With admiration, and at times awe, I sometimes sneak a glance at the Beijing Olympics. The one thing that strikes me is the fact that the athletes got to this level from one thing: training, training, training, practice, practice, practice. This is something I point out in White Fat Cow — you have to set up a schedule of practice for something you really want, and then stick to it religiously, with discipline. That’s how they all achieved sports excellence, and the rights to even compete at the Olympic Games.

Naturally you know I want to pull this into the topic of meditation, or cultivation. If you don’t do the same — if you just pursue spiritual cultivation haphazardly, then we can say another life is wasted. You won’t achieve anything without cultivation work and effort, and that requires practice. Practice requires either discipline or motivation, not just reading books, study and lectures. The best way to  practice is to force yourself to practice by setting up some schedule like Ben Franklin, Liao Fan, and other famous people. That’s how you attain proficiency and then excellence in any field. To just read about it is not enough. Go out and do it, achieve it. You can read White Fat Cow for more information.

White Fat Cow - I’ve never had a bad comment on it!

Now about the Olympics in general. I watched US swimmer Michael Phelps with admiration, and was amazed at the flexibility of his joints when I watched the underwater scenes of his legs and ankles. Do you know how you can increase your athleticism and sports proficiency? Zhealth.net. Get it, try it. It’s expensive, but one of the best things I’ve ever found for people, especially if you’re older. Phelps’s excellence reminds me of this training. If you work every joint through its full range of motion three times per day…and it only takes 10 minutes…you will see tremendous improvement in aches and pains, flexibility and performance. It’s expensive at $85 for the CD, but well worth it.

Zhealth.net….. R-Phase and then I-phase, if you like it and do it.

Now about the Olympics ceremony - marvelous. I don’t think anyone will be able to duplicate its excellence  …or be willing to spend the $80 million it took to create it.. I get a kick out of the fact that China replaced the little girl who sang the opening song with another who "looked prettier." The Chinese do things like this all the time. I remember reading years ago about how they used to try to cheat the world on how great Communism was. Officials would travel form the US and other countries, be brought to rural regions surrounded by lush agricultural fields, and would be told that this was normal for China everywhere. Smart (I should say "wise") officials would pull up and peer underneath the bottom of the tents and hunts that the Chinese said had been there for years, and plainly see the fresh grass proving the Chinese were faking things. Of course, many officials were not so wise, nor intellectuals, and bought into it. Ha Ha

Recently, some upper level Shaolin monks, from the famous Shaolin temple, told me that when Putin visits China from Russia, he loves to see marital arts competitions and brings Russian athletes for contests. Once he invited a match between his athletes and the famous Shaolin monks. This was just recently, mind you. Not wishing to lose the match and thereby "lose face," the Chinese worried that the monks weren’t good enough so they secretly went throughout China to find the best martial artists, shaved their heads and dressed them in monk’s robes,  claimed they were full time monks, and then let the competition begin. So when I see a 13-14 year old Chinese gymnast being passed off as 15 years or older, it’s the same story all over again.

I have so many stories about deception like this that people wouldn’t even believe them. I remember that one airline company in China, when starting out, bought a Boeing aircraft, and to get a second aircraft took out a loan on the first which was forbidden by contract. The insurance company said "no way, it’s the same plane" even though the Chinese tried to change the plane’s numbers and change all documents to that effect. But the company’s Chairman rallied every single department in China to change ALL paperwork for the plane within 3 days, and with a massive forgery campaign (of which he is still immensely proud today), presented the documents and then took the extra step of pushing for the firing of the poor insurance guy doing his job who claimed it was all faked. That’s China for you.

But this is not to take anything away from the excellence of the Chinese athletes. I’m just in the mood to tell stories today and tell you how the world really works. How does the world really work? Well Georgia recently INVADED South Ossetia WITHOUT PROVOCATION and started killing Russians there — over 2000 people. Russia responded, first with a UN request which was squashed, and then with an invasion to stop the genocide. Yes, this was "genocide." Everyone wants the US to go into Darfur and stop the killing, but we have no strategic interests there so nothing gets done. Russia didn’t wait around but just immediately went in and stopped the killing of its people. Georgia didn’t do this without the backing of the US, who supplies weapons to Georgia as does Israel, and the timing was chosen to make George Bush at the Olympics look totally innocent and uninvolved with the matter. You see, you must always play to appearances, just as the Chinese do. And by the way, this was a great strategic blunder because Russia will, in all likelihood, now sell missiles to Syria and Russia is likely to set up a base of operations in Cuba and give double tit-for-tat every time the US makes an aggressive or expansionist move. A good article for how blunderous the move was to encourage Georgia in its excursion:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/opinion/24steel.html

But here’s how the real world works — the US press makes it out like Russia is the bad guy for intervening to stop the killing of innocent civilians.  The comparison to the fact that we went into Iraq without any justification (as compared to the Russians) and are still there years later without an exit time-table (as opposed to our demands the Russians pull out immediately) is not brought up anywhere on TV. That is how the  real world works.  The guys in charge in Washington have pulled off another geopolitical blunder. I’ve the only book on how to win the world and rule the world out there and they keep violating every tenet within it to further the collapse of US hegemony and world prominence. See my book on Kuan Tzu strategies if you want to know how to gain world hegemony without looking like it, something these guys just don’t understand. 

Kuan Tzu strategies - how to rule the world, unite the world, become a world leader, turn your state into a superpower, get elected,etc.

Just over 50 years ago, Master Nan said the US had about 50 years left of good fortune being the number one country in the world. As the clock ticked by, he’d lower the number of years left and now the 50 year mark has passed with his words oh so true. The unwise military moves of the US, combined with the crumbling of the US monetary and economic system due to decades of debt proliferation and outsourcing to destroy its economic base are starting to show. But remember that our position of dominance means that the deterioration will take time, but you can see the seeds planted that almost cannot be reversed unless a sage were to come into office. Many of the wisest people I talk to share the same view, and quietly comment that the Bush changes re not something that can be reversed with 3-4 presidential elections.

By the way, the economic cycles show a depressional peak in 2014-2015, but strange enough, a fake market rebound in 2009-2010 for whatever reason. Who knows? Like Zimbabwe, where it took 10 or 15 years to really get a collapse going, things will go up and down and totter until they finally break. Like Jimmy Rogers, I don’t think the Fed will last though the next 20 years. Bernake is just an academic. Paulson is doing a fantastic job but Bernake is not up to it. Then again, we tend to never elect men into the Fed for brilliance but because they tend to be mediocre and won’t rock the boat. Volker was the last great one in the position of Fed chairman.

My only point is to make you wake up. For real news you can always search through www.Rense.com for the nuggets that will keep you informed of what’s really going on in the world. Ignore a lot of the crazy stuff but read the news from all over the world to piece together the real state of the union. I never watch TV news — useless since it’s all controlled by 4-5 large corporations. there used to be over 130 separate, independent,competitive news agencies in the US but there are now only five who do not want to rock the boat or challenge the government (even when it’s being stupid against our best interests, and their failures show that when they THINK they’re making the best moves in our geopolitical interests they’re still just ignorant neophytes and just stupid at it, and their policies are likely to be reversed anyway by subsequent administrations — very high lack of wisdom), and thus you never hear what’s really going on.

The Internet is taking up the slack, but that’s why it’s so dangerous and they want to regulate it. It’s all a matter of control. Unfortunately they don’t realize that you need a reality check on the government and business, just as Democrats are supposed to watch the Republicans and vica verse, for without this things really will go out of bounds as people let profit considerations overide what’s good for the people. But who am I to talk?  … I have no power, no money, no status, no influence, no importance, no voice. You’re the guy who has to do something. Just my two cents.

Be wise, be well, have fun, Autumn is here.