanguard, The Way It Can Be, Louis Evan Palmer, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Who really broke the Enigma code! by Louis Evan Palmer

Who really broke the Enigma code!

You may have heard about Bletchley park. You may have also heard about Alan Turing and other British mathematicians who worked on Enigma. Since the secrets surrounding Enigma started emerging in the early 1970s, the main focus has been on Britian's role in cracking this supposedly unbreakable code.

It's a rare person who will have any clue as to who these people are other than assuming they are Polish (they are).These are the Polish mathematicians who really broke theEnigma code along with the help of a small Polish contingent of about 60 persons including those who risked their lives to retrieve a broken Enigma machine from a German military vehicle accident.

The Poles worked with French intelligence and using their own data & the French information and advanced mathematical analysis, they broke the code prior to the start of the second world war. Constant effort was needed as the Germans kept refining the machine - adding rotors, adding other components, making the odds longer and longer at ever being able to crack it when its keys were changed every day.

The Enigma code machine had a long and convoluted history. Invented by Dutch naval officers in 1915, it was obtained by a German businessman who took out a patent on it in 1918 and began selling it. In 1924 the German military adapted it and began using it to encrypt military communications.

There has been a not too subtle campaign to minimize or ignore the Polish contribution. If mentioned at all, it's as a footnote. The Poles while having a small team achieved breakthroughs in all aspects of the Enigma code machine. They acquired, often at great risk, the first Enigma machines not in German hands and built facsimiles. They devised the mathematics that assisted in cracking the early & later codes. They came up with the technique of running Enigma machines in series to speed up the deciphering process - which they called "Bomba".

As Jozef Garlinski notes in his book "Hitler's Last Weapons", the Poles were officially working on breaking Enigma in 1932. They had their intelligence services collecting data, they were monitoring radio traffic and liasing with French intelligence. Poland was decrypting German military traffic by the end of 1937. Dabrowa provides other details on this momumental work at http://www.avoca.ndirect.co.uk/enigma/index.html

Of course, there was still tremendous effort and ingenuity required by the Bletchley folks to break the daily key setting and keep up with advances and in these efforts Turing and the others were outstanding - but how much easier their task was when it had been explained in detail by the Poles.

Rejewski. Rozycki. Zygalski.

They deserve our recognition and appreciation.

Who really broke the Enigma code!, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com

Support his art, ideas and worldview, Order books by Louis Evan Palmer

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Order via Kindle link above or at right of screen

Copyright Louis Evan Palmer
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

The Abode of Consciousness by Louis Evan Palmer

A key question regarding consciousness is if there is, in fact, an abode for it. Does consciousness reside in any one place? Another issue related to the abode metaphor is if there's ever an overlap of consciousnesses. Is it proposed that consciousness is one entity's perception and awareness of itself and its environs but that there is never a merging of one consciousness into another? Or, that if there is any type of merging that it's rare.

Another way of approaching the mystery of consciousness is as a process like the shining of a light in the dark. The existence around us to be perceived and aware of is there and our consciousness is whatever part of that "is-ness" that we alight on. We're consciously aware of that and nothing else. Our consciousness patches & remembers the various instances where our consciousness has alighted and that's how we gain an impression of wholeness or movement or continuity.

Other potential aspects of consciousness revolve around different levels of awareness and consciousness and the layering or aggregation of them into "higher" or more complex consciousnesses. In the same vein, there can be aspects of consciousness that revolve around interactions which posit that consciousness, or part of it, is a "conversation" or a "dance" - the consciousness is in the exchange, say, between two consciousnesses as a conversation, or as a dance, say, when between a consciousness and an awareness or an object or a force.

There is a problem with the old dualism issue - either matter and mind are separate and somehow interact or don't; or they are in reality aspects of each other. In most models, matter is primary and mind is an effect or process of it; in a very small number of other models, mind is primary and matter is an effect or aspect of it. From a consciousness perspective, this article will take the "mind is primary" route and see where that leads.

If the universe as we know it is "aware" either as a result of being created out of single indivisible supremely aware "substance" or as a result of awareness having an almost infinite range where even atomic interactions can be seen as representing a type of consciousness then we presented with a mind-boggling confluence of interactions and effects across all ranges of size and boundaries of space and time. It could be a place where everything from the smallest particles to the largest expanses of space to waves of every size and speed to "living" entities to memories of various types could form part of a consciousness spectrum. It's not important that some of these forms of "consciousness" might be intensely foreign to us.

This would be a universe where many types of consciousness could inhabit, overlap and interact simultaneously. In such a universe could there be elemental particles or energies associated with consciousness? Perhaps, a "cogiton" to join other speculative particles like the "graviton" and the "chroniton"?

Consciousness is a tricky phenomena as it typically includes psychological constructs like the "unconscious". This, however, opens up an important idea - the consciousness that we see and are somewhat aware of versus the vast underlying structure upon which it sits and interacts. This highlights that consciousness itself feeds from many tributaries, not all continuously or evenly interacting or available. The tributaries themselves are fed by various means. In the end, nothing is not touched or involved.

This view of consciousness may see it as an immense intricate "field" or "space". A large part of it may consist of "potentials".

In the Julian Jaynes book, "The Origin of Consciousness", among other things he talks about consciousness as the result of a conversation between the two hemispheres of the human brain. To extend this approach at the human level, what if there are varying degrees of awareness and consciousness throughout the entire human body. What if all the cells have a cellular consciousness; the organs their own distinctive awareness and intelligence - where "going with my gut" or "following my heart" is more than merely an expression? Does the large percentage of the human body occupied by bacteria affect its consciousness? If accurate then a picture emerges of a dialogue (possibly an occasional debate) among all parts of a body and its environs.

In such a world, trees and forests can have a consciousness; rivers and seas and oceans; everything. Each thing aggregating upwards and outwards, vertically and laterally. All the consciousnesses of a single bird in a flock aggregating into the awareness of the flock itself, perhaps spilling over into the wind. Different levels and types of consciousness absorbing and interacting all the time.

Can consciousness aggregate? And, if so, how? Can a higher or greater consciousness emerge from the merging and interaction of various consciousnesses?

Inevitably, this leads us to the definition of who we think we are. If consciousness is a process which always represents an interaction and its memory trace then if we believe we are our consciousness, we only exist when we interact or remember. As was asked in an earlier article, is your voice and spoken words "you"? Yes and No. Similarly, is your consciousness and its memory "you"?

It sounds a lot like what the great sage Nagarjuna stated: "Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves."

Can "awareness" exist if there is nothing to perceive? Or no-one perceiving?

The Abode of Consciousness, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Setting Targets in the Fight against Corruption by Louis Evan Palmer

As any dictionary will inform, corruption is a diminishment of integrity and it's an inducement to break the rules often by improper means such as bribery or blackmail. But, it's more, it's a subversion of the rule of law; it's a step towards a criminal society run by crooks & thugs; as harmless as corruption might seem under some circumstances, it represents a menace to good government. It is not something that can be safely ignored or minimized.

It can be stated without equivocation that corruption exists and also that, in most cases, it needs official cooperation or protection to exist. The vexing question is how is it to be discovered and removed?

A technique used in debugging software might help - one establishes the expected number of bugs and then it's decided whether to find a certain percentage of the bugs or to vigorously search for a set time period. This target-setting technique might be useful in rooting out corruption.

Let's say, for example, that there are 15,000 policemen in a given jurisdiction. Let's say we have a corruption index for various jurisdictions: above 9.0 is very high, between 7.0 and 8.9 is high, etc. Then we agree on what percentage of policemen are expected to be corrupted for a given corruption index in an area. There would have to be some accounting for the seriousness of different types of corruption when determining the ratings. Serious hidden systemic corruption - corrupt politicians, judges or lawyers - would likely be rated as more serious than, say, bribe-taking policemen on the beat.

For the sake of argument, let's say that "very high" means that at least 10% of a given force is corrupted. So for a 15,000 member police organization, we'd expect to find some 1500 policeman involved to varying degrees in corrupt activities. At the same time, we'd establish which units are more likely to be corrupted and what types of corruption exist and what their threat profiles are - for example, corruption that involves the legislature or judiciary is more serious than corruption that involves a small-time loan-shark down the street.

Using a target-based system, we'd state that we want to identify a certain percentage of those 1500; say, 80% - so we'd investigate until we had identified 1200 corrupt policemen or until a set period of time had elapsed, for example, 12 months. Naturally, a process would have to ensure that anti-corruption investigations were pursued correctly. If too low a number of policemen were uncovered in the 12 months, that in itself might force the constitution of a new investigative team and a new 12 month mandate.

This example mentions policemen but that's just one potential group. There are also corrupt judges, corrupt politicians, corrupt public administrators, corrupt military staff, etc. etc. They all must be looked at.

Notice that we're saying "are" and not "might be". That change of attitude forces us to contemplate and carry out appropriate action. We're in effect saying that crimes are taking place.

The whole process of rooting out the corrupt members in various groups is complicated. This is proposed as a continuous effort. The expectation is that an organization moves downward on the corruption index and then maintains itself at a low level. While we want to have zero-corruption, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

A lot of quality effort is needed to figure out how to staff an anti-corruption force and to ensure that its interactions are protected and enforceable. It must have subpoena powers and the ability to get wiretaps. It must be outside of the normal chain of command. It's difficult and it would require a serious dedication of resources and talent to properly set-up. There have been numerous attempts, some better than others, some more long-lasting. They can be re-visited where necessary. The point is to have an active & effective group that will be tenacious and fair.

The anti-corruption group also must be able to adapt to handle re-organizations, changing conditions like an economic downturn and to evaluate the impact of organizational structure on corruption.

The anti-corruption groups should develop expertise in governance and how it can be subverted to facilitate corrupt activities. This especially comes into play in war or conflict zones, in lawless regions or failed state zones and in the interaction within a given nation of extra-territorial institutions and groups like corporations and criminal syndicates and entities like free zones and tax havens.

There are, and have been, many anti-corruption groups - divisions of larger police organizations, divisions of tax collection agencies, within various government entities. This article envisions a national anti-corruption group that exercises supervisory power over these groups, conducts its own investigations, and coordinates research and interaction among all anti-corruption and related groups and, perhaps, most importantly, offers expertise in the governance of anti-corruption organizations.

A very important point in this type of endeavour is that the corruption uncovered is only the first step. It must be followed all the way. In whose interest are these various persons being corrupted? Who does it serve? How? Why? Without this step, it'll end up as serving up the small fry for public consumption while the big fish move on to better feeding grounds and the rot continues.

The guiding principle is that normal operation & governance will happen as long as the organizations themselves are free enough of corruption to properly function. A continuously operating national anti-corruption organization and its associated campaigns and affliated groups would help ensure that the various components of government are clean and unobstructed as they perform their legally constituted roles.

Another aspect not mentioned - there must be a comprehensive move into any branches of "invisible" or secret groups whether within the government or without. By definition, they represent a corruption of good government. These might prove to be the most dangerous and difficult battles in the anti-corruption campaigns.

Setting Targets in the Fight against Corruption, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Unbridled Corruption & Abuse of Power - Naked Shorting by Louis Evan Palmer

The bedrock of society is trust and this requirement especially extends into the financial realm. Yet, it is precisely there where it often fails because the tentacles of greed, desire & fear squeeze it out of the unsteady converts to honesty. Their religion is "self and what can be gotten away with" and they rapidly crumble under any ethical pressure.

With rampant corruption, mostly hidden or obfuscated, and its attendant abuse of power, it's difficult to choose a starting point so letting chance play its part, we settle on a story identified by "Project Censored" and listed as #18 in the "Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006".

It appears to be a variation on the theme of the rich get richer. It's called "Naked Shorting".

Naked shorting is a shell game - you sell something you don't have - in this case, stocks; in fact, you don't even sell them, you borrow them; actually, you don't even do that - you pretend that you either have or will them; so maybe we can call it an IOU on a loan on a stock.

In the world of MBAs-turned-conmen, these complex schemes are ideal because you can baffle them and dazzle them and if they want to probe too deeply then you can "Emperor's New Clothes" them - if you don't understand their explanations, it's because you're stupid or ignorant or both. Best keep your mouth shut and let your betters do their thing which in this case, is to rob you blind.

This is a layman's version of "Naked Shorting". The "naked" part refers to the fact that the "short" is not covered which means there is no stock in hand to short. A normal stock purchase involves investing in a company and hoping it does well enough so that you make your money back plus some. Say, as when you buy shares at $1 a share and sell them for $1.50 a share. "Shorting" is the opposite - although you can't actually buy a share in this scenario. You agree to borrow a share for a period of time. In this case, say the stock is trading at $1 a share but you think it will drop, so you agree to borrow the share and return it for $ 0.90 a share in 30 days - you're hoping it falls to $0.80 or lower and then you make $0.10 a share. Because there is no proof that the trader offering the short actually has the stock, there can be a greater number of shares than what a given company has issued. Such a stock can only go down. This then can be used as a means of attacking a company and putting it out of business and stealing its assets - making money all the while.

What is the bottom line?

1. Hedge funds and large traders & specialized traders get away with grand theft
2. Small & mid-sized companies, especially those in need of capital, are driven into bankruptcy and/or to the vultures
3. Small & mid-sized investors are victimized (again)

This is yet another in a long line of techniques for creating credit - one of the guaranteed ways of making (i.e. stealing) a great deal of money. This is always the foundation technique - creating credit. Look for it and everywhere you see it, you will see the mark of thieves and thugs.

Job One for our governments and their agencies - control, transparency & fairness in the creation of credit in all its forms.

Unbridled Corruption & Abuse of Power - Naked Shorting, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

3rd Hint.... You might be in a Holographic Universe by Louis Evan Palmer

Whenever you have holes in a theory, you naturally suspect that the explanation is not quite all there. When the theory has to do with reality and consciousness then, of course, it's all the more important that it's addressed seriously, yet all the more likely it won't be, unless you can find a technique that allows almost anyone to see through the fault and understand, and be able to use, the new explanation.

Some interesting tidbits in the assault on the contention that matter is the primary reality and everything including mind flows out of that.

Our reality appears to be completely shaped by our organs of perception as we understand them. For example, humans have two eyes and this gives us the ability to see depth due to the overlap of the two fields of vision. No binocular vision, no depth of vision.

Two interesting vision-related phenomena have been under study - one is called is binocular rivalry, the other is called stereopsis.

Binocular rivalry refers to the situation where one image is seen by one eye and another image is seen by the other eye. In any natural situation, you'd be seeing two aspects of the same scene. But, if by chance, or by experiment, you happened to see one image in one eye and another image in the other eye then binocular rivalry comes into play. There are many interesting permuations but to boil it right down - you end up seeing only one image even though two images are presented. Your mind decides which one will dominate and the other image disappears. While this phenomenon has been under study for centuries, most intensely in the 20th century and beyond, what is being looked at are the various scientific aspects - the intensity of the light, the similarity or difference between the images, the timing, etc. etc. The salient point for this discussion is that the mind is deciding what is to be seen. This opens up the question as to what else, or how much, of what we see (or hear or smell or sense or taste) is decided by the "mind". What might we be blocking out? How do we arrive at a consensus as to what is to be perceived if that's what is happening?

The materialists will say that it's some aspect of matter that determines what is to be seen but it does seem to be more like a quantum phenomenon than an ordinary physical one. That is, the observer affects what happens.

Stereopsis refers to a situation where the mind (or the brain) takes two images and merges them to some extent which the mind then sees as a single composite image. Again, what appears to be the "raw" input and what we perceive differs as a result of a decision in our "mind". This seems to fit in with our powerful drive to make sense of the world by seeing patterns and causality and connections. We will create a narrative even out of a potentially Rorschach blot universe.

This drags us into that dreaded conundrum - how do you know what you don't know? How do we know what we don't perceive? How do we know what we perceive but ignore; and why? How much is what we decide versus what is? Is there a "what is"?

3rd Hint.... You might be in a Holographic Universe, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Character-spotting...... Take 2 by Louis Evan Palmer

There's always a pharisaic quality to these types of articles but I'm going to humbly proceed because allowing certain actions and words and other commentaries (or lack of) to pass without remark signifies acquiescence even tacit acceptance.

Children are precious to most people in most societies. Children are also among the most vulnerable of any society. Typically, they are protected and nurtured.

In this regard, statements, especially public statements, about children should never be damaging or invasive of their privacy.

Let's contrast two such statements - one by Eddie Murphy, another by Ethan Hawke.

In an interview, Eddie Murphy stated: "But, you're being presumptuous because we're not together anymore and we don't know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions, sir."

This was in discussing his relationship with Melanie Brown, her pregnancy and her claim that he is the father.

At this point, Mr. Murphy does not know whether he is or isn't the father. In fairness to the child, one would think he would have kept silent on the matter. Instead, he is, in effect, casting aspersions on the mother by saying that she may not really know who the father is because she may be sleeping with too many men to keep track; and, worse, rejecting the child as his own. Since this has all been done in the open media, the child will presumably find out about this at some point. In the meantime, the whole world knows. Is this fair or right? Is this something that a man of honour would do?


Uma Thurman & Ethan Hawke had a son and a daughter before they divorced. They have not talked about their split and have not been critical of each other in public

"She's my children's mother," he says. "You have to keep that above anything else. If you bring two people into the world together, that supersedes anything else."

It may have been easier to lash out at each other in public but it would have hurt their children.

Sometimes it's difficult being a gentleman or a lady, sometimes it's not difficult. It definitely helps to have a guiding light, words of wisdom to follow, perhaps something like "do unto others..."

Character-spotting... Take 2, The Way It Can Be, Louis Evan Palmer, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Mental Illness Casts a Wide Net

Says who?

In a holographic universe mind is primary and therefore, mental illness is a more direct malady than, for instance, having a sore back. In our common understanding however, mental illness is still a mystery and without pharmacology, there probably would have been almost no progress in treating it.

Our approach is mostly empirical and based on a material explanation. We give a person substance "A" and note its effects and if it's sufficiently helpful then it gets prescribed. Does it mean that this manifestation of mental illness is caused by a lack of substance "A" or that the substance acts on the conditions that are causing it? That all depends on the delicate art of correlation.

It gets difficult because so many substances, or lack of, can cause similar effects. For example, how many substances or other inputs can cause anxiety? That's why we can have popularly prescribed anti-depressants that make people suicidal. Most of us would consider suicidal thoughts or actions as the ultimate in depression which is what an anti-depressant should be combating. Maybe we don't really understand it all that well.

Yet, even as our lack of understanding becomes more exposed, the list of things that are enveloped to some degree by the mental illness net widens. The former Soviet Union used to declare political opponents as mentally unbalanced. The United States under its corporate tutelage has more recently been declaring more and more conditions as illnesses for which medication is mandated. Political and other forms of correctness are dragging various "isms" into the mix. Racism is being mentioned in the same breath as mental illness. Alcoholism has been successfully rebranded as an illness.

All these dictates and compulsion is occuring precisely as we call into question the foundation of how mental illness is currently explained. Sounds like denial.

Mental Illness Casts a Wide Net, Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan Palmer lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. He may be contacted at evan.palmer@sympatico.ca

Canadian Head of State by Louis Evan Palmer

Never
Any
Other
Way

Despite repatriation of the constitution, Canada still maintains the Queen of England (and Scotland, Wales and other various places) as the official Head of State. It is long past the date when Canada should Canadianize this ceremonial but nonetheless important position. This in turn would precipitate changes to a raft of other symbols and emblems associated with the Head of State such as currency, stamps, specialty flags, & names of military units to name a few.

It is proposed here that we keep the ceremonial institution of Head of State but Canadianize it by having a first nations Chief as Canada's Head of State - where first nation would include the Inuit.

“Your Excellency” would replace “Your Majesty” and other similar changes. Ships at sea would go from “HMS Canada” to something like “CCS Canada” where CCS stands for “Canadian Confederation Ship”. A Canadian Head of State would not be a heriditary position along it might be a lengthy tenure, perhaps even a lifetime appointment.

Place names like “Queensway” or “Kingsway” would give way to “Chiefs Way” and all the other assorted names and conventions would give way to similarly appropriate Canadianized revisions.

It might take a few years to settle in but like the Maple Leaf Flag it wouldn't be long before we could never imagine it not being that way – the Canadian Way, eh?

Canadian Head of State, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

ARA - A Country Called Refuge ... The Way It Can Be by Louis Evan Palmer

A
Haven
For
All

There is a country, a new country that doesn't exist yet, where anyone is accepted even if, in some cases, they may not be actively welcomed. It's name is "ARA" which is Latin for "Refuge" - over time, it has become the new beacon of hope for millions.

ARA is a mid-sized country with an ocean coast and no obvious riches. It will not extradite anyone although it does have normal laws and will imprison certain types of law-breakers. It will prosecute within ARA for serious crimes committed outside its borders. Almost exclusively this is where there is a loss of life although, in exceptional cases, it will prosecute where there has been a major impairment of life: such as, pollution & crimes against the environment or theft & embezzlement where the crime has affected thousands or more. Those found guilty will be imprisoned, or otherwise penalized, in ARA accordingly to its laws.

There are a type of law in ARA called the "forever laws". These are laws that require no interpretation and are to be applied as is for as long as ARA exists. In fact, they are the basis of ARA and without them ARA dies, in the same way, each of us would die if our heart was removed. So, for example, ARA does not have the death penalty - it's outlawed forever. ARA does not allow for extradition - it's outlawed forever.

ARA's armed forces are purely for defence and are directed towards non-lethal means of stopping foreign aggressors. Weapons that disable soldiers, that disable electronic & cyber systems, that blind satellites, that impede vehicles. It develops & uses methods of propaganda that can reach the population of the aggressor to alert its citizens of the situation in ARA. ARA does not allow for the development or deployment or use of weapons of mass destruction - it's outlawed forever.

ARA has complete control of its money, credit-making facilities and all financial instruments. It controls and regulates the flow of goods & services into and out of ARA especially those associated with banks and financial services. It is fair but firm with all foreign institutions but does not permit its country or institutions to be used to hide illicit or undisclosed earnings or launder money. Where warranted, ARA will pay out compensation to foreigners.

ARA has no secrecy laws - everything is to be disclosed. Its privacy laws are specific and focused - privacy is not to be used as a screen for secrecy. Some governmental misinformation is allowed but it is tightly controlled and legally santioned. ARA forbids the existence of secret organizations - there is freedom of assembly & association but it has to be open and fully disclosed - its members, its purpose, its finances, its actions, etc. There are no thought crimes in ARA.

More on ARA in other posts.

ARA - A Country Called Refuge ... The Way It Can Be by Louis Evan Palmer, http://twicb.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Character-spotting ..... Take 1 by Louis Evan Palmer

I know
What
I like

There are always stories that make one think of character - that elusive quality which we value and seek but typically understand only in an oblique way especially given that we don't really think about it much or deeply. Maybe we should.

For example - there's a current story about a young celebrity singer who's recently divorced from a less well-known former dancer / would-be singer. They have two children. The former dancer also has two children from a previous marriage. He and she are their twenties. Apparently, he has threatened to make public a private sex tape they made in the first few weeks of their marriage unless paid a huge sum of money and granted full custody of their two children.

If this doesn't make you think of character then nothing will. That one can have two failed marriages and four children and still be in your twenties, does not speak well about oneself. People have to assume there is cause and the cause when boiled down to its essentials will have something to do with character.

Examining this concept, we find that one of the key aspects of character is steadfastness - to most people, character does alter when things get unpleasant or difficult.

This forces us to acknowledge that pure stubborness is not necessarily reflective of good character. An unwillingness to change one's mind is also not an attribute. Thinking about the reasons why we would consider this true leads us to the assertion that the motivation and intention of a person is pivotal when considering a person's character.

Using the previous example can make it easier to see various aspects of character.

One - taking something that's private and using it for personal gain. We instinctively feel this is wrong because we value our privacy and we trust those with whom we are sharing. To most of us, a person of good character does not violate our privacy and does not cause us to no longer trust a given person. Expressed in an very old-fashioned way: they honour us and their relationship to us.

Two - using threats and demands for money in the context of the custody of children is crass. We value children and feel they should be protected and assisted consistent with their proper development. To most of us, a person of good character does not use children as pawns in other personal disputes and never as the reward from a threat. Expressed in a an old-fashioned way: we honour our children and their relationship to us.

Three - being responsible and dependable is a mandatory requirement. Without getting into any specifics - to not be an active participant in the support of one's family either financially and/or personally is not acceptable. The exact arrangement of duties and responsibilities is up to the individual family and is not tied into percentages of this or that. However, having one party free-loading off the other party is repugnant to most people. Expressed in an old-fashioned way: we honour ourself, our relationship to our family and our duties and obligations.

Four - wanting the best for oneself, one's family and others. A person of good character is not out to hurt anyone. They want to help as much as possible and appropriate but their main focus is to fully meet the obligations they have and then go from there. They are not selfish or greedy. An avaricous capitalist is not a candidate, nor is a vengeful commissar. A person of good character does not kill or steal or cheat or slander. Expressed in that way that harkens back: we hounour our world, other people and our relationship to it.

To sum up on this first take: a person of good character honours themself, their family, their friends, and their world by trying to do their best, help, meet their obligations, progress and strive for understanding and compassion.

Character spotting, take 1, louis evan palmer, the way it can be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book

Unsurvivable Weapons - Nuclear by Louis Evan Palmer

Not
Just
Unthinkable

Herman Kahn wrote a book a while ago which he called "Thinking about the Unthinkable" and one of the basic premises it examined is that a war using nuclear weapons could be fought & won. We know, but have seemingly forgotten, that this is not true.

Part of the reason we know it's untrue is because while waiting for a Martian dust storm to clear, the scientists tending to a 1971 Mariner 9 space probe decided to do some extra-curricular investigations. Their resultant calculations highlighted that the dust blocked enough sunlight to significantly lower the temperature on the martian surface. Similar conclusions were reached by German scientists a decade later regarding raging global forest fires that would be caused by nuclear blasts. This led to a concerted effort to study the phenomenon of atmospheric particulates and their effects, especially on sunlight reaching the surface and the life dependent on it. Gwynn Dyer talks about this in the latest edition of his book "War".

In this context, the bottom line was that a nuclear exchange of more than 100 missiles in the 1 megaton range that was targeted on major cities (a likely scenario) would be enough to plunge the world into a nuclear winter with a massive post-explosion loss of life - plant, animal, human.

This is not the hundreds of millions who would die from the bombs themselves which has always been the main focus - this is the billions who survived. It could be the extinction of humans. It would certainly be a mass extinction of plant & animal life. It would also destroy the ozone layer which would render the surface uninhabitable. It would poison the entire world which would not allow it to sustain life. This is a horrible possibility which must be dealt with in the swiftest, most unequivocal manner.

This means that nuclear weapons are unsurvivable which means that they are unusable. The only solution to protecting ourselves against unusable, unsurvivable weapons is for their banning, destruction and subsequent & unrelenting prevention measures up to, if necessary, a prohibition on nuclear (fission) power .

To be clear, unsurvivable means that even if a country launched a completely successful first strike and there was no retaliation whatsoever, everyone on the planet would still die.

If a defensive posture is offered, let it stand as unchallenged that there is no shield imaginable that could stop all the missiles. For this reason, retaliation has always been part of the "defense". The only thing that a anti-missile defense opens the way to is a first strike or, the recurring dream of war planners, a tactical strike.

A tactical strike is such a ludicrous proposition that it defies reason to have it as an option. Does anyone in their right mind think that dropping a few tactical nuclear bombs on the fringes of Russia will not result in a counter-strike? Russia has made it abundantly clear that any nuclear strike against any part of its territory will result in a massive response - not a tit for tat - a full retaliatory counter-strike. What part of that don't we understand? Or, is this possibly a bluff in some catastrophic poker game where the ante is all life on the planet.

This then means that tactical strikes would be reserved for smaller, less powerful non-nuclear countries - which, of course, leads to a tremendous push in these assorted countries for these very weapons; this, in turn, pushes the whole world closer to the brink with each country that joins the "club".

Think about it - we're looking at a situation where India nuclear-fighting Pakistan could destroy the entire planet. Not Russia, China or America - India versus Pakistan. Israel, if it has the 200-400 nukes, it is reputed to have, could also destroy the whole globe if it launched all its missiles at major cities. The game is out-of-control.

The other option which seems to be rearing its venomous head is that of micro-nukes which can be disguised for public consumption as regular high-yield bombs. How many micro-nukes equal the damage of a major nuke? How long would it take to get to that point given the mind-numbing amount of ordinance being hurled at small countries like Afghanistan and Iraq? Does it matter if you're poisoned quickly or over a longer period?

The only reasonable path is an outright ban - immediate, complete, enforceable, and rigorous. Press your government for this, press the U.N. While the soonest possible disarmament is ideal, safety may dictate a slower, paced reduction but it must start now and continue unabated until nuclear weapons are a footnote in the history books.

If it feels like Time is short then it is!

Unsurvivable Weapons - Nuclear, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Louis Evan Palmer 
He lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have been published in numerous publications. 

BUY BOOKS BY LOUIS EVAN PALMER

• OAKLANE WOODS - Amazon Kindle Book
• TALES TOLD TO A TREE - Amazon Kindle Book
• 40 POEM FRAGMENTS - Amazon Kindle Book