Rethos.com - inscapes's News Feed

Don't Patronize Me: The Economy 101

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:55:20 -0400

I have now seen at least a dozen television commercials and psuedo-short-documentaries and news blurbs about "how we got into this financial mess" and "what exactly is a credit crunch?" I find it to be rude, disdainful, patronizing and insulting that somehow, we (the American public) are deemed too ignorant to understand what has brought us, collectively, to the edge of financial ruin. Some of these pieces of "information" are delivered in cartoon format, no less, which gives me the eery feeling of being four years old and watching School House Rock, learning how a Bill becom...

I Am NOT My Credit Score: I Am So Much More

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:38:05 -0400

This past month or so I have been busy with a lot of financial investigations. I am looking at beginning to pay off my student loans, perhaps moving to a new apartment, and eventually having to trade in my old automobile. As anyone who has applied for loans or leases has discovered, it matters little who you actually are when the decisions are made about offering you an apartment, an auto loan, an interest rate... What matters most in the eyes of the lending institution (my what a telling word: "institution") is a small three-digit number attached to your Social Securit...

James Burke Institute: The Knowledge Web

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:01:25 -0400

Until I post my own article for this deadline, I thought that I would upload an important introduction to James Burke's video about The James Burke Institute's Knowledge Web. Please go to the official website to find out more information!

http://k-web.org/public_html/home.htm

Teachings of the Elder Brothers: Spirit Walking in the World

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 13:09:55 -0400

In the beginning there was nothing. There was only darkness. There was the Mother and She was the darkness. The Mother bled and the oceans were born; She knew Her own Body and felt Her own Pulse, sensed the richness of Life emanating from Her every Cell.Oil Is In Everything

*Sung to the tune of “Money Changes Everything” by Cyndi Lauper*

They warned us then, that if we did not stop plundering the Body of the Mother for her blood and vital fluids (gold, oil); if we did not stop breaking up her bones for fuel (coal); if we did not stop ripping away ...

Starwalkers

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:14:31 -0400

A video honoring the profound spiritual wisdom of the Australian Aborigines. For many generations the Aborigines have considered collectively leaving the planet, as they have watched the greed and ignorance of the modern mind wreak havoc upon the natural world, and the souls of humans become deadened. Their ancentral lands have been mined for oil, gold and uranium, their children robbed of their rich heritage, culture, language, and spiritual traditions. Still the people have survived. As members of the Elder Brothers, those ancient races that are keepers of our spiritual and natur...

For The Native Americans

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:05:32 -0400

This video is a tribute to those who are descended from the First Cultures of the Americas. First in a series created for the contemplation of the dignity and pride of our Native peoples.

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Many long centuries of injustices had almost succeeded in erasing them from the Earth, but the descendants of the Original Tribes remain and they are awakening their long memories.

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This is dedicated to my great-great-great-great Grandmother Hannah, of the Narranganssett...

Number 1 Killer

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:39:06 -0400

It's not heart disease, pre-eclampsia, obesity, diabetes, stroke, or cancer. The number one killer of pregnant women is murder by their husbands, boyfriends or lovers. No more violence against women! No more allowing this evil to perpetuate in our society! We need to overhaul the education we give our boys who will one day be in relationship with women. We need to teach emotional equilibrium, personal responsibility, the value of universal human rights, women's psychology; we need to teach just how wrong is the impulse behind the history of enforced female subservience in our cultur...

ipod Nation

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:56:03 -0400

I was watching some people on the bus the other day and noticed that nobody was talking to anyone else. This is the same scene that I see every day while taking public transportation, but I was more observant that day about my fellow passengers, having left the book that I had intended to read at home on the kitchen table. More than half of the passengers had some personal data device to occupy their attention. Two people had cell phones, one had a gaming device, and twelve people were enveloped in the bubble of sound created by their ipods.&nbs...

We Want To Know What Love Is

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:27:32 -0400

Every song you hear is poignant - Bliss blends with disappointment - When the one you love is blind to your true beauty - Beginnings become endings - Wrapped up in misunderstandings - When the one you love is bound by fear, not reason - When will we see the light of reality - When we look across the distance at eachother - Why do we forget the pain of our regret - As we turn away from the vision of forever - Every song I hear is poignant - Bliss blending with disappointment - For I have been blind to your true beauty - Let's not end this new beginning - Let'...

Mommas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up To Be Bimbos

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:54:54 -0500

"Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be bimbos

Don't let 'em pump up their breasts with silicone

Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and CEOs

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be bimbos

'Cause they'll wait for a man to prove they're not alone

Even with someone they love...

Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be bimbos

Guide them away from those who will treat them like dirt

...

DIGNITY 2008

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:04:21 -0500

Let us reflect on the political process for a moment, and upon the politicians who have been - for better or worse - our primary role models: Are we cringing yet? The bombastic, arrogant, self-serving, impatient and angry manners that we have had modeled for us these past seven-plus years have damaged the democratic process of our nation and has eroded our own goodwill towards each other. Have we had enough? I certainly hope so. I have witnessed an increase of rudeness, a lack of compassion, selfishness, greed, road rage, and sense of entitlement wash over our society during this past ad...

Who Will Be The Power Behind The "Throne"?

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:00:54 -0500

Attention, Voters in 2008!!

When you step up to the ballot box this year, you will not just be voting for the Presidential ticket… the man or woman who shall be the next President of the United States for four years and the man or woman who will be the Vice-President for the next four years…

You are voting for every man and woman whom the President shall appoint to his/her Cabinet, the White House Staff, the Supreme Court, and the Ambassadors to whom shall fall the responsibility of representing us to the rest of the World.

We do not make this a ...

Spiralling Outta Control

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:41:04 -0500

War. Debt. Personal Relations in turmoil. Lack of human contact. Polluted and congested political process. Kids killing and dying. Corporations running us into the graves with our consumer diseases. Education failing. ok…. I hear you… We know its a mess. I posted this piece not to harp on how bad everything is… but to illustrate – quite literally – how we all feel when we look at just what a mess we are in! And… to encourage us to think, feel, create, communicate, and take action to devise the solution! We need not just feel the vertigo of ...

Our Mother Is Crying...

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:26:06 -0500

Nature is Revolting

Weather, Molting

People, Withering

Spirit, Mattering

One in our urgency, dependency, humanity

Seperate in our ideaology, mythology, economy, reality

Now is the moment

For decision, revision, ascension

For relinquishing doubt and apathy

Nurturing our empathy

and making real the changes that will stop our Mothers’ tears….

Nature, Revered!

The Hope For Transformation:2008

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:55:47 -0500

2007 held up to the light many of our failings as a global society. Try as we might, we cannot hide these flaws in the shadows. Our greed, corruption, denial, laziness, lack of compassion and selfishness – collectively – manifest this past year as so many crises. This is a “downer”, to be sure, to face our worst traits and least effective motives. But wait… The New Year Image: “The Hope For Transformation: 2008”, is about what we need to face in ourselves so as to allow Hope to fly and change to be realized. The more we try to deny and hide f...

Amma Retreat: Spiritual Life and Parenthood

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 11:31:23 -0500

I am currently in Michigan, taking part in the retreat with Amma and receiving parcels of challenging bliss from Her and other devotees. Aluna is travelling with me, and being four years old, has a hard time sitting still and being somewhat less than carried away with the excitement and Love she feels all around and inside of her. The first night of the retreat, there were a thousand people in the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency. We were struggling a little to find a way to sit and hear Amma without disturbing others. There are other children at the retreat, but none with quite so much ...

If They Were One of Us... No true representative government here!

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 18:45:13 -0500

The kicker to this piece being:

If you are without a permanent address, you do not GET to vote.

Even if you work, pay taxes, send your kids to school, pray, meditate, support the local economy, keep your neighborhood clean (even if that means picking up bottles for the deposit!!), are kind to others, polite, clean, and well-mannered… no home, no vote!

So in light of THAT, what DO the elections and the candidates truly signify?

Are the candidates YOUR servants? Or d...

Trickster energy and politics

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:14:05 -0500

The trickster energy is high right now, as we prepare for the election year. Be cautious, we must, and on guard against those who would exploit our weariness and our need for a change. We must test the spirit of all who would tell us what we most want to hear! Beware the too-quick smile, the all-too-easy compromise, the too-good-to-be-true promises and visions.

Most of all, beware the pseudo-humanitarian.

This creature plays a seductive tune… and seems so very ready to do whatever the humblest people need them to do… until they are in power and

Descent

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:42:25 -0400

“Descent”

artwork

Li Li c. 2007

MAAT: Empowering Truth

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:10:17 -0400

Manifesting

empowering Truth

manifesting what cannot be manufactured

Being in the light of what cannot be consumed

The wish of the disenfranchised

the hope of the small and meek

Give them the Voice

to yell their Truth From the Rooftops of the World

Be this Archetype Be this Hero

Manifest and empower the Truth of our Shared

Humanity.

artwork Li Li c. 2007

Compassion

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:12:10 -0400

Reaching out to others is an act of self-preservation. When we act on behalf of those who need our compassion and assistance, we heal ourselves as well.

“compassion” Li Li c. 2007

Modern Karma Yoga

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:18:18 -0400

Modern Karma Yoga

Li Li c. 2007

Launch Graphic: Fair Trade

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:59:15 -0400

This is a launch test and is my first piece of graphic journalism on and for rethos. Feedback greatly appreciated! Li Li

“What Will Save Us” c. Li Li 2007

Do No Harm

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:00:10 -0400

In this world of great violence, in our modern era of insulated selfishness, we are called upon to re-create an approach towards life and living that sets our personal and communal standards higher than those we generally experience. The basic buddhist tenant of harmlessness is so much more easilly said then done – however – when we consciously make our daily intent to be that, it does eventually become easier, more integrated. Moving the concept out of the conceptual… making the idea more than the ideal, takes dogged determination and… a good sense of humour! W...

Urban Primitives

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 11:24:42 -0400

The need to realize a new way of being. Isn’t that what rethos.com is all about? Changing our shared reality is a hard, arduous task, but one that is necessary for our shared survival. I have been reading a lot of John Zerzan these past few years and truly admire his visions of the “urban primitive” society that is not quite a movement yet. Here’s my take on this phenomenon and how it would look like if someone like me took on the choice to become that.

I have wanted to live in a yurt forever. I think I must have been a mongolian in some past life. ...