Sojka's Call

Now that SojkasCall readers have taken their own personal journey through discussing the original David Korten article, it might be time to see what the author has to say from a personal perspective. Very enlightening reading for me and shows the depth of understanding many, many people around the world are achieving. It makes me trust that everything is working out just fine. Check out The Personal Story Behind the Essay, “Religion, Science, and Spirit: A Sacred Story for Our Time”

Could it be that the problems we face have nothing to do with Obama and that he is only the current example of what we see as something wrong? Since whoever is President is the leader and example of our society in the US, I posit that when the system is malfunctioning then the public leader of the system will look like he/she is malfunctioning. It does not matter if it is W, Obama, Newt, Hillary, or whoever. We need to change our view of what is real. That means looking a lot deeper than most of us are willing to look. It is so much easier to blame everything on a scapegoat. Just host another one up on the cross. That will fix everything. Then we can remain arrogant and self-righteous and feel good we did something (just remember to wash your hands). So, vote for whoever is not in power and things will all be better. Right - and I have some "land" in Florida for sale........... This article by David Korten called Religion, Science, and Spirit: A Sacred Story for Our Time is...

Charles Ramsey gives a great interview detailing how he freed Amanda Berry and the two other woman that had been held captive for years in a suburban Cleveland house. He also, inadvertently, gives a complex insight into America's race relations today. This is rich and says so much about a man and a culture in a very short amount of time. Imagine 100 years from now someone opening a time capsule and watching this. Back to the basics though - Charles Ramsey is your everyday man who became the accidental hero today because he walked through the door. Or, in this case - kicked it down!

The Republicans have seemingly given up on any kind of leadership on the US economy. Brian Wesbury puts this in perfect perspective. Wesbury is very much sympathetic to policies that promote smaller government and that will reign in spending on entitlement programs. Yet, he argues that the Pubs keep trying to bash the current economy and that jumping on every little negative economic number and ignoring that the US has been in a steady recovery going on now for about four years is hurting their credibility with voters as seen in the last election. The Dems have certainly shown that they are not going to lead on reducing the size of government and it is something that needs to be done. Unless the Pubs are willing to embark on a true strategy of leadership that acknowledges where the economy is at, the US is going to continue to see the discussion dominated by Krugman and his type of economic theory. Hopefully, the Pub leadership like McConnel and Boehner will listen to this adv...

Interesting discussion on Bloomberg. Check out this short video if you can stand watching these guys interrupt each other, especially Pento. Wesbury makes the point no one on this panel disputes that PE ratios are not in the stratosphere. Pento does not think current market strength supports forward PE's (what I got trying to follow the conversation with all the interruptions) and that market conditions are going to finally cut into profits. Other analysts not on this panel ( Hussman, for example ) say the Shiller PE ratio is too high. With everyone believing treasury bonds are in a bubble does that mean they are the best contrary play right now?

Can we truly feel powerful in our daily lives? When the news, day after day, paints this picture of a government out of control that wants to run every detail of our life and take away things we want and believe we need, how can we feel powerful? We can sally worth with false machismo waving our weapon. We can stick our head in the proverbial sand through a variety of means like percoset, oxycotin, little blue or purple pill, marijuana, alcohol, etc. We can forward emails about the 28th amendment to our friends and threaten to boycott some business or product. We can even send money to the NRA, Sierra Club, or the Organic Consumers Organization. Will any of those actions really change anything? They will probably make you feel better for a little while because at least you did something or you temporarily forgot about your perceived state of disempowerment. But when you do wake up in the morning and read the newspaper or that forwarded email from a friend or talk with someone about...

This is my list of the best and most useful places, ideas, things, etc of 2012. These are not necessarily new to 2012 but what moved onto my radar last year. Click to read on.