It's interesting, I took a look through my posts and saw how many views each had and how few comments(if any) they had as well. The lack of expression or offered reflection(and I don't mean comments like "Great post!" or "Thank you for posting this, it really made my day!"), possibly denotes a lack of interest in the material or maybe an unwillingness to honestly share what is felt or to look and see what is felt. And no, this isn't an 'either/or', just idle speculation on and questioning of possibilities. Since I don't know, because there aren't many comments. Not that there is really an expectation that one 'should respond', but I find it a little questionable with thousands of views that there is nothing to say.

Another interesting thing I found was that the post Mother Teresa on Giving Freely got 5,631 views and only 1(really good) comment.

Another speculation: people look for 'positive' words of inspiration to give them hope or
'something', but this post perhaps wasn't offering what they expected or wanted to hear and
also touched upon a subject here at Zaadz that gets shied away from or rationalized I feel:
money and 'spirituality'.

Perhaps 5,630 people viewed it and didn't really feel a need to post or not post, that it just didn't occur to them, but really, I doubt that.

So I ask again: What are you afraid of? What keeps from opening the conversation, offering a look from within and beneath identified beliefs?

And perhaps even more: What are you really here for? To hear some 'words of encouragement'? For 'networking'? To 'get' something? What are you willing to 'give'?

Well, I may not be necessarily offering what is thought to be wanted, but who knows what's possible once there is an open conversation. These may even become obsolete, unnecessary, or get refined in a way that is unimaginable.

I'm sticking around Zaadz for now, there continues to be some interactions and willingness of expression beyond 'self-promotion'. I enjoy reading blogs and offering what I can, when I can, but this comment in The Field of Zaadz, capitalism and the questioning of intention really resonates...

From ex-Zaadz member/friend Katranon:
"you know, i’d much rather be part of a community website that is a networking tool for people who are seeking to live outside of capitalism, creating new societal structures, working to promote public awareness in social justice issues, and about the vast myriad of environmental issues and helping people to step out of the destructive machinery of consumerism that is quickly destroying all life on the planet. do you know if a web community like this already exists?"

Oh...and as of this edit, minutes from the original post, there are already 17 views and no comments. I've said all I have to say on that for now...so 'no comment'.   ;^)

Peace, SKeye

(7/12/07 P.S.: I had someone tell me today that they found my blog post from researching on the internet. I forgot these come up on internet search engines and are not just available to zaadelites online. Could this be the reason Mother Teresa got so many views?  :)  But honestly, all these views could not be from just internet searches, could they? Hmm... )

[I may be updating with more soon, but for now this will do.]

I find the new revelations into the practices of John Mackey and at Whole
Foods Inc. worth questioning. And no, the statement: "the views expressed
by Mr. Mackey do not reflect those of Whole foods" does not ring true here.

Whole Foods CEO Attacked Rival Online
Thursday July 12, 3:45 am ET
Whole Foods CEO Made Anonymous Online Attacks Against Rival Before Offering
to Buy It

DALLAS (AP) -- The chief executive of Whole Foods Market Inc. wrote anonymous
online attacks against a smaller rival and questioned why anyone would buy its
stock, before Whole Foods announced an offer to buy the other company this
year.

The postings on Internet financial forums, made under the name "rahodeb,"
said Wild Oats Markets Inc. stock was overpriced. The statements predicted
the company would fall into bankruptcy and then be sold after its stock fell
below $5 per share.

In February, Whole Foods announced it would buy Wild Oats for about $565
million, or $18.50 per share.

The company acknowledged that the postings by "rahodeb" were written by CEO
John Mackey.

They were made public this week as part of a lawsuit by the Federal Trade
Commission to block Whole Foods from buying Wild Oats on antitrust grounds.
Regulators say the sale would combine the two largest organic and natural
foods retailers and raise prices for consumers by concentrating too much
power in one company.

Austin-based Whole Foods defended Mackey's postings, saying they were being
taken out of context years later.

"Mr. Mackey made those postings from 1999 to 2006 under an alias to avoid
having his comments associated with the company and to avoid others placing
too much emphasis on his remarks," Whole Foods said.

The company added that many of Mackey's opinions in the postings "now have
far less relevance than when they were written. In addition, like most people, Mr.
Mackey's opinion about some things has changed over time."

Whole Foods concluded by saying the comments were Mackey's, not those of the
company.

One posting, from January 2005, questioned why anyone would buy shares of
Wild Oats at their price then of about $8 each, The Wall Street Journal
reported.

"Would Whole Foods buy (Wild Oats)? Almost surely not at current prices,"
rahodeb wrote. "What would they gain? (Their) locations are too small."

Rahodeb also said Boulder, Colo.-based Wild Oats' management "clearly doesn't
know what it is doing." The company, he wrote, "has no value and no future."

Mackey has led an unusually public countercharge to the FTC's attempt to
block his company's purchase of Wild Oats. He has said both companies
compete in a much larger market because many traditional grocers now sell
organic and natural foods.

Mackey used the blog on his company's Web site recently to bash the FTC. He
ridiculed the FTC's reasoning that it needed to stop Whole Foods from
eliminating a competitor. If that were the case, he said, the FTC should
never permit any mergers because they necessarily remove a rival from the
marketplace.

[Hmmm, this is a really questionable statement. Is Mr. Mackey saying that
there is no reason to question 'how' a merger comes about? That a merger
is always good for business? - Skeye]

The blog broadside by Mackey came after the FTC moved to release sealed
documents which quoted the CEO telling Whole Foods directors that buying Wild
Oats would help the company "avoid nasty price wars" and block a bigger
retailer from building a national natural-foods chain.

The FTC lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Washington.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whole Foods CEO Launched Anonymous Web Attacks on Rival Company
John Mackey Panned Wild Oats in Posts

By Peter Kaplan
Jul 11, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief executive of Whole Foods Market Inc. posted
messages on a Yahoo! chat forum under an alias for years, talking up his own
company while predicting a bleak future for Wild Oats Markets Inc. , the
rival it has since sought to acquire.

Company CEO John Mackey posted messages on a Yahoo! financial forum under
the user name "rahodeb," according to a court document filed by the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission and postings on Yahoo!

Mackey's messages painted a bright future for Whole Foods, the largest U.S.
natural and organic grocer, and downplayed the threat posed by competitors.

"The writing is on the wall. The end game is now underway for (Wild Oats) ....
Whole Foods is systematically destroying their viability as a business --
market by market, city by city," Mackey wrote in a March 28, 2006 posting.

[this 'aggressive' language and practice is 'concious'? This is 'healthy
competetion'? - Skeye]

It was cited by the FTC as part of a lawsuit aimed at blocking Whole Foods'
planned $565 million acquisition of Wild Oats on grounds the deal would
hobble competition and increase prices to consumers.

"Bankruptcy remains a distinct possibility (for Wild Oats) IMO if the
business isn't sold within the next few years," rahodeb said in another
March 29, 2006 posting on Yahoo!

Whole Foods confirmed Mackey had made the "rahodeb" postings between 1999 and
2006. It said references to those comments were among millions of documents
the company provided to the FTC as part of the agency's antitrust lawsuit.

In a statement, the company said Mackey posted comments under an alias "to
avoid having his comments associated with the company and to avoid others
placing too much emphasis on his remarks."

"The 'rahodeb' postings are the personal postings of Mr. Mackey and not those
of the company," Whole Foods said.

In separate comments posted on Whole Foods' Web site, Mackey said he "posted
on Yahoo! under a pseudonym because I had fun doing it. Many people post on
bulletin boards using pseudonyms."

"The views articulated by rahodeb sometimes represent what I actually
believed and sometimes they didn't. Sometimes I simply played 'devil's
advocate' for the sheer fun of arguing," Mackey said on the company Web site.

"All of rahodeb's postings also need to be understood in the context of the
time that they were written. Because the competitive market has evolved so
much in the last 5 years, older postings mean far less today than they did
when they were written," Mackey wrote.

Whole Foods announced plans to buy Wild Oats in February. The companies have
said the merger should be allowed to proceed in light of fierce competition
in the overall grocery business.

But in some postings, rahodeb downplayed other supermarkets as potential
competitors that could hurt Whole Foods.

"If you are waiting for Trader Joe's or Wegmans to slow down the Whole Foods
express train you're going to be waiting the rest of your life. It ain't
(going to) happen," rahodeb said in a September 28, 2005 posting in
response to another participant.

"You say that competition is increasing against Whole Foods, but continue to
ignore the fact that your so-called competition isn't hurting them," rahodeb
wrote in an October 3 2005 posting.

The FTC's complaint was filed June 6, but portions were initially kept under
seal. The FTC released the document late Tuesday.

On his personal blog, Mackey has accused the FTC of distorting his private
statements in order to portray him as excessively aggressive and bent on
eliminating healthy competition.

~~~~~~~~~~

I include both these articles because they offer extended perspective on Mr.
Mackey's supposed actions and perspective. For Mr. Mackey to refer to Whole
Foods as an 'express train' is somewhat revealing I feel, or at least
questionable.

And this,
"In a statement, the company said Mackey posted comments under an alias "to
avoid having his comments associated with the company and to avoid others
placing too much emphasis on his remarks." 
...has a ring of untruth to it. Yet his remarks, those that we have seen so
far, have been to 'de-emphasize' the competition. Is it not questionable for
Mr. Mackey to accept the acclaim for being the mastermind behind Whole Foods,
and then when it is unfavorable to 'detach' from it?

I am also including links to previous posts that I have offered in regards to
economic growth, conscious(spiritual) capitalism, sustainablity and offer
them again in light of these new developments.

What is 'conscious capitalism'? What is 'sustainable'? What is 'integrity'?

And what is the true intention of Mr. Mackey and Whole Foods?

I am not saying that these articles hold the whole truth, but Mr. Mackey's
comments and responses to this news are cause enough for asking these
questions.

And if you do not feel so, then why not? Really, I'd like to know.

The Field of Zaadz, capitalism and the questioning of intention

More perspective on 'commercialized spirituality'

Let's talk 'sustainability'

And here is a long and thorough comment (takes a few momments to load) on
Brian's 'Business Model' blog post, which never really got a response but is
relevant to the new developments at Whole Foods.
 
Thanks for listening...peace, Skeye

If You Want

If
you want,
the Virgin will come walking down the road
pregnant with the holy,
and say,

"I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart,
my time is so close."

Then, under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime
intimacy, the divine, the Christ
taking birth
forever,

as she grasps your hand for help, for each of us
is the midwife of God, each of us.

Yes there, under the dome of your being does Creation
come into existence eternally, through your womb, dear pilgrim----
the sacred womb in your soul,

as God grasps our arms for help; for each of us is
His beloved servant
never
far.

If you want, the Virgin will come walking
down the street pregnant
with Light and
sing...


~ a St John of the Cross interpretation by Daniel Ladinsky in Love Poems from God...

...and truly from your Heart.