05 July 2008 How Karma Works (made simple) Human beings think on three levels. First, we may have lofty thoughts at times, full of good feelings and beautiful images and words. For the sake of this explanation, let us use the metaphor of heaven to describe our loftier notions. Second, we have conscious thoughts, those thousands of thoughts that course through our minds on a daily basis. Let us call these our earthly thoughts. Third, we have the subconscious mind, which stores and sorts out thoughts without our having to pay attention. The subconscious works all the time, like our breathing, heartbeat, metabolism, and healing powers. If we repress or suppress unpleasant thoughts, they go down into the subconscious to be filed unresolved. Many honest people have a well organized subconscious that works in harmony with their conscious desires. Let us say these people have "clean karma." Other people (let us hope this is a smaller percentage) have repressed so many secrets and lies that they have built a shadow into their subconscious. They have willed that the subconscious mind keep certain subjects in the shadow because they do not want to deal with it right now. When the subconscious mind is out of harmony with conscious desires, that shadow of guilty secrets festers like a cesspool and may create disease in any part of the body or mind, depending on what the garbage is and where the subconscious has stored it. Let us call this state of affairs a hellish subconscious. To draw the metaphor together, every human mind contains all three levels of being: heavenly, earthly, and hellish. Animals and humans under a certain age do not accumulate karma, for they are controlled by their instincts and environment. However, at a certain age we become responsible for our thoughts. Let us say for simplicity that the age is eighteen (it may not be, would have to check each person's psyche for the event that led to their coming of age). Thus, when a person reaches maturity, their balance of heaven-earthly-hellish thoughts starts to create karma. People who keep their thoughts toward the top create good karma, while people who run from responsibilities, lie, or abuse others through their actions, create a build-up of repressed material, and thus create bad karma. This makes it easy for the judges at the time of death. They simply put the soul on a scale and see which way it tips. If you do not believe in the court of Yamaraja (per Hindu scriptures), then you could just see it as a law of nature. If you are heavy on the dark side, your karma will send you someplace where you can try again to work out your issues. The wound is the very thing a person tries to avoid. It is easier to push unpleasant things down and try to forget, but each time you run away, you will get another chance to resolve it. In this life or the next (per Hindu philosophy). Usually, a soul has good and bad karma. If the person has enough good karma to prevent having to reckon with the bad karma, then they will go on enjoying the good karma until it runs out, or until they decide to take responsibility. If a person has overwhelming bad karma, then they must face it immediately. Also, each person may decide to keep their karma clean, in which case they get what John Lennon called "instant karma." That means that if they create bad karma, they must deal with the consequences immediately. It may seem unfair that a generally good person must deal with some bad karma, but it keeps the slate clean and prevents karmic build-up. Check your karma today and make sure you are free from the ill effects of dragging along a load of shadow material stored in your subconscious mind. It is toxic and it can poison your body, creating psychosomatic disease. It can also influence your judgment and self-image. Clean up your karma today! Also, stop worrying about other people's karma. We all create our own karma and deal with it when we are ready. Some of our so-called leaders (i.e. the treasonists) will have a lot to deal with when the time comes. It is better to feel sorry for the treasonists and wait for them to get their comeuppance than to stand around and criticize them. They will get theirs and if you have avoided criticizing, you will not be dragged down with them in any way. 08 July 2008 T. Boone Pickens Solution? Leave it to the American can-do spirit to tackle this problem. Today oil man T. Boone Pickens introduced his campaign to get America off oil. He promises details in the coming weeks. Spoiler alert: it involves wind power. Here is an article about it: click here. Editor's Note: turns out it involved natural gas. Wind, if only. 12 July 2008 Pray for Peace—Now a Book Over the years that I have kept this web journal, I believe that I have thrown out a good idea now and then. However, the whole thing was getting so long—the equivalent of about eight hundred printed pages, riddled with typos. In an effort to stop confusing my site visitors, I decided to edit the log entries down into a cohesive format. I had pictured myself doing this in 2012, after all the "trouble" was over. However, suddenly the seas parted and gave me the time and facility to put this book together now. Why wait another four years? Another thing I did yesterday was to stuff the old Pray for Peace site into a folder called "archive," to clear out and plow new ground in that section. Sometimes links get broken when files go from folder to folder, so—please—if you find any broken links, or have any suggestions or feedback on the new Pray for Peace site, please contact me. Click here for Pray for Peace at Surrealist.org. Updated Highlights of Al Gore's Challenge at Youtube. July 15, 2008 Jim, Because of my other website, Steamboats.com, I correspond with many Southerners. Since 1967, I have made seven trips to the Deep South to ride on the Steamboat Delta Queen. My father was president of the company in the 1960s. My most recent trip was October 2007. I am familiar with the attitudes down there and act as an ambassador of progressive values to the Southerners I meet. When my father was president, he made black officers. He told the captain and crew that if anyone had a problem with it, they would pull the boat over and let them off. He was successful and I have followed in his footsteps. There is still time to educate people. However, we must not make fun of them. They are sweet natured, but many are poor and uneducated. As you recall, a certain devastating war left the rebel states in complete poverty. It is like what the Allies did to Germany in World War I. When people are poor, they do not have the opportunities we have in functional states. Anyways, I agree, it would be funny if people put so much credibility on a magazine cover. There are enough good Americans, even among Southerners, to turn this thing around. - Nori July 16, 2008 Hi Chris and Frangela, The reason I think America always divides 50/50 all the time is that some people will take the underdog's side just because they are bullies. We are actually divided into quadrants (and more complex subsets): liberals vs. conservatives; bullies vs. victims. The true liberals and conservatives debate issues and take sides because of informed opinions. That accounts for about half the people. The other half are uninformed victims and bullies, who just like to fight or be victimized. They do not understand the issues very well, and they hold false beliefs. If they see Obama getting ahead, they will stand against him just to be oppositional. I could go on and on about this, because the dynamics are complex. I have been thinking about it a lot. Usually, I share my conspiracy theories with Jim Ward, but he wasn't there today. We have to recognized that bullies are in essence frightened, immature, lonely people. Nori July 24, 2008 Fox, May, Smith Issue Warnings of Bush False Flag Attacks Former Marine Corps officer William B. Fox issued a warning in June to all military and police personnel to be on the watch for subversive activities by the Bush administration. He has evidence that the administration's operatives plan to generate insider oil futures profits by causing petrochemical explosions and blaming it on Iran. Editor's note: We believe Bush is obviously plotting to start a war with Iran, thus sending the cost of oil sky-high. He has been trying to do this since he got into office, but so far we here at Pray for Peace have stopped him with help from our friends in the peace-loving wings of the American military. Mr. Leon Smith, publisher of the Lone Star Iconoclast based in Crawford, Texas, has called for a Congressional investigation—see: http://www.lonestaricon.com * http://www.amfirstbooks.com * http://www.amfirstbooks.com Please contact Congressman Baird's communications director, Garrett Russo (202) 225-3536, and tell him you want Congressman Biard to initiate the Congressional investigation requested by journalist Leon Smith, with Capt. Eric H. May as a witness. The sooner the better, because Capt. May is in the late stages of Lou Gehrig's disease. William Fox said in a letter to Congressman Baird's district director, Ms. Kelly Love: "Time is obviously running out to bring this man with encyclopedic knowledge and brilliant intellect to Washington, D.C. to testify in person." You can also reach Garerret Russo on his cell phone (202) 557-0165 or email him on his Blackberry: garrett.russo[at]mail.house.gov. A chastising of gurus for July 27: This is a letter to all rude gurus, including parents and politicians. Dear Gurus: Please be open to collaboration, rather than controlling. Any coercive behavior on your part hurts the people who trust you. Many gurus are confidence tricksters who extract favors and adulation from innocent people who need to believe. They need help, but your help comes with a price. Even well-meaning gurus inflict harm when they lack the social skills to communicate well, and to interact well with people. If you are a guru, parent, government official, or business leader, you can educate yourself by reading books on leadership. There are plenty available, and the tradition goes back to the 1930s when Dale Carnegie published How to Win Friends and Influence People. Parents and couples also have a huge selection of books to educate themselves on how to stop their personal violence. The human race can make great progress when all the leaders of society advance: no more "Sopranos" in the White House or driver seat in families, business, community, state. Turning ourselves from a coercive society to one that is egalitarian and peaceable will spare us from the consequences of having to review our sins when we die. Simply by reforming the way we communicate, we have the ability to free seven generations of our ancestors and seven generations of our descendants from all the wars and abuse they created (and will create), if only we will follow a couple of the twelve steps in our own lives. (Editor's note: While there are many good, genuine Twelve Step groups out there that follow the steps and precepts, this website cannot endorse all Twelve Step meetings. Some are coercive. However, we do endorse using the steps without going to a meeting.) Steps Four-Seven (read the book—click here) 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 28 July 2008 How to bring peace in the war between victims and bullies? It is an eternal current that continues to run in our politics, families, work places, and communities to this day. It is the archetypal, timeless battle, embedded in human nature itself. All of us are vulnerable to being bullies or victims. The perpetrator/victim dynamic goes on within the psyche of each individual, as well as between individuals, between communities, between countries, etc. However, now it is the time to grow up and handle our lives more maturely. It is our awakening like an alarm clock going off: this time we will handle conflict correctly. Barack is a capable leader and he will handle this bullying from McCain in an appropriate way that people will admire. You will see. Just check out what happens next. What we really want is for the Republicans to stop bullying us, and learn to work with us. We tried to be nice and overlook their "problems," but it went tragically wrong We need a new strategy. We need self-esteem. We have a right to expect more of the Republican party. The only person we can control is ourselves. If they cannot live up to what we expect, we must learn to adapt and get done what we need to get done despite them. July 30, 2008 Propaganda Surge It appears the right wing gurus (Rush, Hannity, and O'Reilly ) have stepped up the propaganda in their ongoing culture war. Yesterday, the receptionist at my chiropractor's office mentioned that she hated the bullying going on in politics these days. She then said that anybody who would dare to criticize the president is un-American, cruel, and offensive. She cited Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi as one of her personal enemies. Next, over dinner, my Republican mother became hysterically offended when I asked if we could discuss political issues in a rational, open-minded way. She accused me of wrecking the country because I would not give the multi-national oil companies more drilling rights here. This tells me the gurus are getting desperate. The same thing used to happen in ISKCON. While The New York Times and all news media covered ISKCON's latest murder, the gurus told us that the world was about to end, and all non-believers would die and go to hell. We would then lead the survivors into a new world governed by ISKCON. Aug. 1, 2008 Recipe for happiness: overcome fear Advice to younger generations: solve the mysteries now. You do not want to be puzzled by 9/11, and all this corruption into your fifties and sixties like us baby boomers. We were wrong to forgive and forget the big crimes of the twentieth century: the Warren Commission (JFK), Iran-Contra, Gulf of Tonkin, Japanese internment, nuclear bombs on Japan, the McCarthy era (and more). Crimes like these must be investigated, put to rest. Now, you post-baby boom generations have the opportunity to put your childhood ghosts to rest. You have your 9/11, your Iraq, and your anthrax attacks (did-it-come-from-Iraq-gate). Solve these things now and you will avoid repeating history. Ask any baby boomer and the boomer will respond to you: "Do not do as I do, learn something from my mistakes." Aug. 5, 2008 Abusers' Goal is to Abuse Over the years studying child abuse, and working with the adult victims of child abuse, I have realized that abusers love to abuse. They do not stop abusing because you forgive them. They will continue no matter what, because it is what they live for. The only way to stop an abuser is consequences. An abuser must encounter serious consequences, and only then will they cease to abuse. Even then, they will go back to it once they clear things up. Now, let us apply that to the people who stand on the sidelines jeering—starting with their inquisition of Bill Clinton, and continuing with their treatment of Al Gore, John Kerry, Max Cleland, etc. They need consequences! In this case, it means proving that they are in factual error. How to do this? Just watch Obama, he is an expert. He has had to deal with crying babies his whole life, because of his race and his upbringing. He will bring sanity to this situation, just watch. He is skilled in this area, just like Bill Clinton. Editor's note: when I wrote this in 2008, I underestimated how immature and stubborn the Republicans would be. Now, six years into President Obama's administration, after winning two landslides, the Republicans still do not accept that he won. There is something seriously wrong with the Republicans that nobody anticipated. Aug. 7, 2008 Energy Plan get us green energy? Probably not, since the oil interests are financing his campaign. IF he were to win, they would work him like a hand puppet. Anyone who denies that is a) brainwashed, b) stupid, or c) lying. No offense to McCain. I used to call and leave phone messages (it takes much longer to get a "real" person there). One time I waited on the line for a volunteer and she hung up on me. Now, I am not a rude person, but she must have recognized my voice from the answering machine. As soon as I said two words, she slammed down the phone. I called back and she hung up again. It was about a year ago, and soon after that I heard there was a shake-up in the McCain staff. I though, god, was she just a giant b---- or something? Well, maybe it had nothing to do with that. I did call up the Phoenix office and explain that someone at the Washington office had been rude. I told them I was a Realtor and on the board of directors of The Lakes of Tempe (a famous lake subdivision in Tempe where McCain once lived when he and Cindy moved back to Arizona). Aug. 14, 2008 Wisdom in Pre-9/11 Books Did 9/11 change everything, even the basic tenets of wisdom? Today, cleaning out some bookshelves, I found this jewel in a book from 1998: "When you resist the rampant fear and resulting apathy that is everywhere around you, you are performing an act of power. When just one person chooses to stand strong, to choose hope over despair, a small but very powerful change is made in the current of the collective unconscious. This choice acts like a magnet, and others, who are perhaps undecided or wavering in their wish to stand strong, are encouraged and strengthened in their resolve. These kinds of courageous acts can result in a magnificent ripple effect, extending far beyond the wildest imagination of the first person who chose to believe in a bright future instead of listening to predictions of gloom and doom, you are co-creating the reality of that future for all of us." - Denise Linn, Sacred Legacies, p. 184 Aug. 15, 2008 Debate over the Advantages of Bombing The United States has used missiles and/or bombs on the following countries: During WWI & WWII Germany Belgium The Netherlands Luxembourg Hungary Italy Tunisia Greece Austria Romania Japan (nuclear bombs August 6 and 9, 1945) Thailand Nauru Solomon Islands Papua New Guinea the Marshall Islands Singapore The Philippines Post-WWII China 1945-46, Korea and China 1950-53 (Korean War) Guatemala 1954, 1960, 1967-69 Indonesia 1958 Cuba 1959-1961 Guatemala 1960, 1967-69 Congo 1964 Peru 1965 Laos 1964-73 Vietnam 1961-73 Cambodia 1969-70 El Salvador 1980s Nicaragua 1980s Grenada 1983 Lebanon and Syria 1983, 1984 Libya 1986 Iran 1987 Panama 1989 Kuwait 1991 Somalia 1993 Bosnia 1994, 1995 Sudan 1998 Yugoslavia 1999 Afghanistan 1998, 2001-present Iraq 1991-present Carl Maxwell* pointed out that there is a controversy, or two ways to look at it. First, you could say America has bulled the world and tried to dominate. Second, you could see that many of these countries are stable democracies now, so some people see this as "proof of the U.S. intervening only when it is necessary to uphold freedom." From now on, America will find some other way to encourage democracies besides bombarding them with expensive machinery. Yes, like the parent who learns to discipline children without physical and verbal abuse, America will arise from this crisis as a less violent, more cooperative, and better example of a parent. Eventually, we will give up the "helper" complex altogether. One step at a time. Americans are learning to "do less and be loved more," as well as "let go and let god." Between now and the seventh anniversary of 9/11, let us pray for peace in the world, peace in the Moslem religion, and an America of peace. Aug. 17, 2008 Words of Peace Thich Nhat Hanh asks (in his book, Peace is Every Step, pp. 110-111): "Can the peace movement talk in loving speech, showing the way for peace?" He comments, "The peace movement often is filled with anger and hatred and does not fulfill the role we expect of it. A fresh way of being peace, of making peace is needed. . . . Peace work means, first of all, being peace." Where to start? Thich Nhat Hanh recommends: "We need to learn to write letters to the Congress and the President that they will want to read, and not just throw away. The way we speak, the kind of understanding, the kind of language we use should not turn people off." We have to start doing this right now with Senator Barack Obama. Instead of hollering at him, we need to write coherent letters to him. This also goes for the people who represent us in the House and Senate (and in our state governments). Some in the peace movement get it; many do not. Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us: "Our children are relying on us in order for them to have a future." Aug. 17, 2008 Who Killed JFK? I apologize for rehashing this with you yet again, dear reader, but as I have said before, I was just an innocent child when JFK was killed. Later, still a young person, they killed RFK and MLK, then a bunch of my favorite musicians died from deadly drugs. These things taken together tied knots in my young spirit, and I have lived out the rest of my life trying to understand these events. Your children, "too young to understand" 9/11, may grow up tormented by the transparent lies because, like the assassination of JFK, 9/11 was an inside job. In the case of JFK, I believe the conspirators stayed around to enjoy the fruits of their crime. They killed a duly-elected U.S. president to cause a shift in leadership. JFK represented something they disagreed with, so they killed him, then put themselves into power. Thus we had a string of heartless war mongers who promoted oil and war and deregulation, on and on, until we got to where we are now. We are covered in the slime from their lies, but thankfully people are starting to notice. It is not just the dispossessed like me, but even so-called normal, mainstream people are starting to see through the transparent lies shoved down our throats in the twentieth century. I believe that the main conspirators were: LBJ—He was the vice-president and became president when Kennedy died. This is motivation, but it has never been proven that he was involved. However, he did not like Kennedy and wasted no time stepping into his shoes. Nixon—He lost an election to Kennedy in 1960 and many believed the voting in Chicago was dishonest. This could provide motive for revenge. It would depend on what Nixon knew and when he knew it, whether he could be considered a conspirator. It may have been his people who wanted to avenge the defeat. (JFK would have won even without Chicago, because he won by more than just one state.) George H.W. Bush—President of Zapata Offshore Company until the end of 1963, made a million dollars in oil, then got into politics in 1964 (Kennedy died 11/22/63). Bush immediately started running for office and was elected to the U.S. House of Representative in 1966. The Warren Commission took his testimony, and there is a photo of G.H.W. Bush in front of the book depository building during the assassination. The CIA, the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover—Some people think Kennedy and Hoover took sides against the CIA over foreign policy toward Cuba. Some think it was the CIA who killed JFK, then they forced Hoover to cover it up. Operation MK Ultra—The covert CIA program to experiment on U.S. citizens with mind control, including using LSD, is said to be connected to the plot to assassinate JFK. This makes sense, deserves further investigation. Lee Harvey Oswald was said to be an MK Ultra victim, as well as a defector. That is about all I have. It has taken my entire lifetime to come up with this much. I am grateful to finally identify a theory that makes sense to me. However, it remains a frustration that my own parents believe in the "lone gunman" theory (that Lee Harvey Oswald was just a crazy guy who somehow slipped a rifle through security and shot the president because he had a grudge against the government). Give your children a break. Help us find out the truth behind 9/11. If the real truth comes out now, your children will have a better life than I have had. What can you do to help? Just ask yourself: "Did the collapse of the three World Trade Center buildings look like every other controlled demolition I have ever seen?" Then ask yourself, "Why would the President and Vice-president block an investigation of 9/11, the worst disaster to ever hit America, and why did the President and Vice-president have to testify in secret, together, and not allow anyone to take notes or record their discussion?" Also ask yourself, if you have a gut feeling there is something wrong, what about your child? Children are more intuitive and experience events in a much more realistic way than adults who are up to their eyeballs in denial. By the way, just to help you get started, my theories about the 9/11 conspirators: Vice President Richard Cheney, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State of State Condoleezza Rice, career sleezebag Karl Rove, WTC landlord Larry Silverstein, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Bush probably also knew about it, but to give him plausible deniability, they probably left him out of the planning details. They scheduled him to be in Florida, ready to jump out in front of the cameras and a room full of terrorized school children, so he could look "presidential" and warn America of the new Moslem threat. August 21, 2008 An Anti-McCain, Pro-Barack Statement Senator Barack Barack is a smart man, who finished near the top of his class at Harvard law school. He can think and talk. He is young and patriotic. He is a good leader for our young people, who want a brighter future for America. Those are the advantages of electing Barack Obama. Now let us compare G.W. Bush and Senator John McCain to see more clearly the disadvantages of McCain. It is not just their policies that are similar, but their very way of being. Bush was a "C" average student. He got into Yale because he was a "legacy"; his father and grandfather went there. He has trouble with language, and with articulating his ideas. Sometimes he makes up words or confuses facts. Making up words as he does could be a symptom of schizophrenia. He drifts off in the middle of a thought, and he appears immature and brutish at times. He made it his goal to start a war with Iraq. He seems to want more wars, but he is running out of time. He has made most of his money by working for his father's friends. McCain graduated near the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy. He often confuses facts. He tells stories, but puts himself into the story inappropriately. Sometimes he cannot remember details and cannot remember what he said earlier in the day, or weeks before. He shows the beginning symptoms of Alzheimer's. He also shows a cruel lack of empathy, making up jokes about starting wars, or killing people. He seems to look forward to starting wars with bullies like Iran and Russia. He became wealthy because he married a rich woman. The one thing that Bush and McCain have going for themselves is that they each have a shiny button they can glare in your eyes to hypnotize you. Bush is the son of a former U.S. president; McCain a former POW. The shiny button is their only attractive feature. In truth, both of them have weak minds and lack any qualification. The "forces that be" (the oil interests and military-industrial complex) played Bush like a fiddle and they will use McCain as a mindless puppet if he gets into office. Is this what we need right now? Somebody that I trust told me last night, "Aw, don't worry your pretty little head. Maybe McCain would make a good president." When did Americans (even people that I love) become so stupid? A man with no ethics and failing mental ability will make a good president? Did we not already try that? How many times do we have to bang our heads on the wall before we learn? We need a leader who has a rational, sound mind. We need someone who can stand up to the oil industry and the bomb makers. Maybe Barack can do it and we can save the planet to boot. He can do it if we all line up behind him and help. August 21, 2008 A Pro-Hillary Clinton, Pro-Barack Obama Statement If you want to know how Barack Obama handles pressure, just remember that we have already seen Hillary Clinton burnish him with the heat of a hundred white-hot suns during the primaries. Barack did fine. We must trust him and support him: Go Barack!! I like the Clintons again. Although many people suspect that they will use the Democratic Convention to try to satobage Barack's chances, so that she can run again in 2012, that is unlikely. Bill and Hillary see what has happened to the country under G.W. Bush and they are as distressed as any of us. Let us hope that they use their influence to help Barack, much as the Kennedy family has done. Maybe it is Chelsea Clinton who will be the first woman president, while her mother is destined to be the third woman ever to sit on the Supreme Court. Next week is a party—so quit trying to visualize some dystopian future where everything goes rotten. It will be good—it will be one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. OMG OMG OMG—This is footage of the Earth Day celebration at our junior high in 1970. The filmmaker, Diana Shaffer, the girl in the hippy fringe jacket flipping off the camera (Kerry), and the girl with the black wavy hair (Jolie), were my best friends!! I am the innocent-looking one with straight hair :-) I still know these people and they are even more fun to know as adults. We were all 12-14 in this movie. When the camera starts turning upside down, and you see a girl with long hair playing the guitar, that is Diana. She must have handed the camera to someone who was gravity-challenged. I also recognize Camie, who was Jolie's other best friend. I do not recognize any of the boys, but maybe Diana will refresh my memory. She is coming to visit this weekend. Yes! Stay in touch with your middle school friends, because you never know when history will come knocking! Kerry's birthday is this weekend and we put this on YouTube so we can blow her mind by enclosing it in an Internet greeting card. If the video does not show, click here to see it at Youtube. August 25, 2008 What Gets Me Burned Out It irritates me when people think they know the future, because usually they believe they are fated to a bad future. This is the result of depression, abuse, negative beliefs, etc., in their background. If it is part of chronic depression, it is called "foreshortened future." My book, Dreaming Peace* has a whole chapter to explain to people that the future has not yet happened and therefore we have a chance to make the future better. Anything within the realm of physical possibility can happen. August 25, 2008 Convention First Night Wrap-up Nanci Pelosi—sincere call to elect Barack Obama The Kennedys—respected elders Maya Soetoro-Ng (Barack's sister)—inspiring Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.—to paraphrase: We are one nation, one people, with a stake in each other. We rise and fall together [like the Pirates of the Caribbean]. Editor's note: I added the pirates. Part of the plot was that the pirates had a curse that could only be broken if they collected together all the pirate medallions. Until then, they were doomed to labor on disembodied, never finding their rest. We are those pirates. Now we have a chance for all the families to come together and support this gift of a candidate and get this situation under control. We do not have to fear the neo-cons or their puppet terrorists. We can be brave in the face of their tapping our teles and email. We can even stand up to their scary voting machines and other types of abuse. We are adults now. We see our shadow of history. It is time to stand up and stand united. The Kennedys and Obama families spoke tonight. Tomorrow night will be the Clintons. Then it will be our turn to also stand in unity. When we achieve that moment, we will rise up because our cosmic scale of karma will be lightened. Take a few days to reflect on what is good about life. We program the mind by remembering good feelings, because the subconscious mind will replicate whatever we keep in our conscious minds. Like travelers lost in a storm, we only need to fix our minds on our home, and we will make our way back. Thank you Hillary Clinton for your magnificent speech. Thank you Bill Clinton for being proud of your wife. Thank you Chelsea Clinton for being so grown up and dignified. The Clinton family will play a vital role in our next four years. They will travel all over the world and share what is good about America with friends in every country. I echo and join support to the cry for party unity. Please join the party, go through the transition with us. We want your bitter bitchy ass over here, with us on the ark. Hillary will only have a role if Barack Obama is elected. We all need him and he needs us. If you have friends who did not watch the Democratic Convention on C-SPAN, please tell them of the beautiful vision the Democrats have for the country. We can heal our world and move forward. Let us take this chance—spread the word that we need love, we need Barack Obama. Sept. 5, 2008 If You Are Unemployed . . . If you are unemployed or underemployed . . . if you are losing your home and feel too numb to care . . . welcome to the bad dream. George W. Bush & Co. will have the legacy not only of allowing 9/11 and causing a horrible, useless war, but they have also done their best to dismantled our economy. The Bush people caused this because of their greed. You cannot run a government to enrich yourself. That is a dictatorship. God help us. If only we could have leaders who are one of us, instead of this hideous overlord class of arrogant, hypocritical fiends. Sept. 5, 2008 Women Instinctively Want Peace Stumbled upon this profound statement in one of my old textbooks, "Knowing Woman: A Feminine Psychology," by Irene Claremont de Castillejo (1973, C.G. Jung Foundation, pp. 81-82): "Today women have become so immersed in a masculine world of ideas and principles that they forget their own basic truth. For instance, any educated woman can understand the principles of freedom and democracy for which we fight our wars. With her trained masculine mind she may agree that wars are inevitable—nay, praiseworthy; but if she is true to the basic woman in herself she must never forget for one moment that the death of every single man slain by a machine for a principle is an outrage far greater than a murder committed in anger; that torture and enslaving on the altar of ideology is to her the vilest of human crimes." Nori Muster for President: Okay, seriously now! This is a video—if it does not show, you will have to check it on a different device. Not at Youtube. August 27, 2008 Dems Not Critical Enough? The talking head pundits proclaim that the Democrats are too tame, and that they do not criticize McCain and the GOP enough. I will take the lead here, and I do not think I am exaggerating when I say: "There are people currently in our government who should be impeached and tried for crimes against humanity, as well as war crimes." Okay, it is all out in the open now. Party on! We do not have to be critical. We are not bullies, we are strong people who can win with honor. August 29, 2008 Jim - I am one of the little spiders that hangs out with you in conspiracy corner. JFK? (LBJ, Nixon, Bush Sr.) 9/11? (Cheney, Rusmfeld, Rove, Silverstein, Giuliani.) Election integrity? Worry about our safety? our rights? Barack's safety and his family. . . . ? Instead of worry, think of the best thing that could happen in a situation. What is the lesson humanity needs to learn? We are rising to a higher plane where lies are certainly exposed (eventually) and honesty is back in style. The Internet is speeding up this process. It is time to save the world now. Like Al Gore said, it is an opportunity. Peace Pilgrim, an American peace activist during the McCarthy era, walked across the country to spread the message of love and faith. Here are some quotes from her books. Your imaginary friend, Nori If you have a negative thought about a world situation, dwell upon the best that could happen in that situation. - Peace Pilgrim When societies are out of harmony, problems develop within the society—collective problems. Their purpose is to push the whole society toward harmony. - Peace Pilgrim When we hear a prediction of some disaster we need to throw the entire weight of our positive thought in the opposite direction! - Peace Pilgrim Collective problems must be solved by all of us, collectively, and no one finds inner peace who avoids doing his or her share in the solving of collective problems. - Peace Pilgrim August 30, 2008 Hi Stephanie, I believe they picked Sarah Palin because she is a [rhymes with witch] who will stir up trouble with Democratic women—and men. She will say airhead, stupid, right-wing religious nut case things that will get everyone mad. Then the r-wingers will pout and say, "The Democrats are beating up on Sarah," and get a lot of mileage out of that. Therefore, let's pre-empt their plan and see through Sara Palin. She is a militant r-winger out for trouble. They got her to throw red meat to the r-wing religious wackos. We will win the election in an honest way. Humanity needs to be redeemed. This election will do it. Even the idea of this election has already lifted humanity up. We just have to be open to being lifted up, instead of remaining in a reactionary, victimized stance. Let us try to understand the fear and confusion that makes she-devils like Sarah Palin tick. - Nori August 28, 2008 Characteristics of Bullies Today in the ol' reading stack, an article from The American Journal of Family Therapy (Volume 36, Number 1, January-February 2008), "Bullying: A Family and School System Treatment Model," by John L. Butler VI and Rhi Anna Lynn Platt, Purdue University. The reason I bring this up is that although the article says "bullying is more frequent among 10-14 year olds and decreases proportionately with age (p. 19)," we find that many in the mainstream media and government are still bullies into their fourth, fifth, and sixth decades, and beyond—with no hope for recovery. Note the mainstream media's insistence that Hillary and Bill's speeches last night were less than adequate. Bullies! Liars! The authors of this article point out that bullying behavior is a form of aggression that can be physical or verbal, and can entail calling names, provoking, making threats, making faces, and spreading slander. The authors describe the typical profile of families who produce bully children. Perhaps some of this hits home for the bullies in our media and government: "Bullies perceive their fathers as having more power than their mothers. Children who bully tend to have more lenient mothers, and fathers who act hostile and violent when punishing. Bullies are also more likely to be raised in homes of authoritarian parents, characterized as high in demandingness and low in responsiveness. Consequently, parents of bullies tend to be punitive, harsh, and 'obedience-or-else' oriented toward their children (pp. 19-20)." Bullies also tend to grow up into adult criminals. The therapists' job is to help set clear boundaries in the family, so that children learn adaptive behavior. For example, if the therapist observes the children interrupting their parents, trying to dominate the parents, the therapist teaches the parents how to interrupt the children and gain back control of the situation. They teach the children how to solve their problems using intelligence, instead of force. As a society, we need better boundaries. The bullies must stop their childish behavior and behave like grown ups. The article concludes that we need more research on bullying and how to stop it. Yes, it would be great to live in a world where people in adult bodies act like adults. Aug. 30, 2008 Nori - Remarkable about Garmatz* . . . he was about as subtle as a falling anvil. Republican strategy always seems to aim at benefiting an elite minority of super rich, military/industrial etc. interests and to eliminate the middle class entirely and reduce the country to themselves, The Haves and the rest of us, The Have Nots. The selfishness of it is so transparent that I'm surprised they can get people to vote for them against their own best interests. Obama is the voice of Reason but it's amazing how many irrational, deluded folks are too Thick to hear the Truth in it. Very perverse. We'll have to hope that clear thinking prevails over irrational fear and greed. Dave Dave, Yes, the Greene Line attorney (I think it was William Kohler) warned my dad that Garmatz would ask a bribe. He advised my father to say no, because it would go from $5,000 to $10,000 the next time. re. Republicans. You nailed it. re. stupid voters. I was in a religious cult for ten years, so I know about stupid. Peace Pilgrim, an American peace activist during the McCarthy era, walked across the country to spread the message of love and faith. Here are some quotes from her books. Nori If you have a negative thought about a world situation, dwell upon the best that could happen in that situation. - Peace Pilgrim When societies are out of harmony, problems develop within the society—collective problems. Their purpose is to push the whole society toward harmony. - Peace Pilgrim When we hear a prediction of some disaster we need to throw the entire weight of our positive thought in the opposite direction! - Peace Pilgrim Collective problems must be solved by all of us, collectively, and no one finds inner peace who avoids doing his or her share in the solving of collective problems. - Peace Pilgrim Sept. 3, 2008 Spinners of Illusion Enjoying the magic show this week? I have put in less time than I did last week, but am listening to Giuliani. His only point is that McCain was a POW. The rest is all lies. He lies and he lies and he lies, as easily as George W. Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the 9/11 "we didn't do it" gang. Here is a funny clip going around the Internet today: If this video does not show, you can watch it at Youtube. Transcription by MoveOn.org: Mike Murphy, former McCain advisor: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all like how you want too (inaudible) this race. You know, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter: It's over. Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good. NBC's Chuck Todd: Don't you think the Palin pick was insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too (inaudible) Noonan: I saw Kay this morning. Murphy: They're all bummed out. Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to? Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political [B.S.] about narratives and (inaudible) the picture. Murphy: I totally agree. Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at and they blow it. Murphy: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical. Todd: And as you called it, gimmicky. Yeah, thanks guys! All right, see you later. Sept. 4, 2008 Buffalo Chip Campaign Last night was scary. Not only left-wing liberals like me were left feeling disturbed, but there must be some honest Republicans who were left asking themselves questions like, What could happen to our country if that person were put in control? Do we really need another shallow leader who says god wanted them to run for office? Also, did McCain bungle this decision? What about Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison, Olympia Snow, and Elizabeth Dole? There are many good women around of both parties. McCain has served side-by-side with women in the Senate. Why did he pick a woman who appears to be little more than a sexy cheerleader? Someone on the radio today postulated that what Sarah Palin lacks in actual qualifications, she makes up for in her willingness to lie. She is a willing cult follower, who was just promoted to a cult leader last night. Well, those are my complaints for the day. I heard on the radio today that John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone before the law that granted American citizenship there. The caller said the law was not retroactive. What about that, there should be a way to research that if it is a fact. By the way, the Republican convention was a frightening spectacle of extremism. If we handle this correctly, we can turn it in our favor. While I am trying to find a seed of compassion for women like Sarah Palin, more people will be finding their ire for her, which is as it should be. She appears as a lying hypocrite who deserves to be exposed. Her appeal is limited to horny men and Republican lesbians. (No kidding, I ran into a Republican lesbian couple last night and they LOVED Sarah Palin.) Sept. 8, 2008 Is the Republican Ticket Terrifying? Absolutely—it is a spectacle, like a ghost parade out of hell. Yes, extremism is terrifying. We feel helpless, like abused children. What are we to do? Here is one idea. Let the fear run through you. Ask the fear what it wants, why it is here. Recognize it as part of your own shadow. Send love to it. Work with your fear feelings until Sept. 11. Then, on Sept. 11, pull yourself together. Throw your fear away. Vow to save this country from the Republican right wing religious extremists. Open your heart to the possibility that we save the earth. Like water finds its own level, we will start to use the new technology we have. We can retool Detroit to mass produce our own hybrid cars. They will be cheap, and may look like a shoe-box, but everyone will be able to afford one. We will dramatically reduce our dependence on oil. We will wake up to the dangers of chemicals and chemical processes. All of this will happen. To get there, we must first grieve. We are almost finished with our grieving over the betrayal of 9/11. This anniversary may be the completion of our recovery. This year on 9/11 we have stopped being frightened. We see that our dear leaders have used 9/11 to manipulate us into a useless war, they have drained our military, our treasury, our confidence, our reputation, and everything. That is sad. We have a right to be depressed. Like tai chi masters, we must pull the anger toward us, then make it go past us. Pull it toward you until Thursday. Take a good, hard look at what is happening, what these infantile people want for us, and why we must stand up as the mature party in this struggle. We will. "Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day." - Thomas Jefferson Sept. 10, 2008 Correspondence with a Friend Unfortunately for me, today I found out that this couple I know (old high school friends) are Independent / leaning toward McCain Palin. It made me so angry I can barely think straight. Here is our latest email exchange. Tell me what you think. I have probably gone overboard. Sorry! Me: Among the media that you watch, does that include Fox News? My friend: I watch Fox and CNN equally. Sometimes i switch to MSNBC, but their anchors have already been chastised by their bosses for being too liberal. . . . don't get me wrong—I hate Bush. But I see McCain as different. He is independent—but he needed to run on the Republican ticket to win. Independents don't win. Me: We live in a society where being "too liberal" is punishable. Okay, I will toe the party line. I will say what they want me to say. I will stop being so uppity. Now you know what it is like to live in a cult. In fact, I wrote a newspaper for the cult and my job was to "counteract" the "karmi" media that went around saying bad things about our cult. I did it for ten years, I am ready and willing to do it again to keep the peace with people like you. No matter what they say to make me or my opinions look bad, I will keep them to myself. I will never say Sarah Palin is just a pig with lipstick. She is a bulldog with lipstick. Okay? I am on message now. She said that herself. Worship Goddess Palin. Okay? I am on board. Hari rama. Well written analysis from Deepak Chopra: Obama and The Palin Effect From: Deepak Chopra | Posted: Friday, September 5th, 2008 Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper. She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision. Look at what she stands for: - Small town values—a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism. - Ignorance of world affairs—a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad. - Family values—a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded. - Rigid stands on guns and abortion—a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree. - Patriotism—the usual fallback in a failed war. - "Reform"—an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology. Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness. Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow—we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise. Sept. 11, 2008 A Busy Day of Remembrance Lunch with family, other appointments, then an evening with Jesse Ventura. Saw him last night at the local indi bookstore, Changing Hands, but he said we had to go see him tonight to hear him talk about 9/11. Once he started to talk about his 9/11 realizations, he said, "I'm preaching to the choir, I can see." He realized that he was face to face with the formidable Phoenix 9/11 Truth movement. We have about five hundred 9/11-truthers here. There are a lot that I did not see tonight, so there are more. However, Phoenix LOVES Jesse Ventura. We were honored to have him here on 9/11. Ended the evening by watching the Service Nation Summit at Columbia University in New York. Loved Barack Obama's part of the discussion. He has well formed ideas about how to improve America's situation and he articulated his ideas well. Made me want to learn a new language and join the foreign service. As far as John McCain, he supports Barack's ideas, but his ideas were either less vivid, or more difficult for him to discuss. He also got agitated at the interviewers a few times, and let them lead the discussion most of the time. When they talked to Barack Obama, on the other hand, it was more like they were interviewing him to find out more about his vision. Barack Obama led the discussion, with the interviewers learning from him. Editor's note: I did not listen to Sarah Pailin's interview with Charles Gibson, but heard a lot about it on the news 11/12. Sept. 13, 2008 Which is Most Offensive? One of the big complaints about liberals is that we are always picking fights. A bit of projection going on, but they see it in us instead of themselves. They say things like, "It is offensive to attack Sarah Palin's religion." Or, "They sent reporters to dig up dirt on her." The problem is that religious people who are taken in by a charlatan will do anything—including starting wars or killing in the name of god. We just want to find out if Palin is a fanatic. It is an issue that we must be concerned about, especially with the possibility that she could become our president (god forbid—double sign of the cross). Be nice to your conservative friends. Pray that they mature to the level of a twenty-two year old. Pray that they be old enough to recognize when they are getting involved with a dangerous religious cult. That is where I am projecting, since it was at age twenty-two that I joined ISKCON and went to dedicate my life to the guru. Granted, I did not kill anybody, but I typed the press releases for the organization when other people killed somebody. What is the difference? I had my ways of rationalizing it. Sept. 15, 2008 Gloria Steinem Checks In This just got to my email box, but apparently eleven days ago, Gloria Steinem wrote the following (excerpts): Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing—the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party—are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women—and to many men too—who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes. But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie. Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for—and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs." This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no plea sure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience. Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps Mc Cain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act. Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger. I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child. . . . Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest. Republicans may learn they can't appeal to ri ght-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women. . . . Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama. Sept. 15, 2008 Another Woman's Opinion Editor's Note: Here is another opinion, written Sept. 13, which just reached my inbox: Sarah Palin does not represent anything that I stand for. I am a 47 year old married woman with 4 teenage daughters. I consider myself to be a devout Roman Catholic with traditional values. I have nothing in common with a woman who is against gun control, has no compassion for young girls who need sex education in order to understand the facts of life that thier parents never told them, and wants other people to conform to her religious beliefs. I am against abortion- for myself and my family, it is a matter of faith and it is against my religion. I would encourage other people to consider alternatives to abortion as well. I also understand that there are circumstances I cannot possibly relate to that could lead a peson to make this choice and I don't think it is Christian to condemn them for it. I resent Sarah Palin's sarcasm when referring to anyone who doesn't share her beliefs. How does this unite people? Her attitude reminds me of bullying. I want this election to get back to the platforms that each candidate stands for and stop hearing about Sarah Palins family. They seem o.k. to me- I have no problem with them but they are not running for election! I am looking forward to the debates between all 4 candidates so we can get back to the facts. Sept. 21, 2008 Letter from a Friend in Hawaii My take on the Palin is that she is a cheap fireworks rocket sent up by McCain's people to make lots of pretty patterns and light of the sky and go sizzle, whizzle, BANG, BOOM, and completely distract the voters. Those who would vote for McCain anyway like the eye candy and the Miss American Pie show of the whole business. Those who would vote for Obama are wasting their energy and thoughts on hating and deriding this women, taking her seriously, as if she mattered, which she doesn't. But, she is sure keeping them busy. What if all of the energy that has gone into writing and circulating diatribes against Palin had gone into raising funds for Obama or educating the public about his qualities, strengths, plans? I see the putting up of Palin, so patently unsuited and unsuitable, as a smoke screen and diversion, nothing more. There. Sept. 17, 2008 Where Money Goes When It Disappears When money "disappears" during a financial meltdown, where does it really go? Some of it went to people who sold their homes at the peak of the market in 2005. However, if they bought another house, their gains went to the next seller. The rest of the money falls through the cracks and lands in the underground economy. That is why point number two in my peace plan to end the war on terror is to "out the underground economy." Click here to access the Surrealist.org Peace Plan to End the War on Terror. Sept. 16, 2008 Last Word on Palin A friend from L.A. wrote to me today: the less the dems say about palin, the better. they should go straight for mccain and only speak when spoken to about palin. mccain's choosing her, however, is a valid point i think. can't imagine a more cynical political move than that. straight out of rove. Sept. 16, 2008 Overfishing: Don't ignore the warning signs Check out this petition: [now offline]. The environmental movement will be successful when you learn to talk in positive terms. Okay? When you say, "Overfishing: Don't ignore the warning signs," you have four negatives, so this is a quadrupel negative statement. "overfishing" is negative, "don't" is negative, "ignore" is negative, and warning signs" is negative because it is the thing we do not want. Here are some examples of straightforward, positive language: Protect the oceans, sustainable fishing, protect ocean diversity. We will win the issue when we can see it in a positive light, instead of being against something we do not like. Sept. 24, 2008 In the Inbox People are forwarding me interesting stuff—from channeled higher beings who confirm humankind's progress to Anne Lamott begging people to be kind and to visualize a better future. This is my favorite. Not sure who wrote it, but a liberal friend in Texas sent it in: To all my friends who have had enough— I want to make two specific requests (discussion follows): Discussion: It dawned on me that many of us are getting caught in the fear orgy the Republicans love to create because most of their policies are based in fear. They even fail to recognize that the opposite of fear is not hope, but trust and expectation. So eliminating fear requires practicing trust and expectation. Fearing the Republicans is just more fear and feeds their cause. They want us to be afraid, even if all we're afraid of is them. I don't expect us to never experience fearful thoughts, but realizing that we are is a good time to think "President Obama." and experience the pleasure that this reality brings. When I first thought of this I anticipated that some, me included,would react with, "well just thinking about it won't do it. Way too 'airy-fairy' What we need is to be in action." Interesting thought,but aligning our thoughts with what we want never hurts, and imagining what we want never precludes getting into action. In fact, imagining "President Obama" is more likely to inspire those actions that will create this wonderful outcome. Not to mention, if a whole bunch of us are feeling good, instead of afraid, resigned and helpless, then we will probably get a whole lot more done. Practice this thought and notice that it makes you feel good and certainly more resourceful. The decision to send this email came to me last night after deciding to practice this thought myself yesterday. "President Obama" Aaaaah. Happy and relieved. Like taking off a shoe that's too tight (or in this case, maybe a noose). I did the math and if each of sends this to ten others and only five send it on then in 13 rounds this email will reach over 244 Million people. Probably less because of repeats. If we send it to more and let's say 10 send it on then in 9 rounds 1 billion emails will be sent. (okay, my math may be lousy, but it would be a lot of folks) Staggering and no-one is asking you to send any money anywhere or informing you that you have inherited money from a long lost relative. 1) 3 times a day (more is better) I suggest you say or just think to yourself "President Obama," and when you do, imagine it being true right now and feeling all the comfort that goes with this thought. 2) Please forward this email to all your friends who you know for a fact are voting for Obama and will be thrilled when he wins, encouraging them to send it on to their friends. When I first heard Barak Obama speak in 2004 at the convention, I thought 'This man could be President someday." I like many others are inspired by him and know that behind his inspiring words is a strong, thoughtful and courageous intelligence. Let's join together to make "President Obama" (Aaaaaah) a reality by imagining together that it already is. Thanks for your help. Sept. 25, 2008 Bush Admin Organized Crime The thing the Democrats (and especially the Republicans) do not get is that the Bush people are thiefs who are stealing our money. We must stop them. We must get back what they have already stolen. Sept. 27, 2008 Debate Advice Barack Obama did extremely well against the old horny goat last night. However, he will do even better in the next debate if we see more of that confidence, even jesting, that he displays on the campaign trail. All that "not going to the debate" b.s. could have been McCain's Rovian military tactics to throw the opponent off guard; same for the angry, contentious, not looking at his opponent style. Sept. 29, 2008 Pelosi's Speech and all That Nancy Pelosi apparently stuck her finger in some Republican's eyes today, forcing them to take their ball and go home. Now we have to grow up and do something that everyone can agree upon without criticizing each others' presidents. America has been going downhill for too long. We need to pull ourselves together. Sept. 30, 2008 Barack Obama Shares My Concerns I want a president who can think rationally, who has studied history and current events. When I went to BarackObama.com today, they asked me to rate which of the following are my most important issues, but they are all important to me: equality / civil rights civil liberties / privacy peace & social justice foreign policy / security economic fairness / security environment / conservation smart energy policy public infrastructure / transportation good government / ethics electoral reform affordable health care education Sept. 30, 2008 We Need a Deal, but a Fair Deal Last night on TV, Paul Krugman rattled off a reasonable framework for a good plan to help the American economy. When our legislators come up with a good plan, it will pass. Here's someone who makes sense to me: Sept. 29, 2008 Peace on Earth Surrealist.org has a plan to award companies and people who have worked to protect the environment. Steamboats.com is creating an award for hardware store products that are petroleum-free, such as paints, solvents, glues, cleaning agents, herbicides, pesticides, adhesives, etc. We will also create an award for petroleum-free health care products, such as soaps, deodorants, lotions, dyes, medicine, and cosmetics. We also consult with companies to help them get the petroleum by-products out. Oct. 2, 2008 Supreme Court Decision I Like the Least My least favorite Supreme Court Decision (aside from Bush v. Gore) is the Dred Scott decision. That should be a universally reviled decision. It would be a safe choice for me to discuss because usually the first Supreme Court decision that comes to mind is the best one to discuss. Plus, that one has so much to dislike. Oct. 1, 2008 In the Inbox on the Financial Bailout Editor's Note: This came to my email inbox today: Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke should be indicted for treason. Remove them from the situation immediately as a first step toward protecting our country. No bailouts for criminals. Not one penny. Pass legislation that will resolve the short-term crisis with long term stability: 1) Abolish the Federal Reserve System and establish publicly-owned banks. 2) Transfer all assets held by the "Federal" Reserve to a new agency, exclusively controlled by the US government and staffed by loyal US citizens that have no vested interests in the private sector. 3) Establish a government-owned lending institution with authority to issue credit to qualified borrowers. 4) Freeze all foreclosures and reschedule loans for victims of mortgage fraud at reasonable fixed interest rates for thirty years. 5) Return stolen homes or compensate victims of foreclosure fraud with reparations paid by the perpetrators ~ not the taxpayers. If necessary, freeze the assets of perpetrators. 6) Amend the bankruptcy laws to allow courts to provide relief to victims of usury and fraud. 7) Repeal the Commodities Futures Modernization Act. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act and every other regulation that protected public assets from Wall Street speculators. Impose strict regulations on the financial industry. 8) Investigate systemic financial fraud and indict criminals. 9) Allow institutions to fail that willingly participated in Ponzi schemes. No taxpayer bailouts. 10) Replace the "fractional" reserve banking system with a genuine reserve system. 11) Break up monopolies and separate financial sectors. The Federal Reserve System is not federal and has no reserves. It is a privately-owned bank consortium that deliberately engineers bubbles and depressions by arbitrarily expanding and contracting its credit. It has devastated the public's purchasing power by steadily inflating its worthless fiat "notes." The cycles of economic chaos and despair will continue until this private debt monopoly is banished. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) has introduced HR 2755 to repeal the Federal Reserve Act and to abolish the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks. This is the most important legislation of our lifetime. With the whole nation braced for catastrophe, this is the moment to reform of our monetary system. As one unified field of consciousness we can change our destiny by bringing this bill to the floor right now and passing this historic legislation. ACT NOW to reclaim our financial sovereignty and create a genuine legacy of freedom for future generations ~ a new monetary system wholly owned by the People of the United States. Oct. 3, 2008 Palin Has a Small Brain She can talk a blue streak, but what's behind it? Nothing. Nothing she says is very important, she does not really understand issues. She lies, she blusters, she mangles sentences. Is she not just a George W. Bush with lipstick? Spoonamore Reveals the Plan to Steal Election September 29, 2008 Here, in this shattering new interview, Stephen Spoonamore goes into harrowing detail about the Bush regime's election fraud, past, present and—if we don't spread the word right now—to come. Since he's the only whistle-blower out there who knows the perps themselves, and how they operate, we have to send this new piece far and wide. Here Spoon tells us that McBush's team—i.e., Karl Rove and his henchpersons—have their plan in place to steal this next election: by 51.2% of the popular vote, and three electoral votes. (read original [new site, search for "Spoonamore" for video]) He also talks about the major role played by the Christianist far right in the electronic rigging of the vote. And he defines our electronic voting system as a major threat to US national security, calling for it to be junked ASAP, in favor of hand-counted paper ballots. Since Spoon is a Republican and erstwhile McCain supporter, as well as a noted specialist in nosing out computer fraud, his testimony is essential—not only for its expertise, but, no less, for the impact that his views will surely have on those Republicans who have been loath to see what Bush & Co. has done to our election system. That whole story's just about to break. In fact, tomorrow there will be a number of articles appearing, on a recent breakthrough in the lawsuit that Spoon's testimony has enabled, and on other aspects of that all-important case. MCM 9/26/08: New Spoonamore Interview—E-voting Machines are a National Security Threat Last week, VR interviewed GOP Cyber security expert Stephen Spoonamore about the upcoming election and his testimony in the new Ohio litigation to take depositions of Karl Rove and others. The video is posted in full below with ten short clips for You Tube viewing. This interview is so important and explosive that we urge everyone to watch it. Spoonamore says that the GOP wanted e-voting to steal elections but now foreign governments will be hacking and the winner will be determined by the best hackers. He says that if the GOP wins the hacking competition, McCain will win 51.2 percent with three electoral votes over Obama, and it will be a stolen election. Spoon also makes a crucial point about the people who have been implicated in much of the election theft: "They are religious extremists." He names those who know about stolen elections, and he insists that the only way to protect this election is with paper ballots, hand-counted. Check out this extraordinary interview here. http://www.velvetrevolution.us/prosecute_rove/images/SpoonIntvw3.wmv http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyByZx5GEaw It's a network, people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YadsHqxid8I Electronic voting machines are a national security threat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbxuXC4QlMk The genie is out of the bottle?. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOHkY7sJ4ZI Fifty ways to steal an election. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1--KHOo8tkM Mike Connell: Bush IT Guru http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJHmuG8d2bQ The Rapp Family: Ohio election cover-up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z7DK3LgiOA Evangelicals and voting machines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WTe8ppEIic Paper ballots please. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lrFkRHrRDI McCain/Palin will win by theft. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s07oi2G_K4c People should doubt the vote, it's being stolen. Oct. 5, 2008 Blessing All with Love Jean Hudon, the global visionary of the Earth Rainbow Network* in Canada, sent out the following peace meditation for today. His emails go out all over the world, so if you contemplate these ideas, you add your positive thoughts to a network of people worldwide who are determined to lift the weight of karma on this planet. The message says: Over the past several days, your planet has been experiencing what can be described as a fear-inducing experience that has been fostered in great part by the hidden hand of the few elite controllers of your economic system in a bid to create the conditions that would allow them to further implement their world domination plans. Although it may seem that they have reached their goal, in truth they have only precipitated a growing awareness of the ruthless and unconscionable imbalance in wealth distribution that has been perpetuated for far too long and for the sole benefit of a tiny clique of people. Insofar as their plans for greater control are concerned, they have failed and the burgeoning determination of people worldwide to bring an end to this mad slide into ever more inequity will now become an unstoppable force that will ultimately tear down the walls of oppression-economic, political, military, or otherwise. Yet the forces that have been unleashed through their intentional degradation of the financial bastions of market manipulation will now trigger increasing disturbances and open the door to situations that will require an ever greater level of cool-headedness and spiritual compassion on the part of all humans to collectively and cooperatively mitigate the consequences of these disturbances and set in motion the establishment of a whole new way of exchanging one's work and creative abilities for the means necessary to live a fulfilling and balanced life experience. At the root of this new economy that will gradually rise is an essential universal principle and quality that will be the very foundation of the new era that is now exponentially growing from the fertile breeding ground of the learning experiences now enriching your newfound awareness of Life's vital intrinsic interdependent harmony... Love is the best word you have to describe this omniversal Force at the very origin of All That Is, now shaping your world in preparation for the dimensional shift that is transpiring on Earth and throughout much of this universe. You are being called to be of assistance, as a participant to these ongoing global healing meditations, through adding the unique and yet indispensable vibration of your soul's Love to the growing chorus of Light now enfolding this field of existence and transmuting all into a higher expression of the innate perfection of All That You Are, as individualized manifestations of the One Prime Originator of it all. The unique ability you have to bless all with the redeeming force of Love is the necessary ferment that will guide, as a dazzling beacon of hope, all efforts and initiatives to establish a new era of Peace, Love and Harmony of Earth and beyond. Assistance from all Lighted realms and powerful allies from highly advanced civilizations is at the ready to help tilt the balance towards this bright future that is NOW taking shape with every choice of Love over fear, with every act of surrender to the Higher Will of the Light Source in us all, and with every further realization of the Oneness we all are, and you shall succeed for the Highest Good of All... as One. This whole Meditation Focus has been archived for your convenience at EarthRainbowNetwork.com "I would offer a very simple message. It is this. All that is truly is one. By this I mean, any sense of isolation,separation and aloneness you perceive is temporary and illusory. And you are now increasingly being offered opportunity to raise your eyes from that illusion and see your connectedness with all else... with Prime Creator. And from that understanding flows for the simple truth that "what you do to another you do to yourself". So go out and express love and kindness to each other. I would also like to say to you that your sense that some beings are "bad" and others are "good" is very very myopic. All beings in your system are sometimes bad and sometimes good and which one of those they are will depend on the perspective of the one offering the judgement. So cease all the judgements of each other. It only drags your own soul down. Instead learn to look at beings with love. You may decide not to interact with someone because that being is choosing to engage with destructive behaviour in that moment. That is fine. But do not then adjudge that being as not worthy of love." Oct. 9, 2008 Surrealist Take on Economic Crisis All day I have been asking myself why why why. Here's what I think: the powers that be decided there is a good chance Barack Obama will win. This is their way of saying welcome to the White House. But we can make it. We will solve this the right way once and for all. We will make it through this. Actually, the powers that be do not control this and it will hit them harder than it will hit the rest of them. Everything they send out will come back to them. Oct. 12, 2008 Conspiracy Theory Central Okay, go ahead and call Surrealist.org "conspiracy theory central." We take all the blame as the number one, pyramid-hat-wearing, hippy granola-crunching conspiracy theorist. I take all the blame, thank you. Now my question to you: why are we so bad at busting things we see as possible conspiracies? It is because we do not believe in them. If we accept the reality that it is possible for criminals to cover their tracks in conspiracy with one another, then maybe we will start to see them. Take it from me. Yes, conspiracies exit. People get sent to an early death so their money and resources can flow to heirs or interlopers; buildings get blown up by government officials (oh were you thinking of 9/11? that is not the only false flag operation in history). When Americans wake up and realize there is a gigantic conspiracy theory where about two hundred and fifty people are benefitting, with the rest of the world thrown to the wolves . . . oh never-mind. Oct. 17, 2008 Texas Travel Notes Over the last few days, driving around Texas in my little rental car, I have had some thoughts about war and peace, debates, Joe the Plumber, and other things. Now holed up in the convention hotel, with a view of beautiful downtown Houston, I now have a connection to the outside world (wireless Internet), and I would like to share my thoughts. First, we need peace so that we can concentrate on creating a sustainable climate. Second, I want one of those green collar jobs. As a loyal American, I will stand on an assembly line or push paper, or do whatever simple work they ask of me, as long as I am doing something for the climate. Let's open a nano-solar manufacturing plant in Tempe or Chandler, then install nano-solar on the tops of all public buildings, beginning in Arizona, and moving out to California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. We could provide enough solar energy for the whole country. My green collar job riveting widgets (or whatever they tell me to do), will give me a paycheck and the satisfaction of knowing that I am helping to move the planet toward energy independence. (As you recall, I am a writer who worked part-time in retail, then got a real estate license. At this point, I am looking for a career change.) Regarding the debate and the Al Smith dinner: awesome, watched in Austin with my good friend who is a fellow liberal. Regarding Joe the Plumber. Although Joe Plumber is probably a Republican plant, have compassion for boneheaded right-wingers in your sphere of influence. At this moment, our country is filled with right wing talk show host cult followers who are questioning their faith. Offer them a few kind words of wisdom and let them think about it. Many of them may come around; it takes a lot of courage to admit that you have been lied to by someone you trust. Regarding A.C.O.R.N.: this is the Republicans' pre-emptive spin for the no-paper ballot treason machines that helped the current president win elections. Fortunately, pressure is coming to look into the attorney firing scandal to stop these treasonist scoundrels who would steal the American People's right to choose their leaders. Regarding the economic crisis. Like I said, please give me a green collar job—and fast! Oct. 7, 2008 What is Most Important? The debate tonight, the economic situation? What is the most important issue at this time? I vote for the Save the Delta Queen Campaign. Yesterday in response to America's economic collapse, a Truthout.org pick ("Field of Ruins," by Mario Roy, La Presse, Oct. 1) stated: "The United States' only intact power today remains its culture. But for how much longer?" I can answer that question: November 1, 2008. Unless the House and Senate act this month, we will lose one of the most American of all American cultural icons: the Delta Queen Steamboat. Please call your elected officials in Washington and urge them to save the Delta Queen (Ask your two Senators to support Senate bill S. 3498; ask your U.S. Representative to support H.R. 3852). Forty-two years ago, my father (Bill Muster) helped to win the first exemption from the "Safety at Sea" law, which would have killed the Delta Queen. Aside from the battle of 1970 with a dishonest U.S. Congressman, the Delta Queen has easily won an estimated six to nine additional exemptions. Please visit my other website, Steamboats.com, to learn more about American culture, and why the Delta Queen is threatened with extinction. New slogans from the radio this morning (10/7): "If you like the Corvair and the Pinto, you'll love the Maverick" and "John McCain: Unsafe at any speed." October 20, 2008 It IS All Your Fault If the liars take over with their lies about Barack Obama (robo calls, weird videos, etc.), then it is all your fault. If you fall for the fear (again), you are an idiot and deserve to be abused. If you fall for the fear about the fear, you are even stupider than an idiot. You are the victim of idiots. So if you feel afraid right now, you are adding to the fear that is sinking the planet. You deserve the scary thing you imagine because you call it to you on a daily basis. Let the abusers abuse you. You are asking for it. Maybe what we need to do is embrace our fear. Pet it, coddle it, ask it what it wants from you. Justice Department Targets ACORN but Ignores GOP Voter Suppression Truthout Link "With Election Day less than two weeks away, proponents of more tightly regulating the voting process—this time led by congressional Republicans—have gotten their desired response from the nation's guardian of civil rights' laws: an FBI investigation into ACORN, the low-income advocacy coalition that registered 1.3 million new voters in 2008." From Keith Olbermann 10/28/2008: The most frightening words in the English language: "I'm George Bush and I'm here to help." Dear Barack Obama: Please tell us you want to end wars in the Middle East and balance the checkbook. Please give us a sign that you want peace. That will bring the independents to you like metal filings to a magnet. Give humanitarian help to poor countries and they will have less reasons to hate us. Well, two days before the election, while there are serious matters at hand (caused mostly by your own paranoia), I want to tell you a story. Adelle Davis (see bio at Wikipedia) was born the same year as my grandmother, 1904. While my grandmother cooked the traditional German fare of meat, gravy, and lard, Adelle Davis was eating fruit, home-grown vegetables, raw milk, and a cereal she made from oatmeal, almonds, and wheat germ. No kidding. That just shows how two people can live in the exact same world, but have completely different lives. That works to a certain extent, and I apologize for Bush—he must have been a figment of my imagination gone wild. No kidding, just like some people feel responsible for an earthquake or other natural disaster, I feel like Bush was a bad game I started somehow. Whatever the heck that was, I am ready to fold it up and throw it away. Things must get better. Focus on the relief you might feel if the world was once again okay. Remember what it was like before 9/11? Remember what it was like before the election of 2000? Before Y2K? Picture it now then wake up in forty-eight hours to find out it is true. What to do until the election? Get extra rest, clean out a closet, settle a feud, help a friend in need, pray. What not to do: get depressed, frightened, suicidal, whiney, or pesky. Nov. 2, 2008 Straw Man Stereotypes in this Election? A friend just sent me this bull-crap chain letter based on a study attributed to John Mayer, professor of psychology at the University of New Hampshire. It is extrapolated from his study into a really, really stupid phony projection of what a liberal is. I will now deconstruct it: Liberals: 1. View social inequities and preferred groups as unjust and requiring reform. 2. Prefer atheists, tattoos, foreign films and poetry. 3. Endorse gay unions, welfare, universal health care, feminism and environmentalism. 4. Exhibit creativity, which entails the capacity to see solutions to problems, and empathy toward others. 5. Tolerate complexity and ambiguity. 6. Are influenced by their work as judges, social workers, professors and other careers for which an appreciation of opposing points of view is required. Stereotype of Liberals: 1. View social inequities this is true, liberals do not want to live under an aristocracy and preferred groups this is true, we do not want preferred groups, such as the oil companies other and multi-national corporations to write our laws and dictate our economy as unjust and requiring reform. Okay, point one is good, but it must be qualified. We are right about this and more people should listen to us. 2. Prefer atheists, tattoos, foreign films and poetry. This is an absolute stereotype and untrue. I am a liberal, I believe in god, pray every day, do not have tattoos (do not even care for them in others very much), have probably watched fewer foreign films than most Republicans I know, and I do not care for poetry particularly. So that blows your theory all to pieces. Further, I do not like to be lumped in as an atheist, tattoo bearing, foreign film crunching poet. 3. Endorse gay unions, welfare, universal health care, feminism and environmentalism. Wrong on nearly every point. I say live and let live, but do they always have to make waves right before an important election? In that sense, I think the gays are trying to sway the elections toward Republicans because everyone knows that issue will bring voters out. As for welfare, I think it is unfortunate that our society has so much unemployment, there should be a better way to deal with poverty in America. As for universal health care: I disagree with the current health care system. First you eat crappy food, then you get sick, then you breathe petroleum pollution, then you get sicker. Then you get really, really sick and finally go to a doctor, then all the doctor can do is give you a prescription or an operation. This health care sucks. We need to get the petro-chemicals out of our food, water, and air. That will reduce the amount of expensive health care we need, then health care will be available to all cheap. Feminism—it did not work out. I believe in equality, but still like men. Let's just put feminism on the shelf for now and work toward equality in the workplace. Environmentalism. Okay, you got me there. I am a liberal who is in favor of saving the environment. But most conservatives used to be in favor of the environment until the 1980s. Okay point number three is a farce, except for environmentalism. But again, liberals are absolutely right on that point. 4. Exhibit creativity, which entails the capacity to see solutions to problems, and empathy toward others. Okay, I will give you point four. 5. Tolerate complexity and ambiguity. Okay, I will give you this one, but let me tell you—conservatives have pushed us to the limit of what we can tolerate and pretty soon you might have something like the French Revolution on your hands. Of course, compassionate intellectuals that we are, we will do it without shedding any blood. 6. Are influenced by their work as judges, social workers, professors and other careers for which an appreciation of opposing points of view is required. Ditto on that. For anybody who wants my critique on the conservative stereotypes, here it is. - editor Conservatives: 1. Willing to defend current social inequities and preferred groups as justifiable or necessary. 2. Prefer prayer, religious people and SUVs. 3. Endorse the U.S. government, the military, the state they live in, big corporations and most Americans. 4. Are more likely to be a first-born, who identify more with their parents, predisposing them to a greater investment in authority and a preference for conservatism. 5. Have a fear of death, reflecting an enhanced need for security. 6. Are conscientious about the ability to exert personal self-control to the effect of meeting one's own and others' demands, and maintaining personal coherence. 7. Need simplicity, clarity and certainty. Conservatives: 1. Willing to defend current social inequities and preferred groups as justifiable or necessary. Afraid to change, used to being dominated by the oil companies and other overlords. Why is it necessary? Sure it would be messy to change, but if we do it one step at a time, the twenty-first century could see the end of human slavery, child abuse, torture, and global warming. These are good goals. Please join us. 2. Prefer prayer, religious people and SUVs. This is not necessarily true. My parents are Republican. My stepdad believes in god, but my mother is an atheist. They prefer driving their Volvo to their SUV. So there. My mother listens to Rush Limbaugh and they both watch all the required Fox News shows. They are card carrying Republicans who defeat your stereotype like a an anvil killing a fly. 3. Endorse the U.S. government, the military, the state they live in, big corporations and most Americans. This is true, but only because their party has run the government for the last eight years. If the Democrats win control, they will go back to saying the government is too big and should be drowned in a bathtub. 4. Are more likely to be a first-born, who identify more with their parents, predisposing them to a greater investment in authority and a preference for conservatism. I am not sure that all Republicans tend to be first-born. What about families where all the kids turn out Republican? It is true they are more authoritarian, but this is a mark of immaturity. The authoritarian system has been proven again and again to cause abuse because the whole thing is structured around keeping secrets for the leaders (parents). 5. Have a fear of death, reflecting an enhanced need for security. Again, another sign of immaturity. We need to become mature adults, with the ability to handle risk. 6. Are conscientious about the ability to exert personal self-control to the effect of meeting one's own and others' demands, and maintaining personal coherence. Many liberals feel conscientious and confident about meeting their own needs. Why only conservatives? That is a stereotype. 7. Need simplicity, clarity and certainty. Another sign of immaturity. The world is a complex place. It is irrational to think it can be simple, clear and certain at all times. On Wed, 11/5/08, Gina Catena wrote: From: Gina Catena Subject: Re: evviva To: "Milena" Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 8:33 AM Mille Grazie, cara mia, for your kind words! You are typically kind to reach out to me today.. you understand how emotional and personal this election is. It is important to share profound experiences with our loved ones. Remember how you felt when l'italia won the world cup? That's how I felt about Obama's win! Last evening I sat with a brilliant girlfriend, a high level administrator in the education field; she happens to be mixed ethnicity. She daily battles the lack of educational funding for population-dense "problem" schools, while I battle the same in women's and children's health care. My friend's biracial children are bilingual also (rare here). I made my nonna's pasta sauce with ravioli, we split a bottle of chianti. We were prepared to drink in celebration of success, or drink to drown our sorrows while planning an eventual exodus from North America (if McCain had won). The McCain-Palin campaign frightened me ... they applied the cult methods that you and I worked so hard to recover from. To my eyes, McCain-Palin presented divisive rhetoric, lack of direct information, condescending attitudes and pretense at control. I do not want to associate with a population that accepts such tactics as qualifications for the highest office of our land. For years, the American GOP successfully applied manipulative tactics to keep wealthy corporate interests in comfort, at the expense of safety for the average working class person (safety to me = quality education and access to adequate health care.. the basics provided by other civilized governments). While Obama is no diety—he has a keen analytical mind. He took the high road in his campaign by addressing issues rather than resorting to continual direct attacks to McCain and Palin—and there was a plenty to criticize! He played the campaign as the determined diplomat that this country needs. Obama's diplomatic skills will serve him well to navigate the current international crises, etc. USA polices of the last 8+ years have driven us to the brink of disaster, as we pulled the global economy down with us. Frightening! Obama's keen intellect, international upbringing—partially raised in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country—his background with mixed ethnicity and personal history of poverty, will allow him to navigate the complex waters of these times with profound awareness, compassion and diplomacy. His oratorial skill enables him to mobilize the required social support for progress. He and we have a tough road ahead! If Obama is assassinated, Biden is qualified to step up and continue the work. Thank heavens! Yesterday, I was anxious all day—afraid to the core that McCain might win. A McCain presidency would've functioned in the dark ages of war, supporting advantages to the wealthy corporate funders. McCain could've had a recurrence of his cancer, leaving us with Palin—a national and global fate too awful to imagine! Stories of rigged elections abounded. My friends and family abroad did not receive their mail-in ballots in a timely manner, so their votes did not count. So, I AM immensely grateful to see that the US population CAN think!.. can see and listen to a brilliant man without being threatened by his skin color, ecclectic upbringing, nor a direct analysis of painful issues. My faith is renewed. Now... let's cross our fingers (or pray or whatever) that the litigation for my property takes a positive turn next week.. I'm pulling the case together, because my attorney is prepared to concede. What a system! Like the USA economy, personally I cannot financially survive another 'hit' by losing this case. Carisima mia.. ti voglio tanto bene. Hugs, appreciation, baci and laughter with you! xoxox g :) On Wed, 11/5/08, Milena wrote: From: Milena Subject: evviva To: "Gina Catena Catena" Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 12:11 AM Allora cara, I ma very happy for the americans with Obama. First thing we did this morning with the sleeping dust in our eyes was to switch on BBc world and hear the results. Anything that brings change is welcome. And I like the fact that is the first not white in the White house. I wish Us is becoming with this president more human and a peasant country to visit again. Tell me your impression of the day. Kiss of good morning America good morning Gina with a new handsome and loving president, hummingbird Milena ( that is how Thomas recently calls me Nov. 6, 2008 Count the Votes Four Senate races are too close to call. Minnesota: Al Franken and Norm Coleman will be recounted automatically because the state provides for a recount in close races. They are only five hundred votes apart. Coleman was tapped to run by Cheney and Rove after Senator Paul Wellstone died in a small plane crash in 2002. Georgia will probably hold a run-off between Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin. Chambliss came to office after running offensive commercials comparing Vietnam war hero Max Cleland to Osama bin Laden. The other two races in question are Alaska, where convicted criminal Ted Stevens is running again, but is only 3,400 votes ahead of Mark Begich. In Oregon, Republican incumbent Gordon Smith only has a slight lead over Jeff Merkley, with many votes still uncounted. In my conspiracy-centric world, the Republican election fraud people gave up trying to control the presidential race, but focused on the Senate instead, to prevent a veto-proof "Democrat" majority. I would like to find out what type of voting equipment they use in these four states and who counts the votes (Republicans? bi-partisan volunteers? Republican-controlled corporations?). All for now, but this is America again. Let us hope that our elections are fair. We still have to work on making things fair. Nov. 4, 2008 America once again a Lighthouse to the world America's beacon shines bright again. Thank you and congratulations, President Elect Barack Obama and everyone concerned. There are still people who "hate" America, but a LOT LESS. November 12, 2008 - Bush causes havoc for eight years, then Barack Obama gets elected and eight days later Barack Obama is to blame for everything. That goes to prove that no good dead goes unpunished. We are hanging by a prayer thread eighty-nine percent of the time. Why do they want to make things worse? Everybody stop rocking the boat, please. A reminder from Pray for Peace: a lot less people hate America now. Although we must be diligent for our safety in this world of risk, our risk has lowered, and our karma has lightened. The people who "hate" us worst are the ones who feel left out: the r-wing pundits and pols, and their cronies. November 17, 2008 Where Did America's Money Go? Why do banks have no money to lend? We can thank the Bush administration for all the deregulation and corporate socialism that allowed them and their cronies to take America to the ATM at gunpoint and rob us of every last nickel we can withdraw. Now where has the money gone? It has gone to the underground economy. That is why one of the points of our Peace Plan to end the war on terror is to out the underground economy. Read the full peace plan at this site: click here. Here's another metaphor if you want one. Suppose you play Monopoly and the people who control the bank slip all the cash into their own pockets. That is what has happened. Dishonest, treasonous players have stolen our money. We need to investigate. Maybe we can recover chunks of it. Every little bit helps. November 15, 2008 Celebrate a Miracle It was a miracle that we elected Barack Obama. The future has its challenges, but the weight of bad karma is now lifted. People in other countries like us again. They want to work with us to create a sustainable human footprint and heal the planet. America is getting a second chance. This time let's get good leaders, instead of crooks and treasonists. What gets me is that the Universe always holds the potential for a miracle such as this, but we were so hopeless at times. If only we could have kept faith that justice would be done. God (destiny) has the power to heal our wounds. We are witnesses to the greatest miracle in history. It is a full circle for America, which at its founding allowed the exploitation of slaves. Yet now, in America's hour of need (our times!), a black man has come forward to heal and unite us as a people. Whatever hardships we face as Americans now, we must remember that life has a way of righting itself, and that justice is inevitable. November 26, 2008 Auto Manufacturers Deserve our Prayers Banks are great, but they do not "make" anything. They simply push paper. Car companies actually make something and they are one of the few industries still making products in this country. What has become of us? Everything else has moved out of the country in search of cheap labor and less environmental regulation. That's no way to run a country. We need our manufacturing base back. Our country acts like a trust baby—do nothing, just expect the checks to keep coming in. Thanksgiving November 27, 2008 Thankful Bush Era is Ending In a guest column at the Huffington Post yesterday*, LewDan pointed out: "For forty years the GOP acquired power by demonizing their opponents, promoting an us-versus-them mentality and an unswerving loyalty to the Republican brand, as if it were the "home team." It should have surprised no one that Republican candidates who see the country as us-versus-them, once elected, feel no need to represent us. That their only loyalty is to themselves." Editor's Note: If we want to get out of the cult, then we have to play fair. We must refuse to put up with "business as usual," and that is what we are doing. Finally. November 24, 2008 Veils of Maya Lifting Here are some excerpts from "Healing's Twelve Keys of Spiritual Activism," from HumanityHealing.net. News of the magic Keys arrived ten days ago in a newsletter from global visionary Jean Hudon, EarthRainbowNetwork.com. 1. All Action MUST be Based on Compassion 2. Compassion Flows from the Understanding of the Connection Between All Living Beings 3. Compassion Must Be Applied With Wisdom 4. Apply Synergy and Teamwork to Accomplish Goals 5. Spiritual Activism is the Pursuit of Service for the Good of All, Not for the Advancement or Benefit of Individuals or Selected Communities 6. Pursue Integrity, Honesty and Dignity in the Conduct of Your Actions 7. Do not Defame Your Detractors or Those Who Doubt You 8. Raising Another Up Raises You Up As Well 9. Learn to Listen to Your Heart and Not Your Mind 10. Search Out Viable and Sustainable Solutions 11. Do Not Judge Yourself Simply By The Results Of Your Actions 12. Let Metta [loving kindness] Be The Motivation For Your Actions Editor's note: Each point comes with a lengthy explanation. Let me elaborate only on points six, seven, and eight. You can research the rest at their website, HumanityHealing.net (linked above.) They say that point six is to think about how your actions may be perceived by others. Dishonest strategies, like those Machiavelli wrote about in "The Prince," have no place in Spiritual Activism. We are to practice "spiritual transparency." As a writer, I try to do that. Suppose I do something dishonest or just cut a corner somewhere and it comes out—my reputation as a writer is at stake. Even if I am mean to a clerk, they could later find my book and think, "What an a-hole." Previous to that, when I used to dress in a sari, I realized that all my actions would reflect back on the organization. It is not just religious people and writers who must be transparent—the veils of maya are lifting. It is much easier for the truth to come out now, mostly thanks to the Internet. More about the paradigm change later, but people who can act transparently now will survive better in the post Internet world. Point seven should be self-evident. To be spiritual people, we must fight fair. Make your points and let the other person make their points. Whoever has the best ideas should "win." It is useless to make the other person feel bad. Point eight explains that when you help someone else, you help yourself. We may think our anger and hatred toward others will get us somewhere good, but that is not true. Like, this morning, I am angry at the insurance adjuster who has not settled my water damage claim after two months. I want to move back into my place. In fact, I am a total wreck. You never know how something like this will affect you. However, being angry at the adjuster does not help. The anger spills over to loved ones—my mate slipped out to take a walk after enduring a few minutes in the same room with me and my anger. That's why I am saying—we think it is something outside that makes us angry, but the anger is inside. It is a mood, a feeling, a place inside where we go when we do not get what we want, or we feel someone is trying to cheat us. In my case, this anger is a very ugly and frightening place. I let ISKCON people walk all over me for ten years, so yes, I have a lot of repressed anger. The key to solving the anger problem is to realize that anger is a signal to us that someone or something has crossed our boundaries. We need to repair the boundary (or build one if none existed) and stop the encroachment. As soon as we realize what the problem is and what to do about it, anger can cease. Then we go about fixing the problem. That's all. That's the future. Our world is forced to grow up now. We have problems to fix, so let's get to it. November 29, 2008 Language and How we Manifest Reality I believe we need a new word to describe global warming. If we say, "Fight global warming," it is a double negative. "Fight" is negative and "global warming" is negative. It is totally unclear what the solution is when you have a double negative. A positive way to say it is "Sustainable Human Footprint." That describes the same situation, but includes the goal and how to solve it. One name that has a good positive message is "9/11 Truth." It does not complain, like if the slogan had been "Fight 9/11 Lies." 9/11 Truth is positive. I believe that the name itself will solve the problem. Every time we call the problem "9/11 Truth," we are calling for the answer. If we call our problem "Sustainable Human Footprint," it will be a constant reminder of what we are aiming for. "Election Integrity" is another one. Put the words "sustainable" and "integrity" with every problem and you will get the answers: sustainable economy, government integrity, justice department integrity, sustainable foreign policy, foreign policy integrity, etc. December 2, 2008 Fundamentalism is the Threat Following are excerpts from an article called, "The rising tide of narrow fundamentalism," New Straits Times, December 1, 2008, by David Lavoie: Recent events in Mumbai make it stunningly clear; the man we all need to fear is the armed fundamentalist of whatever ilk. It matters little whether he is Muslim or Christian or Jew or Sikh or any of the other ways of knowing an infinite God. The danger of extreme fundamentalist thinking is this: believing himself in direct communication with God, and therefore God's appointed agent, the fundamentalist can, in his own mind, never be wrong. Doubt has no validity; anyone who believes differently from him must be in need of correction. What else is possible? This narrowness in religious belief has no single home, but has appeared many times in many cultures. Always it has brought suffering and death with it. Among the worst cases in history were the dreaded Inquisitions in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries, when thousands of people—Muslims, Christians and Jews—were tortured and publicly burned alive for their beliefs by narrow-thinking Inquisitors. In Portugal alone, 1,175 people died in flames at the stake. . . . In his terrifying book Blackwater, Jeremy Scahill traces the rise of the world's largest mercenary army. At any given time, Blackwater has 20,000 soldiers ready for hire. This private army is run by a multimillionaire Christian conservative, Erik Prince, an important financial supporter of outgoing President George W. Bush, himself a born-again Christian who believes he is on a direct mission from God. The president surrounded himself with supporters like General William Boykin, head of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Boykin, a frequent speaker at evangelical Christian meetings, once described the war on terror as a fight against Satan. He has also told a Somali warlord that "my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol". When people who think as rigidly as this outsource to an organisation like Blackwater, the result is potentially disastrous. The warriors of Blackwater are often better armed and infinitely more ruthless than their regular army counterparts and are not subject to the Geneva Conventions. They are notorious for, among other things, the massacre at Fallujah in Iraq. Blackwater is also present in Afghanistan. When Blackwater faces off with the Taliban, what horrors will ensue? Editor's Note: We agree, see next article. Who is funding the fundamentalists? Nations after empire often fund both sides of warring factions. "Divide and conquer" is a standard ploy; giving weapons to both sides is another standard ploy. A Note from the Pray for Peace Editor: Up until July 2008, the Pray for Peace Archive at Surrealist.org consisted of twelve years of unedited journal entries (the equivalent of 1,500 printed pages). Now it is off line and I have started the process of editing this material into a book that will be called, "Pray for Peace Notebook." Over the next year, while working on this manuscript, I will continue to post my thoughts on this page for a day or two, then pull them offline and throw them in the mix. The book will contain peaceful, but realistic ideas for creating peace in our culture, in our time. Bookmark this page and come back soon. I will continue to post a couple times a week, as usual. Here is my Three Point Plan for fixing health care: Prevention, Detoxification, and Lifestyle Improvement (revised) Prevention Our food causes most of our diseases. Improve the food supply to include more organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and so on; offer free nutrition clinics and cooking classes in hospitals, schools, and other public buildings. The classes are free, plus give incentives to attract people to attend, like a free exam or consultation. Lack of exercise causes many aches and pains, as well as serious disease. Provide exercise training clinics in hospitals, schools, and public buildings. Give incentives for people to attend and work out. Chemicals in our air, food, and water cause many common diseases. Offer incentives to corporations and individuals to develop alternative glues, solvents, lubricants, paints, plastics, prescription drugs, organic farming methods, etc. Set a goal to eliminate all carcinogens; wipe out cancer in one generation. Detoxification Until we have redced chemicals in the environment, provide detox clinics to people using available methods of detoxification, such as colonic irrigation, detox foot pads, herbs, mega-vitamin therapy, lymph system massage therapy, chlorella and cilantro metal detox supplements, and other naturopathic treatments. Detoxification is one of the best ways to prevent cancer and heart disease. Lifestyle Many health care issues arise from accidents and crimes. Improving our moral outlook and self-image as a country will reduce crime. Many health care issues come from stress. Offering more abundant behavioral health services will help with prevention and reduction of stress-related disease. If we were healthier people, our health care costs would go down. Then we could afford to insure everyone. December 4, 2008 Liars Beware: Veils of Illusion are Lifting The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism (aka CPWMDPT "World at Risk"), headed by Bob Graham and Jim Tallent, predicts a nuclear or biological attack will be waged within the next five years. Surrealist.org predicts that peace will break out within five years and that the false flag attacks will stop because of the transparency we are installing in this area of the space-time continuum. No longer will warmongers be able to blame innocent people (or whole countries) for the acts of terror they themselves perpetrate. They say that only they can keep you safe, but they are like firemen who light wildfires so they can keep their jobs. It is destructive and often they get caught. Look for more clarity coming soon from Surrealist.org and those who support our views. Anybody who wants peace and prosperity is invited to see through the lies of those who are REALLY behind the attacks. All you have to do is open your eyes and see—try it! December 1, 2008 Who is Responsible for Mumbai Terror? Billions of the dollars handed over to Halliburton in no-bid contracts has gone missing. Whoever has that money could have found some skilled terrorists (trained in the School of the Americas?), and said, "Here's a billion dollars, go cause some havoc in Mumbai. Keep the change." Simple as that! We cannot say automatically that it was Pakistani Moslems fighting over Kashmir, or whatever people are saying. Why? Because the Taj Mahal (namesake of one of the hotels) is Moslem. If it was a rowdy band of Moslems, they certainly could have found a Hindu hotel to attack. So, once again, the real terrorists are probably the same people who claim they are the ones who can protect us. Frodo: What are we holding on to Sam? Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo and it's worth fighting for. - Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers December 10, 2008 Imperfect Nature of this World Problem solving is difficult in this world. The framing is slapped together, just like a movie set. Everything has a flaw if you look for it. That is a curse and a blessing. For one thing, if everything has a flaw, we need not always search for it. For example, if you go to a restaurant and enjoy a good meal, you need not pry into the management, the accounting, the personnel records, and so on. You can have a good meal even if the place is here today, gone tomorrow. Right? So that's why we have the famous truism: "don't sweat the small stuff." However, if the flaw happens to be a maniacal plot to monger money and war, it is not "small stuff" to be ignored. If there is a "Goldfinger" out for control of the world, causing the major storms in our economic system, then—YES—we must find out what is known. We must test the theories and see if this could be true. Another example is child abuse. If you suspect child abuse, or you are a victim of ongoing abuse, that is big. You must do something. It's like a fire. It's an dangerous situation. It's not small stuff. The object is is to learn to love the small things in your life that make this world so baffling and wonderful. Then, if you see a fire, do what you have to do. Here at Surrealist.org, we love these homemade 9/11 plush toys by Johnny and Jenny Ryan. These pieces of art provide a powerful catharsis for our betrayal by the Bush people, including Larry Silverstein, Rudi Giuliani, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney, the people we identify as the architects of 9/11. Here's a plush toy in your face, gentlemen! You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to wonder what GWB knew about 9/11 and when he knew it. If this video does not show, you can see it at Youtube. GWB talks about explosives in the WTC towers. If this video does not show, you can see it at Youtube. Bishop Richard Williamson speaks from the pulpit on 9/11 Truth. If this video does not show, you can see it at Youtube. Here is a banned interview with Bush that explains everything about where we are today. If this video does not show, you can see it at Youtube. December 30, 2008 Robert Novak Called 9/11 "an Inside Job" "Columnist Robert Novak among first to link 9-11 and 'inside job,' " was reported this week in a December 27, 2008 diary entry at opednews by Peter Duveen*. Here is the excerpt he quoted: "Beyond Pearl Harbor" by Robert D. Novak New York Post September 13, 2001, page 59 Security experts and airline officials agree privately that the simultaneous hijacking of four jetliners was an "inside job," probably indicating complicity beyond malfeasance. . . . In the rage and mourning following Tuesday's disaster, few officials wanted to dwell on how a 10-year hiatus of airline hijackings in this country could be followed by four in one hour. At a minimum, the blame can be put on ill-trained, incompetent personnel performing the screening of passengers. At the worst, security experts fear collusion with terrorists, possibly even extending to the cockpit. This is a subject that the airlines are loathe to discuss. . . . [from last paragraph] Stratfor.com, the private intelligence company, reported Tuesday, "The big winner today, intentionally or not, is the state of Israel." Editor's Note: If anybody should know, it would be Novak, since he is a longtime Mockingbird operative. Perhaps he had inside information or perhaps the government wanted to terrorize us further by trying to implicate the president and vice-president. Well, we get it! We're terrorized by 9/11, no matter who did it!!! January 12, 2009 For any Unbelievers Out There Take this: If this video does not show, watch it at Youtube. January 1, 2009 Fun with Spam from the Right This latest missive from the right wing now has a new ending, written by me! The letter, received today from a r-wing friend, said: In a few short days, an African American man will move from his private residence into a much larger and infinitely more expensive one owned not by him but by the taxpayers. A vast lawn, a perimeter fence and many well trained security specialists will insulate him from the rest of us but the mere fact that this man will be residing in this house should make us all stop and count our blessings—because it proves that we live in a nation where anything is possible. Many believed this day would never come. Most of us hoped and prayed that it would, but few of us actually believed we would live to see it. Racism is an ugly thing in all of its forms and there is little doubt that if this man had moved into this house fifteen years ago, there would have been a great outcry—possibly even rioting in the streets. Today, we can all be both grateful and proud that no such mayhem will take place. when this man takes up residency in this house. This man, moving into this house at this time in our nation's history is much more than a simple change of addresses for him—it is proof of a change in our attitude as a nation. It is an amends of sorts—the righting of a great wrong. It is a symbol of our growth, and of our willingness to "judge a man, not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character". There can be little doubt now that the vast majority of us truly believe that this man has earned both his place in history and his new address. His time in this house will not be easy—it will be fraught with danger and he will face many challenges. I am sure there will be many times when he asks himself how in the world he ended up here and like all who have gone before him, the experience will age him greatly. But I for one will not waste an ounce of worry for his sake—because in every way a man can, he asked for this. His whole life for the past fifteen years appears to have been inexorably leading this man toward this house. It is highly probable that in the past, despite all of his actions, racism would have kept this man out of this house. Today, I thank the lord above that I am an American and that I live in a nation where wrongs are righted, where justice matters and where truly anything is possible. Who is this man? you ask. You think you know, don't you? See below. New ending by Nori Muster, editor at Surrealist.org: Yes! It is Barack Obama!! Thanks for noticing! Dear President-Elect Barack Obama: Thank you for everything. Thank you for staying in contact and giving me a way to contact you. I'm from the far left and have never felt listened to or included in so-called "liberal" politics. You seem like you are open to hearing my voice too, so I will continue to post my ideas to your transition websites. Go Barack! January 29, 2008 Why Surrealist Writes Less Frequently Lately, I have not posted as frequently. For one thing, people are starting to "get it," so do not need a tongue lashing from me. Other possible reasons: I have less to gripe about. So bask in the good fortune of not having to be scolded by me as often. Latest realization: The Golden Rule is in effect. Further, if you were incompetent, you would probably want to be relieved of your position. If you were acting dishonestly, you would probably want somebody to stop you. Therefore, if we remove incompetent people and reprimand dishonest people, we are doing unto others as we would have others do unto us. "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right!" - Carl Schurz (1829-1906) January 24, 2009 News from Old News Today I am consolidating information on a hard drive to make more room. Now for you today, retrieved from the hard drive, an essay I wrote for a job interview August 30, 2007, with the University of Phoenix. Cannot say that I even heard back from them, but now, brought to you—resurrected for posterity—and to get my two cents worth out in the open, here is, "Know Your Bill of Rights," by me. Know Your Bill of Rights We are fortunate to live in America, where our Constitution and Bill of Rights protect our freedoms. The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, limits the federal government's power over citizens. According to a series of United States Supreme Court decisions, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that these essential constitutional rights apply to all citizens living in the many states. The Bill of Rights is a remarkable document, so let us examine it in more detail. In the debate over ratification of the Constitution in the fall and winter of 1787-1788, concerned Anti-Federalists like Samuel Adams and John Hancock asked for protections from what they feared was an overly powerful federal government. Thomas Jefferson explained to James Madison (a Federalist and later fourth American president), "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest upon inferences." The delegates at the Massachusetts Convention negotiated a far-reaching compromise that included a Bill of Rights and voted to ratify the Constitution on February 6, 1788. The Bill of Rights remains the most vital document protecting Americans' freedom. Although we have guaranteed rights, we must still act within certain boundaries. A rule of thumb is that we have the right to do what we want, as long as it does not infringe on other people's rights. However, this is a controversial issue, since civil liberties attorneys must constantly fight for individuals' rights when the federal government oversteps its bounds. The First Amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." The first phrase is called the "Establishment Clause," which prohibits the government from passing any law to establish a state religion. It also guarantees people the right to practice (or not practice) religion as they choose. The second part of this Amendment grants the rights of free speech, through the spoken and printed word. The third part protects the rights of citizens to assemble peacefully and ask the government to change things that it may be doing wrong. The Second Amendment provides that, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Although the founders probably intended this Amendment to protect the states' rights to maintain a militia, courts have found that it also protects individual citizens' rights to own firearms. Courts have found that in some situations, government may limited the types and numbers of firearms citizens may own. The Third Amendment states, "No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." The founders drafted this Amendment to prevent situations like the one they had during the British occupation. Prior to the Revolutionary War, colonists had to offer lodging to the British occupying forces. This Amendment is not applicable today, but would protect us if America was under federal occupation, for example if the federal government declared Martial Law. The Fourth Amendment states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." This Amendment guarantees the protection of "Probable Cause," which states that agents of the government must provide a good reason and obtain a warrant before they can legally invade a citizen's privacy. The Fifth Amendment states: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." This Amendment guarantees Americans fair treatment under the law. It contains the "Double Jeopardy" clause, which protects citizens from having to stand trial more than once for any one crime. It also relieves Americans from the humiliation of having to testify against themselves. It contains the "Due Process" clause, which guarantees fair legal processes, and states that the government may only take private property for public use under specific circumstances and after paying a fair price for it. The Sixth Amendment states: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." This Amendment sets down more specific instructions for fair legal processes, including a "speedy and public trial." Although "speedy" is not specific, courts have interpreted this clause to protect the public from unfair and prolonged detention without a trial. The Sixth Amendment also guarantees that Americans have a right to know the accusations against them, confront their accusers, and gather witnesses to defend them. They have the right to an attorney who will defend them. According to the Seventh Amendment, "In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law." This Amendment offers further rights in the legal system, most notably the right to appeal to a higher court if there was a mistake in the original trial. The Eight Amendment says: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." This Amendment offers further legal rights and contains the "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" clause, guaranteeing that American citizens have the right to be free from excessive punishment. The Ninth Amendment says, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." This Amendment confirms the right of citizens to have these freedoms and prevents the federal government from using the Constitution to take away any common rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution or its Amendments. The Tenth Amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." This further restricts the federal government from taking away rights guaranteed within individual states. Along with freedom comes responsibility. We have rights on paper, but it is up to us to keep them alive. We must stay informed and learn where political candidates stand on the issues. As citizens, we have the right to vote; choosing who will represent us in the government is our primary responsibility. Another duty is to serve on a jury when called, to make sure that justice is carried out in our courts. Our city, state, and federal governments enact laws to protect our rights and freedoms, so they expect us to act within the laws and respect the rights of others. Email Spam Exchange This message came in today from K.B.'s new site WINGS. . . . . The shifting and crashing will continue on for four more years until December of 2012. Obama's destiny was to be present at the helm during this time. . . . On Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 10:59 PM, Nori wrote: I hate s--- like this. Who gave K.B. a crystal ball? On Jan 24, 2009, at 11:04 PM, T.S. wrote: k.b. did. she thinks highly of herself. economy will be down for years though. On Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 11:11 PM, Nori wrote: Yeah, but it does not take a very cleaver person to predict doom, then make it a mantra, an affirmation. January 20, 2009 Congratulations to Barack Obama and America This day is a star spangled banner day in history. We have a new president; the old one and his wife and people left on a helicopter to Texas. We have waited for this day forever and it is finally here. We have a chance to start over and strive to be an honest country. Let's take the opportunity. To all my conservative friends: come on along because an honest and true America has room for all of us. January 18, 2009 Put this in Your Pipe and Smoke It Grand Maya Itza Council Speaks About 2012 November, 2008 To the caring Women and Men of the World: Below you will find a greeting and explanation from the Grand Maya Its Council regarding 2012. I agreed with Council members to do everything I canto get this word out to the World. It is simply this: 1) Their calendars do not END in 2012—soon after 2012 we, on planet earth, will experience the return to the astronomical configurations present when one of the calendars was begun 26,000 years ago ......and we simply experience that day and move on into a new cycle.....of another 26,000 years...... 2) Others have mis-calculated dates, but the Grand Maya Its Council does not want to point fingers. There is no healing in that. 3) The only way for Human Consciousness that has been pushed SO LOW is for those of a higher mind to do as they suggest, below—Concentrate with high intent on each of 52 sacred sites—designated here—and ask the caretakers of those sites to activate the positive energies available from each site......and by the end of 52 months—December 28, 2012, the entire planet will have the sacred-site grid re-activated and 'alight'. Someone said tome, "Gee, I wish 'them' luck!" 'THEM'? 'THEM' is US! There is no difference between the souls of human beings except for the energies collected up through negative or positive thinking. . . . We MUST counter-act the negativity surrounding December 21, 2012—and UNDO what has been cast upon humanity as a 'truth' when, indeed it is not! In lak'ech, Shoshanna Editor's Note: This was included in the latest Up! Newsletter sent to me by Frazer Clark. For information about positive thinking, please read my book, Dreaming Peace: The History of Positive Thinking and What It Means in the Post-Truth Era. February 2, 2009 Groundhog Day: The Movie "I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be gray, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life." - Bill Murray I am happy about President Obama, but sad about the helplessness I sense in practically everyone I meet. Maybe remembering Groundhog Day will cheer you up. In the movie, after hundreds of practice sessions, Bill Murray finally lives a day where he saves a kid falling out of a tree, gives a choking man the Heimlich Maneuver saving his life, learns French, learns piano, buys life insurance, and gets the woman of his dreams. Before that pefect day, he lives hundreds of days of confusion, rejection, isolation, frustration, and mistakes. So, maybe we are somewhere in the beginners area of reality this time. If you are afraid of fear itself today, join the crowd! There is a cold, gray chill over the country as our fate hangs in the balance. Lower your voice, do something to cancel out some bad karma if you can. "Don't drive angry! Don't drive angry!" The history is that greedy people did things they should not have done, they betrayed their country. It never should have happened. What's the healthiest, holiest rebellion you could launch, Aquarius? What would be the most constructive way to channel your longing to live in a more perfect world? How might you overthrow the status quo in ways that would so thoroughly enhance the greater good that even the people bent on preserving the status quo would benefit? Given the fact that you are in a phase when your trouble-making skills are dovetailing very nicely with your ability to bestow blessings, these are excellent questions for you to consider. February 9, 2009 What to Call the Financial Situation Do you call it "stimulus bill"? Do you call it "financial meltdown"? "Armageddon?" No, let's think of a name for it that suggests the solution. How about "Sustainable Economy Building"? xe pronounced z, new name for Blackwater Norxe pronounced like Lori but with an n, new spelling for Nori February 18, 2009 Joe Brewer on "Tax Cuts" Today's mailing from Truthout included an article by Joe Brewer of the Rock Ridge Institute about tax cuts, see original: http://www.truthout.org/021709R Excerpt: "It's time to tell the truth about tax cuts. This phrase dominates political discourse and is coughed out every time a conservative public figure opens his mouth. It is treated like the basis of sound reasoning, yet no one points out what should be obvious—that 'tax relief' and 'tax cuts' are just code words for destroying the capacity of government to serve the public." Reading further in the Rock Ridge Institute website* I found this logical explanation of what the government spends (or would be nice if they spent) our tax money on: "America's government has at least two fundamental functions, protection and empowerment. Protection includes the police, firefighters, emergency services, public health, the military, and so on. Empowerment includes the infrastructure needed for business and everyday life: roads, communications systems, water supplies, public education, the banking system for loans and economic stability, the SEC for the stock market, the courts for enforcing contracts, air traffic control, support for basic science, our national parks and public buildings, and more."* He also said, "We are usually aware of protection. But the empowerment infrastructure, provided by taxes, is usually taken for granted, hidden, or ignored. Yet it is absolutely crucial, a fundamental truth about America and why America provides opportunity." Here at Surrealist, we are waiting for people to "get it" and start to see what's really going on here. The Republicans lobbied to bog down the Reinvestment Act with larded up tax cuts for the top wealthy families, then they didn't even vote for it. These Republicans are part of the problem, in my opinion. February 15, 2009 Honesty at Issue Money leaves a paper trail. We need a few good financial slooths to rattle property and SEC records. It would be valuable to find where our money left the legitimate economy and entered the underground economy. Uncle Same is calling us. We do not need a professional license or a press pass. Most of what we need is probably available in the public records. I found an article that explains what I am writing to you about today, in regards to the threat of nationalizing the banks. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=a3e_k0Gedi9k&refer=home From the article: Of course, nationalization or seizure of a bank could wipe out common and preferred stockholders and lead to a restructuring of debt. That could result in big losses for trust preferreds. It’s questionable, though, whether the government would risk hurting debt holders. This might cause credit markets to again freeze, something the government wants to avoid. The government may even be leery of hurting preferred stockholders since the decision to eliminate preferred dividends at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led to widespread market dislocation. PLEASE I am begging you, find out where the corruption is. Money leaves a paper trail. We can find out where the money went without shutting the banks' doors. We just need the will to do it. If you nationalize the banks, or force them into bankruptcy, people like me on a fixed income will be ruined. You will see a lot of middle aged baby boomers living on the street and picking food out of garbage bins while we talk about how great life was back in the sixties. You do not want to live through that nightmare dreamscape. There are more baby boomers than you think. February 19, 2009 Peace to America Watching last night's news this evening, I am disturbed and frightened by the New York Post cartoon. I had heard about it on the radio, but seeing it made it horrible for me. God help us. I am sorry. This country is a nation of immature and brutal hypocrites. We must come to terms with that. We must get through this. We have to grow up now. Feb. 20, 2009 astro report http://www.freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/aquarius.html Aquarius: I feel much better. Today I underwent plastic surgery for the first time. An intervention specialist over at the Consumer Counseling Center removed 40 percent of my credit cards from my wallet. She then cut them in half and burned them, releasing fumes that sent me spiraling into an altered state of consciousness that revealed to me the steps I must take to upgrade my approach to money. In that state I was also able to have psychic visions about the nature of your financial karma. What I saw is that you too would benefit right now from expanding your mind and changing your habits in all matters related to earning, spending, and saving money. The Basic Meaning of the Seven of Diamonds http://7thunders.com/ The Seven of Diamonds is one of the spiritual money cards. When it appears we are always confronted with how attached we are to our money and given an opportunity to experience the real prosperity that comes with an attitude of gratitude. Whether it is about money, plans to make money, or love, situations will present themselves that test our faith in the abundance of the universe. By realizing and then releasing our fears, we can transform our attachment into total fearlessness and personal freedom. Feb. Last word on the New York Post cartoon: do you think it is a good idea to portray images of shooting politicians? Do we want a spate of violence like we saw from the anti-abortion camp after they publicized doctors' addresses—in their cult-speak "abortionists" monsters—to be shot by devout followers? Is there not some law, or some ethical line, that is breached when media organizations publish images and words that directly threaten the president (or other public figures)? Letter to Recovery.gov March 2, 2009 I am a proud Realtor in a suburb of Phoenix. At this time people seem interested in buying again, but small business owners like me need part-time work to supplement our incomes. Our metro area has a huge number of unemployed and under-employed professionals. Would you please open a solar panel factory here so people like me could work full-time, temporarily, or part-time to save the earth? I for one would glady spend eight hours doing repetitive work on an assembly line if it would help. Until real estate picks up, I have plenty of time on my hands. Many people are in a similar situation. You could power America with solar power produced in Phoenix alone. Build the hardware here so it does not have to be shipped, thus reducing the carbon footprint. Use existing buildings (we have a high vacancy rate in commercial real estate) thus reducing the carbon footprint even more. Nearly all businesses and homeowners here would put solar panels on their roofs and add electricity to the grid if the government helped in a meaningful way. I could lead that campaign if you need somebody. Some of the plants here could manufacture nano solar, a technology currently only available to industrial-size power plants. We have the technology to make inexpensive, more powerful solar collectors. We have the political will. Time to go before it is too late and the climate change too much. And time to save the American worker Feb. 28, 2009 Wake Up People or We're All Dead This is a momentous time, outstanding in importance, and with unparalleled significance compared to any other time in our lives. Probably the only exception would be somebody seventy-five or older who remembers the worldwide depression, Holocaust, wars, and other events of the 1930s-40s. If human life on earth survives in tact as the earth changes, future generations will always look back on us during the 1900/2000 century transition. They will study our time as a pivotal time when humanity pulled together as one to change the energy paradigm. For example, we could pour our money into developing solar, wind, and conservation methods, instead of giving tax subsidies to oil companies. All we need is the will to do it. If we fail, there will be nobody left who wants to study history. The people who survive will be fighting too much to open a book or listen to a story. You all feel it. We must change. We must let go of the grievances, burdens, and bad habits that have held us down this last eight years (and longer). I want you to join me in building a vision of what we want for the future. I spent four years after 9/11 writing a book called "Dreaming Peace" where I outline a good way to get to the future. It is a short read and is posted free click here—at this site. I also wrote a peace plan for the war on terror, which addresses our financial crisis click here—at this site. If any feedback for me, please write back. March 9, 2009 Senator McCain and other hard-nosed conservatives want big banks to fail because that was their plan all along. Or rather, Plan B. If the banks fail it will be more difficult to find out what went wrong. I say get honest leaders for the banks and start to follow the paper trail that money leaves. Find out how much was really in those derivatives and how much was simply stolen and laundered, saying it went missing in derivatives. That is my two cents worth. I am an under-employed Realtor who wants a part-time assembly line job in a solar panel factory. March 3, 2009 How to Heal the Economy and Reduce Fear Our economy can work honestly, including our banks and "Wall Street"—a place in our collective psyche, as well as a physical street in New York City. Please read the four points of the Pray for Peace plan for ending the war on terror. It is posted at this site—click here. If this video does not appear, link to it here: Youtube. March 11, 2009—letter to Recovery.gov Single payer health care. We already have it, we just need to make it more efficient. Right now, people can walk into an emergency ward and get services. Everybody pays for it already. If we could just put more funding into public hospitals and free clinics in poor areas, the whole problem would be solved. March 13, 2009 Happy Friday the 13th Lucky or unlucky? In our family it was lucky because that was my mother's birthday and she said it is lucky. Well, I read my I Ching (at this website) and here is what it said: Hexagram Thirty-eight Your symbol is Hexagram 38, opposition. Although alienation and general unhappiness have gradually taken over, working on one thing at a time will eventually cure the whole system. The first line, yang, shows one who looses horses but trusts that they will return on their own. Meanwhile, one can learn from the mistakes of evil men that it is best to be honest. The second line, yang, shows one who sees his/her teacher in an unlikely place like an alley. Greeting the teacher in a friendly manner, the subject realizes s/he must be on the correct path. The third line, yin, shows one who has gone against the ways of heaven. His/her carriage is dragged backward and s/he is punished, but later [s]he gets on the right course and his/her efforts are successful. The fourth line, yang, shows one who tries to maintain harmony in a tumultuous situation. This person meets the person of the first line who lost horses. Blended together, their faithful and steadfast attitudes will get them through the current situation. The fifth line, yin, shows that in many situations the laws of society carry out the will of God. Because society can perform the needed corrections, people can go on peacefully with their lives. The sixth line, yang, shows one who maintains harmony in a tumultuous situation. This person meets with the person of the third line, whose carriage was dragged backward. At first this person sees a carriage full of ghosts, and thus takes up his bow, but then realizes it is a dear relative. All doubts are cleared. To the reader: In all of the hexagrams, at least one of the lines may predict bad results, but that does NOT mean you are destined to get that result. The meaning is that you need to study the action-reaction to see what could go wrong. From there, focus on the positive outcomes in other lines. Study how different attitudes lead to better outcomes. Your future is in your hands. Consult the I Ching for ideas that lead to clear thinking and positive mental attitude. The I Ching teaches you to flow with changes. Create positive change from the inside through conscious living. Take the time to reflect on your attitudes and ideas. Pray for Peace Writings, selected entries from the Pray for Peace Notebook, 2000 to 2009, will be published in this space soon. March 9, 2008 109 Million People Victimized by USA Drug War There are 109 million people in Mexico now threatened by escalating drug gang wars, and their drug war front may be moving into our country soon. Before Mexico collapses, we must legalize and regulate all drugs. Here is why: 1) The underground economy has grown exponentially due to lawlessness and the looting of our treasury under the Bush Administration, and the continuing war on our financial systems by people who want to see America fail.* 2) Drugs could bring needed revenue into the legitimate economy, in the form of taxes and an increase in economic activity. Legalizing drugs would shut down revenue streams to drug gangs and terrorists. 3) Drugs could be regulated like alcohol and tobacco. Soft drugs (i.e. pot) could be sold to adults over the age of twenty-one, similar to alcohol. Hard drugs (everything else) could be dispensed through medical clinics and pharmacies. Patients would go through treatment programs supervised by doctors to help them control their drug use and resolve their addictions. Drug addiction, like alcoholism, is a disease. Here at Surrealist.org and Pray for Peace, we have harangued you about the need for ending the drug war for more than twelve years. Now the time has come. Let's go. The world is waiting. A Note from the Pray for Peace Editor: Up until July 2008, the Pray for Peace Archive at Surrealist.org consisted of twelve years of unedited journal entries (the equivalent of 1,500 printed pages). Now it is off line and I have started the process of editing this material into a book that will be called, "Pray for Peace Notebook." Over the next year, while working on this manuscript, I will continue to post my thoughts on this page for a day or two, then pull them offline and throw them in the mix. The book will contain peaceful, progressive ideas for creating peace in our culture, in our time. Bookmark this page and come back soon. I will continue to post a couple times a week, as usual. pray for peace index