Every poll I've seen recently shows at least 65% want a public option choice and many polls show over 70%. So public opinion is not even close on this issue. With those kinds of numbers, the ONLY reason any politician should be struggling with the issue is because they're either:
(a) in the tank for the insurance industry (GOP);
(b) blue dog Dems who claim to be captive of "swing state" constituencies who will throw them out if they vote for a public option; or
(c) all the above.
But the polls show that, except for industry advocates, the only public support politicians can reasonably cite for opposing a public option is from the Fox News/Limbaugh/Beck/screaming teabagger crowd. And while that group's media profile has been high in recent months, their actual numbers are in reality very low.
I doubt most politicians have ever been faced with a clearer, more dramatic choice between public and private interests with such huge amounts of money at stake.
The outcome of this debate literally means life or death for both people without health insurance and the health insurance industry. The insurance companies are currently spending $1.4m every day on advertising and lobbying because they KNOW a serious public option will take many of them out. And the revenues and profits of the companies that survive would be a mere shadow of what they are now. In effect, if a robust public option becomes law, the health insurance industry will draw a Monopoly game card that says "Do not collect $401,152,979,783.00 a year."* And no, that's not a typo. A cash flow of over four hundred billion dollars a year that the insurance industry is currently enjoying is at risk of slowing to a trickle.
*2007 net revenues from health insurance premiums. And that's just the major players!
SOURCE- www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS187049+15-Jul-2008+PRN20080715
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Some Tribal Wisdom . . .
The tribal wisdom of some Ozarkian Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that, "When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount." However, in government, education and corporate America, more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:
1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
4. Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses.
5. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
6. Reclassifying the dead horse as living impaired.
7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
9. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase dead horse's performance.
10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.
12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
And of course....
13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position
1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
4. Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses.
5. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
6. Reclassifying the dead horse as living impaired.
7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
9. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase dead horse's performance.
10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.
12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
And of course....
13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position
Monday, September 28, 2009
INTRODUCTION TO THE SECULAR HUMANIST'S BIBLE:
This is the introduction to my post of 08/29/09 entitled "A Secular Humanist's Attempt to Understand the Bible."
It has comedy, it has drama, it’s full of the things that the Christian Coalition would picket you for promoting, “SEX AND VIOLENCE.” It has songs and poetry, and stories where the heroes are villainous. I enjoy reading the Bible, but . . .
I find that reading the Bible is like when I first started typing. Every letter had to be translated into a finger, then thought about, then punched. It made the typing slow and tedious, and not much fun. Now that I’ve typed for more than 35 years and have it down fairly well, the typing goes fast and not much translation needs to take place. When I read the Bible, I have to translate it into terms that mean something to me.
What I have done for myself is to translate the first three Chapters of Genesis into something that has meaning to me. I am not asking you to agree with my translations, after all, this is for me and I’m just sharing it with you. My challenge is for you to do the same thing, work out your own translations.
I am fully aware that these occurrences did not happen separately. Flowers, fruits, and vegetables need insects to assist in pollination, and a full food chain needs to be in place for the interdependent web of life to flourish. When it is stated that, “over a long period . . . “ one has to assume that all of these evolutions occurred simultaneously, in other words there was only one “long period of time.” And the writers were taking each category through that same period. I say writers because Genesis 1 is so different when compared to Genesis 2, and various other parts of Genesis are more lyrical and literary, then others are blunt and matter of fact. Some of this has to do with the many translations the bible has gone through.
Now go to my post titled "A Secular Humanist's Attemp to Understand the Bible" posted August 29, 2009.
It has comedy, it has drama, it’s full of the things that the Christian Coalition would picket you for promoting, “SEX AND VIOLENCE.” It has songs and poetry, and stories where the heroes are villainous. I enjoy reading the Bible, but . . .
I find that reading the Bible is like when I first started typing. Every letter had to be translated into a finger, then thought about, then punched. It made the typing slow and tedious, and not much fun. Now that I’ve typed for more than 35 years and have it down fairly well, the typing goes fast and not much translation needs to take place. When I read the Bible, I have to translate it into terms that mean something to me.
What I have done for myself is to translate the first three Chapters of Genesis into something that has meaning to me. I am not asking you to agree with my translations, after all, this is for me and I’m just sharing it with you. My challenge is for you to do the same thing, work out your own translations.
I am fully aware that these occurrences did not happen separately. Flowers, fruits, and vegetables need insects to assist in pollination, and a full food chain needs to be in place for the interdependent web of life to flourish. When it is stated that, “over a long period . . . “ one has to assume that all of these evolutions occurred simultaneously, in other words there was only one “long period of time.” And the writers were taking each category through that same period. I say writers because Genesis 1 is so different when compared to Genesis 2, and various other parts of Genesis are more lyrical and literary, then others are blunt and matter of fact. Some of this has to do with the many translations the bible has gone through.
Now go to my post titled "A Secular Humanist's Attemp to Understand the Bible" posted August 29, 2009.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
O-B-S-T-R-O-N-O-V-I-C-H
In traveling, I learned early on that it is hard to make reservations or order pizzas if your name is Bill Brown(Not my real name, but close). Most of the people on the phone don’t react to the name, but as soon as you hang up they laugh and tear up the order or reservation thinking it was a joke and no one would show up. After being turned down a few times when I showed up for my room or pizza, I made up a name for such things, “OBSTRONOVICH.”
If I order a pizza or make a reservation for a table or room, I tell them Obstronovich. They take it without question and almost always ask for a spelling. I learned to spell it out just like I would Brown, O-B-S-T-R-O-N-O-V-I-C-H. Without fail the person on the other end of the phone will ask for a first name, “ARNOLD” is the answer. So, when necessary, I become Arnold Obstronovich.
My parents, in 1985, were coming to Dallas for a few days visit from their home in Northern Arkansas. I thought I would show them around town during the weekend, so I made reservations at a couple of nice restaurants. All in the name of Arnold Obstronovich.
I explained my method of using a fake name to my parents and the reason why and the first night came and went without incident. On the next night, we went to a local small bistro near the house and when we went in I was greeted by a young lady about eightteen years of age who asked for my name.
“Arnold Obstronovich,” was my reply.
“Oh yes, a seven thirty reservation, you are a bit early so you will have about a twenty minute wait. If you would like to wait in the bar area, I will call you,” she said.
I told her that the bar area would be fine. But, before I could head toward the bar, she grabbed my arm and said, “Wait, how do you pronounce your name?”
Very carefully I pronounced my “FAKE” name. “Ob-stron-o-vich,” I said.
“OK,” she said, “now let me try. Looking down at the spelling she
said, “Abtransavich.”
“No, No,” I said, “Obstronovich.”
Once again she started, “Abstranasuch.” She shuck her head knowing that was a mistake. “Abtransovich, no Abtrasovok, no Abtrashovik,” she kept trying with no success. Finally after trying for several minutes with my assistance she said, “Look, do you mind if I just call you, Brown?”
If I order a pizza or make a reservation for a table or room, I tell them Obstronovich. They take it without question and almost always ask for a spelling. I learned to spell it out just like I would Brown, O-B-S-T-R-O-N-O-V-I-C-H. Without fail the person on the other end of the phone will ask for a first name, “ARNOLD” is the answer. So, when necessary, I become Arnold Obstronovich.
My parents, in 1985, were coming to Dallas for a few days visit from their home in Northern Arkansas. I thought I would show them around town during the weekend, so I made reservations at a couple of nice restaurants. All in the name of Arnold Obstronovich.
I explained my method of using a fake name to my parents and the reason why and the first night came and went without incident. On the next night, we went to a local small bistro near the house and when we went in I was greeted by a young lady about eightteen years of age who asked for my name.
“Arnold Obstronovich,” was my reply.
“Oh yes, a seven thirty reservation, you are a bit early so you will have about a twenty minute wait. If you would like to wait in the bar area, I will call you,” she said.
I told her that the bar area would be fine. But, before I could head toward the bar, she grabbed my arm and said, “Wait, how do you pronounce your name?”
Very carefully I pronounced my “FAKE” name. “Ob-stron-o-vich,” I said.
“OK,” she said, “now let me try. Looking down at the spelling she
said, “Abtransavich.”
“No, No,” I said, “Obstronovich.”
Once again she started, “Abstranasuch.” She shuck her head knowing that was a mistake. “Abtransovich, no Abtrasovok, no Abtrashovik,” she kept trying with no success. Finally after trying for several minutes with my assistance she said, “Look, do you mind if I just call you, Brown?”
A New Vocabulary to Learn . . .
Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize . . . it was your money to start with.
Reintarnation: Coming back to life as an Arky.
Bozone: The substance surrounding stupid people, which stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
Cashtration: The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who does not get it.
Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
Osteopornosis: A degenarate disease
Karmageddon: Its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it is like a serious bummer.
Decafalon: The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
Glibido: All talk and no action.
Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Arachnoleptic Fit: The frantic dance performed just after you have accidentally walked through a spider web.
Beelzebug: Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into our bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
Caterpallor: the color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you are eating.
Ignoranus: A person who is both stupid and an asshole.
Reintarnation: Coming back to life as an Arky.
Bozone: The substance surrounding stupid people, which stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
Cashtration: The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who does not get it.
Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
Osteopornosis: A degenarate disease
Karmageddon: Its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it is like a serious bummer.
Decafalon: The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
Glibido: All talk and no action.
Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Arachnoleptic Fit: The frantic dance performed just after you have accidentally walked through a spider web.
Beelzebug: Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into our bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
Caterpallor: the color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you are eating.
Ignoranus: A person who is both stupid and an asshole.
"Gentle Arms Of Eden" by Tracy Grammer and Dave Carter
On a sleepy endless ocean when the world lay in a dream
There was rhythm in the splash and roll, but not a voice to sing
So the moon shone on the breakers and the morning warmed the waves
Till a single cell did jump and hum for joy as though to say;
This is my home, this is my only home
This is the only sacred ground that I have ever known
And should I stray in the dark night alone
Rock me goddess, in the gentle arms of eden.
Then the day shone bright and rounder til the one turned into two
And the two into ten thousand things, and old things into new
And on some virgin beach head one lonesome critter crawled
And he looked about and shouted out in his most astonished drawl.
This is my home ... (Refrain)
Then all the sky was buzzin' and the ground was carpet green
And the wary children of the wood went dancin' in between
And the people sang rejoicing when the field was glad with grain
This song of celebration from their cities on the plain.
This is my home ... (Refrain)
Now there's smoke across the harbor, and there's factories on the shore
And the world is ill with greed and will and enterprise of war
But I will lay my burden in the cradle of your grace
And the shining beaches of your love and the sea of your embrace.
This is my home ... (Refrain)
There was rhythm in the splash and roll, but not a voice to sing
So the moon shone on the breakers and the morning warmed the waves
Till a single cell did jump and hum for joy as though to say;
This is my home, this is my only home
This is the only sacred ground that I have ever known
And should I stray in the dark night alone
Rock me goddess, in the gentle arms of eden.
Then the day shone bright and rounder til the one turned into two
And the two into ten thousand things, and old things into new
And on some virgin beach head one lonesome critter crawled
And he looked about and shouted out in his most astonished drawl.
This is my home ... (Refrain)
Then all the sky was buzzin' and the ground was carpet green
And the wary children of the wood went dancin' in between
And the people sang rejoicing when the field was glad with grain
This song of celebration from their cities on the plain.
This is my home ... (Refrain)
Now there's smoke across the harbor, and there's factories on the shore
And the world is ill with greed and will and enterprise of war
But I will lay my burden in the cradle of your grace
And the shining beaches of your love and the sea of your embrace.
This is my home ... (Refrain)
Saturday, September 26, 2009
On English . . .(From the Net)
You think English is easy???
Read to the end . . .
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10)I did not object to the object.
11)The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12)There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row...
13)They were too close to the door to close it.
14)The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15)A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16)To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17)The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18)Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19)I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20)How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
******************
You lovers of the English language might enjoy this;
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP'
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses... To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP. To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP ... When the sun comes out we say it is clearingUP ...
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP !
Oh . . . one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?
U-P!
Read to the end . . .
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10)I did not object to the object.
11)The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12)There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row...
13)They were too close to the door to close it.
14)The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15)A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16)To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17)The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18)Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19)I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20)How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
******************
You lovers of the English language might enjoy this;
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP'
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses... To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP. To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP ... When the sun comes out we say it is clearingUP ...
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP !
Oh . . . one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?
U-P!
Friday, September 25, 2009
From President Barack Obama's Inauguration Speech:
What Obama said:
"The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because, "We, the People" have remained faithful to the ideals of our fore bearers, and true to our founding documents."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration which shredded the Constitution and repealed Habeas Corpus.
What Obama said:
"Our Health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."
What wasn't said:
All this brought on by the previous administration who failed to fund "No Child Left Behind," who was against real science in favor of "Faith Based" dogma, and was part of the adversaries who threatened our planet.
What Obama said:
"They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions, and greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration who "Ruled" by the "Us against Them" agenda.
What Obama said:
"We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its costs."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration who replaced science with religious mumbo jumbo and refused to let real science advance and provide affordable healthcare to all.
What Obama said:
"And those of us who manage the public's knowledge will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration that formed an energy policy that was behind closed doors and involved unknown people and raised our energy prices to unaffordable levels. Unlike the previous administration who rarely held press conferences and whose previous press secretary came out against its own administration for lying to the people.
What Obama said:
"But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The Nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration who was against and actually campaigned on a "Less Regulation" agenda, and deregulated everything from the airlines to banking and loans and energy production. They even reduced regulations on air and water pollutants.
What Obama said:
"As for our common defense, WE reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration who did just that.
What Obama said:
"They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through it prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration that was not either humble nor restrained in their efforts to do as they pleased. To show that we had the power to do that which this country has always fought against in a not too prudent way.
What Obama said:
"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history . . ."
What wasn't said:
Just look at our own recent past and see where it got them. History will record they had a 25% approval rating and will forever be known as the "Worst President Ever . . . Ever!"
"The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because, "We, the People" have remained faithful to the ideals of our fore bearers, and true to our founding documents."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration which shredded the Constitution and repealed Habeas Corpus.
What Obama said:
"Our Health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."
What wasn't said:
All this brought on by the previous administration who failed to fund "No Child Left Behind," who was against real science in favor of "Faith Based" dogma, and was part of the adversaries who threatened our planet.
What Obama said:
"They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions, and greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration who "Ruled" by the "Us against Them" agenda.
What Obama said:
"We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its costs."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration who replaced science with religious mumbo jumbo and refused to let real science advance and provide affordable healthcare to all.
What Obama said:
"And those of us who manage the public's knowledge will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration that formed an energy policy that was behind closed doors and involved unknown people and raised our energy prices to unaffordable levels. Unlike the previous administration who rarely held press conferences and whose previous press secretary came out against its own administration for lying to the people.
What Obama said:
"But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The Nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration who was against and actually campaigned on a "Less Regulation" agenda, and deregulated everything from the airlines to banking and loans and energy production. They even reduced regulations on air and water pollutants.
What Obama said:
"As for our common defense, WE reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration who did just that.
What Obama said:
"They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through it prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."
What wasn't said:
Unlike the previous administration that was not either humble nor restrained in their efforts to do as they pleased. To show that we had the power to do that which this country has always fought against in a not too prudent way.
What Obama said:
"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history . . ."
What wasn't said:
Just look at our own recent past and see where it got them. History will record they had a 25% approval rating and will forever be known as the "Worst President Ever . . . Ever!"
Thursday, September 24, 2009
I Don't Care!
I give a great deal of concern to many things. I am concerned about HABITAT. Your habitat, my habitat, all humanities habitat . . . the habitat of animals such as the Red Cockaided Woodpecker, and the lowly Snail Darter. As our habitat increases . . . theirs shrink!!!
I have concerns about how people are treated around the World. Not only by their governments but by their community. The caste system of India, the Rommany Gypsies of Europe and even the Jews to this day are looked upon as pests to be exterminated, by many Nations.
My ability to speak out and dissent, in many countries, is limited at best. I can see THAT today happening in Pakistan where they have taken the dissentors and put them in prison. And more, we are seeing that dissent is being looked upon with a downward gaze right here in our own land. Dissent has been part of our culture since the beginning. Our country was established on DISSENT. Dissent IS patriotic. There are those that don’t want to hear your dissent. They have chosen to be DEAF.
Our constitution has been subrogated by definitions from those who do not hold our Country's best, in high regard. American Citizens, have suffered rendition from those same people. And we have had people in HIGH places that have turned away from their citizens and the constitution in order to better themselves. They have chosen to be BLIND and perform criminal activities.
More and more our World has become extremely intimate and more dependent on one another. There are those among us that want that to never happen, but it HAS, and it will continue. Some people believe that we, the United States, are autonomous and we don’t need anyone else to survive. Those same people are blind to the fact that we are no longer a productive country. And stand deaf to those that try to point it out. We have become a service oriented country, fixing what others manufacture.
More and more the middle class is shrinking. Very few of us are finding our way to the upper class. Most of us would like to stay right where we are. Smack in the middle. We don’t want to be wealthy, nor poor. But the more we pour GAS into our automobiles and nutrition into our bodies, the more we realize where the money flows. In fact MONEY is one of the few things in life that only flows uphill.
That is why WE have to care about some things. That is why we should have a covenant with each other. That is why we should say, . . . . .
“We, covenant to affirm and promote;
-The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
-Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
-Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth;
-A free and responsible SEARCH for truth and meaning;
-The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our relationships and in society at large;
-The goal of World Community with peace, liberty and justice for all;
-Respect for the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are just a part.”
ABOUT THESE THINGS . . .I CARE!
-----BUT----
There are a lot of things I just shouldn't care about . . .
IF YOU ARE BLACK . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE BROWN . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE ORANGE AND PURPLE WITH CHARTREUS POLKADOTS . . .I don’t care!
I SHOULD’T EVEN CARE IF YOU ARE PINK!
IF YOU ARE SHORT . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE TALL . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU’RE ARE NOT WEALTHY . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU’RE BALD . . .I don’t care!
IF YOU’RE HAIRY . . .I don’t care!
IF YOU HAVE A CHRISTIAN BACKGROUND. . .I don’t care!
IF YOU HAVE A JEWISH BACKGROUND. . . I don’t care!
IF YOU HAVE A BUDDHIST BACKGROUND . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE AN ATHEIST . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE AN AGNOSTIC . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO MEN . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO WOMEN . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO BOTH . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE CONSERVATIVE . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE LIBERAL . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE LEFT OR RIGHT HANDED . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE A SOCIALIST . . . I don’t care!
There are so many things that I care about and many more that I just don’t care about, that I must never forget that unlike most, I must make my circle bigger and more inclusive. I must be open minded and free thinking.
I know I find myself pulling away when I encounter someone that might be DIFFERENT. I must learn to be more inclusive and I invite each of you to do the same.
Open up your eyes and open up your ears. Don’t choose to be blind or deaf. We have to open our hearts and our Spirituality to those who might have been turned away by others. We have to remember those things we do care about. And we have to remember to overlook those things to which we can say, “I DON’T CARE!”
I have concerns about how people are treated around the World. Not only by their governments but by their community. The caste system of India, the Rommany Gypsies of Europe and even the Jews to this day are looked upon as pests to be exterminated, by many Nations.
My ability to speak out and dissent, in many countries, is limited at best. I can see THAT today happening in Pakistan where they have taken the dissentors and put them in prison. And more, we are seeing that dissent is being looked upon with a downward gaze right here in our own land. Dissent has been part of our culture since the beginning. Our country was established on DISSENT. Dissent IS patriotic. There are those that don’t want to hear your dissent. They have chosen to be DEAF.
Our constitution has been subrogated by definitions from those who do not hold our Country's best, in high regard. American Citizens, have suffered rendition from those same people. And we have had people in HIGH places that have turned away from their citizens and the constitution in order to better themselves. They have chosen to be BLIND and perform criminal activities.
More and more our World has become extremely intimate and more dependent on one another. There are those among us that want that to never happen, but it HAS, and it will continue. Some people believe that we, the United States, are autonomous and we don’t need anyone else to survive. Those same people are blind to the fact that we are no longer a productive country. And stand deaf to those that try to point it out. We have become a service oriented country, fixing what others manufacture.
More and more the middle class is shrinking. Very few of us are finding our way to the upper class. Most of us would like to stay right where we are. Smack in the middle. We don’t want to be wealthy, nor poor. But the more we pour GAS into our automobiles and nutrition into our bodies, the more we realize where the money flows. In fact MONEY is one of the few things in life that only flows uphill.
That is why WE have to care about some things. That is why we should have a covenant with each other. That is why we should say, . . . . .
“We, covenant to affirm and promote;
-The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
-Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
-Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth;
-A free and responsible SEARCH for truth and meaning;
-The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our relationships and in society at large;
-The goal of World Community with peace, liberty and justice for all;
-Respect for the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are just a part.”
ABOUT THESE THINGS . . .I CARE!
-----BUT----
There are a lot of things I just shouldn't care about . . .
IF YOU ARE BLACK . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE BROWN . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE ORANGE AND PURPLE WITH CHARTREUS POLKADOTS . . .I don’t care!
I SHOULD’T EVEN CARE IF YOU ARE PINK!
IF YOU ARE SHORT . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE TALL . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU’RE ARE NOT WEALTHY . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU’RE BALD . . .I don’t care!
IF YOU’RE HAIRY . . .I don’t care!
IF YOU HAVE A CHRISTIAN BACKGROUND. . .I don’t care!
IF YOU HAVE A JEWISH BACKGROUND. . . I don’t care!
IF YOU HAVE A BUDDHIST BACKGROUND . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE AN ATHEIST . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE AN AGNOSTIC . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO MEN . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO WOMEN . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO BOTH . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE CONSERVATIVE . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE LIBERAL . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE LEFT OR RIGHT HANDED . . . I don’t care!
IF YOU ARE A SOCIALIST . . . I don’t care!
There are so many things that I care about and many more that I just don’t care about, that I must never forget that unlike most, I must make my circle bigger and more inclusive. I must be open minded and free thinking.
I know I find myself pulling away when I encounter someone that might be DIFFERENT. I must learn to be more inclusive and I invite each of you to do the same.
Open up your eyes and open up your ears. Don’t choose to be blind or deaf. We have to open our hearts and our Spirituality to those who might have been turned away by others. We have to remember those things we do care about. And we have to remember to overlook those things to which we can say, “I DON’T CARE!”
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Old Baggage
There it is all ragged and torn. It’s patched and held together with frayed rope and the remnant of an old leather belt. I’m afraid to look at what’s inside ’cause I know there is at least a little weed, you know, the stuff we bought by the lid back in the sixties. (I really liked the 60's) My mouser's catnip for people. Wrapped in the same package, but settled to the bottom, are a few of the brain cells I burnt back then. Sometimes I sure wish I had them back. Every time I see that commercial that says, "This is your brain on drugs," I wonder if that is why I like scrambled eggs.
Also, you’ll find a pair of bell bottoms. God I hated disco. And, in there somewhere are pictures of at least two wives, somehow it seems like more. Mom said that she must have made Afghans for at least a quarter of Dallas. I guess I’ve been around. Looking back, it was fun, but I’m ready to settle.
Oh, look what I found. A peace symbol pinned to a sailor suit. I guess there is more than one pair of bell bottoms in there.
Off in the corner behind the assortment of roach clips, I see my leathers. The ones I wore racing my 250 Yamaha Enduro. The same ones that were cut off of me several times when I crushed my knees. It’s amazing I survived those years, if I had known that my body was going to last this long, I would have taken better care of it when it was young.
Aha, look over here. Now these are the pictures of my children. This young man standing about six feet tall and about two hundred pounds, is my son. No one knows he has dyslexia and wanted to graduate with his class. It was a challenge, he worked very hard and did graduate main stream. And this is my daughter, she worries me because she is a lot like me, but looks so much like her deceased mother. No father wants his daughter to be like him, I wonder why?
In this empty spot over here is my college degree. Oh, you mean you don’t see it? Well, Viet Nam sort of got in the way of that, but very few people know. Some people even mistake me for a college professor. We shan’t tell, shall we?
Now over here is a prized possession, it’s a picture of a lady that has become very dear to me. In a short period of time she has become a refuge and the renewal of my youth. I hope she will overlook all of my faults. It seems the older I get the luckier I get. She says that I’m a good catch, but she doesn’t know how lucky I am to have her. I won’t tell if you won’t.
Old baggage is bulky and hard to handle. It gets in the way and sometimes has a personality of its own. But it is what we are, and what we will be. We are our old baggage.
Also, you’ll find a pair of bell bottoms. God I hated disco. And, in there somewhere are pictures of at least two wives, somehow it seems like more. Mom said that she must have made Afghans for at least a quarter of Dallas. I guess I’ve been around. Looking back, it was fun, but I’m ready to settle.
Oh, look what I found. A peace symbol pinned to a sailor suit. I guess there is more than one pair of bell bottoms in there.
Off in the corner behind the assortment of roach clips, I see my leathers. The ones I wore racing my 250 Yamaha Enduro. The same ones that were cut off of me several times when I crushed my knees. It’s amazing I survived those years, if I had known that my body was going to last this long, I would have taken better care of it when it was young.
Aha, look over here. Now these are the pictures of my children. This young man standing about six feet tall and about two hundred pounds, is my son. No one knows he has dyslexia and wanted to graduate with his class. It was a challenge, he worked very hard and did graduate main stream. And this is my daughter, she worries me because she is a lot like me, but looks so much like her deceased mother. No father wants his daughter to be like him, I wonder why?
In this empty spot over here is my college degree. Oh, you mean you don’t see it? Well, Viet Nam sort of got in the way of that, but very few people know. Some people even mistake me for a college professor. We shan’t tell, shall we?
Now over here is a prized possession, it’s a picture of a lady that has become very dear to me. In a short period of time she has become a refuge and the renewal of my youth. I hope she will overlook all of my faults. It seems the older I get the luckier I get. She says that I’m a good catch, but she doesn’t know how lucky I am to have her. I won’t tell if you won’t.
Old baggage is bulky and hard to handle. It gets in the way and sometimes has a personality of its own. But it is what we are, and what we will be. We are our old baggage.
Heretic
Hello! My name is Snowyowl and I’m a Heretic!
I have chosen to not follow the path that others want me to follow. I chose long ago to find out for myself, to seek and search for the truth. I actually found that the search was more important to me than the truth, whatever that is.
Actually, the process is what makes me a heretic. Seeking truth is what most organized religions want you to avoid. “Come with me and I’ll lead you through the Bible.” Some sprinkle, some immerse, some drink from one cup, some from many. Some don’t use musical instruments in the service. Some worship on Saturday, most worship on Sunday. But all want you to do it just one way. They don’t want you to be exposed to other things and other ways. “Stay away from those “Bad Influences.” They will lead you astray. They will tempt you away from the flock.
Well, I’m not a sheep! I wanted to get the flock out of there.
So, as I’ve said, “I chose to follow another path.”
In fact, making that choice was what made me a heretic. That process of choice is what makes anyone a heretic. You see, the word heresy comes from the Greek root “Hairesis” which means “able to choose.”
You see, that is from what most of the Organized Religions want to keep you away. They want to make sure you don’t have a choice. They want to make sure you are not exposed to a choice.
Catholics want you to stay away from the Protestants. The Islams want to keep you away from the Jews. The Amish wants to keep you away from Machinery. And the Adventists want to keep you away from Sunday. All you have to do to be a heretic is to choose something different.
People constantly try to lead us. All you have to do is choose to not follow, or choose to ask questions. It may be that you will choose to go the way you are lead, but at least it is your choice. And since you have asked questions, you are choosing with more than a little information.
We all are faced with decisions every day. I encourage you to live your life the same way that you live you spiritual life. With all the information you can acquire and then by make well-informed choices.
I have found that a “Salesman” with an inferior product doesn’t want you to ask too many questions. They don’t want you to have a choice between their product and a better one.
But, a “Salesman” with a superior product is confident that with all the right information you will choose his product over an inferior one.
With Religion it is a bit different. There is no telling what is on the other side of the Rubicon. So it is a matter of comfort. Some are more comfortable being lead. Some are more comfortable seeking and searching on their own.
The biggest test of a person’s religion is, “Are you comfortable.” If you are, then that is where you belong. If not then you need to exercise your ability to choose. Trying to live your life according to your minister and their values diminishes your worth. It makes you a clone of the minister.
With a little searching, you can find spirituality that fits your life, and if you outgrow that one, you can move on into another choice.
Remember, “You are not free unless you have a choice.”
So, become well informed by asking the right questions. Then with all the information you have, do the best you can and make good choices.
Some of you are going to ask about following the "Truth." Please refer to my September 11th post "The Trouble with Truth."
I have chosen to not follow the path that others want me to follow. I chose long ago to find out for myself, to seek and search for the truth. I actually found that the search was more important to me than the truth, whatever that is.
Actually, the process is what makes me a heretic. Seeking truth is what most organized religions want you to avoid. “Come with me and I’ll lead you through the Bible.” Some sprinkle, some immerse, some drink from one cup, some from many. Some don’t use musical instruments in the service. Some worship on Saturday, most worship on Sunday. But all want you to do it just one way. They don’t want you to be exposed to other things and other ways. “Stay away from those “Bad Influences.” They will lead you astray. They will tempt you away from the flock.
Well, I’m not a sheep! I wanted to get the flock out of there.
So, as I’ve said, “I chose to follow another path.”
In fact, making that choice was what made me a heretic. That process of choice is what makes anyone a heretic. You see, the word heresy comes from the Greek root “Hairesis” which means “able to choose.”
You see, that is from what most of the Organized Religions want to keep you away. They want to make sure you don’t have a choice. They want to make sure you are not exposed to a choice.
Catholics want you to stay away from the Protestants. The Islams want to keep you away from the Jews. The Amish wants to keep you away from Machinery. And the Adventists want to keep you away from Sunday. All you have to do to be a heretic is to choose something different.
People constantly try to lead us. All you have to do is choose to not follow, or choose to ask questions. It may be that you will choose to go the way you are lead, but at least it is your choice. And since you have asked questions, you are choosing with more than a little information.
We all are faced with decisions every day. I encourage you to live your life the same way that you live you spiritual life. With all the information you can acquire and then by make well-informed choices.
I have found that a “Salesman” with an inferior product doesn’t want you to ask too many questions. They don’t want you to have a choice between their product and a better one.
But, a “Salesman” with a superior product is confident that with all the right information you will choose his product over an inferior one.
With Religion it is a bit different. There is no telling what is on the other side of the Rubicon. So it is a matter of comfort. Some are more comfortable being lead. Some are more comfortable seeking and searching on their own.
The biggest test of a person’s religion is, “Are you comfortable.” If you are, then that is where you belong. If not then you need to exercise your ability to choose. Trying to live your life according to your minister and their values diminishes your worth. It makes you a clone of the minister.
With a little searching, you can find spirituality that fits your life, and if you outgrow that one, you can move on into another choice.
Remember, “You are not free unless you have a choice.”
So, become well informed by asking the right questions. Then with all the information you have, do the best you can and make good choices.
Some of you are going to ask about following the "Truth." Please refer to my September 11th post "The Trouble with Truth."
Life's Short
LIFE’S SHORT, CAN’T WAIT, GOTTA GO, TOO LATE.
IN’NA HURRY, HURRY UP, DON’T QUIT, SHUT UP!
FOLLOW ORDERS, WHAT’S WRONG, TIME OUT, TO LONG.
STAY STILL, IN’NA MINUTE, LOVE’S BLIND, WIN’NA PENNANT
NOT NOW!
LIFE’S SHORT!
TOO SHORT!
DAMN IT ALL!
DON’T STALL!
DON’T LISTEN . . .
LISTEN!
YOUR CHOICE,
LIFE’S SHORT!
IN’NA HURRY, HURRY UP, DON’T QUIT, SHUT UP!
FOLLOW ORDERS, WHAT’S WRONG, TIME OUT, TO LONG.
STAY STILL, IN’NA MINUTE, LOVE’S BLIND, WIN’NA PENNANT
NOT NOW!
LIFE’S SHORT!
TOO SHORT!
DAMN IT ALL!
DON’T STALL!
DON’T LISTEN . . .
LISTEN!
YOUR CHOICE,
LIFE’S SHORT!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
A Far Better Place . . .
As has been said about so many
And will be for ourselves I’m sure.
She’s in a far better place now
Than she’s ever been before.
We go through life a struttin’
Proud of what we’ve done.
Now here we are a strugglin’
With no place to hide or run.
Our bodies started falling apart
Oh, a long time ago.
At first we thought it would go away
We’d just have to take it slow.
Now we realize t’was the start of a process
Of which we’d only read.
Too bad at the other end
We only end up dead.
But you have to stop and cogitate
And let your mind revive.
You could get old, forgetful, and feeble
And still remain alive.
So don’t wish for yourself or others
A life so very long.
Unless you wish also for
A mind that’ll remain strong.
And will be for ourselves I’m sure.
She’s in a far better place now
Than she’s ever been before.
We go through life a struttin’
Proud of what we’ve done.
Now here we are a strugglin’
With no place to hide or run.
Our bodies started falling apart
Oh, a long time ago.
At first we thought it would go away
We’d just have to take it slow.
Now we realize t’was the start of a process
Of which we’d only read.
Too bad at the other end
We only end up dead.
But you have to stop and cogitate
And let your mind revive.
You could get old, forgetful, and feeble
And still remain alive.
So don’t wish for yourself or others
A life so very long.
Unless you wish also for
A mind that’ll remain strong.
They're Made Out Of Meat!
by Terry Bisson
“They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“Yea, meat! They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“There’s no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They’re completely meat.”
“That’s impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?”
“They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don’t come from them. The signals come from machines.”
“So who made the machines? That’s who we want to contact.”
“They made the machines. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Meat made the machines.”
“That’s ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You’re asking me to believe in sentient meat.”
“I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and . . . they’re made out of . . . meat.”
“Maybe they’re like the Orfolei. You remember, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage.”
“Nope! They’re born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn’t take long. Do you have any idea what the life span of meat is?”
“Spare me. Okay, maybe they’re only part meat. You know, like the Weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside.”
“Nope, we thought of that, since they do have meat heads, like the Weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They’re meat all the way through.”
“No brain?”
“Oh, there’s a brain all right. It’s just that the brain is made out of meat! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“So . . . what does the thinking?”
“You’re not understanding, are you? You’re refusing to deal with what I’m telling you. The brain does the thinking. The meat.”
“Thinking meat!? You’re asking me to believe in . . . thinking meat?”
“Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat! The meat is the whole deal! Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over again?”
“Omigod. You’re serious then. They’re made out of meat!”
“Thank you. Finally. Yes. They are indeed made out of meat. And they’ve been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years.”
“Omigod. So what does this meat . . . have in mind?”
“First, it wants to talk to us. Then, I imagine, it wants to explore the Universe, contact other sentients, swap ideas and information. The usual.”
“We’re . . . supposed to talk . . . to meat?”
“That’s the idea. That’s the message they’re sending out by radio. ‘Hello. Anyone out there. Anybody home.’ That sort of thing.
“They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?”
“Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat.”
“I thought you just told me they used radio?”
“They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat.”
“Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you advise?”
“Officially or unofficially?”
“Both.”
“Officially, we are required to contact, welcome, and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quadrant of the Universe, without prejudice, fear, or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing.”
“I was hoping you would say that.”
“It seems harsh. But there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat?”
I agree 100%. What’s there to say? ‘Hello, meat. How’s it going?’ But will it work? How many planets are we dealing with here?”
“Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers, but they can’t live on them. And being meat, they can only travel through “C” space. Which limits them to the sped of light and makes the possibility of their ever-making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact.”
“So we just pretend there’s no one home in the Universe.”
“That’s it!”
“Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you probed? You’re sure they won’t remember?”
“They’ll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads and smoothed out their meat so that we’re just a dream to them.
“A dream to meat! How strangely appropriate, that we should be meat’s dream.”
“And we marked the entire sector ‘UNOCCUPIED.’”
“Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others? Anyone interesting on that side of the galaxy?”
“Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotations ago, wants to be friendly again.”
“They always come around.”
“And, why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the Universe would be if one were . . . ALL ALONE . . .”
“They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“Yea, meat! They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“There’s no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They’re completely meat.”
“That’s impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?”
“They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don’t come from them. The signals come from machines.”
“So who made the machines? That’s who we want to contact.”
“They made the machines. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Meat made the machines.”
“That’s ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You’re asking me to believe in sentient meat.”
“I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and . . . they’re made out of . . . meat.”
“Maybe they’re like the Orfolei. You remember, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage.”
“Nope! They’re born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn’t take long. Do you have any idea what the life span of meat is?”
“Spare me. Okay, maybe they’re only part meat. You know, like the Weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside.”
“Nope, we thought of that, since they do have meat heads, like the Weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They’re meat all the way through.”
“No brain?”
“Oh, there’s a brain all right. It’s just that the brain is made out of meat! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“So . . . what does the thinking?”
“You’re not understanding, are you? You’re refusing to deal with what I’m telling you. The brain does the thinking. The meat.”
“Thinking meat!? You’re asking me to believe in . . . thinking meat?”
“Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat! The meat is the whole deal! Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over again?”
“Omigod. You’re serious then. They’re made out of meat!”
“Thank you. Finally. Yes. They are indeed made out of meat. And they’ve been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years.”
“Omigod. So what does this meat . . . have in mind?”
“First, it wants to talk to us. Then, I imagine, it wants to explore the Universe, contact other sentients, swap ideas and information. The usual.”
“We’re . . . supposed to talk . . . to meat?”
“That’s the idea. That’s the message they’re sending out by radio. ‘Hello. Anyone out there. Anybody home.’ That sort of thing.
“They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?”
“Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat.”
“I thought you just told me they used radio?”
“They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat.”
“Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you advise?”
“Officially or unofficially?”
“Both.”
“Officially, we are required to contact, welcome, and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quadrant of the Universe, without prejudice, fear, or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing.”
“I was hoping you would say that.”
“It seems harsh. But there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat?”
I agree 100%. What’s there to say? ‘Hello, meat. How’s it going?’ But will it work? How many planets are we dealing with here?”
“Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers, but they can’t live on them. And being meat, they can only travel through “C” space. Which limits them to the sped of light and makes the possibility of their ever-making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact.”
“So we just pretend there’s no one home in the Universe.”
“That’s it!”
“Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you probed? You’re sure they won’t remember?”
“They’ll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads and smoothed out their meat so that we’re just a dream to them.
“A dream to meat! How strangely appropriate, that we should be meat’s dream.”
“And we marked the entire sector ‘UNOCCUPIED.’”
“Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others? Anyone interesting on that side of the galaxy?”
“Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotations ago, wants to be friendly again.”
“They always come around.”
“And, why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the Universe would be if one were . . . ALL ALONE . . .”
Friday, September 18, 2009
Recipe for Salsa
Well, I've just finished making almost 15 gallons of mostly "Out of My Garden" Salsa. That ought to get me to next Summer. Many have asked for my recipe and I give it without any qualm. I don't know of any who have followed it, but here it is. By the way, if you want a sample, drop by and pick some up.
“Like so many other things in life, your opinion of a good recipe depends totally on whether you’re stirring the pot, or you’re what’s in the pot.”
Salsa "Snowyowl"
This is my system for making my Salsa "Snowyowl." I will note any shortcuts that might be taken without sacrificing quality.
Everything will be better if it is home-grown in your backyard, but if that is not possible, at least home grow the tomatoes. The best I have found are “SUPER FANTASTIC” or “CELEBRITY.” I have trouble growing onions and have found that “TEXAS 1015" or “VIDALIA” onions are best if you have to buy them.
The recipe calls for 30# of Tomatoes. What you are looking for is about 25# of skinned, cored tomatoes. To skin a tomato, blanch (Par Boil) it for approx. 2 min. then dunk it in very cold water for about 5 min. I do this with about 10 tomatoes at a time. The skin should come off with ease. Then take out the stem area along with about an inch beneath. Quarter the tomatoes and run them through the blender for about 5 sec. at high speed, but don’t over do. If you don’t grow your own tomatoes, make friends with someone who does. If you have to resort to store bought tomatoes, don’t bother, stop now. Your Salsa will be of such poor quality that you will receive a “CEASE AND DESIST” order from the Mexican Embassy.
Hand chopping onions seems to work best. Onions are too soft and “Mush” too easily in the blender or processor. I have found that a high quality 8 or 10 inch chef’s knife works best. You will note that the recipe calls for 14 cups of chopped onion. If you have more, don’t sweat it. People who eat salsa don’t usually worry about too many onions. Besides, except in pies and cakes, you can’t have “TOO MANY ONIONS.”
Home grown Jalapenos are the best. I have found that Peters 20-20-20 is the best fertilizer for both tomatoes and peppers. Remember that the first few crops of jalapenos are not as strong as those that will come in late July and August. So you might use more in the beginning and fewer as the season goes on. If you have to buy jalapeños at the store, get medium sized peppers with no more than two splits in the skin, no splits are best. Trim off the stem and about 1/16th in. below it and then cut pepper into short sections. In a small electric chopper, mince the peppers in short bursts. Usually three or four one second bursts does well, shake peppers down into the blades between bursts. It is best to work with jalapeños while wearing latex gloves. If you don’t use gloves, make sure you wash your hands several times when finished. One time will not do the job. No matter what, don’t rub your eyes, pick your nose, or if you are male, don’t go pee until you wash thoroughly. All these activities involve sensitive tissue onto which you may not wish to rub jalapeño juice.
Apple cider vinegar is best, and to me salt is salt. If you prefer “SEA SALT” or “KOSHER” salt, go for it. And, if you have nothing but “ALWAYS SAVE” salt, that is fine too. I have a friend that grows garlic, but most people have trouble growing it here. I have found that “Polander” chopped or minced garlic works fine.
Cilantro is the Mexican name for Coriander. When you go to the nursery in the early spring to buy your tomatoes, peppers, onions, and various other stuff, and they say that they don’t have cilantro, go over to the coriander and tell them that they do have it and that most people will ask for it as “Cilantro,” not coriander. The guy will think you are a smart ass, confirming what others have thought of you for years, but you will be doing the folks that follow you a favor. Cilantro is what gives Mexican food the Mexican flavor. Rub some between your thumb and index finger and you will recognize the smell and flavor. Mince the cilantro finely with the chef’s knife and make sure the stems are removed just like you do with some of your other “herbs.”
SALSA SNOWYOWL
30 Lbs. Tomatoes
14 cups Chopped Onions
7 cups Chopped Jalapeños
3 cups Vinegar
12 Tblsp. Salt
6 Tblsp. Minced Garlic
12 Tblsp. Minced Cilantro
1 CUP Corn Starch
Bring the tomatoes, jalapeños, and vinegar to a boil in a 22 quart or larger pot. Add the salt, garlic, cilantro and onions then bring to a boil again. Then simmer on low for 40 minutes, stirring as close to constantly as possible. The last thing to do is to thicken the Salsa slightly so that it sticks to your corn chips better. To do this we need to dissolve the corn starch in 15 ounces of COLD water, then add it to the still simmering Salsa and stir well for about 2 minutes. As the Salsa cools, it will get thicker and will stick to your ribs better.
Fill quart jars as per canning procedure and “Hot Bath” for 10 minutes. Put on the counter till the lids all “POP,” then let it all cool. This should make approximately 4-5 gallons of Salsa. If you need to halve it, that is not a problem. If you have some that don’t quit fill a quart jar, be thankful, break out the chips and a few beers and have a Salsa party. Otherwise fill a pint jar, go to bed and dream of what could have been. Then about 3 am, when you can’t stand it any more, get up and open the pint jar and watch the late, late, movie and eat till your tongue cries for help and your gut cries for Tums. Remember, if you are not used to the heat, you’ll get to enjoy it again in about 8-10 hours.
Now that all of the instructions are done, you will note that there are no preservatives or unpronounceable chemicals added to Salsa Snowyowl. I have assumed that you have done some canning before and have at least a passing knowledge of basic canning procedure and know of what I speak when I say, “HOT BATH.” If this sounds foreign to you, or you do not have the equipment to can, you might want to reassess this project. On the other hand, this might be something new and interesting to learn.
Early in 2000, I opened a jar of Salsa Snowyowl I had canned in 1995. It still had the same bright color and great taste of this year’s “BREW,” without any preservatives. If you don’t have canning equipment, your first batch of Salsa Snowyowl is going to cost you about $250, and if you don’t have a chef’s knife, add another $70. But after that it will just cost you time, trouble, and depending on what produce you have to purchase, the cost will be from $10 to $50 more. Also, because Tomatoes ripen in July and August, you are gong to have a very hot house for a couple of days. But what the hell, anything worth while is worth a little sacrifice, or at least that is what the cannibals told the guy in the boiling pot.
“Like so many other things in life, your opinion of a good recipe depends totally on whether you’re stirring the pot, or you’re what’s in the pot.”
Salsa "Snowyowl"
This is my system for making my Salsa "Snowyowl." I will note any shortcuts that might be taken without sacrificing quality.
Everything will be better if it is home-grown in your backyard, but if that is not possible, at least home grow the tomatoes. The best I have found are “SUPER FANTASTIC” or “CELEBRITY.” I have trouble growing onions and have found that “TEXAS 1015" or “VIDALIA” onions are best if you have to buy them.
The recipe calls for 30# of Tomatoes. What you are looking for is about 25# of skinned, cored tomatoes. To skin a tomato, blanch (Par Boil) it for approx. 2 min. then dunk it in very cold water for about 5 min. I do this with about 10 tomatoes at a time. The skin should come off with ease. Then take out the stem area along with about an inch beneath. Quarter the tomatoes and run them through the blender for about 5 sec. at high speed, but don’t over do. If you don’t grow your own tomatoes, make friends with someone who does. If you have to resort to store bought tomatoes, don’t bother, stop now. Your Salsa will be of such poor quality that you will receive a “CEASE AND DESIST” order from the Mexican Embassy.
Hand chopping onions seems to work best. Onions are too soft and “Mush” too easily in the blender or processor. I have found that a high quality 8 or 10 inch chef’s knife works best. You will note that the recipe calls for 14 cups of chopped onion. If you have more, don’t sweat it. People who eat salsa don’t usually worry about too many onions. Besides, except in pies and cakes, you can’t have “TOO MANY ONIONS.”
Home grown Jalapenos are the best. I have found that Peters 20-20-20 is the best fertilizer for both tomatoes and peppers. Remember that the first few crops of jalapenos are not as strong as those that will come in late July and August. So you might use more in the beginning and fewer as the season goes on. If you have to buy jalapeños at the store, get medium sized peppers with no more than two splits in the skin, no splits are best. Trim off the stem and about 1/16th in. below it and then cut pepper into short sections. In a small electric chopper, mince the peppers in short bursts. Usually three or four one second bursts does well, shake peppers down into the blades between bursts. It is best to work with jalapeños while wearing latex gloves. If you don’t use gloves, make sure you wash your hands several times when finished. One time will not do the job. No matter what, don’t rub your eyes, pick your nose, or if you are male, don’t go pee until you wash thoroughly. All these activities involve sensitive tissue onto which you may not wish to rub jalapeño juice.
Apple cider vinegar is best, and to me salt is salt. If you prefer “SEA SALT” or “KOSHER” salt, go for it. And, if you have nothing but “ALWAYS SAVE” salt, that is fine too. I have a friend that grows garlic, but most people have trouble growing it here. I have found that “Polander” chopped or minced garlic works fine.
Cilantro is the Mexican name for Coriander. When you go to the nursery in the early spring to buy your tomatoes, peppers, onions, and various other stuff, and they say that they don’t have cilantro, go over to the coriander and tell them that they do have it and that most people will ask for it as “Cilantro,” not coriander. The guy will think you are a smart ass, confirming what others have thought of you for years, but you will be doing the folks that follow you a favor. Cilantro is what gives Mexican food the Mexican flavor. Rub some between your thumb and index finger and you will recognize the smell and flavor. Mince the cilantro finely with the chef’s knife and make sure the stems are removed just like you do with some of your other “herbs.”
SALSA SNOWYOWL
30 Lbs. Tomatoes
14 cups Chopped Onions
7 cups Chopped Jalapeños
3 cups Vinegar
12 Tblsp. Salt
6 Tblsp. Minced Garlic
12 Tblsp. Minced Cilantro
1 CUP Corn Starch
Bring the tomatoes, jalapeños, and vinegar to a boil in a 22 quart or larger pot. Add the salt, garlic, cilantro and onions then bring to a boil again. Then simmer on low for 40 minutes, stirring as close to constantly as possible. The last thing to do is to thicken the Salsa slightly so that it sticks to your corn chips better. To do this we need to dissolve the corn starch in 15 ounces of COLD water, then add it to the still simmering Salsa and stir well for about 2 minutes. As the Salsa cools, it will get thicker and will stick to your ribs better.
Fill quart jars as per canning procedure and “Hot Bath” for 10 minutes. Put on the counter till the lids all “POP,” then let it all cool. This should make approximately 4-5 gallons of Salsa. If you need to halve it, that is not a problem. If you have some that don’t quit fill a quart jar, be thankful, break out the chips and a few beers and have a Salsa party. Otherwise fill a pint jar, go to bed and dream of what could have been. Then about 3 am, when you can’t stand it any more, get up and open the pint jar and watch the late, late, movie and eat till your tongue cries for help and your gut cries for Tums. Remember, if you are not used to the heat, you’ll get to enjoy it again in about 8-10 hours.
Now that all of the instructions are done, you will note that there are no preservatives or unpronounceable chemicals added to Salsa Snowyowl. I have assumed that you have done some canning before and have at least a passing knowledge of basic canning procedure and know of what I speak when I say, “HOT BATH.” If this sounds foreign to you, or you do not have the equipment to can, you might want to reassess this project. On the other hand, this might be something new and interesting to learn.
Early in 2000, I opened a jar of Salsa Snowyowl I had canned in 1995. It still had the same bright color and great taste of this year’s “BREW,” without any preservatives. If you don’t have canning equipment, your first batch of Salsa Snowyowl is going to cost you about $250, and if you don’t have a chef’s knife, add another $70. But after that it will just cost you time, trouble, and depending on what produce you have to purchase, the cost will be from $10 to $50 more. Also, because Tomatoes ripen in July and August, you are gong to have a very hot house for a couple of days. But what the hell, anything worth while is worth a little sacrifice, or at least that is what the cannibals told the guy in the boiling pot.
What Some People Believe . . .
Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.
Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
A president lying about an extramarital affair is a impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a fat conservative radio host. Then it's an illness, and you need our prayers for your recovery.
You support states' rights, which means the Attorney General can tell states what local voter initiatives they have the right to adopt.
What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant history.
Friends don't let friends vote Republican.
Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.
If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.
Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
A president lying about an extramarital affair is a impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a fat conservative radio host. Then it's an illness, and you need our prayers for your recovery.
You support states' rights, which means the Attorney General can tell states what local voter initiatives they have the right to adopt.
What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant history.
Friends don't let friends vote Republican.
A Life That Matters
Live a life that matters.
Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, mean spirit and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought,
but what you built;
not what you got,
but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is not what you gave in to but what you stood up for.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, love or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, mean spirit and jealousies will finally disappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought,
but what you built;
not what you got,
but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is not what you gave in to but what you stood up for.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, love or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
More Poetry from Pam Phillips . . .
AND WE GRIEVE
The names scroll ghostlike up the stadium wall
And we grieve
And some of us cry for lost love or lost innocence
Or lost illusions of safety.
And some lash out to reclaim what was never ours:
The absolute power over our fate,
Absolute knowledge of right and wrong,
With the certainty of those who have never
Asked too many questions
Or thought too deeply
Or known how much they don't know
And how much we can never know.
The real answers aren't easy enough,
Don't make us feel enough better than everyone else,
Don't win elections or legitimize phony ones.
Understanding is indecisive, compassion weak;
We shield ourselves with ignorance and call it morality.
Hold a hero's hand and rattle sabers;
Declare war on anyone who gets in the way
Of the swagger of the world's top dog,
Top gun, top preacher,
And be morally outraged at all
Who beg to disagree.
The names scroll ghostlike up the stadium wall
And we grieve
And some of us cry for lost love or lost innocence
Or lost illusions of safety.
And some lash out to reclaim what was never ours:
The absolute power over our fate,
Absolute knowledge of right and wrong,
With the certainty of those who have never
Asked too many questions
Or thought too deeply
Or known how much they don't know
And how much we can never know.
The real answers aren't easy enough,
Don't make us feel enough better than everyone else,
Don't win elections or legitimize phony ones.
Understanding is indecisive, compassion weak;
We shield ourselves with ignorance and call it morality.
Hold a hero's hand and rattle sabers;
Declare war on anyone who gets in the way
Of the swagger of the world's top dog,
Top gun, top preacher,
And be morally outraged at all
Who beg to disagree.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Poetry by My Friend Pam Phillips . . .
NEWSPEAK
"Clear water" policies dump mountaintops into creeks,
turn them to slurries;
"Homeland" spies turn on citizens
While real spies are outed in revenge.
Military defense makes havens for terrorism
And provokes guerrilla war.
Newspeak lives: tyranny is freedom,
Deficit-building is balanced budgeting,
Gifts to the rich aid the poor.
Starving the states saves their people,
Program cuts increase aid,
Belligerence demonstrates compassion,
Pettiness shows greatness.
Stolen elections make mandates and
Liars deserve unquestioned loyalty.
Lying is truth.
The President is king.
Politics is justice.
"Clear water" policies dump mountaintops into creeks,
turn them to slurries;
"Homeland" spies turn on citizens
While real spies are outed in revenge.
Military defense makes havens for terrorism
And provokes guerrilla war.
Newspeak lives: tyranny is freedom,
Deficit-building is balanced budgeting,
Gifts to the rich aid the poor.
Starving the states saves their people,
Program cuts increase aid,
Belligerence demonstrates compassion,
Pettiness shows greatness.
Stolen elections make mandates and
Liars deserve unquestioned loyalty.
Lying is truth.
The President is king.
Politics is justice.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
A Moral Outrage
The outpouring of unseemly and unchristian lies and distortions from the nation's self-proclaimed "Moral Leaders" that appeared in the days before the Nov. elections were truly amazing. I'm no stranger to hardball politics, and as the President of the Board of Trustees of my Church, with my own political opinions, I'd be the last to argue against anyone's right to be in the fray. But, I cannot bear to let go unnoticed that many of the candidates who were most closely associated with the Religious Right,those who proclaimed themselves the candidates of the "Values Voters, "abandoned the values of honesty and decency in the closing days of their campaigns.A Few Examples among many:
Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Kenneth Blackwell, favored by the so-called "Patriot Pastors"- accused his opponent, a decent, humane man who served in Congress and as a United Methodist minister, of supporting sex between adults and children.
Senator Rick Santorum, declared by archconservative leader Paul Weyrich to be the most important senator in America at the recent "Values Voter Summit," accused his opponent, a popular state treasurer, of aiding and abetting terrorism and genocide.
Virginia Senator George Allen, who will forever be known for his ugly mocking of a young person of color to a chuckling, all-white audience,attacked his opponent, a respected author whose military-themed novels have been praised by George Will and John McCain, by calling a few out-of-context quotes, "OBSCENE."
It's not just the politicians, The American Family Association was so desperate to energize conservative Christian voters that it told its members that if Democrats won, they should expect attempts to make "polygamy legal in all 50 states."
In 2000, GOP strategists went to work in South Carolina demeaning John McCain. They orchestrated a malicious campaign of phone calls and flyers whispering about illegitimate mixed-race children, mental instability, and other falsehoods. George W. Bush, the president who is so eager to wear his "Jesus-Changed" heart on his sleeve, responded to a righteously angry McCain with the dismissive comment, "It's only politics."
Mr. Bush and Karl Rove aren't the first or the last politicians to adopt an end-justify-the-means approach to winning elections, but there's a glaring disconnect between their proclaimed commitment to truth and biblical values and their willingness to shuck it all aside if it means getting enough votes to hang onto power. Unfortunately I received, early in the 2008 election process, several delightful email lies about Barack Obama. And, I know there will be more now that he is the President. Please check out the facts on www.snopes.com and just type in Barack Obama in the search field or do the same at www.factcheck.org. I know this will be many from the "Family Values" side of the aisle.
I just never realized that lying was a family value. Americans are beginning to demand a new direction in politics, a direction that holds up hope instead of fear, the common good instead of divisiveness, and aims at solving real problems that affect real American families rather than ideology. And that is a politics that is much closer to the good news of the Gospel than anything the so-called "Moral Values" crowd has offered.
Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Kenneth Blackwell, favored by the so-called "Patriot Pastors"- accused his opponent, a decent, humane man who served in Congress and as a United Methodist minister, of supporting sex between adults and children.
Senator Rick Santorum, declared by archconservative leader Paul Weyrich to be the most important senator in America at the recent "Values Voter Summit," accused his opponent, a popular state treasurer, of aiding and abetting terrorism and genocide.
Virginia Senator George Allen, who will forever be known for his ugly mocking of a young person of color to a chuckling, all-white audience,attacked his opponent, a respected author whose military-themed novels have been praised by George Will and John McCain, by calling a few out-of-context quotes, "OBSCENE."
It's not just the politicians, The American Family Association was so desperate to energize conservative Christian voters that it told its members that if Democrats won, they should expect attempts to make "polygamy legal in all 50 states."
In 2000, GOP strategists went to work in South Carolina demeaning John McCain. They orchestrated a malicious campaign of phone calls and flyers whispering about illegitimate mixed-race children, mental instability, and other falsehoods. George W. Bush, the president who is so eager to wear his "Jesus-Changed" heart on his sleeve, responded to a righteously angry McCain with the dismissive comment, "It's only politics."
Mr. Bush and Karl Rove aren't the first or the last politicians to adopt an end-justify-the-means approach to winning elections, but there's a glaring disconnect between their proclaimed commitment to truth and biblical values and their willingness to shuck it all aside if it means getting enough votes to hang onto power. Unfortunately I received, early in the 2008 election process, several delightful email lies about Barack Obama. And, I know there will be more now that he is the President. Please check out the facts on www.snopes.com and just type in Barack Obama in the search field or do the same at www.factcheck.org. I know this will be many from the "Family Values" side of the aisle.
I just never realized that lying was a family value. Americans are beginning to demand a new direction in politics, a direction that holds up hope instead of fear, the common good instead of divisiveness, and aims at solving real problems that affect real American families rather than ideology. And that is a politics that is much closer to the good news of the Gospel than anything the so-called "Moral Values" crowd has offered.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
TERRORISM AND ORGANIZED RELIGION
One reason the terror of 9/11/01 happened is that the people who hijacked the airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade center and the Pentagon, were NOT political terrorists. They were RELIGIOUS FANATICS who cannot tolerate any followers of any other religion. These were apparently Muslim extremists who believe that if you are not Islamic, and not a follower of their prophet Mohammed, then you are Satan. Since America is predominantly Christian, and because of OIL INTERESTS, America has killed hundreds of thousands of Islamic people, like recently in Iraq, and less recently in Iran, well then THEY think that America is Satan’s home. Yes, they think this is Hell and Americans are Satan worshipers, Anti Muslim and further, are probably all better off dead. Actually this separatist religious insanity predates the Muslim religion and its roots of hatred and intolerance can be found deeply imbedded in Christian beliefs.
Actually the Christian religion is the most fanatic of them all because followers must believe that Jesus Christ was the ONE AND ONLY PROPHET of God. That all other religious prophets of the world (Mohammed, Moses, Buddha, whomever) are FALSE prophets, and that Jesus was furthermore the Son of God, and if you don’t believe this you will die, go to Hell and burn there in pain, torture and misery for eternity. And further, anyone who doesn’t believe this is not just a heathen, but may be a servant of the devil, or Satan himself, or maybe even the Anti-Christ. And throughout most of history, and even today, Christians have tortured and murdered millions of innocent people who do not accept their beliefs, even other Christians as we have seen in Northern Ireland, just like these Muslims recently killed many Americans. There is a simple reason for this. If you can’t be saved, then you are doomed to rot and burn in Hell for all eternity anyway so you might as well be killed because if left alive your disbelief could poison the rest of the flock.
Today both Muslim and Christian religions don’t leave much room for tolerance or getting along, DON’T THEY? Oh sure, Moses, Christ and Mohammed all preached to “LOVE ONE ANOTHER” and that “THOU SHALL NOT KILL,” but this was a long time ago and since then we have let so called “HOLY MEN” distort and corrupt just about every word these beautiful prophets spoke. Now most religions fear of SATAN overrides any thoughts of “LOVE” and “GETTING ALONG.”
When will people understand that ALL organized religions of the world are SEPARATISTS MOVEMENTS? No major organized religion of the world invites others who believe differently to worship and pray alongside them in their churches, without hope of eventually brainwashing, converting, or SAVING them.
I am so sick of ORGANIZED religion I could puke. This is simply because they are ALL insecure, intolerant, unloving, spiritually retarded idiots. Most are also exclusive and private country clubs that think they are the only ones who understand exactly what God wants. They act like they have a direct satellite link-up with God and talk daily and that they are right and everyone else is wrong, in fact not just wrong but doomed to everlasting hell or maybe even a servant of Satan himself. Again, not much tolerance or love there!
I have a hard time believing that anyone is still naive enough to think that religious people won’t harm anyone. Spiritual people don’t, but what does spiritual have to do with organized religion anyway? Almost every major organized religion on this planet has a long history of torture and murder. Of all religions, Christians are by far the worst murderers on this planet. Some might argue that Christians don’t kill innocent people out of religious fanaticism like the Muslims but I beg to differ. From the crusades to the Middle East and Europe 1,000 years ago to the present day the Christians have been the biggest fanatical religious murderers on the planet, and surely the most horrific.
In London they have a museum of torture that has the worst tortures I have ever seen anywhere in the world. They show people who were slowly crushed to death by adding one additional stone every day onto the chest until you finally couldn’t take one more breath and slowly suffocated. It took days to die. They also show how they cut your abdomen and pulled out your colon and intestines, while you were still alive, and then forced you to watch as they burnt your bowels in a fire, again while they were still attached. Other tortures involved slowly crushing the penis and testes on men and the hammering of iron spikes up into a woman’s female organs. All, done in the name of Christ by the Christians trying to convert. Yes, Christians have tortured maimed and killed more people on this planet in the name of God than any other religion.
In fact in Southern California there was a beautiful group of Indians called the Chumash. They lived on the beaches and nearby hills, fishing, gathering food and never bothered nor harmed anybody. The Christians came in and set up missions to convert these heathen Redskins to Christianity. And when these loving, beautiful natives wouldn’t become slaves to the missions and convert, well they were all murdered –every last one, all 10,000 of them.
Yes organized religions, every one of them, have murdered thousands if not millions and millions of innocent people. Even recent history is full of religious intolerance and murder. How about Northern Ireland where Christians murder each other (Protestants and Catholics) in the streets almost every day, and Yugoslavia where the Muslims and Christians have been cleansing entire families? Even entire villages of men, women and children were killed. Parents were tortured and forced to kill their own children and vice versa. Religious cleansers murdered hundreds of thousands of people and buried them in mass graves and this has been going on in this same area for almost 1,000 years. How about Iraq where Christians against Muslims, we slaughtered 250,000 Muslims to protect Kuwait or to protect our oil interests. Kuwait is a little sliver of sand that used to be Iraq only a few years ago. We condemn China (Buddhists, Taoists and Confucians) for killing each other and their lack of human rights but fight a war to protect Kuwait where a woman has fewer rights than a dog, has to keep her head covered at all times, can’t leave the house without a man, is forced to have her clitoris surgically removed, can be whipped and beaten in public if her face cover slips and where a man can beat a woman to death without breaking the law.
How about the Atheist or unreligions like Adolph Hitler’s Nazis and Russia’s Marx, Stalin and Lenin who Killed millions of Jews and Muslims in their antireligious cleansings, and then killed millions of each other? Then the Jews invaded Palestine (Jews against Muslims) just after World War II and stole back their land. This one may never be settled because Christ was a relative newcomer here. They have been fighting tribe against tribe as far back as Moses, the Egyptian Dynasties and probably far back before recorded history, killing more people than we will ever know. God bless Jimmy Carter for trying to bring peace to the Middle East where there hasn’t been any for 4,000, 5,000, maybe 6,000 years. Let’s just say since the beginning of time. In many towns in Israel, including the holy city of Jerusalem, there are 1,000 year old Muslim temples built on top of 2,000 year old buried Christian holy sites, built over 3,000 year old ancient Jewish holy sites, built over 4,000 year old Egyptian temples. All built on top of one another. How should we divide this up?
How about the Hindus and Muslims in India and Pakistan who have been murdering each other for centuries and who both have atomic bombs now? The past 200 years have seen millions die in Africa as the Dutch, English and French (Christian against Zulu and various Tribal Religions) have raped and plundered the Dark Continent, Hardly putting a dent in the millions more killed in the numerous recent and ongoing civil wars in Africa over the past thirty years where they are doing a fine job killing off hundreds of thousands of themselves (Tribal against Tribal).
I haven’t even scratched the surface of killing for God, but I could sum this all up by saying that the general theme that runs through almost all of the world’s religions, not just extremist Muslim, is that if you can’t be converted, then you are probably better off dead.
If history dictates anything it is that fanatical, religious zealot extremists of all faiths, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., along with a horde of extremist Atheists who hate the religious, are responsible for killing millions and millions and millions of men, women and children on this planet. Not killed for politics, but for PROPHETS and PROFITS. All killed in the name of GOD! Can I get an AMEN?
First let me be very clear. I definitely do not condone this or any terrorist attack. These sick religious freaks that will kill innocent men, women and children should be recycled as soon as possible. Let me be extremely clear, if anyone ever comes into my house and threatens me or my family I will kill them first if necessary, with absolutely no hesitation, and then sort things out later. We should hunt these murdering scum down and kill them, period. On this planet there are good guys and bad guys. It is that simple. The good guys are people who just want to enjoy their lives, living long, happy and loving lives prospering physically, emotionally and spiritually. Then there are the bad guys who want to stop us and hurt us and our families. Sometimes these bad guys are very religious and believe it is up to them to do God’s work. Sometimes these bad guys are anti one religion or another, or like Hitler, just mean, bad, insane and rotten to the core. They are not like you and me. They are bad insane people and should be incarcerated or killed.
But as far as organized outright war is concerned, I am against it. This is mainly because the way we wage war today, the innocent people, especially the women and children, are caught up in it and often killed. And when this happens, we are no better than our enemy. I do believe in strategically removing terrorists and hostile leaders, killing them if necessary to stop them from killing us, our children and other innocent people. The problem in all of this is to not become terrorists ourselves. I see very little difference in walking into a marketplace and exploding a bomb around our waists, and firing howitzers twenty miles from a ship at sea into that same marketplace. In both cases people are killed without regard to age, race, sex or even military status.
I am against war, all wars. My first war history lesson came when I was a very young child and had the opportunity to sit on the lap of a Union soldier from the Civil War. He asked me if I knew what the Civil War was and I told him that I was. I told him, “The Civil War was to free the slaves.” He laughed out loud, I will never forget, and he said, “Hell boy, we didn’t give a shit about the slaves. The Civil War was just about the economics, see up here in the north, we couldn’t make anything as cheap as those rebs because they had slaves which meant free labor, and we didn’t. We had to kick their ass or go broke, it was that simple.” That was not what I learned in the school books.
It’s not America, love it or leave it, it’s America, I love it enough to change it. After all, I don’t believe that being an American means to blindly follow what every president, vice president or member of congress say to do, let alone follow them into battle. To me, this freedom and free thinking is what makes America great and is patriotic. History dictates that after the fact, many wars have been found to have agendas that were deeply hidden from the American people.
Many young Americans were gassed, beaten, arrested and imprisoned on numerous occasions in the ‘60's and ‘70's for their beliefs against the war in Viet Nam. Millions of people here at home, that far outnumbered the amount of soldiers in Vietnam, protested against the war. Numerous Federal Buildings were bombed in America by American citizens. Because of this civil disobedience, the war in Vietnam became so extremely unpopular that the war was ended prematurely bringing the rest of our brothers and fathers and sisters and sons home. Protests also ended up having the vice president and eventually the president of the United States both removed from office for the first time in history.
I was against Desert Storm in Iraq. But once we were in it and committed, why did we leave the leader of the opposing Army alive and well? The fact that we were attacked by his kind again, is this really so surprising? Even Gandhi, the great pacifist said of fighting wars, that one should be completely nonviolent, even to the point of letting them kill your family and yourself if necessary, this is the power of nonviolence. I disagree with his thoughts on this, but he also said that if you cannot tolerate this and are going to be violent, then be totally violent until you achieve victory. He said that a man that can do neither is a waste and a burden on his family and the community.
What is my point? I am not for outright war. I am for arresting, incarcerating and even killing the fanatic leaders who have killed the innocent. I am also for offering food and aid to the people who have been suffering under the thumb of these fanatic rulers.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY?
TOLERANCE is to recognize and respect other people’s religions, beliefs, customs and practices, no matter how different or alien they may seem, and no matter how conflicting they may be to our own personal beliefs.
Isn’t this what America is really all about–allowing people to peacefully practice their own personal beliefs, as long as they don’t bother or hurt anyone else? The very first amendment to the Constitution of the United States is all about freedom of speech and freedom of religion. It states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble” . . .meaning that the government of the United States won’t back any particular religion nor condemn any particular religion and that anyone has the right to believe in any god or prophet they choose, speak about it, print it and gather and worship, peacefully.
The problem today in America isn’t the government prohibiting freedom of religion, but the American Christian Churches filling the hearts and minds of their congregations with intolerance and fear, condemning ALL other religions and beliefs as blasphemy, and even Satanic worship.
Yes, I do believe in freedom, including freedom of religion. I strongly believe that any person has the right to believe anything they want as long as they don’t hurt anyone else. So I am OK with the millions of Christians who believe that if you don’t believe and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is your savior, and the Son of God that you will BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY. I am OK with the Muslim extremists that think Christians are Satan and the Jews that think that the Muslims are devil dogs. In fact I am OK with what any paranoid, misguided, emotionally insecure, sociopathic, schizophrenic religious zealot wants to think, as long as they keep their vomit to themselves and don’t spew it on me or anyone else.
I even believe that all these religious separatist groups have the right to assemble, and preach ad nauseam about how they are the chosen ones or the latter day saints and everyone else is a misguided fool that will miss paradise and end up burning in hell. I believe they have the right to print books about their beliefs. But I think they should be watched, and watched closely. Why? Because sooner or later all of them start to think that the rest of us need to be SAVED.
If there is any hope for the future, and I believe there is, then we have to teach our children that there are many paths to God, not just one, even if we don’t understand them. We need to stop worrying about people who look different and don’t believe as we do. We don’t have to worry about their souls either and try to convert or save them. All we need to do is mind our own business, love ourselves, our families, love God if we want to, practice our own beliefs and if you believe in God, well then God will sort it all out in the end anyway. Obviously this tolerance thing will take some work. We can start by healing our insecurity and fear of the unknown and by being more loving. Time is running out, so why not start today?
RAISE TO A NEW SPIRITUAL LEVEL
When in doubt, stop paying attention to the other guy and work on yourself. If I have heard it once I have heard it a thousand times, “Why is it that I take better care of myself than he does, but he is always healthy and has tons of energy and I am always sick?” They need to stop paying attention to the other guy and pay more attention to what they themselves are doing. The most powerful way to convince anyone to do anything is to be a shining example yourself, and they will come running. After all, the real power to influence others is by setting a great example yourself.
If everyone of us would take the time they spend worrying about the other guy, and condemning their beliefs, and trying to prove that their way is the right way and the only way, and just get closer to their loved ones, their family, their prophets and their God, the rest of the world would want what we have.
If history proves anything it is that our endless trying to convert and SAVE the heathens always ends with our having to kill them or them killing us. It never has ended in peace, laughter and bliss with people hugging each other. In fact, if you look around the world today at this gigantic fighting mess, this is the outcome of intolerance and sticking our noses into everybody else’s business. Instead we need to be looking into the mirror to examine our own spiritual path, and then raise it to a higher level. We can all use more work in this direction.
If we are to survive as a people, as a world and as a planet, we all need to lighten up a bit, and some of us a whole lot. If there is a God, and I have my own, I know that the last thing God would want for all of us is to be fighting and killing each other in the name of God and arguing about what God wants. When my God speaks to me I hear LOVE more, LAUGH more, enjoy life to the fullest because this is my gift to you. Oh yeah, and be nice to each other. I don’t think this is too much to ask in return for the greatest gift that we know so far, life her on earth.
When in doubt, try LOVE. Most people find it easy to hate, even easier to be angry and fight, but the hardest thing for most people to do is LOVE and make Peace.
So as you hear remarks every day like, “Let’s bomb those rag heads back to the stone age” and “The only good sand nigger is a dead one,” you must realize there may be an option to vaporizing Afghanistan and Iraq. That option is to show all the people of the Middle East and Muslim nations our restraint and that we do not murder the innocent like the terrorists did. To show them not only our strength but also our commitment to world peace, and also our TOLERANCE, our SPIRITUAL STRENGTH and our LOVE.
Actually the Christian religion is the most fanatic of them all because followers must believe that Jesus Christ was the ONE AND ONLY PROPHET of God. That all other religious prophets of the world (Mohammed, Moses, Buddha, whomever) are FALSE prophets, and that Jesus was furthermore the Son of God, and if you don’t believe this you will die, go to Hell and burn there in pain, torture and misery for eternity. And further, anyone who doesn’t believe this is not just a heathen, but may be a servant of the devil, or Satan himself, or maybe even the Anti-Christ. And throughout most of history, and even today, Christians have tortured and murdered millions of innocent people who do not accept their beliefs, even other Christians as we have seen in Northern Ireland, just like these Muslims recently killed many Americans. There is a simple reason for this. If you can’t be saved, then you are doomed to rot and burn in Hell for all eternity anyway so you might as well be killed because if left alive your disbelief could poison the rest of the flock.
Today both Muslim and Christian religions don’t leave much room for tolerance or getting along, DON’T THEY? Oh sure, Moses, Christ and Mohammed all preached to “LOVE ONE ANOTHER” and that “THOU SHALL NOT KILL,” but this was a long time ago and since then we have let so called “HOLY MEN” distort and corrupt just about every word these beautiful prophets spoke. Now most religions fear of SATAN overrides any thoughts of “LOVE” and “GETTING ALONG.”
When will people understand that ALL organized religions of the world are SEPARATISTS MOVEMENTS? No major organized religion of the world invites others who believe differently to worship and pray alongside them in their churches, without hope of eventually brainwashing, converting, or SAVING them.
I am so sick of ORGANIZED religion I could puke. This is simply because they are ALL insecure, intolerant, unloving, spiritually retarded idiots. Most are also exclusive and private country clubs that think they are the only ones who understand exactly what God wants. They act like they have a direct satellite link-up with God and talk daily and that they are right and everyone else is wrong, in fact not just wrong but doomed to everlasting hell or maybe even a servant of Satan himself. Again, not much tolerance or love there!
I have a hard time believing that anyone is still naive enough to think that religious people won’t harm anyone. Spiritual people don’t, but what does spiritual have to do with organized religion anyway? Almost every major organized religion on this planet has a long history of torture and murder. Of all religions, Christians are by far the worst murderers on this planet. Some might argue that Christians don’t kill innocent people out of religious fanaticism like the Muslims but I beg to differ. From the crusades to the Middle East and Europe 1,000 years ago to the present day the Christians have been the biggest fanatical religious murderers on the planet, and surely the most horrific.
In London they have a museum of torture that has the worst tortures I have ever seen anywhere in the world. They show people who were slowly crushed to death by adding one additional stone every day onto the chest until you finally couldn’t take one more breath and slowly suffocated. It took days to die. They also show how they cut your abdomen and pulled out your colon and intestines, while you were still alive, and then forced you to watch as they burnt your bowels in a fire, again while they were still attached. Other tortures involved slowly crushing the penis and testes on men and the hammering of iron spikes up into a woman’s female organs. All, done in the name of Christ by the Christians trying to convert. Yes, Christians have tortured maimed and killed more people on this planet in the name of God than any other religion.
In fact in Southern California there was a beautiful group of Indians called the Chumash. They lived on the beaches and nearby hills, fishing, gathering food and never bothered nor harmed anybody. The Christians came in and set up missions to convert these heathen Redskins to Christianity. And when these loving, beautiful natives wouldn’t become slaves to the missions and convert, well they were all murdered –every last one, all 10,000 of them.
Yes organized religions, every one of them, have murdered thousands if not millions and millions of innocent people. Even recent history is full of religious intolerance and murder. How about Northern Ireland where Christians murder each other (Protestants and Catholics) in the streets almost every day, and Yugoslavia where the Muslims and Christians have been cleansing entire families? Even entire villages of men, women and children were killed. Parents were tortured and forced to kill their own children and vice versa. Religious cleansers murdered hundreds of thousands of people and buried them in mass graves and this has been going on in this same area for almost 1,000 years. How about Iraq where Christians against Muslims, we slaughtered 250,000 Muslims to protect Kuwait or to protect our oil interests. Kuwait is a little sliver of sand that used to be Iraq only a few years ago. We condemn China (Buddhists, Taoists and Confucians) for killing each other and their lack of human rights but fight a war to protect Kuwait where a woman has fewer rights than a dog, has to keep her head covered at all times, can’t leave the house without a man, is forced to have her clitoris surgically removed, can be whipped and beaten in public if her face cover slips and where a man can beat a woman to death without breaking the law.
How about the Atheist or unreligions like Adolph Hitler’s Nazis and Russia’s Marx, Stalin and Lenin who Killed millions of Jews and Muslims in their antireligious cleansings, and then killed millions of each other? Then the Jews invaded Palestine (Jews against Muslims) just after World War II and stole back their land. This one may never be settled because Christ was a relative newcomer here. They have been fighting tribe against tribe as far back as Moses, the Egyptian Dynasties and probably far back before recorded history, killing more people than we will ever know. God bless Jimmy Carter for trying to bring peace to the Middle East where there hasn’t been any for 4,000, 5,000, maybe 6,000 years. Let’s just say since the beginning of time. In many towns in Israel, including the holy city of Jerusalem, there are 1,000 year old Muslim temples built on top of 2,000 year old buried Christian holy sites, built over 3,000 year old ancient Jewish holy sites, built over 4,000 year old Egyptian temples. All built on top of one another. How should we divide this up?
How about the Hindus and Muslims in India and Pakistan who have been murdering each other for centuries and who both have atomic bombs now? The past 200 years have seen millions die in Africa as the Dutch, English and French (Christian against Zulu and various Tribal Religions) have raped and plundered the Dark Continent, Hardly putting a dent in the millions more killed in the numerous recent and ongoing civil wars in Africa over the past thirty years where they are doing a fine job killing off hundreds of thousands of themselves (Tribal against Tribal).
I haven’t even scratched the surface of killing for God, but I could sum this all up by saying that the general theme that runs through almost all of the world’s religions, not just extremist Muslim, is that if you can’t be converted, then you are probably better off dead.
If history dictates anything it is that fanatical, religious zealot extremists of all faiths, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., along with a horde of extremist Atheists who hate the religious, are responsible for killing millions and millions and millions of men, women and children on this planet. Not killed for politics, but for PROPHETS and PROFITS. All killed in the name of GOD! Can I get an AMEN?
First let me be very clear. I definitely do not condone this or any terrorist attack. These sick religious freaks that will kill innocent men, women and children should be recycled as soon as possible. Let me be extremely clear, if anyone ever comes into my house and threatens me or my family I will kill them first if necessary, with absolutely no hesitation, and then sort things out later. We should hunt these murdering scum down and kill them, period. On this planet there are good guys and bad guys. It is that simple. The good guys are people who just want to enjoy their lives, living long, happy and loving lives prospering physically, emotionally and spiritually. Then there are the bad guys who want to stop us and hurt us and our families. Sometimes these bad guys are very religious and believe it is up to them to do God’s work. Sometimes these bad guys are anti one religion or another, or like Hitler, just mean, bad, insane and rotten to the core. They are not like you and me. They are bad insane people and should be incarcerated or killed.
But as far as organized outright war is concerned, I am against it. This is mainly because the way we wage war today, the innocent people, especially the women and children, are caught up in it and often killed. And when this happens, we are no better than our enemy. I do believe in strategically removing terrorists and hostile leaders, killing them if necessary to stop them from killing us, our children and other innocent people. The problem in all of this is to not become terrorists ourselves. I see very little difference in walking into a marketplace and exploding a bomb around our waists, and firing howitzers twenty miles from a ship at sea into that same marketplace. In both cases people are killed without regard to age, race, sex or even military status.
I am against war, all wars. My first war history lesson came when I was a very young child and had the opportunity to sit on the lap of a Union soldier from the Civil War. He asked me if I knew what the Civil War was and I told him that I was. I told him, “The Civil War was to free the slaves.” He laughed out loud, I will never forget, and he said, “Hell boy, we didn’t give a shit about the slaves. The Civil War was just about the economics, see up here in the north, we couldn’t make anything as cheap as those rebs because they had slaves which meant free labor, and we didn’t. We had to kick their ass or go broke, it was that simple.” That was not what I learned in the school books.
It’s not America, love it or leave it, it’s America, I love it enough to change it. After all, I don’t believe that being an American means to blindly follow what every president, vice president or member of congress say to do, let alone follow them into battle. To me, this freedom and free thinking is what makes America great and is patriotic. History dictates that after the fact, many wars have been found to have agendas that were deeply hidden from the American people.
Many young Americans were gassed, beaten, arrested and imprisoned on numerous occasions in the ‘60's and ‘70's for their beliefs against the war in Viet Nam. Millions of people here at home, that far outnumbered the amount of soldiers in Vietnam, protested against the war. Numerous Federal Buildings were bombed in America by American citizens. Because of this civil disobedience, the war in Vietnam became so extremely unpopular that the war was ended prematurely bringing the rest of our brothers and fathers and sisters and sons home. Protests also ended up having the vice president and eventually the president of the United States both removed from office for the first time in history.
I was against Desert Storm in Iraq. But once we were in it and committed, why did we leave the leader of the opposing Army alive and well? The fact that we were attacked by his kind again, is this really so surprising? Even Gandhi, the great pacifist said of fighting wars, that one should be completely nonviolent, even to the point of letting them kill your family and yourself if necessary, this is the power of nonviolence. I disagree with his thoughts on this, but he also said that if you cannot tolerate this and are going to be violent, then be totally violent until you achieve victory. He said that a man that can do neither is a waste and a burden on his family and the community.
What is my point? I am not for outright war. I am for arresting, incarcerating and even killing the fanatic leaders who have killed the innocent. I am also for offering food and aid to the people who have been suffering under the thumb of these fanatic rulers.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY?
TOLERANCE is to recognize and respect other people’s religions, beliefs, customs and practices, no matter how different or alien they may seem, and no matter how conflicting they may be to our own personal beliefs.
Isn’t this what America is really all about–allowing people to peacefully practice their own personal beliefs, as long as they don’t bother or hurt anyone else? The very first amendment to the Constitution of the United States is all about freedom of speech and freedom of religion. It states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble” . . .meaning that the government of the United States won’t back any particular religion nor condemn any particular religion and that anyone has the right to believe in any god or prophet they choose, speak about it, print it and gather and worship, peacefully.
The problem today in America isn’t the government prohibiting freedom of religion, but the American Christian Churches filling the hearts and minds of their congregations with intolerance and fear, condemning ALL other religions and beliefs as blasphemy, and even Satanic worship.
Yes, I do believe in freedom, including freedom of religion. I strongly believe that any person has the right to believe anything they want as long as they don’t hurt anyone else. So I am OK with the millions of Christians who believe that if you don’t believe and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is your savior, and the Son of God that you will BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY. I am OK with the Muslim extremists that think Christians are Satan and the Jews that think that the Muslims are devil dogs. In fact I am OK with what any paranoid, misguided, emotionally insecure, sociopathic, schizophrenic religious zealot wants to think, as long as they keep their vomit to themselves and don’t spew it on me or anyone else.
I even believe that all these religious separatist groups have the right to assemble, and preach ad nauseam about how they are the chosen ones or the latter day saints and everyone else is a misguided fool that will miss paradise and end up burning in hell. I believe they have the right to print books about their beliefs. But I think they should be watched, and watched closely. Why? Because sooner or later all of them start to think that the rest of us need to be SAVED.
If there is any hope for the future, and I believe there is, then we have to teach our children that there are many paths to God, not just one, even if we don’t understand them. We need to stop worrying about people who look different and don’t believe as we do. We don’t have to worry about their souls either and try to convert or save them. All we need to do is mind our own business, love ourselves, our families, love God if we want to, practice our own beliefs and if you believe in God, well then God will sort it all out in the end anyway. Obviously this tolerance thing will take some work. We can start by healing our insecurity and fear of the unknown and by being more loving. Time is running out, so why not start today?
RAISE TO A NEW SPIRITUAL LEVEL
When in doubt, stop paying attention to the other guy and work on yourself. If I have heard it once I have heard it a thousand times, “Why is it that I take better care of myself than he does, but he is always healthy and has tons of energy and I am always sick?” They need to stop paying attention to the other guy and pay more attention to what they themselves are doing. The most powerful way to convince anyone to do anything is to be a shining example yourself, and they will come running. After all, the real power to influence others is by setting a great example yourself.
If everyone of us would take the time they spend worrying about the other guy, and condemning their beliefs, and trying to prove that their way is the right way and the only way, and just get closer to their loved ones, their family, their prophets and their God, the rest of the world would want what we have.
If history proves anything it is that our endless trying to convert and SAVE the heathens always ends with our having to kill them or them killing us. It never has ended in peace, laughter and bliss with people hugging each other. In fact, if you look around the world today at this gigantic fighting mess, this is the outcome of intolerance and sticking our noses into everybody else’s business. Instead we need to be looking into the mirror to examine our own spiritual path, and then raise it to a higher level. We can all use more work in this direction.
If we are to survive as a people, as a world and as a planet, we all need to lighten up a bit, and some of us a whole lot. If there is a God, and I have my own, I know that the last thing God would want for all of us is to be fighting and killing each other in the name of God and arguing about what God wants. When my God speaks to me I hear LOVE more, LAUGH more, enjoy life to the fullest because this is my gift to you. Oh yeah, and be nice to each other. I don’t think this is too much to ask in return for the greatest gift that we know so far, life her on earth.
When in doubt, try LOVE. Most people find it easy to hate, even easier to be angry and fight, but the hardest thing for most people to do is LOVE and make Peace.
So as you hear remarks every day like, “Let’s bomb those rag heads back to the stone age” and “The only good sand nigger is a dead one,” you must realize there may be an option to vaporizing Afghanistan and Iraq. That option is to show all the people of the Middle East and Muslim nations our restraint and that we do not murder the innocent like the terrorists did. To show them not only our strength but also our commitment to world peace, and also our TOLERANCE, our SPIRITUAL STRENGTH and our LOVE.
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Trouble With Truth
After hearing a gun shot, a young lady ran into a neighbor’s home. As she stood in the doorway of the strange home, she saw a man in the doorway across the room. He was about five foot seven inches tall and was putting a large gun away into his belt with his left hand. After putting the gun away he took a comb out of his left rear pocket and combed his hair with his left hand. After raking through his medium to short hair with the comb, he put the comb back into his left rear pocket with his left hand. The young lady could not see the man’s face but from the color of his arm he must have been middle eastern; he was very dark, but not of African decent. The young lady turned and ran to her home across the street and called the police. While waiting for the police, she peered out her window at the neighbor’s home. In about three minutes a woman left by the front door of her neighbor’s home. This woman was very tall with a long sleeve blouse on and she had slacks and shoulder length, black hair, and a dark complexion like the man the young lady had seen earlier. The dark woman ran down the street and around the corner and disappeared.
When the police came the young lady ran across the street to tell them what had happened. After giving the police a full description of the two people she had seen at her neighbor’s home, she went back to her home completely confident that she had gotten all her facts straight. Then she sat back to await the full details on the evening news. She was well satisfied by the news because all the details that she had given the police were on and they had even used her name.
As time went on, the young lady was called in from time to time to identify possible suspects. There were several of the suspects that sort of fit the description, but none that were right. After several months the police stopped calling her to come in. The police had run out of suspects.
The problem was that the young lady from across the street had seen the same criminal she had seen that day, in several line-ups. She had not recognized the perpetrator in the lineup because the truth of the crime was only the perceived truth. The truth was she had seen it was not the actual truth. The criminal was a right-handed Anglo-Saxon, more than six feet tall, and there was no woman involved in the crime, at all.
How could she be so mistaken about the crime? It was easy; when she entered the unfamiliar house, she did not know that she was looking into a mirror in a doorway across the room. That which she saw as left, was really right; so the left-handed man was really right-handed. Also, the mirror was tilted slightly upward so that the man appeared to be shorter than he really was. His middle eastern complexion came from working for several months in the sun. The tall woman leaving the house was really the very same man, who had put on a bra and blouse and covered his head with the victim’s wig. Because the young lady would not relent in her very accurate description, the criminal went unpunished. She was very sure that she had noted everything and that she was correct, and she WAS correct. She was highly accurate in the truth as she perceived it.
That is the problem with perceived truth. We know it is correct because we believe it to be correct, and we believe it to be correct because we have been convinced by something or someone. Now comes the problem: not all perceived truths are something other than the truth; some perceived truths are really true. But, all perceived truths should be questioned and researched and put to the test of REASON. This is not an unsupported idea: there are many professions based on this idea: the police detective, all scientists, or for instance, your minister. Some are in the quest for the hard facts, others are there to raise questions and let you supply your own answers, or the answers are supplied for you. Plato said, “Let us affirm what seems to be the truth, that whether one is or is not, one and the others in relation to themselves and one another, all of them, in every way, are and are not, and appear to be and appear not to be.”
For each of us the hard part is in questioning our own perceived truths, some of which we hold dear, or perceived truths we learned from our parents. It is very tough work questioning our parents’ teachings or our own beliefs in the search for actual truth. It is even harder work when the answer we seek might come out to our own detriment. Thomas Hobbes said, “such truth as opposeth no man’s profit nor pleasure is to all men welcome.” But, each of us must determine that which we are seeking: our own self esteem, vanity, ego, pleasure, profit, or truth no matter where it leads and no matter its outcome.
Now, one must consider if one really wants to know the truth. Consider the possibilities, then don’t ask the question if you can’t handle the truth. George Berkeley said, “Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few.” So, one must consider what stake another has in the answer to be given, one way or the other. This could shade the truth as given by another. By this I mean some truths are in delicate balance, or can be understood ambiguously. For instance, consider a letter of recommendation that says, “I would consider any company lucky that getd John Doe to work for them.” What does the writer mean by this sentence? Is it an accident or is the ambiguity on purpose? What is the truth?
One must also be careful in going the other way, in throwing out the true with the false. Democritus said, “All that exists are atoms and empty space. All else is just opinion.” This is a nice thought but it throws out a lot of actual truths in the process. Does one want to get this basic in their seeking of the truth? Most people don’t.
With hard evidence the truth is much easier to come upon; with thought and philosophies, truth might be illusive or even nonexistent. Hence, we have many divergent thoughts, philosophies, and religions. One must seek truth in their own thought, philosophy, and religion and render it down to the point that they can live comfortably with it, and to the point that works for them. But, one must always keep in mind that truth is alive and moving, and will change from time to time. That which was true yesterday, may or may not be true today, or tomorrow. New evidence and reasoning expand with our mental capacity, and that is expanded within each of us, through mental exercise. One must never stop questioning and exploring their own thoughts and ideas. This acts like a filter, and one might be surprised at what gets caught in the filter; it’s usually a lot of garbage that you want to throw out anyway. But make sure that the truth is not caught, and thrown away, if your sieve is too fine.
In thought, philosophy, and religion, one must ask oneself if there is such a thing as truth or is it just a point of view? It is said, “Everything is relative,” and that can certainly be applied to perceived truth. But Charles Sanders Peirce said, “Every man is fully satisfied that there is such a thing as truth or he would not ask any questions.” On the other hand, sometimes the questions are as important, if not more important, as the answers. In an apparent change of heart, the very same Peirce said, “It is the man of science, eager to have his every opinion regenerated, his every idea rationalized, by drinking at the fountain of fact and devoting all the energies of his life to the cult of truth, not as he understands it, but as he does not yet understand it, that ought properly to be called a philosopher.” So there is something to be said for the process. A great many prize the process of arriving at the truth, more highly than the truth. They realize that the truth could change, but the process will always stay the same, or at least stay very stable. One must not confuse the process of seeking, with dogma. Sometimes dogma is disguised as the process of seeking the truth. One will search and search, then have someone else tell him in what to believe.
The next truth to look at is functional truth. Functional truth is a suborder of perceived truth. If an innocent person is found guilty and that finding is never overturned, society goes on unaffected by this finding. Things go on seemingly unchanged by this new truth. The functional truth is that he is guilty.
It was once believed that the world was flat, that the Sun revolved around the Earth, that the Earth was the center of the Universe, and accepting these functional truths, little was changed. Today many believe that there is no life other than on Earth. I am sure that someday this will be looked upon as our functional truth, but also perceived process, functional truth and actual truth. People are like electricity; they will follow the line of least resistance. After a long, tiresome search, one will take another’s thoughts and ideas for one’s own. Having followed the process up to the point of discovery, one will then abandon it for lack of persistence, and the availability of easy answers. One must remember, there are no easy answers, and if you love the process, there are no easy questions. Questions are easy only if one knows the answers and tailors the questions to fit. One must abandon the easy answer, and easy questions, and let the process do its job. Always remember, don’t ask the question if you are not prepared to handle the answers. AND THAT IS THE TROUBLE WITH THE TRUTH!
When the police came the young lady ran across the street to tell them what had happened. After giving the police a full description of the two people she had seen at her neighbor’s home, she went back to her home completely confident that she had gotten all her facts straight. Then she sat back to await the full details on the evening news. She was well satisfied by the news because all the details that she had given the police were on and they had even used her name.
As time went on, the young lady was called in from time to time to identify possible suspects. There were several of the suspects that sort of fit the description, but none that were right. After several months the police stopped calling her to come in. The police had run out of suspects.
The problem was that the young lady from across the street had seen the same criminal she had seen that day, in several line-ups. She had not recognized the perpetrator in the lineup because the truth of the crime was only the perceived truth. The truth was she had seen it was not the actual truth. The criminal was a right-handed Anglo-Saxon, more than six feet tall, and there was no woman involved in the crime, at all.
How could she be so mistaken about the crime? It was easy; when she entered the unfamiliar house, she did not know that she was looking into a mirror in a doorway across the room. That which she saw as left, was really right; so the left-handed man was really right-handed. Also, the mirror was tilted slightly upward so that the man appeared to be shorter than he really was. His middle eastern complexion came from working for several months in the sun. The tall woman leaving the house was really the very same man, who had put on a bra and blouse and covered his head with the victim’s wig. Because the young lady would not relent in her very accurate description, the criminal went unpunished. She was very sure that she had noted everything and that she was correct, and she WAS correct. She was highly accurate in the truth as she perceived it.
That is the problem with perceived truth. We know it is correct because we believe it to be correct, and we believe it to be correct because we have been convinced by something or someone. Now comes the problem: not all perceived truths are something other than the truth; some perceived truths are really true. But, all perceived truths should be questioned and researched and put to the test of REASON. This is not an unsupported idea: there are many professions based on this idea: the police detective, all scientists, or for instance, your minister. Some are in the quest for the hard facts, others are there to raise questions and let you supply your own answers, or the answers are supplied for you. Plato said, “Let us affirm what seems to be the truth, that whether one is or is not, one and the others in relation to themselves and one another, all of them, in every way, are and are not, and appear to be and appear not to be.”
For each of us the hard part is in questioning our own perceived truths, some of which we hold dear, or perceived truths we learned from our parents. It is very tough work questioning our parents’ teachings or our own beliefs in the search for actual truth. It is even harder work when the answer we seek might come out to our own detriment. Thomas Hobbes said, “such truth as opposeth no man’s profit nor pleasure is to all men welcome.” But, each of us must determine that which we are seeking: our own self esteem, vanity, ego, pleasure, profit, or truth no matter where it leads and no matter its outcome.
Now, one must consider if one really wants to know the truth. Consider the possibilities, then don’t ask the question if you can’t handle the truth. George Berkeley said, “Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few.” So, one must consider what stake another has in the answer to be given, one way or the other. This could shade the truth as given by another. By this I mean some truths are in delicate balance, or can be understood ambiguously. For instance, consider a letter of recommendation that says, “I would consider any company lucky that getd John Doe to work for them.” What does the writer mean by this sentence? Is it an accident or is the ambiguity on purpose? What is the truth?
One must also be careful in going the other way, in throwing out the true with the false. Democritus said, “All that exists are atoms and empty space. All else is just opinion.” This is a nice thought but it throws out a lot of actual truths in the process. Does one want to get this basic in their seeking of the truth? Most people don’t.
With hard evidence the truth is much easier to come upon; with thought and philosophies, truth might be illusive or even nonexistent. Hence, we have many divergent thoughts, philosophies, and religions. One must seek truth in their own thought, philosophy, and religion and render it down to the point that they can live comfortably with it, and to the point that works for them. But, one must always keep in mind that truth is alive and moving, and will change from time to time. That which was true yesterday, may or may not be true today, or tomorrow. New evidence and reasoning expand with our mental capacity, and that is expanded within each of us, through mental exercise. One must never stop questioning and exploring their own thoughts and ideas. This acts like a filter, and one might be surprised at what gets caught in the filter; it’s usually a lot of garbage that you want to throw out anyway. But make sure that the truth is not caught, and thrown away, if your sieve is too fine.
In thought, philosophy, and religion, one must ask oneself if there is such a thing as truth or is it just a point of view? It is said, “Everything is relative,” and that can certainly be applied to perceived truth. But Charles Sanders Peirce said, “Every man is fully satisfied that there is such a thing as truth or he would not ask any questions.” On the other hand, sometimes the questions are as important, if not more important, as the answers. In an apparent change of heart, the very same Peirce said, “It is the man of science, eager to have his every opinion regenerated, his every idea rationalized, by drinking at the fountain of fact and devoting all the energies of his life to the cult of truth, not as he understands it, but as he does not yet understand it, that ought properly to be called a philosopher.” So there is something to be said for the process. A great many prize the process of arriving at the truth, more highly than the truth. They realize that the truth could change, but the process will always stay the same, or at least stay very stable. One must not confuse the process of seeking, with dogma. Sometimes dogma is disguised as the process of seeking the truth. One will search and search, then have someone else tell him in what to believe.
The next truth to look at is functional truth. Functional truth is a suborder of perceived truth. If an innocent person is found guilty and that finding is never overturned, society goes on unaffected by this finding. Things go on seemingly unchanged by this new truth. The functional truth is that he is guilty.
It was once believed that the world was flat, that the Sun revolved around the Earth, that the Earth was the center of the Universe, and accepting these functional truths, little was changed. Today many believe that there is no life other than on Earth. I am sure that someday this will be looked upon as our functional truth, but also perceived process, functional truth and actual truth. People are like electricity; they will follow the line of least resistance. After a long, tiresome search, one will take another’s thoughts and ideas for one’s own. Having followed the process up to the point of discovery, one will then abandon it for lack of persistence, and the availability of easy answers. One must remember, there are no easy answers, and if you love the process, there are no easy questions. Questions are easy only if one knows the answers and tailors the questions to fit. One must abandon the easy answer, and easy questions, and let the process do its job. Always remember, don’t ask the question if you are not prepared to handle the answers. AND THAT IS THE TROUBLE WITH THE TRUTH!
Never Satisfied
The homeless man, who must live in a tent,
he longs for even a shack to rent, and
a leaky roof just over his head,
Maybe a cot, or even a bed.
The man, who lives in a rented shack, says,
“If I e’er get out, I’ll ne’er be back.”
He wants a cabin, whose roof don’t leak.
Maybe then, life won’t be so bleak.
The man whose cabin is way too little,
hasn’t the room to dance and to fiddle.
He needs more room just to do his thing,
And besides, she’s expecting this Spring.
The man, who lives in a nice sized house,
has lots of room for a family and spouse.
‘e wants to live out, ‘way from the city,
but can’t find farm or ranch . . . a pity.
The man who grows corn, way out on his farm,
views retirement with a bit of alarm.
A farm’s no place to lie by the fire.
We’ll need a big house just to retire.
The man in the mansion has lots of time,
drinks rum and Coke with a squeeze of lime.
Three weeks of leisure each Summer is spent,
camping . . . fishing . . . all in a big tent.
he longs for even a shack to rent, and
a leaky roof just over his head,
Maybe a cot, or even a bed.
The man, who lives in a rented shack, says,
“If I e’er get out, I’ll ne’er be back.”
He wants a cabin, whose roof don’t leak.
Maybe then, life won’t be so bleak.
The man whose cabin is way too little,
hasn’t the room to dance and to fiddle.
He needs more room just to do his thing,
And besides, she’s expecting this Spring.
The man, who lives in a nice sized house,
has lots of room for a family and spouse.
‘e wants to live out, ‘way from the city,
but can’t find farm or ranch . . . a pity.
The man who grows corn, way out on his farm,
views retirement with a bit of alarm.
A farm’s no place to lie by the fire.
We’ll need a big house just to retire.
The man in the mansion has lots of time,
drinks rum and Coke with a squeeze of lime.
Three weeks of leisure each Summer is spent,
camping . . . fishing . . . all in a big tent.
Thoughts on Death . . .
Here, I walk among the stones commemorating those who have gone before. I see their names and dates carved carefully by those who loved them, and those they loved. Their deeds are forgotten for the most part, except what has been passed down. We are here because of those that these stones represent. Flesh and blood, a beating heart, reduced to clay, and a stone with a name and a date. What about their tragedies? What about their triumphs? What about their accomplishments and their loves? Great lives are reduced to a few lines on a stone. Will we never know the situations and challenges that they overcame? We are here because Sam loved Elsie, Obidia loved Flossie, and Norman loved Alma.
Here, I walk among the stones of those who have loved before. The heritage they passed down to us, with a myriad of mysteries is here, within us. It’s all laid out and ready for us to read and explore. We are the accumulated history of these stones. We are what they lived for, we are what they loved for, we are what they fought and died for, and we will be their best works until we pass the prize to those that follow and we join the stones.
Here, I walk among the stones of those who have loved before. The heritage they passed down to us, with a myriad of mysteries is here, within us. It’s all laid out and ready for us to read and explore. We are the accumulated history of these stones. We are what they lived for, we are what they loved for, we are what they fought and died for, and we will be their best works until we pass the prize to those that follow and we join the stones.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
On Aging . . .
The first time it happened I found myself in shock and disbelief. Some twenty years ago in Dallas, I was getting off work at about 9PM and since dinner had been skipped, I decided to drop by a local fast food place on the way home. I looked at the menu board and chose a $4.99 meal to take home. The high-school age girl wrote it down, put it on the spinner ring and turned it to the kitchen area where it was picked up. About five minutes later it was filled and put on the counter in front of me. Then the girl said, “That will be $4.60.” I already had a five out and just wanted to know how much more the tax would be. I said, “”What?”
“Well, that’s with the tax,” She said.
“But the price is $4.99 plus the tax.”
Then she hit me smack between the eyes with something that I had dreaded all my life, “Oh, I gave you the senior citizens discount.”
That, I must say, caught me by surprise. But, since it was going to cost me less, I just thanked the girl, paid for my order, picked it up and started to leave. Just as I got to the door I did something that should never have been done. I make it a rule for myself to never ask a question to which I really don’t want the answer. But, I turned and asked, “How old do you have to be to qualify for the senior citizen’s discount?” As soon as the last word escaped my tongue I wished the question had been unasked, and in short time I certainly wished it had been unanswered.
“Sixty.” Was her quick return.
I went directly home, examined my forty six-year-old face and decided it was just that the young girl thought that everyone more than thirty was a senior citizen . . . until it happened again and then, again. I’ve always looked older than I really was but now I looked like a “Codger."
There are lots of benefits to being a “Codger,” discounts at the grocery store on certain days, discounts at various fast food places, and even on gas at some stations, but . . . I’ve never been asked to prove my eligibility for these discounts. They just look at me and I am sure in their mind they say, “Hey, no problem here.”
Now, to the perils . . . about two years ago, three of my friends and I were standing around talking when another friend walked up and asked one if he would like to go to the Eagles Club later. With an affirmative answer he went to the next, then around me to the last. With three affirmative answers he left our little group without acknowledging me. Later, I approached him and explained to him that I did not understand why I was skipped.
“I thought we were friends,” I said, “Have I done something to make you mad?”
I couldn’t have gone that night anyway but, I wasn’t even asked!
“Because of your age,” He explained, “You might not feel comfortable with the younger crowd.”
“I might be getting older, but I damn well refuse to grow up.” Was my retort. And the next time I was invited and we all had a great time.
One of the worst moments of being a “Codger” is the first time you are called “Sir” by a young girl. Recently, I’ve noticed that those “Girls” have become young ladies. I fear the day the “Ladies” become “Women” or worse “Middle aged.”
The biggest peril is in not being able to laugh at your age, and getting others to ignore it. Being a “Codger” is not all that bad, I love its benefits, but it has its perils. I’ll never forget the look on my mothers face the day I got my membership card in the AARP. I’m sure she scrambled into the bathroom to peer into the mirror. I’m also sure someday I’ll do the same thing.
FAR BETTER PLACE
As has been said about so many
And will be for ourselves I’m sure.
She’s in a far better place now
Than she’s ever been before.
We go through life a struttin’
Proud of what we’ve done.
Now here we are a strugglin’
With no place to hide or run.
Our bodies started falling apart
Oh, a long time ago.
At first we thought it would go away
We’d just have to take it slow.
Now we realize t’was the start of a process
Of which we’d only read.
Too bad at the other end
We only end up dead.
But you have to stop and cogitate
And let your mind revive.
You could get old, forgetful, and feeble
And still remain alive.
So don’t wish for yourself or others
A life so very long.
Unless you wish also for
A mind that’ll remain strong.
“Well, that’s with the tax,” She said.
“But the price is $4.99 plus the tax.”
Then she hit me smack between the eyes with something that I had dreaded all my life, “Oh, I gave you the senior citizens discount.”
That, I must say, caught me by surprise. But, since it was going to cost me less, I just thanked the girl, paid for my order, picked it up and started to leave. Just as I got to the door I did something that should never have been done. I make it a rule for myself to never ask a question to which I really don’t want the answer. But, I turned and asked, “How old do you have to be to qualify for the senior citizen’s discount?” As soon as the last word escaped my tongue I wished the question had been unasked, and in short time I certainly wished it had been unanswered.
“Sixty.” Was her quick return.
I went directly home, examined my forty six-year-old face and decided it was just that the young girl thought that everyone more than thirty was a senior citizen . . . until it happened again and then, again. I’ve always looked older than I really was but now I looked like a “Codger."
There are lots of benefits to being a “Codger,” discounts at the grocery store on certain days, discounts at various fast food places, and even on gas at some stations, but . . . I’ve never been asked to prove my eligibility for these discounts. They just look at me and I am sure in their mind they say, “Hey, no problem here.”
Now, to the perils . . . about two years ago, three of my friends and I were standing around talking when another friend walked up and asked one if he would like to go to the Eagles Club later. With an affirmative answer he went to the next, then around me to the last. With three affirmative answers he left our little group without acknowledging me. Later, I approached him and explained to him that I did not understand why I was skipped.
“I thought we were friends,” I said, “Have I done something to make you mad?”
I couldn’t have gone that night anyway but, I wasn’t even asked!
“Because of your age,” He explained, “You might not feel comfortable with the younger crowd.”
“I might be getting older, but I damn well refuse to grow up.” Was my retort. And the next time I was invited and we all had a great time.
One of the worst moments of being a “Codger” is the first time you are called “Sir” by a young girl. Recently, I’ve noticed that those “Girls” have become young ladies. I fear the day the “Ladies” become “Women” or worse “Middle aged.”
The biggest peril is in not being able to laugh at your age, and getting others to ignore it. Being a “Codger” is not all that bad, I love its benefits, but it has its perils. I’ll never forget the look on my mothers face the day I got my membership card in the AARP. I’m sure she scrambled into the bathroom to peer into the mirror. I’m also sure someday I’ll do the same thing.
FAR BETTER PLACE
As has been said about so many
And will be for ourselves I’m sure.
She’s in a far better place now
Than she’s ever been before.
We go through life a struttin’
Proud of what we’ve done.
Now here we are a strugglin’
With no place to hide or run.
Our bodies started falling apart
Oh, a long time ago.
At first we thought it would go away
We’d just have to take it slow.
Now we realize t’was the start of a process
Of which we’d only read.
Too bad at the other end
We only end up dead.
But you have to stop and cogitate
And let your mind revive.
You could get old, forgetful, and feeble
And still remain alive.
So don’t wish for yourself or others
A life so very long.
Unless you wish also for
A mind that’ll remain strong.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
For What I'm Thankful . . .
The Sun, good health, the husband, the wife, the kids, the grandkids, life, love, food and shelter, I’ve heard people give thanks for all of the above, and more, much more. Originally, I was looking for something for which to be thankful, without duplicating someone else’s thankfulness. Then the light came on, I’m thankful for all the bad things that happen to me. And, the reason is that the bad things make the good things far more meaningful.
I tend to be fairly well coordinated. I was a gymnast in High school and college and did flips, hand stands, and scales in city and state competitions. It wasn’t until I tripped and broke my toe that I realized what a great gift I had received in being able to move around without hurting myself. . . until then.
To carry this a little further, it also dawned on me that without illness, I probably would take good health for granted. If there was no influenza, how could I possibly appreciate an ache free day. I know that I would assume that agility was commonplace if it were not for my arthritis. Good eyesight would never be questioned if I didn’t have to wear glasses.
But, the one thing that I don’t understand, is youth. No one ever appreciates youth until we get older. And unlike health, agility, and all the other things for which we are each thankful, it cannot be re-attained. You have it, you enjoy it, then it goes away and it isn’t coming back. One day you wake up and your joints ache, your hair is thin, your forty pounds over weight, your kids have their own kids, the wife is gone and so are your teeth, and you wonder . . . “What in the hell happened?”
Well what you have just experienced was life. And yes, it goes on. But someone else is the major participant. At this point you have a supporting role. But later you will become a character actor, then after that you become the stage manager or house manager, then you just become a burden.
None of this sounds promising to anyone, but if you play your cards right, you can prolong your health, teach your kids to respect their elders, have enough money to not be a burden to your kids, and spend your retirement in comfort.
Now, what I’m really thankful for is that I can buy my grandson a drum set for Christmas. His mother drove me crazy when she was a kid, and I intend to return the favor.
I tend to be fairly well coordinated. I was a gymnast in High school and college and did flips, hand stands, and scales in city and state competitions. It wasn’t until I tripped and broke my toe that I realized what a great gift I had received in being able to move around without hurting myself. . . until then.
To carry this a little further, it also dawned on me that without illness, I probably would take good health for granted. If there was no influenza, how could I possibly appreciate an ache free day. I know that I would assume that agility was commonplace if it were not for my arthritis. Good eyesight would never be questioned if I didn’t have to wear glasses.
But, the one thing that I don’t understand, is youth. No one ever appreciates youth until we get older. And unlike health, agility, and all the other things for which we are each thankful, it cannot be re-attained. You have it, you enjoy it, then it goes away and it isn’t coming back. One day you wake up and your joints ache, your hair is thin, your forty pounds over weight, your kids have their own kids, the wife is gone and so are your teeth, and you wonder . . . “What in the hell happened?”
Well what you have just experienced was life. And yes, it goes on. But someone else is the major participant. At this point you have a supporting role. But later you will become a character actor, then after that you become the stage manager or house manager, then you just become a burden.
None of this sounds promising to anyone, but if you play your cards right, you can prolong your health, teach your kids to respect their elders, have enough money to not be a burden to your kids, and spend your retirement in comfort.
Now, what I’m really thankful for is that I can buy my grandson a drum set for Christmas. His mother drove me crazy when she was a kid, and I intend to return the favor.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The "L" Word
My name is Snowyowl and I’m a . . . “LIBERAL”
Since the Reagan years, when the word LIBERAL was vilified and reduced to an initial,(THE “L” WORD). Too vulgar to be whispered aloud in the presence of children or the ladies, being a liberal has not been something told of ourselves, to strangers. Only with tried and true compatriots did one allow himself the luxury of admitting to be a liberal in any category, and to a large extent those feelings still exist today.
I started wondering if I was really a “LIBERAL” so I looked it up. The dictionary defines the word as:
1. Unrestricted, suitable for a freeman . . .
2. Generous, giving . . .
3. Ample, large, abundant . . .(being, myself ample, large and abundant, I feel I personify liberalism)
4. Free, not literal or strict . . .
5. Broad-minded, not narrow or bigoted . . .
6. Favoring progress, as in religion or education, favoring reforms tending toward democracy and personal freedom for the individual . .
7. Not mean, not low in birth or mind . . .
8. One who advocates greater freedom of thought or action . . .
I decided that the definition was about what I was, and further realized that what I wanted to concentrate on, in this essay, was spiritual or religious “LIBERALISM,” rather than the political “LIBERALISM” I practice at the polls.
The religious liberal or rationalist, in my case, looks at the biblical literalist about the same way a car buyer looks at a used car salesman, with some skepticism and one hand resting firmly on the wallet.
The liberal acknowledges that the New Testament was written between 1600 and 1900 years ago by older, Semitic men with different backgrounds, traditions, and idioms than our own. On the other hand, the literalist tries to equate what is said by those old semites, and sometimes misinterpreted in the Bible, to today’s mores, to life in the early 21st century, and the people are rebeling. Every week in the Church of Christ newsletter, I read articles to various congregations on keeping the traditions alive despite lose of membership.
All of this reminds me of the story of MA FERGUSON in Texas. PA FERGUSON was the Governor of Texas but his term was cut short for some minor indiscretion. MA FERGUSON was chosen to fill out his term and as Governor she vetoed a bill to make Texas Bilingual and print all documents in both English and Spanish. She explained, “If English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for us.”
The tradition of the middle East is one of exaggeration, it’s not really a lie because everyone knows you are just expanding the truth. If someone asks you, “How was your meeting?” you might answer, “It was great, there were thousands of people there, they stood in the aisles, and applauded every time I took a breath. We only had enough food for a few hundred but God provided and with this small amount we were able to feed them all. Everyone converted and each gave half of their life savings to the ministry.” Now, the listeners of the middle East hear, “It was all right, there were a lot of people there, and they ate all of our food, they were fairly enthusiastic, there were some converts, and they gave me enough money to get me home.” If the listener is not sure of an accurate translation he might ask, “Verily?” At that point the raconteur must rephrase his anecdote to a more plausible story. Thus saying, “Verily, verily, I say unto you . . .
And, here is another point. How can we equate something said 2,000 years ago, then written down 300 years later and in a different language by a man who holds women as chattel, then mistranslated 1200 years later into yet another language, then read 450 years after that, as a law by which we should live? The liberal or rationalist looks at the Bible and all beliefs in a reasonable fashion. Take the reasonable parts as a guideline and ignores the minutia. The conservative looks at the King James Version of the Bible and never questions how it got into his hands. Not how many translations(or mis-translations) it has gone through.
In the “LITERAL BIBLE,” Christians have been told and truthfully believe, that Christianity has a lock on morality. That if you’re not Christian, you’re not moral. The names Jimmy Swaggart, Robert Tilton, Jim Baker, Oral Roberts, and Mike Messner come to mind. I find it a shame that most Conservative Christians think that they themselves have to have their beliefs to keep them from being morally depraved. In that case, I am glad they have their beliefs. There is enough depravity in the world. But, my findings have revealed that SOME of the most moral people I have met, claim to be atheists and SOME of the most immoral, claim to be Christian.
Once, when questioned about my patriotism to a CHRISTIAN Country, I explained how I felt. I told the questioner the basic difference in Patriotism between a Fundamentalist Christian and my self is, “If I were faced with going to war so that you could believe in Christ, I would go gladly for you, and defend you rights. You, on the other hand, would not fight for my rights of belief. Now who is the most Patriotic?”
Yes, my name is Snowyowl and I am a religious Liberal . . . and I’m proud of it. And yes, I am a Heretic, from the Latin(Haereticus) and the Greek(Hairetikos) meaning–able to choose. I choose to choose
WITHOUT CHOICE, YOU CANNOT BE FREE!
Be proud to be a Religious Liberal and a Heretic because it is with you that our tradition of freedom will continue.
Since the Reagan years, when the word LIBERAL was vilified and reduced to an initial,(THE “L” WORD). Too vulgar to be whispered aloud in the presence of children or the ladies, being a liberal has not been something told of ourselves, to strangers. Only with tried and true compatriots did one allow himself the luxury of admitting to be a liberal in any category, and to a large extent those feelings still exist today.
I started wondering if I was really a “LIBERAL” so I looked it up. The dictionary defines the word as:
1. Unrestricted, suitable for a freeman . . .
2. Generous, giving . . .
3. Ample, large, abundant . . .(being, myself ample, large and abundant, I feel I personify liberalism)
4. Free, not literal or strict . . .
5. Broad-minded, not narrow or bigoted . . .
6. Favoring progress, as in religion or education, favoring reforms tending toward democracy and personal freedom for the individual . .
7. Not mean, not low in birth or mind . . .
8. One who advocates greater freedom of thought or action . . .
I decided that the definition was about what I was, and further realized that what I wanted to concentrate on, in this essay, was spiritual or religious “LIBERALISM,” rather than the political “LIBERALISM” I practice at the polls.
The religious liberal or rationalist, in my case, looks at the biblical literalist about the same way a car buyer looks at a used car salesman, with some skepticism and one hand resting firmly on the wallet.
The liberal acknowledges that the New Testament was written between 1600 and 1900 years ago by older, Semitic men with different backgrounds, traditions, and idioms than our own. On the other hand, the literalist tries to equate what is said by those old semites, and sometimes misinterpreted in the Bible, to today’s mores, to life in the early 21st century, and the people are rebeling. Every week in the Church of Christ newsletter, I read articles to various congregations on keeping the traditions alive despite lose of membership.
All of this reminds me of the story of MA FERGUSON in Texas. PA FERGUSON was the Governor of Texas but his term was cut short for some minor indiscretion. MA FERGUSON was chosen to fill out his term and as Governor she vetoed a bill to make Texas Bilingual and print all documents in both English and Spanish. She explained, “If English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for us.”
The tradition of the middle East is one of exaggeration, it’s not really a lie because everyone knows you are just expanding the truth. If someone asks you, “How was your meeting?” you might answer, “It was great, there were thousands of people there, they stood in the aisles, and applauded every time I took a breath. We only had enough food for a few hundred but God provided and with this small amount we were able to feed them all. Everyone converted and each gave half of their life savings to the ministry.” Now, the listeners of the middle East hear, “It was all right, there were a lot of people there, and they ate all of our food, they were fairly enthusiastic, there were some converts, and they gave me enough money to get me home.” If the listener is not sure of an accurate translation he might ask, “Verily?” At that point the raconteur must rephrase his anecdote to a more plausible story. Thus saying, “Verily, verily, I say unto you . . .
And, here is another point. How can we equate something said 2,000 years ago, then written down 300 years later and in a different language by a man who holds women as chattel, then mistranslated 1200 years later into yet another language, then read 450 years after that, as a law by which we should live? The liberal or rationalist looks at the Bible and all beliefs in a reasonable fashion. Take the reasonable parts as a guideline and ignores the minutia. The conservative looks at the King James Version of the Bible and never questions how it got into his hands. Not how many translations(or mis-translations) it has gone through.
In the “LITERAL BIBLE,” Christians have been told and truthfully believe, that Christianity has a lock on morality. That if you’re not Christian, you’re not moral. The names Jimmy Swaggart, Robert Tilton, Jim Baker, Oral Roberts, and Mike Messner come to mind. I find it a shame that most Conservative Christians think that they themselves have to have their beliefs to keep them from being morally depraved. In that case, I am glad they have their beliefs. There is enough depravity in the world. But, my findings have revealed that SOME of the most moral people I have met, claim to be atheists and SOME of the most immoral, claim to be Christian.
Once, when questioned about my patriotism to a CHRISTIAN Country, I explained how I felt. I told the questioner the basic difference in Patriotism between a Fundamentalist Christian and my self is, “If I were faced with going to war so that you could believe in Christ, I would go gladly for you, and defend you rights. You, on the other hand, would not fight for my rights of belief. Now who is the most Patriotic?”
Yes, my name is Snowyowl and I am a religious Liberal . . . and I’m proud of it. And yes, I am a Heretic, from the Latin(Haereticus) and the Greek(Hairetikos) meaning–able to choose. I choose to choose
WITHOUT CHOICE, YOU CANNOT BE FREE!
Be proud to be a Religious Liberal and a Heretic because it is with you that our tradition of freedom will continue.
Instructions for LIFE
1. Take into account that great love and great achievement involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three “R’s”:
Respect for Self,
Respect for others and
Responsibility for your own actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. In disagreements, deal only with the current situation, don’t bring up the past.
12. Share your knowledge, it’s an excellent way to achieve immortality.
13. Be gentle with the Earth.
14. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
15. Judge your success by what was given up in order to get it.
16. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three “R’s”:
Respect for Self,
Respect for others and
Responsibility for your own actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. In disagreements, deal only with the current situation, don’t bring up the past.
12. Share your knowledge, it’s an excellent way to achieve immortality.
13. Be gentle with the Earth.
14. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
15. Judge your success by what was given up in order to get it.
16. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
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