Why the "I" in pIece?

A few fellow Egos have asked My Ego what the capital "I" is to represent in the pIece Now post. My Ego tries to not reveal such hidden meanings, allow readers to grapple with the meaning of meanings. While the interpretations that each reader may project onto My Ego's intended meaning also hold true, My Ego certainly can explain My Ego's Ego.

In all the shards of glass, I is (t)here. I, friends, is you is I. No matter your political slant, skin color, gender, sexual orientation, love of hate or Rick Warren--the broken glass at our feet is a mess we are all responsible for. To place blame at this point would be to fundamentally misinterpret time's ever-present unfolding, Now.

There is no other way to create the Integral stained glass mosaic without first seeing I in every pIece, taking responsibility for each, and finding the most effective and efficient means of gluing them together.

I is in every pIece.*

*Please don't confuse I with My Ego. They [are/not] the same.

pIece Now

The Glass House of America has been shattered. My Ego will not waste words on the building of the glass house, or how it became broken. The undeniable fact is that the house has been shattered to pieces, which now lay in smoldering, colored piles across the country, as glass dust particles spread throughout the world via the winds of cyclic change.

The shards now cutting our bare feed leave us with two distinct options: keep walking on them until we bleed to death, or find ways to take the pieces; big and small, colorful and black and white, with every nuance of opacity, and glue them back together into a stained-glass mosaic structure of beIng like nothing before.

While many will fearfully run around yelling to the heavens with a fist full of glass, throwing shards at those with different types and colors of glass trying to get one last cut into the Other, there will be those of us collecting the pieces for imminent use. The key to our new Now is in developing many new types of glue with which to build the new stained glass mosaic. Some of the glue will dry hard as a rock, while some will be porous and allow light and subtle substance to shine through. We'll focus on the glue, and we'll find the right glue for the right glass.

There will still, and always, be those throwing the shards at each other, but their fists will eventually grow too bloody to have any real effect. Meanwhile, when the mosaic first starts to come together, we'll be too close to it for it to make any sense. We'll see only colors and pieces, and of course the glue. Yet, as we continue to pIece the artwork together, we'll slowly step away from the window, and we'll begin to see Shapes. Forms. Characters. Narratives. Stories. Forms based on reciprocity. Characters who's motives transcend to the greater good, while including our selves in doing so. Narratives that prove the values of both/and over the division of either/or. Stories that include other's narratives, different culture's characters, yet... the same Universal Forms.

Let us not forget that this is indeed still a window-Being; a substantive surface that allows light to pass through it in both directions. There will always be a window between isIng and the Light, yet it's up to those putting the pieces back together to shape a new window to refract the Light so shed as far and wide as possible.

We are the leaders of the Integral generation. We are those willing to tell a new story by pIecing the old ones together in our inclusive, ever-evolving image.

It's time, frienemies, to pIece Now.

~mIe

Naive Irony

8 years ago, a new century arrived with an ever-increasing set of dichotomies, further dividing our country into the polarized camps that seem to come so easily to us. Meanwhile, the small but rising group of Integrators danced between the two, looking for any ground of mutual respect with which to grow a new system of values based on reciprocal development.

In the new millennium, My Ego has lost count of the number of times My Ego has been accused of being "naive" in the face of said polarity. Soon after the attacks of 9/11, My Ego repeatedly called for a new energy economy based on independence from foreign oil and creation of a new energy economy based on sustainable principles. Using the "energy" gained from 9/11 to our advantage, there was never a better time to come together and re-purpose that energy into... new energy.

My Ego even began developing the foundation for the business My Ego runs to this day, with the mission statement "Developing Sustainability Through Creativity." My Ego based this decision on a predicted rise in "green" marketing and an infusion of capital into the green movement. My Ego can't keep track of the number of times My Ego was accused of being young and naive, laughed at for being overly idealistic and that one day, My Ego would "understand how things really are." Naive, indeed.

Looking back, it seems a cliche argument, yet My Ego fought hard against the Iraq war from day one. Let's be clear: My Ego was not "anti-war", in fact My Ego argued at the time for the proliferation of strategic dis-integration of fundamentalist networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, through military and information warfare. My Ego called out the utter lack of respectable rationale for the Iraq invasion, the lack of any real evidence for invading outside of adding fuel to the flames of the Military Industrial Complex... surely, My Ego was the naive, unseasoned judge of international politics.

The list could go on and on, but let's skip to the grand finale of this thesis.

The greatest of My Ego's naive insight of them all... support of our president elect, Barack Obama. The day after the DNC convention in 2004, My Ego sent an email out to friends and family, and will never forget bringing to work the same message: the man who gave the keynote address would be the next president of the United States. The redicule and laughter received can not be understated; for four years My Ego stood hard and fast against this claim. No way a black man could ever be president against the vitriol of Palin's America, none the less the primary against the Clinton machine.

And now, the crux of the post, and the twisted questions that stands before My Ego. Despite the actual outcomes of the examples given, the fact My Ego still supports the president elect further proves My Ego's naivite, so the argument goes.

Thus, despite the fact that My Ego has been vindicated as spot-on for many of the most fundamental issues of the new millenium, despite that My Ego has proven to the nay-sayers that the impossible is possible, that hope can prevail over fear, that inclusion can win over diviseness, My Ego is still accused of being naieve. "You'll see," say the self-fulfilling prophetic ignoramists.

What exactly will it take to be respected as a human being making focused, calculated and honest decisions that seek to include the finer points of both sides of the argument, without detracting from commonality of either? Will that day ever come?

Time, in it's enduring ever-presence, will tell...

Debate #1: Read My Ego's Review

In the form of a letter to My Ego's college rhetoric/debate professor. My Ego was a Rhetoric major, afterall...


Dr K-

I [MY EGO] agree with you that McCain showed stronger ethos in his prowess in foreign policy, and overall won on points. Yet, as you say, his body language was quite unsettling, and I'm [MY EGO] afraid his claims for 'reaching across the aisle' come off quite contradictory when he clearly holds contempt for Obama and the dems.

I [MY EGO] can't say I [MY EGO] agree with you on the "I agree" soundbite. This only further proves that Obama has the capacity to see simultaneous existing truths that compose a greater context. If the McCain camp makes a commercial using them, the Obama camp can respond with this message, and show clip after clip of their spiteful, angry opponent.

Obama continues to show he is as "presidential" a candidate I've [MY EGO] ever seen, but I [MY EGO] do think there is lots of room for improvement. Specifically, I [MY EGO] think he needs to focus more on individual, emotionally-charged words. He emphasizes the point he makes with a well-crafted sentence. He needs to find the important words, hone in, stress them, repeat them passionately. The best example of this was when he was talking about how McCain won't meet with the predident of Spain... "I mean, SPAIN!". More of that impassioned focus on single words... not that the Spain example is substantively what I mean, but it has the passion side.

Also, I [MY EGO] can't believe Obama isn't going at McCain harder on the facts of the surge. There is mounting evidence that the surge came after the Shia sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing had already wiped out much of the Sunni population, especially in Baghdad.

Ethnic cleansing the real cause.

Strategic missions led to reduction in violence pre-surge.

McCain disagreed with the surge.


Just the evidence in those three stories alone should be top focus of Obama. The surge is all McCain has.

That's where I'm [MY EGO] at. Make me a pundit! ; )

Best,

My Ego



Hi [MY EGO'S REAL NAME],

I have been in Chicago working with Greek TV on a documentary on the campaign. I did not have time to do any commentary on radio or TV, but will give a talk on the conventions here on October 23. In terms of authoritativeness, it appeared to me that McCain showed great knowledge on foreign affairs, and Obama made the "soundbite" mistake of agreeing with him on 8 occasions. Those will be pulled together into an ad, count on it. In terms of communication, McCain made the mistake of not looking at Obama, thus giving the impression that he was either nervous or rude, neither very good nonverbal messages. This is the same behavior that hurt Gore in 2000 and Bush in 2004, and because the public and the media will slowly begin to focus less on issues and more on communicativeness, Obama wins the debate. That's my take. How about you?

K

Hollywood Script Brief: Hockey Mom

Feature Film Brief
by My Ego

Hockey Mom

In a world dominated by men in power, the unthinkable becomes a reality after a bat-shit crazy old Vietnam POW survivor makes a brash, politically dazzling move by bringing a self proclaimed "Hockey Mom" PTA leader onto his presidential ticket as VP.

Small town hockey moms rejoice, while the incredibly condescending, clueless mom of 5 solicits health care advice from her pregnant 17 year old daughter. She consults her fisherman-husband, who's boat trolls the seas east of Russia, for foreign policy advice as Putin lines up nuclear missiles along the Poland border. American Idol winners are installed in cabinet positions, while America's Biggest Loser 2008 becomes head of the FDA.

Meanwhile, the Democratic candidate and now jailed traitor, Senator Muhammad Osama Ahmadinejad looks on from his Guantanimo jail cell in peril as Hockey Mom is foreced to make the ultimate decision of all: whether to have her youngest daughter, now 11, abort the incestual love-child born out of wedlock with her Downs Syndrom boy, age 7.

RNC Strategic Tag Cloud for 2008 Presidential Campaign

sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism nigger sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism

The Most Important Experience of All: Media Hype Overload

EclecticMethod's Media Hype Overload from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

We all now know the contrasts in experience between Obama and Palin, as they have been hashed over in the media quite a bit in the past few days.

However, My Ego has seen no mention of what My Ego considers the most important experience of all: Media Vetting, and how each candidate deals with it. My Ego isn't making a case for either candidate, rather pointing out the lack of coverage and analysis, of what My Ego believes to be the most important type of experience now needed to be president.

We've now had the past 20 months of "vetting" Mr. Obama, who has stood in the bright spotlight off media onslaught that has come his way. Between Reverend Wright, Ayers, Rezco, his whitey-hating wife, and all the rest, we've seen how Obama has handled the big media machine on a daily basis. Political or executive experience aside, this is the very experience that is most needed, for better or worse (likely worse), when it comes to 21st century politics.

Within a mere 72 hours, we say Mrs. Palin only getting the first glimpses of what she'll soon face; between her 17 year-old daughter's pregnancy, to the questioning of her mothering of the four month old Down Syndrome baby, to the brother-in-law firing scandle, we've only just begun to see how Mrs. Palin will handle what will only be more and more attention over the next eight weeks.

Barack Obama: The Tiger Woods of Michael Jordan

As evidenced by last night's sweeping oratory in front of 85,000 screaming fans, it has never been more clear that in the context of Michael Jordan, no one is more Tiger Woods-like than Barack Obama.

Obama was swooshing rhetorical three-pointers with the ease, grace and intensity of Woods staring down a putt on the 72 hole at the Masters. The ultimate test of true greatness is how a Michael Jordan steps up to the line in moments of the highest pressure; Obama once again proved that such high-pressure situations are where he shines most, as he and the Democrats won the playoffs, now invigorated for the Finals in November.

"We haven't seen a Michael Jordan give a speech like this since my big brother nailed that half-court, at-the-buzzer allegory at the LA Coliseum in 1960," said a tearful Senator (D) Ted Kennedy shortly after the speech.

It goes without saying that Obama's moment in Denver was one that shatters all prior precedent for a Michael Jordan, by showcasing the junior senator's ability to unify his team by opening the evening by passing the ball to his own Scotty Pippen, senator Hillary Rodam Clinton, who led the team to the final game of the series after a career performance of her own on Tuesday.

Despite the glowing reviews and mind-numbing post-game assessments of the mainstream media, the McCain team dismissed Obama's Tiger Woodsness as a thin, plastic facade that is not ready to lead the nation in a time of war. "After the Nike endorsements, the celebrity parties and rock-star performances, there isn't much about Obama's Michael Jordan that can even compare to Tiger Woods," said McCain chief of staff Mark Salter.

The Republican playoffs end next week, where McCain is the odds-on favorite to take the crown as the Ben Hogan of Bob Pettit.

Why There is No Hope For America, in Three Easy Links

Dear All with IQ's above 100,

Get your passports ready...

First this.

Then this..

And, finally, this...

Sigh..

~mIe