Was the decision to downgrade the US economy from a triple A rating the catalyst or is it the Eurozone’s debt crisis and fears of another recession that caused the markets to panic?
Are global economies running out of options to rescue their economies and what is next for stocks, the dollar and the global economy?
Claude Monet : Seacoast at Saint-Adresse, Sunset (1864)
9
Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.
I love this verse from the Tao Te Ching for it’s practical and direct advise on what is really important in terms of living an authentic life. These words of perennial wisdom are all about balance. Greed and aggression are a waste of time, because all striving and struggling to satisfy the insatiable egoic wanting only results in illusionary and fleeting moments of upswing, before the pendulum moves to the other direction. Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” This does not mean to renounce all worldly ties and become a renunciate, or even living in poverty – but it does mean a deep enquiry about one’s own attitude regarding power and the fear of survival. Money matters are deeply engrained in our system and indeed, before we have not met deepest fear, something in us will continue to grasp. And related to this is the approval of others – before one can really find humbleness, one has to face one’s own fear of humiliation.
So it is important to check one’s intention. What drives me to do what I do ? Is it my true interest and purpose, or is it my expectation and image about myself ? Those are the hard questions…
But in the end it is very simple. Do what you do. Then let go of it. Give it the outcome it requires.
This is just brilliant…SuperHeavy
By Paul Krugman
Has market turmoil left you feeling afraid? Well, it should. Clearly, the economic crisis that began in 2008 is by no means over.
But there’s another emotion you should feel: anger. For what we’re seeing now is what happens when influential people exploit a crisis rather than try to solve it.
For more than a year and a half — ever since President Obama chose to make deficits, not jobs, the central focus of the 2010 State of the Union address — we’ve had a public conversation that has been dominated by budget concerns, while almost ignoring unemployment. The supposedly urgent need to reduce deficits has so dominated the discourse that on Monday, in the midst of a market panic, Mr. Obama devoted most of his remarks to the deficit rather than to the clear and present danger of renewed recession.
I am not so much into the prophecy thing, but something IS going on energetically. The following interview is giving some interesting information and insight in terms of the Mayan calendar and the rising unity consciousness, that coincide with many observations we have been able to make over the past few months. Interestingly enough, the date of the beginning of the ninth wave coincided with the pull to start with “The world we live in Now”.
Some reading: The Third day of the Ninth Wave by Dr. Calleman
The extraordinary story of how a large rural area of Ethiopia is taking itself out of poverty.
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Carolyn Myss on the 3 events over the past few days that changed America and the way it saw itself. A massive disillusion symbolized in what is happening on the outside and an explanation of the sense of devastation and anger that can be felt collectively. Not only in America – but also in all other parts of the world. The riots in England are as much an expression of that sense, as is the tumbling stock market.
We are indeed a product of the environmental forces and influences.
By Laurie Penny
I’m huddled in the front room with some shell-shocked friends, watching my city burn. The BBC is interchanging footage of blazing cars and running street battles in Hackney, of police horses lining up in Lewisham, of roiling infernos that were once shops and houses in Croydon and in Peckham. Last night, Enfield, Walthamstow, Brixton and Wood Green were looted; there have been hundreds of arrests and dozens of serious injuries, and it will be a miracle if nobody dies tonight.
This is the third consecutive night of rioting in London, and the disorder has now spread to Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham. Politicians and police officers who only hours ago were making stony-faced statements about criminality are now simply begging the young people of Britain’s inner cities to go home.
A fascinating interview with Carolyn Myss about the unprecedented forces of change and the end of the age of reason.
This is an idea that can be observed in many European cities, towns and communities:
Shared space is an urban design concept aimed at integrated use of public spaces. It encourages traffic engineers, urban planners and experts from other fields to consult with users of public space when planning and designing streets and squares in both built and non-built environments. The concept shares some characteristics with Living streets.
Shared space removes the traditional segregation of motor vehicles, pedestrians and other road users. Conventional road priority management systems and devices such as kerbs, lines, signs and signals are replaced with an integrated, people-oriented understanding of public space, such that walking, cycling, shopping and driving cars become integrated activities.
The new traffic model’s advocates believe the only way out of this vicious circle is to give drivers more liberty and encourage them to take responsibility for themselves. They demand streets like those during the Middle Ages, when horse-drawn chariots, handcarts and people scurried about in a completely unregulated fashion. The new model’s proponents envision today’s drivers and pedestrians blending into a colorful and peaceful traffic stream.
It may sound like chaos, but it’s only the lesson drawn from one of the insights of traffic psychology: Drivers will force the accelerator down ruthlessly only in situations where everything has been fully regulated. Where the situation is unclear, they’re forced to drive more carefully and cautiously.
Strange as it may seem, the number of accidents has declined dramatically.
The Living Room 