The US Constitution is a fragile masterpiece that has been broken into many pieces before. As such this dance between right and wrong has unraveled our original freedoms and then has entangled them with the federal government. We have lost our liberties to the one that was suppose to protect us. Forget buy American - Hell! Vote American - VoteRP!!

http://ovidd.blogspot.com/

the last three days look like pointed nipples on my overview of stats, and that is OK i can enjoy that

Speck of Dandelion

                                                          We are a speck
                                                    and what a glorious ride
                                                                   it is

                                                          look up and see
                                                                   this
                                                             will never be
                                                                  again

Some Recent Chirps 1/26/12

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God himself would tell us we are wrong to continue in the way we are drifting, and then would declare we VoteRP

18 minutes ago

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ovidd: The Invention of the Human Spirit ovidd.blogspot.com/2012/01/invent…

57 minutes ago

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The insistent, persistent involvement of the federal government in state affairs is as foolish as defining beauty - VoteRP!

1 hour ago

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Cold Moon Light ovidd.poetrycraze.com/cold_moon_ligh…

3 hours ago

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ovidd: Lunar Lunacy ovidd.blogspot.com/2012/01/lunar-…

7 hours ago

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today ovidd.poetrycraze.com/today-26805.ht…

9 hours ago

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@

@AP The federal government controls networks by making them dysfunctional - look at the record, they can not even protect themselves

11 hours ago

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commented: According to CNN data presented this morning, every time the federal government hands out money to c... y.ahoo.it/nBY5Ui38

11 hours ago

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ovidd: Diane ovidd.blogspot.com/2012/01/diane.…

20 hours ago

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I would say Romney won, Gingrich fell, the others did well

21 hours ago

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I do not believe Jefferson was thinking about Santorum's god when he wrote the Declaration of Independence

21 hours ago

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it has got to be a tough job to have the first Lady as your wife

22 hours ago

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newt is right about Space

22 hours ago

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Gingrich is right about Space

22 hours ago

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i do not think the president can change the tax code - arbitrarily. if i am wrong, then why has it grown to be a colossal joke

23 hours ago

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newt and mitt should get married - VoteRP

23 hours ago

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if we could do as a Vulcan and mind-meld newt and rom together, it might make a president, but why not do the possible - VoteRP

23 hours ago

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ovidd: Alien Beauty ovidd.blogspot.com/2012/01/alien-…

26 Jan

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This should not be about removing Obama. It should be about finding a better choice. VoteRP

26 Jan

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commented: This is one time agree with Newt. A serious effort at colonizing the moon would have military advant... y.ahoo.it/9Yk5Kbhj

26 Jan

The Invention of the Human Spirit

Actually, the human spirit speaks for itself. But its invention is quite a topic. We seem to thrive upon it because it changes us for the better. We must consider that to inspire requires cause and aside from the same old rhetoric something genuinely new is required. It already has a past of proven discourse and action. I know, this seems contradictory, but you must first realize we have been here before. But before was a time not ready for now, so we need to re-think our methods and options. We are all better off than before, because of our parents and their parents, and so on. It is time to move forward and change ourselves to be better and to adhere to principles that time has proven over and again - and I do not mean religion. I mean inner worth and value - virtue. This is what we need to endure and succeed.

Lunar Lunacy

I believe a lunar base is essential for the sake of humanity. Throughout the history of the United States, expansion has been necessary and beneficial. This has been for reasons of gaining property and for economic, political,  and defensive posturing. The vast amounts of land acquired and occupied from 1800 to 1860 had a major affect on American politics, its people, and its economy. It did this in part, by the development of railroads, highways, and waterways. The development of the infrastructure produced new industries which ultimately transformed the United States into an industrial power instead of a purely agricultural one.

In the 1960s once again a great expansion occurred. This great expansion was Space, which led to a technological revolution that is still marching onward today in the form of the internet and computer technology. It culminated with landing on the moon in 1969. Back then there were 3 billion people living on earth. Today we have 6 billion plus, and with regards to time, that means by 2100, there will be 24 billion people struggling to make due with what resources may still be left.It could easily take one hundred years or more to actually achieve the goal of realistic lunar colonization, so there is no time to waste.

Stick your head in the sand and pretend if you wish, but simple math proves I am right. We need to look toward Space as not only the next frontier, but our ultimate salvation. This is how it could work.

Materials for lunar habitation will need to be developed. Methods for sustaining life will need to be invented for an environment that is not fit for human life, but surely could be made so. This will require physicists, chemists, and engineers. The early days of America were harsh, as harsh or even harsher than what early life on the moon would be like. So humankind has already proven it has what it takes to accomplish this type of mission.

Industries not palatable here on earth could be developed on the moon and materials produced there could then be shipped back to earth on tankers that could also be used to deliver materials and goods to the lunar surface. These tankers could be built in orbit by robots and in fact would remain in space receiving and delivering goods by means of smaller craft currently being used to supply the International Space Station.

Today Russia wants to partner with the US and Europe to build a lunar colony. This is the kind of cooperation we need on earth for everything, but we will need to do it in space as well. So how does this help?

Well, I just explained that it will create jobs in both academic and professional fields. This will mean more blue collar work as well, but overall it will increase the job skills to a different level from where they are now to a more evolved technical skill. Most important are the spurs of technological advancement in fields unrelated to Space. This is inevitable, because discovery begets knowledge which always fuels the enthusiasm  of the human spirit. And right now, we need some human spirit.

So how do you fund it? Do away with a large portion of the military establishment and redirect that labor toward the development of Space. Work out international trade agreements that reward those countries that work cooperatively with the US to produce a better Universe.

Am I serious? As serious as the fact that the world's resources are diminishing even  faster than the population growth. I can only hope that humankind will recognize the detriment of their situation before they find themselves shoulder to shoulder with their fellow man in the public squares screaming for bread.

Diane

She spreads before me
i devour without thought,
everything there was
without thought
of anything that ever was

of anything

I devour without thought,


She consumes me
consumes me more than
any thought
any moment
any time

She consumes me

Alien Beauty

not to dispute their equality
beauty, nor wonder,
but I do believe woman is an alien kind.

I am certain man will overcome
with great expense
and I am certain woman will be at his side

and she will help
since I am sure she is alien
kind

Order

To you I show my deepest
   that which only
  you could ever know

  but even you doubt
    as you read
  and pause and wonder
   if it could be
 something we all contrive
    to believe
   is simply not
   always the best

 I admire your form
  of exotic raw
   to its color
   tasting with tongue
    its number
    a number
  another number
 another damn number
    of your form

   then gaze to see
   the nothing that
   sees nothing but
 is seen by everything

     billions
of constellations whirling
 forming then dis-forming
 the random destruction
   of everything

Corporate Politics and the Myth of Freedom

I am going to make a prediction, which I think is obvious. Obama will win the November 2012 election.

He is an incumbent and his rivals offer nothing new - except Ron Paul. Unfortunately, RP is not winning amongst conservatives, because he offers change, which is contrary to underlying conservative principles - 'the ways of the past did get us here'. Quite likely, RP's method of change offers a serious conflict to the money grubbing corporate wealth that buys American politics. His proposed cuts would certainly undermine a great deal of the American corporate profit structure - the military establishment.


The military establishment operates at a distance that is a galaxy away from the concept of free enterprise, and it is a practice protected fiercely by both liberal and conservative elements though for very different reasons. But whatever the reasons, they all put piles of tax payer money into the pockets of the few.


The government is a labyrinth of regulations all designed to protect the US Government from its people, under the guise they protect its people from all those whose aim is to deceive and cheat the Republic. But when the US Government enters into a military orDeal, all of these regulations are trampled and forgotten under the shroud of national security.


The federal government currently works diligently to eliminate government personnel and replace them with contract or private corporate employees. Thereby, erasing the only means for maintaining vigilance since the corporate employee holds allegiance only to the corporate behemoth that buys their service. And in case you have not been paying attention, the only allegiance a corporation holds is to protecting and increasing its profits. As such, corporate employees are unlikely to count on their positions as careers, like normal government employees would, because their contracts are limited and must be re-bid at some future date. This leaves the remaining government hierarchy isolated from the control of those performing inherently government functions.This practice also destroys any sense of loyalty that in the past assured virtuous government service.


You may think this is not true, but the army's current information technology structure is all handled by corporate America. Government employees (even its army generals) are subordinate to this system. Management of this kind of system can be likened to pushing a rope. If you do not understand this view, then simply return to how the banks man-handled the government when it came to the American public saving them from a catastrophe of their own making. The government did not make any bank do anything it did not want to do. The bank corporate structure is now doing the very same thing that flushed us all down the hole in 2008 - all under the scrutiny of the Government. In fact, everything the government has done to restrict corporate greed, has only made it worse for the consumer. The banks are not hurting like the hopeless millions of former homeowners the banks have destroyed. Every push the government has made against corporate America, has simply resulted in an equal and opposite action upon the American consumer.


The reality is in recognizing that government will not save you. It can not do so because it is owned by corporate America and that means corporate America owns you - the consumer. Each American is now in locked-step with corporate America leading its way to the battle of Little Big Horn. America's consumerist direction is a path to tyranny and enslavement. In this respect, like so many other things, Gandhi was correct.

Freedom's demise began by defining it, with the first amendment to the Constitution.

The Apple

her appearance glanced my vision
i danced upon the idea to engage
and then i dodged and played
but no one came to say anything
and i just left it there alone
where things like this always go

some time went...
and there was silence
not mentioned
in any text
ever read with the conviction
that one has over the other
doing wrong

virtue is not for all
and women should examine
details before they choose
including will they endure
the longing of what is new
and the doubt of themselves

will they consume what needs
they have before they complete
and endure themselves to one
and the same for him
that has the lust of her
embedded within his thought
his trust and all his want

Political Virtue and the Democratic Republic

We are all encapsulated in a bubble floating in the endless circle of space. Captured in a world where what your neighbor does will affect you. As such, anything one does that is good is respected and often offers benefit to those around it. In a free society anything should be possible. But if it is to be a good society, it must be virtuous and must apply and support virtuous practices. This does not mean what you might think, as you will remember that I am speaking of a truly free society. Can there be both? Are there any examples that such a place can exist or ever existed?


It may come as no surprise that the United States was founded very much on this very same belief. The idea that in order for a  free republic to survive it must be based upon virtue, was very much how most of the founding fathers thought. This is because they were products of the European Enlightenment and in fact the Declaration of Independence was very much influenced by the philosophies of the Enlightenment.


Aristotle regarded political virtue as the highest human achievement. I am sure many that are reading this are smirking at this thought, since we have very little attainable evidence indicating this is an achievable. However, Aristotle's belief extends far beyond the politician, all the way to the heart and soul of the individual. For all must be of virtuous mind for a free democratic republic to succeed.  

If we look at the trajectory of any great empire, they all rise and fall. Some have come and gone more than once. But most empires have been tyrannies and much of their rise and fall had more to do with the struggle of tyrants to remain in power than because the societies themselves failed.  However, the cases where empires fell from internal decay are the ones that require the most focus.


Notice that I mention 'internal decay'. The Roman empire fell because of itself more than anything else. And it took much longer than many realize - over one thousand years to completely fall. And all of its demise can be attributed to an insatiable appetite for power and wealth. As empires came and went after the Roman decay, change became more a matter of economic concern than tyrannical. However, the tyrannical behavior took centuries to eliminate and pretty much has been overwhelmed by a new tyrant - corporate tyranny, which has oligarchical foundations - another kind of tyranny. 


Karl Marx believed the ultimate transition would be from a corporate-industrial (free enterprise) economy to a communistic form of government and economic policy. Note that the Soviet communism which rose and fell rather quickly, was based upon an immediate transition from an agricultural economy prevalent at the time. This is not what Marx envisioned, and may be why it failed. Note that the United States - the great example of free enterprise in a democratic republic - has been fairly successful. The United States in fact evolved from an agricultural community to the corporate economy that now exists. If we look closely at today's political design, our economy has evolved into a mix of socialism and corporate free enterprise. With the government providing the socialism which tends to war against the free market concept.


Perhaps Marx was right and the inevitable truth is that communism can not be avoided. But this would not be acceptable to any free-thinking independent minded being, which presumably all human beings are. So why would any peoples accept such a concept?


I think the answer lies with Gandhi. Consumerism is the ultimate driver of free enterprise. It represents that insatiable desire of all humankind to have what it does not have, or to have more than it really needs. Much as a bear will entrap itself to acquire food, man is proving to be no wiser. In order to consume, one must procure. To procure, one must work. If one must work to procure what one needs, then one is no more free than the slave who must work the fields because there is no other means to obtain that which is required or desired. And most of all there is a problem with all lifeforms - they keep multiplying. And that means they continue to consume at an exponential rate.

Because the earth's population continues to explode, the concept of consumerism is fatally flawed. This means Resources can not renew fast enough to prevent a swarm of locust from demolishing everything. And humanity is that swarm. If the biblical prophecy is correct about anything, it is that humanity may well be its own plague. 


If resources are incapable of sustaining population growth, then so are the means by which consumerism thrives. In other words, there are not enough jobs to sustain all of humankind's insatiable appetite for more, more, more. Herein lies the flaw. If A and B both want Z then A + B = 2Z must be true if everything is optimal. But since humankind keeps growing, the equation becomes A + B + C = 2Z with means each gets less, or A + B + C = 3Z, which means more resources are required. But the earth only has so many resources, so at some point, the right side of the equation becomes fixed, while the left side grows. Eventually, even the left side must stop simply because its sustenance is not sustainable. 

The ancient Greeks knew this all too well, in that they maintained close scrutiny over the number of immigrants to the country including the amount of sustainable slave labor versus paid labor that could be accommodated within their economy without over-depleting its resources.


So are we rising or are we falling. Unfortunately, because of the 'locust' problem, I believe we are falling. I think the current economic climate illustrates the fall of man. I believe man is falling because of his moral decay. I specify man in this context because he is mostly responsible for all of the positive and negative ideologies that have brought us to this point. This returns us to the point of virtue.


As much as I believe in free enterprise, I have to also admit that it inspires greed. After all, the underlying theme in all of enterprise is to thrive and that requires the achievement of excess. We all would do the same if given the chance. This is our nature. And this is why virtue is less attainable with the more one acquires. Because consumerist tendencies enslave virtue. And without virtue, democratic republics fail. At least this is what the founding fathers believed. And for good reason, they had seen the rise and fall of excess and its cost as one that bleeds all of society through tyranny and the cronyism and corruption associated with tyrannical government. And they very much saw big government as no better than tyrannical rule.

I believe that virtuous intent and its continued development is essential for humankind to survive. This means controlling greed and thereby preventing tyranny. But this is not enough. Humanity must achieve new technologies and objectives so that new directions provide a means for expansion which leads to job creation. After all, it is this principle alone - manifest destiny - that has saved free enterprise. America's expansive effort has in fact sustained the world for some time. But where to now? Well, there is still the ocean and space. Each will require technological advances before either can truly benefit humanity. But this means there is a way to sustain humankind and even free enterprise for a while longer, thereby thwarting communism - perhaps.


However, there is one feature of man that has persisted since the beginning of time. He does not always play well with others, and as such continually makes war. This almost always comes down to the same problem I have been discussing at length - lack of virtue. Virtue held great importance to the ancients of the first known democracy - Athens, which is to say, thousands of years ago, this same problem was recognizable. Although, in the end, Plato saw democracy as a failure, and preferred the concept of oligarchy. I believe Plato's disgust with democracy was its failure to protect Athens from Sparta - which was an oligarchy. 


War. It is something that even the bible promotes and perhaps this is our great undoing. As long as we continue to fight one another we can never truly be free. And if we can not truly be free, we can never achieve true virtue? War is irrational behavior. It leads to deception and the demise of truth - that which gives knowledge. And that voids wisdom. And without wisdom, virtue is not feasible.


So in our noble strife for virtue, we have found one means of promoting it - religion.


Once upon a time, religion and philosophy walked hand-in-hand. But as science developed, philosophy began to side with the knowledge of the world that science is capable of revealing. Religion chose to separate itself, which required some degree of flawed reasoning to distinguish itself and its tenants as the only source of virtue. Even though it has been the cause of more wars than most recall.


There is nothing virtuous about war. It is always for the wrong reasons no matter what the annunciations of the victor might be. World War 1 led us into World War 2. And war has not ceased since. Yet the world keeps building bigger and better armies to fight more wars. More elegant ways to kill more people. What is moral about this? Where is the virtue in killing innocent people - which is what always happens in any war? As long as there is war, there can be no virtue and until virtue is achieved, democratic republicanism can not succeed and certainly will not sustain itself. And this is where religion has failed time and again. It prompts war more than it prevents it. Despite its proclamations of being the only true path to virtue, it stumbles over its own hypocrisy by the types of actions it repeatedly raises. 


If we are to achieve moral sanctity, it must not be through war, but by individual reason. And this can only be achieved through the promotion of free thought and noble teaching. Our descendents must be allowed to know the truths and All of the knowledge humankind has achieved if they are to effectively build upon society's foundation. This is contrary to the practice of war which is prone to dishonest self-promotion and the ultimate annihilation of truth. 

If religion wishes to help, then it must combine into one single religion that recognizes each individual's freedom and promotes wisdom and virtue by engaging the truth with openness. Thereby, side-stepping the cause of much of society's discontent - rule by religious and tyrannical tendencies. And though this may seem idealistic, it will be necessary if humankind is to thrive. And human thriving is necessary for free enterprise to survive, and enterprise is necessary if a free democratic republic is to survive.

Carolina

south Carolina

what a woman you would be if you could be
but you only drift across my memory
that place i honeymooned
along and about your myrtle beach
and then it washed away with storm
and storm again until i lost perspective

until one day i met a woman
and i, a boy in love with a creature
i had never known
fell deeper into the manifest of manhood
more than before
more than i had ever known
or would ever know again

she was from south Carolina

Herds of Truth

I often look at the news media and see people projecting their own views upon the public. I do hope the public recognizes this and that the media is the last one you want representing your beliefs, thoughts, and wishes. Look around and dispute the fact that if nothing changes, it will not get any better. Consider this, that all of American history has been filled with trying times. Someone has always been suffering even when there were those who were not suffering at all.

American politics is about you, the People. And I am sure that if Andrew Jackson were here he would hammer that into every living sole like a stake beat into the earth. Listen to what you are hearing, and determine who is saying something different.

One of the Blessings of Growing Old - 1

the frantic limbs of the tree 

darkened the horizon

clouding it

with the threat of the storms

harkening

the cries of the silent misery

lurking 

closer  than she

will ever let you get to her

selfish beauty

Modern Epicurean Beliefs

Tonight I made something special. It was rib of lamb marinated in citrus juices (lemon and grapefruit), garlic, basil, and pepper for several hours (refrigerated). Afterwards it was seared and then combined with a pomegranate, cherry, and pinot noir reduction sauce, along with garlic mashed potatoes and lima beans plus whole-wheat pita bread. Along with an after dinner rap-up of the pinot by a brisk fire on the back deck, I will later resume my point of origin.