Archive for the ‘What humans do’ Category

The cells are coming – fuel cells

Monday, March 5th, 2012

Fuel cells are moving into our lives for real now.

There are said to be more than 2500 installations in the world, and all the car manufacturers are working on fuel cells. Apple Inc. is building a large datacenter using adaptions of fuel cells as part of the energy/power systems. There are projects in many parts of the world were fuel cells are being tried – NASA spaceships have had them, buses and cars, boats have them, data centers have them – the uses are many and the techniques used are many.

If we see them as an energy conversion device the theoretical efficiency is high – the energy to wheel ratio – up in the 80s or 90s percentages. The practical numbers are lower, but much higher – double or triple – that of petrol and diesel engines.

So what is the state of the art now?

Fuel cells were invented by Welshman William Grove in 1839,  but high cost and practical issues like heat transfer, high cost of materials, reliability have been hampering their spread.

There are many techniques: proton exchange membranes (PEMs), phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs), molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).

It seems that solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) hold the greatest potential of any fuel cell technology. With low cost ceramic materials, and extremely high electrical efficiencies, SOFCs can deliver attractive economics without relying on CHP. But SOFCs operate at extremely high temperature (typically above 800°C), giving them extremely high electrical efficiencies and fuel flexibility, and creating engineering challenges.

The challenges are being solved now, and fuel cells are finally becoming clean, reliable, and most importantly, affordable.

  • A fuel cell is like a battery that always runs. It has three parts: an electrolyte, an anode, a cathode. For a solid oxide fuel cell, the electrolyte is a solid ceramic material. The anode and cathode are made from special inks that coat the electrolyte. No precious metals, corrosive acids, or molten materials are required.
  • An electrochemical reaction converts fuel and air into electricity without combustion. A solid oxide fuel cell is a high temperature fuel cell. At high temperature, warmed air enters the cathode side of the fuel cell and steam mixes with fuel to produce reformed fuel which enters on the anode side.
  • So the chemical reaction begins in the fuel cell. As the fuel crosses the anode, it attracts oxygen ions from the cathode. The oxygen ions combine with the reformed fuel to produce electricity, water, and small amounts of carbon dioxide. The water gets recycled to produce the steam needed to reform the fuel. The process also generates the heat required by the fuel cell.
  • As long as there’s fuel, air, and heat, the process continues producing clean, reliable, affordable energy.

The fuel used is most often hydrogen. The cost of producing hydrogen is still high.

To sum up, there are many uses for fuel cells

  • Automakers, buses, boats, trains, planes, scooters, forklifts, even bicycles.
  • Vending machines, vacuum cleaners and highway road signs.
  • Miniature fuel cells for cellular phones, laptop computers and portable electronics
  • Hospitals, credit card centers, police stations, banks
  • Wastewater treatment plants and landfills are using fuel cells to convert the methane gas they produce into electricity.
  • Telecommunications companies are installing fuel cells at cell phone, radio and 911 towers.
  • Auxiliary power
  • Supplemental power and backup assurance for critical areas, grid-independent generator for on-site service in areas that are inaccessible by power lines.

Fuel cells operate silently, they reduce noise pollution as well as air pollution and when the fuel cell is sited near the point of use, its waste heat can be captured for beneficial purposes.

Cogeneration building systems could reduce facility energy service costs by 20% – 40%.

So we are moving forward – it will be exciting to see promises fulfilled. Hardly any emissions, a bit of gas and a little water perhaps, quiet, reliable, efficient, cheap – we are not quite there yet but are moving forward.

The great conspiracy strategies of the world: True or not?

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

There is a big conspiracy industry in the world – writers, talkers, filmproducers – claiming that we are being coerced, or subjected to hidden persuasion or similar, so that the world can become one and that there will be one world government one day. There is a long term commitment to these strategies, going through many generations.

Many people worry about these possibilities, spend time thinking about possible outcomes, creating images in their minds.

The conspiracy activity is said to be a process that has been going on for hundreds of years. The origin is uncertain, but biblical, religious overtones persist, and the Elders of Sion, cabbals and related themes are all in there. Various groups like the Illuminati, masons and variations of these are all mentioned from time to time.

The imperial quest of the US is also mentioned as important and actively pursued, and many people in the US is said to have some form of connection to these movements. The US industrial-military complex is said to be actively interested global strategies. Successfully pursuing a global strategy of warring in several places is good for business.

There are several indications of American interest in globalism with international finance being spearheaded by Americans, several American groups or foundations like the Trilateral Commission,  The Bilderberg Group among others as well as the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Americans are actively pursuing a programme called the International Visitors Programme where people come to the US to be aquainted with American thinking. The CIA also has a cultural arm with lots of activities, including spreading US business world wide – to make the world seem one: burgers, colas, shoes, clothes are the same the world over.

“IV : International Visitors are current or emerging leaders in government, politics, the media, education, the arts, business and other key fields. Over 5,000 International Visitors come to the United States from all over the world each year. Since its inception in 1940, thousands of distinguished individuals have participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program, including 330 current and former Chiefs of State and Heads of Government, thousands of cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished leaders from the public and private sectors.”   US Dept of State

“The Trilateral Commission: Sensing a profound discord between the nations of North America, Europe and Japan, the Trilateral Commission was founded to foster substantive political and economic dialogue across the world. To quote its founding declaration:

  • “Growing interdependence is a fact of life of the contemporary world. It transcends and influences national systems…While it is important to develop greater cooperation among all the countries of the world, Japan, Western Europe, and North America, in view of their great weight in the world economy and their massive relations with one another, bear a special responsibility for developing effective cooperation, both in their own interests and in those of the rest of the world.”
  • “To be effective in meeting common problems, Japan, Western Europe, and North America will have to consult and cooperate more closely, on the basis of equality, to develop and carry out coordinated policies on matters affecting their common interests…refrain from unilateral actions incompatible with their interdependence and from actions detrimental to other regions… [and] take advantage of existing international and regional organizations and further enhance their role.”
  • “The Commission hopes to play a creative role as a channel of free exchange of opinions with other countries and regions. Further progress of the developing countries and greater improvement of East-West relations will be a major concern.” Wikipedia

This is indeed frightening stuff – if it were to materialize!

There are surely many more  operations going on – who knows – clandestine too.

The world of finance is becoming deregulated, borders are opened up for financiers – profit is to be had everywhere if you are clever enough, fast enough, even reckless enough, the concept of financial terrorism has been introduced. So globalisation in business is an ongoing spectacle developing fast.

The financial institutions of the world is having a profound impact on world matters as global trade and interdependence grows – the huge private banks and similar institutions,  the state banks, the corporations, the IMF, the World Bank, trade organisations, the lenders, the borrowers are all becoming one.

The BRICs are coming forward as well, and matters will change profoundly in the coming years. Americans will fight for continued dominance, others will muscle their way in – the end of the all American (brand) hegemony will come, new entrants will enter the stage.

The governments of the world are growing ever more invasive, more rules, more taxes, more spinning, more subjected to non-democratic influences.

So is there a collusion taking place – conspiracy? Probably not, the game is to open, the players are too many and too greedy. But the strong always do what they think is best for themselves with the rest of us making up the cost. Salesmen and producers make state policy so that their interests are taken care of, and again the rest of us make up the cost.

But there is no doubt that this harsh environment may hurt us – just witness the OWS movement, the question of 1% and 99%, the huge social problems mounting, the environmental damage, the concentrations of power, the loss of democracy.

So the wise thing to do is to forget conspiracy and start working actively towards ends you think deserve progress. This could be ethical reawakening, environmental bliss, fairness in all matters, higher levels of consciousness in all and everyone of us – using a wide participatory process. The work should be local too, and countries – all – should make their own destiny, have local rules, determine themselves what goes on there.

It  surely is much better than what we see developing now, and it would indeed be fine – and it would remove the last doubts about conspiracy too. A world of power controlled by the few will never be. The alternative – broad sharing and broad participation has a better intrinsic value and the logic behind it is superior – and so it will prevail.

Just start the work you believe is right – don’t worry as there is nothing to be afraid of.

China (中国) changing

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

In 2010 Shanghai (上海 ) held the World Expo that was given a lot of attention. People came from all over the world for business. But we must not forget the cultural side: Shanghai also hosted the Shanghai Biennale with the theme “Rehearsal”.

The idea was to make people think, to invite people into the start of processes.

Themes proposed were large and eternal and may be more important for China than for the visitor from outside: relationships between individuals, between individuals and society, and between people and nature. Strong and important artists were invited to participate, many obviously very critical of aspects of modern society.

So a large canvas was laid out.

The Chinese were obviously hoping to start processes where the Oriental city of Shanghai takes the role of a world theater, so as to be part of a common future. The worldwide challenges for society are many and often the same everywhere: using technology well, mastering the forces of massive urbanization, be environmentally friendly, give people the chance to develop well, make the urban society a wellfunctioning machine – in all its diverse aspects.

So the curators staged a fantastic display, giving the artists an opportunity to rehearse ideas for the future of cities – the culture, the buildings, the management, the technology, the living.

The Biennale was linked to the Expo via a common theme – innovation.

The exhibition was truly thought-provoking, also depressing, but humoristic and enlightening – broad and challenging – it was all there. The displays were impressive, full of quality of spirit, rich in content, well made.

The people of Shanghai came in large numbers – it was often quite full – perhaps with an intent of broadening their own horizon, to see the world forming. Most were very young – the future? – very attentive, interested, thinking.

It was all very professional – on an international level – and should bode well for the future of the Chinese and for us.

Go to China – the development is in full swing.

And the food is not half bad either – why not try some Beijing (北京) duck?

Do you need to be where you are?

Monday, February 20th, 2012

“We are all striving for glory, but far too many end up in a hole.”

The world is full of challenges, adventures, you can set your mind to any number of fantastic things. You can – in short –  live a full life, you may even be free.

The number of possibilities are huge – you can roam the world, you can let your head spin enormous thoughts, you can find amazing and wonderful places and situations, you may participate in awesome projects, you can follow through and make what you think come true. The tool that your brain is can take you along on massive journeys into the unknown, finding your own inner self, experiencing cosmos, helping people who need you, create whatever your mind can come up with.

It can all be done if you are willing to move about – if you are willing to forgo the limitations of place, of a fixed abode, of property and ownership, the limitations of geography. You must remove the strictures, the practicalities, environments, noise and thoughts that tie you down.

Most of us – nearly everybody in fact – never do this – we live basically in one place, doing one job, having one environment. This shapes you, your creativity, your activity, and in the end it ties you down and limits your creativity, and in the end your spiritual and practical life. Your thinking may be severely confined too.

It is all about living a good life – the life you want, idealistically created, what you dream about, what the tool you have in your great mind that you have can come up with.

So what do you really need to have? What do you really want to do?

The real you – your essence that you are born with – can manage with very little that you own, that you need to have. The geography or the place you are in can – if you own very little or nothing – easily be changed. You can become free.

You may realize that there is a world where you own nothing, where you are free to move wherever you want,  and that free movement may make it possible to be free, completely free – completely free of things that tie you down.

Your freedom can lead you into a world of personal growth, your thinking can become new and free, also independent and fresh, you become creative, you enjoy living, you participate fully in what your birth initially set you up to do. You can take it all back from the limitations of society and make what you want.

Living in a set community may be safe, but not always as there are many large and small threats and restrictions lurking in the shadows. Any number of them can hit you, and shape your life in unwanted ways.

Your role as a contributor to the large society we have learnt that we must be part of dissolves into thin air – you will not be a popular person with the rulemakers, the bureaucracies, but that should be no concern of yours. You choices make you a content person and may lead to better contributions to the real needs of the world.

You know that this is about you and your life – build on your essence and what you were given, follow your own thinking made by the good head that was given to you, execute and live as you yourself see fit – become a whole person.

It is about courage too – do you dare do it? Our societies are increasingly characterized by walls and fences of the practical and spiritual kind. Many need to break out – to start anew.

You can be one.

Global – the big confusion

Saturday, February 18th, 2012

The word global is presented as the final solution – when things become global our worries are over, the good world is near. But it is not so, and never will be!

The investors and financiers of the world are having a fine time. Money can be accumulated, moved around the world, invested in facilities, services, crops, minerals – all you can think of. Speculation is producing large profits, some few times huge losses, the chase for profit is the name of the game. Money are lent to governments, municipalities, public bodies who are good borrowers. They always pay back their debts so it is safe to let them have your money.

The problems of this method are becoming evident: 1%, 99%, joblessness, hunger, defaults.

The money system – global money system – is the system we live by. But nobody controls this system – it is out of control. There are no global political entities, no global financials – there is a bit of problemsolving when things go very wrong. There is the World Bank, the IMF that are not connected to the democratic systems of the world – they do things by some sort of negotiation and their authority is unclear.

The lenders lend without or with scant risk control – in the US lots of people lost their homes, in many countries public financial overextension is found in many places. For some reason the lenders shall not take their losses. We must all come together and help pay up. The lenders are let off when they make mistakes, the borrowers do not take responsibility for what they do, they just go on increasing their debts. Coupled with QE quantitative easing there is a balloon being filled with hot financial air. Add the system of fractional reserve banking and we are set up for failure.

Global systems leads to lack of understanding and transparency, and coupled wit advanced financial schemes we end up with deep problems.

Global solutions will never work, and there is no need for global solutions. Business should be about making a fair living where you are. The growth syndrome of states and businesses is clearly not sustainable. The modern system with huge production being sent back and forth here and there all over the world is clearly unsustainable – the thinking that everybody must export and import is silly.

We are ruled increasingly by a money system that is said to be global, but is full of confusing issues – the main one being that nobody is accountable for what happens, the size and extent of the problems are so large that everybody can be pulled down.

Financial globalism is bad in principle – it will never work: Will you let yourself be governed by somebody you did not elect, or even worse by somebody who has not been elected by anybody?

Other kinds of globalism might be a good idea – health, ethics, human rights, fair share and many others.

The lending and borrowing is out of control, and the only way back to sanity is to make lenders and borrowers take responsibility for what they do. If you fail to pay what you have borrowed, you suffer. If the lenders don’t  get paid they suffer. They have to straighten things out between them. This must be done on the local level, and the transactions must be small, under good risk control, you should know where the money comes from and what it is used for, who the lenders and borrowers are.

So this is simplistic? Yes, and it should be – financial acrobatics are not what it all is about – it is about making a decent living where you are. So local, national, regional is good, split it up into units that we can handle, let politics do its job, let the financials follow, let the people responsible take resposibility – in a transparent environment.

It is all so easy – if we pull it down to basics which is where it belongs.

Chinese opinion – world opinion?

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

It is safe to say that world opinion – if there is such a thing – is US and Western opinion. Is this about to change?

Xi Jinping, the presumed next president of The People’s Republic of China PRC, is visting the US at the moment. He has been there before, so this is a wide visit, full of good intentions. Mr. Obama did not smile broadly when they met, judging from pictures in the media. Why not is not clear. Perhaps his head is full of thoughts about the coming years – things are going to change for both coutries. One is going up, the other is going down – relatively speaking. Time will show what happens, the future is not always fully predictable. Obama is a president in times of transition, and there is little he can do about it. Maybe he is still president in 2013.

Xi Jinping (习近平) is an interesting man, both personally and also when looking into the background of his father. Xi Jinping is an engineer with a doctorate in law, wide practice in the Chinese system of government and politics. His father was both a friend and a foe of Mao Tse Tung, living in political darkness for a long time, being called a liberal. We will know more about what Xi Jinping stands for in the coming years. Xi Jinping is clearly well versed in many kinds of human affairs.

We must, being wise and with reasonable foresight, prepare us for the  changes that will come. First we must learn to understand the thinking of the Chinese, the politics, the culture, the business methods, the philosophy. Perhaps learn a bit of the Chinese language too – some Mandarin?

Viewed from China the US is a strange nation. Many things going on there can not and will not take place anywhere else on the globe. The Chinese have just celebrated the new year with age old customs – food ceremonies, festivities, seeing your family, thinking. Differences are huge.

The Super Bowl, the biggest TV event in the US, happened a few weeks ago and we may wonder what the Chinese think of this most American of spectacles. Think about how the Chinese TV viewers respond to sports and other big “global” events piped into their homes via satellite, being a long-closed-off society with its own deep and rich historical culture.

Americans think of their spectacles as world events, but the truth is that a large number of nations in the world is barely interested in these strange goings-on. It is only in the American imagination that these events are perceived as  world events.

The world of news is dominated today by American news – sport, electioneering, health questions, business, wars, politics, deaths of popstars – the Americans are everywhere. They have put high pressure on their publishings – remember they are only 5% of the worlds population.

So what is to be expected from the Chinese – what reactions do we see? Will it matter to the rest of us what they think? Remember that Chinese culture is strong, going back thousands of years, it is not easily shifted.

Quoting from Chinese Pod, a Chinese Language service in Shanghai:
“The biggest TV draws for foreign events in China tend to have an element of “Chinese-ness” to them. The NBA has always had fans in China and their game broadcasts have long been popular, but ratings exploded when Shanghai-born 姚明 (Yáo Míng) joined the Houston Rockets in 2002. An estimated 200 million Chinese in the Mainland tuned in to see 姚 play  against another Chinese-born big man, 易建联 (Yì Jiànlián) in 2007, so the drawing power of a home-grown element in a foreign event is not to be discounted.
Long before Beijing hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 2008 millions closely followed how their homegrown athletes were doing on the world stage. Indeed, competing in sports, as well as using them to prove and strengthen national identity, is a notable part of Chinese cultural identity, so an event like the Olympic games in which the results can be seen to represent strengths and weaknesses of particular countries seems made to be a hit in China.
The Chinese – and the rest of the world – tend to look at US presidential elections with a mix of confusion and bemusement. Contrary to popular belief, elections are not a foreign concept in China, with People’s congress deputies and officials at the local level standing for election regularly. US elections elicit puzzled looks. The scale and amount of money spent on American elections strike many as ridiculous and unnecessary, and many are inclined to dismiss the circus-like proceedings; “People think the capitalist way of campaigning is all about making up fake stories to slander your opponent, that it’s just a political show,” as one prominent academic in China put it. Interestingly enough, former President Bill Clinton enjoys substantial popularity here in the PRC, and there are even Clinton-brand condoms to be found (draw your own conclusions). Known in Chinese as 比尔·克林顿 (Bǐ’ěr·Kèlíndùn) or simply 克林顿, Clinton’s second inauguration, in 1997, was the first to be broadcast over the internet, giving those in China with internet connections the chance to see one of their favorite American leaders take office again.
This year even the Super Bowl, the championship of a sport very few Chinese follow, was broadcast live on a handful of stations in China. One of the biggest global stories of the last few years, however, was the death of pop star Michael Jackson, who was widely-mourned in China. Jackson was one of the most popular Western stars in the PRC (”MJ, you are our god!” one netizen wrote), and his death was a constant topic of discussion both on and offline in China. Whitney Houston’s death last week elicited similar if smaller-scale reactions.”

So what is it the other way around – do the Americans intend to pipe Chinese TV into their homes – the Chinese events often attract far larger audiences than the American ones – and how is American media treating Chinese activities, presenting Chinese news – fairly or with a spin?

Opinions come and go – we are all subjective people, we do not always get the full truth, it is sometimes made up for us, so beware. Go there, talk to the Chinese, get to know them, then we shall all benefit.

Heavier stuff is coming up to in matters of world opinion – economics, politics, environmental issues – the contest in on.

How is the new world opinion made? True, informative or with a spin? We shall see.

To learn some Chinese try Chinese Pod

The vice-like grip of money can be broken

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

The money are not coming to all the way they should.

This is not because you are lazy, careless, or other, but may be because you are hit by global forces, the cold winds from the investors are blowing your way. The factories in your neighbourhood are closing, the markets are disappearing, the smallholding food growers go away, the small shops and makers of stuff of many kinds are closing down, there is little for you to do where you live. Everything is done elsewhere – in the big factories, in the huge malls, on the huge farms, efficiency is increasing, the need for people is dwindling, diversity of  offerings is being reduced, what you get is cheap and good. The economics of scale is the chief factor to consider, some say the only one, as this is best for investors. The social consequences are dire, but not a theme to consider right now, perhaps later.

And the investors are a restless bunch, and never satisfied, they roam the world for growth, for profit, constantly innovating in their creative destruction – whether it is chicken farming or PC-production. Their focus is constant, unwavering. Locals outside the production units are just so much biomass.

You are left behind and destitute – with a family to support. Your neighbours are hit too – your community is in a bad state. You barely scrape by. This illness is slowly spreading to several parts of the world, and it will accelerate as the years go by. Youths are hardest hit – they have nothing and little chance of getting any. For many places this is a huge exaggeration, it is not like this at all. But beware, the trend is scary!

This can not go on, the tide must be turned.

And little things are happening – new ways are found. one of the most interesting one is Equal Dollars.

Quote:  ”Equal Dollars is a thriving community currency program run by Resources for Human Development, a national human services nonprofit with headquarters in Philadelphia. This currency promotes the exchange of goods, services and labor through a membership network and adds vitality to local economies where U.S. Dollars are scarce and expensive while local labor and goods are abundant but not fully used. Local businesses that accept the currency build stronger relationships and greater affinity within the community. People and businesses that join and use the currency make a conscious commitment to support their local economy by buying within the community.”

So people are there, they can and will work, but is not being used. But a bit of wise organisation is helping.

A new way has been found where people can sign up, get a basic number og Equal Dollars, use them to buy from the local firms that are part of the program, then they can sign up for volunteer work and earn more Equal Dollars, so they can buy more. A beneficial circle has been started, people are using their work power, they exchange that with others, people are starting to exchange services, stretching their money.

There are also community enrichment workshops,where persons come together to learn from each other, there are flea markets and farmers markets where you can pay with equal dollars or equal amounts of volunteer dollars, and work exchanges where you can give an have work in return. Coupon swaps are also being organised where you can put food or other coupons into the system and have them exchanged for coupons for items you would like to have.

There is also a business to business side to this as businesses are starting to exchange labour or barter goods.

There  is a very crucial side to this – when you have little money you can give your time, receive other people’s time, you build relationships, they will gradually widen as more people are going into the system, you create good dependencies, you build community, we are back at our roots where people helped each other out and social relations are widening in a positive way. The local local labor and goods are there and more can be found!

This is a solution in the making, indicating good will and illustrating good principles. How much can you do locally and how much do you have to get from elsewhere, from the big businesses? How much money do you really need? the thinking is not new, but it goes against global tendencies where everything is soon to be made elsewhere on a huge scale. But life is surely much more than large scale production and consumption?

Local is good, local is where you start and do your living – local could be all you need really. Will the future bring us back ro our roots – where the good life is?

“Equalizing the economic playing field in our communities. ” Yeah – we need that.

see: Equal Dollars

The banks of the future will serve us better

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

The witch-hunting of bankers must stop – they say. That is right, and what is also right is that we must stop bankers from conducting their business the way they do now. Real and continous excessive profits, salaries, bonuses, surrealistic products, widespread speculation make it easy to cry wolf.

The bankers have largely been thinking of themselves and their own profits lately, being greedy bastards, and also having made a hefty contribution to the souring of the global financial system and the present crisis. The banks only purpose should be to serve the businesses of the world engaged  in the production of goods and services, facilitating it all – and being a low cost, innovative producer of such services. The sorting out and clarifying their of role should be commenced right away.

The big banks are doing all kinds of businesses the supermarket way, and they mix it all together – private, business, investment, financial products, speculation – in their accounts.

Too many banks are” too big to fail”, they are part of holding structures that are intertwined and interdependent and where risk is difficult to see and follow. They are also global, moving funds here and there, risking loosing track of what is going on.

Banks are also heavy lobbyists, turning the the tide their way, pressurizing politicians to their advantage. Maybe this kind of lobbying should pure and simple be forbidden?

So we need a new banking industry, and regulation of reserves is not enough, more radical changes must be implemented.

First the banks must be made smaller, definitely more local understanding local businesses, more understandable, more transparent, we must break banks up so that capitalistic competition becomes a reality, so that they are small enough to fail, they must take their risks as they have set themselves up to. Regulation must work and bite, competition must flourish. Now the markets don’t work any more, the players are too few and too big. Complete laissez-faire is not good in the long run, it leads – always – to excess.

The basis of it all is commercial and industrial enterprise and the banking system must support that. We must reduce the importance of  financial constructions and speculation, fancy unfathomable products, the complexity of the financial system must be reduced, banking and finance must be simplified.

Size and relations must be looked into as large also is risky and global is risky – the cost of failure is too big.

The parts of banking must be sectioned from each other – private, commercial, financial, speculation, investment – with separation of accounts.  The fractional reserve system should be looked into.

The political power must be reduced, independent central banks must be built and allowed to work in cooperation with regulators.

So this could be interesting – and better – more banks, good capital regulation, restrictions on activities, reoval of conflicts of interest, lobbying forbidden, competition overseers that are fit and well.

The weakness of global risk exposure must be controlled, risk should largely be local and understood locally. Understanding and transparency must be there always, or businesses and people may suffer undeservedly.

Investors that really are banks should be included in this regime.

Banks and investors must not be allowed to hurt the real economy, they must not be allowed to become crass speculators, even financial terrorist as some say.

A new era is dawning – real risk understanding, real competion, good servants for the business community.

We can always hope, and see to it that we elect politicians that know the interests of a good real economy.

What are your real needs?

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

You live in a world that was given to you. Everything is locked up in organizations, structures and systems of many kinds. The fixed thinking of others and yourself is a foundation for everything as you think and do exactly the same as everybody else. You were taught many lessons and you have accepted it all. There is not a single independent thought in you – not one iota, not a fig.

You have never thought about it, because you have become a witless and scared little person sitting quite still in your opulent environment. You think you are content, all your material needs are met.

This is all very sad. It is, however, never too late to become a real person – to see what it is all about.

The first thing to check out is what do you really want? First find out about yourself and your relation to others – do you interact with others at all, except professionally and with family, does anybody depend upon you and do you depend upon anybody – especially in your near community? Do you help each other in any way? You buy everything you need, and you work like mad to get money to manage that? You have money so you don’t really need anybody? Right, but not fine. You could make life better for both yourself and others if you change that into more interactivity – more moneyless activity.

So check out about yourself, in your own place. How do you spend your time? Is your life really good, are your choices independent and serves you well or do you just follow what others do? Are you a must-have, follow-others person?

There is huge scope for change and increased consciousness – make sure you know what your life is really about, what you really want to do, what you really need to have – do a bit of deep thinking to find out.

You must see who you are now, what you want to be, what your relation to others are, what your relations to cosmos are – the totality of it all.

The ideal world for you to live in is the one you make yourself. After you have established your wish for being here, you can start creating your own – independent of all and everything – world, and start a fantastic and deeply satisfying journey – your own life. The possibilities for a human are boundless.

Do not interest yourself in irrelevant matters, do not follow or identify with matters of no or marginal interest to what you want. Do not be disturbed by your emotions, instincts, do not let your feelings or intellect play havoc with you. The noise from other people, the media, events, distractions of many kinds must not be allowed to disturb you.

Make sure there are facts and science to guide you, avoid myths and spin. Do not believe anything until you have checked it out for yourself – most stories are about other peoples’ need to make money or gather influence, they are seldom of relevance to you.

You must learn to use your hands so you can see the creative side of yourself and be able to develop that side of your personality. Participation in food production on some level is essential so that you understand what you are fed, where food comes from, the impact of food on yourself, society and the cosmos.

The activity that you choose to engage in is about your own life and what you love to do. It is also about what you can do for others. So keeping your aims clear and visible you must decide what activities are best.

It is required of you to see if you really need the things we are accustomed to and must have: goods of all kinds, entertainment, rich living spaces, world wide travel, foods? The work you do must not take most of your time as there are so many interesting things to engage in. A good solution is to set yourself up to see life and work as a whole – integrate everything you do into your life, get rid of the concept of work.  Are you spending enough time on what you love to do? Well…

The need for money is exaggerated – you do not need enormous amounts of the stuff. Do not try to be rich, but rather be content, and finding your own inner happiness is what it is all about.

So think a lot – be independent, realitybased, supporting your own wish for being, then do your own stuff that you love to do, do not be pressured by outside and inside forces.

You will gradually find that there is not so much you need, you can give of your time to others, receive from others, share, engage the cosmos – the greatness of what you do will amaze you.

The real needs you have will be apparent when you have established your aims, your wish for being here and started inner work. It is all about a foundation called inner work – try it!

Naturally knowing yourself

Monday, January 30th, 2012

The mind has natural functions or processes where many things interact, where the messages we get are coordinated: The sounds, the sights, the smells, the heat or cold, the words we understand or not and interpret, the physical challenges, the hunger we may feel, the laughter – it is all hugely complex. This machine of ours seems to be in constant activity, the energy spent is huge. But sometimes we are in need of relaxation, a soothing voice, a bit of meditation? The machine has to slow down.

Why do we have to relax, withdraw – kind of stop the machine from time to time. A change of environment often lets us continue, a bit of encouragement makes us go on. It is often all in your mind.

There are thoughts too that pulls us one way or the other, we react in many ways depending upon what we think the message means.

Taste is smell they say. Aromatic molecules from your mouth enters your nose, and then your brain gets a message – depending upon who you are, what your experiences are, your personality, what you have eaten before. Food is good or bad, depending on the machine inside you. Unbelievable things may be eaten if your machine accepts it.

We are all different – within strict limits – and the interpretation of what goes on is all your own, you are a special kind of human. You do your own thing, you see, smell things, hear and so on in your own way.

There is work to do here – on your self: you are the only one who can deeply see what is going on, understand it and live with it. You should try to find out who you are and how you function, how your machinery works. If you need to change is another matter – it is not necessarily so – you may well be able to live fine as you do – with a little understanding from yourself.

But the more you are willing to work the more conscious you may become. You can understand this apparatus of yours in fantastic ways, you can raise your consciousness many levels. You may see the possibilities of  wholeness and integration, be more active, more thoughtful, maybe a more balanced person, you may be able to use your senses and your intellect in awesome ways. You may understand why you do things, how you do them, why you go for certain things and suppress others, why you are nervous, what your dreams are about, why you lie or resist, when you are comfortable, when aggression rises.

The question of suffering enters into it, understanding and accepting suffering in its many forms is possible when you know yourself. You should see to it that you interact well with people, that the social part of life is understood to.

The forces in you and the power of your mind may increasingly surprise you, and you may think of good ways to utilize this power. The possibilities of humans are not fully understood now, as we live in many ways that takes away the power to do the possible.

The challenge of knowing yourself is a light one, but the work may be hard! Rich rewards may come your way if you persevere.