Wrestling with Consciousness

I had the occasion to sit in on an informative seminar dealing with the topic of social media and its potential for facilitating the marketing of books and business. Debbie Elicksen did a great job of delivering the material in her down to earth style. While settling into the material, in walks Razor Rick Titan (Rick Bognar) to sit down beside me. Perhaps; if I was a fan of professional wrestling I would have recognized the fellow. While chatting briefly at the end of the session, Rick identified himself as a wrestler and given his polished style as exemplified in the cover of his book I immediately associated the Greco-Roman style of wrestling in which he must of partaken and shared that my brother had wrestled varsity at the University of Saskatchewan. Nope. Wrong. Well, this gentleman stood in the ring of WWE and entertained audiences in North America, Europe and Japan with a colorful career which Rick tempts us with in his dramatic portrayal of this fringe lifestyle in the book "Wrestling with Consciousness."

I was struck by rawness of this book. While exhibiting successes and disappointments during his time as a wrestler, Rick doesn't hold back in drawing inferences to human frailty as we all have come to know during our experiences through life. I was particularly drawn by an episode that describes a time of being in that athletic zone and I sense that Rick's new affinity toward meditation may partly stem from times where he found peace while amidst the theatre of barbarism. Indeed, he had much time for reflection on Japanese tour buses yet experiences were shaped by relationships formed, disbanded and renewed all the while executing a carefully choreographed depiction of violence with the aim of satisfying salivating audiences. Rick concludes his work with an eloquent outline of our society today in the context of someone who has moved radically in consciousness and spirit.

You too can pick up a copy of this riveting book.

Thinking of writing your own book - then talk to Debbie first.

A U.S. Political Vacuum

David Gregory from Meet The Press is really hitting his stride as the program's host. He had Republican leader John Boehner on the air this morning and in my humble opinion, David did another admirable job in highlighting why the American people have lost faith in the ways of Washington and the politicians that are sent there to serve. Gregory asked repeatedly for Boehner to support the Republican party's position for not allowing the expiration of tax cuts to those with incomes over $250,000 in the face of debillitating debt and assertions made by former Chairman of the Fed Greenspan that it's ill advised to finance tax cuts on borrowed money. Boehner's only retort was that raising taxes on those with incomes of over $250,000 would further stymy job growth. Indeed, quite the argumentative leap with respect to a correlation. He wasn't even prepared to cite the theory of trickle down economics while making such a wild assertion. There is a serious credibility gap among law makers and those aspiring to achieve the American dream.....and it puts the country in jeopardy of a much decreased standard of living.

When asked about his position on amending the 14th amendment of the Constitution that would prevent citizenship to babies born in the U.S of parents whom are illegal aliens, Boehner replied that a "conversation" should take place. This guy simply doesn't want to go on the record for a position even if that's what Americans pay him to do. The evasiveness of this guy throughout the interview was colored by opening responses to questions with words like "look" and "listen". This patronizing posture is surely something that the electorate must heed with exception when heading to the mid term polls.

Not a Repulican and not a Democrat - simply someone in awe of stunning intransigence and partisanship at a tipping point time in history.