Eclectic Writer

I’ve been thinking about death.

Not because death is imminent, or at least any more imminent than for all other humans who never know if they will be alive one micro-second from now.  And, I confess, I began thinking along these terms about 6 years ago when I turned fifty.  The thought of my demise since that time has tended to percolate upwards into my mind, slowing me down to reduce the risk that I might, through willful stupidity, kill myself in a moment of recklessness.

At that time, I even crossed over from passive agnostic Judaism to active agnosticism.  Perhaps if I were younger, I would have the courage tobe a full blown atheist.  Maybe, if I were older I would have the courage of faith.  But I have neither at this time.  I am content to accept non-existence as the inevitable result of death.  I see no need for a spiritual resurrection, and physical resurrection is ridiculous.  If there is a god, and there is life after death, I will concern my self with that realm of existence when the mind comes.  Then, I ran across a story on a piece of scientific research that has the potential to prove an existence of Consciousness apart from the biological computer I carry inside by bone box.

What Happens When We Die?
By M.J. STEPHEY
Tue Sep 23, 6:40 PM ET

A fellow at New York City’s Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Sam Parnia is one of the world’s leading experts on the scientific study of death. Last week Parnia and his colleagues at the Human Consciousness Project announced their first major undertaking: a 3-year exploration of the biology behind “out-of-body” experiences. The study, known as AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation), involves the collaboration of 25 major medical centers through Europe, Canada and the U.S. and will examine some 1,500 survivors of cardiac arrest. TIME spoke with Parnia about the project’s origins, its skeptics and the difference between the mind and the brain.

Before I read this story and interview, I thought that I had put this behind me. This story, however, touched something, I suppose a deep dream of survival beyond the flesh. A research study that will attempt to discover what Consciousness really is. Does it last beyond the point when the brain no longer responds. If so, what is the relationship be Consciousness and the physical body.

Reading th story led to “The Human Consciousness Project,” the group of scientist performing the study.  The Human Consciousness Project “is an international consortium of multidisciplinary scientists and physicians who have joined forces to research the nature of consciousness and its relationship with the brain, as well as the neuronal processes that mediate and correspond to different facets of consciousness.” These scientists have accepted that consciousness is not necessarily a emergent property of a wonderfully complex biological computer.  Their study has the potential to rock the human universe, to let us know if we can look forward to something other than decay.

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The list of stories captured from Yahoo on September 9, 2008 reveals what appears to be a conservative bias by Yahoo.  The story “Obama tries to steal Nebraska electoral vote from McCain” is as egregious a piece of bias as you can find.  The story links to “Omaha’s electoral vote draws Obama’s attention.”  The word steal does not appear in the story.  I can hear you asking, but what’s the difference. 

In my world, words mean things.  In this case, the word steal is highly prejudicial as well as being inaccurate.  Steal is defined as “to take without the owner’s consent.”  It is, by definition, an illegal act.  As I will show, Obama could not steal these electoral votes for two primary reasons.

(1) Obama can not steal the electoral votes because the November election has not happened yet.  Until that election occurs, nobody owns those electoral votes.  Yes, it is true that Republicans have tended to carry that state in the past.  But the fact remains Obama can not steal something that is as yet unowned and will not be available for stealing until the first Tuesday in November.

(2) If Obama should be able to draw enough votes in Omaha to manage to control 1 of the electoral votes, it would not be stealing.  Nebraska, as the story says, is one of two states that divide their electoral votes.  Should Obama manage to win in that district,  he gets the vote, nothing is stolen.

If theft has not happened, can not happen, and the word doesn’t even appear in the real story, what does Yahoo, or whoever writes their headlines, get from using a word that is prejudicial.  Most of the people who saw that headline will never click on it, but it will register.  Using words that carry a negative connotation help build a negative image of Obama and express a editorial bias.

The enduring myth repeated ad naseum in the main stream press is that we are a Capitalist society.  Of course, that’s a lie.  The bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, is proof that the US is not now and has not been a Capitalist nation since at least sixties. 

As reported in Bloomberg, Freddie, Fannie Failure Could Be World `Catastrophe’. That is big stuff, world catastrophe I mean. What Yu Yongding, former adviser to China’s central bank, really said was:

“If the U.S. government allows Fannie and Freddie to fail and international investors are not compensated adequately, the consequences will be catastrophic,” Yu said in e-mailed answers to questions yesterday. “If it is not the end of the world, it is the end of the current international financial system.”

But what about the idea that any financial system within a capitalist society must be allowed to react to market forces? Failure of a hot-dog stand on the corner or a major bank occurs within capitalism when they fail to compete. Propping up such institutions would be anti-capitalistic and violate the core principals of capitalism.  And, of course, we seem to have been given our marching orders by Communist China that have loaned us vast amounts of money so that we can fight our wars and buy their products.  But we, the man on the street, will benefit form this, right?

The beneficiaries are really the big central banks of the countries that have loaned the US vast amounts of money.  If Fannie and Freddie fail, the central banks fail. If those central banks fail, there goes the neighborhood.  Closer to home, if Fannie and Freddie fail, the stockholders in these 5 trillion dollar enterprises loose their investments.  The little guy, who these mortgage giants loaned money to who are loosing their homes aren’t affected.  Those homes will be sold at auction.  Those little people will be homeless.  But the new purchasers can got to Fannie and Freddie to get loans, this time right from the tax payers and the pockets books of Americans.  And if Fannie and Freddie fail anyway, we will be holding the bag.

No, we are not capitalists.  A system where the government and corporations collude is called Corporatism.  Corporatism is a fascist ideology, practiced in Italy before World War II.  We are a country with a government that bails out big corporations because they are too big to fail and leaves the average citizen to wallow in poverty. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that it would be easy on us to let Fannie Mae Freddie Mac fail.  Such a failure will bring incalculable suffering.  I am saying that we as a nation and individuals should be aware of what we are.