It's All Personal
The 700 Billion Dollar Blank Check
http://www.truthout.org/102908A
John Dunbar, The Associated Press: "First, the $700 billion rescue for the economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets. Then it was about using $250 billion of it to buy stakes in banks. The idea was that banks would use the money to start making loans again. But reports surfaced that bankers might instead use the money to buy other banks, pay dividends, give employees a raise and executives a bonus, or just sit on it."
Banks to Continue Paying Dividends
http://www.truthout.org/103008B
Binyamin Appelbaum, The Washington Post: "U.S. banks getting more than $163 billion from the Treasury Department for new lending are on pace to pay more than half of that sum to their shareholders, with government permission, over the next three years.... Critics, including economists and members of Congress, question why banks should get government money if they already have enough money to pay dividends - or conversely, why banks that need government money are still spending so much on dividends."
Yves Petignat | Politics' Return
http://www.truthout.org/103008F
Yves Petignat in Geneva's Le Temps describes the "draconian" conditions Germany's government has established for bank bailouts and the lesson it teaches Germany's executives, begging the question why such measures are not employed in the US.
Some Black Voters Fear Votes Will Not Be Counted
http://www.truthout.org/102908D
Susan Saulny, The New York Times: "For weeks now, James Jones has been extra courteous in traffic and at the gas station because he has an Obama sticker on the back of his truck. 'Something like that might make a difference for Barack Obama,' Mr. Jones explained. 'I'm not taking a chance.'"
Jokes or Wisdoms?
With age comes wisdom.
A guy is 70 years old and loves to fish. He was sitting in his boat the other day when he heard a voice say, 'Pick me up. 'He looked around and couldn't see any one. He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say a gain,'Pick me up.'
He looked in the water and there, floating on the top, was a frog.
The man said, 'Are you talking to me?'
The frog said, 'Yes, I'm talking to you. Pick me up then, kiss me and I'll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen.
I'll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous because I will be your bride!'
The man looked at the frog for a short time, reached over, picked it up carefully, and placed it in his front breast pocket.
Then the frog said, 'What, are you nuts? Didn't you hear what I said? I said kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride.'
He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said,
'Nah, at my age I'd rather have a talking frog.'
The Purpose of Meditation
The purpose of medit ation is not to concentrate on the breat h witho ut interruption, forev er. That by itsel f would be a usele ss goal. The purpose of medit ation is not to achieve a perfe ctly still and serene mind. Although a lovely state , it doesn't lead to liberation by itsel f. The purpose of meditation is to achieve uninterrupted mindfulness. Mindfulness, and only mindfulness, produces Enlightenment.
Distractions come in all sizes , shapes, and flavors. Buddhist philosophy has organized them into categories . One of them is the category of hindrances . They are called hindrances because they block your development of both components of meditation , mindfulness and concentration. A bit of caution on this term: The word "hindrances" carries a negative connotation and indeed these are states of mind we want to eradicate. . . That does not mean, however, that they are to be repressed, avoided or condemned.
Let's use greed as an example. We wish to avoid prolonging any state of greed that arises, because a continuation of that state leads to bondage and sorrow. That does not mean we try to toss the thought out of the mind when it appears. We simply refuse to encourage it to stay. We let it come, and we let it go.
-- Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English
