Alan Watts: Identifying with thoughts

Uh-oh trouble for Gringos in Mexico

• American Expats, go home!

Trump's lawyer: Trump will be found guilty

Mr. Joebidenshill (Robert De Niro) takes a bite out of the Big Apple's biggest pain in the backside, lambasting Don the John Trump. Trump is not even a New Yorker.

Robert De Niro spars with bystander during remarks outside Trump trial

The defendant will stop defecating in court.

(CNN) May 28, 2024: Actor Robert De Niro spoke at a news conference for Pres. Genocide Joe Biden’s 2024 election campaign outside the courthouse where Ex-Pres. Donald Trump’s felony financial fraud trial is wrapping up. #CNN #News

• VIDEO: Trump trial ends with ‘prison’ clash: Judge hits lawyer for telling jury about Trump in a cell

Trump's former White House lawyer says Trump will be found guilty

I told you, Dummy, stop farting.

(Newsweek) Today (May 28, 2024), Trump's former lawyer Ty Cobb warned that the ex-president will likely be found guilty because of jury instructions.

Trump's ex-lawyer predicted this week that the ex-president will be found guilty in his ongoing criminal trial in Manhattan, NY, citing the jury instructions given by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

On Tuesday, former White House lawyer Ty Cobb spoke with Morgan Chalfant of Semafor about Trump's ongoing criminal trial where he is accused of more than 30 felonies and financial fraud surrounding his hush money payments to prostitute and former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

They can't find me guilty. I'm me!

"If the jury begins deliberations Tuesday afternoon, expect a verdict no later than Friday afternoon. I expect a 'GUILTY' verdict, but only because the jury instructions as urged by the DA (district attorney) and adopted by the judge, over strenuous and well-founded defense objections, virtually require conviction," Cobb said to Semafor.

"I reach this legal conclusion because of my long experience as a federal prosecutor and white collar defense lawyer, my reverence for the rule of law, and despite my view that Trump remains the greatest threat to Democracy in our nation's history," Cobb added.

Newsweek has reached out to Cobb for comment.

Trump appeared in court on Tuesday (today, 5/28/24) in New York for his ongoing criminal trial brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Trump was indicted last April by Bragg, who said that the ex-president "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information—including a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels—from the public during the 2016 presidential campaign." More

• Judge's instructions 'require' jury find Trump guilty, his ex-lawyer says (via MSN)
• Newsweek (5/28/24); Jordan Klepper, The Daily Show; Robert De Niro (CNN, May 28, 2024); Seth Auberon, PPfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Judge bankrupts Trump: $454.5 million fine

Ashley Wells, Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The judge can't fine me that much, can he?

Trump has been handed an eviction of sorts: He's out of the BBC, the Billionaire Boys' Club, because he can no longer afford the steep membership fees.

• UPDATE: Fine now $454,500,000 because of backdated interest
• Nooooo'oh! Donald Trump ordered to pay $354 million in New York real estate fraud lawsuit (MSN)
• The total fine for the convicted Trump fraudsters is more like $364 million because sons Donald and Eric were also hits with fines and all are barred from being CEOs of any company in New York for three years.

Don't compare me to my dumb nepotistic sons!!

He may have to open up Mar a Lago to Airbnb rentals to cover his expenses.

He has allegedly run up a bill from defense attorneys of $500 million, or half a billion. He was fined $5 million for the rape of a woman he repeatedly defamed and was recently fined an additional $83 million for defaming her (and she has enough evidence to sue him again for doing it again after the trial).

Today's fine is $354 million. And he still faces about 90 criminal cases that may land him in federal prison unless he pays all the rest of his money on better defense attorneys or MAGAots rise up again and break him out of jail through another attempted insurrection that results in a second U.S. Civil War. Let's add it up:

• 354,000,000.00 (today's fine for fraud)
• 500,000,000.00 (defense attorneys' bill)
• 083,000,000.00 (fine for defamation)
• 005,000,000.00 (fine for rape/sexual assault)
• 500,000,000.00 (future legal fees)
• = more than the billion he started with

Will this cost Trump a young trophy wife?

Melania: I'll be taking my half and going now.

If Don John Trump started with a billion (1,000 million), and that's a big if -- given that he was convicted of financial fraud in New York for lying about how much his assets are worth or what he's spending his hush money on, and most of his tax documents do not seem to be examined by the mainstream media that allegedly worked so hard to have access to them -- he is down to almost nothing.

Fraud: Trump loses in court, fakes pro-union

Seth Auberon, Sheldon S., Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Losing: Trump loses fraud case as lawyers ask if his sons must move out

Anti-Trump sign: "DON'T FORGET: This guy's awful but he's only a SYMPTOM!"

(MSNBC) Sept. 27, 2023: A New York judge ruled ex-Pres. D. Trump committed fraud for years by exaggerating the value of his assets in financial statements, adding that Trump is living in a “fantasy world.”

(The Young Turks) UAW (United Auto Workers Union) President Shawn Fain SHREDS Trump

Sept. 26, 2023: Pres. Fain TRASHED Ex-Pres. Don Trump and his phony and pathetic attempts to try to appear to identify himself as a pro-labor, pro-blue collar ally. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss.

There's nothing phony about me.

Take your anti-TDS pills, it's time for some more derangement syndrome inducing words from indicted co-conspirator, twice-impeached, convicted financially fraudulent businessman, and Jan. 6th criminal Trump, faking speaking to union members. All he could get were the optics of doing so when actually being rejected, speaking instead to a fake crowd put together for him of all non-union workers. Who dares call it "fake news"? It's PR, public relations, propagandistic populist fakery. Fake, fake, fake future leader of the free world...from prison. Because if there's one thing we're sure of, it's "Elect a clown, expect a circus."

Trump speaking to NON-union workers: UAW won't have him

(The Jimmy Dore Show) Since when is bumbleheaded Biden any better with labor? Just out for votes.

MSNBC’s Ari Melber breaks down the latest fraud ruling rocking The Trump Organization. (Check out The Beat's playlist: msnbc.com/ari. Connect with Ari Melber: instagram.com/arimelber) » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc

UPDATE: $2b Powerball lottery fraud: SCAM!

Joe Winner (wror.com, Nov. 9th, 2022); Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

It is claimed that this is live on Nov. 8? But the date shown is Nov. 7, and she says "goodnight" not good morning, everyone. Watch what happens in the video: Powerball 20221107

• UPDATE (Feb. 14, 2023, Valentine's Day): Scam! Mystery thickens rather than resolves. Fast Eddie Castro (aka Edwin Castro) declared winner, but another guy (plaintiff Jose Rivera) says "Reggie" stole his ticket, and he's suing Castro for the money and to be declared the winner. It would seem an open-and-shut case: JUST CHECK THE STORE VIDEO of who bought it, but that was confiscated by officials, according to Joe Chahayed who sold the ticket and had officials take over his store to see and/or take away the videotape. No one knows who Edwin Castro is, and Channel 5 located a local by that name, but the family at that address said it wasn't the same guy. Fishy. This stinks. Now it goes to court. And get a load of the phony sounding statement letter submitted by "Castro." Either he hired lawyers and a PR firm to write it, or lottery officials composed it. Has there ever been anything more phony sounding? Please!
• UPDATE (Feb. 23, 2023): Scam a damn damn! THEFT: Man (Jose Rivera) claims winning $2 billion Powerball ticket sold in Altadena, California, was stolen from him two days before drawing, so he sues jackpot winner and lottery (ktla.com)
• California Lottery stands behind $2 billion Powerball winner despite claim ticket was stolen (Daily Breeze)
• $2.04B (that's 2 billion and 40 million dollar) Powerball winner sued by man who claims his winning ticket was stolen (TMZ)

[Due to suspicious clues] The internet is focused on Powerball conspiracy theories

The draw was not delayed but faked.

WASHINGTON, DC - The estimated Powerball jackpot for the November 7th, 2022, drawing has increased to $1.9 billion [and will top off at 2.04 billion, or two-billion and forty-million dollars], with an estimated lump sum payment of $929.1 million.

It was a strange series of events, and now Powerball conspiracy theories are taking over. This morning, the winning numbers 10-33-41-47-56 and the Powerball was 10. According to USA Today, “the winning ticket was sold at a service center in Altadena in Los Angeles County.”

That jackpot is for a record-breaking $2.04 billion dollars. But here’s where the conspiracy seems to get started.

The California Lottery announced a delay. Specifically, at 11:00 pm it was announced that there was a “technical problem.” [Claims of a security protocol to follow by 48 participating states, and we were told that all we knew was that it was not a California problem, which was a lie.]

• DEAD GIVEAWAY: In our previous coverage, Joe of Joe's Convenience Store where the winning ticket was allegedly purchased, makes a big deal of saying that he was contacted by the Lottery before he had opened. He opens at 6:00 am. The drawing was allegedly taking place at that time (Eastern Time). Yet, he was already being informed that he would get a million and the news media would be arriving. There were news helicopters overhead that morning. We could hear them; that's how close we are to this scandal. The local rock station (kroq.com) morning show (Klein Ally Show) called Joe and spoke to him a day or two later. They asked him how it felt to win. He said he wasn't the winner. DJ Klein said, yeah, not the billion but you won a million. Joe said, no I didn't. They handed me a big piece of cardboard, took possession of the videotape (either by confiscating it or doing something to it against his will and without his knowing or having given permission), took a picture of him with the big cardboard check, and left, leaving him no money or explanation or future plan to get him a million actual dollars. That big handwritten cardboard check was dated Nov. 7, not 8th which is when the Lottery folks would have us believe it was written, which is when the drawing was, which is when Joe was identified and contacted. Fishy, fishy, fishy. all these innocent mistakes, along with the drawing hostess allegedly misspeaking and saying "Goodnight" rather than good morning during the allegedly live drawing, which we are told did not take place until 8:57 am on Nov. 8. Johnny Ice (Heidi & Frank Show, 955klos.com) is on the case on Friday in a segment called 20 in 20, which covers 20 news stories in 20 minutes.

The Fix Is Still In (Brian Tuohy)

The drawing would be delayed. After the drawing finally goes down this morning [Nov. 8 at 8:57 am] a winner is not named [that is to say, it is announced that there is no winner], and the jackpot goes up. But wait, it doesn’t. A winner IS announced in California.

Someone in Florida also won some money for getting 5 numbers but not the Powerball number. They did the Power Play thing, so they got 2 million. The main Powerball conspiracy theories seem to be focused on the idea that it was California that announced that extra time was needed.

Then it was California that had a big winner. But I will dispel one theory about a deal with the state getting the tax revenue. California is one of 15 states that doesn’t tax lottery winnings. So that conspiracy theory has been disproven.

Actually, all of these ideas — like most conspiracy theories — are pretty far-fetched. But they are entertaining.

The Back and Forth

What Triggered People.

One person on Twitter complained, “California is the reason there was a delay with the drawing due to “security concerns” and “technical difficulties” and now someone in California won the #Powerball.”

One commenter pointed out “Pay attention to the Powerball. On the last draw, they cut out the full video of the red powerball coming down the tube. If you look closely, all the numbers inside the pool stops, but when they zoom in, the numbers inside the pool still rolls.”

I’m not sold on that, but many commenters also pointed out that the drawing was NOR shown live. Hmmmmm. Source: The Internet Is Focused On Powerball Conspiracy Theories (wror.com)

83 Problems: A Buddhist Sutra (parable)

Frank Miles (premierespeakers.com), Wisdom Quarterly; Patricia C. Smith (UPDATED)

WHAT IS A SUTRA? A sutra is a "thread" -- suturing or stringing together ideas with a through-line or overarching message. It's the Dharma all stitched up like strings of jewels. There is no need for new sutras -- unless, perhaps, they encapsulate old messages in novel ways. We remember hearing a spellbinding if apocryphal discourse that was put very eloquently:
 

Fake Buddha quotes get better and better.

THUS HAVE I NOT HEARD. Once while the Buddha was staying near the fields, a farmer came to him, paid his respects and, sitting to one side, said:

"O, great teacher, I am but a simple farmer! I love farming. But sometimes there is drought, at other times flooding. I am a husband. I love being married! But sometimes my spouse is indifferent, at other times smothering. I am a father. I love being a parent! But sometimes my children are dull, at other times unruly.
 
"What am I to do?"

The Buddha looked at the farmer with great compassion, extended both hands, and said: "Sorry, can't help you with those kinds of problems."

The farmer was dumbstruck. When he regained his composure, he argued: "Wait a minute! People speak in praise of you in all quarters. They come to you seeking advice for all sorts of things. And they go away enlightened. You're famous!"

"Sorry," the Buddha repeated, "what can anyone do? Every person has 83 problems. I'm not keen to help them with that."

Now, that's what I call an enlightened answer!

"Well then tell me," the farmer kindly asked, hoping to make the best of his visit, "what can you help me with?"

"I can help you with your 84th problem."

"Oh, and what's that?" the farmer said as he leaned in.

Comedian Frank Miles

"Your 84th problem is your desire not to have any problems.

The farmer was overjoyed. And the Buddha taught him how to overcome suffering here and now.

• See Frank Miles live in Los Angeles!
• Thurs., July 13, 2017: 7:00-8:30 pm
• Pasadharma Buddhist Meditation
• The Neighborhood UU Church, Room 23, Pasadena, California 91103

Pasadharma Buddhist Meditation VEGAN POTLUCK PARTY (Pasadena Vegan Love)

The Parable of the 83 Problems
Patricia C. Smith (facebook.com)

A rich farmer at wit’s end seeks relief.
 
“Oh Buddha, the drought drags into a seventh year! My beans become dust. Again. And my wife’s cooking is scarcely fit for consumption, yet she waxes horribly stout. Huge! And my six stocky children -- lazy, every one. Rats pilfer my eggs, termites chew my timbers, and thieves and mendicants swarm my town....”
 
The Buddha says, “I cannot help you.”
 
The farmer’s eyes pop -- all this way he came! For nothing!
 
The Buddha says, “Everyone has 83 problems. If you work out one problem, another will surely take its place. And some problems, like death, have no solution [other than nirvana, the deathless].”
 
The farmer splutters.
 
The Buddha says, “It may be I can assist with your 84th problem?”

“What..!?”

“Your desire to have no problems.”

• 83 Problems
• Mucho problemado
• All Humans Have 83 Problems

Death and Taxes: Boston Bombings

Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

URGENT IRS MESSAGE: Hey, just because your limbs got blown off or your loved ones were killed or injured, that doesn't mean you get to skip today's tax deadline! Pay. Obey. And quit yer complaining. (Ken McGagh/MetroWest Daily News)

Giving us a taste of what our gov't gives others in our names

What is a "false flag" operation? Moreover, what is a Hegelian dialectic? Simply put it is when a ship does what it does under another flag, impersonating another actor, agent, or country.

 

Hegelian dialectic is "is the framework for guiding our thoughts and actions into conflicts that lead us to a predetermined solution." 

 

You heard him. Fearless Leader B.S. Obama is saying we will find whoever did this, why, and we will bring to bear the FULL weight of the law. 

 

The thing is, a group in the military-industrial complex already knows whom will be blamed, and already knows what the "punishment" will be. Come along for the ride. And try not to cheer too loudly or put those flags on car antennas or overwork the nice folks down at the enlistment center. 

 

We are all hurt, some of us outraged. Crying out in "self-righteous indignation" for "revenge" and "vengeance" and a biblical definition of blinding-justice ("An eye for an eye...," which Gandhi pointed out makes the whole world blind) is no way to act in times of great duress. 

 

Are we under duress? Yes. Someone is doing something, and they are doing it with a predetermined goal in mind. What will it be? What will it be? 

 

The Patriot Act is already active. We are already being spied on illegally and intrusively. Citizen ownership of guns is already being restricted.

NDAA (the fiat "authorization" to imprison and detain any American citizen for any reason without accusation, court, attorneys, representation, self-defense, or anything else one could call "justice" or "fairness") has already been signed into effect by Obama and is the de facto law of the land. 

 

We are already at war and planning more wars -- with Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, China, and the "geopolitical Middle East" in general all left to conquer and lord over with "full spectrum dominance." 

 

Welcome to the Brave New World Order.

• Boston Marathon bombs: as it happened (Telegraph.co.uk)
• The US government plans things like this all the time, not that this is one of those times (Operation Northwoods)
• American Conservative founder says Boston bombing could be False Flag operation to start war with Iran
• Inflammatory CIA/CNN coverage of the event

Buddhist Business + Wall Street Woes

Right Livelihood: to refrain from five kinds of business, namely, trade in: 1) weapons, 2) poisons, 3) humans, 4) animals, and 4) intoxicants. Instead one follows the business advice found in the:

• Advice to Sigala Sutra
• Ten Courses of Profitable Action (AN10.206, pp. 265-269)
• Four Profitable Actions

• Book: Building a Business the Buddhist Way

Trader looks at monitor on the floor of the NY Stock Exchange. Wall Street is hesitating, data is coming next week to provide clearer picture of US economy: in recovery mode or downward spiral (AFP/Getty/Chris Hondros).

-

Wall Street woes boost therapists' business

By Elinor Comlay (7/31/08)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street is reeling from losses, and bankers are fearful of losing bonuses at best and jobs at worst. But while New York braces for the economic fallout, one group is benefiting -- psychotherapists.

Bankers suffering from anxiety or depression and looking for pills or deep therapy are making beelines for the couch. And for some it has gotten so bad they want to quit the money game forever. "I had a guy say to me, 'I want your job," said psychologist and career coach Marilyn Puder-York.

While it is difficult to quantify demand, five therapists who serve the banking community all said in interviews their business from Wall Street is up in recent months. Alden Cass, a psychologist and trading coach in New York who works extensively with Wall Street traders, estimated that his clients have increased by about 25% since March, when JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed to buy Bear Stearns and the stock market tumbled.

Several psychologists said that the events in March led to a spike in referrals, as Wall Street professionals saw just how quickly their job security could be taken away. "Traders are more stressed, more uncomfortable, more fearful about how the year's going to turn out, and less confident than they have been in years," said Ari Kiev, psychiatrist and founder of the Social Psychiatry Research Institute.

Kiev has been working with traders for 15 years and said this is the most stressful year for his clients he has experienced. Typical are the traders facing losses who double their positions in last-chance bids to recoup gains -- only to face more than double the losses they had previously. They abandon a trading strategy and become governed by their emotions, Kiev said.

"Once they are in a hole, psychologically, they start panicking," said Kiev, who notes that these traders start to doubt their ability. "They think, 'Maybe I was only successful because I was lucky."'

NOT KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES
This hasn't been a normal downturn on Wall Street. The year-long credit crisis has been traumatic for some bankers who have had their bank accounts, their career prospects and their self-esteem damaged....

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world...

Buddhism and Business
By Jon Nagelmakers (NewsVine)

It seems that Buddhism is making its way into business, with monks helping run the show. When one thinks of Buddhist monks, the images of meditation, tranquility, and nature seem to come to mind first and foremost. But now the teachers of Buddhism are starting to come back in a big way with technology.

Take the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai, a temple which has been around for 120 years and now, thanks to recent pushes into the business world, owns a restaurant, a four-star hotel, a food factory, and a seven-story office building. The Jade Buddha has grown to the extent that it is putting a group of its monks through courses at the Shanghai International Studies University for the study of foreign languages, and another group is just starting at Jiaotong's business school to, of course, get their MBAs.

The Jade Buddha is not the only temple that has made good use of the recent surge in interest in Buddhism and the Orient. The Shaolin Temple in Henan province owns both a martial arts school and a company that produces vegetarian snacks and Zen tea, Shaolin Development. Shaolin also has been promoting its reputation as a birth place of the martial arts by holding international events.

• BeliefNet: Balancing Business with Buddha
• PodNova: Buddhism in the Business World
• Journal of Buddhist Ethics: Business Limits