New Years HOPE, 2 poems by R.E

Something happened and the world is shifting. The pendulum is swinging again, this time back to the core values of hope, peace, community, and love. I used to feel that I'd missed my era, and that the 60's were the chance for humans to wake up, shake off, and manifest one beautiful potential of humanity: to be kind, caring, whole, holistic, and aware of humanity's purpose -- to guide the Earth to conscious awareness.

(click pic for hi-quality image)
But today my hope is sparked again. Not by Obama, per se, but by humanity. We have the power to see (in our lifetimes) faith outgrow fear, love victorious over hatred and violence, the illusion of separation fall apart into a united humanity, and the Earth 'wake up' to self-realization.

So with those wishes, I wish you all a wonderful New Year!

The words to these 2 hand-drawn poems are below:

HELP - 10/7/08 - by Ari Krawitz, aka REkzkaRZ
Can't do it myself
can do it with others
A lesson in saying "yes"
Yes and ... everything!
How can I change to ...
POSITIVE
Unwrap the cocoon
of protective cynicism
Move into a New World
Seen thru re-newed faith
Glasses of faith in now
Eyes re-opened to love
Embracing human potential
Empowering divine possibility.
(re-polarizing, I unknowingly became a magnet.)

Circular Prayer - 10/7/08 - by Ari Krawitz, aka R.E.
The message of all the ages
Is to embrace human potential
And to outgrow fear with love.
Please help me expand the love energy today.
Thank you, abundant universe,
For opening me beyond my anticipations.

The biggest robbery in history -- cont'd

So by now you've bought the story that we're in a Depression/Recession, right? And the banks are 'desperate' for money, right? And we are inches away from a run on the banks, right?
So WTF is all this? (see article below)
Welcome to the whacked world of capitalism, where the rich execs live like kings, and the poor are supposed to shut up and take it.

Do you think Bush was a bad president? I do.
But I'm not a financial executive, or a weapons manufacturer exec, or a Haliburton employee, or an oil person. If I was one of those -- and totally ignored everything else -- there'd be ample incentive to think otherwise....

From a Yahoo News Associated Press article
The 116 banks that so far have received taxpayer dollars to boost them through the economic crisis gave their top tier of executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses and other benefits in 2007, an Associated Press analysis found.
...

Even where banks cut back on pay, some executives were left with seven- or eight-figure compensation that most people can only dream about. Richard D. Fairbank, the chairman of Capital One Financial Corp., ... still got $17 million in stock options. The McLean, Va.-based company received $3.56 billion in bailout money on Nov. 14.

John A. Thain, chief executive of Merrill Lynch, topped all corporate bank bosses with $83 million in earnings last year. Thain, a former chief operating officer for Goldman Sachs, came to Merrill Lynch in December 2007, avoiding the blame for a year in which Merrill lost $7.8 billion. Since he began work late in the year, he earned $57,692 in salary, a $15 million signing bonus and an additional $68 million in stock options. Like Goldman, Merrill tapped taxpayers for $10 billion on Oct. 28.

Wells Fargo of San Francisco, which took $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, gave its top executives up to $20,000 each to pay financial planners.

At Bank of New York Mellon Corp., chief executive Robert P. Kelly's stipend for financial planning services came to $66,748, on top of his $975,000 salary and $7.5 million bonus. His car and driver cost $178,879. Kelly also received $846,000 in relocation expenses, including help selling his home in Pittsburgh and purchasing one in Manhattan, the company said.

Goldman Sachs, paying as much as $233,000 for an executive's car and driver, told its shareholders that financial counseling and chauffeurs were needed so executives would have more time to focus on their jobs.

JPMorgan Chase chairman James Dimon ran up a $211,182 tab for private jet travel last year when his family lived in Chicago and he was commuting to New York. The company received $25 billion in bailout funds.

Sherman, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said pay excesses undermine development of good bank economic policies and promote an escalating pay spiral among competing financial institutions — something particularly hard to take when banks then ask for rescue money. He wants them to come before Congress, like the automakers did, and spell out their spending plans for bailout funds. "The tougher we are on the executives that come to Washington, the fewer will come for a bailout," he said.

Obama on the $3 bill

Funny how perspective works: apparently this image is being used to ridicule Obama.
For me, the guy with a lucky number 3, this is yet another blessing AND I agree with most of those statements ... sorta.

To clarify my POV:

a) Corporations are evil
Not necesarily, but putting profit motive ahead of any human or planetary considerations is sorta evil. How about the Green Triple Bottom Line? Why is it such a good thing to weaken labor and export high-paying jobs as low-paying overseas jobs? Why is it good to fire helpdesk people and install huge digital phone trees that never answer your questions?
b) US Healthcare system is the worst in the world
Not in the world, in the modern world. Socialized medicine is better. I've tried it in Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Spain, and probably a few other places. Whoever thought of making profits off of suffering (Reagan) was evil.
c) We're losing the Iraq war
Why are we there? Is it legal? Do the Iraqi's want the USA there? How is invading foreign countries a good strategy for world peace?
d) Global Warming
If scientists around the world argue that it is a measurable phenomenon, maybe they are right?
e) Drilling won't work
Not right away, and not in the long run. The USA has a huge stockpile of oil. But we want to move OFF of oil and into sustainable energies soon. Non-renewable Oil as an energy technology which is useful when nothing else has been developed. But did you know that oil deposits can be a valuable scientific natural resource because of organic matter preserved as well?
f) We're in a depression
No? Well, maybe we are at a point where the rich want to take $750 billion out of their bank account which we call the Federal Reserve -- and it's going to severely damage the country. Also, there's that matter of poor fiscal management. I definitely know a lot of people looking for work. Don't you?
g) They will try to scare you because I don't look like other Presidents
He sure does, doesn't he? Handsome, youthful, smart, charismatic? Obama reminds me of a smart college professor. Most other Presidents of the past make me think of the elderly, people that might need help walking down a flight of stairs. People like .. the Pope. Yes, that's right -- I'm proud to have a non-white American in charge! It's a miracle.

The Biggest Bank Robbery ever -- happening now

Let's call it what it is -- ** the biggest bank robbery of all time. **

Have you wondered why it's newsworthy that Obama has to take bold steps to protect homeowners? According to this Yahoo News article published today, the Treasury Department cannot prevent banks from using the bailout dollars for exhorbitant executive salaries.

Obama commits to support homeowners:
Obama's comments and the letter from House Republicans came a day after the Government Accountability Office, in the first comprehensive review of the rescue package, concluded that the Treasury Department has no mechanisms to ensure that banking institutions limit their top executives' pay and comply with other restrictions.

So far, the government has pledged to pour $250 billion into banks in return for partial ownership. It also has agreed to provide $40 billion to troubled insurer American International Group. In addition, $20 billion of the money was invested in Citigroup and another $20 billion went to the Federal Reserve to help ease credit stresses.

House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank said Treasury's response comes "very close to telling the institutions that they will be free to use the funds as they wish."

Back to rekzkarz' reality:
Wow. First, $20 billion doesn't sound like much when you're thinking about $750 billion, right? What does the number actually look like?
$20,000,000,000.00WHEW! That's BIG!!

If that $750 billion bailout went to the people themselves, ie US Citizens, we could all buy homes and have money to spare. It's already public money and should not be going to subsidize private industries which have poorly allocated their assets in risky debt -- particularly not to the upper class 'executives' of these failing companies.

Hey Bush, what happened to your "no subsidies" and "free enterprise" and "free market" slogans when your rich buddies screw up the US economy as badly as you screwed up USA Foreign Policy?

I was having a talk with some friends and we came to the conclusion that if it had been one or two banks doing these horrible banking practices, the CEO's would have been fired and the banks would have folded. But when ALL of the banks (with a few noteworthy exceptions), under the rubric of 'deregulation' and incentives for economic expansion, are allowed to practice STUPID economics which put everyone at risk ... THEN we are supposed to reward those institutions with public funding without ANY requirements, stipulations, or punitive treatment?

The same approach applied to credit card debtors sounds a little different: when a person gets way over their head in credit card debt, and then somehow loses their income because of gambling and is suddenly 'in the red', would we want the government to step in, pay off all their debts AND get them their salaries back -- without any consequence?!?!

Wasn't the issue originally the 'home mortgage' crisis? Why on Earth are we rewarding bankers (people with economics degrees and MBA's) for screwing up? Bush & co have succeeded in keeping the focus on the (stupid) banks and lending institutions and off the people that are actually suffering. Surprised?