Love Ministries

Project K

2009-06-13T12:08:00.000-05:00

Today [Sunday, June 7], we are prepping for our biweekly gathering in the Pneumarium. Every two weeks, we gather with our dearly beloved friends and extended spiritual family, for a groupdiscussion of spirituality.

Re the transplant: This Tuesday, June 9, we are supposed to meet the docs and staff. (Some were met sixteen years ago, for the first procedure.) And the Main Event is still scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, barring some unforeseen circumstance.
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Planetary Reading

2009-06-05T12:06:00.000-05:00

Were you aware that Jupiter has over sixty moons, and so does Saturn? There might be still more, if we include "micromoons." (When we were growing up, only sixteen moons of Jupiter were known.) And among those moons are the very famous Io, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, the latter containing ice and probably water. An extremely interesting and easy-to-read book was published in twenty-oh-eight. It was called Beyond Ufos by Jeff Bennett. Well worth reading.:) It will get you "all caught up" with the latest in astronomy, particularly in the search for
life.
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Greed and Spirituality

2009-06-04T12:05:00.000-05:00

We are in one hundred percent agreement about the exclusivity of the wealthy in several religious (but not spiritual) groups.

Jesus made his Message available to all. Holding a religious conference in a luxurious hotel only betrays an economic motive, rather than an honest and more spiritual one.

This can be a real tragedy for an honest heart in search of truth. It is a real shame.:(

This reminds all of us just how pervasive, and hence, invisible, is this kind of conartistry. So-called "teachers" who have their eyes on only the big hbucks are a danger to themselves and to society. Greed is an especially horrible mindisease, and when it infects a "teacher," the infection is spread far and wide. One of the best approaches is to make sure that we never support such greed-mongers. An even better response is to expose them at every opportunity.
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____________________________________________________________

All Life Is Sacred

2009-06-04T12:03:00.002-05:00

Fanatical rightwingers, even murderers, are so very proud, and selfrighteous, about the fact that they love to call themselves "pro-life." This is consciously designed to imply that anyone who disagrees with them, even in fine detail, is "anti-life."

Since there is no "anti-life" movement, it is just plain unrealistic, unfair, and inaccurate, to call these people "pro-life." And to call them "anti-abortion" also implies falsely that others are "pro-abortion."

This too is scandalously inaccurate. For no one in the world is actually "pro-abortion." No one celebrates abortion, and no one is thrilled with joy when this medical procedure must be performed. Even professionals often perform abortions through tears-- their own, and those of the mother.

The fairest, and most accurate, way of designating the two sides might be "pro-choice" and "anti-choice." This is perhaps the least offensive, and judgmental, of designations.

The anti-choice people claim that they alone value life as sacred. But are they at all consistent in this "formal" or "official" position? No, for they do not value human life enough to refrain from murder. Several members of the pro-choice community have been murdered by the anti-choice people during the last thirty years. Extremely rarely, if ever, has it worked the other way-- with a pro-choice person murdering an anti-choice person. The ghastly case of Dr. Tiller is but one example of a nightmarish trend among these Jehovist killlers.

The situation gets even worse: Most of the people who supported the extremely bloody war in Iraq, which killed altogether about a million people, were "anti-choice" religious zealots-- often described accurately as "fanatics."

In other ways, too, these people do not defend or support life. Most of them are voracious carnivores, killing truly sentient beings for food. In fact, they go much further, laughing at and mocking vegetarians.

A fact which they almost never realize is that this present life is not the whole, the totality, of life. For life survives death. And this is a matrixteaching of Christianity, as well as of Buddhism, and several other faiths.

Anti-choice people react as if the physical life of the physical fetus is the one and only one, or the only one that counts. They ignore the teaching of Jesus and all other enlightened people: For the masters, saints, sages, and general mystics of all history hold that death is a survivable experience. Thus, while life on earth is extremely sacred, holy, and inviolable, it is never "all that there is." (These same extremists seem terrified to have any faith in God, and for the same or similar reasons, they reject euthanasia.)

If the anti-choice people did not interfere, the Souls which did not incarnate in a physical body would simply return to their Home-- the lovely Homeworld.

We who are profound believers do not use this fine and beautiful teaching as an "excuse" to murder, or to be indifferent about physical life. Most of us hold all physical life to be so sacred that some refuse to take the lives of even animals, who are also beloved.

If nature herself is allowed to take the natural course, without interference, nature itself will destroy many, many fetuses in "miscarriage." Do the anti-choice advocates go so far as to blame God, or nature, for this? (It is something about which they simply do not want to think!)

So, the anti-choice position is untenable, because it must be inconsistent. For no one can save a life and make it last forever. If you do save a life, which can be a very good deed indeed, you can only postpone death. For, in a few moments, hours, days, or years, the person whom you saved must leave this earth anyway.

The solution is not to try to "save every physical body." The solution, offered by Jesus and others (and Jesus never said a word about abortion) is, instead, to awaken to the fact that earthly life, however much we might deeply, tenderly, and lovingly care for it, is a temporary phenomenon. It is but an eye-blink in eternity. We must become aware that our real and true lives are forever; for, although the physical brain turns to dust after death, the non-physical Soulmind existed before birth and will continue to exist long after "death."
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Right to Reject Cancertreatment

2009-05-22T12:01:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.
***

Does "police state" ring a bell? What the hell is this?! If this kid's parents want to go the El Natural way-- religious, Spiritual, homeopathic, holistic healing-- the government/state should not interfere. I'm sorry but Corporate medicine, agribiz/farming, messing with the environment, food, water, corporate products(legitimate cigarettes, alcohol, prescription drugs, and our bizarre way of life-- all are what's killing us.

--written by Mick Gallagher

***

Arrest ordered for mom of boy, 13, resisting chemo.

"It's absolutely crazy. It's very disappointing," [noted] James Olson,
the attorney representing Brown County Family Services. "We're trying to
do what's right for this young man."

Webmaster's Commentary:
Really?

I might believe that if there were an absolutely clear proof that chemotherapy is a guaranteed cure for cancer.

But there is cause to doubt. My mother underwent chemotherapy for her cigarette-induced cancer and it didn't save her. Quite the contrary it made her very sick and wrecked the quality of whatever life she had left.

There is evidence of far more effective cancer cures in other nations which are denied here in the US in order to preserve the established cancer industry, which seeks not a cure but more costly treatments.

This is a government that has been torturing children in Iraq. Clearly, their only concern is to force this child to financially support the status quo. Given the disasters of the 1976 flu vaccine, which killed more people than the flu did, and the Bayer hemophilia medicine laced with AIDS, and the Baxter flu vaccine with live Avian flu in it, the mother is justified in doubting whether the chemotherapy, despite its hefty price tag, will actually be of any benefit.

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Healing Touch

2009-05-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

This donkey (body) heals more like you: It has to be touched a lot, and is a big believer in "therapeutic touch," now practiced by some nurses, and in integrative medicine (used to be "holistic," or "alternative" medicine).

People who are in absolutely splendid health need to be touched regularly, so it makes sense that those who are ill-- in need of positive energy-- need touch even more. What would the experience of a kitten, puppy, or other sweet critter be without being able to touch him/her?

So, at times, to love is to touch, and vice-versa. Everyone needs touch, although some pretend not to. ]They want others to think that they are "too tough" to need touch. (There is actually only one letter difference between "tough" and "touch.")]

Studies of infants and toddlers had to be discontinued when certain ones were selected not to be touched. These neglected children actually died! Scientists called this lethal condition "failure to thrive."

So, if young human beings are not touched, they die. Basically the same emotive processes and the same biochemistry and neurochemistry mark more mature members of the species. Thus, it follows logically that adults also need touch. And, as the absence of touch acts as a lethal toxin to the very young, it is also a toxic condition when adults do not touch.

This is a subtle and weak toxin, but its effects, in our cold society, can be cumulative. Needing to touch others, and to be touched by other positive people, is not a weakness, but an inherited or intrinsic need of human psychophysiology.

Thus, the more hugs, the more handshakes, the more sharing, the better! We must return to the simple ways of our ancestors, who lived without computers, cyberphones, ipods, and other isolating mechanisms. We must learn to reach out to one another, and offer our hearts through our hands. This is a very touching and touchy subject!:) But it is one that we all need to think about, especially those among us who have real interests in healing each other and the planet!:)

Letter about Party

2009-05-12T11:59:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends of the Heart,

Here is a letter from one of the blessed "moms" who came to our Mother's
Day Celebration of Love:

"Dear shi and Adamaria,

I had such a good time at your Mother's Day party today. As always, I
love to come to visit you guys, because both of you are so funny,
interesting AND LOVING! I know I am loved by both of you, and I can feel
it..... and it feels soooo good!

I am so very, very happy and grateful to have you guys in my life. You
truly are family to me.

Again, thank you for making this day so WONDERFUL!

Love you both,

*******

Sunday's Delightful Celebration

2009-05-11T11:58:00.001-05:00

Alas, my friend, you missed most delightful and joyful moments of shared pleasure with some of the best people in the area. We decided, in view of real time-limits, not to have any discussiongroup Sunday (yesterday), but to give the whole day to sacred motherhood and its celebration of Love. We had a real megablast as we gathered with some of our best friends. We shared together some delicious coconut cake, and happy spiritual and semispiritual conversation. This place will not see another like it for at least another year!:) We all left feeling refreshed, renewed, and very "high" on life!:)
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Sunday Celebration of Motherlove!

2009-05-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

You missed one megasuperhyperblast of a Celebration yesterday! We shared so much fun, laughter, good food, and great conversation. There is no better way to have spent a day!:) It was a day just jam-packed with Love, joy, delight, and pleasure. Maybe you will be able to make next year's Celebration!:):)
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Sunday's Pleasures

2009-05-11T11:57:00.001-05:00

You missed a real pleasure, and a very healing atmosphere, yesterday. We enjoyed, and created together, a "superparty" enjoyed by everyone. As far as donkeys (physical bodies) are concerned, it was certainly a healing and loving experience. Everyone "let her hair down," and we all enjoyed an ambiance that was relaxed, happy, and healing to both mind and body. The Party was so much fun, and so great, that we just had to share.:)

Beautiful Event!

2009-05-11T11:57:00.000-05:00

It was because you came that the Mother's Day Party yesterday was such a smashing success! We are, of course, superdelighted always to "see" you and Frank [pseudonym] whenever we have a gathering in the Pneumarium, but yesterday was very special in many ways! We were also excited and uplifted by the sharing of Love, and yesterday was a real celebration of Love. For there is perhaps no greater human Love than that which binds a mother to her sons or daughters.:) Thanks again, so very much, for having come and made the special event such a smashing success!
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Sunday's Assorted Pleasures: Keeping Friendships Strong

2009-05-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

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Thanks so much, dear friends, for having come to our delightful and joyful Celebration of Mother's Day at the Pneumarium. Social events such as this help weave, interweave, and maintain the important connections between the lives of the people who love each other, as we do!:):) Life would be so much poorer without them, and the many opportunities for Love-sharing that they bring.
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Bob Herbert Speaks of Republicans

2009-05-10T11:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Barbara Baty.
***

Out of Touch By BOB HERBERT
Published: May 1, 2009

The incredibly clueless stewards of the incredibly shrinking Republican
Party would do well to recall that it was supposedly Abe Lincoln, a
Republican, who said that you can't fool all the people all the time.
Readers'

The Limited Value of Travel

2009-05-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

Traveling around the world sounds very exciting! That, in fact, might be a core of a major problem.

Others will praise your decision to travel; as we will see, these people are not necessarily helpful either.

A person is not deeply, profoundly, or permanently enriched by simply moving her body around this little tiny, itsy-bitsy planet. For even if you go "everywhere," on this tiny planet, you have seen and experienced virtually nothing of the cosmos!:)

In order to gain any mental clarity, you must ask yourself why you feel such pride about your travels. Why is this so important to you? It is because most people on this little planet are unsophisticated and uneducated spiritually. Because of these factors, they are impressed when a person moves her body around on this planet. They go so far as to believe that travel itself enriches a person.

But this is wrong; it comes from limited experience and limited understanding. For travel in itself does not enrich a person. It does not give a person depth-- spiritually, mentally, or emotionally. It does not improve a person's wisdom, compassion, or morality; in other words, travel in itself does not improve a person. Travel in no way makes you "more important."

Travel can enrich only what you already have within. A person is made no "richer" by going to the furthest corners of the earth than by going to the corner store. Therefore, the common "pride" involved with travel is based upon an illusion, for this entire world is but a dreamworld.

As people questing after enlightenment, it is desirable for us to abandon all pride, including pride of travel, and pride of friendship, to which it is closely related. (Some people feel, deep down, that they are worthless, and so, they are always talking about "important" or famous friends. For the same feelings of low selfesteem, people always brag about their travels.)

One of the greatest (and most humble) writers of mysticism in all history was Lao Tzu (pronounced "Lah'-o dzuh"). He was a writer in China, whose writing was already four hundred years old when Jesus was born. He wrote, "The sage can see the whole world without moving her front gate."

A "sage" or enlightened person does not have to follow slavishly the often uncomfortable or even harsh task-master of traveling, for her selfesteem does not in any way depend on impressing others. She knows that she is singularly and uniquely important because she is a daughter of Love (God); she has nothing to prove, nothing with which to impress strangers or friends. She is completely selfcontent, and does not need to "impress" anyone. She is content and happy, satisfied and fulfilled,
in her own deep interior nature. She is happy in her own skin, and in her own backyard, and does not have continually to "flee" from her home.

Most people do not feel this much at peace with themselves, and so, have to "prove to themselves" and to others, that they are "important." Sadly, in our culture, one way that people artificially "prove their importance" is by travel.

But real Love, of course, has nothing to do with geography.

Most people, unfortunately, are highly impressed by simple travel (because they do not at all like their home). You cannot, and will not, receive reliable advice from them, even though they love you profoundly. For they cannot be objective about this question. And you must find an objective answer in your own heart. The importance of doing so cannot be overemphasized.

Travel is interesting, and can be even exciting, when you are young. Like all other things of earth, in time, it becomes boring and wearisome, losing much attractiveness. It is good to travel when young, for when older, you might have lost the desire, and even the ability.

But please just do not confuse the excitement of travel, which always marks an inexperienced person (for it is a "new experience") with falling in Love-- a fabulous, fantastic, ultimate "high" that is the best thing that can happen to a human being.

You must sort through your thoughtfeelings and decide how and why mere travel has become so important to you. Do you feel, deep down, that you are inferior?

Love wisely, carefully, slowly, and selectively when it comes to your life-choice of a Soulmate, Love-partner, or monogamous companion. For one thing, you need to know much more than you do right now. So, be patient, dear friend; this is not the time to leap before looking, to act prematurely, impulsively, or impetuously.

You have a great need to love, as you have to eat. But although a stack of candy might be truly attractive, it will never give your body, mind, or Soul the nutrition that you need.:)

Project K: Update

2009-05-07T11:49:00.000-05:00

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Believe it or not, we do have a date for the surgery of Project K! It is currently planned for June 16, so please focus your kind hearts and thoughtful minds on the donkey that day; he can use all the energy that he can get! Brother Donkey, the body, is showing some peripheral tiredness and lack of energy. We continue regular bloodtests, and regular conferencing with the nephrologist (kidney-specialist) whom we have known now for nearly twenty years.

The last transplant, the donor was a taurus. This time, she is also a different taurus, and the doc is also a taurus. Although I am a pisces, I do have a taurusmoon. So, maybe there is a cosmic pattern behind all that is happening; we like to think so, at any rate.:):)

Thank you for your continued interest in this important lifevent, and thanks for asking, dear friends. Thanks also for any silver energy that you can send. (We are requesting this from all our friends.:)

May you have a most beautiful and temperate day as we together celebrate the return of the Goddess of flowers with springtime.:)

Sitchin's Ideas

2009-05-03T11:47:00.001-05:00

Yes, we are a little familiar with Zechariah Sitchin and his theories.

From the viewpoint of traditional or mainstream scholarship, his ideas represent an extreme. He is thought to have extrapolated much much more from the small amount of data that we have re the Sumerians. Most of his work is purest speculation, and it could be wished that it were more "grounded" in solid fact. But, often at crucial areas, his theories do lack some necessary factual data, and he goes very much "out on a limb."

This, of course, does not mean that he is "wrong.":) But Sitchin is not the very best basis for a cosmic philosophy, to which he aspires. Many of his concepts are attractive, but, again, it is difficult to justify building an entire philosophy on this rather tenuous basis.

As you can tell, we are not "true believers." In order for us to embrace any datum into our personal philosophy, we must be convinced that it is at least in harmony with the immense mountain of factual data in philosophy, history, science, and other related areas of knowledge.

But neither are we skeptics or cynics. Perhaps no one on earth has the data necessary to adopt or accept this position either. At present, we prefer to take a "wait and see" attitude towards these ideas re "the tenth planet," and related concepts, especially those regarding chronology and calendars.

One example is the wide, but not wise, spectrum of worldenders. It is still very, very fresh in our minds how, ten years ago, thousands of native American leaders, channelers, new-agers, and fundies of various stripes were anxiously holding their breath and predicting with utter certainty that the year twenty hundred would bring "the end of the world," through the "y2k" crisis.

It was one of the very rare years, in fact, specifically used by Nostradamus in his famous "prophecies," and Ed Cayce also had dire predictions for this "marked year." Worldenders were madly coming "out of the woodwork," and people thought it a bit "freaky" that we did not jump on this bizarre bandwagon. But now, we are very glad that we maintained a skeptical position.

When I was a fundy, we also made, in retrospect, the rather foolish error of predicting a certain specific year for the "end." That year, 1975, came and went without a single global disturbance, proving to any reasonable person that the fundy cult was wrong. This was no mere matter of interpretation. They were just plain wrong-- undeniably.

Sitchin has also predicted the return of Niburu. So far, no "tenth planet" has been discovered whose trajectory intersects with the orbit of the earth. So, this comes down to a remarkably simple truth that is not speculative, or even controversial: If he was right, this planet should have appeared, or else, it will do so shortly. And if it does not, then he was in error.

I am no specialist in either ancient Sumerian or astronomy. My specialty is spirituality. But, in Sitchin, the three areas overlap, and he claims to be an "expert" in all three. But almost no one in the academic or scientific community has been convinced either of his expertise or of the validity of his more radical theories. Only time, dear friend, will tell; and it will tell all.:)
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The Pacific Nightmare-Monster

2009-05-02T11:44:00.002-05:00

The Pacific Nightmare-Monster
*******

Thanks to Barbara Baty.
*****

The Feds want to survey, possibly clean up vast garbage pit in
Pacific...impossible to clean up

Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer

The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a stewy body of plastic and marine debris that floats an estimated 1,000 miles west of San Francisco, is a shape-shifting mass far too large, delicate and remote ever to be cleaned up, according to a researcher who recently returned from the area.

But that might not stop the federal government from trying.

Charles Moore, the marine researcher at the Algalita Marina Research Foundation in Long Beach, who has been studying and publicizing the patch for the past 10 years, said the debris-- which he estimates weighs 3 million tons and covers an area twice the size of Texas-- is made up mostly of fine plastic chips; [it] is impossible to skim out of the ocean.

"Any attempt to remove that much plastic from the oceans boggles the mind," Moore said from Hawaii, where his crew is docked. "There's just too much, and the ocean is just too big." The trash collects in one area, known as the North Pacific Gyre, due to a clockwise trade wind that circulates along the Pacific Rim. It accumulates the same way bubbles gather at the center of hot tub, Moore said.

A two-liter plastic bottle that begins its voyage from a storm drain in San Francisco will get pulled into the gyre and take weeks to reach its place among the other debris in the Garbage Patch.

"While the bottle floats along, instead of biodegrading, it will "photodegrade," Moore said . The sun's uv rays will turn the bottle brittle, much like they would crack the vinyl on a car roof. They will break down the bottle into small pieces and, in some cases, into particles as fine as dust.

"The Garbage Patch is not a solid island, as some people believe," Moore said. Instead, it resembles a soupy mass, interspersed with large pieces of junk such as derelict fishing nets and waterlogged tires-- "an alphabet soup," he called it.

Also, it's undetectable by overhead satellite photos because it's 80 percent plastic and therefore translucent, Moore added. The plastic moves just beneath the surface-- from one inch to depths of 300 feet, according to samples he collected on the most recent trip, he said.

By Moore's estimation, the "floating landfill" is also simply too far from land to conduct any meaningful cleanup operation. It's about 1,000 miles west of California and 1,000 miles north of the Hawaiian Islands-- a week's journey by boat from the nearest port. It swirls in a convergence zone located about 30 to 40 degrees north latitude and 135 to 145 west longitude.

There's no doubt that a stew of marine debris exists in the convergence zone of the gyre, said Holly Bamford, an oceanographer and director of the marine debris program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but there is some debate as to its size.

Moore has led most of the research and publicity surrounding the Garbage Patch, so Bamford said her federal agency, which oversees ocean conditions, is collecting its own data to assess the area and density. Bamford said she has noted some "gaps in the research" that suggest the affected area is not as large as Moore estimates. Yet there's no question that marine debris is gathering in the area and is having a negative impact on marine life, such as fish who mistake the particles for food.

"But before we embark on a huge removal process," Bamford said, "we need to understand what we're dealing with."
Bamford added that the agency had attempted to take satellite photos of the area last year, but the overhead photos were inconclusive. "It's hard to distinguish a whale reaching the surface versus a piece of plastic," she said.

Still, Bamford said the agency is considering flying unmanned aircraft that can be launched from boats to skim the ocean's surface and collect data.

But launching the drones is 18 months away, Bamford said. It could be two years before a federal plan is enacted to remove the plastic-- if it's warranted, Bamford said.

"Once we get to that stage, we'd need to ask, 'If we can remove it, what would be the best way? And what would we do with it afterward? If we collect it, would we bring it back to shore - and then what-- put it in a landfill?'"

In the meantime, as the production and the use of plastic continue to grow, so will the Garbage Patch, Moore said. The only way to reduce marine debris, all sides agree, is to cut it off at its source-- on land.

The dramatic growth in plastics use over the past two decades is what distresses activists [such as] Moore. The annual production of plastic resin in the United States has roughly doubled in the past 20 years, from nearly 60 billion pounds in 1987 to an estimated 120 billion pounds in 2007, according to a study by the American Chemistry Council, which represents the nation's largest plastic and chemical manufacturers.

Keith Cristman, a senior director of packaging at the American Chemistry Council, said the plastics industry is aware of its connection to marine debris; [he] said the council is working with federal and state agencies to put more recycling bins on California beaches in an attempt to stop plastic bottles and bags from making their way to the sea. At the end of November, Cristman said, the council is co-sponsoring
its first marine debris workshop with state and federal agencies.

Cristman said he'd rather see more plastic recycled than production slowed.

"Plastic is a valuable resource," he said. "It shouldn't be wasted. It should be recycled."

Asked [whether] the council would assist in any cleanup of the Garbage Patch if the federal government called on it, Cristman said, "We're always interested in working with NOAA and the EPA."

Moore said his crew had collected new data that suggested more plastic is entering the gyre, yet he was hesitant to elaborate until he finalized the research.

"The ocean is downhill from everywhere," Moore said. "It's like a toilet that never flushes. You can't take these particles out of the ocean. You can just stop putting them in."

Scammers are Taking Advantage of Swine Flu Fear

2009-05-01T11:42:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.
*****
Man am I shocked. what happened to United We Stand? I thought the bird flu, SARS, Y2K, 9/11 WAS THE LAST OF IT.

And the hoaxes just keep on coming!! I guess they know how to effectively use the widely impressive corp media to browbeat us into complete submission---
What's it all about Alfie?

Mick Gallagher
*******

-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray
Sent: Apr 30, 2009 4:30 PM mctgal@earthlink.net
Subject: Scammers are taking advantage of Swine Flu fear

Dear Friends of the Heart,

What's in the news often drives companion scams. My office has received
complaints related to the Economic Stimulus Package, tax returns, and
television conversion to hd. It appears that the same predators are now
attempting to take advantage of people's fear about swine flu.

According to the Better Business Bureau and online security companies,
emails from spammers about swine flu already make up two percent of spam
emails, and hundreds of Web sites using the term "swine flu" have already
been registered.

In addition to making you aware of this trend, I need your help to
identify the scams.

Here's how you can help:

Forward suspicious e-mails to the Federal Trade Commission at:
spam@uce.gov, then delete them from your inbox.
File a complaint with the Attorney General's office about e-mails, phone
calls, direct mail, or other attempts to scam you. You can do this by
logging on to www.SpeakOutOhio.gov or by calling (800) 282-0515.
Forward this e-mail to friends and family so they can be aware.
For reputable information and updates on swine flu and fighting the
outbreak, go to www.CDC.gov/swineflu
And remember: to protect yourself from any kind of scam, NEVER send
personal information, such as bank account numbers or Social Security
numbers, via email. If you're asked for this information in an email,
don't respond and don't click on links in the message.

Thank you for helping protect the pocketbooks of Ohioans.

Sincerely

Richard Cordray
Ohio Attorney General
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Worried about Swine Flu? Here's something you can do.

2009-05-01T11:39:00.000-05:00

The United States needs to allow all working people to earn paid sick days to ensure our economic security, and protect public health.

Sign the Petition Today

Dear Friends of the Heart,

The news over the weekend was scary -- outbreaks of a potentially pandemic flu virus, called the "swine flu" are being reported all over the world, including in the U.S. As of now there have been 64 confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S., with the first fatal U.S. case reported this morning from Texas.1 White House officials monitoring the situation are recommending that: If you're sick, stay home, get treatment, go see a doctor.2

This is easier said than done. In the U.S. today, nearly half of workers aren't allowed to earn paid sick days (i.e. they don't have a single paid sick day to take when illness strikes in order to keep our communities healthy and not spread illness). And more than half of the workforce does not have or cannot use paid sick days to care for sick children. The numbers are even worse in industries where people need paid sick days the most: 92% of waiters and waitresses, and 79% of childcare workers aren't allowed to earn any paid sick days3.

How do the experts expect people to stay home when they're sick, if they don't have any paid sick days?

Sign the petition today! The United States needs to allow all working people to earn paid sick days to ensure our economic security, and protect public health.

http://momsrisingaction.org/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1924&source=TrueMajority

In this economic downturn, folks need to work, sometimes whether they're sick or not. I talked to a coffee shop employee today who told me, "I go to work sick sometimes; I need the hours so I can pay my rent!" We've all been there. When people go to work sick, it puts us all at risk. The recent swine flu outbreak is a powerful reminder that we need paid sick days for public health.

In New York, where there is a small outbreak at a school among students who recently traveled to Mexico, health officials told the Wall Street Journal that one way to reduce the spread of the disease is to "stay home until 48 hours after the symptoms have passed to avoid spreading the disease,"4 Clearly, folks need paid sick days to do the right thing and stay home to care for themselves and their children when they show these symptoms, so more people don't get sick.

Sign the petition today, and pass it on to your friends and family!
Everyone should be able to earn paid sick days to ensure our health and economic security.

Thank you,

--Katie, Mary, Kristin, Sarah, Anita and the MomsRising.org Team

P.S. See the CDC Website for more information about the swine flu
outbreak: cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm

1. Read the NY Times compilation of information about the swine flu here:
topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/influenza/swine_i
nfluenza/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=swine%20flu&st=cse

2. Quoted in:
cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/26/swine.flu/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

3. Institute for Women's Policy Research analysis of the March 2006
National Compensation Survey, the November 2005 through October 2006 Job
Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, and Highlights of Women's Earnings
in 2005 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 995).
iwpr.org/pdf/B254_paidsickdaysFS.pdf

4. Quoted in: online.wsj.com/article/SB124077900486757017.html

Joyful Announcement of Love

2009-04-19T10:28:00.000-05:00

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Dearest Friends of Humanity, Friends of the Heart,

As you know already, Love Ministries has been directed to start the Love Ministries Federation. Frankly, this work has entailed some rather discouraging efforts, and so, as of 040109, we put a temporary stop to it; gathering donations has been like pulling teeth-- without an anesthetic! The responses of our friends has been lukewarm at best, and cool at worst.(:

But we have never claimed to be "in charge" of Love Ministries. We are not. The One, the Supreme, the Ultimate, the Lovegod(dess) is in charge of Love Ministries, and today (041909), she directed that we once again try to elicit support for the poorest people in the world. To stand by and let God's children-- our sisters and brothers-- drop dead from starvation, because we are fearfully clinging to our dollars, guarantees a future life of dire and extreme poverty.

Besides, Sophia, the Goddess of Love, wants these people to be aided; and she wants you and me to do this.

So, Love Ministries USA is again open to striving to gather a few dollars to aid our strugglling and starving friends-- the poorest people in the world. Please allow the Light of Love to penetrate your heartmind in a practical way, and donate what you can; we are accepting, as before, donations of as small as three dollars. It is not just the quantity that counts, but the Lovexpression.

So, won't you please, today, support 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? The poor orphans of these countries are literally dying to hear from you!

Please discuss this important issue with the interior God(dess). There is no more important way to invest money than by investing it in other living human beings. Thank you in advance; thanks from the hundreds of orphans to whom you are giving the great gift of life itself!

Please send snailmail donations to:

Love Ministries USA
5100 Liberty-Fairfield Rd.
Hamilton, OH 45011.

Thank you for all eternity.
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Angels

2009-04-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

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Mine has always been a practical approach to spirituality based on what I have been able to evidence to my own mind. As I have had no interactions personally with "angels," this spirituality has been free of "angels." I do leave the question, and the heartmind, open to them; they could well exist and might have even wings! But angelology has never been a specialty, or special interest, of this life. This is probably all to say that... direct access to the One, without any "middle men," has
worked just fine.:)
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Angelic Activity?

2009-04-12T10:27:00.000-05:00

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One of the major advantages of being free spiritual people is that we are not forced into agreement or conformity about every little detail of our spiritual lives. We are free to agree to disagree about minor things, while remaining friends, with deep respect for each other. While it is understood that finding parking spaces makes you feel cared for, and that is good (even healing), I find it hard to believe that beings of immense, vast cosmic power, working on a planet where thousands of human beings and many other species are suffering from terrible pain and suffering every day, use the finest energies of infinite Love to find a parking space for your convenience. I have also met a few others who, when lucky enough to have found a parking space, have assured me that this was due to "angelic intervention."

The real danger here is that we can trivialize the enormous Power of God, the higher Power that is designed to heal and enlighten the planet, and the universe (someday). The polygalactic Lord of Love is not directly involved in trivial or petty matters; it is like assuming that Barack Obama will take the time from his active and busy schedule to come to your house to repair a broken sugarbowl.:):) Of course, you are always completely free to believe whatever you choose and want to
believe, as am I.:):)
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A Certain Craziness

2009-04-09T10:25:00.001-05:00

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The sky is falling! It is the end of the world! This kind of dark fantasy seems to have haunted unbalanced and borderline minds with an unprecedented ferocity since ancient times. There has not existed a single year in the history of the planet during which someone somewhere did not predict the "immediate advent" of the "end of the world"!

Not at all surprisingly, it is happening all over again. Sick rightwing whackos-- extremists all, who often get their material from each other-- have declared Obama a "radical," a "socialist," an "anti-Christ," and much, much worse. Talkshow hosts have poured billions of gallons of gasoline on this "fire"!

Of course, extreme conservatives hate and misunderstand almost everybody. This is due partly to the fact that they do not seek objective or scientific foundations for their ideas, and partly because they refuse to read or listen to anyone who is not already in fullest agreement with them. They rant and rave, and often preach, in screeching voices about to break from the sheer tension.

Mick Gallagher, Barbara Bady, and other contributors to the uld have pointed out the real and rational dangers that these people pose to the mind, as well as to the collective mind of the community. The latest gambit of these rightwingers is the sad illusion, a lie, that Presidennt Obama of the USA has a "hidden agenda" to take away all their guns. (This type always feels incomplete without a gun, as if you had stolen her literal arms and fingers; and she will fight tooth and nail to keep whatever deadly weapons that she owns with great pride. (In this way, she imitates extremists of the past, including nazis and fascists.) The only way, they say, that you are going to "get their gun" is when you "pry it from their dead, cold fingers" after they have died for this "cause."

Many are "worldenders," and are troubled nonstop by the idea of "race-wars," criminals running riotously through the streets, and related horrors. They live in a nightmare torture-chamber! (How true the spiritual principle that it is what is within the mind, not the "outside world," that determines how we feel.)

The best way to deal with such fanatics is simply to ignore them. We can also regulate their power by education in the truer and more satisfying Way of moderation, which turns its back on extremes. But all that we really have to do is wait around; for the passage of time will prove how false, ludicrous, absurd, and ridiculous are their ideas. Let us also work hard every minute of every day to fill this world, this cosmos, with the peace and joy manifested by Love. For it is Love, not guns, in which all people of Love place their faith.
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It Is Time To Speak Up and Speak Out Loudly and Forcefully!

2009-04-09T10:23:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

*******

I will now shut up & sit down, for I am incapable of not losing my temper when discussing the hate & lies propagated over "our public airwaves." Yes, there are 'free speech' arguments here. But free "hate" speech? Where is the fcc?!

The latest tragedy involving the massive weaponry owned by Americans involves the sad low point of the 3 Pittsburgh Police officers gunned down there by a young man, who lost his job, and also 'thought' the Obama administration was going to take all his guns, including the AK47 he used to kill. And would the police officers [take away forcefully his rifles?] [This is]a threat used by the right for twenty-five to
thirty-five yrs!

Now where did he get this idea? Well, it's been the latest in a long line of rumors/threats from the GOP, RNC Neocon's through corporate rightwing media-- which millions listen to every day, and believe all that they hear as if it's Gospel Truth.

Perhaps they confused this administrations desire for a reduction in nuclear weapons... and the reigning in of roguestates.

But we all need to sit down, take some time to have a short, concise, rational letter to an editor written soon. This nonsense has gone on for too long!

During the [2008 Presidential] Campaign, they spewed hate & lies towards Obama, with threats about assassination, [and that] the blacks would riot, if they didn't get their way. The [rightwingers] used every hateful, incendiary, inflammatory lie they could to try to defeat the positive changes we desperately need, and [which] the world awaits. I also suggest the call in comment lines on C-SPAN, MSNBC, CNN, RUSH,
O'REILLY, SEAN HANNITY(FOX),etc. Those rightwing shows rarely get calls from intelligent liberals [progressives], maybe because we are not confrontational in general. But we need to speak up strongly & forcefully now--to set the record straight, once again! Please call in lines to newspapers too. When we don't speak up, it is taken as weakness, and [in some cases,] it is true. This "new," different guy is "rushing socialism and massive guncontrol." [The same policies were interpreted very differently] when they were [suggested by] the neoconmen bankers, etc, along with the bush Cabal's "free for all" de-regulation legislation to grease the skids of cronie unbridled capitalism.

Once again, as when Clinton came in, we have to clean up. [The economy, military, foreign policy, and government are]a real, real mess-- not imagined. I know the Fed reserve Rueben, Summers, Greenspan were fully in charge during the time of bush; and they're still there!
*******

Hopeless Reaching for Goddess

2009-04-05T10:21:00.000-05:00

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Happily, the most important things in our lives do not at all depend in any way on our belief in them. Whether we believe it or not, Goddess is Love; and even if we lack the ability to believe, She remains Love. Even when Love is inaccessible, or incomprehensible, It/She is still present within the Core-mind, deep inside you and inside me. Even when we have lost the ability to cry out (or, in) to this Love, It/She knows our sufferings; She heals us through each other.

She enters the heart most often through our discovery of personal helplessness. That means that we must completely give up on, abandon, any personal desires to "fix" our lives, and step out of Her way.

We cannot solve every problem in the universe; but at least, we can share our tears and fears.

So, whether you know it or not, Love is an interior Force for good that is always working to heal you-- make you whole. But please try to be patient, for healing does take time. If you want to discuss this or any related matter personally, please give me a quick call. [The number is (513)737-LOVE (5683).]
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Education!

2009-04-05T10:20:00.001-05:00

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Congratulations; you are making a most wise decision to invest in your own mind. No better, more important decision is possible!:) Education will repay you many times, very richly, and continuously, for the rest of this life, and beyond! It is a great delight and pleasure to hear that you are taking a course in "world religion."

We can all learn so much from each other; closed-minded and closed-hearted "Christians" could learn an immense amount of spirituality from the beautiful symbolism of Hinduism and the spiritual psychology of Buddhism.

Keep up the good work, my friend.:) Never stop learning, listening, and growing!:)

"Lovelight" magazine

2009-04-05T10:20:00.000-05:00

"Touching" the hearts of dear spiritual friends is one of the genuine "highs" of this life. It is our reason for being, and one of the great pleasures and delights of this life to aid in the creation of Lovelight magazine! It is truly joyful to hear that you are reading and enjoying it; thanks for the uplifting feedback!:)
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The Poorest People in the World

2009-04-02T10:16:00.000-05:00

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. Some have had their homes, all possessions, pets, and even family-members burned before their little innocent eyes. This is in turn supported by greed, commercialism, and religious bigotry.

These do represent the poorest people on our little planet. The Way of Love is often marked by how we deal with strangers.

As beautiful spring grows into summer, 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, or one hamburger, you can make the ultimate difference between life and death, survival and perishing. We are accepting donations of as small as three dollars. Due to an almost complete absence of response to this fine program, we are
canceling it for now, as of 033109.

As of 040109, we have collected and/or donated the following:

New Anonymous Donor: $50
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Jim and Maureen Dwyer: $50
Friend from New Hampshire: $5
lmiusa: $100
lmiusa: $95
Barb and Dale Siler: $100
______________________________________________________

Total 040109: $600

The only reason that we were able to meet our relatively tiny financial goals for the Federation was that Love Ministries USA (lmiusa) added the missing amount. So, as of 040109, we have sent $100 to each of the Federation ministries/orphanages.
***
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 was $600.

While donations to larger charities are often ending up in the files or accounts of service-providers and solicitors, phone-bills, electric bills, etc., one hundred percent of all donations to Love Ministries Federation are guaranteed to go straight to the children in need.

Love, from the Heart,

shi and the staff of the Love Ministries Federation
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Procrastination

2009-04-02T10:15:00.000-05:00

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I used to procrastinate often (like you, I have a taurusmoon, and taurus is the sign of procrastination). But it was realized that it was the result of unstructured inactivity, avoidance, fear, or laziness-- none of which was at all desirable or spiritual.

The key for us is that, when we think of something that needs to be done, we don't just think about it, talk about it, but we actually do it; the "secret" is all in the "getting moving" or "getting started."
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Learning Real Love-Taoism through Suffering

2009-03-31T10:18:00.001-05:00

Learning Real Love-Taoism through Suffering
*******

Happy April!:) A touch early, but it arrives tomorrow!:)

I am so delighted that this world, with its donkeygifts, has "driven" you towards two directions at once-- greater compassion, and total reliance on [the Goddess of Love,] Aphrodite. For these are the two best gifts in the universe. And there is no better way to teach them than to put the donkey in "danger," or, as you imply, in serious uncertainty.

Any kind of suffering, although we would rather see our friends avoid this aspect of life, teaches and increases compassion. She who suffers little often loves little, not because she is unkind, but because she is unaware, almost oblivious. There is no finer teacher than personal suffering. If we take it "to heart," and carefully examine it, suffering gives us many positive gifts-- but none better than these two (releasing control and loving others more deeply), without which we cannot become
"spiritual adults."

That is why good people have always suffered, often for others, often for the karma of the whole world. (This is a major theme, and cannot be overlooked, in the life of Jesus, as well as of Francis and many other saintmystics and sages.)

This is the universe's way of saying, "Welcome to the human race." It is a real initiation into deeper, and much brighter, spirituality. It aids us to practice Love-Taoism-- the real thing, not just words. For no one follows Tao more, or more sincerely, than she who has given up, abandoned, all desires to "control, all hopes of control." She has truly turned her life over to the higher Power of Love, trusting that Love can and will move in her without her interference. We do not, she finally realizes, make Love happen; we can only permit It.
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God's Bottomless, immeasurable Love

2009-03-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

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At Love Ministries of India, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and the USA, we have only one mission-- to publicize and teach the infinite Love of God, which saves through wonderful grace. Please try to make sure that all people are exposed to this glorious message: People are saved only because of the greatness of the Love of God, not because of "works."

This Love is infinite and bottomless, and the heart of God contains a galaxy of Love, immeasurable and limitless. To say that there exist a sin greater than God's Love is blasphemy. For God's Love is the greatest, most immense, vast Power in the universe.

Jesus told us to forgive seventy times seven; God's Love is greater. All our sins are forgiven, allowing us to live through grace.
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Love is the Beginning

2009-03-31T10:13:00.000-05:00

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The path of truth in spirituality begins with the discovery of interior Love. So, try to find someone or something that needs your Love. (Our little planet is starving for Love, so this should be relatively easy.)

Every creature-- every dog, cat, llama, camel, elephant, horse, and every human being-- needs Love. Love is where the Journey to the interior Spirit always finds its beginning, and Its end.
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Men's Brains and Women's Brains

2009-03-31T10:11:00.001-05:00

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Despite differing neurocircuitry between the brains of males and those of females, I hold to the standard psychological view that "men are from earth, and women are from earth." Exactly when this became "radical" appeared after the "men from Mars" and "women from Venus" syndrome. This divisive perspective infected seriously and deeply the entire culture, society, and community, despite its falsehood, for it was catchy and pseudo-clever.

It did succinctly state that there are differences, but simply (often, terribly) overstated the case. It reinforced unhealthy sexism on both sides, and its effect was catastrophic. The sexes stopped talking, and often, even stopped wanting to talk. There was a kind of "destinarian" giving up on intersex communication. This was extremely unhealthy, and very damaging, as it posited major and irrevocable differences between male and female brains.

The truth, both physiologically and anatomically, is that our brains share much more in common than their real and important differences. (We are, after all, the same species.)

My brain, for one, does not work with a million little "boxes" at all-- despite the fact that the male brain is "supposed" to work this way. Like the "female" brain, I am capable of making millions of interconnections; indeed, I believe that everything is interconnected. Does that make me "female"?

I don't think so, for I find the female of the species too enjoyable, indeed, too captivating. Their yin polarity is superattractive to my own yang. This is indeed how nature has created all of us, and I find it not only comfortable, but highly enjoyable.

Mysticism itself, as a philosophy, is the first to confirm and support the "all is interconnected" worldview. This does not make mysticism "female," even though very much in it leans in that direction. (Mystics are often more comfortable with a "Goddess" than a traditional "god," for example.)

As long as one is processing through "boxes," whether she/he be male or female, that person is cut off from the vital Flow or Tao of the universe. She has missed her Christnature (Buddhanature) entirely, and is lost in illusion.
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Intro to Love

2009-03-31T10:09:00.000-05:00

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When we give Love, we demand nothing in return. Love is its own delight and its own reward: Each time that we love, we are rewarded immediately; a burst of healing energy rushes throughout the brainbody system. This is often subtle, even undetectable; but these add up and, in time, bring the mind, body, and Soul into harmony. For Love is what we were created to do, and it simply does not matter how people respond.

Jesus taught Love and ended up on a cross; other lovers of humanity have been persecuted and even driven away from their communities. Love is almost never rewarded by the "lower" nature of the earthly senses, or by the "material" world; its blessings are all internal, personal, and spiritual. Love is always the right path, the correct response, to any situation.
*******

Pretty Good Idea

2009-03-29T10:06:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Barbara Baty.
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"Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms just like NASCAR drivers, so we could identify their Corporate Sponsors."

-- Unknown

Great Idea!

2009-03-29T10:05:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Christine Finer.
***

This was an article from the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday. The "Business Section" asked readers for ideas on, "How Would You Fix the Economy?"

"Dear Mr. President:
Patriotic retirement: There's about 40 million people over 50 in the work force; pay them $1 million apiece severance with stipulations:

1) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings -- Unemployment fixed.
2) They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered -- Auto Industry fixed.
3) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage -- Housing Crisis fixed.

Much cheaper than the trillions being ineffectively spent on the financial industry.

*******

Myopically Misled by Appearances

2009-03-29T09:51:00.000-05:00

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

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment in to the Harvard University President's outer office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge.

"We'd like to see the president," the man said softly.
"He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped.
"We'll wait," the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't, and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave," she said to him!

He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, and he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted to ward the couple.
The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."

The president wasn't touched. He was shocked. "Madam," he said, gruffly, "we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady began quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard."

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don't we just start our own?"

Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them.

--A TRUE STORY By Malcolm Forbes

***
People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did.
But people will never forget how you made them feel!
*******

Medicine, Healing, and Love

2009-03-27T09:49:00.001-05:00

How right you are about my Soulmate, who has made this life far better than we could or would have ever predicted!:) She is gentle cool clear water on a planet that is so often a harsh superheated desert.:)

Re the transplant, we have come to cease expecting anything from the docs, who almost never communicate "from on high;" and their nurses are useless when it comes to information re the timing of the transplant, guarding any with their lives as a "deep, dark secret." This is ludicrous to absurd. So, we have come to expect precisely nothing from either group; when it is convenient for them, they might let us know; just hope that we have time to prep and pack!:)

There is little to no empathy in the entire system of modern medicine; the whole interaction has been computers speaking "digitese" to other computers; hardly a human communication has occurred. In fact, I have received not a single email message from any doctor or any nurse from thebeginning.

This proves how far medicine has drifted from healing; for, in healing, the human aspect, especially the alleviation of suffering, is always in the top one percent of cares; in this ultratechnical system, the human element is eradicated as far as possible. No wonder that they are planning to use robots for surgery; that will rid the system of its last technical imperfection-- human input. Medicine, already frosty and snowy, just gets colder.

You are right on target, by the way, in your hard-earned lesson that there are people to whom you can give Love, and those to whom you cannot. To find those "hungry" and "thirsty" for Love-- in both its giving and receiving-- is truly a blessing. But trying to love Martha [pseudonym] and her ilk is a spectacular waste of timenergy, and of even life itself. For she still has very much growing to do, and it is not likely that she can accomplish this during one little lifetime.

So, to sum up, we are where we began: in the dark. But we have promised the Spirit that we will attempt an honestly Taoist attitude towards this entire matter of the transplant: Just trust and wait, not fret, worry, or manipulate. And the reward has been increased peace.:)

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Movie Review: "Something the Lord Made"

2009-03-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

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This movie (2004) sounds as if it has a religious theme, but it does not. Instead, it is thoroughly sociospiritual, defending equal opportunity for all. It is the dramatic story of an African American doctor (Vivian Thomas) who was born with the creative genius to understand the depths of medicine. Originally a carpenter, he aided a caucasian physician to perform the first heart-surgery. The caucasian doc got all the credit-- no surprise in the old days of bigotry and ignorance. (Until then, surgeons were prohibited from ever touching the
heart.)
This is the story of how this brilliant man was ignored, neglected, even abused, in the United States because of his race. The story is not a blast of excitement; in some areas, it feels almost like a documentary.
But it tells a story that badly, desperately needs to be told, of how society often ruined itself by ruining the lives, or preventing the educational development, of minority-persons. Due to this blind and ignorant pressure, any number of good, even great, minds went to waste. The hero of the movie, Vivian Thomas, was the exception. After years of hard and even genius-level work, he was rejected by several minority universities; and too little, too late, he was finally granted a
doctorate from Johns-Hopkins, which his life and discoveries greatly benefited.
This movie is a reminder that, no matter how humble a beginning, a Soul has a history that might grant it genius, or gifts, in many areas. We should never take any person, any Soul, for granted. Each should be given an equal chance to participate in, and give to, the Whole.
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TV Review: "Millennium"

2009-03-11T09:45:00.000-05:00

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This one-hour series was produced, not surprisingly, near the Millennium's beginning, from about 1998-2000. It is probably too intense for the sensitive, as it takes a scorpionic look into the twisted minds and motives of killers.
In one episode, the audience is encouraged to think about a most important subject: Does a person have the "right to die" in dignity rather than suffer through years of pain and agony? Even more to the point, does any doc have the right to assist a person to leave this world?
The star of the series, the character called Frank Black, comes down on the side of the establishment. Frank is a profiler for the fbi, and uses his psychic gifts to fill in the blank areas. The "criminal" in this case is a former doctor, a young African American blessed with a beautiful and wonderful vision of the eternity of life, and its continuity after death into other "planes." He is filled with both
compassion and faith, but these spiritual powers are being abused; he is interfering with the rights that others-- several old and suffering people-- have to make their own life-and-death decisions.
But as noble as his motives might be, Frank correctly points out that his actions, in helping people to find blessed release from this world, are legally (and morally) "murder." When a cop refers to this doc as "a saint," Frank replies, "Or worse."
Although of course, everyone must leave this planet, this must always be a personal decision; it must never be made by one person for another. This is, in fact, the one datum that transforms the otherwise beautiful and loving act into murder: Some of the older people whom the doc tries to "help," although in great pain, might not be ready or willing to leave, for whatever reasons. And they are given this right by the universe.
Like this doc, many of us share strong feelings about the "right to die with dignity." Still, we must never impose these feelings upon others; no one has that right. This activity is often called "playing God," and it is ironic, for it is actually God (Love) "playing human." But, still, the action of intervening and taking another sentient life violates all the rights which any living creature has. It bulldozes over their rights and ignores their value as separate and independent
individuals.
It is therefore immoral, no matter how fine the motivation might be. (In this story, the doc himself suffers from a terminal disease, and clearly wants to take advantage of the option for selfeuthanasia.) This too, is illegal, for our entire culture and society are terrorized by death-- to the point where many will not even discuss the "horrific" subject. This is obviously an unhealthy extreme, as is the other extreme of assuming that anyone has the right to make this intensely personal decision for another.
*******

TV Review: "The Twilight Zone"

2009-03-11T09:43:00.001-05:00

*******

This series represents true "vintage tv," and was first produced way back in the late 1950's. It was rewritten and refilmed as a series in the mid-1980's. It still contains the very familiar musical refrain, although, in this later edition, it is much more "psychedelic" than the original.
One episode is particularly thoughtprovoking. It concerns a young man named Leonard who earns a fat paycheck by practicing "trance-channeling." In the episode, he has his very first appearance on national tv. Then, astonishingly, he comes into touch with the "real thing," a higher Power in the Unconscious mind that wants to speak through him.
This is completely new to him; it has never happened before. All during his fabulously wealthy career, he has claimed to "channel" a "ten thousand year old warrior," but he has been just pretending (acting). When the real Power does come through, he admits to the audience, which includes many "faithful" followers, that his work has all been fake and phony: He has never "channeled" anything or anyone in his long career. This, as his manager warns in the beginning, ruins them both economically, but Leonard feels more comfortable being authentic than when he was playing a "role." He chooses to live in honesty, and begins, for a radical change, actually to help people. He exposes the whole "channelling" phenomenon as one of sheer desperation; people need to pay to believe that they are being touched by the extraordinary, or even the miraculous. This is a very poor foundation for metaphysics or spirituality.
*******

TV Review: "Everybody Loves Raymond"

2009-03-09T09:41:00.001-05:00

*******

In an episode of this half-hour sitcom, a main character, Deborah, complains that her husband Ray is deficient in Lovexpression. He wants to find out why, and asks his father Frank, usually an emotionally cool and distant person, a very study in emotional inexpression. Ray's brother Robert soon joins the conversation, and the family undergoes a very short-lasting (momentary) metamorphosis. Everyone becomes very selfconscious, and deeply embarrassed, but they begin to tell each other
that they love one another.
This is very soon perceived as an extreme embarrassment, and everyone is apologetic and ashamed. Deborah says that she is sorry that she ever brought up the subject, and Frank says that it should never be mentioned again.
This view towards Love, and Lovexpression, is the very root of much of what is wrong with our families, communities, and societies. Why on earth should a person feel embarrassed, ashamed, or selfconscious because she expresses Love towards her loved ones? She should not; instead, she should feel happy and fulfilled; she is doing what she was created to do.
The Baron family, in this episode, treats Love as if it were some obscene secret, to be mentioned only in private, and never acknowledged-- at least, not on a regular basis. This fearbased attitude towards Love is a corrosive that eats away at family unity, loyalty, joy, fun, and general open sharing.
So, as the people of Love, let us embrace the opposite perspective: Let us unashamedly express Love as often, and as openly, as possible. Let us express Love, of many kinds, in as many varieties as we know. Try to tell loved ones that you love them as often as possible. For our tiny planet is starving for Love, and for Lovexpressions.
Let us not be "shamed" into making It a big, dark secret. Love, like charity, to which It is related, begins at home; let us never be ashamed of It, or allow Its expression to make us selfconscious.
*******

Life, Death, and Love

2009-03-09T09:39:00.000-05:00

*******

I do not feel that your son died in pain. If indeed he died from a diabetic coma, that is a very "easy death." It is very much like going to sleep. You should know that I have given this some deep thought at a Soul-level, for it is an "emergency exit" plan for this current body, which is diabetic.

Some would argue that there are no "pleasant" ways to leave the earth. But the fact is, we all must leave at some time. So, the Soul, often before birth, builds into the dna a method for exiting the body when the time is right. Your son's Soul "built into" his body the genetic pattern that allowed a peaceful death. For there are many nightmarish ways to die, and only a few serene ones.

As a spiritual person, I deeply empathize with your pain and suffering; yet I must also remind you, and myself, that death is a major transformation, a new beginning, and the chance for a new life. Death is not the "end" of everything, as some materialists and mechanists claim. (And they have no "proof" of this.)

The ancient mystical classic Bhagavad-Gita says that death is like changing clothes.

We have come to see it as an unmitigated terror and horror precisely because we have fallen very deeply into amnesia. In the Soul's amnesia, which is part of the will of Love, we forget that we are immaterial, nonphysical Souls, and come to regard ourselves as only mechanisms or developed animals. We are much, much more than both. And very much in modern thanatological (death-) studies implies that the mind does indeed, as mystics have always said, survive the body. We literally have tens
of thousands who have returned from death to tell us that Mind continues after death.

Death is not only a "survivable" experience, but an entry into ecstasy and immeasurable joy. And Love is greater than death; the Love-bonds continue between mother and son, as between other relatives and friends. You will see your son again, happy and alive. Meantime, he wants you to live out your fullest and most productive life; he also wants you to find the most joy that you can create in your life on earth.

Earth is a very difficult and challenging school. God says that it is okay, just fine, if we stop believing in Her, or even, for a time, lose all motive to live and to serve. She does not condemn us, and the spark of Love that She creates in our hearts never goes out. It simply waits, with unimaginable patience, to be fanned into a warm flame of expressed Love.

In the shorterm, it might be therapeutic to form special bonds with other people, or other creatures; this is what your son wants for you.

Lovenergy changes forms many times during a life, but It never dies. So, you can take the Love of your beautiful heart, and enrich many lives with it; our poor little planet is starving for Love.
*******

Messages to the "Universal Love Digest" (uld)

2009-03-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

*******

When we first started the uld ("Universal Love Digest"), it was a completely open forum to which any nut, fanatic, or preacher could send absolutely any message in the world! We received, for example, a lot of stuff damning political parties, predicting the "end of the world," some trying to prove that Christian Science was the "world's only 'right' religion," some recommending the worship of extraterrestrials or "ghosts," and other nonspiritual, even antispiritual, stuff. Some passionately advocated exclusive cults-- excluding all outside their cults. Some of it was even harmful.

So, now it has been arranged that all submissions to the uld pass by this desk at Love Ministries first, as a protective preventative. And, as you know, the uld has a different email address than we (Adamaria and I).

But all of us-- all the readers of the uld-- always appreciate your kind and supportive messages. Anything that is written to uplift, and that contains no "secrets" (private information) or dogmatism might be published, but only if it is made clear that the writer wants to publish it! It is, and never will be, our inclination or intention to publish anything personal., .

But if you do not want any note to end up in the uld, please do not send it to: elovefamily@yahoogroups.com.

Instead, please send all personal messages to:
rmfrancis@juno.com

(Adamaria has a different address, but we are going to consolidate the two services into one.)
*******

Being "Born Again"

2009-03-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

*******
Thanks to Gary Kreme.
***

When Jesus told Nicodemas, "You must be born again," most scholars believe that he was speaking allegorically. To be "born again" is to embrace a new identity.

During the final aspects of her Godly life, the Christian becomes a "mystic." This is a person who realizes that her little mind is actually a part of a much vaster, more immense Mind-- the Mind of God. She then realizes that God is not like the old primitive Jehovah-- that God does not live above the clouds or in a mountain such as Sinai, but lives as the "indwelling Holy Spirit of Love" within her heart.

Mystics, in their writings, call the earthly identity the "ego." This is the name on your birth-certificate and/or driver's license. But, deep within your mind, you are so much more. Jesus came to, among other reasons, show us the Love of a fully enlightened (realized) human being. For he said that he would go forward into death, and then return, demonstrating that death was not the "end," but a phase along the great Way.

He said, The Father and I are one." (Jn. 10:30) But we have no other verses where he said that these words applied to only him. Mystics from all over the world, from every culture and century, believe that, like Jesus, they are also a part of the One, the Mind, Good, which is "truth" or "reality."

God is the vast, immense Mind that dwells at the very Center of all minds, and so, She is aware of whatever passes through any and all minds.

The material universe is a projection, dream, or virtual reality projected by this Mind. Therefore, nothing in the "material" world is absolutely "real." This is indicated by how material things always change, or fall apart (returning to dust), or both.

Only Mind is real. This means that all sentient (selfaware) beings are also real, and sacred. Your sisters, brothers, mother, father, and other relatives, pets, animals, and friends are sacred (holy) because they also are part of the One. So, for that matter, are dogs, cats, horses, and a wide spectrum of other creatures. This is why a truly enlightened person always stands up for animal rights and against barbarity and cruelty.

A "person" who knows that she is part of the One, the Mind, is no longer the same "person." (This word comes from the Latin persona, and means "mask.") So, we must ask, "Who is wearing the mask?"

It is your Soul, that part of your mind that existed before this life, and will continue to exist when this life is over. That Soul arises from the beautiful Love-mind, Godmind, or God.

When you realize this very deeply, you know that you are no longer merely human. You are still human, but now, you are "human-plus." [This is why many mystics, including Jesus (who was born as "Immanuel," changed their names. Paul did this, and so did Peter.]

Jesus probably referred to this symbolic identity-change. But there is also the possibility that he simply meant exactly what he said. Jesus is often over-explained; and he might well have meant that Nicodemas had to undergo another birth in a future life, as he was not going to grasp the truth during that one. For mystics believe that God never permanently loses a Soul, that no Soul is ever damaged beyond God's ability to save or recover it, through education.
*******

Troubled Relationship

2009-03-09T09:31:00.000-05:00

*******

It looks, sadly, as if your relationship is going downhill, losing passion and the intensity necessary to maintain a good, normal, functional sexual relationship. I think that you need to have a very serious talk with Martha [pseudonym] about the dissolution of the relationship. You do not want to stay trapped in an unproductive,
unsatisfying relationship until you are too old to explore other options. Both of you need to decide together whether this relationship is worth preserving and repairing, or whether you both want to go your own ways.

One thing is certain: You cannot "keep a relationship going" by yourself; it must be a cooperative and shared effort. If she is unwilling to share the work of maintenance of the relationship (hugging, touching, sex), or if she simply does not want to do so, you must move on in the construction of a life that you find personally satisfying. You owe that not only to yourself, but to your child.

For the baby cannot possibly thrive in an emotionless or cold environment; that would be to do violence to her mind, or to her Soul, and she deserves better than that. If you wish to discuss the situation any further, you can call me, at (513-)737-LOVE (5683).
*******

Yellow Springs, Ohio: Some History

2009-03-07T09:30:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.
***

Yellow Springs, Ohio: You would love that ol' hippie hangout. Really laid back.... Rod Serling taught there, hung out at 'Ye Olde Tavern'--an old stagecoach stop between Columbus & Cinci. I was around ten then. Jonathan Winters,... his family owned a funeral home in Springfield, and he was an only child brat who also sulked around the olde Tavern [in]...say, the early 1960's. Neat place.... Dino's coffee shop [is] a lil dinky joint there.

*******

The Proposal

2009-03-02T09:27:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Teresa Ramsey.

The Proposal
*******

When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that happens is that it reduces its staff and workers. The remaining workers need to find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their jobs would be eliminated as well. Wall street, and the media, normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision"; and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.

Our government should not be immune from similar risks.

Therefore: Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218members; and [reduce also] Senate members from one hundred to fifty (one per state). Also reduce remaining staff by 25%.

Accomplish this over the next 8 years. [This would require] two steps/two elections) and, of course, this would require some redistricting.

Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:

$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/year.)

$97,175,000 for elimination of the above people's staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each member of the Senate every year)

$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year (those members whose jobs are gone; current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/year)

The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and would need to improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country?

We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might be even easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.

Congress has more tools available to do its jobs than it had back in 1911, when the current number of representatives was established. [This includes] telephone, computers, cellphones, to name a few.

Note: Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we have 3 senators that have not been doing their jobs for the past 18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.

Summary of opportunity:

$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.

$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.

$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.

$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.

$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.
____________________________________________________________
[These changes would result in a total of] $8,073,383,400 per year. This eight billion is just a start!

Big business does these types of cuts all the time.

If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, there is no telling how much we would save. Now, they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.

If you are happy with how the Congress currently spends and wastes our taxes, then just delete this message. IF you are NOT at all happy, then I assume you know what to do!

*******

Lovexpression

2009-03-01T14:00:00.001-06:00

As the people of Love, our hearts motivate us to, and we vow to, love everyone-- without exception, including friends, enemies, and strangers.

In fact, Love is the most healing and joyful activity in the world! It is utterly fulfilling, for It is the reason that we were first created by ("emanated" from) the One, the only Mind in existence. Love moves us towards primal Union, or reunion, with the Mind of Love, or Godmind. So, Love is the key to fulfillment, satisfaction, and utter contentment.

Love is indescribably beautiful. It is what all human beings most deeply want to express, and to share, with other human beings, and with other creatures-- even with the Goddess (God) and the "angels. The world is starving for Love! (Someday, we will be challenged to share this same Love with extraterrestrials as well.)

So, Love is the most fun a human being can possibly have! It is as satisfying biologically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as finding a glass of cold water when we are thirsty. Love alone fills the needs of the human Soul; nothing in the universe can replace It.

Although we know that all this is true, nevertheless, we must exercise caution in everyday Lovexpression. We can feel the infinite Love of God shining and glowing in our hearts. But we cannot always safely express It.

Why not? Why cannot the lover of all humanity express Love freely, hugging everyone, and telling her, "I love you"?

It is because of the dull and primitive, backwards and arrested, programming of society. For society, from poprock music to commercials, popularly programs people to believe that the word "Love" is, or should be, limited to sexual and/or romantic Love.

We who study agapology-- the art and science of Love-- know that Love can mean a wide spectrum of a million more things. But people are so mercilessly and incessantly, relentlessly programmed to see "Love" as romance or sex, you are very likely to be misunderstood if you express "Love" to a stranger. This is tragic, unfortunate, and very, very sad.

What it implies is that we all must exercise caution.

If we are not to end up being labeled, or taken to a mental hospital or police station, we must temper all our Lovexpressions with strangers. (Joyfully, we need not do this among the people of Love, who understand the many types and powerlevels of Love.)

In Greek, there are several words for "Love." One of them, the Greek eros, originally referred to Love as a cosmic force that held the cosmos together. It was eros that held hydrogen and oxygen together in water-molecules. But, in time, this word came to mean or to imply sexual or romantic Love.

And "erotophobia"-- the fear of sexual or romantic Love or involvement-- is quite common. So, in all Lovexpression, we show Love by respecting the boundaries and limitations of people. We are never controlled by their fears, but, out of kindness, must respect their sensitivities. This means that, although we withold no Love, we must, at times, withold Lovexpression: It is not always good or appropriate fully to express Love to a stranger; we must take a few steps back, and approach the matter with caution, so as never to be intrusive or invasive of the other's privacy.
*******

The Poorest People in the World

2009-03-01T13:59:00.001-06:00

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. Some have had their homes, all possessions, pets, and even family-members burned before their little innocent eyes. This is in turn supported by greed, commercialism, and religious bigotry.

These do represent the poorest people on our little planet. The Way of Love is often marked by how we deal with strangers.

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, or one hamburger, 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 (March 2009). So far, here is what we have received:

New Anonymous Donor: $50
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Anonymous: $20
Friend from New Hampshire: $5
lmiusa: $100
Barb and Dale Siler: $100
______________________________________________________

Total 022709: $455.
***
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. This will allow us to send only $100 to each. So, we still need $145, to give 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 might go to maintenance (offices, payment of workers and solicitors, phone-bills, electric bills, etc.), one hundred percent of all donations to Love Ministries Federation 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

Goddess, Illumination, and "Feng Shui"

2009-03-01T13:57:00.001-06:00

Once in a while, the Goddess of Love gives us great gifts. One example is the return of the Goddess of flowers in springtime. But a better example is a moment of "illumination."

Enlightenment usually occurs gradually, by the accumulation of moments of illumination. [In Zen, these are called ken-sho, while final enlightenment is called satori. (This is an equivalent of the state of samadhi mentioned in Hindu mystical literature.)]

An example of the Power of illumination is what occurred with you. From deep within, the Spirit directly taught you important lessons about not controlling-- a nucleus of Taoism; it also taught you about faith, trust, and the interior world-dreamer (Goddess) who, in the final analysis, controls everything, making it necessary for us to control nothing personally.

In Jesus' famous words, "live as little children," in the original language, the word did not mean "little children"; it meant "nursing infants."

So, enlightened people do not live like five-year-olds; instead, they live with the full trust and faith of an infant clinging to its mother. The infant relaxes, knowing that the mother knows where she is going, and trusting that she will carry the infant to a good place, not a harmful or dangerous one. This is very similar to the attitude towards the caring universe developed in enlightenment: It is a friendly and supportive universe, ruled by Love.

That is why, in the most "Taoist" of his many sermons, the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers to live as the flowers or the birds-- without fear, worry or control. God (Goddess) will take care of everything, and we need to trust, not to wrest control from God and try, like most people, to control the whole universe! (We are not up to the task, and are incapable of it.)

When we learn this important fact, that we do not and cannot control anything or anyone, for it is our responsibility to control only our responses, then a huge burden is lifted from our backs. Life becomes easy and pleasant, as we are no longer carrying this heavy weight.

We find that we can live with, and even enjoy, stillness. We do not always have to be "superbusy," which is a way of running from life. This arises from fear, and makes fear our master. Since fear is of the lower nature, alien to the higher, we become servants of the lower nature, eclipsing and hiding the higher nature of pure Love. Before long, negative habits take root, and we become spiritually unproductive, paralyzed and petrified. Our growth and development stop, "on hold," and no progress is made.

It is great that your own heartmind is actively growing, proved by your illumination.:)

When we see these truths, and feel them in the heart, we then revise our personal desire-structure. For, although desire promises heaven, it leads straight to various hellstates of dissatisfaction and unfulfillment. Tranquility disappears in the rush of hyperbusiness and leaves us clueless.

Spirituality takes time, energy, and attention. It happens only when and if we permit or allow it. But, like fine flowers, it requires active cultivation, and active attention. Also, like the flowers, it is natural and will grow if we give it a little time.

One way of improvement is that we begin to improve our environments, as mentioned in your correspondence. In an art called feng shui, pronounced "fung shway," we rid our lives of all clutter and excess.

For every item in your home either gives you energy or takes it away (draining you). So, it is necessary, and fun, always to surround ourselves with only items that we like or love. If we do this, every item will be energy-giving and energy-supporting, and will help us to combat fatigue, boredom, illness, and other unproductive or depressive states. So, try to decorate with sculptures, statues, paintings, fountains, chimes, music, and other items that you truly love, that speak
to your deeper Mind, that bring joy and satisfaction, tranquility and fun! This path, now respected worldwide, begins with the elimination of clutter. It means getting rid of anything that contributes to our sadness, and keeping only items that contribute to happiness. What could be more fun?:):)

Again, congratulations on your being open to interior revelations given by the Goddess of Love, for She always has much to say, but we have forgotten how to listen. Blessed is she who remembers how to listen.

The Cosmos of Light

2009-02-27T13:56:00.000-06:00

It is hoped that, in time, she will come to love her own body enough to stop smoking; otherwise, she sabotages any real healing process.:( And that is never a good idea.

Still, we are happy, every day, to join our prayers/energysending with yours, for, as the ancient Christian mystic wrote, "The prayer of a good person has much Power."

Now, we are looking forward to Sunday, and the sharing of our celebration of having come to this itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, tiny whiney little nanospeck called "earth.":)

Again, thanks, as always, for bringing such a sweet heart to our sad little world. Every light, including that of your own heart, makes this world, and this universe, brighter, with the promise that, someday, the entire cosmos will be all Light and no darkness.:) (See 1 Jn. 1:5)
*******

Project K: Update

2009-02-27T13:55:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, we do have something like a date for the surgery of Project K. Not really a date, but rather a large time-period, actually. The surgery will occur sometime (we have no idea when) after March 2, Monday. [That is when the donor, Sandi, has her surgery to remove ovarian cysts... But, as operations go, we understand that this is not a major, critical, or extremely serious (lifethreatening) one.:)

Brother Donkey, the body, is showing some peripheral tiredness and lack of energy. We continue regular bloodtests, and regular conferencing with the nephrologist (kidney-specialist) whom we have known now for nearly twenty years.

The last transplant, the donor was a taurus. This time, she is also a taurus, and the doc is also a taurus. Although I am a pisces, I do have a taurusmoon. So, maybe there is a cosmic pattern behind all that is happening; we like to think so, at any rate.:):)

Thank you for your continued interest in this important lifevent, and thanks for asking, dear friend. Thanks also for any silver energy that you can send. (We are requesting this from all our friends.:)

May you have a most beautiful and temperate day as we together prepare for the return of the Goddess of flowers with springtime.:)

Forgiveness

2009-02-27T13:50:00.000-06:00

To be unforgiving hurts only the one who does not forgive; it is she who must experience the sleepless nights, the upset stomach and other digestive problems, and all the "bad vibes" that accompany unforgiveness.

So, when we refuse to forgive, we harm only ourselves, supporting a selfcreated hellstate in our own heartminds; we do nothing to "punish" the unforgiven-- very often, the motive behind unforgiveness. Unforgiveness is a failed lifestrategy; it simply never works to our (or anyone else's) advantage.

Perhaps, the way that we are "built," we must begin the forgiveness-process with a selfinvolved motive rather than a loving or othercentered one. This will clearly work better, at any rate, for many, many people.:( That is just the way that this world, and human psychology, are structured.

Let us all pray and work, every day, that we might all be selfblessed by discovering the profound tranquility and humility that arise from forgiveness. Let us try to "get ourselves out of the way," so that the Light of wisdom can shine through, into our dark world.:) We all must move along this path, one microstep at a time.:) We can always support each other in the effort, and our own interior transformation and
selfless forgiveness can serve as a model for others.:)

Prayers Continue, and Funds on the Way

2009-02-26T13:49:00.001-06:00

This is a note to our friend in Kenya:

022509wed

Dear Tom,

Life on this earth brings us some major challenges. If possible, the lower nature of fear would destroy our faith; but we must never give up our belief in our Lord of Love. We continue to pray for you and for the dear and precious orphans in your tender care. You can be sure that Love will richly bless you, no matter what happens, and no matter how great your need might appear.

We are very sorry to hear that tragedy has struck your country (Kenya), and your ministries to the poor. We truly do want to send another donation to Love Ministries of Kenya, to aid the extremely poor orphans, and also to support your fine house-church. But our readers and friends have not yet responded to our latest call for funds, and we are still awaiting the response of Love in their hearts. We have started another fund-collection campaign, and hope that it is successful during the month of March, as it was not in February. So, as soon as we can gather the funds, we will send along a money-order, as soon as possible. I truly wish that we had more funds, but they will come as Love (God) provides.
*******

Please pray

2009-02-26T13:48:00.000-06:00

Hello...,
I am doing so well God is on my side, my only request is prayer for the children we are helping, we have began to face avery challenging moments, our country is in avery tough situation of starvation,please do pray.

Pastor T__ S_______,
Love Ministries of Kenya

Damn that Lincoln: Abe's to blame for Jindal

2009-02-26T13:42:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.
***
Damn that Lincoln: Abe's to blame for Jindal
by Greg Palast

Exclusive to Buzzflash.com by Greg Palast

Damn that Abe Lincoln. When Louisiana and Mississippi seceded from the Union, a sensible president would have sent them a box of chocolates with a note, "Goodbye and good riddance."

Tonight, following Barack Obama's budget presentation to Congress, effectively the president's first State of the Union Address, the Republicans chose to give their party's response, the governor of the state that wanted to leave the Union, to Louisiana's Bobby Jindal.

Jindal's told us that Barack Obama is a terrible President who passed a stimulus bill "larded with wasteful spending." Where's the lard? All week, Jindal has been screeching that Obama wants to require states such as Louisiana to extend unemployment insurance to -- get this -- the unemployed! (Technically, the federal government would pay 100% of the cost of reforming Louisiana's and Mississippi's Scrooge-sized benefit requirements.)

Jindal, and some other Republican governors, notably Haley Barbour of Mississippi, are actually turning down millions in federal funds for their own state's unemployed out of fear that, four years from now, they may have to maintain full unemployment insurance like the rest of America.

Barbour's excuse, parroted by Jindal, is that the Obama payments to the unemployed of their states would mean, when the economy returns to expansion, that their state would have to increase unemployment insurance taxes and payments to the U.S. average, scaring away new employers. "I mean, we want more jobs," says Barbour. Um, this is the Governor of MISSISSIPPI talking. Exactly what new "jobs" is he talking about? Is Microsoft based in Gulfport? Is Genentech opening its new headquarters in Bogalusa?

As an economist, I can tell you that the only industry Mississippi leads in is deep-fried chicken-dog manufacturing. I will admit that Louisiana and Mississippi can boast of growing employment at several casinos and cathouses spilling across what the locals charmingly call the "Coon-ass Riviera." Jindal's Louisiana is, after all, the state that solved its unemployment problem by sending its unemployed to Texas in FEMA trailers.

And it's true that Jindal's and Barbour's states do lead the nation in a few indicators. Such as poverty: Mississippi has America's highest poverty rate. Louisiana is 3rd-worst in America.

How about their commitment to education? Louisiana ranks 5th and Mississippi 2nd worst in school kids' math scores. As Randy Newman notes about the Gulf States' education policies, "good ol' boys... from LSU, went in dumb, come out dumb, too."

Jindal himself is a product of a more advanced culture: His parents are Democrats. The Jindals are Hindus who come from the Punjab in India, a state known for its welfare safety net. Jindal, turning away from the successful example of his parents' politics and culture, has gone native, becoming a born-again Christian Republican who doesn't accept Darwinian evolution nor Keynesian economics. (I hear he may complete his redneck makeover next week by marrying his cousin at a tractor pull.)

For over a century, Louisiana and Mississippi have been trying to attract employers by changing their economy from one based on involuntary servitude to one based on voluntary servitude, selling their citizens to the lowest bidder. The results are blindingly visible: Mississippi and Louisiana have, under the Barbour/Jindal Republican regime, maintained the lowest per-capita incomes in the nation (50th and 46th respectively). Louisiana and Mississippi infant mortality rates (1st and 3rd in deaths in the USA) would shame Costa Rica.

Years back, when I worked as an economic consultant to New Orleans, the Louisiana State Legislature was about to require that schools teach evolution as merely a theory equal to the Bible's literal creation myth. When asked if this would harm big employers' views of the state, I said, "Not at all: most national employers think of Louisiana as a state filled with Bible-thumping, dumb-bell rednecks. You won't have to worry about changing that impression."

OK, it's easy to make jokes about America's own Third World states. And before I get a zillion complaints, I'll be the first one to note that Louisiana has birthed the extraordinary, including the greatest of America's investigative journalists, the late Ron Ridenhour, jazz, Ruth Chris' Steakhouse, and gris-gris. And it was Louisiana that long ago led the nation in social reform, whose governor in 1932 led the national fight to create a program now known as "unemployment insurance." Really.

Nevertheless, Jindal's rejection of funds for his state's own unemployed simply follows a history of local Republican plantation-mentality cruelty. After Hurricane Katrina, I met a young man, Stephen Smith, who was stranded with a family on Highway 10 for four days while George Bush photo-strafed him from overhead. An elderly man with Stephen died of dehydration after giving his grandchildren his last bottle of water.

I investigated the drowning of New Orleans and the "let'm drown" rescue plans of the Bush Administration. What I found was sickening, heartless, and Republican. Marie Antoinette at least offered cake.

Now, once again, the Republican Party, by making Jindal the party's official spokesman, is adopting the Barbourous refusal to reach out a saving hand to Americans drowning in this economy.

So, let me make a suggestion for Governors Jindal and Barbour. If you cannot join America in accepting our President's call to arms against disaster, if you reject our President's State of the Union -- then leave the Union.

As the prescient Phil Ochs sang,

And here's to the government of Mississippi

In the swamp of their bureaucracy they're always bogging down...

...And the speeches of the governor are the ravings of a clown

Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of

Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of

Amen.

U.S. Shadow Banking System

2009-02-26T13:40:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.
***

U.S. Shadow Banking System
***

Ironically now it's a battle of psychological as well as economic malaise, because of fear to buy things. We are in a socioeconomic deepfreeze. Now's when we need a confidence builder.... That's why our steller 2 party system needs to cut the [nonsense], and harmonize for a change, instead of willing the new deal stuff to an early death, so they can take the majority in two years! Have they ever just tried to be positively constructive? I mean seriously look[ing] back over the Clinton years; they beat his... brains out everyday--and I guarantee, you do that to someone-- a team, a party, a person-- the sheer negative, constant pounding from within/without will make that person [or] administration fail, and collapse; and whatever happened to "United We Stand"? Or is that only when one party sits, and the other "stands"?...The many "chosen" few caused this... abyss. The poor don't cause global economic meltdowns, wars for profit, power, control of resources in foreign lands. It's usually the rich guys, who just dont have "enough."
***
This was by far the most intelligent, rational, informative discussion I've heard to date, re how we arrived here. I suspected the usual suspects, and am now zeroing in on them,... Greenspan, Robert Rueban, Larry Summers all held high court over these
bizarre, convoluted, greedy, dark market schemes, since early Clinton days, I suspect. I am leary also of "Rambo" [Rom] Emmanuel [although I have] no clear cut evidence as of yet. But their all... sharks, both parties, both houses. Not all Congresspeople, though; we must not paint a broad stroke on all. No, that is not fair, or reasonable....Let's not let these scumbags deflect all the anger back to the victims of the dark side of unbridled capitalism.

go to wamu.org

U.S. Shadow Banking System
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/09/02/24.php#24937

Completely Wrong-headed Obstructionist, Socially Irresponsible GOP is Killing America

2009-02-26T13:33:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Completely Wrong-headed Obstructionist, Socially Irresponsible GOP is
Killing America
*******

For those who are still interested in reading, learning, and maybe even
changing:

Obama needs to realize the truth about [most] Republicans: "Their loyalty is to a fundamentalist Christian ideology, on the one hand, and American exceptionalism of perpetual warfare and hatred and fear of the 'other' on the other hand. Between the neoconservatives and evangelical Religious Right Republicans you have no friends."
--Frank Schaeffer (see below)
***

Blinded by Greed, Oblivious to Need:
How Socially Irresponsible Republicans are Killing America
***
By Dennis Rahkonen
Feb 12 2009
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/20266
***

Most of us aren't old enough to remember the Great Depression.

But "The Grapes of Wrath," stark photographs of pathetically poor folk with life's spark absent from their eyes, and Dust Bowl accounts somberly related by Grandpa have given us grim insight into how hard times were for so many back then.

The elders of my family talked about it often while I was growing up.

What I recall most vividly from those retellings is the contemptuous sneering over Republican President Herbert Hoover's response to the staggering calamity unleashed after Wall Street's 1929 crash.

The impoverished masses were expected to sell apples on street corners to survive!

Under left-wing leadership, the American people angrily rejected such absurdity, mustering sufficient militancy to force FDR's enactment of the broadly beneficial New Deal. They also organized the great industrial unions that gave ordinary citizens the means to attain prosperity and protection on a nationwide scale.

Ever since, conservative Republicans have reached deeply into their rotting bag of depravity to constantly come up with increasingly more selfish schemes to try to undo whatever gains workers have won through necessary, arduous struggle.

One particularly vile effort was "Reaganomics," so destructively thrust upon us during the awful '80s.

Prior to that period, the only poverty I'd ever experienced was in the early '60s, when Eastern mining companies abruptly quit Upper Michigan's once-booming Gogebic Iron Range. Everyone was suddenly jobless, Dad included.

We received welfare assistance for several months, manifested most notably by cans of Kennedy-era USDA mystery meat on Mom's pantry shelves. Our local economy eventually rebounded, but not soon enough to erase my lingering memory of that meat's "unique" taste.

The Reagan recession, though, was much harsher. It affected many millions more.

What's worse, it was deliberately contrived, to break the back of union power and thereby transfer American societal wealth to corporate/financial coffers to a degree that made storied sea piracy seem ethical and paltry in comparison.

Members of my extended family and I were unemployed for an excruciatingly long while. The same could be said for most everyone we knew. Packages of generic macaroni and cheese were supermarket shoppers' first pick, and easily half the passengers on our city buses were down-and-out souls either going to or coming from selling their blood plasma, out of desperate need.

Meanwhile, this country's upper crust -- the primary Republican constituency -- flourished like a fattening pig.

Huge tax breaks for the wealthy, coupled with deregulation of all institutions having direct bearing on the quality of our lives, and our very safety, became the American norm.

Most of us finally went back to work, but at jobs that generally paid much less than those we'd held earlier. Former auto makers became hamburger flippers at fast-food joints.

Rapacious class warfare conducted against America's wage-earning majority -- an open plunder thinly disguised by "trickle down" balderdash -- became thoroughly institutionalized.

Along with all this came the rapid growth of deep, ultimately insoluble contradictions that, in the final quarter of 2008, would make a very compelling case for Karl Marx's famous quote that "capitalists are their own gravediggers."

The entire system collapsed, most spectacularly in its finance sector, but chiefly because American labor had been exploited for so long that workers could no longer afford to buy back what they themselves produced. "Consumer confidence" understandably eroded, and store shelves gathered dust in the uneasy months before their final going-out-of business sales.

Giving Marx credit again where it's definitely due, here is the long-predicted "overproduction crisis" for which private-profit capitalism simply has no solution.

Into this impending catastrophe came Barack Obama, a decent man with ultimate loyalties lying with the common people, by whose status he knows that America's societal health must be measured. Not by how flush and plush things might be with a tiny, superrich minority.

So Obama and the Democrats sought to advance a "stimulus package" to "jump-start" the failing economy.

Never mind that it was too little, too late, or that probably nothing can be done, now, to slow our greased-skid slide to disaster.

Republicans resisted this good-faith effort with all the typical, pro-plutocracy nonsense they could shamefully muster. They wanted even more tax advantages and subsidies for business interests, coupled with demands for less regulation, forgetting that the Bernie Madoff rip-off and the current peanut-butter salmonella scare are two salient examples of deregulation's abject bankruptcy.

Cancer-stricken Ted Kennedy had to return to Washington, since his vote was needed by the Democrats to prevent a Republican senatorial filibuster.

All this completely wrong-headed obstructionism occurred as the unemployment rate soared to record levels and mass hardship was becoming epidemic. Elkhart, Indiana will soon be Everytown, USA.

It happened shortly after one of our community's television stations ran a sobering piece on area homelessness, featuring a man who lived in a scrap-built shelter in the woods, when the wind chill routinely exceeded 30 below!

Where is the "Christianity" of those who greedily devote all their efforts to preserving their privileged, luxurious status, derived by a parasitic sucking of working-class lifeblood?

What manner of "human" can see profit and suffering before him, know that relentless pursuit of the former inevitably causes the latter, and still blithely seek more profit, at the painful expense of public welfare and the common good?

Before our sofas and televisions become evicted furniture out on the sidewalks, we need to rise from our torpor and fight back, like our forebears did in the Rebel '30s, using exactly the same tactics.

Get mad as hell. Unite, organize.

This is our country, and we can't allow traitors loyal only to The Almighty Dollar to destroy America.
_______

About author

Dennis Rahkonen, from Superior, Wisconsin, has been writing progressive commentary with a Heartland perspective for various outlets since the Sixties.

US-Israeli Interactions

2009-02-25T13:29:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

US-Israeli Interactions
*******
www.uruknet.info [51986]
***

U.S.-Israel Storm Clouds Ahead?

February 20, 2009

After eight years of the closest possible relations, the United States and Israel might be headed for a period of increasing strain, particularly given the likelihood that whatever Israeli government emerges from last week's election will be more hawkish than its predecessor.
While Iran, with which Barack Obama has pledged to engage in a "constructive dialogue," and the future of its nuclear program, will no doubt serve as the greatest source of tension between the two allies, the new president's commitment to achieving real progress on a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict might also provoke serious friction, particularly if a reunified Arab League launches a major new push for its 2002 peace plan.
Last week's election produced a clear majority for right-wing parties led by the Likud Party of former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly declared his opposition to a settlement freeze, territorial concessions, and the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
Even if the more-centrist Kadima leader, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, can patch together a government of national unity, the right-wing parties will be able to effectively block major concessions in any peace talks, in the absence of any external pressure.
"Given the philosophical differences between Kadima and Likud on peace issues, such a unity-government would be hard-pressed to make the historic decisions needed to reach a deal with the Palestinians," wrote former U.S. Mideast peace negotiator, Aaron David Miller, in the Jewish Forward this week.
But Obama and his Mideast special envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, might indeed be willing to exert pressure on Israel, among other things, by tabling their own views about a final peace agreement and how precisely it might be achieved, especially if ongoing Arab efforts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah in a new coalition government succeed.
If all goes well on that front, the Arab League, fortified by a developing rapprochement between Syria and Saudi Arabia, could announce the latest version of its 2002 peace plan at next month's summit in Doha, according to Marc Lynch, a George Washington University specialist on Arab politics. Such a move "could galvanize the situation and put the onus on whatever Israeli government emerges to respond positively," he wrote on his widely read blog on the Foreign Policy Website this week.
"If you have a unified Palestinian government and a unified Arab move for peace," added Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator, "then it's much more likely that Obama will step up his own efforts, ideally, working with an Israeli government that's ready to go along with a serious peace process, but, if not, being willing to make his disagreement (with that government) known."
The result could be a serious test between the next Israeli government and its influential advocates here and an administration which clearly believes that real progress toward resolving the 60-year-old conflict is critical both to restoring Washington's credibility among the Arab states and curbing the further radicalization of the region's population, particularly in the wake of Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza.
A more likely source of tension between the U.S. and Israel, however, will be Iran's nuclear program.
"Iran is going to be the most likely issue on which Israel and the United States will have a serious difference of opinion, if not a confrontation, in the next year," warned former U.S. Ambassador Samuel Lewis after the election last week.
Although Netanyahu has been the most outspoken, virtually the entire Israeli political and military establishment has described Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions as an "existential" threat to the Jewish state; [they have] suggested that Israel should be prepared unilaterally to attack Tehran's key nuclear facilities as early as within the next year if it cannot persuade Washington to do so.
Already last year, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked bush for bunker-busting bombs, refueling capacity, and permission to fly over Iraq for an attack on Iran, according to a new book by New York Times correspondent David Sanger, entitled "Inheritance."
That request was strongly opposed by Pentagon chief Robert Gates, who has been retained by Obama, and ultimately rejected by bush. According to bush's former top Middle East aide, Elliott Abrams, bush, who almost never denied the Israelis anything, was worried that any attack on Iran risked destabilizing Iraq.
While the violence in Iraq has continued to decline, U.S. military commanders insist that stability there remains "fragile," so that bush's concerns about the implications for Iraq of a U.S. or Israeli attack on Iran are likely to be shared by Obama.
Even more important, however, is the new administration's conviction that Afghanistan and Pakistan, which, like Iraq, also border Iran, constitute the true "central front in the war on terror," an assessment backed up by Obama's announcement this week that he will deploy 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over the next few months, bringing total U.S. and NATO troop strength there to 80,000.
Top U.S. civilian and military officials dealing with "AfPak," as the new administration has dubbed the two countries, have made clear that they hope to enlist Iran, with which Washington cooperated in ousting the Taliban in 2001, in helping to stabilize Afghanistan.
"It is absolutely clear that Iran plays an important role in Afghanistan," Obama's special "Afpak" envoy, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, said in Kabul earlier this week in an interview during which he pointedly declined to repeat bush administration charges that Tehran was aiding the Taliban. "[Iran has] a legitimate role to play in this region, as do all of Afghanistan's neighbors," he insisted.
Most regional specialists, including Bruce Riedel, who co-chairs the White House's "AfPak" policy review, and John Brennan, Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, have long argued that Iran's cooperation would make Washington's effort to stabilize the region and ultimately defeat al Qaeda markedly easier; conversely, its active opposition, as in Iraq, is likely to make the task considerably more difficult.
That assessment has, if anything, gained strength in just the past few weeks as Washington has scrambled to secure new supplylines into landlocked Afghanistan after a key bridge in Pakistan's Khyber Pass was destroyed by Taliban militants there; and Kyrgyzstan threatened to end Washington's access to its Manas air base.
While U.S. efforts to compensate have focused so far on the overland route through Russia and the Central Asian "Stans," a growing number of voices have noted that a much less costly and more efficient alternative route would run from Iran's southern ports into western Afghanistan.
Although Tehran would no doubt be very reluctant to permit the U.S. military to use its territory at this point, NATO's supreme commander, U.S. Gen. John Craddock, said earlier this month that he had no objection if other NATO members could negotiate an access agreement with Iran.
Of course, it is not yet clear whether U.S. success in "AfPak" and Iran's possible role in securing it, will help trump Washington's concerns about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
But the clear priority [of] stabilizing Southwest Asia is being given by the new administration; and the abrupt change in the rhetoric emanating from Washington about Iran, not to mention abiding concerns regarding Iran's ability to destabilize Iraq, clearly run counter to Israel's efforts to depict Tehran's nuclear program as, in Netanyahu's words, "the greatest challenge facing the leaders of the 21st century."

And it will surely make it more difficult for him or anyone else in the next Israeli government to "harness the U.S. administration to stop the threat."

***
Taken from www.uruknet.info
***
http://ww.uruknet.info?p=m51986
***

Movie Review: "Black Snake Moan"

2009-02-24T11:16:00.000-06:00

This movie is as bizarre and eccentric as its title. It is a story, produced in twenty-oh-seven, of the many ways in which human beings can get lost, and the one Way that we find redemption-- Love. Only when we learn to love and to forgive ourselves and others can we find peace and joy.

The main characters are an African American man and a Caucasian woman. The man is named "Laz," and the woman is called "Rae." She has a terrible reputation as a "slut" or "whore," largely the outworking of her having been abused as a child. Laz has just lost his wife, and is in mourning over it; he heals himself by sincerely attempting to heal Rae. She later redeems her sanity by aiding her boyfriend Ronny. (In the end,she and Ronny are married.)

The bizarre story begins as Laz discovers Rae on the road, drunk and high, where she has been kicked from the car by her latest lover. Laz has no sexual interest in Rae; and he does not become sexually interested in her during the entire movie. Instead, he truly serves her by recognizing-- perhaps, for the first time-- that she is a human being, in need of real help. To keep her from fleeing, Laz wraps a very long chain around Rae. She resents this, and him, with extreme and great bitterness. But later, as she sees his good heart, she abandons her negativity, and begins to love him in her own way-- again, in a sexfree mode!

Laz gets much help, assistance, and practical aid from his friend who is a minister; but this minister is refreshingly human. He is no stuck-up, selfconscious, preachy "Christian." He lives, acts, thinks, and speaks like a "normal" human being, even swearing from time to time.

There is, in fact, quite a bit of swearing in this movie. But it is not used for shock-value or to stun. Instead, it seems to reflect the normal ambience of the people involved, and the atmosphere of their little southern town. It also reflects their deep frustrations with their lives.

The movie is rough and uncultured; the characters are hardly "finished," refined, or polished social products. They are all very human, in ways that all of us can recognize-- in ourselves as well as in others.

But it is in the over-riding transcendental theme that the movie really shines. For its theme is definitely Love, and how we can shine Love, as understanding, patience, and kindness, into each others' hearts and lives.

Love is stronger than associates, stronger than abuse, stronger than the past, stronger than mental or emotional illness. Love is irresistible; it is the greatest Power in the universe!

Refresher Course

2009-02-23T11:14:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Refresher Course
*******

[This is written] just to clear up any misunderstandings. I thought I'd forward the Webster's New World Dictionary definitions of a few terms distorted and twisted by the wealthy owners of our public airwaves.

Why would they do that? Because they are greedy. Because they 'fear' someone, or something, will take some of their god away. Therefore, they use the airwaves to scare you about such ideologies and systems of governing. And here are those big scary systems for you to [contemplate[:

Socialism: 1. any of various theories or systems of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society or the community rather than by private individuals, with all members of
society or the community sharing in the work and the products. 2. a political movement for establishing such a system. The doctrines, methods,etc of the socialist parties. 3. the stage of society, in Marxist doctrine, coming between the capitalist stage and the communist stage (see COMMUNISM, sense2), in which private ownership of the means of production and distribution has been eliminated.

Fascism: the doctrines, methods, or movement of the fascisti. 2. {sometimes} a system of government characterized by rigid one-party dictatorship, forcible suppression of opposition, private economic
enterprise under centralized governmental control, belligerent nationalism, racism, and militarism, etc.; first instituted in Italy in 1922. 3. a) a political movement based on such doctrines and policies b) fascist behavior See also "Nazi.")

Communism: 1. an economic theory or system based on the ownership of all property by the community as a whole. 2. a hypothetical stage of socialism, as formulated by Marx, Engels, Lenin, and others, to be characterized by a classless and stateless society and the equal distribution of economic goods; to be achieved by revolutionary and dictatorial, rather than gradualistic [evolutionary], means.

One last note: Remember that there are many actual examples of active socialism in our capitalistic society: The Fire Dept., the Police Dept., the military and it's healthcare system, etc.

No one is even being tortured by [these socialistic systems]. Now, see, that wasn't so dark & evil, was it? Now, think about the last eight years: And think which definition these more closely fit, where we have been heading.

A True Christian Community, in the New Testament, [was identified by its possession of the] Mind [and] heart of Jesus [Christ]. [This kind of community] is more closely aligned with socialism, and more evolved modes of communism. But the powerful people want you to fear these systems. And no, they are not perfect either, because of [the hu]man's propensity towards our lowest nature-- greed,etc. But today's Western style capitalism, if you take a good, hard, sober look at the realities of it, well, I'll say [simply] it works extremely well for the wealthiest ten to twenty percent. And below that [small economic demographic,], well, [it doesn't help much.] one more thing to prove that socialism is what we have now for the rich, and so called "free enterprise" for the working class. [This is] proof that socialism will outlive capitalism, because "we the people" have to bail out the [evil and ignorant people] at the top, after their scams and dime-dancing are through, and they've sold us out.

The Illusory Values of Travel

2009-02-23T11:11:00.001-06:00

A person who does not like herself very often will seek something to "compensate" for the absence of selflove, or for feeling inadequate (low selfesteem). Very often, she will brag or boast about her "important" or "famous" friends; in essence, she is pathetically begging, "Please pay attention to me and say that I am worthy, good, or important." This is replacing healthy selfesteem with damaging friendesteem.

People do something similar with travel. Just as having "famous or important" friends does nothing to make you a truly "better" person, so, in itself, travel does nott improve you-- mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Historically, people who travel much are no more tender or compassionate generally than are those who never have left home.

The wellknown Chinese mystic who is the founder of Taoism, whose name is Lao Tzu, wrote, "The sage can see the whole world without moving her front gate." For the enlightened have no need for all the "hassles" involved with travel.

Time is the "gold" of the cosmos. It takes quite a bit of time to invest in yourself, and in your friends or community. And it takes time to reinforce your spirituality-- reading, discussion, meditation, etc. The person who travels too much actually is putting her spirituality in danger; she is exactly like the materialistic or greedy person, who simply "does not have time" for spiritual concerns. Travel takes much timenergy-- so much that you no longer have time for God (Love) or truth. The genuine Way is lost to you simply because you have not taken the time to study, learn, and meditate.

People who do not like themselves often use travel to hide feelings of unworthiness, believing the illusion (lie) that travel itself somehow makes you "more important" or a "better person." But it does not; the truth is that, historically, many fools have traveled all their lives, every day or every week. And, because they spent all their time in travel, at the end of their lives, they died in their ignorance and foolishness. For an entire life spent in travel, and its many arrangements, cannot be spent in the pursuit of wisdom, peace, joy, or
Love.

Thus, as the people of Love and enlightenment, we must find the wisdom and courage to turn away from the illusion-laden, and glittering, promise of travel. All that glitters... Travel offers distractions to the average person, but has very limited value to the person of Spirit. (Her Journey is interior, and infinite.) Thus, the person of wisdom is not impressed by travel, and she does not encourage this unhealthy form or expression of illusion in her friends.

She might enjoy some moderate travel, and might even discuss this; but she does not support the unhealthy illusion that travel is important in itself. For travel itself is not therapeutic; and too much of it can harm your selfesteem, your family, your friends, or even your community. (For you cannot and do not usually serve anyone when you are always "gone.")

Like everything else, travel is good in moderation, but too much can have a negative effect on your psychology or even your psychospirituality. It can make you feel, subconsciously, unstable, that you have no "solid base" or strong foundation, no firm footing. It can make you feel as if you were walking on quicksand, and its effect can be troubling and unsettling.

It also costs not only much timenergy, but money. The wise would be better served, and truly improved, by taking this timenergy and money to improve her own home.

For the goal of the enlightened is to create a home so beautifully attractive that she does not have to leave it in order to enjoy her time. For the "travel-bug" can also "infect" people who secretly hate their homes. These homes can be greatly improved energy-wise (as in feng shui), by the addition of color, candles, fountains, mirrors, music, chimes, hard floors instead of carpet, and by the complete eradication of all "junk" and clutter. Try to minimize argumentation, disagreements, quarreling, shouting, loud talk, dissonant music, and similar negative
behaviors in the home.

If you "sweeten" the home, it will no longer seem dreary or boring; then, you will not need to "run away from," or "escape," your home. A happy home creates much in the happy life.
*******

We've Created a Frankenstein Monster

2009-02-21T11:09:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

We've Created a Frankenstein Monster
*******

Steve Cyester wrote this in 1996:

It has all the "rights" of human beings, but few of the limitations. It has the world's resources at its disposal, and is unencumbered by borders, states, or nations. Granted immortality by its creators, it amasses wealth and power beyond the capabilities of human beings. It corrupts schools, governments, and imposes its will throughout our society. It controls most of our access to food, housing, energy, and other important resources. By manipulating the news in all forms of media, it determines what is the "truth" in the eyes of most people. If we have the audacity to fight back against its tyranny, we find ourselves the object of harassment, lawsuits, firings and sometimes even murder.

Are we speaking of a malevolent God of some sort? In a sense, we are. We are describing the corporation. How have we allowed our own creation to turn into a
Frankenstein with such immense power over our world?

In the early days of our country, corporations were created to perform tasks that might not be done otherwise. Building toll bridges or roads was a typical purpose for which people allowed a corporation to exist. Their existence was authorized by a charter, a license to operate which could be revoked at any time
if the corporation caused harm to the people. This country's founders were well aware of the potential threats of corporations. Thomas Jefferson spoke of the need "to crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government and bid defiance to the laws of our country."

Corporations were kept under tight citizen control. In almost all states, these restrictions applied:

-- Corporations' activities were strictly limited to the purpose for which they were created.
-- Charters were granted for a limited time, after which the corporation's charter would expire unless it was decided that the people's interests would be serve to extend it.
-- Corporations were explicitly chartered to serve the public interest. Profit for shareholders was a secondary consideration.
-- Corporations could be terminated if they engaged in activities not specifically permitted in their charters or if they were considered not to be serving society's interests.
-- Charters did not prevent owners or managers from being prosecuted for criminal acts.
-- Corporations were prohibited from making any political or "charitable" contributions.
-- Corporations could not own stock in other corporations, and could not own any property not essential to their task.

Most of this important history is unmentioned today, and our children go through school without ever questioning corporate-dominated society. Through gradual corruption of our government and our courts, corporations have abandoned their proper role as tools for improving the lives of real people. So thoroughly
have our laws been perverted that corporations are now considered "natural persons" in our courts, and given "Bill of Rights" protections. Thus, our courts now permit exactly what the Bill of Rights was created to prevent: domination of public thought, discussion and policy. Corporations corrupt our schools, media, and government, and we know it! However, we continue to let power concentrate in the hands of corporations, even while their impacts become increasingly destructive to our freedom and prosperity.

Every day, there are people around the world fighting oppression of women, the poor and minorities. Others struggle to stop environmental destruction or the corruption of their governments. All these problems, and more, have roots in uncontrolled corporate power. We must attack at the roots to halt corporate corruption, and to put corporations back in their rightful place as servants, not masters of the people. In almost every state, corporate charters give citizens
the right to fight back against corporations that are harming them. It is up to us to re-educate ourselves, enforce these laws, and take further action to
regain control from the corporate Frankenstein.

*******
_______________________________

Spiritual Pre-schoolers

2009-02-21T11:07:00.001-06:00

Most of us spiritual seekers are not, and have never claimed to be, Jews. The same is very probably true of the fundy lady you mention. But fundies are just not programmed to think these matters through. In fact, their "training" (programming) does not usually teach them even to think independently at all. And, usually, they are "proud" of this absence of thought!

But because we are not members of the Jewish faith, Jewish laws do not restrict mystics in general, or Christians (followers of Jesus). The early Christian Church, in fact, had to struggle long and hard with this issue. Paul, in Galatians as elsewhere, makes it plain that Christians are not "under the Law" or the Mosaic or Levitical codes. Christ has freed us from all the laws of the Hebrew Scriptures ("Old Testament"). Christians, and other free spiritual people, are free from the necessity of studying or obeying the laws of ancient Israel. But Christian fundies, who always vacillate in confusion on this point, are woefully inconsistent on this matter; for they say that they must "obey the laws of Jehovah" in the old Jewish Bible, but then, ignore "Jehovah's laws" about sacrificing animals for sins, and many other Levitical provisions.

As far as Christianity is concerned, there is only one reference to astrology in the Christian Scriptures, and that is when the famous magi came to visit the Christ-child. An angel appeared to them, and they followed his advice. In short, they are not presented as "bad guys," but as heeding the direction of God, and following it. They were the only ones in the world who knew what was going on when Jesus was born. This presents astrology in the most positive light imaginable, and is the
opposite of fundy criticism and condemnation. And it is no mere coincidence that Jesus chose twelve apostles; for he wanted his apostles to represent all persons, and so, chose one for each sign of the zodiac.

Fundy "Christians" are Love-challenged. Their dogmas have blinded them to whatever Love they might have otherwise felt. You, in knowing with certainty that your friend is "in heaven," are blessed with a much greater, and more healing, faith; and congratulations on that!:)

Until this whole world grows up, we will always be burdened with the terrible ignorance and pride of fundies of various kinds. They help us, because they test our patience and Love. But it helps greatly to realize that what they think is irrelevant to how the universe actually works: God, happily, is completely unaffected by, independent of, what people say about God!:) So, in time, all this fundy nonsense will perish utterly, and be totally forgotten. It is just a minor "blip" that, in the one Mind, is quickly and quietly forgotten. So, let us not "give it power" by becoming upset about spiritual "pre-schoolers.":)
*******

Dare to Dream!

2009-02-21T11:05:00.000-06:00

Every argument-- including those which express truth or reality-- has two sides. The flipside of the arguments that you and I have discussed is the idealistic. Few people have the courage or the vision to see what can be, as opposed to what is. We do need both, in order to be balanced in this life.

So, no one should ever take away from you your ability to dream. Dreams are not always "logical," but can express something far beyond mere "logic." They can express the yearnings and hungers of the Soul.

If your interior "calling" is of this type, it is a sacred heartreasure. It is of enormous value.

I know, because, when I was eighteen, I was "called" to Guatemala. Everyone thought it impossible, or at least, implausible.

We would buy parts for our step-van, which we were reconstructing into a selfsustaining type of "camper." On the bills, the clerk would always write, "Mission: Impossible."

We bought a stepvan for $245, and I replaced all the modular parts accessible in the six-cylinder ("straight six") engine, including the carburetor, water-pump, fuel-pump, radiator, electrical wiring, fuel lines, and much, much more. When I started, I knew nothing about engines, their structure or function.

This trip, well over three thousand miles, could have been a disaster. We all knew that going in. In fact, in many ways, it was. But I would not trade the lifexperience obtained for anything; I married the Love of my life, Adamaria, in Guatemala City. Establishing our first home in a land of great beauty (it was called "the land of eternal spring" or el pais de la primavera eterna), surrounded by dire and extreme poverty, gave both of us values of nonmaterialism and nongreed which are still imprinted on our hearts. That adventure/journey still enriches our heartminds with memories that are irreplaceable.

I am glad that we did not listen to the "overly cautious" but older people around us.

It can, even now, be discouraging to think of the absence of support among older people, whom I once had regarded as "friends." They spoke of caution in the name of Love; and, no doubt, they were sincere. But I had to learn to love them all over again.

In an enterprise such as this one, people are quite skeptical. But you still have the courage and the vision to dream, and dream you should. It is your life, and your inalienable right. So, reach for the stars, go for the highest. Reach beyond the dull and "safe" borders of the doubters. Reach, and keep reaching; you will never regret the capacity to dream large.

This is the valid "flipside" of the discussions that we have already had. Both sides are true, and both sides have value. Please try to stretch your mind in order to encompass both. You will always be glad that you did!:)

Passion

2009-02-21T11:03:00.000-06:00

We are still having Pneumarium-gatherings every two weeks, where we celebrate together our shared spiritual passion, and you enjoy a continuous invitation that does not expire. Our next sweet gathering of the family will be on March 1, then March 15, and then, every two weeks after.:) We also have over four hundred tapes from the radioprogram "Heartmind" if you are interested; they are all listed on our website, loveministries.org

Re passion: Passion can, of course, rise from the ego. But it can also arise from the Soul, or even the Spirit-- very deep areas of Mind indeed.

The word "passion" itself has no intrinsic connection with sexuality, although that is one of many uses of the word.

Passion is the joyful enthusiasm that makes life worth living, and anything worth doing. A life without passion is not fully alive. A person must commit her life to something greater than herself, and this is, by definition, a "passion." It might be her work, her art, her feelings, intellect, career, or spirituality. Most lives do not have the capacity to include more than one great passion, so we should carefully choose our passions.

But it is not always a matter of egochoice. Some of the greatest and most passionate people of history said that their passion chose them, rather than the other way around. The spirituality of Jesus or of Francis are two examples of great passions.

A passion is a concern that over-rides all other concerns. It is always Number One. It is first to make use of our time-- the "gold" of the cosmos.

Passion is positive, healthy "obsession"-- a great, consuming, demanding call from deep within. It becomes the very Center and nucleus of our lives.

And blessed are you if your passion is Love-spirituality, for there is none better or richer.:)

Many do not know what their passion is, or should be. The interior "voice" of the deepest Mind has grown weak and feeble, and can barely be heard.

To discover your passion, you need to ask yourself, "What do I really, really like?" Through positive spiritual will (desire), we can be magnetically drawn to our passion. But we must approach the subject fully and completely ready to give all our timenergy to its pursuit; half-measures, or part-time pursuits, will never qualify as a true "passion."

Art, writing, religion, and politics are common passions. But spirituality is the best investment of timenergy, for it lasts forever and has huge "dividends."
*******

The "Will of God" and Personal Desires

2009-02-21T10:59:00.000-06:00

The "will of God" is not at all complex. Doing the "will of God" is living out the "desires of Love." This is the greatest possible discovery for a human being. And doing this will is the greatest "achievement" possible, although it is selfless in the sense that, at its apex, the ego disappears into a galactic pool of Lovemind.

Not surprisingly, doing the "will of God" is never imposed by any external Source or authority. By definition, when we grow into our Godself, or Goddessself, it is what we want to do. For "God's will" has become my will and your will.

We do it not because we must, or "should," but because we want to maximize the fun and joy, peace and tranquility, of our own lives. This path might well begin selfishly, but ends up in selfless surrender to Love. This, again, is not a "duty," but a pleasure and delight.

Doing the "will of God" is not a blanket life-event. Instead, it involves the moment-by-moment yielding to Love. In every circumstance, as we grow, we ask not, "What do I want?"-- the older self, but, "What does Love want?"-- the newer or higher Self.

Every time we do an act of constructive or healing Love, whether expressed to our grandchildren, our pets, our friends or family, or other living creatures, we are "in" the "will of God." We are actively "doing" Her will.

To maximize this sweet condition or state of mind, we must simplify the mind, minimizing all personal desires that differ from, or conflict with, the will of Love. So, we must give up selfishness, egocentricity, greed, clinging, attachment, craving, etc., as is emphasized in Buddhism. These are all "roads to hell" that are selfcreated; in other words, they lead to only states of misery and unhappiness [what the Buddha called "suffering" (dukha in Sanskrit).]

Personal desires cannot ever be completely fulfilled. This insatiability is the reason that we cannot and do not find happiness or peace through the fulfillment of personal desires. Even if we spend a billion bucks trying, we can never create happiness by the fulfillment of personal desires, for this is a completely selfish path, and Love calls us to a much higher pursuit. It calls us, in fact, to become an "incarnation of Love."

This is nothing less than a transformation of identity. The ego-- the person named on our birth-certificates and driver's licenses-- is not our true Self. For our truest nature, or interior Self-- the "higher" or deeper Self-- is the Christnature or Buddhanature. In that deep Mind, each of us is a "daughter or son" of the One, of the Mind (Tao or Spirit). We are the "children" (creations, emanations, dreams,
expressions, or masks) of Love. When we awaken to this higher identity, the identity of the ego is seen as nothing but a complex mask or game, a role being played by the Soul. It is abandoned as illusion; and, as illusion, it can never lead us to real or genuine happiness. (It was never designed to; it exists for only our education.)

This realization is utter and final liberation, and takes many lives to discover and live out; but we should not forget that some of us have been on this path for centuries already. So, we need not become discouraged if the transformation does not apparently occur overnight.

We must turn deeply inward, in profound introspection, and discover or feel for this Self. When we contact It, we must then turn over all personal desires, remembering that, although they promise everything good, personal desires actually keep us in selfcreated hellstates. When we have totally let go of the final traces of personal desire, we have discovered liberation-- and it is an awesome, breath-taking experience of utter beauty and overwhelming Love. The mysticsaints and mastersages
call this state "bliss," or "ecstasy."
*******

Love-Taoism

2009-02-21T10:57:00.001-06:00

I am a practicing Taoist, and I teach much Taoism, although not exclusively.(For we also study, at the Pneumarium, gnosticism, kabbalism, sufism, Buddhism, Hinduism, nature-faiths, etc.)

But the "purest" Taoism cannot be recommended. For in its purest form, Taoism recommends that one never interfere with the Flow of events as they are. But Love-Taoism is a little different, although it recommends the same great "faith" as regular Taoism.

Love-Taoism teaches that we should cooperate with the Flow of events as we find them, except when Love tells us to do otherwise. For example, the purest Taoist might sit by while her alcoholic friend ordered a whiskey. But the Love-Taoist could not remain unmoved or inactive.

Sometimes, Love orders (or commands) us to do something! And now! A Love-Taoist is committed to obeying or following the interior direction of the deep Lovemind at the Cennter of all minds, in the Core of the collective Unconscious.

Thus, a Love-Taoist is not as strictly limited to wu-wei, or non-interference, as is the purist Taoist. For the same reasons, Love often moves us to social actions as well as more personal actions of Love-service.

I have also taught, "Never give any advice unless it is requested." But this "request" for advice need not be a literal or verbal request. It can be a simple question, directed at an entire group of friends, or a generic call for aid or assistance.

At any rate, you must be aware of several factors: 1) It is never my intention to discourage you. 2) I never recommend following fear. 3) Any decision that you make you will make as a full adult, and it will be yours alone, as it should be.

As your friend, my only motive is for you to make all important decisions with crystal-clarity, and having taken the time to consider all the relevant factors involved. Sometimes, spontaneous, impulsive decisions turn out to be right, spot on; at other times, they do not.

Karma and Intention

2009-02-21T10:54:00.000-06:00

In a just universe, the Soul is never held responsible for any choice that it does not deliberately and voluntarily make. So, the Buddha pointed out that karma resulted, not from the results of our actions, but rather from our intentions. For the Soul can choose its intentions; it cannot "choose" the effects of its actions.

A good example is Jesus. Within a couple of centuries, his "followers," orthodox Christians, were cutting each others' throats. But Jesus received no karma for this, because he taught a message of Love, and he did so with a pure intention. For his intention was to plant and nourish the seeds of Love in the human heart. The fact that, in this complex cosmos, that did not work out, was not the responsibility of Jesus, and so, his Soul received no karma.

It is due to this principle that we do not have to live a "perfect" or flawless life to escape negative karma. We have only to live in pure intention.

This means that, if we intend to harm others, and end up helping them, we still receive negative karma. On the other hand, if we intend to help others, and our message is distorted by human nature, and people are hurt, we still receive the positive and beneficial "good" karma.

No karma results from the results of our actions. This is a serious misunderstanding we must clear up if we are to understand karma. For karma comes from only intentions, not just actions. And the Soul can always choose to live with good intentions, and thus, reap the rewards of good karma.

In this complex universe, there is actually very little that we can control; in fact, the entire mystical system of Taoism is founded on this single fact. But we are responsible for the one thing that we can control, and that is our intention.

We are not responsible for all of our own thoughtfeelings, for we cannot always control each and every microresponse. We are never responsible for the thoughts, words, or actions of others. We are not responsible for the physical world or its conditions; we are not responsible for even the condition of our local body. For the element of control is absent in every case, and where there is no control, there can be no responsibility.

Thus, the Soul is responsible for only its responses. (Easy to remember, for "responsibility" and "responses" share a root.)

Thus, the words of Jesus: "My load is easy, and My burden is light." The path of good moral judgment and good intention is much easier than that of "perfection." For, as imperfect human beings, the path of perfection is impossible for us. And, if karma resulted from the negative flowering of our behaviors, the situation would be hopeless.

Jesus made it plain that the cosmos, and the cosmic Mind behind it, are filled with forgiveness, mercy, and other aids for us. The cosmos is pro-human, giving us the benefit of every doubt; God always leans toward the side of mercy and forgiveness. The early Christian mystics wrote, "Mercy exults triumphantly over justice." So, the mercy of the One is even greater than Her perfect sense of karmic justice and balance. And we can all, and always, be very grateful for this.:)
*******

Genesis Mysteries

2009-02-21T10:51:00.001-06:00

The story of Genesis is often called the "Fall from grace." But no Soul can ever "fall" from the state of grace, granted by the irresistible and invincible Love of God; but while nothing can change the state of grace, Souls can "fall" from the realization of grace. When this happens, a Soul comes to see itself as only an animal or a mechanism, rather than as the spiritual and immaterial daughter or son of God (Love).

Genesis was written as an allegory before the rest of the Jewish Bible (Hebrew Scriptures) were compiled. This pre-Hebraic document is traced back to the "people of the stars," or "people of the sky," in other words, the gods (extraterrestrials?).

Like the Book of Revelation, with which it is symmetric, it is the story of an individual Soul. Like Revelation, Genesis is written in symbols. (In fact, some are the very same used in Revelation. Fmi, please see The Apocalypse of Love: Mystical Symbolism in Revelation. Genesis speaks of the Soul's coming into a world of ignorance. The "fall" revealed is also a part of the divine will; for without it, Souls would not have an opportunity to learn from the "school of earth."

Genesis refers to many allegorical symbols, such as trees, serpent, fruit, and also makes use of one of the most ancient and universal symbols of God and truth (reality). That is light. A later mystic would write, "God is Light, and there is no darkness at all in Him." (1 Jn. 1:5)
So, when God says, in Genesis, "Let there be light," it is a symbol of the world coming into conscious awareness. For "light" is an ancient and almost universal symbol of conscious awareness-- and here, things move from the Creator/Unconscious into the conscious (aware) mind. This is what the creation of "light" means in the ancient allegory.

All awareness is from the One, or the Mind. It all comes from the single Mind of which we are all a part, the "Mind of God" or "Godmind." We know that all "light" (awareness) arises from the One, for there is no other possible source.

Genesis is the story of the activities of the Elohim. This Hebrew word was deliberately mistranslated "God" in English translations (such as the King James Version of 1611), but the actual meaning of the word is "gods"-- plural, not singular. The authors believed in a plethora of Godexpressions, each symbolically a "god" or "goddess." So, Genesis 1:1 is usually mistranslated as, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Its more accurate translation is, "In the beginning, the gods created the heavens and the earth." God enjoys a pantheon of expressions, as recognized by the ancient Egyptians, Indians, Greeks, Romans, and others.

God and the "word" (the Greek logos) are identical. The Word is indivisible from God Itself/Herself/Himself. For the "Word" is the divine expression; it is the cosmos as the spontaneous dream of the One, of the Mind (Tao). We need not think in limited human terms, asking which came first, God or God's expression. Since "the Word was God" (Jn. 1:1), we can see the wisdom of the simultaneity of their rising; they are identical. Neither has a "beginning," but have existed always.

The "Word" can exist through the human mind, but it is not in any way dependent upon human minds to exist; it exists quite apart, and independent, from human minds.

Modern evolutionary theory has absolutely nothing to do with the primitive, often backwards, speculations of Darwin; today, his seminal work, On the Origin of Species, is regarded as only a "seed." It is woefully incomplete, primitive, and backwards. Only fundies think that "Darwin" is synonymous with "evolution." He has been hopelessly outdated for over a century. His ideas were not particularly brilliant, and not a one was original. He just appeared at the "right time" in history, to refute the strict and maniacally backwards Victorian Church.

For, in his time (this work was published in 1859), the science of genetics-- the key to everything in evolution-- did not even exist. Human beings share 97.4% of their dna with chimps. We can easily speak of the parts of a simian form (legs, eyes, ears, fingers, even nails) because they are, for all anatomical purposes, almost identical with our own.
If the earth was the "biolab" of the elohim, and if they were very advanced extraterrestrials, it only makes sense that they would use the template of organisms that already existed, instead of creating anew ("from scratch") each new species. There exist huge gaps in the fossil record; it by no means demonstrates the clear evolutionary flow that is the fantasy of some "true believers" (for whom "evolutionism" is a religion). Instead, there appear "quantum leaps" in the paleontological record. Were these times when the elohim returned to check on the
progress of their biolab, and when they introduced small but significant changes in the dna?

Adam and Eve are symbols of the two orientations of the Soul-- the logical, linear, sense-based "male" aspect and the intuitionbased, right-brained, deeper and more spiritual (loving) part-- the "female." All of us are, biologically, both male and female. We express one sex or the other due to hormonal factors present in the body before birth.
Interestingly, in the allegory of Genesis, God gives to Adam and Eve "all green plants" to sustain them. God does not teach them to hunt, or to abuse other life-forms; instead, they live in perfect peace and total harmony with all other creatures. It is not until the expulsion from Eden (which means "pleasure") that people begin to murder other life-forms in bloody violence. The very structure of the human body still reveals, with some clarity, that it has the anatomy and physiology of a vegetarian-- from the acidity and chemical structure of saliva and
stomach acid to the structure of the teeth, and the length of the digestive tract. Biology has created us in a clearly vegetarian pattern; we compare very favorably with other vegetarian forms-- some of the strongest creatures on earth, and we are very unlike the carnivores such as cats.

Obviously, no human being actually "saw" the creation. So, the story was not that of an eye-witness, but one of revelation from a higher (deeper) Mind. And that Mind was the Source of all life and matter; it was and is omniscient, knowing everything about everything. A "material" cosmos was never created at some time in the past; instead, it is being created (dreamed into being) every second of time. It is being dreamed into being at this precise second. The writers of Genesis received the account from the elohim themselves, whether in a dreamstate or some other altered state of consciousness.

Much, much more could be said about any or all of these very profound inquiries. But that will have to await another time. Hope that this helps. Btw, there is nothing "special" or "supernatural" about the Hebrew Scriptures; they were thirty-nine small books written by biased, often bigoted, and ignorant human beings. They were not "channeled" or produced during dreamstates.
*******

Permission to Die in Peace

2009-02-21T10:48:00.001-06:00

The following is only one potential, possible model for a document, to be kept with your "Living Will," that declares your declaration of your right to die with dignity. It states that you do not want to be kept alive indefinitely in a vegetative state.

***
I have cultivated, over many years, a most firm and reliable, dependable belief in the continued existence of the Soul (as Soulmind) after biological death. This is based on the teachings of Jesus, Gautama Siddhartha, and other wise mastersages.
I believe that the essence of life, and life-quality, are matters of mind, not the body alone. And, while deeply intertwined and related, the mindsystem and bodysystem are not identical. Nor does the mindsystem depend on the biocontinuity of the bodysystem, but exists independently of it. Thus, the mind can and does continue living, and creating quality of life, after the body is dead—even long afterwards. Therefore, this document is created in order clearly to express my desire not to be maintained in a biostate of "life" indefinitely when the bodymind systems have become vegetative or irreversibly unproductive.
The mind does not depend on the body, although the brain does. (The relationship between brain and mind is very complex; but as mind can exist without body, it can also exist independently of any brainsystem, and it does.
I hereby express my free-will decision, being of sound mind and body, without any restraint, influence, or pressure of any kind, the following:

This body, the body of _____________________ [your name], is not to be kept "alive" biologically in continuity, preserved as only a biological unit. If, at any time during this life, this body loses the ability meaningfully to cognize, recognize, think, create, write, speak, or any other valuable mode of expression, the body is to be terminated with my expressed approval and full permission. I believe that the quality of a life is more significant than is the biological maintenance or continuity of a life. Therefore, it follows that, should any factor(s) significantly compromise this quality of life, especially by cutting off meaningful, regular intercommunications with others; or if biological life steals away selfrespect, dignity, selfawareness, compassion, or Love, then, this life will be of little to no value to me.
And I order that this biological life be terminated.
This can occur through an overdose of oxycodon, hydrocodon, codeine, morphine, or any other sedative, euphoric, or relaxant drug.

Signed,_________________________________________________
in the presence of these witnesses:

_______________________________________________

_____________________________________________

on this ______ day of ____________, 20____.
*******

Movie Review: "Save Me"

2009-02-19T10:47:00.000-06:00

This wonderfully touching story, produced in twenty-oh-seven, is a deep, tender, and honest psychological and psychospiritual study. It concerns a couple, Ted and Gail, who have opened a "half-way house" for male homosexuals. They call their project by the elegant Greek name "Genesis."
Ted and especially Gail are traditional Christians. Therefore, they make the serious but ubiquitous error of mistaking the ancient Hebrew god Jehovah/Yahweh for the Christian God of pure Love. This virtually ruins any chance of real success: They see male-homosexuals as having a "disease," and in need of a "cure."
Ted seems to have, and to express, more Love; but Gail is still too hung up on laws, legalism, and prohibitions found in the Hebrew Scriptures really to allow herself to love. A choice is presented throughout this movie: We all must choose either Love or religion; Gail makes the wrong choice.
Because of this ignorance, she had kicked her own gay son out of her house; and that was the last she saw of him; he died shortly thereafter. But even this death did not penetrate the thick ignorance that caused Gail to continue to judge.
In one tragic scene, the father of one gay man is on his deathbed. His final words were those of Leviticus in the Hebrew Scriptures, condemning homosexuality. He had never managed to "forgive" his gay son, breaking the son's heart. But later, a gay man points out that many of the laws of the Hebrew Scriptures are ignored, including the approved stoning (tortuous murder) of rebellious children.
So, this man ended his life with damnation rather than Love. Sure enough, he quoted the Hebrew Scriptures as the basis for this absence of human feeling. His Biblical legalism had transformed this man into a heartless monster.
Two of the gay men fall deeply in Love. While nongay people might never be able to understand fully gay-psychology, we can at least permit them to love in their own way, without the obstacles and tribulations of added burdens of damnation. As one of the gays points out, Jesus said nothing about gays; and the other main character read the Canticle of Love from First Corinthians 13.
This is a very moving and touching movie, especially for anyone from a traditional "Christian" background. It relentlessly begs for understanding, acceptance, and non-judgment in this matter. It has many valuable lessons to teach our society and our world.
*******

Rove not Covered by Executive Privilege

2009-02-19T10:45:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Exclusive: Rove not Covered by Executive Privilege in Political
Prosecution Case, Lawyer Says
*******

Rove won't take the Fifth if he testifies. Representatives of the bush White House are no longer advising former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove that he is protected by executive privilege as regards testimony about the alleged political prosecution of an Alabama governor.
In an exchange with "Raw Story," Rove's Washington, D.C. attorney, Robert Luskin, also said Rove won't invoke his Fifth Amendment right to protect himself from self-incrimination, if and when he testifies about the firing of nine US Attorneys and the prosecution of the former governor.
There's been speculation that he would.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Lawyer_Rove_wont_take_Fifth_if_0216.html

This also holds true with the election fraud case using Ohio's tough RICO laws.
*******

Movie Review: "Premonition"

2009-02-18T10:43:00.001-06:00

This movie, made in twenty-oh-seven, is an intuitionbased study of some kind of flaw in spacetime, or in mind, or both. Its rather confusing theme is far from clear, and it bounces between realities in a somewhat baffling way.
In it, the character Jim Hanson apparently dies, and the effect on his wife Linda of the traumatic death-experience is the nucleus of the rest of the movie. For, each time that she sleeps, Linda seems to "shift" universes, perhaps entering a parallel universe in which Jim has not died. Or, it is also possible that she remains in this universe, but time-travels back to the time before his death.
A psychiatrist cannot explain what is happening, nor can a religious leader; it is quite beyond their comprehension.
Linda finally sees this as an opportunity to prevent the death of Jim. So, she goes back to the place and time of the accident, connects with Jim over cellphone, tells him to turn around, and ends up actually causing the accident that killed him.
This is a story about the Power of Love. But it also teaches that you cannot avoid your destiny: At least, there do exist events in the "future" that you cannot change. A subplot is that Jim is planning to have an affair with a lady at work, which would have blasted the marriage between him and Linda into nonexistence. But, at the last minute, he changes his mind, and wants sincerely to repair his marriage with Linda.
The ending might not be "happily ever after," but so few are, in real life.
*******

Movie Review: "Bringing Out the Dead"

2009-02-14T10:41:00.000-06:00

This movie (1999) is not as metaphysical or spiritual as are some others. It is really more of a psychological study. Its focus is Frank, an e.m.s driver, and his companion-drivers, who are often eccentric to the point of semisanity.
In fact, "semisanity" might well describe the state of the whole movie. It seems quite surrealistic in places, and it is not at all helped by a soundtrack that can be intrusive, disconcerting, abrasive, and out-of-place.
But if you can follow it, the general story-line is an excellent one. It studies the mind of Frank, as he goes through various stages of speculation about the afterlife, disappointment and guilt about a girl whom he was unable to revive, exhaustion, drug-intoxication (one scene is psychedelic), overstress, anxiety, tenacity, determination, and many other states of mind. This is a "rollercoaster" of a movie-- disjointed, quick-moving, and abrupt. A subtheme of the movie is Patrick Burke--a man who is in the process of dying, and whom Frank finally "lets go," to the relief and gratitude of all-- most of all, Patrick himself and his daughter Mary, with whom Frank has a semipassionate and semiromantic relationship.
This movie is very difficult to place into convenient categories. In this way, it is like real life. It is quite realistic, and so, uses some rather strong language, and that, rather frequently. At one point, Frank is recalling his successes, which make him feel like "God," and his failures, which make him feel like "the god of hellfire." Frank is a very sensitive guy, a specimen of the real but usually unsung heroes who man ambulances, and who keep people alive, including "drunks, whores, and other unworthies."
The film does criticize what people often do to themselves. It takes place in New York, where one must be quite strong to survive. From beginning til the end, Frank is haunted by a young girl named Rose, whom he sees, at times, everywhere.
She appears on the face of Mary, and on several strangers' faces. He explains to her, with deep sincerity, that he was unable to save her, but he did his very best, and seems to find final forgiveness. Despite its absence of many metaphysical or spiritual themes, this film is worth seeing, if for nothing else, then for its revelations of the troubled and stressful minds of ems-drivers.
*******

Unbelievable! Unconscionable!

2009-02-14T10:38:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

Talk about corrupt! [This banking crisis] is the epitome! These guys should be charged with treason and looting the treasury and treasonous, treacherous acts against American citizens, and economic terrorism! (I just made that up; but [I] think it's now time for that category to be included on the high crimes list)

These Merrill execs gave themselves $3.6 BILLION in bonuses on the eve of reporting a more than $15 billion fourth-quarter loss. Bank of America was complicit in the move to award bonuses before Merrill's fourth-quarter loss was announced; and both could face charges of securities fraud. (Wanna bet?) Four executives at Merrill alone received bonuses totaling $121 million. Nearly 700 employees received a bonus of at least $1 million (as they posted record losses and massive business failure!) Sick!

Read the whole thing if you are interested.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/ap_on_bi_ge/merrill_lynch_bonuses
*******

Movie Review: "Waking the Dead"

2009-02-14T10:36:00.001-06:00

This touching film was made way back in the year twenty hundred. It is at once a deep psychophilosophic study and a profound Love-story. The main character, Fielding Pierce, apparently loses his young girlfriend, Sarah Williams, through a rightwing terror attack. But the question that is the nucleus of the entire film is, "Is she really dead?"
The question is never really clearly answered. The film becomes a little "feliniesque" in areas, dodging a direct answer. But her influence upon Fielding is so very strong that he cannot shake memories of her, or her influence. (She was a bit leftwing, and he is struggling to "make it" in American politics.) He wants to be a spokesperson for the common, average American, and does some of his work in Illinois. (The movie might have been a bit precognizant of the success of Barack.)
He does pay attention to, and gets letters from, many average Americans. He is not at all interested in the horrendous nightmare of a "government" that has haunted our country for the past eight years.
A message of this film is that "Love is stronger than even death." The film examines the effect of an honest politician on her/his personal life; in one scene, Fielding "betrays" even his own brother. But his Love for Sarah remains the jewel at the center of his life and heart.
Yes, Love is greater than even politics; she influences him to the end.
This film has a most excellent message; but it is not for children. It contains some very strong language, and some indirect presentations of sex. But, for any adult, the flick is well worth seeing. With its message of undying, inconquerable Love, it is an expression/manifestation of what Love can accomplish in even a world as imperfect as ours. Every political leader should see it.
*******

Friday the Thirteenth

2009-02-13T10:39:00.001-06:00

Happy Friday the thirteenth. In Goddesscentered cultures, thirteen was the number of the Love-goddess, and Friday was her day. It is still regarded in Latin languages
(Spanish, Italian, French) as the "day of Venus.":) In Spanish, the day is called viernes, and in Italian, venerdi.

So, to counter it as a day of Love and celebration, the orthodox Church, which disliked almost everybody, declared the day "unlucky," based upon a superstition that if it was "lucky" for Goddess-people, who "worshipped Satan," it must be "unlucky" for "good people" (Christians, who "alone" worshipped God). So, the "unluckiness" of Friday the thirteenth was a product of bigotry.

Bread

2009-02-11T10:29:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Bread
*******

While waiting in line at the only open bakery he could find, Gaza resident Mohammed Salman said, "I'm going to buy something that my family can keep for only two days because there is no electricity and no refrigerator.

We cannot keep anything longer than that." This was in January of last year.

Today, many Gazan bakeries are closed because, like Mohammed's family, they
don't have power either. Some don't have even flour. The Israeli blockade of Gaza had already made it impossible for Palestinians to live in dignity and have access to the barest of essentials: bread, clean water, medical supplies, or electricity.

[Take action here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1814]

This is no coincidence. This is official policy. In a moment of candor, Dov
Weissglas, a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was quoted as saying, "The Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but [they] won't die."

His prediction was true. Last April, UNICEF reported that more than 50% of
children under five in Gaza are anemic, and that many children are stunted due to a lack of vitamins. And now?
As Gaza is smoldering from the siege that killed 1,285 people - nearly 70%
of them civilians, destroyed at least 4,000 homes, and sent more than 50,000 people to temporary shelters, the Israeli blockade has not been lifted. A tenuous cease fire is now in place. Humanitarian aid is starting to pour in.
But the civilian infrastructure is crippled. The borders of Gaza remain controlled by Israel. And just as Gazans could not leave during the siege to escape the bombing and shelling, they cannot leave now to get food and fuel.
There is not enough electricity for the bakeries that are left standing to produce bread, or for families that still have homes to refrigerate food. Palestinians cannot even feed their children with the fish from the nearby sea. Israeli gunboats offshore have been enforcing the blockade with rounds of cannon and bursts of heavy machine-gun fire, to keep Gaza fishermen out of the sea.

Unless we end the blockade, long after the world's attention has shifted to
some other crisis, some 1.5 million Gazans will still be under-nourished, without proper medical care, fuel and water, and trapped. Israelis too, who live in the south, will be even less safe from the threat of Hamas' Qassam rockets falling on their heads.
Lasting peace and stability in the region are simply an impossible dream while
Palestinians in Gaza are denied the right to protect their children, feed their
families, and expand their worlds beyond the few feet in front of their homes--or, for many, tents.

Please ask your friends to speak out and tell Obama: "Lift the blockade."

Sincerely,
Cecilie

Abandoning the GOP?

2009-02-11T10:26:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher.

Abandoning the GOP?
*******
A detailed story in this morning's Post-Gazette examines that large group of Pennsylvanian citizens who switched allegiance last year from Republican to Democrat.
***

Pa. voters abandon GOP for Dems in droves
Moderates cite Bush, Iraq war for causing switch

Saturday, February 07, 2009
By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Recent Republican losses in Pennsylvania have been spurred by defections from among the party's more affluent and better-educated voters.

One of the strongest recent currents in Pennsylvania politics has been a shift of registered voters from Republican to Democrat. A new survey suggests that this change has been led disproportionately by some of the GOP's more upscale members, estranged by the Bush administration and the unpopular war in Iraq.

Muhlenberg College's Institute of Public Opinion looked at a sample of the hundreds of thousands of former Republicans who have swelled the ranks of Democrats over the last two federal election cycles.

In May 2006, just months before an election in which the GOP lost four House seats along with Rick Santorum's Senate seat, Democrats held a registration lead of roughly 550,000. By last November, as President Barack Obama was carrying the state by the widest margin of any White House contender in decades, the Democratic advantage had grown to 1.2 million voters.

The Democratic registration tide was swelled by the unprecedented grass-roots organization put together by the Obama campaign. But the Muhlenberg findings suggest that it also reflected a longer-term reaction against Republican policies.

A majority, 53 percent, of those who left the GOP had been members of the party for at least 20 years. Most described themselves as moderate, 37 percent, or liberal, 27 percent -- an obvious contrast to a party overwhelmingly composed of voters who describe themselves as conservative.

A strong majority of the switchers, 67 percent, also described themselves as in favor of abortion rights.

They also were more likely to characterize their decision to leave the GOP as the result of changes in the party's positions, rather than changes in their own political views -- 37 percent to 21 percent. By a wide margin, 67 percent, the respondents cited former President Bush as a "very important" catalyst for their decision to leave the party. Fifty-four percent cited the Iraq war. When asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements about the GOP, 53 percent said the party had "become too extreme in its positions."

Forty-six percent said they were closer to the Democratic Party on taxes, and 38 percent said they were closer to the Democratic Party's position on issues such as gay marriage and abortion and roughly a third agreed with the statement, "The influence of the religious right on the Republican Party's social positions led me to leave the party."

Of those who made that ideological journey, 25 percent said their incomes exceeded $100,000 and another 26 percent said they made between $60,000 and $100,000. Just 26 percent said they made less than $40,000.

Twenty-four percent said they had a graduate degree, 25 percent had graduated from college, and another 29 percent said they had at least some post-high school education.

Chris Borick, the Muhlenberg political scientist who directed the survey, said that, "Among the troubling signs [for the state GOP] is that you're losing pretty long-term loyal Republicans. They're suburban, like those around Philadelphia. They're better educated, wealthier individuals.''

Only 22 percent of the former Republicans said they were likely to change their registration again in the next five years. But Mr. Borick pointed out that some of the bigger influences prompting the shifts -- the Iraq war and the Bush presidency -- now present lower profiles on the political horizon.

"That poses some opportunities," he said. But he added that, for many of the former party members, "There are more systemic issues -- a lot of these people are the moderates and the more liberal Republicans."
James O'Toole can be reached at jotoole@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1562.
First published on February 7, 2009 at 12:00 am

Movie Review: "City of Angels"

2009-02-11T10:25:00.001-06:00

Movie Review: "City of Angels"
*******

This movie, made way back in 1998, contains some timeless and perennial truths. It is based on the very popular fantasy that "angels" are quite humanoid beings who care very much, and deeply, about the activities on earth-- despite the fact that earth is only a tiny dust-mote circling a small spark called "the sun." Still, even if you do not believe in the pleasant mythology of these angels, this movie will probably make you want to believe!
The movie draws much dramatic content from death and its survival, intact, by the Soul; in fact, its main character, Maggie Rice, is a surgeon who often feels both responsible and guilty for the death of surgical patients. She is the kind of doc who is a true healer, who has a heart.
The being that falls in Love with her is male, but is not a deceased Soul from earth; he is an angel, and so, is totally ignorant of the delights and pleasures of the "dreamworld" that is earth. He knows nothing of the "garden of earthly delights." This part is a little difficult to swallow; and the story might have been richer if he were a Soul who had experienced earthly life and senses, rather than an "angel" to whom human experiences seemed alien.
This is a touching and moving Love-story. Those who know me know how easily and readily I can be brought to tears, and this flick did so several times.
This story symbolically portrays what we all must go through and give up to come to earth-- often, for Love. While the ending could have been happier, it reflected life itself in its many uncontrollable, unpredictable changes, and was, overall, a "happily ever after" film.
*******

Ministries and Greed; Sincere thanks

2009-02-11T10:23:00.000-06:00

We truly want to thank you not only for your gracious and grace-filled generosity, but for your patience. For you and a few others have been tenacity in action re the need for Love Ministries to "take care of business" re finances. This is an area which, quite frankly, is the most troubling to me, for I have seen ministries go very wrong here, trying to turn spirituality into a "market commodity," like beans. And I must make absolutely sure that Love Ministries has "clean hands" relative to this spiritual "crime."

We never will permit the Ministries to become involved in "money-grubbing." As you know, we prefer to err on the side of caution here, and so, have not, in the past, given sufficient attention to this real aspect of the Ministries. Your awareness has compensated for our lack, counterbalancing our ultracautious approach with a realistic awareness of material needs.

Still, we are determined never to become careless in this matter; so, we will stay alert and, when necessary, hypervigilant, so as never to allow greed to contaminate our work or our words. But please let us take this moment to thank you sincerely and personally for your endurance and tenacity in dealing with what can be a rather thick-skulled approach.:):)
We do very much appreciate your kindness as well as your responsiveness
to our needs. Color us grateful.:)
*******

Two e-magazines

2009-02-11T10:22:00.000-06:00

No, we no longer do the radioshow, and, at times, it is really missed with passion! But we are writing these days virtually nonstop, with over twenty books published, and seven more "waiting in the wings," for selfpublication can get very expensive, and we never charge for any of our spiritual work-- teaching, advising, lectures, seminars, working with clients, students, and friends. We are supported entirely by voluntary Love-donations. The great Tao has provided up until now, and will continue to make our work possible as long as it is needed; and, right at the moment, our poor little planet is "starving" for good spirituality, although we have loads of religion!:) Btw, we have two ezines: One is the uld ("Universal Love Digest"), and it comes out about two or three times a week; each issue contains from one to five articles, each of which is from one to five paragraphs; it's a quick read. Then, we have Lovelight magazine, of about twenty pages. It comes out once a month, and contains personal philosophy, humor, practical tips, and wordplay.

Both are free; if you would like one or both, just please let me know.:)
*******

Movie Review: "Ghostown"

2009-02-08T10:21:00.000-06:00

This moving and touching movie, made in twenty-oh-eight, is the story of a misanthropic dentist named "Pincus," who hates almost everybody-- at least, in the beginning. But about three-quarters of the way through, he follows the advice of a fellow dentist who is Hindu, and takes a second look at his life. By then, he is already falling in Love, and so, this is the story of a miserable man who discovers the Power of, and turns to, Love to find meaning and joy in life.
The story is unique because Pincus has the ability to see souls who have departed this life, but still have strong glue-like connections with this world. Only after Pincus helps them "tie up loose ends" are they surrounded by a golden Light,, and move on to final liberation from all earthly concerns. In short, this film is highly recommended, and contains the seeds of some great truths.
*******

"Old Age"

2009-02-08T10:20:00.000-06:00

No one becomes an "old lady" until she gives up. No one really "gets old" until she stops playing. Some people are "born old," and some are "old" at age twenty; for she who cannot, or forgets to, laugh is "old" in both her body and mind.

Letter from Cathy

2009-02-08T10:18:00.001-06:00

Dearest Friends of the Heart,

I know that some of you have been a bit anxious recently re Love Ministries, and specifically, you are concerned that the Ministries are running out of money.
In this world, this is always a necessary concern. And it is true that Love Ministries' funds have been depleted. For example, we have several books "waiting in the wings" to be published. The manuscripts are finished and completed, but funds are not there for publishing, which can be very expensive.
Thus, in view of this, Adamaria and I were very pleased and delighted to receive the following letter from Cathy Moullton of South Dakota. It suggests an idea that, we must admit, would never have occurred to us!
Anyway, here is the letter:

Dear Maria and Richard,

We thought this would be a fun idea. We would like to put out a fundraising challenge to friends and family who would help contribute to your book-publishing mission. We will match each person who donates $20-$250. If you would like to post this information on the "[Universal] Love Digest,"and/or send out an email about this, it would probably help to "jumpstart" people to make a contribution to this worthy cause. We're sending a check of our own... to start things up again in getting
your gbooks published. Take care of yourselves and be well.

Love,

Cathy and Boone [Posey]

They Just Don't Get It!

2009-02-03T10:10:00.000-06:00

I heard on the news the other day that the unemployment rate for last month was 7.8% in the Dayton Area. I look around and see a lot of businesses closing. Sadly, it looks like Forbes Magazine was correct a couple of months ago when they said Dayton, Ohio is one of the fastest dying cities in the U.S.

~Barbara

E-activism, Part II

2009-01-31T13:06:00.001-06:00

In a previous issue of the uld, we suggested that e-activism, involving sending emails to corporations, congress-people, leaders, and signing petitions, is a valid form of Lovexpression-- particularly for those who cannot be mobile, for some reason.

Some of you felt as if this was not enough. And you were right.

True "e-activism" does not end with forwarding emails or signing petitions. These actions, although good and fine, expressing real concern for human beings and other creatures, are only a good start. But to be maximally meaningful, e-activism must include not only fine ideals, but actions that support those fine ideals.

Every group that supports humanity and animals requires money. So do groups that are striving to maintain a reasonable balance with nature(ecology). So, let us prioritize our limited funds, and support these fine causes, walking our talk.

In one evening, fyi, Love Ministries divided up its Love-donations as follows: A check was written to Mercy Corps, the Humane Society,American Friends,Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,Children International,St. Joseph's School for Native Americans, Amnesty International, the Llamafarm, and Students Against Drunk Driving.

Of course, as all of our friends know, Love Ministries operates on a minimal, "shoestring" budget. This is because Love Ministries almost never receives any Love-donations. There is one wonderful exception, for one of our beloved sisters has donated for years, and on a regular basis, to our Ministries. And we also do have a very few clients who make small but regular donations for counseling. But because we have decided to do all our spiritual work free of charge, free of fees, we do not receive any funds for almost all the work that we do. This includes work connected with the Pneumarium Lightcenter, writing, reading, studying, proofing, rewriting, packagingg, and mailing over twenty books to people open to spiritual development. This ezine (emagazine) together with its "sister" magazine, the ezine Lovelight, which is about twenty pages, and comes out once a month, are also distributed free of all costs.

When performing your e-activism, please do not think that your donations must be large! These charitable orgs are often grateful for donations of as little as $5.
And the checks that we send out are about $5-$20. For it is an undeniable fact that if every group received five or ten dollars from everyone to whom they sent an email, they would be flooded with more money than they could use! So, in a way, small donations can be only symbolic of the things that we really value. But, as the people of Love, we are also the people of compassion. We share a passion to improve the planet! We want life, in fact, improved for every selfaware being!

So, let's not simply talk about these fine ideals. Instead, get yourself on the mailing-lists of any of the excellent causes by responding to their requests, or by sending them $5. For this is an investment in principles in which we all can believe, and, in the end, it is an investment in eternity!
*******

Odd Speech-activities

2009-01-29T13:05:00.000-06:00

There have been dozens of conditions and "syndromes" created to explain an entire plethora of odd and strange linguistic phenomena, ranging from glossolalia (speaking in tongues) to spontaneous words and phrases uttered by children in different languages. People who believe in polybiography (more than one sequential life) have a ready explanation in terms of "karmic" or "Soul-" memory. Regular neuroscience traces these activities to certain brain-areas, but, beyond this, they cannot explain the origins of these atypical behaviors.

One reason is that modern medicine is still very primitive and backward; another is that it insists on the paradigm of the 1600's-- pure materialism, without any "energic" considerations.
*******

Liberty service Interruption

2009-01-29T13:04:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Sandi Grubb

*******

Dear World:

The United States of America, your quality supplier of ideals of liberty, democracy, and the rule of law, would like to apologize for its 2001-2008 service outage.

The technical fault that led to this eight-year service interruption has been located, and a decision was made on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to completely replace the faulty apparatus responsible for the problems.

The updated version of the system was placed on line on January 20, 2009, and early tests of the newly-installed components indicated that they are functioning correctly. If you continue to experience any difficulties, please contact us at www.whitehouse.gov to advise us as to your concerns.

We apologize for any inconvenience, destruction, poverty, or deaths caused by the outage, and we look forward to resuming full service -- and also to improving it in the years to come.

Thank you for your patience and understanding,

The USA
*******

Can your grocer stop the seal hunt?

2009-01-26T13:01:00.000-06:00

Urge your grocer to stop selling seafood from Canada -- and help stop the senseless slaughter of seals.

Trouble with links or images? Want to share this email? Use this link:

https://community.hsus.org/humane/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=30
161342

Just before the holidays, The Fresh Market grocery store chain joined the campaign to stop the cruel Canadian seal hunt -- pledging to shift its seafood purchasing away from Canada until that country ends its seal hunt for good.

With more than 80 stores across 18 states, The Fresh Market joins grocers such as Whole Foods Market, BI-LO Supermarkets, Trader Joe's, Lowe's Food Stores, Harris Teeter, and WinCo Foods in pledging to stop buying seafood produced in Canada.

As we head into the New Year, it is crucial that we maintain this momentum and reach out to grocers -- please print and fill out this comment card for your local grocer -- and urge them to join the rapidly growing list of grocery stores and restaurants joining the ProtectSeals campaign.

What's the connection between your grocery store and the seal hunt? Sealers are actually commercial fishermen who earn only a small fraction of their livelihood from killing baby seals for their fur. The vast majority of the sealers' incomes -- 95% actually -- comes from commercial fishing. About two thirds of Canada's seafood is exported to the United States each year, achieving more than $2.5 billion for the Canadian economy annually. This dwarfs the few million dollars contributed to the Canadian economy by the commercial seal hunt.

By choosing to avoid Canadian seafood, you can give the fishermen who kill seals a clear economic incentive to stop the slaughter. So far, our boycott has resulted in millions of lost revenue for Canadian sealers. But we aren't there yet: As of today Canada still refuses to bow to international pressure, and is readying its sealing vessels for the 2009 slaughter.

That's why we urgently need your help to ask your local grocery store to not buy or sell Canadian seafood until the senseless slaughter of seals comes to an end.

More than 5,000 grocery stores and restaurants are participating in the ProtectSeals boycott of Canadian seafood. Each one has shifted some or all of its seafood purchasing away from Canada until the commercial seal hunt is ended for good. Across the country, dozens of grocery chains are in discussions with our ProtectSeals team about the tremendous good they can do by joining the campaign -- and they have indicated that they'd like to hear from their customers.

So today, ask your local grocery store to step up for seals: Download this customer comment card and give it to your store manager the next time you go grocery shopping.

To view a list of grocery stores in your area that have already joined the boycott, click here.

If you can spare a few minutes after your visit, please provide us with feedback on the store you visited and any conversations you had by sending us an email, to help our ProtectSeals team build upon your efforts.

Thanks to dedicated advocates like you, we are getting closer to the day when baby seals can live in peace without being hunted down and brutally clubbed or shot.

Thank you for all you do for animals.

Sincerely,

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States

P.S. If you shop at The Fresh Market, please thank the manager for the company's seal-friendly decision the next time you're there, or contact them here.

Leaders and Compassion

2009-01-26T13:00:00.000-06:00

Today is the first day of forever! And we, as a country, for a welcome change, are getting off to a good start with Barack. So, let's push compassion to the limit, and demand it in our leaders-- all of them!:)

Notes on Ohio History

2009-01-25T12:55:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Barbara Baty.

The following is just part of a chapter from the book, Lost Ohio - More
Travels into Haunted Landscapes, Ghost Towns, and Forgotten Lives.

wamp fascinating! Enjoy!

Travels in the Great Black Swamp
***

Nature took twenty-five thousand years to create the Great Black Swamp; and humans took fifty years to strip it. The glacier did the heaviest work, grinding the earth like a bowling ball on an anthill. At Cleveland, the ice was eight thousand feet thick. Retreating fourteen thousand years ago, it dammed a poorly drained area on the eastern end of the Lake Erie basin to form one of the nine ancient lakes, which
eventually dried and left sand ridges in the clay soil the way ridges form on a beach. Along the newer Lake Erie, the lake plains evolved into a larger pear-shaped region in northwest Ohio, black organic matter piled on glacial soil to nurture swampy forests for ten thousand years. It was the ultimate compost heap.

Swamp chestnuts produced millions of nuts that covered the water and ground an choked other young trees. In this dark, wet place, [in ancient times,] armies of spiny hellrats -- flashing their snouts and sharp claws, they resembled weasels -- probed the mulch for nuts. Another nut-eating dinosaur, the American harrack, ate the nuts and the hellrats.

Centuries later, before the arrival of the white man, the Great Black Swamp remained untouched and covered by water nine months a year. Vegetation grew wildly, becoming by the 1700's the largest deciduous forest in north America. Its soil was a black, oozing muck. An early observer describe the swamp as thoroughly impregnated with lime, forming a tough, waxy mud that stuck to wagon wheels.

According to some estimates, the swamp measured 120 miles long and 40 miles wide. The worst part was an area as large as Connecticut, between the Maumee and Auglaize rivers. It had a split personality; just when it appeared to be all wet, dark, and muddy, a prairie would pop up to tantalize visitors. Some scientists believe the swamp stretched from Lake Erie to New Haven, Indiana. Because nature doesn't provide
boundaries like fences, no one knows for certain where the swamp began or ended. Most people agree that it consisted of eight contiguous counties, including Lucas, Wood, Paulding, Hancock, Defiance, and Putnam.

Neighboring counties were swampy enough for many people to consider them Black Swamp territory. They included parts of Van Wert, Seneca, Ottowa, Fulton, Sandusky, Erie, and Henry counties. (I call these places the swamp suburbs.)

Pioneers did not draw much distinction between areas inside and outside the swamp. By more liberal estimates, its murky fingers extended as far south as Allen and Mercer counties, north to Williams and Lucas, east to Hardin, and west to Indiana. (An old surveyor's wall map, which hangs in the study of the Sherman House in Lancaster, shows the Great Black Swamp covering Ohio's entire northwest quarter, all the way to the Indiana border in the west and the Darke County line in the south.) "The perfect uniformity of the soil has given the forest a homogeneous character,"
historian Henry Howe wrote of the swamp in the late 1800's. "The trees are all generally the same height, so that when viewed at a distance through the haze, the forest appears like an immense blue wall stretched across the horizon."

By the time I traveled in the area, everything had changed. I drove for miles without seeing a single tree. Then I'd see clumps of them. I never did find a swamp, and only one marsh. When I visited my wife's family in Van Wert County, I was surprised to learn that their farm -- started by her German immigrant grandfather in the late 1800's-- once stood on the swamp's edge. Nowadays, few people know that a big swamp once existed there, or that their ancestors stripped primeval forests, set up logging and tile-making industries, and later established the former swamp as one of the nation's richest farming areas. They transformed the land, created an agrarian culture, and in the process eliminated the songbird, panthers, bears, and wolves.

Pioneers saw the forest as a challenge to their collective ax. They chopped, sawed, smashed, bumped, banged, and pulled down as many trees as possible. Or they held "burning bees," competitions to burn down the forests. The earliest settlers found 95 percent of Ohio filled with trees -- twenty five million acres of virgin forest. (Today, naturalists identify only about seven hundred Ohio forested acres as virgin.)

Because of the wet conditions, Ohio's nine northwestern counties developed last, from 1850 to 1900. By 1930, they were the most heavily farmed counties in the state. Probably the larges forest left in northwest Ohio is in Paulding County -- three hundred acres of old-growth ask, walnut, basswood, red maple, oak, and hickory.

Seemingly obsessed, the whole state considered tree-cutting its patriotic duty. And in the swamp, where trees were overly abundant, the cutting took on the fervor of a religious ritual.

Soldiers called the swamp their personal hell. Its bad reputation spread throughout the West. Simon Girty, the hated white renegade who led the Indian attack on Fort Henry in 1777, hid in the Black Swamp, thus adding to his -- and its -- sinister image. (Today he would be called a terrorist.)

There in the mud, Mother Nature joined forces with the enemy. When General Anthony Wayne signed the treaty of Greenville wit the Indians in 1795, he generously gave them some of the Black Swamp.

Wayne had found and burned Ottawa cornfields on lowlands of the Maumee and Auglaize. Later, he wrote that he had never "beheld such immense fields of corn, in any part of America, from Canada to Florida."

While standing in the swamp's woods, people couldn't see the sun. This unnerved them. Dark shadows covered everything. The Indians refused to live there; they entered only the river bottoms to hunt and trap. In the early 1800's, the pioneers settled on its edges. Only the fearless chopped down trees and built cabins in the swamp. It was so dense that a hunter got lost only a short distance from Fort Meigs; for three days, he wandered among the trees and wolves, until he accidentally walked into the fort's walls, at which point he did not recognize his wife or children or even know his name. A blacksmith named Jacob Nofziger wasn't so lucky: He tried to go from the Tiffin River to the Maumee and was never seen again. Neither were his oxen, wagon, and belongings. Another settler, Christian Lauber, tried to cross a creek, but his exhausted oxen stopped in the middle and refused to move. Returning the next morning, he and a neighbor found the team frozen in the water. They broke the ice, freed the animals, and slid provisions across the icy creek. When traveler William Woodbridge arrived at Fort Meigs on January 18, 1815, he wrote: "My great terrour, the Black Swamp, is passed. No part of this road seems so very bad as has been presented, but the evil in it is in its perfect sameness; an a moderately wet season it will be generally covered by two or three inches of water and mud nearly a foot, with few exceptions of dry spots."

Such conditions -- and fear of the unknown -- convinced many travelers to bypass the swamp on their way west, although the new route required them to travel hundreds of additional miles by wagon. Most travelers never regretted the inconvenience. Experienced frontiersman William Henry Harrison, who fought at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, said a couple of trips across the Black Swamp could kill a brigade of packhorses. American army scouts feared the swamp, but troops at Fort Meigs were awed
by its dark wonders. They saw fish so plentiful that their jumping frightened horses on Maumee fords. In keeping with the swamp's larger-than-life reputation, a soldier in Wayne's cavalry company at Fort efiance once claimed he caught a [fish] so large that his entire unit feasted on it.

In late winter, mud and water often stood three feet deep, making passage impossible. The swamp had little natural drainage. Two thirds of it was under water. As late as 1870, brave people ice-skated the thirty-five miles from Paulding to Van Wert. In summer, water stood in big pools, breeding black clouds of gnats. The wet, low environment encouraged hundreds of flora species, including basswood, elm, ironwood, oak, cottonwood, ash, maple, sycamore, poplar, hickory, beech, and black walnut. An early surveyor wrote in his journal, "Water! Water! Water! Tall timber! Deep water! Not a blade of grass growing or a bird to be seen." Added Williams County pioneer George W. Perky: "We read that God divided the land from the water, but here is a place He forgot."

During the War of 1812, American and British generals knew the swamp cut off the western United States from Michigan.

If the Canadians fortified western Lake Erie, they could use the swamp as a buffer and the British navy could control the lake. American scout Robert Lucas, who would become an Ohio governor, realized the swamp's strategic value, so he traveled from the Maumee to the advancing American army to make reports. His journal contained the first reference to the Black Swamp: "Traveled about twenty-five miles, a very rainy day and then encamped in what is called the Black Swamp, had a disagreeable night of wet and mosquitoes."

Disagreeable? Travelers saw dark mists heading toward them -- mosquitoes! They grabbed their napes, and saw blood all over their hands. Animals were bitten so many times, they almost went mad. Malaria-- then called "swamp fever"-- was common; some people contracted it so often that they became immune. But newcomers died from it.

It turned the skin yellow, caused violent chills and high fever, and left the lucky ones exhausted. Only quinine helped relieve the symptoms. When immigrants dug the canal in the early 1840s, they lived in shanties and practically lived on whiskey and quinine.

They breathed air polluted with malarial effluvia from the swamps, and as a result they caught the fever and ague. On the Maumee River, "the fever spared no one," the Black Swamp pioneer Louis Simonis wrote in 1835. The area was a "forsaken, desolate, ague-smitten, tangled, and inhospitable wilderness where diseases spread with rapidity and with relentless morality." Strangely, the Indians did not seem to come down with malaria and other fevers as often as whites, perhaps because they had developed immunity.

Ague-- a malarial fever with chills -- was so widespread in the swamp that families kept salt, pepper, and quinine on their kitchen tables. Cholera and typhoid struck, too. Pioneers disagreed about the fever's transmission; some said it came from eating swamp fish; other said it came from air poisoned by decaying vegetation. Apparently they did not consider the blood-lusting mosquitoes that attacked in squadrons.

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Transitioning from Fear to Hope

2009-01-25T12:53:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Chris Finer.

Transitioning from Fear to Hope
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It occurs to me that there was an ironic parallel of events the other day-- events so symbolically intertwined, yet so completely opposite, that they warrant reflection.

On the same day, george w. bush gave his farewell address, a summation of his take on his "legacy," in which he attempted justification of his actions. [He said that it was] due to [his vigilance that] no subsequent successful attacks on the U.S. after 9/11 [had occurred.]

[Very recently,] a U.S. Airways jet suffered catastrophic damage at the very epicenter of the 9/11 tragedy. I am choosing to view these events as a sign-- a sign of a national and, [we hope,] global transition towards hope, connection, unconditional Love, and support.

Since September 11, 2001, the bush administration circuitously championed fear and hate in an effort to gather and accumulate power, and justify policies and agendas ultimately unrelated to "protecting" the U.S. from terror-- all in the name of "protection of the U.S. homeland." In [following bush,], a majority of our electorate have blindly acquiesced constitutional rights, allowed a misguided and unjust war to be waged, afforded more power and authority to the presidency, and generally accepted the contrived and frequently nonsensical ramblings of a man who is challenged to form a complete and coherent sentence. Why?

Because we, as a nation, allowed fear to guide our analysis. As a result of a tragedy in New York City involving jet airplanes [on 9-11-01], our country has been manipulated by fear for over seven years.

On the same day as bush's [selfcongratulating] address, a miracle occurred involving a [different] jet airplane in New York City. Rather than a tragedy that potentially cost hundreds of innocent lives, a combination of events, circumstances and selfless actions resulted in all lives being saved; and we, as a nation, being inspired to once again ascend to hope, and [to] believe in the power of pulling together in crisis. Why [was this] a "miracle"? The synchronicity at play was overwhelming. The pilot's courage, experience, training and capabilities suited this exact situation. That and a healthy measure of old fashioned luck allowed an almost impossible water landing. The area of the Hudson River in which the plane splashlanded just happened to have the unique quality of being free of maritime obstacles, but many craft in close proximity to aid in the rescue. Anywhere else in that stretch of the river, rescue would have taken far longer and lives would have been lost.
The weather was calm, and there were no real waves on the river. The rear door of the plane refused to open, forcing the evacuation through the front, and avoiding the tragic consequences of the plane sinking quickly. In spite of overwhelming odds and almost certain loss of life, all fell into place.

As I learned of the events of U.S. Airways flight 1549, I was struck by both the congruity and extreme differences with the tragedy of 9/11. While there were many examples of courage and bravery in the 9/11 tragedy, the end result of the treatment of events [were distorted to create only] fear. The hate inspired events of 9/11/01, which ultimately cost us far more than the nearly 3,000 lives lost that day, eventually resulted in fear, hate, and defensiveness. For me, this new and awesome event represents refreshing and inspirational courage, faith, compassion, selflessness, and connection. There are no reports of panic, of cowardice or fear. All were relatively calm and helpful to their compatriots, offering to assist and accommodate as necessary. In the end, by pulling together and utilizing the resources available, all is well.

As I contemplate the potentially catastrophic circumstances our nation and the world face at this time, I choose to view the events of flight 1549 as an auspicious harbinger, as Barack Obama prepares to guide our nation. I choose to use these events as a symbol to embrace the transition, the ascension if you will, from the fear of the last seven years to a new era of hope, of faith, of connectedness and compassionate action. I share these thoughts in the hope that you will join me in this view.

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Retrospeculation on Governor Spitzer

2009-01-19T12:52:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher

Retrospeculation on Governor Spitzer

Phony accusations, the entire tapes will show they took some of his comments out of context 'to fit' their trumped up phoney charges, like Marc Dann, Elliot Spitzer, Clinton...the sex scandals usually work well; maybe they couldn't get him to take the bait, with that angle. Either way, they wanted him out of the way...could it be..he was standing up to Bank of America? In the 'Republic Windows and Door's'- corporate malfeasance nonsense? Remember--they threw 200 people out onto the street, without severance after years of loyal service. Tried to blame it on BOA....while they built a 'non-union' shop in Iowa. Guess we can be glad it wasn't Tijuana. *Spitzer was about to take down some heavy hitters on Wall St., same as M. Dann in here in Ohio...the likes of Bob Noe, etc. Funny how we rush to judgement--just because they saturated our minds with 'their' corp media..mind control.

Two older, but important, stories

2009-01-19T12:50:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Mick Gallagher

Two older, but important, stories
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2 stories that are of upmost importance:

The Bruce Ivins Story: The loyal Government scientist they are attempting to scapegoat, even in death..for the 9/11 related anthrax letters. They couldn't take down Dr. Hatfield (he was emotionally stronger than Ivins); NY Times just had a seven-page 'whitewash' piece yesterday...trying to discredit him, denegrate him after the FBI hounded him for almost 2 yrs....invading his house, ransacking it in the middle of the night--essentially terrorizing his family. When you hear neighbors, co-workers at FT. Dettrick speak of him, it is not the profile of a psycho mass murderer.

The Michael Connell Story: May he rest in peace also. Killed Dec. 19th as he flew his single engine piper cub into Akron-Canton airport, an airport he was very familiar with. He lived in Bath Twp., near Solon.

This was on approach, by the way...2 miles out, 9 mile visibility. Now--"who the hell is Mike Connell, you ask"? Just the GOP's IT Guru, who worked for Karl Rove..his companies helped RNC, Bush-Cheney win in 2000, and 2004, allegedly.....he had just been deposed in Fed Court in Col., Nov 3rd...right before the Obama Victory. There were reasons for the timing of his subpoena....I think you know why.

He was also at the center of the 02 mid-term selections....remember Paul Wellstone dies along with his family 11 days before he was expected to win Minnesota.

Mel Carnanhan killed in his campaign plane in Mississippi.....right before he was expected to win there, also. His widow took his senate seat. It was John Ashcrofts.

Connell was threatened by Rove and associates, last June...if he didn't take the fall, for any indictments..Rove's minions would expose Connells wife to Federal charges for illegal lobbying activities, etc. Most of Connell's deposition was sealed for various reasons.....but we do know he explained how he and a 'Mr. Spoonamore' diverted election results in 04...from Ken Blackwell's office to his office (via internet)--to his other office..to flip votes from Kerry to Bush.

Then in the middle of the Night, Blackwell certified them. Let us please keep these 2 vital stories alive. EVIL HAPPENS WHEN GOOD PEOPLE DECIDE TO SAY, DO NOTHING.

THANK YOU

Effective Sex-education

2009-01-15T12:49:00.000-06:00

Some minority extremist rightwingers insist that "abstinence only" be taught in schools. Statistics show, however, that this might not be the most effective, efficient system.

Kids are told several dangerous lies during this so-called "education": They are told that condoms do not prevent pregnancy-- and they do; and they are taught that they do not prevent venereal disease-- which they also do.

Kids who are taught "abstinence only" programs can be in danger for their lives if they believe everything that rightwing bigots insist on.

The Armed Services and Bigotry

2009-01-15T12:48:00.000-06:00

During the past few years, the armed services of the U.S. have discharged ten thousand men and women accused of homosexuality. This has cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars-- all the while, while the U.S. is involved in a very expensive war that is estimated to have cost three trillion dollars!
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Exciting Solstice Party!

2009-01-12T12:46:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, December 21, 2008, from noon till about 4 pm, we all excitedly enjoyed the annual Pneumarium Solstice Party.:) There was much laughter and warmth shared among dear friends in our "extended spiritual family"; the whole place glowed with Love and laughter. And gifts were also kindly, generously, and so-pleasantly exchanged. [Each brought a gift costing about $10; and each left with one (hopefully, not the same one!:)]
We all grew very toasty and warm despite the winter weather. Many candles lent warmth to the room and to the beautiful, fun-filled atmosphere. Cherigene and Jan gave Richard and Adamaria beautiful sweaters made of alpaca, with llamas on them! (Talk about the perfect gift!:) Charles Sides very generously gave us a quartz/infrared heater, which kept us ensconced in warmth later. We shared many great feelings; everyone was in a fantastic mood, and conversations richly, warmly
blossomed and flourished, with a background of Christmas music. Pat, Adamaria, Charles and Jennifer Sides, Albert, Tracey, Dennis, Cherigene, Jan, Jim, Maureen, Jim, Jr., shi, and all the others from the happy Pneumariumfamily send their snow-glowing greetings, with smiles, to the elove family and elovecommunity.:)

Joyful, Happy Love and Light,

the editors of the uld