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“Information obesity” is the new disease in town. Delay at your own peril!

 
I don’t know about the rest of you but I am inundated with so much information on every subject that information clutter has become a way of life.  The problem is sorting out the information so you can determine what is relevant. 

I have spent a good deal of time sorting information on a particular subject only to find out that there was no relevant information to begin with.  When you distill something down to its essence there is supposed to be an essence there -- no longer so with our information glut. 

We are so inundated with irrelevant information that every dilettante can appear to be an expert.  Unfortunately due to our ignorance, these dilettantes have worked their way to the top of the food chain with their sound bites and innuendos. 

It all sounds good until that moment comes in the middle of the night when you realize you have been taken in by fools.  Unfortunately by the time this happens, they are usually in charge of something important and affecting our lives on a daily basis. 

It seems what we have here is a national disease. We need to begin research on this national epidemic now.  Unfortunately this means the people who would be researching this disease would be the same people who created the disease in the first place. 

So I recommend we forget the research and create the disease now, by ourselves.  I propose we declare “information obesity”  a national epidemic that threatens the foundations of our republic.  This is a call to action.  Delay at your own peril before it’s too late!

More as it develops……..

 

“Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from defeat.” Jean-Paul Sarte

 
It is hard to understand how little we seem to understand about the cost of victory.  At some point in our evolution as an American culture the idea of wining became the redeeming, human virtue. Winning at all costs became the mantra for what is defined now as “the American way.” 

On a personal level, like all seeming virtues, winning is a double-edged sword. Even though we may have won, we need to ask the cost. We need to ask, how many relationships suffered; how many promise were not kept? How many times are these actions justified because the rewards of victory will offset everything else?   

On a national level, we need look only at our recent history of past and current wars.  The enormous cost of lives and national treasure make justification of these conflicts very difficult.  In order to win, someone has to lose, and the losers are not always our assumed enemy.  

Too often the losers are the soldiers who die, and those they left behind. The cost of these wars drains our national treasure and this will continue to affect the lives of millions of people for years to come. 

And none of this takes into account the losses of our supposed enemies. We try to skate around these horrors with excuses and rationalizations, but in the end there are often too many losers no matter how we try to justify victory. 

How many of these victories are pyrrhic victories and little else?  Obviously, there will be times when winning is a matter of survival.  But shouldn’t we know before we start when survival is the issue? 

No claim is made here of having an answer, but at least we need to keep asking the question. 

Brother Franco

 

 Pat Miller

“Signs of the end of the World”- finally a theatre like experience for executions - and it’s about time!

 
Imagine a new architectural wonder – the Taj Mahl of execution chambers.  Today’s San Francisco Chronicle offered its readers a “first glimpse" of their $853,000 expansive new lethal injection center at San Quentin.

 

The new center features not one, but three, brightly lighted witness rooms promising a good seat for everyone in attendance.  The view opens to a roomy, open death chamber making it possible to view every angle of the death procedure.

 

With an almost reverential awareness the architects have provided as much comfort as possible for both witnesses and condemned. This inspired facility creates a somber, but tasteful process for killing someone.

 

The new “San Quentin” experience is bound to make each execution a memorable experience for everyone in attendance.  This is especially true for the person being executed.

 

 

"SIGNS OF THE END OF THE WORLD" IS A PIZZAONIAN GROUP OF SPELUNKERS CURRENTLY RESIDING IN THE UNITED STATES.

Signs of the end of the world -- talk show hosts leading political parties

 

What kind of political system do you have when talk show hosts are considered the voice and leaders of one of our two major political parties?  Can you imagine telling this to Thomas Jefferson and watching his reaction?  He may have decided to stay in France permanently.

 

How did we get ourselves into this predicament in the first place?  It seems to me the American people decided politics was more about entertainment than politics.  The new circus in town is the upcoming November elections. 

 

So gear up the hate machines and get ready to stir up the masses.  Keep them frothing at the mouth with talk shows, Sunday news programs and everything else in between.  Do everything you can to keep them entertained while pretending you are telling them the truth.

 

Meanwhile, back in the country, the rot sets in and people suffer simply because politicians know it is easier to keep them mad rather than solve their problems.

 

Of course, we the people have to be willing to let them do this to us, so again, the buck stops where it belongs.  The problem with democracy is the people usually get what they deserve.

 

 

"SIGNS OF THE END OF THE WORLD" IS A PIZZAONIAN GROUP OF SPELUNKERS CURRENTLY RESIDING IN THE UNITED STATES...

 

 

 

 

SIGNS OF THE END OF THE WORLD - The American democratic process

  

ENOUGH ALREADY!

 

I wonder how many people watching the current political campaign unfold in the United States are fed up with both sides?  We seem to hear from the loyalist from each side ad nauseam -- one side unable to explain its programs, the other side with no programs to explain except they are against the other side.

 

The problem for the rest of us is where do we go?  The so called “tea party” advocates at first seemed to be a fresh voice, but as you listen this is the same “warmed over hash” delivered with more passion.  Their strength is their ability to tap into the anger of the people, and the one thing we know for sure is the people are very angry. 

 

The side currently in power seems unable to explain its direction or programs which fuels the people’s anger even more.  So we end up rudderless no matter who wins.  Even more perplexing is how much joy each side gets from hating each other -- all of this combined makes us ripe for a demigod to appear.

 

How can our nation end up at a time of such peril without the leadership from either side to steer us through the crisis?  They say the times will produce the leader.  Well “times,” your not doing a good job so far.

 

One last frightening thought:  Maybe we are getting the leadership we deserve.  We want it all and we want it now without sacrifice or pain.  And we want ours even if it means leaving the other guy behind.  Maybe its time to stop pointing fingers at our politicians and take a good look in the mirror.

 
 

"SIGNS OF THE END OF THE WORLD" IS A PIZZAONIAN GROUP OF SPELUNKERS CURRENTLY RESIDING IN THE UNITED STATES...

 

“Nothing matters more than winning. Not even what you believe in.” From the movie The Candidate, 1972

 

When did governing become about being elected and nothing else?  For anyone who is trying to make sense of the election about to take place in the United States, these are perilous times indeed. 

 

As you watch the candidates and their campaigns unfold you are not sure whether you are watching an episode of “Saturday Night Live” or a surreal play being acted out in the Comedy of the Absurd.

 

And then you have to deal with the demigods on both sides of every issue.  Partisan beyond reason, their side can do no wrong and the other side can do no right.  Add to that the outright hate and distrust both extremes have for each other and you have the ingredients for a failed election.

 

I say failed election since this election is not about governing it is about winning, and if you listen to the sound bites filled with half truths, innuendos and outright lies it is obvious no one has a clue on what to do when elected.

 

Where does that leave the rest of us? For those of us, regardless of political persuasion, searching for reason, we are desperate for leadership that can articulate the country’s needs and the course of action and sacrifice necessary to solve our problems.

 

We need leaders that can do more than articulate and agitate the fears of the American people, but leaders that can inspire the American spirit and in so doing inspire the best in us as a nation – leaders ready to call us to sacrifice as a people so the long arduous journey toward a more perfect union may continue. 

 

The cynics who have built empires on our fears say this is foolish and naïve.  Let’s hope, no let’s pray, we prove them wrong.

 

P. Miller

 

On abundance - fact or fiction - how long can it last?

 

ON ABUNDANCE

There is a general belief that abundance will always be available if you think and act positively.  This may be true, but often what is omitted from this platitude is there is no greater creator of bad karma then to waste or squander the abundance you have acquired.

 

It is an easy jump to conclude this is now happening in our country.  The abuse of our country’s incredible recourses and environment to sustain our power, comfort and pleasure permeates our senses at every turn.  We could argue when this point was reached, but does anyone still believe we haven’t?

 

This reality can be masked very easily by our concentration on the “have nots”, those people through no fault of their own who find themselves at the vagaries of life’s miseries.  By concentrating on our virtues and good intentions to help others, we allowed ourselves to go blind to our enormously wasteful lifestyles.  

 

This will seem offensive to those that believe we live in the “promise land” and abundance is our providential and given birth right.  Perhaps it is, but that still does not change what we see happening around us everyday.  Something is out of whack and we better figure it out soon.

 

But in the meanwhile, the beat goes on.  We retreat to the islands we have created for ourselves and wait for the problem to be solved.  I suspect the only reason we haven’t disintegrated into space is because of the good works of the few saints that sustain us all with their good karma. Unfortunately, too many of us think we are those saints

There is a general belief that abundance will always be available if you think and act positively.  This may be true, but often what is omitted from this platitude is there is no greater creator of bad karma then to waste or squander the abundance you have acquired.

 

It is an easy jump to conclude this is now happening in our country.  The abuse of our country’s incredible recourses and environment to sustain our power, comfort and pleasure permeates our senses at every turn.  We could argue when this point was reached, but does anyone still believe we haven’t?

 

This reality can be masked very easily by our concentration on the “have nots”, those people through no fault of their own who find themselves at the vagaries of life’s miseries.  By concentrating on our virtues and good intentions to help others, we allowed ourselves to go blind to our enormously wasteful lifestyles.  

 

This will seem offensive to those that believe we live in the “promise land” and abundance is our providential and given birth right.  Perhaps it is, but that still does not change what we see happening around us everyday.  Something is out of whack and we better figure it out soon.

 

But in the meanwhile, the beat goes on.  We retreat to the islands we have created for ourselves and wait for the problem to be solved.  I suspect the only reason we haven’t disintegrated into space is because of the good works of the few saints that sustain us all with their good karma. Unfortunately, too many of us think we are those saints

Pizzaonian Institute of Visual Story-Telling (PIVST) to begin this month.

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FROM:  PIZZAONIAN NEWS SERVICE (PNS)

Contact:  Publicio Relationio at the PNS office of Public Relations at   PIZZAONIAN@YAHOO.COM

 

SUBJECT:  Pizzaonian Institute of Visual Story-Telling (PIVST) to begin this month.

 

Pizzaonia announced today the formation of a new think tank devoted to the creative and narrative aspects of still photography. 

 

The Institute will explore the creative aspects of the photographic experience and the nature of visual language.  Of particular interest will be the narrative range of the still photograph and its effect on modern society.

 

Included in their exploration will be the effect of technology on the photographer’s experience as well as the way the still photograph is regarded by the general public.

 

The first explorations are expected to begin in early September.