a good friend shared this video with me, and i love this guy, Chris Gardner! he's funny, chill, and committed to his dream. he's got a best seller, "The Pursuit of Happyness" (book and movie), and his current book:
Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
what a guy! formerly homeless, now rich, and not just in money. check it out:
randomly, this book looks good too:
The Contented Achiever : How to Get What You Want and Love What You Get
fluxlife technorati tag(s): The Contented Achiever - Chris Gardner - fluxlife
Start Where You Are
prop 8 upheld
i was near the 18th & Castro street corner earlier today. NBC11 filmed a man who had an interesting viewpoint on the court decision that came down today. KRON4 arrived after NBC11, then took off. the action is at the san francisco civic center/city hall, so i think that's where all the cameras and copters are. i've gotta run right now. more later...
i posted a comment on my fellow blogger Angie's face book profile. check out her latest posts at: nomoreemptyfortunecookies.com!
here's a copy of my comment to Angie:
"the legal team that crafted prop 8 knew what they were doing. they knew how to word and submit prop 8 to make it stand up in ca state court. now, it's time for us to act instead of react. i'll be writing an opinion about prop 8 as it stands vs. the U.S. Constitution at http://fluxlife.blogspot.com/. there's 2 clear loopholes in prop 8 when you put it up against the Supreme Law of the Land (U.S. Constituion). i'm also kinda curious as to how the writers of prop 8 were able to subvert the typical process of ca state amendment ratification. that is, an amendment must be put before ca state congress in order to ratify an amendment that affects the core functioning of the ca state constitution (and by extension affects the core function of the U.S. constitution). the writers and agents/actors for prop 8 ratification definitely caught me sleeping on the job. time to wake up and act creatively to address this challenge! join us to act skillfully to restore equality for all! :D"
okay, so here's the opinion i hold on the 2 legal loopholes that prop 8 will have to withstand in order to not be struck down in The Supreme Court of The United States:
1. Separation of Church and State - Since marriage itself is a sacred bond between individuals, it is carried out in/under the auspices and authority of a church or similar spiritual belief system. For the state to intervene in a sacred rite such as marriage, is a violation of the separation of church and state.
2. All (people) are created equal - This legal proposition should never have arisen in this case to begin with, because separation of church and state should have been stipulated and upheld before any marriages in the United States had ever taken place (all the way back to the day the U.S. Constitution was ratified). That said, I must proceed to consider the current legally illogical outcomes which are now in play:
While I am glad that 18,000 couples' marriages were maintained, how are they more equal than others who are currently seeking the same? i don't buy the grandfathering/protected argument put up by the court. these protections do not erase the legal absurdity of some groups within the population being more equal than others. when a legal absurdity such as this comes up in a court of American law, the judge(s) typically dismiss the case prima facie (on it's face), because absurdities do not work in the case law system (system of legal precedent). So, the fact that some people cannot legally be more equal than others demonstrates that the current ruling fails the legal absurdity test. This means that this part of the ruling causes the reasoning behind the primary case ruling to be legally suspect. This means that it's time for a crack legal team led by an experienced civil rights/corporate law litigation expert to begin to chew this ruling to shreds on appeal.
Hint to crack legal team seeking appeal: If you stipulate to property rights under the 14th Amendment of The U.S. Constitution (and other statutes, and etc.), this points to what the actual back bone of why the U.S. Constitution came into being: to protect our property vis-a-vis our wealth from the king, and by extension any one else. The U.S. Constitution is not a civil rights protection so much as it is a property protection. That's why you need someone not only versed in civil rights law, but also corporate law to win this appeal. On a side note, this is why corporate law has been able to subvert rights of individuals, because corporate law largely functions on the true back bone of the U.S. Constitution: property. The Bill of Rights (1st 10 Amendments), were actually written to sooth the classes just below the elite classes to accept the document as something that had humanitarian qualities to it. Well, they fooled a lot of us, and the corporations have largely been laughing all the way to the bank ever since. That being said, it is stipulating to property rights that wins civil rights cases in The U.S. Supreme Court.
"Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights. Ratified 7/9/1868.
1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
The 4th Amendment also points to the back bone of The U.S. Constitution:
"Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Although this Amendment is primarily to ensure that warrants are correctly formed, submitted, properly approved and signed by a judge, and finally properly served to the suspect/probable defendant; it primarily came into being because our forefathers were concerned about retaining property, i.e. wealth against the king or other potential adversary. It again points to the true back bone of The U.S. Constitution: retention of wealth through property rights.
So, there's my long winded hint to the crack legal team for a win in The U.S. Supreme Court in this case. Mix it up with the 4th and 14th Amendments, other pertinent case law, statutes, points, and authorities all pointing to a violation of property rights, like a gay married couple wasn't issued credit and/or a loan for a house and/or a car, for example, and you've got a win. To try to attack the current ruling based on the merits would be absurd because the ruling itself is actually a legal absurdity. The only reason it currently stands is because any judge can rule however they want in their court (and they usually make up some quasi-legal story as to why they ruled the way they did, which could be total B.S.), and they have the final say until a higher judge says different.
Another aside: Unfortunately, the aforegoing is why homeless people's rights are in a back log right now. No property, no rights. And at around 10% of the population being gay, a similar conundrum results for the gay population, by extension. 90% of property/wealth holders are holding sway over legal rights in this society. While not all of the 90% has to assert it's power, a simple majority will do. One of the failings of our "democratic" process. The richest 10% holding 85% of the wealth in this world definitely aren't mobilizing to secure equal rights for all, that seems apparent. As Mayer Anselm Rothschild (of the very powerful Rothschilds banking family) said: "Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes it's laws."
One of the realities I've looked at is that we're still based out of a caste or class system when it comes to rights in this country. It's not just a part of law and economy, it's in the current predominant psyche of the western world. I'll admit it for myself. For example, at the psychological level, when a homeless person approaches me for money, a wall goes up inside of me. I'm thinking: "I'm different from you, I have a job and/or a business. You don't." Even without extending this example further, and even if I give to that homeless person in money and/or my time and attention, I've already differentiated us both instead of seeing us as one and the same. Some days are different, and I don't put up that wall. I do truly see that we are all God, that we are all equal. Honestly though, I want to see the: "we are all God" reaction happen inside of myself every time, not just some of the time. The point is, the current state of The Supreme Law of The Land (U.S. Constitution), isn't helping. It actually still locks us into a class system whereby some people are more equal than others.
We can win and overturn prop 8, but there are some glaring faults for human rights built into the current legal system stemming from failings within the back bone of The U.S. Constitution. Elitists had a lot to say in it's creation.
Finally, in the big legal picture, it's high time we, the American people move towards creating the 28th Amendment to begin to transform The U.S. Constitution to give it the truly humane back bone of true equal rights for all, regardless of how much or how little property we own. Further, that a new Constitution be written to address the new challenges that have arisen in the past 230+ years to help the American people shift the current paradigm into something more workable and positive for these modern times.
In tandem with transforming our law in this way, we'll have to move away from our current debtor banking system to a value banking system. Currently, we generate the greater portion of our money within the closed banking system by signings for debt (loans and credit). The banks merely write down the amount of the loan into the borrower's account without putting actual money into the account (this happens via a bank charter in connection with The Federal Reserve). Then, the U.S. banks actually get to write down on their books about 10 times the amount of every loan/credit card taken by a citizen (again, by charter with The Federal Reserve, a private central bank that is loosely associated with The Federal Government). So, banks get credit as they sign up more people for debt. We need to set things up so that when a borrowing activity of a citizen or group of citizens is doing something that provides value to society like building a school, hospital, bridge, non-profit, etc. that the bank then gets to write down the "bonus" on their books. As a result, the citizen adding value to society is not charged interest on the capital, because what they are creating is adding value to society. No taxes should be collected off of the citizen's (s') value adding activity either. However, if someone takes out a loan to buy an SUV for example, the bank doesn't get the "bonus", and the citizen buying the SUV has to pay interest on the loan because their SUV is contributing to unreasonable environmental and roads damage. Also, carbon credits will have to be bought to offset the air pollution of the SUV, so part of their interest payments go towards that. No surprise, if you follow my reasoning, the SUV owner gets taxed as well. The basic idea is: "Tax and charge interest on things that are damaging to our society and our Earth, don't charge interest and don't tax that which improves our society and helps to regenerate The Earth."
This video taught me a lot about the predominant way money is added or created within our economy (the first 15 sec. of the video after you click on the play button is black screen with no sound. sometimes there is a delay for it to load before that. i had to move the progress bar pointer after i clicked the play button to get the video to start. this video is worth these small hassles, so check it out ):
My apologies for going on a tangent by talking about economics, but it is property/wealth related, and that has to do with the back bone functioning of our U.S. Constitution.
fluxlife technorati tag(s): prop 8 - money as debt - fluxlife
Manifest Your Intentions Faster
my distilled version from Yogi times magazine jan/feb 2008, pg's 19-23, article: "manifest your intentions" by doug miller "create new habits and your habits create a new you" (4 steps/strategies):
1. start microscopically small - "You want to start with a resolution so microscopically small that you will guarantee yourself success."
2. create a good constraint - 'People hate making decisions so much so, that they will take action on automatic thoughts, and only later use their deliberate rational thinking.' With good constraints grounded in time of day, the day of the week, and duration or quality we can reduce our decision making in the forming of a new habit (e.g. We can decide ahead of time to only eat desserts on the weekend. This reduces decision questions to: "What day is it?", when you want to eat dessert).
3. focus on the behavior, not the result - This is a similar maxim I use in my Zen practice: "Focus on the action, not the result." It works great in my tennis warm-ups for example. I'm focussing on perfecting my technique, making it better every time I'm aware there's an opportunity to do so. So, I do this exercise instead of worrying whether the ball goes in, out, or into the net. By focussing on my action based on proper tennis fundamentals, the ball tends to go in at least 97% of the time because this is what happens when you focus on building and continually improving your technique vs. focussing on the result of such activity.
4. rely on your environment - Will power is conditional and not constant. It is on when you turn it on, and off the rest of the time. "If you want to achieve and sustain results, the answer is in your environment." ... "The idea is to create an environment that inspires and holds you accountable for the intentions you set. ...by crafting one where you no longer have to spend any time actually thinking about your intention, you'll be better poised to make a good decision for yourself, making you more likely to succeed." 2 important areas to craft your environment for success: area 1. relationships - surround yourself with people who already have the "thing" or intention you're committing to. The best athletes hang out with the best athletes to be at the top of their game mentally, physically, and spiritually on and off the court.
area 2. your physical environment - e.g. - If you want to eat less, use smaller plates. Again this reduces your decision making. Eventually, as you adapt to the new plate size and are no longer thinking about it, you're dieting without dieting, so to speak.
fluxlife technorati tag(s): how to manifest - fluxlife
Trinity: "No one has ever done anything like this."
Neo: "That's why it's going to work."
Just a thought I had regarding the development and implementation of my new community business, sfenthusiast.
fluxlife technorati tag(s): The Matrix - fluxlife - sfenthusiast.com
I Know Kung Fu (Web Design) - Update: "The Red Pill"
SCRIPT:
Construct
Morpheus: This is a sparring program, similar to the programmed reality of the Matrix. It has the same basic rules, rules like gravity. What you must learn is that these rules are no different than the rules of a computer system. Some of them can be bent. Others can be broken. Understand? Then hit me if you can.... Good. Adaptation, improvisation. But your weakness is not your technique.
Nebuchadnezzar
Mouse: Morpheus is fighting Neo.
Construct
Morpheus: How did I beat you?
Neo: You're too fast.
Morpheus: Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place? You think that's air you're breathing now?... Again.
Nebuchadnezzar
Mouse: Jesus Christ, he's fast. Take a look at his neural-kinetics, they're way above normal.
Construct
Morpheus: What are you waiting for? You're faster than this. Don't think you are, know you are.... Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me.
Nebuchadnezzar
Mouse: I don't believe it.
Construct
Neo: I know what you're trying to do.
Morpheus: I'm trying to free your mind, Neo, but I can only show you the door, you're the one that has to walk through it.
-VIDEO ENDS-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
here's and excerpt from my first group email to my core team at sfenthusiast that relates to this video:
V. Gary Weisler (sfe CONSULTANT)
1. ADJUNCT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR FOR LIANA AND STEVE, AS WELL AS ADJUNCT BASIC WEB DESIGN CONSULTANT FOR sfe. HE FINISHED PROGRAMMING CODE DIRECTLY INTO MY BRAIN LATE LAST NIGHT SUCH THAT I AM NOW FULLY CAPABLE OF UTILIZING HTML/CSS AND FTP UPLOAD PROTOCOLS TO HELP IN GETTING OUR SITE UP! IT'S KINDA LIKE THE WAY NEO LEARNED KUNG-FU BY GETTING HIS BRAIN PROGRAMMED IN THE MATRIX. PRETTY FECKING AMAZING! AT THE END OF THE LATE NIGHT SESSION, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF: "I KNOW WEB DESIGN." AND LIANA AND GARY CAN PLAY MORPHEUS IN OUR sfe SCENARIO AND SAY TO ME: "SHOW ME." AND THEN, THE BATTLE BEGINS. WE WILL HAVE OUR WEBSITE. YES!
LINK TO: "I KNOW KUNG-FU" HERE . JUST REPLACE: "I KNOW KUNG FU." WITH ME SAYING: "I KNOW WEB DESIGN." REPLACE NEO, (KEANU REEVES) WITH ME, AND REPLACE MORPHEUS, (LAURENCE FISHBURNE) WITH THE COMBINED PERSONA OF LIANA AND GARY (LITTLE BIT OF CORY AND KRISTIN TOO). YOU'LL GET A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT HAPPENED TO ME LAST NIGHT AS YOU WATCH THE VIDEO. LOL!
ALMOST DONE WITH THIS GROUP EMAIL... WHEW!
the email was pretty long, and there was a good chunk to read after the "WHEW!" (my poor core development team, i feel for them having to read it all. the fact that it was in all caps (giant email taboo) is strange, but i copied it from a weird file where i couldn't read what i was writing without it being in all caps).
but, one of the most important things in it for me was this excerpt and how it harkened me back to this MATRIX scene and how similar it seems to what happened last night. i haven't even touched web design even though i already know HTML and enough CSS to get started. but then, Gary looked at me and said: "What's blocking you." We then made me believe that i can: "Don't think you are (a web designer), know you are."
"like i told dw in the comments below, sometimes i wish i would'a taken the blue pill. even through the initial hardships of living in truth, there's no turning back now. my rebirth was painful, but it always is. time to keep forging forward in my truth and meeting all others on the same level. destination: "PARADISE IN THE HERE AND NOW."
fluxlife technorati tag(s): "I Know Kung Fu." - web design - fluxlife -
" ACT BEFORE YOU REACT " - Steve Morozumi
one more quote: "IT'S THE BACK-AND-FORTH THAT KILLS YA' (IN YOUR WORK DAY)." that's from an old school past boss of mine, David Letourneau.
okay, one more: "IN STARTING YOUR OWN BUSSINESS, YOU NEED TO CLOCK IN AND OUT LIKE AN EMPLOYEE. SO, YOU'RE BEING YOUR OWN BEST EMPLOYEE AND THE BEST BOSS OF THAT EMPLOYEE AT THE SAME TIME. MASTER THIS, AND YOU WILL COMPLETE ALL YOUR GOALS FOR YOUR BUSINESS."
okay, one more: "TRUE MENTAL FOCUS REQUIRES PHYSICAL FOCUS. THIS PHYSICAL FOCUS I SPEAK OF IS SKILLFULLY DIRECTED ACTION IN CONCERT WITH THE MENTAL FOCUS OF YOUR BUSINESS, OR WHATEVER LIFE PASSION YOU ARE WORKING ON." -Steve Morozumi
okay, one more: "TRY SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR THE DAY SO THAT YOU ARE ALWAYS MOVING IN ONE DIRECTION, AND THAT DIRECTION IS ALWAYS FORWARD, NEVER BACK. IT'S NOT ALWAYS PERFECT AS I'M TRYING IT TODAY, BUT I HAVE SEEN MY EFFICIENCY INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY OVER ANY OTHER DAY OF WORK AND ACTION I HAVE YET TAKEN." -Steve Morozumi (This is a corollary and exercise to do from Dave Letourneau's quote)
last one: "THINK BIG WHILE STARTING SMALL. IF YOU STAY SMALL DURING YOUR SCHEDULED DAYS OF WORK ON YOUR BUSINESS AND/OR PASSION WHILE ALIGNING EVERY SMALL ACTION WITH YOUR BIG PICTURE CONSISTENTLY OVER TIME, YOUR VISION WILL BUILD ITSELF SO BIG, IT WILL LAST FOR GENERATIONS, AND BEYOND!" "LET'S DO THIS! (whatever dream it is that you want to accomplish)"
have a great one! :D
fluxlife technorati tag(s): fluxlife
fluxlife funky zen download to the brain
the fastest way humans learn is by imitation (mirror neurons). the most effective way to teach is by being a role model. if i have something to teach, i find that being the thing i wish to teach is much more comprehensible on the deeper levels. this is where the teaching will actually take hold within the other(s). and since we learn fastest by imitation, being a role model for the thing i desire to teach is the fastest and most effective way to teach. words can help for checking course and directing, but that's it. the actual transmission of a teaching is most fully and effectively done by being a role model of that which you wish to teach. words tend to fold back upon themselves over time and create seeming contradictions at various junctures. that is why the buddha taught primarily by example. that is why zen is not the words, it is the people doing zen. the primary teachers of course, are the masters or roshis, like Roshi (Shunryu) Suzuki, who built the San Francisco Zen Center, and not so much the words he spoke, or wrote. There is an exception though. many well practiced zen practitioners are able to receive transmissions through the masters through their written words. see, now my words are folding back upon themselves, and so i stop here on this.
by the way, we are all buddhas (either in training, or in realization of our own buddha nature, which all human beings share). as such, we are all constantly exchanging teacher and student roles without stopping, without end. sometimes we see this, sometimes we do not, but it is always happening.
role playing is good for teaching how to change behavior (or to switch roles in your relationship - being playful in general is good - have fun) and/or how to approach interviews and giving business proposals.
true wealth is not just about money. true wealth is when you are committed to your passion every day that you schedule your passion to happen. every body needs to schedule regular off days, even from their passions, in order to keep them alive.
what i am really trying to do in business is create a life where i am on my own schedule living my passions every day. ...and then i looked at my day and realized i am currently doing that any way. money is just one reflection of the absolute wealth we all hold: inner wealth brought out in the consistent actions upon our passionate commitments. the dollars might not be there yet, but when we have lived this way for a long enough period of time, we will definitely need some offshore accounts to hold all the dollars that will crush us in giant heaps should we not have a direction for them to go besides directly at us. sounds kinda karazay, and kinda real to me. LOL! let's see how this adventure plays out. tell ya' more later. thanks for stopping by! c ya's soon!
have a day of ultimate awesomeness! :D
i leave you with this quote from one of our zen masters, Robert Aitken (starts off with a poem of sorts, followed by the roshi's (master's) commentary:
"At our moonviewing party
there is no one
with a beautiful face."
"I commented on quoting this poem elsewhere:
"What homely bastards we are, sitting here in the moonlight!" This kind of humorous, deprecatory self-enjoyment is the true basis for responsibility, the ability to respond. When you make a mistake, do you punish yourself or can you shake your head with a smile and learn something in the process? If you curse yourself, you are postponing your practice. If you simply tick off the error and resolve to do better next time, then you are ready to practice (to practice is to put into action a system of faith on a consistent basis: zen, yoga, religion, your own personal belief system, etc.)." - Robert Aitken, Taking The Path of Zen, Pg. 9
fluxlife technorati tag(s): zen - fluxlife
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