TIL

The word "meme" is a shortening (modeled on "gene") of mimeme (from Ancientt Greek μίμημα mimēma, "something imitated", from μιμεῖσθαι mimeisthai, "to imitate", from μῖμος mimos "mime") and it was coined by the British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena.

 

How to Build

from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

Heart Sutra

Om Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom the Lovely, the Holy !


Avalokita, the Holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep course of the Wisdom which has gone beyond.



He looked down from on high, He beheld but five heaps, and He saw that in their own-being they were empty.



Here, O Sariputra,



form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form ;



emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form,



the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness.



Here, O Sariputra,



all dharmas are marked with emptiness ;



they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.



Therefore, O Sariputra,



in emptiness there is no form nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness ;



No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind ; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind ; No sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to :



No mind-consciousness element ; There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to : There is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path.



There is no cognition, no attainment and no non-attainment.



Therefore, O Sariputra,



it is because of his non-attainmentness that a Bodhisattva, through having relied on the Perfection of Wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble,



he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.



All those who appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time fully awake to the utmost, right and perfect Enlightenment because they have relied on the Perfection of Wisdom.



Therefore one should know the prajnaparamita as the great spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth -- for what could go wrong ? By the prajnaparamita has this spell been delivered. It runs like this :



gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.



( Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all-hail ! -- )



This completes the Heart of perfect Wisdom.



(Translated by E. Conze)



http://kr.buddhism.org/zen/sutras/conze.htm
 
http://dalailama.com/news/post/656-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-expresses-his-sadness-over-the-recent-earthquake-and-tsunami-in-japan
 

True

Michael Moore made a statement this week in Wisconsin that  that 400 Americans "have more wealth than half of all Americans combined."

"Four hundred obscenely wealthy individuals, 400 little Mubaraks -- most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion-dollar taxpayer bailout of 2008 -- now have more cash, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined."





PolitiFact found that to be true.
http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/mar/10/michael-moore/michael-moore-says-400-americans-have-more-wealth-/


Only 400 Americans have more wealth than half of of the 100 million households in the USA.

Only four years ago that was not true. Four years. wow

Now it Makes Sense

Why we're in a budget crisis: seems some people are still short $2 billion dollars.

Anonymous Press Release

Dear Citizens of the United States of America,


It has come to our attention that the brothers, David and Charles Koch--the billionaire owners of Koch Industries--have long attempted to usurp American Democracy. Their actions to undermine the legitimate political process in Wisconsin are the final straw. Starting today we fight back.


Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin. Governor Walker's union-busting budget plan contains a clause that went nearly un-noticed. This clause would allow the sale of publicly owned utility plants in Wisconsin to private parties (specifically, Koch Industries) at any price, no matter how low, without a public bidding process. The Koch's have helped to fuel the unrest in Wisconsin and the drive behind the bill to eliminate the collective bargaining power of unions in a bid to gain a monopoly over the state's power supplies.


The Koch brothers have made a science of fabricating 'grassroots' organizations and advertising campaigns to support them in an attempt to sway voters based on their falsehoods. Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and Citizens United are just a few of these organizations. In a world where corporate money has become the lifeblood of political influence, the labor unions are one of the few ways citizens have to fight against corporate greed. Anonymous cannot ignore the plight of the citizen-workers of Wisconsin, or the opportunity to fight for the people in America's broken political system. For these reasons, we feel that the Koch brothers threaten the United States democratic system and, by extension, all freedom-loving individuals everywhere. As such, we have no choice but to spread the word of the Koch brothers' political manipulation, their single-minded intent and the insidious truth of their actions in Wisconsin, for all to witness.


Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse - is complicit in these attacks. We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries' paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom.



U.S. Product Boycott List


•Vanity Fair

•Quilted Northern

•Angel Soft

•Sparkle

•Brawny

•Mardi Gras

•Dixie



European Product Boycott List


•Demak'Up

•Kitten Soft

•Lotus / Lotus Soft

•Tenderly

•Nouvelle Soft

•Okay Ktchen Towels

•Colhogar

•Delica

•Inversoft

•Tutto



To identify these brands, please look for the following logo anywhere on the packaging:

Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

http://www.anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=585

Crazy and Crazier

Sometimes I wonder why Obama seems so slow to speak out about current issues in the Middle East, even though I think our government shouldn't meddle quite so much in other countries (we have more than enough problems to take care of right here at home). Why did it take until Friday for Obama to censure Gadhafi for murdering the citizens of Libya? Friday is when Americans were able to leave Libya by flight and ferry.

For those of us glad to avoid further tragic and costly mistakes overseas, slow and careful is reassuring.

cartoon credit:  http://www.politicsdaily.com/category/chaos-theory/

Of course some pit bull soccer moms would just post stuff all over their FB before Americans left Libya, cuz after all they're just t-bots programmed to do so by those big corporations.

India is holding its 10th Annual India Today Conclave, a high profile talk shop of “global thought leaders” next month. Can you guess which pit bull woman was invited to talk, and whose speech is tentatively titled `My Vision for America`” ? Dear People of India: I thought you said global _thought_ leaders. And, whatever she says, it's _not_ my vision of or for America, or any place else in the world.

Follow the Money

It's not too hard to figure out what's going on in Wisconsin and 14 other states. Statutory minimum wage was first proposed during the time of 'sweat shops'. Corporations would hire women and children at substandard wages. I wonder if minimum wage will become more minimal if/when the unions are busted.

Last night I watched Wall Street (1987) and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) both directed by Oliver Stone. The movies are chock-full of not so subtle hints, truth well-blended with fiction.






the following cribbed from: http://www.alternet.org/economy/150010/us_uncut_--_a_grassroots_uprising_against_corporate_tax_deadbeats?page=entire

The IRS estimates that individuals and corporations currently hold $5 trillion in tax haven countries. Nearly two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes at all, and Goldman Sachs, which received $10 billion dollars in taxpayer money during the bailout, negotiated their tax rate down to one percent. The entire tax haven scam costs taxpayers as much as $100 billion per year.




Hewlett-Packard, Verizon, Chevron, Ford, ExxonMobil and Bank of America. The biggest dodger is General Electric (GE), which, during a time of national economic crisis, actually made money on their tax filing in 2010. Though the company generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, it recorded $1.1 billion in tax benefits. Forbes calls this GE's "uncanny ability to lose lots of money in the US and make lots of money overseas, where tax rates are lower."

Conservatives frequently cite the fact that America's corporate tax rate is 35 percent, which is higher than the average of other industrial countries, but that doesn't take into account tax evading practices. In fact, 115 companies on the S&P 500 pay less than 20 percent in taxes, and that doesn't take into account the 37 companies, such as Citigroup and American International Group (AIG), that receive more in credits than they ultimately pay out (companies that pay less than five percent in taxes include Boeing and Amazon).



In 2010, if you made between $34,001 and $82,400, your marginal tax rate was 25 percent.

Lemon or Sugar?

The Koch brothers based Mad Hatter T-bagger bots present to the United (?) States: assaults on unions, public employees, women’s rights, immigrants, the environment, health care, voting rights, food safety, pensions, prenatal care, science, public broadcasting, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

The Koch brothers backed Wisconsin governor presents balancing the State budget based on breaking the working class, pitting the have-a-little against the have-a-little-less all for the glory of the have-a-lots.

The Military-Industrial Complex vs a developing economy, raising revenues, enforced fair tax rates for all.

The conservative traditional moral world view vs citizens caring for one another with social and personal responsibility.

Is America a republic based on democracy or are we becoming a

?

Rarities

posted for sentimental value

America's Freedom of Expression

Ray McGovern, 71 years old, an Army veteran, and former CIA analyst for 27 years, was present at Hillary Clinton's speech at George Washington University yesterday. Hillary spoke about the Middle East uprisings, and condemned governments that arrest protesters and don't allow free expression.

Mr McGovern, wearing a Veterans For Peace T-shirt, stood up, turned his back on Hillary, and did not say a word. He was dragged out of the meeting by police and a plainclothes person, he was bruised and bleeding, and thrown in jail.

Hillary didn't miss a beat. (pun intended)

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2011/02/16-3

Ana Somnia

Turn off the light to begin. Sweet Dreams.

 http://anasomnia.com/