The Wizard Of Oz

The whole story is a satire of the corruption in the businesses and corporations of America in the late 1800's. The Scarecrow represents the western farmers with no brains, the tin man represents the eastern industrial workers who worked in the factories with no heart, and the lions represent the congressmen with no courage to stand up against the corporations. The yellow brick road represents the gold standard, and the munchkins are the average citizen.

They used to let this scene be embedded but now no longer which is interesting as I have a hunch that a great unveiling is imminent. I cut and paste the above comment as it's better than anything I could have written.

Don't Give Up On The Humans

If it wasn't for Doug Rushkoff I wouldn't have heard a podcast where Terrence McKenna talked about Marshall McCluhan. That odyssey hasn't abated since. I think he's one of the most important thinkers alive and here he articulates once again the case for the importance of emancipating people by harnessing their ability to create tools instead of just use tools. In other words program or be programmed. Here he is at Google with another important talk. It's about choice and alternatives. About unleashing potential.

You May Need To Sit Down

So It Wasn't A Balloon?

Osho - Emotions Blind Us

Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?

Update: Marina Abramovic has inspired Lady Gaga to explore performance art.

Advice

We've seen how morally bankrupt the British political system is on all sides. Blair sells the Libyans arms that are then used against their own people and then later Cameron bombs them from the air to keep a tight reign on the oil so you can nip down to the corner shop and pick up your newspaper which you can read while checking to see what channel the war is on.

It's highly unlikely I will die in the UK so this isn't about my well being. It is about advice to my British friends. Tariq Ali is the nearest thing the Brits have to a natural born leader with the wisdom and track record to do the right thing. 

Should the diaphanous mirage of left and right politics evaporate to reveal a singular entity pulling both left and right levers I put it to you my British friends that you have no better  strategy than to ally yourself closely with the repressed peoples of Pakistan. Should that ever make sense there could be no better guide than Tariq Ali who I suspect can navigate the delicate and precarious framework of doing the right thing without antagonising India. Both countries immigrants are crucial to keeping the the United Kingdom out of war. 

Though of course you might want to watch Tariq's latest talk in Australia and draw your own conclusion.