I posted a few videos on YouTube from our Sungod Abscondo concert last night in Presov. The song A System is posted here, and several more are available here. 

I don't know if people like us ever feel content. I don't think people were designed to feel content. Where did we get the idea that we should? We are only products of evolution. Everything we are, everything we think, everything we feel is only a function of evolution. If a creature is content, it will only lay in the sun and get eaten.

The trick is to use that discontent, that angst, that desire, in a way that makes us more fit to survive and thrive in this cruel world. Modern societies make us live so far from nature. I suppose it started with the oppression of the Church those hundreds or thousands of years ago...and carries on to the way we've constructed our societies.

We are taught that we should be happy and content.
We are taught that we should be disciplined and under control.
We are taught that pleasure is dangerous and a sign of weakness.
We are taught to feel guilt about our truest, deepest feelings.
We are taught that women are second to men, when you are the truly intelligent ones...your deepest intuition is what our species needs most.

The only thing I've ever found that resembles peace, if only for a moment, comes when I listen to those thoughts and feelings inside of me.  It comes when I block out the judgments of the world and, instead, use the judgments of nature that come from inside. When I have found other people to co-exist in the same way....that is the only true peace I've found...the only true validation of my existence. To exist or to coexist with the knowledge that what is human, dirty, and imperfect is exactly what is perfect. To understand that this sick society -- with it's medicines, vices, experts, and psychotherapists -- is the sickness (not what's inside of me).

To know this is to understand that life, as lived on the outside, to the outside world, is merely a game. These aren't really things we should fight. We should try to live in accordance with those unavoidable factors (the ridiculous creation of money, property, morality, and arbitrary rules), but we should never look at those things as anything other than a game.

Your feelings are perfectly healthy and perfectly attractive. Your doubts are only the cancer of society seeping through your skin. Your questions are only nature itself living through you.

You are as you are. What is just is. Your uniqueness is the reason for your life. This is true for you and it is true for all of us.

So go out and play the game, but know what is truly valuable. Don't let the world punish you with its judgments or expectations. Take what you want, but don't let those things dull you.  Try not to harm anyone or anything.  Find peace in beauty and the strength to face the ugliness of the next day.

Just some thoughts on a sunny Tuesday morning...

The album is so new that not many reviews have come forth yet, but I wanted to share this review from a UK blog:

"I reviewed the first Abscondo album a while ago, and actually still listen to it a fair bit. So I was actually quite nervous about downloading the second one in case it didn’t live up to my expectations. Thankfully Stages builds on Midnight Snow, whilst at the same time not deviating too much from the style that made the first album so enthralling. It’s mainly all about the lyrics, which make me think a lot, and which are both political and personal without making me feel uncomfortable. There are also a couple of melodies that stick in my head like glue, which makes me think I’ll be dipping in to this album over and over again.

It’s availabe for free from Jamendo, and from the artist’s website, and available to buy from iTunes."

Just click on the song links here for the lyrics.

On October 28th, 2005, I wrote a post about the Achilles Heel of the Bush Administration.  I was correct in that analysis.

Today I think it is also apparent that what was once Obama's greatest strength will prove to be his greatest weakness in the years to come.  Barack Obama got to where he is largely because of is win-win approach to problem-solving.  He'd much rather work together than pick fights.  He'd rather work with the Republicans than work against them.

I agree with this philosophy to a large degree.  It is, after all, how I conduct my life.  I don't wage wars I can't win.  I look for a win-win-win in every situation and believe that, in most cases, there is no real conflict in a situation.  However, I don't think this philosophy works in the position of President of the USA. 

When faced with the bankers robbing and looting the treasury, when dealing with the fact that the Bush Administration committed war crimes, it isn't enough to play nice.  If the current government fails to punish war crimes, fails to punish the subjugation of the U.S. Constitution over the past 8 years, fails to convict the hundreds of bankers who have committed fraud against the American people, then all of these behaviors will only continue.

By definition, until someone enforces the law, the rule of law is dead.  Good intentions fall far short.

Even the best man cannot rule in the absence of the rule of law.  If President Obama is unable or unwilling to fight, his Presidency will fail and so will our country.  To a large extent, when it comes to military and financial matters, his Presidency is demonstrating as much puppetry as did Bush.  We are being ruled by the same runaway system.  If there is any hope at real change, President Obama needs to fight criminality and corruption or die trying.