Just a quick note to my readers that I’ve been quite busy, still here, and still well. Of course, I’ve been absorbed by the dramatic and wonderful election process, and thrilled with the outcome. I truly believe Barack Obama is the first truly “Integral” major party politician, and his victory is an opportunity not only for political change but for cutting new grooves in consciousness.

I haven’t had the time to blog about the presidential election or other national issues (especially Proposition 8, which has been on my mind much), because I’ve been busily working on my forthcoming book Kronology over these past two weeks. I’m at the stage of writing where many seemingly intractible problems have finally been overcome, leading to new stages of awareness regarding the book’s underlying system of thought.

Regarding Kronology, I will say that I’ve settled on an order for publishing the first few volumes, and it appears that the first volume will be an introductory overview of the new “symbolic ordering system”. Although this may hardly seem like a flash of great insight to others, it does give me a helpful and necessary way of limiting the first book’s size and scope.

Of course, being busy means I have been negligent in posting my “EQUAL Views” column. So much for my effort at writing at a daily frequency (even if my intention was only to do posts on most, but not all, weekdays). Nevertheless, I do plan to continue the column at a very regular frequency, beginning with a few updates next week, followed by a week off for a planned vacation, and then posts on a fairly regular schedule (possibly Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). [...]

Scientists need to better understand framing, MIT professor says; new photos of Heath Ledger in last role; Obama’s “Lucifer problem”; problems in rebuilding a broken Iraq.

Inquiry: What’s Going On?
MIT Professor: Even our brightest minds often lack the required mental frameworks and models to accurately interpret science. Alan Greenspan shows humility and remorse: “Yes, I’ve found a flaw. I don’t know how significant or permanent it is. But I’ve been very distressed by that fact.” … Hugo Schwyzer: “Our faith must permeate sex.” … Examines the idea of “Jesus as Lover”.	New photos of Heath Ledger, acting in his final role for film “The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus.” … He’s wearing a mask. … Researchers: The eye and its connections to the brain are surprisingly open to evolutionary change. … With electroretinography, mice have even been changed to allow them to see in new colors. … How plants learn to defend themselves against their insect enemies.
America’s Brand: Foreigners prefer Obama 4:1. … Europe: “Across the Continent, Bush hatred has been replaced by Obama-mania.” … Obama’s associations now include Lucifer. … FOX blogger wants McCain to press the satanic connection: “Do you think that admiring a Lucifer-admirer would make a difference to some voters?” … Andrew Sullivan: “The closet leads many closeted gay men to adopt far right politics.”	Survey: 50 percent of doctors give placebo treatments. … Institutional pressures in time-constrainted environment partially responsible. … Reconstructing Iraq: Money isn’t a problem for development agencies working to rebuild. … But advisors face massive structural problems: paper-based accounting systems, violence against government employees, the blackmarket, etc.
Holon of the Day: The Telescope

An instrument usually consisting of an eyepiece and a lense set into a tube, used for making distant objects appear larger. The first telescopes were probably those appearing in 1608 CE in the Netherlands Hans Lippershey, Zacharias Janssen, and Jacob Metius.

“The mall shooting in the crucial swing state of Iowa… 4 of those killed were Democrats, and 6 were Republicans…”

A tube, usually made of wood, containing a core of graphite and used for writing or drawing. Sticks were first cut from naturally occuring graphite in England in the 1860s CE.

Oliver Stone’s “W” movie reviewed in all four quadrants: Bush’s motives, his behaviors, the cultural reference points, and the damage inflicted on the world by a failed presidency.

Inquiry: What Does Oliver Stone’s “W” Tell Us About George W. Bush?
Entertainment Weekly: “The fascinating, clumsy rhythms of blind men trying to describe an elephant (a Republican pachyderm), bravely fronted by one intrepid explorer with his eyes wide open, looking for nuance” … Roger Ebert: “If there is a saving grace, it may be that Bush will never fully realize how badly he did. How can he blame himself? He was only following God’s will.” … Me: Bush’s motivations seem surprisingly easy to read; low hanging fruit for a biopic.	Roger Ebert: “In his presence, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice tend to defer, to use tact as a shield from his ego and defensiveness. But Cheney’s soft-spoken, absolutely confident opinions are generally taken as truth.” … Marc Ambinder: “Powell, in a meeting at Bush’s ranch, warning Bush that if he ‘breaks’ Iraq, he’ll have to buy it.” … Me: Bush’s actions are bumbling, incompetent, and have grave consequences.
Entertainment Weekly: “The director fixes on the Freudian through-line in a Greek tragedy/SNL comedy.” … Marc Ambinder: “The story Stone presents has been told over and over, creating grooves in the brains of Bush-haters… Bush’s religious conversion is treated sensitively and believably” … Me: Bush rose to power on the basis of his everyman, frat-boy personality, religious conversion, and privilege.	Roger Ebert: “One might feel sorry for George W. at the end of this film, were it not for his legacy of a fraudulent war and a collapsed economy.” … Me: The monumental failures of the Bush legacy–the war debacles, worsening climate change, the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, the collapse of the GOP–are brushed over. Stone’s omission gives the film a certain lightweight, SNL skit quality that feels tragically inappropriate.
Holon of the Day: The Pencil