The Mag

What if the answers are as simple as this?

Val_jean — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:09:16 GMT

I received this email from a friend a couple of days ago and i think it raises some good points. I love the simple solutions in life... that's where wisdom truly resides.

Here is an exert from it, it's UK oriented and offers a solution to the economic and employment crisis facing the UK:-

"Dear Mr Darling,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing Britain's economy.

Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the
money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan :

There are about 20 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them £1 million a piece severance for early retirement with the
following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Twenty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new British CAR. Twenty million cars ordered -
Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing
Crisis fixed.

4) They must send their kids to school / college /university - Crime rate fixed

..."

Well, what do you think? It certainly has merit in it's simplicity in addressing these issues and would create an immediate change in the employment and economic climate, no doubt.

But it brings me back to these questions... where does the money go?, what is a depression?, where does it come from and who benefits from it?

Yes, we are all fed a whole bunch of rhetoric and explanations from the "experts" and politicians as to the reasons why and quickly scapegoats have to be found to eliminate further investigation but to be quite frank i think it's a load of "cod's wallop"!

Lets look, now with the benefit of hindsight, as to what really happened with the latest market crash and economic depression.

One day some news media journalists announced that the housing development in the US was contracting. OK... big deal, so what?... the cycles of the markets and businesses do this all the time. Up one year down the next and up again... it's the nature of the universe... things never stay the same, winter follows summer... why should it be possible for economies and businesses to continually expand upward, especially at the levels desired by the greed demands of the investors in the stock exchanges.

Why shouldn't a business remain strong and healthy by intentionally staying at a comfortable level of size, just expanding enough to balance inflation and not go seeking to expand beyond it's means and so get trapped into borrowing and then into the investor return expectations and over extend itself in the process, all too often collapsing under the pressure.

OK, what happened next... within a day or less, the whole world's media bombards us with copious reports every day that things are getting worse within the property development market... escalating the intensity of the reports and surmising the worst is yet to come and so putting the fear of God into the average person in the street.

These fears are calculated to draw a reaction and a reaction they will obviously get with so much hyping and coverage that takes place.

The next minute, the property development crisis spawns a general property slump... of course it will... if everyone is told that the property market is heavily over subscribed then prices will naturally fall... and so the spiral starts.

Yes, greed and over extension can be laid at the door of the collapse but the SPEED of this collapse and the widespread knowledge of this situation has to be laid at the door of the media. As if with planned synchronicity, all the media jumped onto the fear instilling platform, so much so that even the poor peasant in foothills of outer Mongolia was concerned if he would be able to sell his mud hut to the next herdsman.

I can hear voices that say... "Yes, but technology is to blame for the speed and the widespread nature of communications in the world today"... agreed... but humans are the ones that create the content and are responsible or NOT for the message that is conveyed using it!

Very shortly, the news storm pelts us with reports that the Banks are in crisis, they are heavily over exposed to the mortgage loans that are now no longer assets but have turned into liabilities in over valued properties in a down turned property market.

The everyday person now is fearful of their savings in the banking system and specifically the banks that have been 'spotlighted' by the media as the worst hit. Runs on banks ensue but most often the news is so immediate that it is not possible to remove one's savings before the particular bank refuses withdrawals because they do not have the liquidity to cough up the dough.

Superheroes to the rescue... many governments start to step in (with almost deliberate lethargy and pontification to create the best terms of negotiation) to bail out the banks... the media making a big noise throughout and the politicians trying to earn "Brownie" points by pretending to be the peoples 'Knight in Shining Armour'.

Behind the scenes, what really was the result of all this?... the governments succeeded in owning most of the banks they lent money too... this was the most effective nationalisation of the banks that has ever been undertaken. Those banks that didn't tow the line were allowed to languish (irrespective of the people's interests!) and some countries that didn't tow the line had their economies crippled.

I found the minister's remark about a bank in the UK that rather than take the offered bail out package from the government, proceeded to successfully raise it's needed capital from a Middle Eastern source, which comment to the effect of "they were very unpatriotic", was to ram home the deliberate strategy of the (lets say) government to own the banks in this game of kill the goose and anything else that gets in the way.

Why should anyone be at all negatively concerned if a bank effectively rescued itself and in the process did not have to give away any equity for doing so in the process... why should they be seen as unpatriotic by anybody!... other than an enraged player who was defeated in this game of chess by a more savvy opponent who realised what the game play was all about!

So getting back to the suggestions above to help solve the crisis that started this post... I fear they would never be implemented, no matter how simple and effective they could be, because in the solution outlined there is no real benefit or gain to be had by (lets say) the governments, in that they don't gain anything in the process other than fix things for the betterment of the people... which we would hope was really their only agenda but sadly this is not true i fear.

So, it doesn't take any degreed degree of grey matter to work out why all of this media hysteria has finally led us into a depression.

If you tell enough people "watch out we are in a depression", often enough then we will be in a depression, because every Tom, Joe, Sue and Sally will hold onto and stop spending their money because they will fear for their future and their jobs and by the mere act of not spending in an economy that bases it's foundation on spending, we will have what the orchestrators planned... a deep depression... simple truth!!

I will leave you with the thought on "Where does the money go?"... if the banks didn't have enough and the stock exchanges and investment houses didn't have it... where did it all go to?... is it hidden under a huge lot of mattress? Lets discuss this another time.

My final parting words... stop listening to the garbage the news media pelts you with... ignore the politicians lies and dribble... we are adults right?

Its easy, just turn off this invasive brainwashing instrument called the 'News Media' and focus on getting on with your lives as normal and you know what?... we wouldn't be in this depression if we had all done that a year ago!

What if there was no money to me made from vaccines?

Val_jean — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:19:40 GMT

Lets say that all vaccines had to be provided free by all pharmaceutical companies in the world by decree from the United Nations to control the world's pandemics... well, why not have the hugely rich corporations give something back to the people that make them obscenely rich in the first place? The same people that die or end up as vegetables in order to further the research or add to the coffers (interesting close proximity to the spelling of 'coffins') of the drug companies while they experiment with their next 'gold mine' under the comfort and protection of the law against legal responsibility for their products and deeds.

If this happened, I wonder if we would still see the regular invasion of a new strain of flu virus every year, if there was no profit to be had in selling drugs to combat it?... I have a strange suspicion that suddenly the media would go quiet on the subject and seasonal morphing flu viruses would be a thing of the past.

The birds and the pigs could relax and get back to their old habits of singing and grunting their way through life... nature would be happy to concentrate on addressing the weather patterns and not be so concerned about how it could invent another new strain of the flu virus, on time, that would successfully mutate, sufficiently well enough, to be able to infect and be transmitted throughout the human population... thus making the pharmaceutical companies richer and richer and giving the media, waiting in the wings, another great arsenal of fear inducing stories to assist their bosses quest for more obscene wealth and control.

Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating that anyone should willingly accept vaccines... far from it!!... I think if you google the history of and side effects of vaccines, you would never allow anyone, least a member of your family, to take a vaccine, least of all a flu vaccine which in effect was prepared to address the flu strain of the previous year!

I won't go into the depths of those discussions here but if you are interested enough to save your lives and those of your family's, there are enough reports by 'qualified' scientific mind now (as opposed to just conspiracy pundits) on the net to add enough doubt to the purity and bona fides of this health solution... there is no smoke without fire and there is an awful amount of smoke around!

Lets exercise a modicum of intelligence here.. If something is as good as a vaccine purports to be... why would a government have to threaten (under the Patriot act) to enforce that every citizen that would refuse to have a vaccine, if told to do so by the government, would be treated as a terrorist and would be imprisoned? Surely if the vaccine was a good thing we would willingly take it?

Interesting that when the same government's leader was asked in an interview... "have you had the vaccine Mr President?" he replied "NO, I don't need one"... LOL... please, please... lets wake up here!

Anyway, back to the start of the post... I think the easiest test case as to the truth of whether the yearly mutations of the flu virus are created in a laboratory or they are the efficient intent of nature to target the human species would be finally and easily answered by taking the profit out of the equation...

My naive view is... NO profit in colds and flu remedies... then NO more morphing of the flu virus on a seasonal regularity!

What if the LAW was the LAW?

Val_jean — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 00:18:52 GMT

and not some individuals opinion of what it is!

I am often exhausted trying to keep up with the legal issues of copyright, plaigarism, fair use, service agreements, terms and conditions... and all the various expert interpretations of the law... because they are all just that... interpretations!

Have you noticed how lawyers never seem to give you a de facto answer in most advices... is it to protect their revenue source, their on going billing engine?... i think it could be just that... because, if there were definitive answers to the law then one could just simply have a database, matching subject to answer and... 'Bob's not your Uncle'... problem solved... he is your Aunt!

Simple... and in the enlightened age of the Internet, one could just go to a website, enter the question needing clarity on the law and out pops a definitive answer... just for a few cents or better still a free public service.

Yes, there are some so called free services you can use, but they generally limit you to a simple question and answer... promoting that you will need to engage an attorney (of theirs generally) and pay a lot more money to get a more comprehensive (read expensive) answer. And if you do just that and ask the attorney for a definitive answer, he/she will invariably say "well, that is my opinion".

Unfortunately, if you act on his advice and end up in a court of law, your justice will depend not on his opinion but on the 'opinion' of someone completely different!!! .... what a joke!... unfortunately in most cases it is not a funny joke!

So what is the problem? Well most friendly lawyers... there are some... will tell you that it is because the law is so badly written... and because the process 'we' (who?) have adopted is to allow the changes to fix the badly written law of the first instance, forming a chain of modifications that take a team of agile and intelligent minds to unscramble and try and make some sense of... and then present that opinion to a wise old person to give their opinion about their interpretation... convoluted?... you bet!

This is, of course, further complicated by another team of agile and intelligent minds trying to find an opposite opinion that is also believable... in order to present same to the same wise old person, to get agreement on their interpretation!

And all of this process has to be paid for by the poor innocents who are caught up in this grandiose game of 'Find the flaw in the Law'.

Well to hell with paying for the mistakes of someone else who was already paid (taxes) by us to define the law correctly in the first instance.

My naive mind tells me, lets scrap all those laws that can't be clearly understood by reading a couple of clearly understandable sentences and have them rewritten by someone who does understand what they are doing and can clearly communicate what should or should not be done in reference to that law.

Do away with precedence and the need to search for precedent and the debate this lengthy and costly (to you again) procedure of other formed opinions by other wise old souls!

Laws from the dark ages should automatically be scrapped and rewritten... as our society and norms and language has changed considerably since the time they were first written.

Why won't this happen unless there is a miracle?... because the industry that thrives on this almost deliberate travesty of justice is the justice industry itself... it is much too profitable to even think of simplifying the law and lose it's carefully crafted and protected revenue streams... just like the power industry won't allow anyone to easily take their market away in order to have a healthier planet to live in!

So, if i end up in court or just disappear after this article... please, someone pass on this message ... on and on and on... and on and on... after all this is one of the benefits of the net, isn't it... free speech!... hmmm... until someone with a lot to lose doesn't like what you say and asks a lawyer to give an opinion and...

"oh no... not again"... that person who penned the defense of 'but don't spill a single drop of blood' now has a lot of blood on their hands!

What if political lobbying was a crime?

Val_jean — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:32:52 GMT

Well, don't you think it should be?

Think about it... big business with money, wines and dines political decision makers, offers them fund contributions... for what?... so that their investment interests are protected by the law makers!... at whose expense?... ours... yours and mine and the children of the future!

Read this article for an example of blatant bribery:

Scientists offered cash to dispute climate study

Ian Sample, science correspondent
Friday February 2, 2007
The Guardian

"Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today....."

Doesn't this get your blood boiling?... Especially as the reality of it all, is that this goes on ALL the time and more so than this example portrays... much more i'm sure!

And we all sit back and say... "Well, that's political lobbying"... SO WHAT!... that is bribery and corruption!... it is a crime in any other jurisdiction ... so why not in political circles?!

Am i being naive here?... shouldn't we the people whose lives are jeopardised by this corruption say "ENOUGH NOW... punish these people for their crimes... outlaw this legalised corruption we so politely call Lobbying!"

What do you think?

What if fear rules?

Val_jean — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:53:36 GMT

Well, we all have one fear or another about something. I remember the fear i had about the first post i did in a forum of intellectuals... what if they though i was an idiot and proceeded to tell me, how would i take that, how would my ego react? I pondered whether i should submit the post that i had spent much too long forming, editing and re-editing it to perfection... in the end i held my breath and hit the submit button and prayed they would be kind.

So what happened in the end?... nothing much, i was treated like anybody else and my confidence grew with every post and i really enjoyed the process.

Then one day i branched out on my first personal blog and the same fear crept in again, but i challenged it the same way and now i embark upon this new adventure and the same fear raises its ugly head again but it gets less and less with every repetition.

So why do i do this?... therapy probably or perhaps, I'll get lucky and be rewarded in attracting greater, wiser minds/souls to help me on my way or just help me to look at things differently... that will be reward enough. But who knows, maybe I'll even manage to help someone else... now, isn't that the best reward anyone could ask for?... along with a bit of Adsense revenue too;)

So onward I go, for doesn't therein lie the value of "Action" .. take that first step down that new road and we will be well on our way to a new adventure... No, we don't know where it will lead us to, that is the whole point isn't it?... there is no adventure or a whole lot of learning walking the same path, doing the same stuff over and over again after you have mastered whatever it is you are trying to master.

Where is the value in seeking to look wonderful just because we have perfected some disciplines, talents, skills etc... does a painter spend the rest of their life painting the same picture, a musician perfecting the one song, a blogger perfecting one post?... No they don't and nor should we, methinks.

Where is the value spending the rest of our lives just repeating the same things over and over in order to show ourselves off to rapturous applause, to bask in fleeting admiration or just to be perceived to be 'so confident'... 'so cool'.

Where is the value in collecting assets, if we have to spend the rest of our lives doing mundane repetitive tasks in order to just maintain our collection and have time for nothing else.

Where do these assets go when we die? What do we take with us in our never ending adventure?... i think we take our experiences and their vibrational influences on us... we take our wisdom... wisdom comes from our experiences, not from reading a book, getting a degree or watching TV... For sure, knowledge accelerates our learning but putting the knowledge into "Action" gives us the experiences which then stay with us forever.

What do we do in the sunset of our lives?... we remember the important, happy events of our lives, we continuously play back these movies... so my advice is make sure your movies are full length feature movies and not just promotional trailers!

No there is nothing wrong with being comfortable, clever, rich or having our toys to play with, but we mustn't become a slave to them and we shouldn't waste our life building an image of ourself which is tethered to our material gains, academic status or other peoples evaluation.

Yes, some things do require regular repetition to keep us healthy and strong, like brushing our teeth, breathing, exercising, maintaining positive thoughts and images in our mind .. and yes we have got to make a living, so some degree of repetition is required to survive but leave time for new adventures, for learning and for new experiences .. don't stand still in the comfort of doing the same old thing, for don't old things invite decay?.. and don't let fear of the new keep you frozen still because you will just end up a very well preserved empty vessel!

So if i let fear rule i would never have had this adventure and many more in my life and i would have been so poor for it.

Welcome!

Val_jean — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:17:08 GMT

So what is this section all about?... well, i think it will be a muse on anything that is crazy, amusing, frustrating or just needs to be aired.

On the other hand it could be posts highlighting something very cool or interesting... to me;)

I have no particular topics planned and i am going to say it "as it is"... sorry, but comments offering lessons in political correctness, grammar, form, narrow minds or ego 'bs' will be ignored... i want to keep it light but meaningful and fun too.

DISCLAIMER: "The thoughts contained herein are those of my mind and not necessarily those of the owner!"

What if I didn't start this blogzine?

Val_jean — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 05:15:57 GMT

Who knows and who cares? .. nobody right!... well that's not quite true because I'm sure the trees care and so does the kind soul that cleans my office and tries to tidy my desk which is often cluttered with pieces of paper recording random thoughts and ideas .. and I care! .. hell, that's important enough for me! .. and so I embark upon a new adventure not knowing where it will lead, not wanting to structure it too much so that it can just flow the course it finds, as does a conversation or discussion, not wanting to inhibit creative expression by being too concerned about grammar and form.

So onward we go .. if you care to comment please be my guest :)