The Lord/Lady of Love

For Love is so much brighter than any "sun" (even leo!), it makes galaxies look like snuffed candles. And God's eternal bliss is so very high that it makes all other joys look like mourning by comparison. The ecstasy of God (Love) is more than an instant; in time, it can grow into a steady state for the one who has been "blinded" by Its glory, blown away by Its Power, and metamorphosed by Its Love.

God is much more than the beauties of all earthly and celestial beauties combined; She is beauty Itself, and nothing exists that can ever rival the beauty of Her Love.

In the Light-filled Mind, every second of every day is a celebration of Love; it is always Christmas, and always spring, and the world always overflowing with sweet-smelling roses in every color; they blossom in billions, filling the heartmind to overflowing with the delightful and ever-pleasing scent of Love.

Just thinking about this infinite Love, for only a minute, is a "healing" experience; it leads to greater integration. If taking small sips can elevate, then gulping the glittering Ocean of God can drive into irreversible ecstasy. This incomparable, ineffable, indescribable Love can heal anything without exception. There is no body in the universe that She cannot heal. But, for the sake of karma, and also, for the sake of a gentle exit, some conditions are not healed by the great Healer in her omniscient Love.

So, when healed, we praise the God of Love. And, when not healed, we also praise the Lord and Lady of endless Love.

Thoughts on bush and bushies

The bushies and their ilk not only ignored the middle class, but made actual, deliberate attempts to destroy it, leaving in our country only the very rich and the very poor.

They tried to dissolve the very backbone of our society and culture.

What might be even worse, they did everything possible to destroy, or to allow the destruction of, the ecology, our very Mother Earth. (As it is right now, it will take at least fifty years to undo all the damage done by bush and bushies.)

That was the administration ruled by greed alone, without a single thought of "compassion" for the people. Not only are bushies responsible for a million deaths in the Middle East, but for over four thousand American girls and boys in their insane oil-war, also based on greed. And they will kill many more Americans, through activation of respiratory diseases and toxic reactions to chemical pollution. These include allergies, emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer, and others.

If there is anything to the old superstition of "demons," the bushies fill the bill completely. While strutting and parading, at every opportunity, their "pro-life" position, they have been violently and consistently anti-life from the beginning. The most "pro-life" position is Love, and their activity has been antiagapic since the beginning. The figures that we have heard, for example, take the tally of this insane war to over three trillion (three million million) dollars!

The ecological costs have been even more absurd and destructive in many ways, on many levels. When corporations rule the government, that is the very definition of "fascism." So bush et al are fascists. It will be an enormous joy and relief to get this monster and his brainless cronies out of office! The entire world will heave one gigantic sigh of relief!:):)
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Forbes says Paulson is THE WORST Treasury Secretary

Thanks to Barbara Baty.
Forbes says Paulson is THE WORST Treasury Secretary
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Forbes: Paulson Worst Treasury Secretary
Monday, November 24, 2008 12:56 PM

By: Gene J. Koprowski

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is the "worst" Treasury secretary the United States has had "in modern times," and has poorly handled the government's response to the mortgage market crisis, Steve Forbes, editor in chief of Forbes Magazine, is saying.

In an interview with CNN, Forbes said that Paulson is not being on the level with the American people about the funds being used to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage giants.

"Have Henry Paulson do at least one thing right, and, that is, have the government explicitly guaranteee the debt of Fannie and Freddie," Forbes says.

Forbes, a former GOP presidential candidate and billionaire, told the cable news network that he does not have confidence in Paulson's ability to perform his job during the last two months of the Bush Administration.

"No. Sadly, he's the worst Treasury secretary we've had in modern times," said Forbes.

Paulson is a former CEO of investment bank Goldman Sachs.

During his career, he worked with other, former Goldman CEOs who held key leadership positions in the U.S. government, including Robert Rubin, who was Treasury Secretary for President Clinton, and Jon Corzine, as a U.S. Senator and governor of New Jersey.

Earlier, Paulson worked as an aide to indicted Watergate conspirator John Ehrlichman, in the Nixon White House.

Other commentators, conservative as well as liberal, have been critical of Paulson too, including Robert Reich, a transition aide to President-elect Barack Obama, who said that Paulson "not been transparent" with the public and that the bailout he crafted was sold on "false pretenses" to the Congress, an argument that was made by conservative House Republicans as well, who initially refused to back the bailout.

Beautiful Prayer

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

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O hidden Life, vibrant in every atom,
O hidden Light, shining in every creature,
O hidden Love, embracing all in oneness,
May all who feel themselves as one with thee,
Know they are therefore one with every other.

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Past and Future

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

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I had a feelin' i didn't wanna say much but the Rueben, Kissinger, Summers, Geitner, Greenspan clan is back from the dead. Let's hope & pray it's a different Larry Summers than the one who handled Russia after collapse, when the oligarchs income disparity quadrupled, as Yeltsin drank nearby. These guys helped engineer. As well as grease the skids of 'fast-track' capitalism that is killing us again. Make sure you read Wm Greiders 3rd-4th paragraph below; the collusion of the neocon Zion lions of modern western style capitalism. I am not criticizing Obama's choices so early. I'm an incorgible optimist. Yet, this proves once again the power of these zion lions--and we should [not] be surprised. I'm not sure Obama had any choice. The markets love these guys, and why wouldn't they.

Past and Future
By William Greider

A year ago, when Barack Obama said it was time to turn the page, his campaign declaration seemed to promise a fresh start for Washington. I, for one, failed to foresee Obama would turn the page backward. The president-elect's lineup for key governing positions has opted for continuity, not change. Virtually all of his leading appointments are restoring the Clinton presidency, only without Mr. Bill. In some important ways, Obama's selections seem designed to sustain the failing policies of George W. Bush.

This is not the last word and things are changing rapidly. But Obama's choices have begun to define him. His victory, it appears, was a triumph for the cautious center-right politics that has described the Democratic party for several decades. Those of us who expected more were duped, not so much by Obama but by our own wishful thinking.

Let us stipulate that these are all honorable people, smart and experienced veterans of Washington combat. But they represent the Democratic party that mainly sees itself as managerial--making government work better. The long era of conservative dominance has taught them to keep their distance from big reform ideas that promise fundamental change of the system. Their operating style is incremental and cautiously practical. They conscientiously avoid (or actively block) propositions that sound too liberal or radical. Alas, Obama is coming to power at a critical moment when incrementalism is irrelevant. The system is in collapse. Financial chaos won't wait for patient deliberations.

Events have confronted Obama with a fearful symmetry between past and present, illustrated by his choice of economic advisers. On Friday, we learned that Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, would become his new treasury secretary and Larry Summers, who held the same position in the Clinton administration, would be the White House overseer of economic policy. On Monday, Geithner was busy executing the government's massive rescue of Citicorp--the very banking behemoth that Geithner and Summers helped to create back in the Clinton years, along with Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin, Clinton's economics guru. Now Rubin is himself a Citicorp executive and his bank is now being saved by his old protégé (Geithner) with the taxpayers' money.

The connections go way beyond irony. They raise very serious questions about where the new president intends to lead and whether he has the nerve to break from the weak and haphazard strategy of the Bush administration. It has dumped piles of public money on the largest financial institutions and demanded little or nothing in return, hoping for the best. Geithner has been a central player in the deal-making, from Bear Stearns to AIG to Citi. The strategy has not only failed, it has arguably made things worse as savvy market players saw through the contradictions and rushed out to dump more bank stocks.

On Wall Street, Geithner is known as a highly competent technocrat, well versed in the financial complexities. But he has also been seen as a weak and compliant regulator of Wall Street firms, someone who did not seem the storm coming. Occasionally, Geithner would anguish publicly about the accumulating time bombs like credit derivatives and urge bankers to do something, but he did not use his supervisory powers to compel action. In bailout negotiations with Wall Street titans, Geithner and the Federal Reserve were spun around like a top more than once.

No wonder the stock markets rallied explosively when they heard Geithner would be their new boss in Washington. They think he is their guy. Summers may be a brilliant economist--everyone says so--but he, too, is a club member in good standing and now manages a huge hedge fund while he advises Obama. The president-elect needs to get a "second opinion"--someone from outside the financial club who can explain the flaws in the rescue strategy preached by Bush's treasury secretary Henry Paulson and Tim Geithner at the New York Fed.

Their approach has clearly been designed to preserve what's left of the Wall Street establishment and maintain the supremacy of the largest financial firms while the taxpayers pick up their losses. That model has failed and too many smart people know why. The bailouts have been too little too late and aimed at an impossible objective--persuading private capital investors to believe in the phony assurances proffered by the bankers. AIG, the insurance giant taken over by the feds, has turned into a bloody hemorrhage. Citigroup will be another and may soon be joined by other major banks demanding the same favorable terms. Wasting more public money on insolvent mastodons is the least of it. The real scandal is it doesn't work. It can't work because the black hole is too large even for Washington to fill. Government should take over the failing institutions or force them into bankruptcy, break them up and sell them off or mercifully relieve everyone, including the taxpayers.

Stock markets rallied again with the salvage of Citigroup. But not everyone in Wall Street was cheering. Christopher Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics, the bank monitoring firm that has repeatedly been right about the banks when the government officials were wrong, had harsh words for the deal. "Pretending that Citi is going to be a going concern I think is silly," Whalen said. "We should be thinking about breaking this company up and redistributing the assets into stronger hands."

Will Timothy Geithner or Larry Summers advise the next president to face reality and throw in the towel? One hopes so, because Whalen warns: "By embracing Geithner, President-elect Obama is endorsing the ill-advised scheme to support AIG directed by Hank Paulson et al at Goldman Sachs and executed by Tim Geithner.... This scheme to stay AIG's resolution cannot possibly work and, when it does collapse, Barack Obama and his administration will wear the blame."

Barack Obama is too smart and perceptive to let this happen to his yet-unborn presidency. Maybe he should find out what Whalen knows.

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This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081208/greider_web

The Fix We're In

Thanks to Mark Franzen.

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Joe Smith started the day early, having set his alarm clock (made in Japan) for 6 a.m. While his coffeepot (made in China ) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (made in Hong Kong). He put on a dress shirt (made in Sri Lanka), designer jeans (made in Singapore) and tennis shoes (made in Korea). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (made in India), he sat down with his calculator (made in Mexico) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (made in Taiwan) to the radio (made in India), he got in his car (made in Germany), filled it with gas (from Saudi Arabia), and continued his search for a good-paying American job.
At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his computer (made in Malaysia), Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (made in Brazil), poured himself a glass of wine (made in France), and turned on his tv (made in Indonesia), and then wondered why he couldn't find a good paying job in the United States of America.

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Walmart

Thanks to Jim Dwyer.

Walmart
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How big is Walmart?

1 . At Walmart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.

2 . This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Walmart will sell more From January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.

4. Walmart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.

5. Walmart employs 1.6 million people And is the largest private employer. And most can't speak English

6. Walmart is the largest company In the history of the World.

7. Walmart now sells more food Than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.

8. During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie).

9. Walmart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10. Walmart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are SuperCenters; This is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago.

11. This year, 7.2 billion different Purchasing experiences will occur at a Walmart store. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 billion.)

12. 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Walmart

13 Let Walmart bail out Wall street

--Jim Combs

Some Thoughts About Love

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Some Thoughts About Love

Where did you ever get this insightful, informative truth serum? You might be experiencing an epiphany. Don't get scared. Just sit down, say a prayer for the good people of the world. And then open your eyes, and look within. It is there where you'll find LOVE, not fear. Those two don't mix very well. Love [comes] from, and is, God. Fear [is] from some other place. Dispel the false fear, and live through Love. Love is all that matters, Love is our only hope, and the answer to
all illusory questions.

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Nonviolence

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Nonviolence
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Nonviolence belongs to a continuum from the personal to the global.... One of the most significant Buddhist interpretations of nonviolence concerns... daily life. Nonviolence... also pertains to the way one interacts with a child, vacuums a carpet, or waits in line. ...Whenever we separate ourselves from a given situation (for example, through inattentiveness, negative judgments, or impatience), we "kill" something valuable....[This] violence actually leaves victims in its wake: people, things, one's own composure, the moment itself.... These small-scale incidences... are multiplied on a social level, and become a source of the large-scale violence.... . . . One need not wait until war is declared and bullets are flying to work for peace, Buddhism teaches. A more constant and equally urgent battle must be waged each day against the forces of one's own anger, carelessness, and self-absorption.

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Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
92 Vandam Street
New York, NY 10013
Telephone 212.645.1143 | Fax 212.645.1493

Real Reason They Don't Want Gays in Military

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Real Reason They Don't Want Gays in Military (or, Is God Mad at Republicans?)
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Seems that god is really pissed at the republicans. Actually, god's mad at the repubs for that whole Reich-wing conservative "christian" thing.

Here's proof. All those wild-eyed RWC's were told (and did as they were ordered) to pray for "hurricane force winds and rains of biblical proportions out of the so-called "christian" right wing Focus on the Family and other tax free pulpits. [They wanted God to "rain on" Obama's victory-celebration.] So millions of these sheeple did just that-- prayed and prayed and prayed like the buncha friggin idiots they are, that they actually believe THAT is what prayer is for?

And ya know what? It turned out to be just the most beautiful night in Denver. Couldn't have been better for a giant outdoor party (when Obama gave his acceptance speech in front of over 80,000 people at Mile High Stadium). I guess it was just simply not god's will to cause that rain and wind, to NOT answer the pleadings of the millions. So much for the power of THEIR prayer, of THAT type of cloaked-in-hate prayer, that is!

Then, a few months later in California, all those good christians and especially Mormons (who, like Catholics, are NOT real christians as we all know) according to the BOAC born-again variety of christians (only THEY are the real chosen ones.) Anyway, they (BOAC) all wanted everyone to vote YES on Prop 8 in California to ban gay marriage. And, sure enough, Prop 8 did fail, and now the christians and Mormons are all happy.

But guess what? God is pissed AGAIN. How can ya tell? Well, what about all those fires immediately after Prop 8? The defeat of gay marriage (a yes vote defeated) has shaken California. Indeed, if Prop 8 had lost and allowed gay marriage, then those fires would have been called (by christians) the judgment of god; after all, vengence is mine, sayeth the lord-- of dance or the lord of the rings or whatever. Yes, the televised preachers would be railing against the goddless left coast and all those queer liberal faggots and lezzies and homos and sinners. Yes, Sarah Palin's "Real America" could feel justified in its discrimination and justified by all those fires and acts of "gawd"!

But wait! If California has done what they say is god's will, then why is California being punished with these fires? Next will be rains and mudslides and all that. Hmmmm. I guess god got it wrong again. Maybe, just maybe, "Gawd" is NOT a republican as we've been led to believe.

Or maybe, just maybe, this god of theirs simply does not give a care for their particular brand of hate! Maybe, just maybe (and back to the original point) this old-time choir is not what the GOP needs!

As republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat earlier this month, they will likely overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G O D. (I'm bathing in holy water as I type this).

To be specific, the evangelical, rightwing branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't cometh soon, or is it soon cometh?

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the republican party. And the truth, as long as we're helping to set them free, is that if one were to eavesdrop on the private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that. Their choir has become absurdly off-key, and many republicans know it, but they need those votes! What to do?!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party (more emphasis now on Old and less on Party) since the 1980's or so. It has become beholden to a nutty element that they used to relegate to wooden crates on street corners. Yep, the GOP has surrendered its higher ground (moral authority?) to its lowest brows (Palins?) and in so doing alienated its base, including other people of faith and regular folks who prefer a more private
approach to worship. And what's so great is how defensive religious conservatives become at any suggestion that they've had anything to do with the GOP's erosion! Oh well, it just keeps getting better, doesn't it?

Whoops, my time is up, gotta run, gotta go pray for rain.
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Cheney and Gonzales: A Little "Instant Karma"

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Cheney and Gonzales: A Little "Instant Karma"!:)
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I wrote to a friend of mine to ask him if he had heard or knew anything about Cheney's having been indicted. This is his reply:


Subject: Re: Is it true????

Yep. True. But kind of a good news/bad news deal. Not quite time to run dancing into the streets singing "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead." It's not an official enforceable indictment until and unless a judge signs it. Here's the story I read about an hour ago. This is all I know, and of course I believe everything I read in the paper and online whether it's true or not.

Texas grand jury indicts Cheney, Gonzales of crime

1 hr 32 mins ago

HOUSTON (Reuters) A grand jury in South Texas indicted U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and former attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday for "organized criminal activity" related to alleged abuse of inmates in private prisons.

The indictment has not been seen by a judge, who could dismiss it.The grand jury in Willacy County, in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border, said Cheney is "profiteering from depriving human beings of their liberty," according to a copy of the indictment obtained by Reuters.

The indictment cites a "money trail" of Cheney's ownership in prison-related enterprises including the Vanguard Group, which owns an interest in private prisons in south Texas.

Former attorney general Gonzales used his position to "stop the investigations as to the wrong doings" into assaults in county prisons, the indictment said.

Cheney's office declined comment. "We have not received any indictments.

I can't comment on something we have not received," said Cheney's spokeswoman Megan Mitchell.

The indictment, overseen by county District Attorney Juan Guerra, cites the case of Gregorio De La Rosa, who died on April 26, 2001, inside a private prison in Willacy County.

The grand jury wrote it made its decision "with great sadness," but said they had no other choice but to indict Cheney and Gonzales "because we love our country."

Texas is the home state of U.S. President George W. Bush. Bush and his Republican administration, which first took office in January 2001, leave the White House on January 20 after the November presidential elections won by Democrat Barack Obama. Gonzales was attorney general from 2005 to 2007.
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The Bush Legacy

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

The Bush Legacy
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* Misleading about Iraq's WMD
* Implying a connection between Saddam and 9/11
* Launching a war that's killed over 4,150 Americans and wounded more than 30,000 + how many other humans?
* Challenging Iraqi insurgents to attack U.S. troops: "Bring 'em on"
* Granting no-bid contracts to Halliburton in Iraq
* Failing to respond to Hurricane Katrina
* Hiring unqualified crony to run FEMA
* Praising crony's performance: "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job"
* Neglecting reconstruction of New Orleans' homes and levees
* Promising American troops would be greeted as liberators
* Declaring "Mission Accomplished" and later blaming the banner on troops
* Cherry-picking facts about WMDs in Iraq, then blaming the CIA
* Promising the Iraq war would lower gas prices
* Claiming the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes" in 2005
* Allowing Osama Bin Laden to escape
* Launching a war that's killed countless Iraqi civilians
* Using Terri Schiavo for political gain
* Attempting to alter Constitution to allow discrimination against gay people
* Fighting to privatize Social Security
* Stealing the 2000 election (remember Katherine Harris, voter purges, and the Supreme Court?)
* Concealing the pre-9/11 Presidential Daily Briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."
* Ignoring security at nuclear plants after 9/11
* Battling the wall between church and state
* Enforcing abstinence-only programs in public schools
* Doing too little to halt genocide in Darfur
* Trying to slash funding for PBS and NPR
* Rejecting the Kyoto Treaty to stop climate change
* Giving tax cuts to the rich in a time of war
* Failing seniors with the costly Medicare prescription drug benefit
* Suppressing the vote in the 2004 elections (remember Diebold and long lines in Ohio?)
* Swiftboating John Kerry
* Outing CIA agent Valerie Plame to retaliate for truth about Iraq's WMDs
* Telling the 45 million uninsured Americans to just go to the emergency room
* Spending $341 million a day in Iraq
* Neglecting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center
* Allowing Afghanistan to fall into chaos, with the Taliban and al Qaeda regaining control
* Pressuring PBS to carry pro-government propaganda
* Paying columnists like Armstrong Williams to promote government policies
* Creating fake news reels to promote the controversial Medicare law
* Holding prisoners without trial at Guantanamo Bay
* Covering up torture at Abu Ghraib
* Breaking the Geneva Conventions
* Appointing extreme right-wing Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito
* Forcing the Patriot Act into law
* Firing federal prosecutors who failed to accuse Democrats of voting fraud
* Turning a budget surplus into massive budget deficit
* Letting more than a million homes go into foreclosure - the highest rate ever recorded
* Watching as bank failures surge
* Setting the record for most days on vacation by any president in U.S. history
* Losing 2.7 million manufacturing jobs
* Presiding over Enron scandal - the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history
* Increasing nuclear threat by withdrawing from Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia
* Appointing John Bolton as U.N. ambassador despite his promise to dismantle the U.N.
* Holding secret meetings with Exxon Mobil, Conoco, Shell, and BP to set energy policy
* Letting gas prices double while resisting fuel efficiency and clean energy
* Pushing to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off our coasts

Some Notes on Soldiers

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

We all love our country & our military; we just don't trust our corporate government all the time. We also feel sorry for the young girls and boys sent to fight and die for a lie, propagated by the corp devils who wanted to take over Iraq, and place the largest Embassy in the world there. I also feel really bad that more rich kids, sons & daughters of congressman, Wall St oil executives, robber barons in our new gilded age-- that more of their sons of privilege & fortune have not been able to serve, rather than just serve themselves.... Over 6K young men & women commit suicide 'every year (this according to a Military study) after they experience the absolute horrible results of our invasion-occupation.
They either kill themselves there, faux accidents, or back here after 3-4 tours, and seeing the absolute carnage we have caused there, over 1.2 Million innocent civilians slaughtered. Over 2.5 Million, since 1991....

I know way too much about the corrupt killing to believe all the propagandist hype, emotional hyperbole.

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Keep Mad Cow out of the U.S.

Keep Mad Cow out of the U.S.
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Act now.

The 2003 discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States cast serious doubts on years of reassurances from the meat industry and the USDA that it couldn't happen here. Now the USDA and the big meat companies want consumers to believe them again. We need your help to keep Mad Cow Disease out of the U.S.

For the last three years, the USDA has been trying to open the border to Canadian cattle over the age of thirty months. This is significant because older cattle (those over thirty months of age) are considered to be at higher risk for having Mad Cow Disease and therefore pose a greater risk if they enter the food supply. Canada has had 13 cases of Mad Cow Disease, the most recent of which was discovered in June.

So why would the United States take older, high risk cattle from a country known to have a significant prevalence of this disease? The meat companies want to be able to source cattle from wherever they are the cheapest, which is often Canada.

Combined with the known problems in U.S. slaughterhouses in following the rules for handling the risky nervous system materials believed to spread the disease, importing older Canadian cattle creates unnecessary risk for U.S. consumers.

Tell USDA to put public health before meat industry profits and not to open the border to older Canadian cattle. Take Action Now.


Thanks for taking action,
Patty Lovera, Deputy Director
Food & Water Watch

The Moose Stops Here

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Stay tuned as the GOP decides between extinction and relevance. They've been in the same pickle before (1964, 1976) but never with Sarah Palin. This "op-ed" piece was in the NY Times today.

"The Moose Stops Here" By FRANK RICH , NYT

What is "Heaven"?

When we think of "heaven," we often think of it as did our twelfth-century ancestors, as "in" the "sky," or beyond it, in outer space somewhere. This is, in fact, one of the meanings of the ancient symbolic Greek word for "heaven"-- where the birds fly. So, when we pray to "our Father who art in heaven," or to the heavenly "Mother," we might think of Her/Him as being far away, somewhere out in the galaxy.

These old notions have a powerful grip on the childish imagination, as does the primitive, backwards idea that God has many human characteristics, like the ancient and backwards Jehovic mythology. Do ants "pray to the great Ant in the sky"? Do dogs "pray to the great Dog in the sky"?

Probably not. But if they had the imagination of human beings, who knows? The point is, we tend to see God according to our limitations and our training. And very primitive peoples, such as the Hebrews of four thousand years ago, also saw their "gods" as "very human."

Each human being in our world has a place where she/he lives. So, the old gods also had places where they lived-- often on sacred mountains such as Sinai or Olympus. Only much later did God become recognized as "omnipresent," which means "present everywhere." In other words, they lived on earth. And still others lived in the sky, above the clouds.

It was impossible for primitive peoples to fly above the clouds, as we have now done, and as we do thousands of times every day. They could not know, as we now do, that there are no "gods" in that sky.

What is the solution to this complex mystery/drama called "heaven"? It is this: Heaven is not a place. It is a dimension, or universe. It is what is called in physics "an alternative universe." It is accessible not by airplanes or space-craft, but only by the mind.

To understand, let us examine the parable of the mind as a complex interior "radio." That "radio," for all of us, almost all the time, is tuned to one station or channnnel-- WRLD. This is our everyday, commmmon, ordinary world. We cannot change this channel, except in most profound meditation (interior prayer or silent prayer), or when we die. The mechanisms of this radio make it usually impossible to "tune in" to other "channels" (such as WBLS, "bliss," WSTY, "ecstasy, or WHVN, "heaven.")

So, "heaven" is not "out there," but "in here." It is attunement to another universe, as "real" as our everyday world. It is not "far away."

Thus, ancient enlightenment traditions assure us that "God is closer than your hands and feet, closer than the air that you are now breathing in." But to "know" God personally as pure Love, we must allow the "interior radio" to "change channels." This cannot happen from our efforts; it occurs by pure grace, from "God's side." In time, for the enlightened, this "alternative universe" becomes even more real than the everyday world. She becomes "atuned" to God, to Love, and this is her perfect joy, her complete fulfillment, ecstasy, satisfaction, and pure
contentment.
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Sad Commentary, but Really Shouldn't be a Surprise

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Sad Commentary, but Really Shouldn't be a Surprise
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I was saddened by the recent news re a country wide outbreak of toxic racism, in response to the historic election that just took place.

1st let me state, that this country and most of it's people have come along way in it's evolution away from the darkness, ignorance of racism & bigotry.

But sadly, there are still many who harbor deep seated fear, bitterness, resentment towards people of color, for many reasons-- real or imagined.

There is an element of abject ignorance here and all over the world; we are not alone in this deficit among human kind.

We've heard many say that our culture has been numbed, dumbed down, through thousands of hours of gratuitous sex & violence on our TV's, video games, movies. And it's true we have let this sewer of mindpollution into our hearts, minds, and Souls. We have been desensitized somewhat, and many of our youth have really been retarded by all this unnecessary violence, in our dialogue, our language, our propensity to be reactionary. We are a culture of gun lovers. Of course, [this is not true of] all of us. I personally hate weapons of any sort now. I've personally seen the full force and finality that violence causes the survivors. Noone is ever the same, and you never recover from the after affects of violent deaths among your family or friends.

Fear is at the root of all ignorance. Fear is what drives people to over-react to any situation. Sometimes caution is useful. But, generally speaking, fear, especially 'false-fear' used by many in roles of authority, in the media,etc. Causes us to act/react not from the basis of Love, logic, rationality, reason. Fear sistorts everything, and we no longer think rationally.

Many of these acts of racial slurs, threats come from folks who have been filled with hate & lies, abuse, fear all their lives. From family, friends, media shows, war propaganda that portrays people of different colors as being 'less than' or the purveyors of war & violence 'against us. [This] triggers that age old animal response, our lower nature, to fear what we dont understand.

If people looked logically, resonably, rationally at all the evidence of how we arrived here to these troubled times, we would see that wealthy, powerful people got us here. They are mostly caucasian.

Rich "white" men start most of the wars around the world, most of which are fought in the homelands of darkskinned people. There's no denying that.

Viet Nam, Korea, WW1&2, yes , Germany, Russia, Japan, Northern Africa. [And we are] still in foreign lands, with 'different' cultures & languages. Most of that immersed in Imperial Hegemony, to conquer, divide, and then control the spoils of war 'victories'.....so stupid white men got us here, right...some Asian, Jewish, Arab(secularists)--some religious I'm sure. Some would say the Jewish Zionists are following their religion, but Zionism is not a religion, but an ideology. Just like many, many others. Only difference I can discern is that this is a 'my way or the highway' methodology.

Israel is a 'stand alone' nation state, without any Palestinians in sight. It is now, and has been for yrs a genocidal, apartheid situation. The only other problem, is these same people are the architects of our wars in the Middle East now. That's a real problem, whether you believe it or not. It is not of our constitution; we have drifted away from the precepts of that fine document.

Does "We shall have no standing armies anywhere in the world" ring a bell? Sadly, since the Civil War, we've drifted towards Yankee Imperialism-- all over [the world]. And [we] have honed the "must go to war" propaganda to a science(of mind control).

Lastly, highly paid radio/TV media pundits should be held accountable by the laws of our land for inciting inflammatory rhetoric over our public airwaves. Incindiary dialogue, spewing hate, lies, and fear among susceptible listener's is like lighting a fuse to TNT laced with gunpowder.

Especially during hard times-- not brought on by one Bi-Racial President-elect and his fine family, but by yrs of malfeasance, greed and unbridled capitalism.

Let us pray for deliverance from all this ignorance, fear based thinking, myopic mentalities. [And let us do and say everything within our power to weaken the cause of fear!]
*******


Just a note about bigoted speech: There are no "black" people on our
planet; and there are no "white" people. Black is the color of coal, and
white the color of snow. We are all just darker and lighter shades of
brown! So, let us try to reflect this in our speech. Let's stop using
the divisive opposites "white" and "black." If we must refer to race at
all, let us use the more reasonable and accurate "darkerskinned" and
"lighterskinned" people.
*******

Need for Change in American Carmanufacturing

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Good Letter in Today's Paper: Need for Change in American Carmanufacturing
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In the typical arrogant fashion of GM brass, their resident idiot clueless CEO the other day was telling everyone how it was gonna be with this bailout. He was cocky and arrogant and you'd think that nothing at all bad had occurred under his leadership. I agree with one of the oped writers: If they give the BIG 3 bailouts, there should be a condition that the executives and the boards of directors should all be fired and replaced by autonomous innovative leaders with real insight, integrity, objectivity, and honesty. I mean, what we're really talking about here is saving a 100-year old industry with millions of jobs and which affects many many millions of others. We're talking about saving the backbone of the great American middle class in this country! You simply cannot heal a sick mind with a sick mind. Thirty years of failure and LACK of innovation or even slightly [not] "getting it" is why the Big 3 are in the toilet while other car companies have moved operation here and, in comparison, are thriving! What's it gonna take?


American carmakers need to pop the hood if they want a bailout
Saturday, November 15, 2008 3:16 AM

Before the government begins extending taxpayer-funded loans to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford, I would make the following suggestions and observations.

First, they must assess the cost of human capital. Why is it that almost every major world auto manufacturer is now building cars in the United States, but for some reason GM, Ford and Chrysler cannot seem to get it right?

Before doling out taxpayer-funded loans to the U.S. auto industry, our government should be demanding that management and labor conduct an exhaustive wage-and-benefits cost study of the foreign manufacturers' U.S. work force.

Clearly a market wage-and-benefit package has been set by the foreign manufacturers building and designing cars and parts in the U.S.

If GM, Ford and Chrysler's union wage-and-benefit costs are significantly higher than their international peers making cars here in the U.S., the chance of them ever effectively competing in the auto marketplace and repaying their taxpayer-funded loans is somewhere between slim and none. This wage-and-benefit analysis should start with the chief executive officers and finish with the people on the third shift sweeping the plant floors.

Management and labor must realize that their collective futures depend on comparable wage-and-benefit programs.

Second, the auto consumer lacks confidence in the U.S. automakers' products. Toyota and Honda are examples of automakers that have earned the trust of two generations of consumers by churning out low-maintenance, high-quality, high-resale-value cars and trucks.

The consumer must feel confident in the quality and dependability of GM, Ford and Chrysler. In order to begin rebuilding trust, the three U.S. automakers should offer at no cost to every purchaser a seven-year, 100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.

If they ever want to think about being the "Big Three" again, they must make it clear to the consumer that they are both confident in and committed to the quality of their products and that they are willing to stand behind those products over the long term.

Finally, all three of these automakers should consider simplifying their product lineups. Toyota has Lexus on the high end, Honda has Acura, and Nissan has Infiniti. Why is it that GM has Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Saturn, Saab, Cadillac, Hummer and GMC? Does Ford Motor need Ford, Volvo, Lincoln and Mercury? Does Chrysler need the Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler brands?

Is it just me or doesn't it seem odd that Chevy and Pontiac, both GM brands, compete against one another? Is there that big a difference between a Ford and a Mercury? And if there is a difference, should there really be one?

Why not focus marketing efforts on a base line of cars and one luxury line of cars?

Coming from a large family with a dozen aunts and uncles and more than 30 first cousins, I can tell you with certainty that most all of them have lost confidence in the Big Three.

They have lost confidence because over the past 20-plus years, they have had repeated bad experiences, including high maintenance, 80,000-mile engine and transmission blow-ups and low resale value, with all three of the U.S. automakers and finally heeded the advice of friends and other family members and bought foreign.

But now, even the foreign is not so foreign. Honda is in Ohio and Indiana. Toyota is in Kentucky. Mitsubishi is in Indiana. BMW is in South Carolina with other offices in New Jersey and California. Mercedes-Benz owns plants in Cleveland, Detroit, North Carolina, Oregon and Alabama. Nissan is in Mississippi and Tennessee. Volkswagen is on the way. The list goes on and on.

American workers and engineers can build and design exceptional cars and trucks. That is precisely why most every world manufacturer builds cars, trucks and parts right here in the good old U.S.A.

However, when these same workers and engineers are stuck in the poor management and labor models of the U.S. auto manufacturers, they fail miserably. These three companies must go through a rapid and fundamental restructuring in order to regain competitiveness if they are to qualify for taxpayers' loans.

DOUGLAS WALOUKE

SC Priest: No communion for Obama supporters

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

***

But if you voted for more of the same, more wars, more serial warcriminals, more looting of the treasury, more crony capitalism, more hate, fear, and lies, you can have this lil Vanilla Wafer that, really is "The Christ." Well, first of all, that's cannibalism. Wait a minute...so all other good human beings, who can't partake in that weekly ritual, meant for power & control,then, those people are not worthy?

They are not close to Mother-Father God? [She/He is] the creator of all. [Are they really alienated from] the universe, the cosmos? Nonsense, total nonsense. And so is some old priest for trying to use that as a cosmic 2 by 4 over the heads of "believers." Believers in what? The church? Or true Christianity? Would Jesus say sumthin that friggin stupid? No; he would probably deny the faux churches that support charlatans, and condemn the very impostors that chastise the lost, scared flock.

This is why I could care less if I ever set foot in another Catholic church. Sorry if your offended. I'm highly offended by these "satanic" [fearbased] gestures of the lessor god of self.

Gandhi had it right: "In Heaven there's No Religion," thank God!

I think that everybody who voted with her higher Godconscience should quit going and putting her money in the the li'l' basket; so what if they list you at the end of the year with a big fat zero?! [That is simply] more shame and blame. My God is bigger than that! The great Spirit within & without knows what I do, what I give. I am not filling out any form to shame me into giving to that huge Goldmine in Rome!!
[To that Church, I say:] Take care of your Nuns 1st... And maybe let your Men marry then become Priests! Seems a lil more natural, don't ya think.

And one more thing: The Church doesn't seem to speak too loudly against the illegal, immoral, unconstitutional wars for oil and profits. Perhaps they're too afraid? Or they're getting a li'l' side cut, [being paid off].
*******

The Real Numbers

Thanks to Mark Franzen.

The real numbers...

You better check all this out. We’re getting screwed big time, but our children and grandkids are really going to be killed in this fiasco. We are being mis-informed, ill-informed or not informed at all, and maybe even lied to by our legislators. We’d all better be hammering on them hard for answers. It’s real easy to contact your rep on line!

Bailout Price Tag: $3.5T So Far, But 'Real' Cost May Be Much Higher
Posted Nov 12, 2008 10:16am EST by Aaron Task in Newsmakers, Recession, Banking
Related: AIG, FNM, FRE, XLF, ^DJI, ^GSPC, C

While the government is clearly spending a lot of taxpayers' money to bail out financial firms, the tally is even bigger than most Americans (economists and pundits included) are probably aware or willing to admit.

The bailout bonanza has gotten so big and happened so fast it's the true cost often gets lost in the discussion. Maybe Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke prefer it that way because the tally so far is nearly $3.5 trillion, and that's before a likely handout for the auto industry.

Yes, $3.45 trillion has already been spent, as Bailoutsleuth.com details:

* $2T Emergency Fed Loans (the ones the Fed won't discuss, as detailed here)
* $700B TARP (designed to buy bad debt, the fund is rapidly transforming as we'll discuss in an upcoming segment)
* $300B Hope Now (the government's year-old attempt at mortgage workouts)
* $200B Fannie/Freddie
* $140B Tax Breaks for Banks (WaPo has the details)
* $110B: AIG (with its new deal this week, the big insurer got $40B of TARP money, plus $110B in other relief)

Tallying up the "true" cost of the bailout is difficult, and won't be known for months if not years. But considering $3.5 trillion is about 25% of the U.S. economy ($13.8 trillion in 2007) and the U.S. deficit may hit $1 trillion in fiscal 2009, hyperinflation and/or sharply higher interest rates seem likely outcomes down the road.

At the very least, the possibility of the U.S. losing its vaunted Aaa credit rating -- which determines the Treasury's borrowing costs -- cannot be discounted.

Moody's has already said it's not in jeopardy of being lowered. But we really can't put much stock in what Moody's -- or S&P or Fitch -- say after the subprime debacle, can we? More importantly, the price of credit default swaps on U.S. government debt has been on the rise since the bailout train got rolling, as Barron's reports.

In other words: Money talks and B.S. walks, to quote Spinal Tap.
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Doggie Death

Thousands of dogs and cats are killed each day, by essentially good people who really like, or even love, these little creatures. They simply reproduce too fast for their natural environments to be able to sustain them, so blame "nature," if you must.

Thanks for the article by the dog-killer who so hates his "terrible" job. You are right on target, my dear friend: I am tearing up after having read the piece about the death of the sweet dogs and cats. There is a little tiny bit of comfort in knowing that all living things must die, and in the belief, which is shared with the tormented writer, that all creatures go to a much better existence in the Mindworlds (Homeworld or heaven). Without this very sustaining belief, this earth could drive us mad with its injustices and unfairness. But all does find equilibrium in the infinite Mind of Love.

Thanks for this really thoughtprovoking article, despite its sadness. We are planning to publish it in the December 08 issue of Lovelight magazine, to alert our readers, many of whom are incurable cat- and dog-lovers, as I am also.

I always had a dog growing up, and having shared Love with these sweet little creatures was one of the first experiences of Love in this world. It is a treasure beyond computing, and I cannot believe that it all goes for naught, that all that great Love is simply wasted time. It is, instead, an investment in eternity, in everlasting friendship. For dogs live forever in Soul, and so do we.:):)

Twenty-oh-eight Store Closings

The notorious materialism of this country and culture has finally caught up with us. Greed can be limitless, but resources on planet earth are not. So, let us use these limited resources with wisdom. Let us stop being so wasteful. Let us stop pretending that Mother Earth can support lives of boundless greed. Let us give up greed and embrace compassion. Let us do more than talk: Let us vow to simplify our lives and give our excess excess to the poor.

Thanks to Mark Franzen.

Understanding the Cosmos

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The world is a highly complex and interwoven place of so many currents that, at times, even the greatest mystics are bewildered by it all. To "uncross the t's" and "undot the i's" of the universe, to break everything down into comprehensible bits and pieces, is only one way of explaining the vastness and complexity of the cosmos. Another, equally valid, is by intuitive grasp. But even this process, as reliable as it can be, might be affected by wishes, expectations, and overlays. You simply cannot have any understanding without mind, but that very mind can alter things, so we are caught in a conundrum from which none of us is ever completely free, however objective we might truly want to be. So, we all live in a personal cosmos highly colored by the tints and hues of biology and background. In our many spectra of attempted explanations, we traverse many colors, some of them quite bright, and many beautiful.

In the final analysis, the most is also the best that we can do: Embrace the cosmos of our understanding, in Love, and live within the heavens and hells that we create within personal minds. (The more that we decide, and the more things and people, that we Love, the greater the heaven; and the more that we decide to hate, reject, or dislike, the greater is our interior hell.) And so, the cosmos ticks on, with mind penetrating every atom, interwoven with reality, being Reality Itself.

The great Wheel of Time has turned yet again, and Christmas again approaches. So, please allow me to be the very first to wish you a very happy Christmas; may the celebration of the Season of Love sink deeply within all of us, saturating and immersing us all in purest Love, making us both holy and healed.
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It's a start -- Our next president

Thanks to Barb Baty.


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This is an editorial piece from the New York Times. Enjoy.

November 5, 2008
Editorial
The Next President

This is one of those moments in history when it is worth pausing to reflect on the basic facts:

An American with the name Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a white woman and a black man he barely knew, raised by his grandparents far outside the stream of American power and wealth, has been elected the 44th president of the United States.

Showing extraordinary focus and quiet certainty, Mr. Obama swept away one political presumption after another to defeat first Hillary Clinton, who wanted to be president so badly that she lost her bearings, and then John McCain, who forsook his principles for a campaign built on anger and fear.

His triumph was decisive and sweeping, because he saw what is wrong with this country: the utter failure of government to protect its citizens. He offered a government that does not try to solve every problem but will do those things beyond the power of individual citizens: to regulate the economy fairly, keep the air clean and the food safe, ensure that the sick have access to health care, and educate children to compete in a globalized world.

Mr. Obama spoke candidly of the failure of Republican economic policies that promised to lift all Americans but left so many millions far behind. He committed himself to ending a bloody and pointless war. He promised to restore Americans’ civil liberties and their tattered reputation around the world.

With a message of hope and competence, he drew in legions of voters who had been disengaged and voiceless. The scenes Tuesday night of young men and women, black and white, weeping and cheering in Chicago and New York and in Atlanta’s storied Ebenezer Baptist Church were powerful and deeply moving.

Mr. Obama inherits a terrible legacy. The nation is embroiled in two wars — one of necessity in Afghanistan and one of folly in Iraq. Mr. Obama’s challenge will be to manage an orderly withdrawal from Iraq without igniting new conflicts so the Pentagon can focus its resources on the real front in the war on terror, Afghanistan.

The campaign began with the war as its central focus. By Election Day, Americans were deeply anguished about their futures and the government’s failure to prevent an economic collapse fed by greed and an orgy of deregulation. Mr. Obama will have to move quickly to impose control, coherence, transparency and fairness on the Bush administration’s jumbled bailout plan.

His administration will also have to identify all of the ways that Americans’ basic rights and fundamental values have been violated and rein that dark work back in. Climate change is a global threat, and after years of denial and inaction, this country must take the lead on addressing it. The nation must develop new, cleaner energy technologies, to reduce greenhouse gases and its dependence on foreign oil.

Mr. Obama also will have to rally sensible people to come up with immigration reform consistent with the values of a nation built by immigrants and refugees.

There are many other urgent problems that must be addressed. Tens of millions of Americans lack health insurance, including some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens — children of the working poor. Other Americans can barely pay for their insurance or are in danger of losing it along with their jobs. They must be protected.

Mr. Obama will now need the support of all Americans. Mr. McCain made an elegant concession speech Tuesday night in which he called on his followers not just to honor the vote, but to stand behind Mr. Obama. After a nasty, dispiriting campaign, he seemed on that stage to be the senator we long respected for his service to this country and his willingness to compromise.

That is a start. The nation’s many challenges are beyond the reach of any one man, or any one political party.

*******

The Demise of Bush-McCain's Republican Party?

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

The Demise of Bush-McCain's Republican Party?
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Party Like It's 1964
By Richard Cohen

A column, like a good movie, should have an arc -- start here, end there and somehow connect the two points. So this column will begin with the speech Condi Rice made to the Republican National Convention in 2000 in praise of George W. Bush and end with Colin Powell's appearance Sunday on "Meet the Press" in praise of Barack Obama. Between the first and the second lie the ruins of the GOP, a party gone very, very wrong.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Bush and now John McCain have constructed a mean, grumpy, exclusive, narrow-minded and altogether retrograde Republican Party. It has the sharp scent of the old Barry Goldwater GOP -- the angry one of 1964 and not the one perfumed by nostalgia -- that is home, by design or mere dumb luck, to those who think that Obama is "The Madrassian Candidate." Karl Rove, take a bow.

It is worth remembering that both Rice and Powell spoke at that Philadelphia convention. And it is worth recalling, too, that Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative" and had compiled a record as Texas governor to warrant the hope, if not the belief, that he was indeed a different sort of Republican. When he ran for reelection as governor in 1998, he went from 15 percent of the black vote to 27 percent, and from 28 percent of the Hispanic vote to an astounding 49 percent. Here was a coalition-builder of considerable achievement.

Now, all this is rubble. It is not merely that Barack Obama was always going to garner the vast majority of the black vote. It is also that the GOP, under Rove and his disciples in the McCain campaign, has not only driven out ethnic and racial minorities but a vast bloc of voters who, quite bluntly, want nothing to do with Sarah Palin. For moderates everywhere, she remains the single best reason to vote against McCain.

But the GOP's tropism toward its furiously angry base, its tolerance and currying of anti-immigrant sentiment, its flattering of the ignorant on matters of undisputed scientific consensus -- evolution, for instance -- and, from the mouth of Palin, its celebration of drab provincialism, have sharpened the division between red and blue. Red is the color of yesterday.

Ah, I know, the blues are not all virtuous. They are supine before self-serving unions, particularly in education, and they are knee-jerk opponents of offshore drilling, mostly, it seems, because they don't like Big Oil. They cannot face the challenge of the Third World within us -- the ghetto with its appalling social and cultural ills -- lest realism be called racism. Sometimes, too, they seem to criticize American foreign policy simply because it is American.

Still, a Democrat can remain a Democrat -- or at least vote as one -- without compromising basic intellectual or cultural values. That, though, is not what Colin Powell was saying Sunday about his own party. "I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years," Powell said. "It has moved more to the right than I would like." He cited McCain's harping on that "washed-out terrorist" Bill Ayers as an effort to exploit fears that Obama is a Muslim (so what if he were? Powell rightly asked) and mentioned how Palin's presence on the ticket raised grave questions about McCain's judgment. In effect -- and at least for the time being -- Powell was out of the GOP. S'long, guys.

Those of us who traveled with Bush in the 2000 campaign could tell that when he spoke of education, of the "soft bigotry of low expectations," he meant it. Education, along with racial and ethnic reconciliation, was going to be his legacy. Then came Sept. 11, Afghanistan and finally the misbegotten war in Iraq. After that, nothing else really mattered. But just as Bush could not manage the wars, he could not manage his own party. His legacy is not merely in tatters. It does not even exist.

In the end, Powell was determined not to be one of the GOP's useful idiots. Those moderates willing to overlook the choice of Palin, those capable of staying in a party where, soon enough, she could be an important or dominant force, retain the intellectual nimbleness that enabled them to persist in championing a war fought for duplicitous reasons and extol cultural values they do not for a minute share. Powell walked away from that, and others will follow -- the second time that a senator from Arizona has led the GOP into the political wilderness.

cohenr@washpost.com

Project K and Taoism

*******

Recently, at the Pneumarium, we have been discussing the wisdom of the Taoism of Chuang Tzu. He was the disciple of the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu. (This name is NOT pronounced like "loud Sue," but with a more subtle intonation.:)

Speaking of Taoism, I have been instructed by the Holy Spirit to take a "Taoist" attitude to this whole kidney-thang (which I call "Project K"). That means no manipulation, no coercion, no interference, no pushing, no pulling, and no references or personal desires. That is amazingly challenging! But, so far, it seems to be working!

If I can manage simply to "get out of the way," and not to interfere with the cosmic Mind, then Love will have everything fall into place. I must "flogo," or "go with the Flow" of events. And things really do work this way! (It is always astonishing when you see it actually happening, as we are taught that everything falls apart without our continuous control-- not true at all!)
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"Prophecy" as Nonsense

*******

All these so-called "prophecies" always come after the events. I understand real prophecy to describe events before they actually happen. A "retrospective prophecy" is a contradiction in terms, and is useless to everybody.

This is a common practice among both selfstyled "psychics" and "prophets." After an event has occurred, everyone says, "I knew that this was going to happen." This was the case universally after the tragedy of 9-11. And this is clearly useless, of no value whatsoever.

These people are suffering from low selfesteem and are just trying hard to prove how "special" they are. They are trying to "grab the spotlight," or the headlines. They want others, particularly the gullible, to regard them as "chosen" prophets, or "especially gifted" psychics. But their "predictions" come after an important event, and so, are quite useless to everyone.

In most cases, predictions absolutely fail to come true anyway. Multitudes of "prophecies" re the "end of the world," for example, are now good only for lining the floors of bird-cages. Among the literally thousands of "prophecies" regarding the "end," obviously, not a single one ever came true! But this has no effects on the "prophets," and they keep on predicting, viewing the cosmos as a kind of "soap-opera" in their boring lives. They feel so unspectacular and insignificant.

Recently, as one example, it was predicted that a giant ufo, two thousand miles long, was going to appear over the eastern United States on precisely October 14. Everyone would see it glowing against the dark evening sky. Friends asked about this. I replied that, while nothing is impossible, I did not believe this prediction. And, sure enough, October 14 came and went without any special occurrence, as we strongly suspected that it would!:)

So-called "prophecies" can be not only useless, but, if they contain false information, actually dangerous or misleading, as this Christian minister obviously takes a more neutral attitude towards the evil of this administration, moving him closer to the side of evil. I prefer, when possible, always to remain on the side of good against evil, and naturally grow a little suspicious when the greed of the present horrific administration is either ignored or, worse, defended. But thanks for sharing, dear friend; it was an interesting read.

What color is the sky in this guy's universe?
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Project K Update

*******

Adamaria has some imperfections that prohibit her being a donor, as kidneys must be "bioperfect" before transplantation. Another friend, Sanndi, has very kindly and thoughtfully stepped in to the rescue! She has been tested, and is both hemocompatible (bloodtype) and histocompatible (tissue-compatible; our cells "play well together.":)

Besides Sandi, we have also been blessed with two friends in New England, Michelle and Debbie, and another, Chris from New York, has just been hemo-tested-- a perfect match, a-positive.

Right now, Sandi is beginning the series of tests which a potential donor must undergo. She has not yet really started, but has her first appointment with the nephrologist (kidney-specialist). Both she and the doc are taurus people, as was the first donor lo these many years ago! (Maybe that bodes well, but we will see; time will tell.)

Thanks for your continued interest, dear friend. At this moment (always changing), the operation itself will be after December.
*******

Scumbag Bush not Done Being Scumbag

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Scumbag Bush not Done Being Scumbag
*****

Bush plans controversial deregulation before he goes
Friday, October 31, 2008 2:56 AM
By R. Jeffrey Smith
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON -- The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations before President Bush leaves office in January, and many of them would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.

Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.

Once such rules take effect, they typically can be undone only through a laborious new regulatory proceeding, including lengthy periods of public comment, drafting and mandated reanalysis.

"They want these rules to continue to have an impact long after they leave office," said Matthew Madia, a regulatory expert at OMB Watch, a nonprofit group critical of what it calls the Bush administration's penchant for deregulating in areas where industry wants more freedom.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, "This administration has taken extraordinary measures to avoid rushing regulations at the end of the term. And yes, we'd prefer our regulations stand for a very long time -- they're well-reasoned and are being considered with the best interests of the nation in mind."

As many as 90 new regulations are in the works, and at least nine are considered "economically significant" because they impose costs or promote societal benefits that exceed $100 million annually. These include new rules governing employees who take family- and medical-related leaves, new standards for preventing or containing oil spills, and a simplified process for settling real-estate transactions.

The burst of last-minute activity has made this a busy time for lobbyists who fear industry views will hold less sway after the election.

According to the Office of Management and Budget's regulatory calendar, the scallop-fishing industry came in two weeks ago to urge that proposed catch limits be eased, nearly bumping into National Mining Association officials making the case for easing rules meant to keep coal-slurry waste out of Appalachian streams.

As deadlines near, the administration has begun to issue regulations of great interest to industry. These include, in recent days, a rule that allows the nation's
natural-gas pipelines to operate at higher pressures and new Homeland Security rules that shift passenger security-screening responsibilities from airlines to the federal government. The OMB also approved a new limit on airborne emissions of lead this month, acting under a court-imposed deadline.

Two other rules nearing completion would ease limits on pollution from power plants, a major energy-industry goal for the past eight years that Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups strenuously oppose.

One rule, being pursued over some opposition within the Environmental Protection Agency, would allow current emissions at a power plant to match the highest levels produced by that plant, overturning a rule that more strictly limits emission increases. According to the EPA, the change would allow millions of tons of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, worsening global warming.

Another new rule would allow increased emissions from oil refineries, chemical factories and other industrial plants with complex manufacturing operations.

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Freedom from Cult-psychology

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Thanks to Victoria.


You asked for 10 things better about my life.... What facts does one need to choose freedom? You should demand facts for sacrificing yours. But here are a few:

FACT: "Fear and Love CANNOT co-exist. (First John 4:18).
FACT: The truth sets us free. Only fearless truthseekers can even recognize truth.
FACT: The Jehovah's Witness cult exclaims that if people don't leave "false" religions (all religions but theirs) and follow the cult, they'll share in the fate [of destruction by their god]. If anyone dares a reply to such bold assertions, the cult-leaders cry "persecution!" or an arrogant air of dismissal, never paying serious attention to anyone outside their cult, judging from their lofty perches.
FACT: I am only now beginning to understand the negative effects [of cult-psychology and repeated cult-programming] on the mind from this. It keeps believers separate and self righteously above the whole world of "bad association"-- [any friendship with any non-cult or ex-cult person. This is] the opposite of spirituality. If you were conscious spiritually, you could see this, but they keep you unconscious.
FACT[written to a dearly beloved sister]: You are in one of the highest mindcontrol cults out there today [the Jehovah's Witnesses], ]notorious] for high numbers of suicides, depression, anxiety disorders, paranoid schizophrenia, etc. A truthseeker could verify this with research.
FACT: The Jehovah's Witness cult has earned its reputation for destroying families. Innocents have been hurt. Many, many good people are justifiably angry. There are 2 sides to every story. A real truthseeker hears both sides.
FACT: The cult has grossly misrepresented itself. They harbor dark secrets. They expel anyone who would expose them! A truthseeker would look into this.
FACT: They were NGO [non-government organization] members with the DPI of the United Nations for 10 years. They ended the relationship when they got caught (2001) claiming ignorance about the requirements for membership they signed every year. A truthseeker would find this interesting.
FACT: The policies [of the Jehovah's Witness cult] on paedophilia are no different than the Catholics who they've condemned publicly for decades. They are paying out millions in settlements. Easily verified.
FACT: The same problems you attribute to "Satan's wicked world" exist right inside [the cult] among you. No one wants her world rocked; so, the [leaders and followers] ignore these realities with an [implicit] "ignorance is bliss" cop out.
FACT: You will always be my sister. I remember you fondly. I love you. And [I] want only good for you. If you can't trust that because of Jehovah's Witness brainwashing about the "evil" of ex-Witnesses [those who have abandoned the cult], we lack a basis at this time for a loving, honest relationship.
FACT: I am confident that this will change. I await [this] with open arms.

To choose freedom from a cult, what facts does one need? To give up your [religion], given [the great gift of] freedom, you really owe it to yourself to demand facts! You have not, but choose to follow the [spiritually] "blind." Therein lies the biggest fact of all. Sorry. The truth hurts.
*******

You asked for 10 things better about my life today [after I have found liberation from the cult]. In a word, it's FREEDOM to live a truthful life in peace. I should be asking you for ten [ways in which your life is better as a cult-member[.
The cult teaches that "Believers stand ready to make a defense for their faith," claiming salvation. Freedom requires no defense; it's a basic human right to be cherished, never stifled by anyone-- certainly [not] by men who prove they're every bit as fallible as you or me.

1. Freedom to hold my head high. No more [pathetic] asking people for money to support my religion. In a separating work [, selling for the cult,] we encountered un-interested people ]whom we unlovingly labelled as "goats"] but kind souls supported our [sales-] work with their money. Embarrassing. Now, I can get involved in a community effort knowing one person at a time. We touch lives and make a difference instead of waiting for the mass destruction of all the "problems" [people who refused to convert and join the cult]. I'm part of the solution, not the problem.

2. Freedom from "divine requirements." I don't have to annoy people on Saturday mornings trying to sell them my beliefs, nor do I have to be at meetings and service [sales-work] when I'm tired or when my instinct tells me I need down time with my boys. ]And if I did spend time with my family,] I [would] be viewed/marked "spiritually immature" by my peers and elders. [They would then have an excuse to judge, avoid, and even condemn me and my whole family.] Spirituality has nothing to do with those "requirements." I don't measure myself by these works....

3. Freedom to be okay with myself. Never do I wonder whether I'm "meeting the mark." [Am I living up to the standards of the cult? They taught that the only good use of time was to spend it in the sales-work.] Am I "whole-souled" enough? [Am I] "zealous" enough? Does Jehovah find me "lukewarm"? Did I relax by the pool instead of [selling] that stranger a magazine [from the cult]? Are my priorities straight? Am I too "materialistic"? Not "meek and teachable" if I don't accept the
"new light" [of new cult-teachings] like a robot? Is my name in the "Book of Life"-- or are my efforts in vain? After all, Jehovah reads hearts; and maybe I'm not worthy? But I am whole now.

4. Freedom to be in peace. The cult continually reminds us constantly about the urgency of the times: [They say,] "Do not tire out, don't lose the zeal you had at first, "stay busy, busy, busy in the "work of the Lord" [every act of Love is the true "work of the Lord"]. [They teach that we should] "always have plenty to do." [I am expected to] "save myself and those who listen to me." Jehovah is a god "exacting exclusive devotion" and it's a heavy burden to "please him well" doing these many things whole-souled, (while caring for families, jobs, homes, and health) all to "probably be concealed in the day of his anger." [This is when god murders all the "unbelievers."] That's pressure! There is no peace in that mindset. Today, I breathe easier.

5. Freedom to think for myself, and actually trust my mind and heart to lead me well. I don't answer to an exacting god who sees "the thoughts of man are bad all the time." I don't have to hide my reservations. I have a much better ability to think, process info, and study, free to accept whatever I find to be true or positive no matter the source....

6. Freedom from guilt about what someone else supposedly did centuries ago. I get to decide if I did something I think wasn't right, AND I decide what to do to make it right. Adam's and Eve's errors don't make me a sinner who needs redemption. God's perfect justice? No. I see things logically and fairly. No guilt here.

7. Freedom from the fear of death. It is the natural [end to the] cycle of life. Truth: 100% of all known living things do in fact die in the physical sense. [Only a few claim to] know what happens after that. Perhaps it's better than our physical existence? I'm not afraid that if I die tomorrow I won't have every "t" crossed and every "i" dotted in some arcane rulebook that I need to follow. [I need not follow all these rules] "just so" as to avoid consequences from an exacting god. Cult-members try to pass their Jehovah off as a "God of Love," free of fear.

8. Freedom from pretending to like people. Churches don't approve of conflict between members (though it happens all the time); if I don't like someone, I am free to tell her so and avoid her. It keeps me honest. Faking is an energy drainer. I remember elders who gave talks where they clearly missed the point of the outlined material, but we "owed them respect" simply because they were male. Many didn't have
wives or children yet they were in positions of authority, often misdirecting families. It's an arcaic idea that males are better leaders and should be in charge. I see people for who and what they are, no more, no less.

9. Freedom of choice about how I will think, dress, talk, act, do, who I like and associate with, as a unique person not trying to keep status quo with others. Conformity is not unity. People don't have to be clones, identical. Following human beings is a demeaning idea. [We are all] free to reject it.

10. Freedom to use my faculties intelligently. I don't have to twist logic trying to support absurd claims that violate known science and natural laws. Jesus died and is still dead. The earth was never covered 100% by floodwaters. No one ever lived in the belly of a fish. The list is long....Free to speak truth, it sets you free. Spirituality is about embracing interconnectedness. We all have the same questions: Who are we? Why are we here? Thousands of religions proceed to give people "the answers." "Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need." (QUESTIONS ARE GREAT!)

_________________________________________________________________________
__________
I posed the same scenario to my Sandy and also Mom. -What are the 10 best
things about your current life/minsdset? They both chimed in below.

Sandy here:

1. Love.
Real love, including love for ourselves is unconditional. Jesus said you'll know them by their fruits. I'm sure this was his careful way of saying, "Check your religion." What are the fruits of yours? Fear? Divisiveness? Making sure to keep
yourself separate?

2. Mental Health
Every mental/emotional illness known to the human race can be traced back to low self-esteem; and when you have to share head space with a critical God who considers the thoughts of man to be "only bad all the time," who deems it appropriate to annihilate human beings in droves throughout the old testament and reserves the bulk of them for destruction in the new testament, you're never okay.

Since God is good and "God is Love," these killings must be good and right since they are called for by God. [Actually, God has nothing to do with the support of violence and murder; that was not God, but the local deity "Jehovah."] That makes us fear our fellow man, but specifically and especially those we have been taught by the cult to label "unbelievers" or worse yet, apostates! This explains why, according to Wikepedia, ""Jehovah's witnesses are more likely to be admitted to psychiatric hospitals than the general population. Three times more likely to be suffering from schizophrenia"

3. Physical Health
God promises to "vomit you out" of his mouth if you are "lukewarm." (Rev. 3:16) When it comes to pleasing God, there's no room for doubting (Heb 11:6). In fact, James 1:6-7 bring out that anyone "doubting at all" should not "suppose that he will receive anything from Jehovah." If we bury the question mark, [ignoring these important questions,] we live with internal conflict. That conflict keeps us from having peace and that discord robs us of our physical health through its affect on our nervous systems.

4. Freedom from Fear
The cult would have us stay on guard and be constantly afraid. [In psychology, this state of continuous tension is called "hypervigilance," and is a mental illness.] If that weren't bad enough, you're told not to "lean upon your own understanding." [You are encouraged actively to mistrust your own mind, and everyone else; all "truth" comes from the cult-leaders alone.] "It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step," and "He that is trusting in his own heart is stupid." Stupid? (Prov. 3:5, Jer 10:23, Prov. 28:26)
Don't trust your head, don't trust your heart, and be wary of your internal guidance system! We shouldn't even meditate because if we sit in quiet stillness allowing our thoughts to enter without judging them, its a way for "Satan" to "get into our heads"!
Don't meditate, Don't isolate, Don't trust your head, Don't trust your heart and never be alone with our thoughts! (The "wisdom from within" could just as easily be the "devil"!) In the presence of fear, love is paralyzed. ("There is no fear in love, but perfect love throws fear outside, because fear exercises a restraint.
Indeed, he that is under fear has not been made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

5. Free Will.
We think of the bible as this book that keeps us on some kind of moral track. [it can more likely move us] off a moral path. Solomon could have 700 wives. But don't touch or hold that Ark [an ancient Israeli sacred object[ wrong or it's curtains for you! [These ancient people had a superstition that to touch this wooden box would result in death, for it was too sacred to touch.] Once you no longer look to this book for your answers, you will be free to have peace extraordinaire!

6. Time
TIME is LIFE.
Always staying "busy in the work of the Lord [defined as the sales-work of the cult]," is a waste. That way, we stay unconscious. That way, we seek to confirm what we already believe. A belief is nothing more than a thought we practice. Your beliefs have been practiced because the cult makes sure of it! "That which you put your attention on grows in your Life." (Napoleon Hill) Think of that when you turn in your time! [Cult-members must fill out a form, once a week, to report how much time that they have spennt in the sales-work; this is called "turning in your time."]

7. Freedom from Guilt, Freedom from Shame. Freedom to Heal
Witnesses go through life like a kid covering it's ears screaming "La la la la la la la, I'm not listening!" You have no idea how beautiful the world really is until you can one day open your eyes, your mind and your heart to this "Truth" (with a capital
"T"!) These translate into moments of Joy and true Bliss, something you can only appreciate from outside of the fear you live under in the cult.

8. Free to Be Conscious
When you have your first taste of it you'll know what it really means. Jesus said it was the way to happiness and boy is he right! When I first got out of the headspace I had been in all those years, I was deliriously giddy. I went around thinking "Pinch me" just like in the movies. When something's that good, you just can't believe its real! I hope for you to experience this one day.

9. Peace.
Peace that excels all thought can only be had under the proper mindset. Everything is in the mind. Perception is everything. Where's the peace in knowing your God might destroy your loved ones? How is there peace in knowing He can read hearts, He could end suffering this minute but chooses to keep Satan around longer for more testing so He can see who's really with Him. Where's the peace without security? NO safety! You hope to "probably be concealed" when His anger blazes. Fear based living
cannot result in peace.

10. Happiness.
I know God, if God is Love, doesn't want me in a box limiting my mind and heart from natural interaction. I am not stuck in a bad situation, for example, a bad marriage, because it would please Him. I believe we all have what we need to be truly happy, It's only our self-imposed limitations which might block joy. There's happiness in giving. There's happiness in being conscious of our spirit, etc. It's all around us for the taking. We take it.

_________________________________________________________________________
____
Mom here:

Free to love animals as unique living beings deserving of our compassion, love and respect.

Free to be a voice for them, without so called "spiritual" people looking down their noses.

Free to view the furry friends as God's creation, be responsible for them, it brings me joy.

Free to use my time as I see fit. Busy, busy was killing me. I enjoy my free time now so much.

Free to buy something I want for me or a stranger in need instead of donating to the [Kingdom] hall. [Meeting-places or "churches" in the cult are never called "churches," for the cult is against all other religions; these buildings are called "halls," or "Kingdom Halls."]

Free to like a wide variety of people with no urge to judge them. I am losing the urge to judge.

Free to pick my own friends. I have more in common with animal loversthan with pioneer gossipers. [A "pioneer" is a full-time worker in the sales-activity of the cult.]

Free to speak my mind, say what I really think to a man or anyone. I'm not subservient.

Free to be heard, My opinion is worth as much as anyone's out there.

Free to like myself for who I am, rather than being measured/compared to another living soul.

Free to feel pride for taking personal responsibility for my life and happiness. No more waiting.

Free from fear of Armageddon thinking my kids would be destroyed by Jehovah.

Free of this and all fear based teachings designed to control the flock.

Free to make personal choices; who I live with, my friends or a lifelong mate.

Free to call a spade a spade. Recognize wrong and not wait on Jehovah but make a wrong right!

Free of being labeled by my "friends and brothers." ("let him who is without sin cast the first stone")

Free to find my personal fulfillment and happiness. Alas, it has always alluded me as you know.

More than 10 but here you have it.

*******

Paddle - Piet - Pedal

Paddle - Piet - Pedal
October 30, 2008
Paddle - Piet - Pedal

Thanks-times-ten to those of you who rushed in to make our Moose for Obama promotion a big success. We shed all of the paddles in a few days and shipped them off last week to locations as distant as Florida. If you have not yet received your paddles, please send Faris a note. We will continue to represent the Moose fairly, and can get more paddles on special order in the future. We don't have to remind you to Vote, right?

We introduced Piet Hein’s work on our website a few months ago. If you have not yet taken a look, it is well worth a few clicks. His work falls into a very special category of hand-made modern design that I would classify (if I had to) as poetic functionalism. The work is now readily available for the first time in the US, and we have some pieces in stock. We also wanted to make you aware of the fact that a fine selection of his pieces are on display – and for sale – with our good friends at Arkitektura In-Situ in San Francisco. Arkitektura has been presenting an excellent range of modern furnishings to San Francisco since 1998. Together with Design Within Reach they have made San Francisco a world-class destination for classic modern design. Arkitektura is having its annual sale November 8th and 9th from 10am-6pm, giving you two reasons to stop by in the near future.

It may seem weird to be promoting anything for purchase in these times of such economic uncertainty. Most of us are feeling broke. But good design still matters, maybe more than ever. It’s not an artificial derivative based on something else that has no value. It is real. It is sustainable. It can provide emotional comfort. A walk through the showroom at Arkitektura In-Situ is an experience of serenity and peace. Look closely at the work of Piet Hein. It can help to reaffirm our faith in the potential of the individual to make a difference, in the human spirit, in beauty in general. And if that does not work, take a walk on the beach. Or look at a Moose paddle. Beauty might be a little harder to see these days.

I have become increasingly involved with bicycles and bike advocacy, including supporting initiatives that 1) help us reduce our dependency on cars and 2) improve the quality and character of our urban spaces. Over the next few months I will be working on some local projects that may include focus groups and some projects that will have a national scope. I’m casting around for people who have a passion for and knowledge of bikes and modern design, particularly for people who are well connected to the biking industry and community. If this is of interest to you please send a note and I will follow up.

UK Opinion of Sarah Palin

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

-----

To read what the Brits are saying about Sarah Palin, I encourage you read
the article. It appeared in London's Guardian.

Subject: FW: UK opinion of VP debate

Flirting her way to victory
Sarah Palin's farcical debate performance lowered the standards for both
female candidates and US political discourse

In addition to that article you might want to check out this web address to see what the Times of London has to say about Sarah Palin:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alice_miles/article4662805.ece.

The Poorest People in the World

*******

Today, 102908, wed, we are delighted to report that, during the last two days, we sent your donations to orphans around the world. Specifically, we sent $84 to each of the following:

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.

That is six ministries who care for orphans. (6 x $84= $504.) We also plan to send some copies of the book Kami and Kamu, our children's book, later, as gifts for these children.

Thank you, dear friends, for giving to these extremely needy, helpless, and hopeless children, who have had everything taken from them by greed, war, and commercialism. You have helped to restore hope to them, and have guaranteed a most excellent karmic merit for yourselves.

Love,

the staff of Love Ministries USA