Active Mysticism

Education is an indispensable aspect of the Way of Love, or mysticism. It is both a refreshing joy and necessity to learn about the Enlightenment Traditions of the past.

It triggers our own creativity and positive feelings to read of the Tradition. But reading alone, even admiring, the beauties of the Way will not, in itself, transform you. Instead, we all need to read and learn with the fullest and most honest intention to imitate the fine writers. For it is one thing to admire the great beauty of Sufi poetry, for example, famous for its profound beauty, and quite another actually to imitate the Love that it advocates. Reading, admiring, even imitating style, is not enough. For we must cultivate the intention of heart-transformation. In studying mysticism or mystical poetry, we should do so with the full intention of dissolving the ego or human identity into fuller identification with the interior Beloved. For if we do not, all our timenergy might be poured into an exercise that is merely intellectual.
*******

The Poorest People in the World

We are delighted to hear that you still wish to support our outreach to the Poorest People in the World. At sucha "hypermaterialistic" time as Christmas, we are paradoxically drawn to the birth of the great teacher of Love and compassion, while simultaneously torn away from Him by too much concentration on bucks! Thus, Christmas can be a wearying experience if we do not keep our eyes on the prize. For the very greatest Christmas gift of all is Love. When this is our gift, the entire world is the winner!:):) We are working on a new collection for our friends, the little orphans, but it will not be completed, sadly, until after Christmas. (Please see the uld.)
*******

The "Past" and World-fluidity

How fluid is the world, ever-changing, like a liquid more than like a rock. More and more, the Taoist perspective of total acceptance and non-resistance, bringing tranquility, makes good sense. The universe is this often-weird "chess game" in which It makes Its move, and then, you make yours. It is looking, right now, as if the k-transplant might occur in January, although this is by no means confirmed. Thanks for asking, and for your Love, prayers, and good wishes; the donkey can use
all the positive aid that he can receive!:)

The Poorest People in the World

Dearest Friends of the Heart,

As most of you know, Love Ministries has recently started the Love Ministries Federation. This is a Lovebased, cooperative communion of small, independent ministries which care for orphans in the poorest countries on earth.

Many of these orphans have had homes, brothers, sisters, and parents torn away from them through military violence. This is in turn supported by greed, commercialism, and religious bigotry.

These do represent the poorest people on our little planet. Many of you are joyfully thinking about the Holy-days (holidays) and gifts that you will give to, and receive from, your friends.

But the Way of Love is often marked by how we deal with strangers as well.

What is the very greatest, the most fundamental, gift that you can give to another?

It is the gift of continued life. We now have a great and wonderful opportunity to give to God's children this very special gift. For only the amount that you would pay for one cd, you can make the ultimate difference between life and death, survival and perishing. We are accepting donations as small as three dollars.

So, we sincerely invite you to share the generosity that the universe has so kindly shared with you. Please join our friends this month (December 2008 and January 2009). So far, here is what we have received:

Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
lmiusa: $100
______________________________________________________

Total 122008: $200.

Since we have six ministries in the Federation, i.e., Love Ministries of India, Love Ministries of Kenya, Love Ministries of Pakistan, Love Ministries of Rwanda, Love Ministries of Sierra Leone, and Love Ministries of Uganda,

Our goal for this month is $600. So, we still need $400, to give only $100 to each of our orphanages. So, please consult your heart and your checkbook, and give whatever you can. NOTE: Unlike the case with larger charities, in which 80% of funds go to maintenance (offices, payment of workers and solicitors, phone-bills, electric bills, etc.), one hundred percent of all donations are guaranteed to go straight to the children in need. Thank you in advance for your Love and kindness.

Love, from the Heart,

shi and the staff of the Love Ministries Federation
*******

God as Love plus Nothing

People are very kind, and most often, are willing to create a friendship with any kind person who is open. So, try not to isolate yourself. This is a technique of mind-alteration, and sometimes -control. Try to make as many friends with "normal" people as possible. For example, whenever possible, collect email addresses, and write. You will likely find some very understanding and supportive people.

I have written a fairly extensive book about my own experience [within a cult]. If you would like a copy, I would love to send it to you, without cost. Please just send, asap, your "snailmail" (land-) address.

There is so much that can and should be said; but emails are not large enough to contain it all; that is why a book was written. In a nutshell, let me just give the following advice (I never give advice unless it is requested.)

Remember always that "God is Love." (1 Jn. 4: 8,16) God, as Jesus reflected, is eager to forgive; he is not reticent, like the old Jehovah. We must remember that the Jehovah-image of God developed four thousand years ago, in a very primitive area of the world. It was created and developed by a pre-literate and backwards culture. This is why the "loyal followers of Jehovah," the "Bible-experts" of his day, plotted the murder of Jesus. It does not by any means represent all the glorious truth about the infinite God of Love.

God is "love plus nothing." People, even [members of the cult], will admit that God is Love, but then, they insist on adding ideas, doctrines, history, etc. But when we realize that God is Love plus nothing, we can safely discard all the ideas and religions of human origin (including the cult-faith), and safely worship Love. We can make Love our religion or faith.

This brings liberation, happiness, and peace. It frees us from the necessity of following doctrines (Jesus taught none) and organizations (Jesus founded none). All doctrines are disposable; none represents the "truth."

When we emerge from the cult, we do not have to "join" any other religion. The important thing is not to be "religious," but spiritual. Being "spiritual" is the cultivation of Love in our hearts. If we have Love, we have God, and do not need anything else-- doctrines, organizations, religions of human origin. Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (Jn. 8:32)

The word "truth" was not used by Jesus to refer to certain teachings or doctrines. Instead, it was the Greek word aletheia, and was used by Greek writers to mean "reality." In truth, God is the "only Reality," so to know the truth is to know God. To know God is to realize that an infinite pool of Love exists in the universe, and It moves through your heart.
*******

Faith

"Faith" is the essence of Taoism, a very beloved tradition in mysticism. Even though we might not be able intellectually to define or limit "God (Tao)," for She/He is infinite, not subject to human language, we can still have faith in Love.

Love will not "obey us," or always give us what we want; instead, It is always teaching us not to have, or to cultivate, personal desires. We cannot perform the will of Love-- do what Love wants-- if we are always busy with a personal agenda of our own. For Love often wills, through karma, something very different from our personal wish-list.

So, Love is not a "Santa Claus," genie, or "white knight" that gallops into our lives and "saves" us from the inconvenience of suffering. For it is through suffering and/or loss that we learn empathy, an indispensable aspect of Love.

So, although we do not believe in the petulant, mentally disturbed "god" of the culture, an image that appeals to only the interior child, we do have faith in a much greater God. For our God is the sum total of all the Love in all the hearts in all the creatures on all the planets in all the galaxies. This God is vast and immense, leaving all language behind.

As Neanderthals would not have the language to describe nuclear physics, so we humans do not have language sufficient to describe our sweet Lord/Lady of purest Love.

In mysticism, there is an old tradition called the via negativa. This teaches that we can say many things that God is not, but cannot say, in human language, what God is. For any description, no matter how beautiful, falls so short of the divine beauty that it is an insult, a thing of stinking filth and tattered rags.

I do not believe that all positive comment about God is impossible, but do understand this perspective. And, from many angles, it is true.

Faith in God is, as the word itself implies, faith in the good. It is faith in Love-- that, when all else passes away, Love will still remain in the active heart, and will still bind us to loving Souls. On this endless Love, the Soul thrives.
*******

The Joys of E-Activism

*******

As the people of Love, we all want to improve our tiny little planet. But sometimes, especially in the face of overwhelming greed and corruption, we can feel hopeless and helpless.

Happily, there is a Way to serve "humanity" and to "improve the world" no matter what your age or state of health. Of course, it might always be argued that there are better ways to serve, and no doubt, there is truth in that. But each should strive to do her best, and others strive not to judge, evaluate, or measure the worth of her activity. We at Love Ministries have discovered, over many years, that a sense of being active in improving our little world can arise from regular
participation in e-activism.

What is e-activism?

As its name implies, it is political, social compassionbased activity through email. Literally thousands of people, and many very idealistic groups, depend on emails to get their message across. E-activism depends on people such as yourself, who are willing to sign petitions, write to governmental leaders, including senators and congress-people, write to world-leaders and heads of companies. (A pre-written letter is usually provided; it just needs you to forward it.)

E-activism encompasses a wide spectrum of causes. Yesterday, for example, Adamaria aided this donkey to send emails about the following issues: laws against sexual violence against women and girls; a green curriculum for public schools; defending an anti-nuclear world; defending workers' rights; effective ways to fight aids; reducing prison-population by refusing to arrest nonviolent drug-users; protecting communities from "dirty oil" and the corrupt people who greedily promote
it;demand for leadership on the use and distribution of nuclear weapons;reach-out to aid women and children with h.i.v.; petition to make Federal workplaces smokefree; defense of truckers' rights at Nike; antiproliferation of nuclear weapons; protests against secret pardons for bush and cronies; protection of auto-industry through "bridge"-loans; demand that the government of Singapore prevent wild dolphin trade; protection demanded for national parks; demand for fairness in banking-loans after bailout; protection for women in the Congo (This one was forwarded to the uld); protection demanded for Balluga whales.

All this communication took place in one hour! But, are we really doing anything with e-activism? Or is it just a waste of timenergy? (As you know, we certainly do not believe in wasting timenergy.)

When you begin e-activism, you join your voice to tens of thousands of others, and e-activism has already changed many laws, practices, and even the government of this country! (There was a huge outburst of unified e-active support for Obama, for example.:)

So, if you are too poor to work for change in any other way (if you cannot afford to travel), or, if you are an older citizen, or medically challenged, e-activism could be a positive expression of your desire/need to reach out and touch others, and the community! For, even as idealists, when we unite our voices, we are no longer a single "voice in the wilderness" but a roaring and resounding chorus of inspiration.

Together, we can move mountains!
*******

People More Important than Things

Thanks to Barbara Baty.
***
This article is a sad illustration of what happens when things become more important than people. Let us keep always in mind that people are always more important than things.
***


Man trampled to death by surging WalMart shoppers in Black Friday stampede

The Poorest People in the World

*******

Dearest Friends of the Heart,

As most of you know, Love Ministries has recently started the Love Ministries Federation. This is a Lovebased, cooperative communion of small, independent ministries which care for orphans in the poorest countries on earth.

Many of these orphans have had homes, brothers, sisters, and parents torn away from them through military violence. This is in turn supported by greed, commercialism, and religious bigotry.

These do represent the poorest people on our little planet. Many of you are joyfully thinking about the Holy-days (holidays) and gifts that you will give to, and receive from, your friends.

But the Way of Love is often marked by how we deal with strangers as well.

What is the very greatest, the most fundamental, gift that you can give to another?

It is the gift of continued life. We now have a great and wonderful opportunity to give to God's children this very special gift. For only the amount that you would pay for one cd, you can make the ultimate difference between life and death, survival and perishing. We are accepting donations as small as three dollars.

So, we sincerely invite you to share the generosity that the universe has so kindly shared with you. Please join our friends this month (December 2008 and January 2009). So far, here is what we have received:

Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
lmiusa: $100
______________________________________________________

Total 122008: $200.

Since we have six ministries in the Federation, i.e., Love Ministries of India, Love Ministries of Kenya, Love Ministries of Pakistan, Love Ministries of Rwanda, Love Ministries of Sierra Leone, and Love Ministries of Uganda,

Our goal for this month is $600. So, we still need $400, to give only $100 to each of our orphanages. So, please consult your heart and your checkbook, and give whatever you can. NOTE: Unlike the case with larger charities, in which 80% of funds go to maintenance (offices, payment of workers and solicitors, phone-bills, electric bills, etc.), one hundred percent of all donations are guaranteed to go straight to the children in need. Thank you in advance for your Love and kindness.

Love, from the Heart,

shi and the staff of the Love Ministries Federation

Dim Dumb Bankers

Thanks to Teresa Ramsey.

*******

Thomas L. Friedman commentary: Reckless, irresponsible executives stoked the financial meltdown
Friday, November 28, 2008 3:14 AM
By Thomas L. Friedman

I spent an afternoon brooding over a great piece of New York Times reporting by Eric Dash and Julie Creswell about Citigroup. Maybe brooding isn't the right word. The front-page article, headlined "Citigroup pays for a rush to risk," left me totally disgusted.

Why? Because in searing detail it exposed -- using Citigroup as Exhibit A -- how some of our country's best-paid bankers were overrated dopes who had no idea what they were selling, or greedy cynics who did know and turned a blind eye. But it wasn't only the bankers. This financial meltdown involved a broad national breakdown in personal responsibility, government regulation and financial ethics.

So many people were in on it: People who had no business buying a home, with nothing down and nothing to pay for two years; people who had no business pushing such mortgages, but made fortunes doing so; people who had no business bundling those loans into securities and selling them to third parties, as if they were AAA bonds, but made fortunes doing so; people who had no business rating those loans as AAA, but made a fortunes doing so; and people who had no business buying those bonds and putting them on their balance sheets so they could earn a little better yield, but made fortunes doing so.

Citigroup made money from almost every link in that chain. And the bank's executives, including, sad to see, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, were clueless about the reckless financial instruments they were creating, or were so ensnared by the cronyism between the bank's risk managers and risk takers (and so bought off by their bonuses) that they had no interest in stopping it.

These are the people whom taxpayers bailed out on Monday to the tune of what could be more than $300 billion. We probably had no choice. Just letting Citigroup melt down could have been catastrophic. But when the government throws together a bailout that could end up being hundreds of billions of dollars in 48 hours, you can bet there will be unintended consequences -- many, many, many.

Also check out Michael Lewis' superb essay, "The End of Wall Street's Boom," on Portfolio.com. Lewis, who first chronicled Wall Street's excesses in Liar's Poker, profiles some of the decent people on Wall Street who tried to expose the credit binge, including Meredith Whitney, a little-known banking analyst who declared, more than a year ago, that "Citigroup had so mismanaged its affairs that it would need to slash its dividend or go bust," wrote Lewis.

"This woman wasn't saying that Wall Street bankers were corrupt," he added. "She was saying they were stupid. Her message was clear. If you want to know what these Wall Street firms are really worth, take a hard look at the crappy assets they bought with huge sums of borrowed money, and imagine what they'd fetch in a fire sale. . . . For better than a year now, Whitney has responded to the claims by bankers and brokers that they had put their problems behind them with this write-down or that capital raise with a claim of her own: You're wrong. You're still not facing up to how badly you have mismanaged your business."

Lewis also tracked down Steve Eisman, the hedge-fund investor who early on saw through the subprime mortgages and shorted the companies engaged in them, like Long Beach Financial, owned by Washington Mutual.

"Long Beach Financial," wrote Lewis, "was moving money out the door as fast as it could, few questions asked, in loans built to self-destruct. It specialized in asking homeowners with bad credit and no proof of income to put no money down and defer interest payments for as long as possible. In Bakersfield, Calif., a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000."

Lewis continued: Eisman knew that subprime lenders could be disreputable. "What he underestimated was the total unabashed complicity of the upper class of American capitalism . . . 'We always asked the same question,' says Eisman. 'Where are the rating agencies in all of this? And I'd always get the same reaction. It was a smirk.' He called Standard & Poor's and asked what would happen to default rates if real estate prices fell. The man at S&P couldn't say; its model for home prices had no ability to accept a negative number. 'They were just assuming home prices would keep going up,' Eisman says."

That's how we got here -- a near-total breakdown of responsibility at every link in our financial chain, and now we either bail out the people who brought us here or risk a total systemic crash. These are the wages of our sins.

I used to say our kids will pay dearly for this. But actually, it's our problem. For the next few years we're all going to be working harder for less money and fewer government services -- if we're lucky.

Thomas L. Friedman writes for The New York Times.

Dumbing Down

Thanks to Barb Baty and Steve Cyester.

Bailing Out Ignorance
By Kathleen Parker
Bailing Out Ignorance
Civic malpractice.

By Kathleen Parker

So much for the wisdom of The People.

A new report from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) on the nation’s civic literacy finds that most Americans are too ignorant to vote.

Out of 2,500 American quiz-takers, including college students, elected officials and other randomly selected citizens, nearly 1,800 flunked a 33-question test on basic civics. In fact, elected officials scored slightly lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent compared to 49 percent.

Only 0.8 percent of all test-takers scored an “A.”

America’s report card may come as little surprise to fans of Jay Leno’s man-on-the-street interviews, which reveal that most people don’t know diddly about doohickey. Still, it’s disheartening in the wake of a populist-driven election celebrating joes-of-all-trades to be reminded that the voting public is dumber than ever.

The multiple-choice ISI quiz wouldn’t deepen the creases in most brains, but the questions do require a basic knowledge of how the U.S. government works. Think fast: In what document do the words “government of the people, by the people, for the people” appear? More than twice as many people (56 percent) knew that Paula Abdul was a judge on American Idol than knew that those words come from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (21 percent).

In good news, more than 80 percent of college graduates gave correct answers about Susan B. Anthony, the identity of the commander in chief of the U.S. military, and the content of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

But don’t pop the cork yet. Only 17 percent of college grads understood the difference between free markets and centralized planning.

Then again, we can’t blame the children for what they haven’t been taught. Civics courses, once a staple of junior and high school education, are no longer considered important in our quantitative, leave-no-child-behind world. And college adds little civic knowledge, the ISI study found. The average grade for those holding a bachelor’s degree was just 57 percent — only 13 points higher than the average score of those with only a high school diploma.

Most bracing: Only 27 percent of elected officeholders in the survey could identify a right or freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. Forty-three percent didn’t know what the Electoral College does. And 46 percent didn’t know that the Constitution gives Congress power to declare war.

What’s behind the dumbing down of America?

ISI found that passive activities, such as watching television (including TV news) and talking on the phone, diminish civic literacy. Actively pursuing information through print media and participating in high-level conversations — even, potentially, blogging — makes one smarter.

The ISI insists that higher-education reforms aimed at civic literacy are urgently needed. Who could argue otherwise? But historian Rick Shenkman, author of Just How Stupid Are We? thinks reform needs to start in high school. His strategy is both poetic (to certain ears) and pragmatic: Require students to read newspapers, and give college freshman weekly quizzes on current events.

Did he say newspapers?! Shenkman even suggests government subsidies for newspaper subscriptions, as well as federal tuition subsidies for students who perform well on civics tests. They could be paid from a special fund created by, say, a “Too Many Stupid Voters Act.”

Not only would citizens be smarter, but also newspapers might be saved. Announcements of newsroom cuts, which ultimately hurt quality, have become routine. Just this week, USA Today announced the elimination of about 20 positions, while the Newark Star-Ledger, as it cuts its news staff by 40 percent, lost almost its entire editorial board in a single day.

In his book, Shenkman, founder of George Mason University’s History News Network, is tough on everyday Americans. Why, he asks, do we value polls when clearly The People don’t know enough to make a reasoned judgment?

The Founding Fathers, Shenkman points out, weren’t so enamored of The People, whom they distrusted. Hence a Republic, not a Democracy. They understood that an ignorant electorate was susceptible to emotional manipulation and feared the tyranny of the masses.

Both Shenkman and the ISI pose a bedeviling question, as crucial as any to the nation’s health: Who will govern a free nation if no one understands the mechanics and instruments of that freedom?

Answer: Maybe one day, a demagogue.

© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group

Power to Women and Girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Dear friend,

The Women's Funding Network and V-Day invite you to participate in the 2009 Spotlight Campaign - Stop Raping our Greatest Resource: Power to Women and Girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sexual violence in the eastern DRC continues at epidemic proportions. Rape is used as a weapon of war to torture and humiliate women and girls. This systemic sexual violence and femicide not only destroys women and young girls but also entire families and communities.

Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource, Power to the Women and Girls of The Democratic Republic of Congo is being initiated by the women of Eastern DRC, V-Day and UNICEF on behalf of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict. The campaign calls for an end to the violence and to impunity for those who commit these atrocities.

CLICK HERE for tools you can use to motivate your community to take action against atrocities in the Congo!

LEARN HOW YOU CAN BE INVOLVED IN OTHER WAYS AND TAKE ACTION NOW.


The Women's Funding Network and its 134 women's funds power women-led solutions around the globe. Take action at www.wfnet.org!


Women's Funding Network
1375 Sutter Street Suite 406 San Francisco, 94109

A Christmas Message

*******
Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Some might also 'categorize' macho, egomaniacal republican men as neanderthals too. But remember many Republican "real men" are also gay or pedophilic. Maybe something they dont want to talk about. One other point of contention, actually two:

"Liberals produce nothing." Quite a load of rightwing nonsense. But also let me remind you that Life isn't always about producing, and therefore receiving a stipend or payment of some sort. Sometimes, and maybe more importantly, it's about serving others, giving without measure, without fanfare. Sometimes, it is silent prayer, meditation, sometimes for people we don't even know.

Yes, many people tagged with the label of "Liberal" have many varied Spiritual interests, from mysticism of all world "religions," choosing not to fear the unknown and mysterious metaphysical-- worlds [or] life beyond this one. I am personally proud-- more proud than ever-- to call my Self a "Liberal," because I also believe Jesus "the Christ" and many other mystics, healers, teachers, wayshowers would be considered compassionate liberals, who think with both the heart & the mind. Trying to strike a balance, shi is another way, or chi. Many things we cannot see are there, beyond our comprehension, our human earthly perception. Not everything is measured & proportioned in B&W, nuts & bolts kindasimplicity.

Perhaps the other side of Life will reveal a reality far different than what is conceived by us, and what has been indoctrinated in us by other fallible human beings.

Finally, let us find the good humanness in everyone, without pre-judging, for it is not for us to judge. I am what you say I am, Sir. [I am a liberal.] If that is important to you in the present time, [you have not perceived my total Self.] Let us
see the shared commonality in all humankind, no matter what race, religion, or political persuasion. Because, when you peel away the veneer of outer skin, deep inside, we're all the same. We all have the same needs, wants, and desires. We are much more alike than different. There are insecure, inadequate beings who hold great positions of power---who seem to have a propensity to divide & conquer. Somehow there must be great profit in all this dissonance. But it's all illusory. Every thing is an illusion, a dream we are passing through. Nuthin is real but eternal Love, which is God.

Maybe we are always at odds here because we all are sentenced to this kindergarten planet of make-believe to learn from past mistakes, mired in our "lower nature," that of the seven deadly sins (bad emotions). [These include] greed, desire, hate, anger, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, etc. It's all about free will, our choices. And we will be doomed to repeat the lessons we don't 'get'.

Peace be upon you & yours in this most Sacred Celebration of the Birth of Jesus.

America's Pride

Thanks to Cheri Slaughter.

America's Pride
*******

We published this little joke some time ago in the "sister" mag to the uld, Lovelight magazine. But its message is so important, it deserves a quick reprint.

An Israeli doctor says 'Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks.'

A German doctor says 'That is nothing; we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks.'

The Russian doctor says 'In my country, medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks.'

An American Texan doctor, not to be outdone, says 'You guys are way behind, we recently took a man with no brains out of Texas, put him in the White House for eight years, and now half the country is looking for work.'

Warning Validated by SNOPES

Thanks to Christine Finer.
*******

this is legit, i checked it out.

VALIDATED BY SNOPES
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/obamaspeech.asp

WATCH OUT FOR THIS VIRUS.... OBAMA AMAZING SPEECH..

THERE IS AN EMAIL WITH SUBJECT LINE OBAMA AMAZING SPEECH (AND OTHERS)FLOATING AROUND WITH A TROJAN HORSE ATTACHMENT. DO NOT OPEN FOR ANY REASON. DELETE IMMEDIATELY. THE TROJAN STEALS ALL PASSWORDS AND USER IDS.SPREAD THE WORD. Do not open "Obama Amazing Speech". Delete immediately!!

VALIDATED BY SNOPES
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/obamaspeech.asp

Please pass this on to all of your friends and family!

********

Farewell to Obscene Greed

Farewell to Obscene Greed
*******

At the end of his presidency, bush has made certain that his obscene agenda of greed is fulfilled. In virtual panic, he has rushed through a large bundle of laws that will benefit his billionaire-cronies, but that will damage and ruin the ecology. As usual, the administration shows absolutely no concern for the people or for the land; as always, it is "in the back pocket" of industry, commerce, and greed. The most corrupt and insensitive administration in the history of the world is about to pass away, to everyone's gleeful delight. But bush is not leaving in peace. He has been a president who has presided over much war and destruction, and his precious "heritage" will record him as the very worst president in the history of the world.
He has tried his very best to insist that the notorious $700 billion bailout was set up without transparency, accountability, or oversight. Why? Because he wanted some of the funds to enrich his own bank-account, and those of his criminal cronies, including those of Cheney and Condy.
But much, much more tragically, he has quickly, eagerly sacrificed the ecological health of our planet for a mere fistful of dollars in the short term. He has "sentenced to death" people who are not even born yet, for short term profit. Millions suffer already from asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and allergies, exacerbated by increased particle-pollution of the air. Having denied global warming until it is too late, he has worked hard to destroy our planet, and has thus become the enemy of all humankind, as well as of nature itself.
His monstrous programs of greed have led this country into a war that has cost over a million mostly innocent people their very lives; it has also cost our nation about three trillion dollars. (One can only wonder in awe at the effect of having spent this money on roads, bridges, schools, libraries, parks, housing, etc. It would have been a golden age, the richest time in our history.)
Now Georgie is worried about his "legacy." He should be. For he leaves behind only death, greed, and assorted nightmare-- mass murder, an economy in tatters, and a world that largely hates America-- and withgood reason.
He is actually so deluded, has been so insulated, that he believes himself to have been the best president in history! Like all other megalomaniacal leaders and tyrants, he suffers from no negative selfesteem. Like so many fools of history, he believes himself to have been "appointed" by "God." (He worships the wargod Jehovah.) He is not only completely incompetent; he is not just evil, through and through; he is quite insane, and suffers from a psychopathic absence of conscience.
(Those killed in war are just numbers on a sheet of paper, and he has no feelings for them or their families.) He has been murderously and monstrously unconcerned about all the damage that he has done; his horrors do not keep him up at night.
Still, his ultimate "hell" is the inside of his own mind, to which he
must always return, and from which he cannot escape.
*******

THE DELUDER IN CHIEF

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

THE DELUDER IN CHIEF
*******

The punk is still at it! (My personal assessment at bottom of page, if you care)

Do you think Bush really believes his own bullsh** (or thinks the public does) or is just so insulated, so stupid and so arrogant that it is a case of the "Emperor's New Clothes"?


Editorial - New York Times
The Deluder in Chief
Published: December 7, 2008
We long ago gave up hope that President Bush would acknowledge his many mistakes, or show he had learned anything from them. Even then we were unprepared for the epic denial that Mr. Bush displayed in his interview with ABC News's Charles Gibson the other day, which he presumably considered an important valedictory chat with the American public as well.

It was bad enough when Mr. Bush piously declared that he hopes Americans believe he is a guy who "didn't sell his soul for politics." (We suppose we should not bother remembering how his team drove Senator John McCain out of the 2000 primaries with racist attacks or falsified Senator John Kerry's war record in 2004.) It was skin crawling to hear him tell Mr. Gibson that the thing he will really miss when he leaves office is no longer going to see the families of slain soldiers, because they make him feel better about the war. But Mr. Bush's comments about his decision to invade Iraq were a "mistakes were made" rewriting of history and a refusal to accept responsibility to rival that of Richard Nixon.

Read more

The End of an Error!

*******

Cheney is much of the evil "behind the throne," as everyone knows by now; Georgie just doesn't have the brainpower to have pulled it all off, being a dim bulb.

Rove and Cheney are no "more evil" than Georgie, as he is thoroughly and completely evil; the Light is buried so deeply within him that it might require ten or a hundred thousand incarnations to teach him all that he needs to learn. Let us sincerely thank Love that the regime of this evil and incompetent jerk is at last coming to a blessed
end. It is the dawn of a new era and, as they say, the "end of an error" for our country and for our tiny planet.:):)

*******

VP Cheney making fortune on prison-related businesses

*******

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Major, historic news broke a few weeks ago, and I hope you're sitting down for this. Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales were indicted. What the ... who?! Wait a minute! We can do that? And we're just thinking of it now? What did they get Cheney for-- another face shooting? Or did that first face-shooting guy die? It's got to be big, right? My head says second-degree manslaughter, but my heart says slavery.

The indictment says there's a "money trail of Cheney's prison-related businesses." So Cheney has prison-related businesses. Is there any unpleasant aspect of our society this guy isn't making money off of? Let's guess what prison-related business Cheney is in trouble for. Is it:

A) Exploitative conditions at Cheney's Chain-Gang Experience for Kids?
B) Health-code violations at the snack bar he runs in Texas' Lethal Injection Viewing Room?
C) Tax evasion at Halliburton Dick's Waterboard and Bad-Time Jailateria?
Or
D) He has an investment in a company that has an investment in a company that runs some prisons where there have been allegations of inmate abuse.
Sadly, the answer is D. By the way, A, B and C are all real Cheney
businesses; they're just perfectly legal.
*******

APOLOGY

APOLOGY
*******

In an article in the uld (previous issue), the one about politicians who should "go away," the second part of the article was not comprehensively corrected, or completely proofread. It slipped in "under the wire," as we were in a hurry, just leaving the keyboard, when that article came across our desk. Because of this, a couple of "blue" words escaped our notice, and our censorship. Due to the sensitivity of various readers (you know who you are), we are sensitive to the use of very strong language, and do all that we can humanly do to eradicate it from even our political commentary. As life is uncontrollable or unpredictable--often, both-- we cannot or do not often do this job perfectly. So, any apology that is appropriate is here offered for those who feel that it is needed. Sorry; we will try to do better in the future.:)
-- the editors of the uld

Project K and Dreams

*******

A dream of the "end of the world" indicates the end of some major aspect of your personal life. When terrible things happen, we always say, "It's not the end of the world!" So, what major factor in your everyday world is coming to an end? What major aspect of your selfimage is changing? Growth can "re-create" us, and, in this, our baby-self, toddler-self, child-self, and teen-self all come to an end. This is
the "end of a world." This kind of transformationdream often occurs during these major transitions.

In the second dream, you are feeling exposed; is your privacy being intruded upon? Do you have something which you need to keep personal that you are being forced to reveal? (Sometimes, even "bears" appear in this type of dream, for "bear" is a pun upon "bare," and of course, nakedness reveals the same, but at a more intense level.) Hope these little keys unlock a door.:)

RE Project K: Btw, the creatinine reading was the same as four months ago-- in fact, point one better. (It was 2.7, and had been 2.8) Did not meet with the staff or docs-- should have made that clearer. But they met, and decided that I need to see yet another doc, an allergist, because I have a respiratory-distress reaction to solumedryl and Prednisone, and I must re-take a bloodtest already taken in April. They surely make sure that they "cover their butts," and are not going to get
sued! (This has little to do with the health of the patients.)

*******

Support The Nadler Initiative Against The Planned Bush Blanket Pardons

*******

Ask Your House Member To Co-Sponsor H.Res. 1531 Against The Bush Preemptive Pardons

Another day, another non-denial denial that Bush is planning midnight preemptive blanket pardons for his entire gang, including himself. In an article in the New York Times the other day, current attorney general Mukasey is quoted as asserting it would not be "necessary". Please take careful note he did not say it wouldn't happen, because unless we speak out now it WILL.

The best shot we have is H.Res. 1531 which puts the administration on clear notice that there will be strong push back from Congress if they attempt such a scurrilous stunt. Please submit this action page to ask your House member to sign on as a co-sponsor of this measure.

Support H.Res. 1531 Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/hres1531.php

We all know that George Bush as someone without even the guts to face his own music, he who sent more than four thousand brave American girls and boys to their senseless graves, for a premeditated and knowing lie in Iraq, tens of thousands of American crippled and mutilated for life, trillions looted from our economy, and he doesn't even have the simple courage to risk the accountability of having to defend his crimes in a fair trial.

It is now known that Nixon seriously considered pardoning himself, but even he was not THAT despicable. George Bush most certainly is. And remember that his administration has been infested with Nixon era cronies like Cheney and Rumsfeld, so it is no surprise that the malfeasance of the Nixon era has been magnified in the last eight years.

Nixon infamously said, "If the president does it that means it is not illegal", conveniently after his own blanket pardon, by the way. That has been their creed. The entire bush administration has been one ongoing criminal enterprise since day one, a wrecking ball to the Constitution and rule of law, with torture, illegal surveillance, obstruction and perversion of justice in the firing of U.S. attorneys, not to mention national level election fraud, the naked treason of outing Valerie Plame, and on and on.

And the only way we can make sure nothing like this EVER happens again is to demand full accountability, so that all America truly understands what a miserable, lying, cowardly creep we were so foolish as to allow to get away with stealing two successive presidential elections.

Please call on your members of Congress to immediately sign on to H.Res. 1531, and let's have a real national debate on the coming greatest outrage of all, before they get away with that too.

Support H.Res. 1531 Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/hres1531.php

And you can also still get an "Impeach Both!!!" cap from the return page from the action page submission. We're not going to say "while supplies last", because we'll manufacture as many as you can wear, right up until the last minute. Another 600 are going out today, for a total of upwards of 2,000 more in just the last two weeks. So if you have already requested yours, it is most likely already on the
way.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

Politicians Who Should Go Away

Politicians Who Should Go Away
*******

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Pretty good..equal opportunity offenders...offendee's? Ya...

Public financing., and free ad's on TV/radio: Noone should have 2 buy that expensive time. It only fills the coffers of the already rich owners of the copr media. They are our public airwaves, and they should also be held accountable for the content of said airwaves. The duopoly the 2 party system operates under is a sham. And there are many more of those from Wall St/--to Madison Ave, to D.C. and back through the pentagon, defense contractors. Ok--enjoy please!!

----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Miller Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 10:46 AM

The following is a quick, even bi-partisan, read on just about all the people responsible for the current status of our once-great country. If there ever was a time to cultivate voter disgust with both parties, it was 2008.

Dick Miller
Mayor of Greenville, PA
(724) 588-0360
rhmiller@keystoneresearch.net


Wanna quick bi-partisan read on why we're where we are today and who bears a lot of the responsibility? Here's something for everybody, Democrats & Republicans alike from writer Ben Cohen. And it's worth reading both lists!

Ten Democrats Who Should Go Away:
http://www.thedailybanter.com/tdb/2008/12/10-democrats-who-should-go-away.html
10 Republicans Who Should Go Away:
http://www.thedailybanter.com/tdb/2008/11/10-people-who-need-to-go-away.html

On Monday of last week, I published an article '10 Republicans Who Should Go Away'. For some reason, the article went down a storm and received well over 100,000 hits. Reading the comments and emails I received was probably more fun than writing the article (which I enjoyed immensely), but I was a little taken aback at the debate I seemed to have sparked off. A host of conservative bloggers were up in arms, raging about liberal 'hate' I was spewing, and the temerity I was showing for insulting their idols. Neal Boortz called me a 'Moonbat', and Michelle Malkin fans left comments on my site accusing me of being a 'liberal terrorist' and a 'communist'. I did however, receive some intelligent emails asking why I was only focusing on Republicans.

The Democrats have in some ways, been worse than the Republicans. As a party, they've stood idly by as the Bush Administration has literally ransacked the country, trashing the constitution and driving the national debt into unchartered territory.

So in order to show the Right that progressives are not reflexive liberals, I thought I would pen an article listing the top 10 Democrats who should go away. And by 'go away', I don't mean censor, or prevent from speaking. I'm asking that they do it themselves - shut up for the good of the country. Here they are (in no particular order):

1. Joe Lieberman

Lieberman is not a Democrat in any real sense of the word - he is a foreign policy hawk and a fiscal conservative, remaining liberal on only a few token issues (abortion, gay rights etc). Lieberman was a vociferous supporter of the War in Iraq, threatening Democrats if they didn't support it and hyping up the non-existent threat from Iran (a country that spends the same amount in a year on its military as the U.S does in a week in Iraq). Lieberman is the quintessential corporate shill, selling his soul to the pharmaceutical companies and defense contractors while painting himself as a 'moral' Democrat, mostly because he doesn't cheat on his wife (see his outrage over Monica Lewinsky) and believes in blowing up Arabs whenever possible. Supporting John McCain was one thing, but breaking a pledge not to go negative on Obama was completely unforgivable. The only reason Joe is still a Democrat is because his party is almost as spineless as him, and won't throw him out for fear of appearing too liberal.

2. Mark Penn

It's hard to find a kind word about Mark Penn, CEO of PR company Burson-Marsteller and chief strategist of Hillary Clinton's campaign. Penn is about as greedy as they come in the modern era of political hackery and corporate corruption, and Penn has his fat little fingers in about as many dodgy pies as humanly possible. Burson Marsteller has represented stellar companies like Black Water and Countrywide, and lobbied hard for Free Trade agreements that have wrecked the lives of millions of poor people. While Hillary Clinton went on an anti NAFTA campaigning jaunt throughout the Mid West, Penn was busy promoting a free trade agreement between the U.S and Columbia at the behest of leading human right's violator and president of Columbia, Alvaro Uribe. So corrupt was Pen, that he had to resign from Clinton's campaign (never known for its purity), and publicly apologize for the clear conflict of interest. In terms of strategy, Penn exemplifies the slash and burn politics of Karl Rove, using anything and everything to win. He wanted to use Obama's foreign upbringingduring the primary, focusing on his lack of 'American values'. He wrote in a strategy paper:

All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light.....

It also exposes a very strong weakness for him—his roots to basic American values and culture are at best limited. I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values.

We've not heard much from Penn in the political arena since, and hopefully it will stay that way. He'll no doubt continue to destroy the lives of poor people in the corporate world, but his stock as a political consultant was damaged badly after the Clinton debacle. Penn is not obsolete, but with operatives like David Axelrod and David Plouffe taking center stage, his days are seriously numbered.

3. Harry Reid

When Reid the Democrats took power in 2006, they were elected by war weary citizens that were fed up with President Bush and the Neo Conservatives. Despite his position as Senate Majority Leader, Reid failed spectacularly to reduce war funding or establish a firm time timetables for troop removal from Iraq. Reid showed the cojones of a neutered kitten, and has spent the last two years backing down to the Bush Administration instead of doing what he was put in power to do: stand up, and stop the war. When the effort to put timetables for withdrawal in the war funding bill failed to override Bush' veto, Reid and other members of Congressional leadership caved and gave Bush all the money he asked for in the first place. Amazingly, Reid didn't even push for a compromise. Should Obama follow a more centrist agenda than he promised during his campaign, you can bet Reid won't do anything to hold him accountable.

4. Nancy Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi finds herself on this list for many of the sames reasons as Harry Reid. Failing to enact a serious time tables for withdrawal from Iraq, as well as repeated caving to the Bush Administration's war efforts, Pelosi also refused to seriously consider impeaching President Bush. Pelosi argued her role as Speaker of the House was to "try to bring a much divided country together," and that "impeachment would be divisive.". She believed that Congressional Leaders would not be able to further their Democratic agenda in the midst of an impeachment process, regardless of the overwhelming evidence that serious crimes had been committed. Representative Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment that asserted directly that impeachable offenses (crimes) had been committed. These crimes include taking a nation to war based on lies, the deaths of a million Iraqis (constituting a war crime), illegal wiretapping, rendition, torture, and illegal detention. If impeachment can't take place because it's politically inconvenient,it begs the question as to whether or not the Legislative Branch still serves as a check and balance on the Executive Branch. According to Pelosi it can't, and as a consequence, her name will go down as one of the most ineffective Speakers in history.

5. Chris Matthews

Chris Matthews seems like a genuinely nice guy. He loves politics, and he loves his job, but for all the wrong reasons. Matthews knee slapping, frat boy journalism has contributed massively to the dumbing down of politics in America. The title of one segment in his show is called 'The Politics Fix', which really says it all. For Matthews, political issues are to be consumed like cups coffee, quenching an addiction rather than enlightening our intellect. Discussions often look like public masturbation as 'experts' of various sorts are invited to pontificate on inane subjects they've specialized in. In a panel discussion, here's what Matthews had to say about President Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' speech back in 2003:

"We're proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who's physical, who's not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who's president. Women like a guy who's president."

Most disturbingly, Matthew's analysis of the war consisted of how it rated with undersexed housewives:

"Check it out. The women like this war," he said with a straight face. "I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple. We're not like the Brits. We don't want an indoor prime minister type, or the Danes or the Dutch or the Italians, or a [Russian Federation President Vladimir] Putin. Can you imagine Putin getting elected here? We want a guy as president."

Thanks Chris. Don't worry about the thousands of innocent lives lost in the invasion, the enormous waste of tax payers money and monumentally catastrophic consequences for the region. Matthews is capable of real journalism when he wants to, and is apparently looking to run for the Senate in 2010 as a Democrat. Let's hope he grows up by then and takes it seriously.

6. Rep John Dingell

The long-serving Michigan congressman has been this single biggest road block to better fuel emissions standards, and to all other forms of regulation on the automakers. Though generally a progressive Democrat, his intransigence in terms of fuel emissions standards is completely intolerable. Not only are GM, Ford, and Chrysler his three biggest campaign donors, his wife Debbie Dingell is GM's chief lobbyist. He has been one of the primary behind-the-scenes players in Detroit's downfall, shielding the automakers from all of the disastrous failures of the last 20 years and helping them resist true innovation and progress. Thomas Friedman, strangely, had some pretty harsh words for Dingell in a recent NYT op-ed:

The blame for this travesty not only belongs to the auto executives, but must be shared equally with the entire Michigan delegation in the House and Senate, virtually all of whom, year after year, voted however the Detroit automakers and unions instructed them to vote. That shielded General Motors, Ford and Chrysler from environmental concerns, mileage concerns and the full impact of global competition that could have forced Detroit to adapt long ago.
Indeed, if and when they do have to bury Detroit, I hope that all the current and past representatives and senators from Michigan have to serve as pallbearers. And no one has earned the "honor" of chief pallbearer more than the Michigan Representative John Dingell, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who is more responsible for protecting Detroit to death than any single legislator.

There is some good news on the Dingell front though. Since he just lost the Chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to the Mustache of Justice, (otherwise known as Henry Waxman), we might already be rid of him. But its still a little early to throw the party.

7. Robert Rubin

No one has done more to create, and less to help alleviate, the current financial crisis than the former Secretary of the Treasury, and current CitiGroup Chairman. His deregulatory stance, and refusal to regulate derivatives as Secretary of the Treasurary laid the groundwork for the Bush abdication of financial regulation. An October 9th article from the NY Times points out that in 1997, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, headed by Brooksley Born, invited comments on how to best oversee certain deriviatives:

"Ms. Born was concerned that unfettered, opaque trading could "threaten our regulated markets or, indeed, our economy without any federal agency knowing about it," she said in Congressional testimony. She called for greater disclosure of trades and reserves to cushion against losses.
Ms. Born's views incited fierce opposition from Mr. Greenspan and Robert E. Rubin, the Treasury secretary then. Treasury lawyers concluded that merely discussing new rules threatened the derivatives market. Mr. Greenspan warned that too many rules would damage Wall Street, prompting traders to take their business overseas."

Months later, Ms. Born resigned and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was stripped of its authority to regulate derivatives. Recently Mr. Rubin still failed to recognize his own culpability in the matter, saying "All of the forces in the system were arrayed against it...The industry certainly didn't want any increase in these requirements. There was no potential for mobilizing public opinion."

It must have been great to grow up in Bob Rubin's house, where as long a you wanted to do something and really, really didn't want rules, it would be okay. Unlimited candy for the kids? No problem! Ruined teeth and attention deficit disorder? Well, they didn't want to be regulated, so not my fault! How on earth he managed to end up as an adviser to Obama is anyone's guess, as Rubin is lucky he is not in jail.

8. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)-

Majority Leader Hoyer is a perfect example of the old saying "with friends like these, who needs enemies." In pursuit of nothing but his own aggrandizement, Mr. Hoyer led the charge to capitulate our Constitutional rights to the whims of the Bush Administration. Hoyer led the negotiations for the Telecom immunity bill, in which he judiciously negotiated away our rights as free citizens. As the eloquent and thorough Gleen Greenwald pointed out:
"It's bad enough watching the likes of Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel and a disturbingly disoriented Nancy Pelosi eviscerate the Fourth Amendment, exempt their largest corporate contributors from the rule of law, and endorse the most radical aspects of the Bush lawbreaking regime. But it's downright pathetic to see them try to depict their behavior as some sort of bipartisan "compromise" whereby they won meaningful concessions...GOP House Whip Roy Blunt derided the telecom amnesty provision as nothing more than a "formality" which would inevitably lead to the immediate and automatic dismissal of all lawsuits against the telecoms, while Sen. Kit Bond taunted the Democrats for giving away even more than they had to in order to get a deal: "I think the White House got a better deal than they even had hoped to get."

In true Democrat style, Hoyer told us he was negotiating on our behalf, then actually gave Bush more authority than he had even wanted. He also unrepentantly (and unsurprisingly) voted for the Iraq War authorization. Thanks a bunch, Steny.

9. Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton may have pulled it out at the last minute for Obama, but his behavior during the primary was completely unforgivable. Racist innuendo, temper tantrums and outright lying, Clinton degraded himself to the point where close friends had to intervene through the prime time news. To boot, Clinton presided over huge deregulation of the financial sector, and helped ram through the disastrous NAFTA while in office. He then supported President Bush in the lead up to the War in Iraq (then had the gall to question Obama's policy judgment). Clinton is great at rallying Democrats, but represents virtually nothing they stand for. His slippery 'Third Way' politics consists mostly of extreme right wing economic policy packaged in left wing rhetoric, something we are hopefully moving away from. Sorry Bill, but you have to go.

10. Joe Lieberman

Yes, Joe Leiberman is such a dick head, he's on the list twice. Joe, please stop pretending you are a Democrat. The party has suffered enough humiliation over the past 8 years without you rubbing their faces in it. The peverse pleasure Lieberman seemed to be taking for trashing his party, smearing Obama and cheerleading the opposition should have been enough for any serious Democrat. Yet Lieberman got away with it and ended up keeping his position in the party - showing that no matter how pissed off the country is, the Democrats will work extremely hard to piss them off even more.

10 Republicans Who Should Go Away:
http://www.thedailybanter.com/tdb/2008/11/10-people-who-need-to-go-away.html

With a new political era looming, veterans of the old political arena will scramble to redefine themselves in order to make a living. Politicians, media commentators and analysts may be ill equipped to deal with the changing electorate, increased power of the blogosphere and massive discontent with the status quo. Who will survive in the modern epoch? Here are 10 who should really think about calling it quits:

1. William Kristol

There's no need to go on about how wrong Bill Kristol has been on just about everything, and what a spineless shrimp of a man he is. Just read this quote from an article he penned on the eve before the war in Iraq:
We are tempted to comment, in these last days before the war, on the U.N., and the French, and the Democrats. But the war itself will clarify who was right and who was wrong about weapons of mass destruction. It will reveal the aspirations of the people of Iraq, and expose the truth about Saddam's regime. It will produce whatever effects it will produce on neighboring countries and on the broader war on terror. We would note now that even the threat of war against Saddam seems to be encouraging stirrings toward political reform in Iran and Saudi Arabia, and a measure of cooperation in the war against al Qaeda from other governments in the region. It turns out it really is better to be respected and feared than to be thought to share, with exquisite sensitivity, other people's pain. History and reality are about to weigh in, and we are inclined simply to let them render their verdicts.

Case closed.

2. Sarah Palin

Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is the poster child of vacuous Republican imagery - hollow, loud and crass with no discernable talents other than an ability to attract stupid middle American house wives. Palin exploded onto the scene as John McCain's campaign started to wither, only for the 'Hockey Mom' to be exposed as a know nothing fraud. Claiming that Russia's visibility to Alaskans gave her foreign policy credentials and using sentences that even 'Dubya' would cringe at sealed her fate, plummeting McCain's campaign into the unelectable abyss. Unfortunately, Palin is doing the rounds on the media circuit, pumping her stardom for all its worth and priming herself for a run in 2012. The last thing America needs is another Bush style Republican, and Palin would represent that, but much, much worse.

3. Michelle Malkin

The Asian, female version of Bill O'Reilly, Malkin makes a living spouting hatred and idiocy to Fox News viewers. Malkin wrote a book called: In Defense of Internment: The Case for 'Racial Profiling' in World War II and the War on Terror. The book essentially defends the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two and argues for more racial profiling of Arabs, which would be a bit like a Jew making the case for the holocaust in the name of German unity (OK, maybe not, but you get the point). Malkin's offensive views have earned her a spot on Andrew Sullivan's blog, where people can win 'Malkin Awards' for bigotry, prejudice or downright meanness. Malkin's crusade against liberals, gays and minorities means she will have a spot on Fox for the foreseeable future. As Matt Taibbi writes:

I’ll say this about Michelle Malkin: she has a future in this business. I see her replacing Ann Coulter in that right-wing dipshit hierarchy. The last few times I’ve seen Coulter on TV, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off her Adam’s apple. By 2012 she’s going to be doing ping-pong ball acts at drag clubs in Reno. Malkin, though, she’s hardworking, dumb, and shameless, just like Sarah Palin, who I think has a big future four years from now. So get ready for more of this stuff. It’s only just started and they’ve got four long years of target practice coming.

4. Dick Morris

A former Clinton political consultant turned Fox News 'Analyst', Morris made his living selling political imagery to ailing politicians, using his skills in lying, cheating and distortion to their maximum capacity. Morris backed John McCain for President, and was seen salivating over Sarah Palin on a regular basis, unable to disguise his creepy obsession with the 44 year old hot mom of many. Morris does his best to cozy up to his corporate pay masters in the Murdoch empire, and regularly publishes idiotic books like 'Condi vs Hillary- The next great Presidential race' (great call Dick). Thankfully, Dinosaurs like Morris are becoming irrelevant in the new political era, mostly because his lies are so egregious they are damaging to his party. While defending Morris from his jeering audience, John Stewart deftly put it "In fairness, Dick Morris is a lying sack of Shit".

5. Dick Cheney

The 'Dark Prince' of the Republican party, Cheney's obsession with American military prowess and fanatical dedication to the oil industry has made him the focal point of most liberal's rage. Cheney exists to service the needs of the rich and powerful, and is unafraid to put other people's lives at risk to ensure corporate profits and American hegemony. Cheney has always remained largely behind the scenes due to a distinct lack of personality and aura of extreme evil, but wields his influence expertly with his nuanced understanding of the dark arts of politics. Cheney is the epitome of a political hack, a gutless grey blob of a man with a record of detached violence and personal greed. We won't see much of him after next January, and hopefully someone will have the decency to arrest him should he venture out of the United States.

6. Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney's speech at the Republican Convention this year said it all about the Mormon multi millionaire. Having lost the primary to John McCain (despite spending $47 million dollars of his own money) Romney tried to suck up to the base and pitch himself for 2012 with one of the worst speeches in history. Incredibly, Romney tried to claim liberals were responsible for the awful mess his party made, saying Washington was 'too liberal', and that "We need change all right. Change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington". Here's the transcript of the awful debacle (try not to laugh too hard). Romney clearly wants to run in 2012, but he had better start believing his own bullshit before he tries to sell it again.

7. Alan Greenspan

Former head of the Federal Reserve, 'St Alan' presided over the whole scale deregulation of the financial industry, and has his grubby paws all over the tragic state of the economy. Greenspan's pathetic appearance at a congressional hearing in 2008 had him basically admit his philosophy was wrong:
I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organisations, specifically banks, is such that they were best capable of protecting shareholders and equity in the firms ... I discovered a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works.


Very good of him to admit, but try telling that to the millions of people losing their jobs and homes. Thankfully, Greenspan is retired so won't be able to do any more damage.

8. Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly isn't a hack, or even a Republican. He is just an asshole. His show continues to dominate the airwaves where he essentially shouts at liberals and ignores his guests. God knows why he is successful, but I suspect it is partially because of people's obsession with train wrecks. Liberals enrage O'Reilly to the point where he could easily suffer a heart attack or physically assault one of them on his show. O'Reilly is no fool, just blinded by emotional retardation and a complex about his middle class upbringing (O'Reilly's entire persona is that of a working man - something not supported by facts). He shows no sign of slowing down, but as a part of the minority in the near future, his voice won't be anywhere near as important.

9. Sean Hannity

Fox News presenter Sean Hannity is the quintessential hack - no brain, just a vacant space in his head for GOP talking points. Hannity is a smooth presenter, articulate and emotive, the perfect frontman for the bankrupt ideology he is paid to promote. Hannity has gone from dreadful to absolutely nauseating since Palin ignited his loins, gushing over the re emergence of brainless conservatism and filling his head with dreams of a conservative comeback in 2012. The visible anguish Hannity now shows after the Democratic victory is a joy to watch, clearly karmic pay back for the years of gloating over the sorry state of Democrats. Hannity was sick to his stomach after Obama was elected, and may develop some serious ulcers over the next four years. However, luckily for him, he may get treatment for free if Obama institutes universal health care.

10.George Bush

I've saved the best for last. The 'Decider' will go down as the worst President in the history of the United States, and as Chris Rock put it "Bush is not just the worst ever president of the USA, he’s the worst ever president, period. Of anything." It's hard to top the hyperbole commentators have used in describing just how bad Bush really was, because there aren't really words to do it justice. Bush has presided over monumental fuck up after monumental fuck up, groping his way through the president with the finesse of a 800lb gorilla. I tried to come up with a list of accomplishments he has achieved, and came up with the following:

1. He has increased financial support to Africa to alleviate AIDs and poverty.

2. ............

Uh, that's it.

He has presided over two disastrous wars, an increase in poverty at home, an increase in wealth inequality, an increase in the number of people without health care, a crisis in public education, the break down of national infrastructure, the literal drowning of a city, the use of torture as official policy, the biggest financial crisis in 80 years, and the irreversible decline of America's prestige abroad. Here is something to think about. Every ex President (aside from Ronald Reagan who had alzheimers) has a role to play in public life after office. They give advice, do lecture tours, write books, sit on boards of huge companies and head non-profit organizations. How many people do you think will be itching to receive advice from W? How many companies would have him on their board? Who would buy his autobiography? Who would pay to hear him speak? No one. And that pretty much sums it up.

*******

Obama's Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.

Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tic, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.

But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring.

According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a president who speaks English as if it were his first language.

"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."

The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate -- we get it, stop showing off."

The president-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.

Andy Borowitz is a comedian and writer whose work appears in The New Yorker and The New York Times, and at his award-winning humor site, BorowitzReport.com.

Exiting Iraq isn't fraught with danger

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Exiting Iraq isn't fraught with danger
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 3:22 AM
By ANDREW OLDENQUIST

The problem of how to exit Iraq recalls for me a scene from the movie Gandhi where, at a table with high-ranking British officers in 1947, Mohandas Gandhi is asked how in the world the huge British military and colonial establishment can leave India. Gandhi replies, "Put them on boats."

We are constantly told that if we leave Iraq precipitously, Sunnis and Shiites might fight forever or Iran occupy Iraq's Shiite south.

What of it? How about a little more national self interest? I'm not one who waves the flag at every opportunity, but I recommend waving it now. We have been spending about $3 billion a week on Iraq. The tab is nearly $1 trillion since we invaded that country in March of 2003.

If we must choose between exacerbating the recession in the U.S. and Iraq falling into chaos, let it be chaos in Iraq. Our government's commitment to Iraqi democracy cannot compete with its obligation to our own people's homes and jobs. Even if the United States didn't confront its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the case for leaving Iraq quickly would still be strong. Invading Iraq never had anything to do with fighting terrorism, nor are we obliged to continue a war simply because we started it.

Neither must we fight until we "win," whatever that means, lest our fallen soldiers have died in vain. They performed their duty and are properly honored, whatever the future course of the war, which is also why those Support Our Troops bumper stickers offend logic. The troops follow their orders; they do not make war policy. Supporting them requires respecting them, equipping them with properly armored vehicles and ensuring they receive first-class medical care back home. It does not require supporting our government's war policies.

Let us get our priorities right. What happens to Iraq is less important to America than the state of our health-care system, our education system and our economy. Gambling at $3 billion a week plus future casualties that a stable democracy will form is well below the threshold of sanity: Even if we win, we lose because it is not worth those costs. The odds are poor that Iraqi democracy, such as it is and assuming it lasts awhile, will influence Iran, Syria, Jordan or Lebanon to become more democratic than they already are.

Iraq deserves no more from us than any other country in the Middle East, or in the world for that matter. And in the long run what happens in the Middle East will have little to do with our military action in Iraq.

It is said that if we leave Iraq without establishing a stable democracy we will be seen as foolish and irresolute, which will shame us and embolden our enemies. So the conclusion is that abandoning Iraq would jeopardize our national interest by embarrassing our country.

A little thought shows that this argument is self-serving sophistry. It is less about what benefits Iraq or America than it is about the reputation and honor of American office-holders.

One's country could be hit by a plague, invaded or financially ruined; these harm one's country. But blame, shame, dishonor and mistakes apply to individuals, not to countries.

Thus when our leaders say leaving Iraq without victory would be a concession of failure and irresoluteness, this shows that their fear of personal blame has more of their attention than does the good of their country. They are not trying to spare their country criticism, they are trying to spare themselves criticism. At most, blame or disdain can be toward a country only by temporary proxy via its leaders and it is washed clean when they leave.

Blame and shame for failed policies lie only with individuals; pretending that the country itself is at moral risk is just a device to justify large, long-term military action. Our country is not stuck with the problem, the officials who are to blame for it just need to leave. As for material harm to our country, it is continuing and only quitting Iraq will end it.

There is no such thing as a nation's honor or dishonor, there is only the honor or lack thereof of individuals, who take it with them when they leave. It is time to wish Iraq well and come home. It is far away, their problems are different from ours and we have expensive, more pressing business here.

Andrew Oldenquist is professor emeritus of philosophy at Ohio State University.

Saving Our Planet

Thanks to Barbara Baty.
*******

In my opinion, multi-tasking, at least in this country, is a "plague" that is causing a breakdown in effective communication, and when that happens, chaos and confusion just seem to crop up everywhere in many different forms.

Love~ Barb

***

zen habits

There are several options for becoming a part of the planetary-healingprocess. Our poor little planet is dying, being poisoned and irreversibly ruined, largely by greed and commercialism. The air grows thick with smoke and particulate matter, some of it invisible, triggering a wide spectrum of respiratory disorders, killing and sickening us. The shining sea is becoming a dense mass of black oil. The economy of
greed has collapsed beneath our feet, and threatens to devalue currencies, swallowing them up. Greed has ruined our minds and our planet. The future hardly beckons us with bright promise; more disaster is predicted.

Many smart people have arisen with several solutions, and many believe in only their solutions. We need to create a "green" economy. We need desperately to increase our use of biodegradable products. We also need to devise solutions to maintain money as a valid medium for exchange-- more regulation, revelation, transparency, and accountability, as well as more and greener jobs. The cost of bread, milk, and gas is far exceeding the income of the average American. Answers and solutions multiply.
But there is a deeper solution, implied in the great philosophy of Taoism:

We don't need to "do" anything.

For the solution does not lie in a plethora of ideas or in altering our perspective. It is simply to do less, to simplify our approach to life. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can be only transformed from one expression to another. This rule applies to not only physics, but to life itself.

The problem is that we're in this big mess; but it is really simple. We do appear to be in quite a state of chaos, and it seems logical that we seek many solutions. But if complexity is the problem, more complex answers are not a viable solution! The solution is not more doing; we have already done too much; so, the logical solution is doing less.

To make consumables greener is a good idea, but is only a sliver of a solution. A more fundamental approach goes deeper: We need to change our psychosocial attitudes so that we consume less. Hyperconsumption is the cause of all our financial problems and of the destruction of the ecology. We need a comprehensive ecoeconomic solution
(combining ecology with economy). We often take and take, as if resources were limitless, and we give back exactly nothing. We are building up a huge "debt" to nature, and it will have, sooner or later, to be "repaid." But we keep procrastinating, as if this debt is going magically somehow to disappear. It doesn't, and our putting it off only deepens the debt. Our "ecological interest" keeps accruing. We are so dense, greedy, and unaware that we take no action until the problem threatens actual destruction of civilization, or the planet itself. It
must become Frankensteinian before it gets our attention.

So why do we avoid simplicity? Why do we want to use less, decreasing our environmental "fingerprints," our impact?? Why are we "starving" to consume?

Part of the solution is that we have lost all meaning in a single word. If we learned again to use this word, we might save our world. That magic word is "enough." For consumers have completely eradicated the concept of "enough" from their vocabulary. In our society, we never have "enough" food, sex, entertainment, amusement, clothes, jewelry, cd's, dvd's, books car, home,, or anything else. So, let's begin and support the "enough" movement! Let us declare that we have "enough"!

An interior "revolution" is needed! We must learn to alter and transform our very ways of thinking if we truly treasure the flowers. There are several ways that we can return to simplicity: Driving less, walking more. Not only will you be saving the environment, you'll be saving your heart as well. Bonus!

Wanting less, appreciating more. Instead of wanting a big home you can't afford, maybe you should settle for living in a smaller home in a less expensive area. Where you live says nothing about your value as a human being! So, let us reasonably separate selfesteem from material possessions. More is not better, and more does not make you better! Enjoy your space more. To meditate, sleep, eat, laugh with friends, and create works of beauty requires no more than a moderate-sized room. We do not need to be surrounded by ten or fifteen rooms in a large palatial home. (This just requires much extra energy to cool or heat. It is absurdly wasteful.) By spending less money on mortgage, you'll be saving more time. Time is life. Win/win.

Simplicity in material possessions is only one form of simplicity. We also need simplicity and clarity in communication. Talking less, listening more. We spend most of our time when we should be listening in actually formulating our response. This is not real, respectful listening. You'd be amazed how much people never really hear each other at all. Think about how your life can be improved by understanding people better. You can avoid many headaches and heartaches due to misunderstandings if you listen, and if you speak clearly and simply.

Buy things that are more expensive, but last longer. Check the quality of workmanship and craftsmanship. An item wellmade can last for years, while shoddily made items end up in the dump, further harming the ecology. A double edged razor will last a lot longer than disposable razors. Some blades can even be resharpened. You'll save money too.

Use real dishes instead of plastic/paper. It might seem like a little more work to wash them, but it really isn't. It takes more energy to create that plastic, manufacture, package, distribute and purchase it than it does to wash a dish. Rethink convenience.

MINDFULNESS. This is a major interior transformation, part of growth into higher awareness (consciousness). It means being focused or centered upon what you are doing at this moment, not getting "lost" in thoughts. If, in your mind, you are reliving the past or projecting the future, you are simply "not here" in the present! Mindfulness increases attention and concentration. Do only one thing at a time, do it very well, do it completely, and then, move on. We try to print a report, make coffee, and talk on the phone at the same time. Doing this we run the risk of printing the wrong pages, accidentally forgetting the coffee filter and saying the wrong thing. We then must spend more time correcting ourselves than we would save by simply being mindful.

Less things. The more things we buy, the more nonrenewable resources we take from the planet. All people must draw from one single common pool of nonrenewable resources. When we take or use more than "our fair share," we are thieves, stealing from all people, including the poor. The more we consume, the larger that debt becomes. Buying new clothes, appliances or phones isn't really a bad thing. It's our addiction to buy the newest and greatest each year or every few months that is dangerous.

We need not "get rid" of an item simply because it is older; it might still be quite useful. After all, that old thing has to go somewhere. And it's probably in a landfill somewhere.

How can you use simplicity of possessions to help save the planet? We would love to hear your ideas. Please feel free to share them with our elovefamily at: rmfrancis@juno.com For more ways to do less (and get more), grab a subscription to Illuminated Mind.

Based on an article by Jonathan Meaks.

Views of Current Crises

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Here is an email from a friend with his comments on the state of things right now. After his comments, he typed the link to the George Will article. The article is NOT very long at all. I think you guys would like the George Will article.

-----Original Message-----

Personally, I don't see things getting "a whole lot better" for quite a while. I think we've been seduced for YEARS by the banksters; and their house of cards has collapsed. And the lies have hit the fan and affected the entire world.... I've lost $70K, but what can I do? ...Bush has totally abdicated his responsibility as president and is simply hiding out and packing boxes for moving day. He doesn't want anything to do with this morass that he and his failed neocon policies that he and his "compassionate conservative" buddies co-created. We are rudderless right now and will drift for a while, even though that piece of mud is STILL president!

I read George Will yesterday, and there is some interesting historical stuff in here, not encouraging. But it's a pretty good article. ... I just don't see us getting back to where we were with so many job losses and businesses going under and people losing their homes and the value of homes being undercut and all the [other] negative stuff. And I see nothing on the horizon to turn any of that around. [It is hoped that] there will be something in the area of new energy and green technology
under a more progressive president, but it certainly cannot start overnight. Bush has so seriously messed everything up that it could take a generation to unmess it. If at all. Hell, we might be on the precipice of the demise of western culture as we've known it. It's a new day and a whole new world. ESPECIALLY since we (the corporate owned government) have so efficiently destroyed our manufacturing base and
pedaled our jobs across the borders. But that's another story...and you don't wanna get me started!

So here's the URL for that article:
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/nov/30/george-will-another-new-deal-oh-please/

*******

Virus Email

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

THIS IS VERY SERIOUS. PLEASE SEND TO EVERYONE ON YOUR E-MAIL LIST!!

Direct from both Microsoft and Norton

Please send it to everybody you know who has access to the Internet. You might receive an apparently harmless e-mail titled 'Mail Server Report'


If you open either file, a message will appear on your screen saying: 'It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful.'


Subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC, and the person who sent it to you will gain access to your name, e-mail and password.

This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon. AOL has already confirmed the severity, and the anti virus software's are not capable of destroying it. The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself 'life owner'.

PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THIS E-MAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS, and ask them to PASS IT ON IMMEDIATELY!

THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY SNOPES.

See the Snopes entry:

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/mailserver.asp

Vegetarianism

Studies across a wide spectrum of mammalian species have long proved that those which take in fewer calories do in fact live the best (and sometimes longest) lives. It is not the goal of an enlightened being to lengthen her earthly life, but to treat her donkey (body) as compassionately as possible, maintaining its health as much as is possible. For the past twenty years, this donkey (body) has thus been fed fewer calories. And, despite some karmic and inherent biochemical difficulties, he does seem to prefer this kind of eating. He has, at any rate, turned away from the American way of "stuffing" the self, for this is immoderate. It is part of the mental disease which the Buddhists identify as "grasping, clinging, and craving."

It is simply too easy for us to get so involved in our personal lifestyle that we can lose sight of our sisters and brothers on this planet. These include all human beings. And like some native American traditions, I include animals in the phrase, "all my relations." This is one reason that I do not eat dead animals.

Another reason is that the human body, from the standpoint of physiology, anatomy, and general biochemistry, is that of an herbivore, from its teeth all the way through the end of the digestive tract. We were never designed to eat meat.

Test after test, during the past one hundred years, support intercultural studies that prove, over and over, that vegetarians are stronger, faster, more alert, more peaceful, and happier than their carnivoric counterparts among many human cultures.

People love to whine that, if they did not "get their meat," they would not be "as strong." But many creatures are amazingly more powerful than human beings. (A chimp is as strong as six men.) Gorillas, who are vegetarians, are also considerably stronger than human beings. Yet the gentle gorilla can enter the forest in the wild, and no creature flees, for it has the reputation of a nonviolent critter. Would that we could say the same about ourselves!

Another reason that vegetarianism is a preferred pattern of food-intake is the rate of actual human starvation in our world: A full nine-tenths of all grain grown in this country is fed to cows and pigs so that we can have our burgers and bacon. That is a huge crop! If this food went to the hungry human beings of our planet, starvation would, very quickly, become a distant memory. But, as it is, this day, thirty thousand children will drop dead from starvation. Embracing vegetarianism might be only symbolic; it will not change the world. But if enough people discovered and lived it, it could mean the survival of many, many innocent lives.

Throughout history, many mysticsaints and sages have been vegetarians, and this is by no means a "mere coincidence."

There are also many other reasons, including the fact that over two thousand chemicals are used in the processing/storage of meat. Meat stays in the human digestive system usually about two days, and during that time, it rots and becomes rancid. This "spoiled meat" is questionable as a good source of protein.

The average active person needs about 45 grams of protein per day. This can be easily and handily obtained through moderate inclusion of peanut butter (8 gm/tablespoon), egg-whites, nuts, cheeses, soy-products, etc. These also provide a higher-quality protein than meat, and lack the dangerous animal-fat that is killing so many Americans through heart-problems.

My ultimate goal is to live in a Franciscan peace with the other creatures of this planet. Eating meat alters the energy-field of a person in ways that can be "seen" or sensed by other creatures; so, every creature knows when you are, and when you are not, a carnivore.
*******

The Deeper Meaning of Recent Events

Thanks to Barbara Baty.
*******

No one can be insulated from, or remain untouched by, the massive, immense changes that are now occurring on this teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy nanoplanet. These events, like a literal earthquake, are drawing people together. And no one can predict what will come next. (Many self-styled "prophets" are trying like mad, but none have proved reliable.) We must learn the lesson of simply trusting the universe(Tao) as we board the human rollercoaster? Entire countries are going bankrupt, and others are suffering the effects of global warming. It seems that entire nations can be quite as insane as some human beings, as our own United States has demonstrated during the last eight years. People individually are "losing it," falling into religious madness, and quite desperate for anything that even vaguely resembles an explanation. Increasingly, they are turning to mad references to the Bible, especially to the Revelation, its final book, and these "explanations" create only exacerbating madness. Others run to Nostradamus or Ed Cayce-- both of whom predicted the "end of the world" for the year 1999! Self-styled "experts" are everywhere, of course, and there are plenty of "prophets" just trying to "make a buck" out of the human misery in the world.

Human beings seemed to have sensed some of the changes that now are flowing from the collective Unconscious, bracing themselves, alerting themselves. And this world touches each of us personally and deeply, so the changes are about your life and mine, not about an abstract "world out there."

And no matter how "spiritual" we are, no matter how profound our philosophy, we are touched by this world. No one is immune, no one unaffected. Yes, Virginia, bad things do happen to good people, for karma is an impartial Mindenergy; it occurs not for our punishment, but for our education.

We are the people of Love. Thus, we must take on the incredible task of figuring out how this world of apparent chaos and madness is a reflection of Love. And here is how: Karma turns the entire world into a "school." The purpose of this school is to teach the gentle art of loving. We cannot learn the most profound depths of the most Love, the maximum compassion, until or unless we have suffered. (That is why very young people, who have never suffered, seem so shallow, and sometimes, they
are!)

We are also hear to learn that the entire material world, all around us, is maya, "illusion," or a dream. This is indicated by major financial and political institutions dissolving before our very eyes!

But while the fortresses of materialism and greed are unraveling, spiritual teachings remain powerful elements of our lives. They alone survive every crisis or catastrophe. To figure out this complex world, we must use spiritual thinking, or mystical principles, such as karma.

Karma is a complex "balancing act" in which the whole universe, including your personal Soul, is involved. "Bad" things happen to people in order to break them out of selfcenteredness and selfinvolvement, to educate us in Love. That is why some of the most gentle, wise, kind, and enlightened people of history have suffered, doing "battle" with the "demons" of the lower nature.

Human beings have generated karmic energy, galaxies of it, for many millennia. Some of this karma is being worked out now.

The entire world must learn two major karmic lessons: Greed is the service of fear (the "devil"), and the more that we think that we are "in control," the more quickly things start spinning wildly out of control. We must respond to these lessons by refusing to serve greed, and instead, trying honestly to serve compassion. And we must let go of control and replace it with faith-- trust in the unfolding of the cosmos, without our interference or manipulation. (This is the essence of that wonderful path of mysticism called "Taoism.")

What is happening is a shift in the very paradigm of the world. We are, specifically, shifting away from the old paradigm, which emphasized separation (all separation is illusion, since we are all part of the One, the great collective Unconscious). We are also outgrowing the illusions of domination by force. The world cannot be "controlled" by guns and bombs, but must be regulated by the recognition of the interdependence of Love. All cultures and societies, like all human beings, share interests on this tiny planet, and so, fierce independence will give way to a sense of interdependence, in which no single culture is seen as "superior."

We must work, through healing and sharing, to create a global and, someday, an interplanetary culture based on the equality of all human beings. Every act of Love is an act of healing, and there is no such thing as a "small" act of Love.

This earth is like an organism, which works only as long as the parts cooperate. Each part must yield to the whole; so, to find freedom, we must each work in cooperation with others to serve the greater Whole that is the Love of the cosmos.

So, each act of personal transformation helps to metamorphose the Whole. Each and every act of Love expresses Love for the Whole. So, every positive thought helps to heal the collective, or world-Soul. So, every act of selfhealing is shared with many, many others on an energy-level or Mind-level.

So, your intentions and thoughts become the "raw material" out of which the world is constructed. That is why, in visions of our Lady of Love, such as those of Fatima and Lourdres, she instructs us never to stop "praying." And every thought of Love is a true prayer.

We must rid ourselves of fear, which is the source of all wars. In almost every war, this fear is expressed as greed. It is time that we, as a society, stopped serving greed and begin to serve its opposite, compassion.

What can we do in the midst of all the horror and terror that have been fed into the collective Unconscious over millennia of human history? We can begin to counter-balance all this mental garbage by creating the mental treasures of Love.

Every thought of Love is a prayer, and a true act of worship. Let each of us begin, this very day, to flood our lives with thoughts of Love, and these will "sink down" and swamp even the collective Unconscious, as Love overcomes fear. Let us do this relentlessly and ceaselessly, pouring huge quantities of Love inward, to create a galaxy of Love, an ocean of Love. Soon, the weak candle-flicker of fear will go out, quenched by the passion of our Love. Fear is but a drop, in cosmic terms, but Love
is an ocean; fear but a candle, and Love the interior "sun" of purest Light. Fear, in the presence of Love, does not stand a chance!

We exist for each other, and we all exist for the Whole. We have worked for years on selfimprovement, and even selferasement, so that we can help to rescue the world from crisis. So, let us not be metaphysically selfish, using the interior Power to strive to create only personal wealth, as so many have done. Instead, let us submit our interior Power to the services of Love, compassion, planetary renewal, ecological
recovery, and the sisterhood and brotherhood of all beings in the universe.

*******