Simply a Beautiful Picture...

Got this one from James Weeks' "Across the King's River" today, on Facebook.  Thought it was gorgeous.

"There is a sea of Spirit around you. And a sea of Spirit around me. And in that sea you'll find what you need to know. That sea of Spirit is available 24/7 and powerful messages await you. How can you get those messages? Through prayer, or through meditation, through reflection, through divination, through the ancestors, through anything or anyone that uplifts your soul and reminds you of the power of your own divinity." --James Weeks

Forget Red vs. Blue -- It's Slave States vs. Free States in 2012 | Alternet

Facebook friend Mushtaq Ali brought this article to my attention when he posted it this morning.  This fascinating essay suggests that the 2012 election is being dominated by Southern oligarchs who seek to maintain, and even spread the Southern-style class-dominated economic system.  I don't know that it's the whole story, but I think it is a big part of it.  It "feels" right and fits well.  Give it a read...
Forget Red vs. Blue -- It's Slave States vs. Free States in 2012 | Alternet

All the World's Religions...

I found this graphic representation of the
world's religions here on The Monkey Buddha blog.  It's a great snapshot and can provide a nice starting point for people to understand world belief systems.

To see the full-size graphic, click here.

A Republican Conservative's True Colors...

I found this on the blog "Addicting Info:  the Knowledge You Crave". Frankly, I found it shocking that the conservatives feel they can be this open about their nasty racism.  When are Americans going to wake up to what this country is becoming?

Republican Legislator Says ‘Slavery Was A Blessing In Disguise’

Jon Hubbard is a Republican in the Arkansas House of Representatives. He’s also the author of a new book entitled, Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative. The book has a number of racially-charged statements, such as, “slavery is a blessing in disguise,” “integration was a mistake because African-Americans are lazy and not ambitious,” and that “immigration is going to lead to a Hitler-esque extermination process.”
Huffington Post reports:

Regarding slavery, Hubbard wrote:

“… the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.” (Pages 183-89)

On the subject of school integration, Hubbard described black students as having a “a lack of discipline and ambition,” which he said has hurt the entire educational system.
Hubbard also tackled immigration and said that Christians in America are in a similar position to that of Germans during Hitler’s rise to power.

“… the immigration issue, both legal and illegal … will lead to planned wars or extermination. Although now this seems to be barbaric and uncivilized, it will at some point become as necessary as eating and breathing.” (Page 9)

Hubbard declined to comment on the book when contacted by The Huffington Post, saying that he did not have time.

Here are some more choice excerpts seen at the Arkansas Times: 

If you think slavery was bad, you should have seen Africa:

African Americans must “understand that even while in the throes of slavery, their lives as Americans are likely much better than they ever would have enjoyed living in sub-Saharan Africa.”“Knowing what we know today about life on the African continent, would an existence spent in slavery have been any crueler than a life spent in sub-Saharan Africa?” (Pages 93 and 189)

Black people are ignorant:

“Wouldn’t life for blacks in America today be more enjoyable and successful if they would only learn to appreciate the value of a good education?” (Page 184)

Integration was bad for white people:

“… one of the stated purposes of school integration was to bring black students up to a level close to that of white students. But, to the great disappointment of everyone, the results of this theory worked exactly in reverse of its intended purpose, and instead of black students rising to the educational levels previously attained by white students, the white students dropped to the level of black students. To make matters worse the lack of discipline and ambition of black students soon became shared by their white classmates, and our educational system has been in a steady decline ever since.” (Page 27)

Don’t forget Nazi Germany.

“American Christians are assuming a similar stance as did the citizens of Germany during Hitler’s rise to power.” (Page 158)

The ignorance and hatred behind these statements is simply amazing; who in their right mind would have even begun to think that these are worth publishing? If this man gets another term, I will be astounded.
This has no place in politics or, indeed, in America. This type of bigoted nonsense is one of the things that so damages the reputation of the Republican Party with regard to race. Hopefully his constituency and political party abandon him.
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My Caturday Post...

The Living Matrix...

Released in 2009, the movie The Living Matrix details important information concerning mind-body and bio-energetic medicine. Very interesting stuff. The world is not what the textbooks are telling us. For more information, go to http://www.thelivingmatrixmovie.com/ .

Time For Some Humor...

Thoughts to Ponder

Do not eat natural foods. I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.

An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys.

If quitters never win and winners never quit, then who is the fool who said, "Quit while you're ahead?"

Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach that person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days, no one talks about seeing UFO's like they used to?

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

All of us could take a lesson from the weather; it pays no attention to criticism.

Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200 and a substantial tax cut save you 30 cents?

In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

A Thought for the Day...

"Not one of us ever grows up to be what he intended to be. Not one of us fulfills his own expectations, Travis. We are all our own children, in that sense. At some point, somewhere, we have to stop making demands."
--Meyer, talking to Travis McGee, in John D. MacDonald's The Green Ripper

A Starting Point...

Its been suggested that I will feel better with myself, with life, if I get involved, speak out against those things that bother me, take action. I'd been suspecting the same thing for awhile. So...I've been doing a little research and exploration and these seem like places I could get involved.

Having a Bad Day?...

Well, then, consider this..............

In a hospital's Intensive Care Unit, patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning, at about 11:00 a.m., regardless of their medical condition.

This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had something to do with the supernatural. No one could solve the mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, so a worldwide team of experts was assembled to investigate the cause of the incidents.

The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 a.m., all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crossses, prayer books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits.

Just when the clock struck 11:00, Pookie Johnson, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner.

Still Think You're Having a Bad Day?

Two animal rights defenders were protesting the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn, Germany. Suddenly, all two thousand pigs broke loose and escaped through a broken fence, stampeding madly.

The two helpless protesters were trampled to death.

And Still Think You're Having a Bad Day?

Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnajet didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with "Return to Sender" stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.

There now, feeling better?

The Peter Principle in Action?...

Recently, a magazine ran a contest. They were looking for people to submit quotes from their real-life managers. Here are some of the submissions:

- As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks. (This was the winning quote from Fred Dales at Microsoft Corp in Redmond, WA.)

- What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter. (Lykes Lines Shipping)

- E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)

- This project is so important, we can't let things that are more important interfere with it. (Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

- Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule. No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them. (R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)

- Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)

- We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the subject mentioned above." (Microsoft, Legal Affairs Division)

- One day my Boss asked for a status report concerning a project I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said "If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!" (New business manager, Hallmark Greeting Cards.)

Our Legal System...

-- In 2003, televangelist Jim Bakker paid a $3.7 million settlement for defrauding his followers. Lawyers got $2.5 million of it - and each victim got $6.54.

-- In a 2003, settlement between Sears and customers with improperly done wheel balancing. Lawyers got $2.45 million - and customers got $2.50 per tire.

-- When a bank settled a lawsuit over improper interest charges, the lawyers got $8.5 million. Each bank customer got less than $10, and then had to pay the bank $91 to reimburse its court fees.

Some Thoughts From Frederick Douglass...

"A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people."

"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them."

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning."

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."

"The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion."

Think You're Having a Bad Day?...

A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy, with some kind of wire running from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places. Up to that moment, he had been happily listening to his Walkman.

Twenty Thoughts...

Some of these were pretty good, I thought...

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know
that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page proposal that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy??

The Grandkids...

Here's a great picture of our grandchildren, J. and K. out in Montana. Our daughter is dressing them like nice little kids from the '40's, which we think is great. You'd never guess our granddaughter wanted her father to shoot Santa in the eye...lol.

The Seat of the Soul?...

Our Granddaughter, K, was in trouble the other day. She's two-and-a-half, but has mastered the hangdog body language and the soft, sad crying. She's standing there, being pitiful, and our Daughter, M, spoke to her. She paused in her suffering, looked up, and told her mother, "You haved ripped my soul from my nostril, and now I have none!"

Seems her Brother, J, has been telling her about Egyptian mummies, and how they were prepared...his current topic of interest...and this is what K got from it...

*still snickering*

Its good to be the Grandparent.

This Day in History...

On January 16, 1991, the Persian Gulf War began with the allied bombing of Baghdad.

I was a few miles south of the Saudi-Iraq border, and had radio watch that morning. I received the radio transmission notifying our unit (3rd Brigade, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Air Assault Division) that the war had begun, and had to go wake up the commander.

Later, as that morning dawned deeply foggy, and we nervously stood watch (on full alert) just a few miles south of the Iraqi border, the deep chattering sound of .50-caliber machine gun fire rang out. We all probably held our breath, wondering if the Republican Guard would be so bold as to come across into Saudi Arabia that morning. It was a huge relief to discover it was just a jumpy young soldier shooting at phantoms.

Weird to think its been nineteen years.