In the News (from the Pew Research Center): “…A national survey by the Pew Research Center finds increasing public pessimism about developments in the Middle East. …

“Doubts have spread about the political direction of countries swept up in the Arab Spring protests that began almost two years ago. Nearly six-in-ten Americans (57%) do not believe the changes in the Middle East will lead to lasting improvements for people living in the affected countries, up sharply from 43% in April 2011.

“And a majority of Americans (54%) continue to say it is more important to have stable governments in the Middle East, even if there is less democracy in the region.”

My Comment: Perhaps, it is not too late to stop, and even in the summer of 2011 they tried to provoke unrest and revolution in Israel. Americans are not doing well in planning the future. The USSR collapsed and ruined all the socialist countries. Today, we are witnessing the sunset of the US. Russia is gradually undergoing restructuring, but will the US be able to change to a new format? Nature has presented a challenging task of transition to an integral world. Difficult times are ahead. For the time being, flexibility of thinking is not seen in any country.
[91035]

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Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 5: We must first understand why the Torah was given specifically to the Israeli nation and not to all the peoples of the world equally. Is there, God forbid, nationalism involved here? Of course, only an insane person would think that. In fact, our sages have examined this question, and this is what they meant by their words (Avoda Zarah 2): “God gave it to every nation and tongue and they did not accept it.”

But what they find bewildering is why, then, were we called “the chosen people,” as it is written: “The Lord thy God has chosen thee” (Deuteronomy 7:6), since there was no other nation that wanted it? Moreover, there is a fundamental question in the matter: Can it be that the Creator came with His law in His hands to negotiate with those savage peoples? Such a thing has never been heard of and is completely unacceptable.

The upper Light brought the Babylonians the feeling of the shattering, the feeling of destruction, the feeling of a crisis, when everything fell apart before their very eyes. People felt hatred and an inability to sustain themselves.

So what did they do? The same thing that we do when a family cannot live together anymore, the parents separate and get divorced.

In fact it was a very clever solution, and they did the right thing: “Why should we torture one another? Let’s separate, you go to one side and I will go to the other.” This is also what Abraham said to Lot: “You go to the right and I will go to the left, or you can go to the left and I will go to the right. You choose which way you want to go. We shouldn’t go the same way, why should we fight?”

This is how the crisis in ancient Babel was solved. It raised the collective question: “What should we do?” And as an answer, some began to think about the purpose of life and about what to do with this life; how to raise it to a higher level, while others pursued their self-benefit in order to simply manage in life.

Of course, the crisis brings along troubles. Here there should be an external awakening, some pressure that makes a person feel bad. The new phase doesn’t just arrive, but is accompanied by some blow by fate. The masses encounter massive disasters, which leave them on the same level but with the question: “How do we get along? Perhaps we should create new situations? Revolutions for example? Or perhaps some element of bestowal, an internal or an external one?” The other, small part is evoked by being drawn from Above. So the Creator turns to everyone, but only a few who connect wake up and they are called the “nation of Israel.”
[91112]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

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Opinion (Vince Cable, UK Secretary of State for Business): “Europe could be plunged into war if the euro collapses, Vince Cable warned… .

“’We tend to forget, until we were reminded last week of that Nobel Prize, the European project was constructed in order to rescue Europe from extreme nationalism and conflict. There is no automatic guarantee that won’t return.’ The Business Secretary described the euro as ‘very valuable’ and said the UK would ‘be heard very loudly if it does unravel.’

“He added: ‘My sense is that the Germans in particular realise how much is at stake. A series of sensible measures have been taken in recent months.

“‘I think deep down there is enough common sense and a sense of survival to prevent this getting out of control. If it does, I’m afraid the consequences for us will be awful.’”

My Comment: The problem is not in the euro and not even in Europe, but in the general program of human evolutionary development. Humanity must move to the next state, similarity to Nature, meaning unity and reasonable consumption. Unity, because in this we level our egoism and become like all parts of nature, interconnected with it. Reasonable consumption, because in this we are in equilibrium with the still, vegetative, and animate nature.

Through this change in ourselves, we go out of our egoism and begin to feel the next level of nature, the sphere of bestowal, besides the sphere of receiving in which we exist for the time being. So, the euro plays just a small role, pushing us towards the change.
[91127]

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Opinion (Jane Jones,  David Wong): ”If 80s movies taught us anything, it’s that at some point you’re going to run into a mysterious relic that lets you switch bodies with other people.

“Would you use it? But let’s say the artifact doesn’t let you choose, but will instead switch you randomly with one of the other six billion people on the planet. Virtually nobody will take that deal, for fear they’d switch with some poor villager in Nigeria.

“So what does that say about us? Well, according to experts, it says almost everything we think about what would make us happy is dead wrong. Let’s look at the five things we’re most wrong about…

“#5 Fame…

“This is brand new to humanity, for thousands of years, material goods and security dominated. Now, fame is at the top. Obviously part of the reason is the perception that anybody can get famous these days–reality TV and YouTube have proven that you can become a celebrity for doing not a…thing. But there’s another, less obvious factor. And it explains why so many famous people are miserable.

“So What’s the Problem

“Experts say where you find kids who desperately want to be famous, you find a history of neglect at home. Parents were either absent completely or, at best, emotionally distant…. It turns out the whole surge in aspirations for fame came right along with the explosion of single parents and ‘broken’ homes. Only half of today’s children live with their original two parents.

“You can see how this sad mechanism works in the attention-starved mind. The kid is programmed by biology to love a parent, but the parent doesn’t return the love. Fame lets them turn the tables on that arrangement. When you’re famous, millions love you, but you don’t even know their names. It’s purely one-sided. They wait for hours in the cold for your autograph, you barely glance at them on the way to your limo. You get to take their love and wipe your…with it, the same as your parents did to you.

“But it turns out that kind of massive, paper-thin adoration is a poor substitute. Famous people are four times as likely to commit suicide as the rest of us (…you’d think it’d be higher–everybody reading this has seen more than one of their favorite performers self-destruct).

“#4 Wealth…

“Hey, remember when we said earlier that most people wouldn’t do the body-switching thing for fear they’d wake up in Nigeria? Well according to surveys, Nigerians are happier with their lives than the people of any other country.

“The USA came in 16^th.

Hey, did we mention that the average Nigerian makes $300 a year? That’s less than a hundredth of what the average American makes. America being the country that hands out 120 million prescriptions for anit-depressants every year.

“China is turning into a great object lesson in this, as their economy explodes and incomes skyrocket, but levels of happiness and personal satisfaction are dropping at the same rapid rate.

“There’s a couple of reasons for it. First, your brain adjusts feelings of happiness downward after you’ve reached some goal or other. It regulates the good feelings, presumably so that you have motivation to reach the next goal instead of just lounging by the pool for the rest of your days. …

“#3. Beauty…

“Yes, being physically attractive has concrete advantages. Attractive people earn more, get better grades, have better jobs and find more successful partners than average or ugly people. Strangers are more likely to help them in a crisis. They have wider social circles.

“So What’s the Problem

“Remember, we’re talking about happiness here, not success. For one, attractive people have the same self-esteem problems the ugly people do. Like money, attractiveness is relative and if you’re hotter than your friends, at that stage you start comparing yourself to people in the media. You know, like the magazine covers we mentioned before, the ones that that have had the living…Photoshopped out of them. …

“#2.Genius

“We’re using the broader definition of the word “genius” here, meaning anyone with an extraordinary talent or skill. …

“Want to know what it’s like to live life as a genius? All you have to do is go hang around with the stupidest, most incompetent people you know. Cringe at their stupid jokes, feel the frustration as they fumble even the easiest tasks and fail to grasp the simplest concepts. Being a genius must be like that, only everyday. Everyone is an idiot compared to them. They’re living Idiocracy. …

“If you’re not the Einstein kind of genius, it doesn’t matter, any situation where you’re 10 levels above your coworkers is going to be daily frustration. If you’re a genius at spreading concrete, that feeling only occurs to you in the form of everyone else being sloppy and helpless. No wonder they wind up treating people like dirt.

“Not that you’d have time for friends anyway. Genius takes practice. Lots of it. …

“All of this is a great recipe for the stereotypical depressed, moody genius who dies alone and bitter.

“Wait, it Gets Worse…

“If your genius lies in some kind of creative field, then there’s a good chance you have actual mental illness to deal with. While only one percent of the population suffers from bipolar disorder, it is claimed that 50 percent of poets, 38 percent of musicians and 20 percent of painters have it. It’s just part of the package.

“Compare the number of great musical innovators who have died of suicide or drug overdose versus, say, the number of plumbers who have died the same way. It might be better to just stand in the poop all day.

“#1.Power…

“…power is what everything else on this list is about. Fame is about having power in the relationship with the fans. Beauty is about gaining power through others’ sexual desire and jealousy. Genius means society needs your skills more than you need its approval. Money . . . well, money and power are conjoined twins. …

“So What’s the Problem

“Maybe you’re eying the kind of job where you’ll be the boss, or maybe you want to go into law enforcement. Or maybe you’re just driven by that bitter, unspoken urge almost all of us feel at least once in our youth: ‘I’ll show them! I’ll show them all.’…

“It has nothing to do with the ‘culture of corruption in Washington DC’ the Libertarians are always talking about. You find it everywhere, from the…supervisor to the bitter gym coach. Small people driven to mindless, unethical behavior, drunk on just a few drops of…power. They often can’t make friends, their marriages end badly, they self destruct. The world is full of these miniature, sad Tony Montanas, destined for a proverbial bloody downfall.”

My Comment: Research shows that friendship, altruism, and community service bring happiness and satisfaction. Detachment from attempts to arrange personal, individual happiness and focus on others is what makes happiness possible.
[91030]

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In the News (from Rabobank): “Skyrocketing agricultural commodity prices are causing the world to re-enter a period of “agflation”, with food prices forecast to reach record highs in 2013 and to continue to rise well into Q3 2013. Unlike the staple grain shortage of 2008, this year’s scarcity will affect feed intensive crops with serious repercussions for the animal protein and dairy industries. …

“Rabobank estimates that the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Food Price Index will rise by 15% by the end of June 2013. In order for demand rationing to take place, in turn encouraging a supply response, prices will need to stay high. As such Rabobank expects prices – particularly for grains and oilseeds – to remain at elevated levels for at least the next 12 months.”

“While the impact of higher food prices should be reduced by favorable macroeconomic fundamentals (low growth, lower oil prices, weak consumer confidence, and a depreciated U.S. dollar), interventionist government policies could exacerbate the issue. Stockpiling and export bans are a distinct possibility in 2012/13, as governments seek to protect domestic consumers from increasing food prices. Increased government intervention will likely encourage further increases in world commodity and food prices.

“Rabobank expects that localized efforts to increase stockpiles will prove counterproductive at the global level, with those countries least able to pay higher prices likely to see greater moves in domestic food price inflation. This is a vicious circle, with governments committing to domestic stockpiling and other interventionist measures earlier than usual—recognizing the risk of being left out as exportable stocks decline further.

“On top of that, Rabobank warns that global food stocks have not been replenished since 2008, leaving the market without any buffer to adverse growing conditions. Efforts by governments to rebuild stocks are likely to add to food prices and take supplies off the market at a time when they are most needed.”

My Comment: If we distribute food equally among all the population, it will be enough for everybody. The problem is not in the quantity of food, but in its distribution, that is, in human relations. So, we are not facing a food crisis, but a crisis of distribution.

Incidentally, the word “crisis” means “opportunity” in Chinese; if we use it properly, we all have enough.
[91131]

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In the News (from Euronews): “Doctors, lawyers and journalists were among those who went on strike in Greece, on the eve of a national day of action against the latest bout of belt-tightening and reforms.

“They protested in front of the finance ministry over tougher tax and social security measures they claim are crippling their professions.”

My Comment: This results from the improper organization of the population, or rather its absence. They should organize all in integral education courses with free food for all the students until the economy reaches the level of reasonable consumption.
[90809]

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In the News (from The Wall Street Journal): “German corporate and consumer bankruptcies jumped in July from a year ago, according to official data released Friday, a lagging indicator that growth in the euro zone’s largest economy is slowing amid a financial crisis in the region.

“The number of companies that declared themselves insolvent, and therefore unable to discharge liabilities, increased 1.9% in July to 2,580, not including the German state of Saarland. Consumer bankruptcies rose by 2.8% to 8,960 cases, according to Destatis, the German Federal Statistics Office. Together with the insolvencies of other debtors and private estates, total insolvencies in July reached 13,783, an increase of 2.5% on last year.”

My Comment: The most powerful states fall last because they exist at the expense of the weak, but they fall more forcefully and more painfully than the weak, which can lead, as in the past, to war.
[90744]

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According to modern science, the universe originated about 14 billion years ago. Some “spark,” completely not material, with a plan concealed within it, marked the beginning of the formation of matter. It was a spark of energy that included within it the design, desire, and ultimately, the whole fabric of our universe.

Just imagine, a myriad of stars and galaxies from this one spark. The thought, the plan, is able to give birth to matter without any limits. Another billion stars? Here you are! We simply aren’t able to grasp the difference between the levels of our world and this spark. His plan activated the development of matter up to the human level.

And now, a person living on this Earth, in our world, must knowingly, consciously, and voluntarily clarify what this spark is, the spark that created the universe. The spark wants man to discover it, to merge with it, with its thought and purpose, desire and intent.

Man is truly the crown of nature, but in the meantime only in potential. We will become the crown when we connect with this spark, when we understand what its thought is and what plan got realized from it, down to the appearance of humanity in our world.

All the other systems that lie below this thought were designed only to awaken a person to ascend the steps of the still, vegetative, and animate nature. One doesn’t control them; one can’t change anything there. In the end, one must awaken and rise higher in order to attain that same plan, that same thought of creation that created our entire universe and everything that exists in it.

This to where man’s development leads him; he must achieve it. By our leaning in this direction, we suddenly will feel the harmony between us as well as the harmony with the still, vegetative, and animate nature that is entirely governed from Above. We need to join the higher system, just like a person in our world searches for connection in the “higher circles,” and then all the lower systems will undoubtedly come into order. We, however, sink into the problems of the subsystems.

The general plan is built in such a way as to constantly put pressure on us, encouraging a connection with the “correct destination.” Thus, the reasons for unpleasant and painful events that threaten us with death and even the worst suffering aren’t worthwhile searching for. We can’t be cured from the diseases by treatments at the same level.

Actually, we can only take “tranquilizers” that will allow us to worry about the root of the problem. And on the contrary, by our trying to be satisfied by curing the symptoms, we only invite upon ourselves double beatings.
[90604]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/10/12

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In the News (from Euronews): “European leaders come together today in what is being billed as a summit to strengthen economic and monetary union.

“But at this, the fourth meeting this year, the debt crisis is as usual set to colour discussions as the 27 EU leaders look for a way to restore confidence in the euro.

“But the EU Commission is resting many of its hopes of securing the euro’s future on the setting up of a single banking supervisor under the ECB. It’s part of the banking union plan aimed at binding the 17 eurozone countries more closely together. But while the EU commission wants it in place by next year, agreement still has to be reached.”

My Comment: Integration will lead to conflicts at all levels without the implementation of integral education!
[90677]

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In the News (from Euronews): “Germany has cut its economic growth forecast in as the country finally starts to feel the effects of the eurozone credit crisis.

“The slowdown prediction comes as companies postpone investment, and the economy minister warned that turmoil in Germany’s main trading partners could hit exports in the second half of the year.

“Philipp Rösler said despite the stormy economic waters Germany is standing its ground and remains on track for growth.

“But he added: ‘The environment for the German economy has become more difficult overall, due to the eurozone debt crisis. The growth forecast for next year is therefore one percent. That is less than the 1.6 percent forecast in the spring.”

My Comment: This is the immediate future of the world. Everyone needs to prepare himself for the landing, so that it does not become an uncontrolled fall. Through the implementation of integral education for the population it is possible to make the descent with the benefit for everyone, and although in the end, consumption and the economy will shrink to a reasonable level, the population will feel more comfortable than it ever has.
[90613]

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