Say nothing of my religion. It is known to my God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Monday, December 20, 2004
*---- Quote of the Year ----*
Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?
We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.
You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?
You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.
--Pablo Casals (1876-1973)
Friday, December 17, 2004
Merry Christmas Codi
I miss you Code man!
I hope yer having a blast this Christmas!
This is my kid.
He is (for me) an example of how fate
gives good things to good people.
I hope yer having a blast this Christmas!
This is my kid.
He is (for me) an example of how fate
gives good things to good people.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
*---- Quote of the Week ----*
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay
for a while and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are
never the same.
--Flavia Weedn, Inspirational author
for a while and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are
never the same.
--Flavia Weedn, Inspirational author
Monday, December 13, 2004
*---- Quote of the Day ----*
The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white.
Neither need you do anything but be yourself.
--Lao-Tzu
Bonus Quote
Deserves it! I daresay he does.
Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.
For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
--Gandalf the Grey, JRR Tolkien
Neither need you do anything but be yourself.
--Lao-Tzu
Bonus Quote
Deserves it! I daresay he does.
Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment.
For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
--Gandalf the Grey, JRR Tolkien
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
Hear me, four quarters of the world-- a relative I am! Give me the strength to walk the soft earth. Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, that I may be like you. With your power only can I face the winds. Great Spirit...all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike. With tenderness have these come up out of the ground. Look upon these faces of children without number and with children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of quiet.
This is my prayer'
hear me!
This is my prayer'
hear me!
Earth Teach Me to Remember ------------------------------ by John Yellow Lark
Earth teach me stillness
as the grasses are stilled with light.
Earth teach me suffering
as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility
as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth Teach me caring
as the mother who secures her young.
Earth teach me courage
as the tree which stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation
as the ant which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom
as the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation
as the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration
as the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness
as dry fields weep in the rain.
as the grasses are stilled with light.
Earth teach me suffering
as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility
as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth Teach me caring
as the mother who secures her young.
Earth teach me courage
as the tree which stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation
as the ant which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom
as the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation
as the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration
as the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself
as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness
as dry fields weep in the rain.
Monday, December 06, 2004
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Remember the words of J.H. Jowett:
The real measure of our wealth
is how much we'd be worth
if we lost all of our
money and possessions.
Have a rich day
is how much we'd be worth
if we lost all of our
money and possessions.
Have a rich day
Saturday, December 04, 2004
The Psychology of Listening
<>Listening is the ecology of being,
it opens the doorway to the heart.
Listening creates trust between beings,
listening creates love.
and it is the wisest person
who listens the deepest.
To communicate everything
and listen to the depth
of each others being
is the basic commitment of real love.
It is the commitment to always
put the heart over
the separate powers of the mind
which does not want to listen.
it opens the doorway to the heart.
Listening creates trust between beings,
listening creates love.
Wherever you find a poverty of communication
you will find a poverty of love,
and wherever you find a poverty of love
you will find a poverty of deep listening.
The most important way
in which we exercise our love is by listening.
Empathy is the capacity to listen
with the pure heart,
to hear what there is to hear,
to merge and feel all there is to feel;
purely one and into the world of another.
We do not project
nor reject the essence of another.
Romantic love is effortless
compared to the discipline
of true love and the art of listening.
Empathy marks the deepest halls of listening
for with it we listen to the actual feelings
behind the words being said.
When we enter and pay attention
to another's inner world
we have no time for our own self obsessions.
Listening is the art of paying attention
and is in essence love in action.
Listening actually creates love.
It is love in reality.
So learning how to listen
is really learning how to love.
and it is the wisest person
who listens the deepest.
To communicate everything
and listen to the depth
of each others being
is the basic commitment of real love.
It is the commitment to always
put the heart over
the separate powers of the mind
which does not want to listen.
We need safe non-separate environments
in which communication
is made easy so love is made easy.
Communication is made easy when
there is much love
and desire to understand each other.
To listen is to suffer
because we do not want to listen
to anything
that might require a change.
To listen is to change.
We cannot change
without listening.
Listening implies a change.
We need to change just to listen.
HeartHealth
Our capacity for love grows automatically
as we learn to communicate and listen
from deeper levels of being.
Friday, December 03, 2004
The Psychology of Touch
Beings in union love each other, touch each other,
need each other, heal each other.
We are here on earth to touch each other physically,
as well as spiritually, emotionally and mentally.
Holy Touch, Holy Love, Needed Affection
Our temples United Flowing with The Cosmic Current.
We bathe ourselves in the Holy Well,
Every Remnant of Separation Cast Aside
Our Hearts Open, Our Being Sore
Our Souls Unite. Total Fusion
No Shame
The Garden Reclaimed
* ---- Quote for 12/3/04 ----*
*---- Quote of the Day ----*
Creativity is essentially a lonely art. An even lonelier
struggle. To some a blessing. To others a curse. It is in
reality the ability to reach inside yourself and drag forth
from your very soul an idea.
--Lou Dorfsman
Creativity is essentially a lonely art. An even lonelier
struggle. To some a blessing. To others a curse. It is in
reality the ability to reach inside yourself and drag forth
from your very soul an idea.
--Lou Dorfsman
Monday, November 29, 2004
*---- Quote for 11/29/04 ----*
Our real blessings often appear to us in the shapes of pains,
losses and the disappointments; but let us have patience,
and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.
--Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English writer, statesman
Bonus Quote
A search of one's life and soul will reveal the hand of God.
The outpouring of his blessings come with our afflictions,
not in spite of them. Afflictions be praised.
--Elaine Cannon American writer
losses and the disappointments; but let us have patience,
and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.
--Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English writer, statesman
Bonus Quote
A search of one's life and soul will reveal the hand of God.
The outpouring of his blessings come with our afflictions,
not in spite of them. Afflictions be praised.
--Elaine Cannon American writer
Friday, November 26, 2004
Letters From The Earth
The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before him rose the black night of Space, like a wall. His mighty bulk towered rugged and mountain-like into the zenith, and His divine head blazed there like a distant sun. At His feet stood three colossal figures, diminished to extinction, almost, by contrast -- archangels -- their heads level with His ankle-bone.
When the Creator had finished thinking, He said,
"I have thought. Behold!"
Though if you are fundamentally religious, you will no doubt not agree with me, and I don't care! As your evangelical leaders do not care (and have explicetly said as much to all the national news media) if I am offended or frightened by their beliefs and tactics. I don't care if you don't have the ability to open your mind and listen to what you hear!
It is after all, your loss!
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
The Sheepdogs
Most humans truly are like sheep
Wanting nothing more than peace to keep
To graze, grow fat and raise their young,
Sweet taste of clover on the tongue.
Their lives serene upon Life’s farm,
They sense no threat nor fear no harm.
On verdant meadows, they forage free
With naught to fear, with naught to flee.
They pay their sheepdogs little heed
For there is no threat; there is no need.
To the flock, sheepdog’s are mysteries,
Roaming watchful round the peripheries.
These fang-toothed creatures bark, they roar
With the fetid reek of the carnivore,
Too like the wolf of legends told,
To be amongst our docile fold.
Who needs sheepdogs? What good are they?
They have no use, not in this day.
Lock them away, out of our sight
We have no need of their fierce might.
But sudden in their midst a beast
Has come to kill, has come to feast
The wolves attack; they give no warning
Upon that calm September morning
They slash and kill with frenzied glee
Their passive helpless enemy
Who had no clue the wolves were there
Far roaming from their Eastern lair.
Then from the carnage, from the rout,
Comes the cry, “Turn the sheepdogs out!”
Thus is our nature but too our plight
To keep our dogs on leashes tight
And live a life of illusive bliss
Hearing not the beast, his growl, his hiss.
Until he has us by the throat,
We pay no heed; we take no note.
Not until he strikes us at our core
Will we unleash the Dogs of War
Only having felt the wolf pack’s wrath
Do we loose the sheepdogs on its path.
And the wolves will learn what we’ve shown before;
We love our sheep, we Dogs of War.
Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66
Wanting nothing more than peace to keep
To graze, grow fat and raise their young,
Sweet taste of clover on the tongue.
Their lives serene upon Life’s farm,
They sense no threat nor fear no harm.
On verdant meadows, they forage free
With naught to fear, with naught to flee.
They pay their sheepdogs little heed
For there is no threat; there is no need.
To the flock, sheepdog’s are mysteries,
Roaming watchful round the peripheries.
These fang-toothed creatures bark, they roar
With the fetid reek of the carnivore,
Too like the wolf of legends told,
To be amongst our docile fold.
Who needs sheepdogs? What good are they?
They have no use, not in this day.
Lock them away, out of our sight
We have no need of their fierce might.
But sudden in their midst a beast
Has come to kill, has come to feast
The wolves attack; they give no warning
Upon that calm September morning
They slash and kill with frenzied glee
Their passive helpless enemy
Who had no clue the wolves were there
Far roaming from their Eastern lair.
Then from the carnage, from the rout,
Comes the cry, “Turn the sheepdogs out!”
Thus is our nature but too our plight
To keep our dogs on leashes tight
And live a life of illusive bliss
Hearing not the beast, his growl, his hiss.
Until he has us by the throat,
We pay no heed; we take no note.
Not until he strikes us at our core
Will we unleash the Dogs of War
Only having felt the wolf pack’s wrath
Do we loose the sheepdogs on its path.
And the wolves will learn what we’ve shown before;
We love our sheep, we Dogs of War.
Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66
Sunday, November 14, 2004
THE WAR PRAYER _______________________ by Mark Twain
It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country
was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the
holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands
playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers
hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the
receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a
fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily
the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and
fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers
and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices
choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the
packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory
which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which
they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of
applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while;
in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and
country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid
in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which
moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious
time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to
disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteous-
ness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that
for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of
sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave
for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were
there, their young faces alight with martial dreams --
visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the
rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe,
the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the
surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes,
welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With
the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and
envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and
brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win
for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths.
The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament
was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an
organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse
the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and
poured out that tremendous invocation
*God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest! Thunder thy
clarion and lightning thy sword!*
Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like
of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful
language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-
merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over
our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage
them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in
the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His
mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in
the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them
and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory--
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless
step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister,
his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet,
his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy
cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale,
pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and
wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he
ascended to the preacher's side and stood there waiting.
With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence,
continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it
with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms,
grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector
of our land and flag!"
The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside --
which the startled minister did -- and took his place.
During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience
with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then
in a deep voice he said:
"I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty
God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the
stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard
the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it
if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall
have explained to you its import -- that is to say, its
full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of
men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is
aware of -- except he pause and think.
"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he
paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two
-- one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear
of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the
unspoken. Ponder this -- keep it in mind. If you would
beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without
intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same
time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop
which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a
curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain
and can be injured by it.
"You have heard your servant's prayer -- the uttered part
of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other
part of it -- that part which the pastor -- and also you in
your hearts -- fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly
and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these
words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is
sufficient. the *whole* of the uttered prayer is compact
into those pregnant words. Elaborations were notnecessary.
When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many
unmentioned results which follow victory--*must* follow it,
cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God
fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me
to put it into words. Listen!
"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our
hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them
-- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of
our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God,
help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our
shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale
forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder
of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in
pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a
hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their
unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn
them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended
the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and
thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy
winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail,
imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it --
for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes,
blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make
heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain
the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask
it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of
Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all
that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and
contrite hearts.
Amen.
(*After a pause.*) "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire
it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic,
because there was no sense in what he said.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Twain apparently dictated it around 1904-05; it was
rejected by his publisher, and was found after his death
among his unpublished manuscripts. It was first published
in 1923 in Albert Bigelow Paine's anthology, Europe and
Elsewhere.
The story is in response to a particular war, namely the
Philippine-American War of 1899-1902, which Twain opposed.
See Jim Zwick's page "Mark Twain on the Philippines" for
more of Twain's writings on the subject.
was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the
holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands
playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers
hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the
receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a
fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily
the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and
fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers
and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices
choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the
packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory
which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which
they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of
applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while;
in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and
country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid
in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which
moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious
time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to
disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteous-
ness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that
for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of
sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave
for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were
there, their young faces alight with martial dreams --
visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the
rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe,
the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the
surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes,
welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With
the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and
envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and
brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win
for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths.
The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament
was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an
organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse
the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and
poured out that tremendous invocation
*God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest! Thunder thy
clarion and lightning thy sword!*
Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like
of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful
language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-
merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over
our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage
them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in
the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His
mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in
the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them
and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory--
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless
step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister,
his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet,
his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy
cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale,
pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and
wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he
ascended to the preacher's side and stood there waiting.
With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence,
continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it
with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms,
grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector
of our land and flag!"
The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside --
which the startled minister did -- and took his place.
During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience
with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then
in a deep voice he said:
"I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty
God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the
stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard
the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it
if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall
have explained to you its import -- that is to say, its
full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of
men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is
aware of -- except he pause and think.
"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he
paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two
-- one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear
of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the
unspoken. Ponder this -- keep it in mind. If you would
beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without
intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same
time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop
which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a
curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain
and can be injured by it.
"You have heard your servant's prayer -- the uttered part
of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other
part of it -- that part which the pastor -- and also you in
your hearts -- fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly
and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these
words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is
sufficient. the *whole* of the uttered prayer is compact
into those pregnant words. Elaborations were notnecessary.
When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many
unmentioned results which follow victory--*must* follow it,
cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God
fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me
to put it into words. Listen!
"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our
hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them
-- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of
our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God,
help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our
shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale
forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder
of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in
pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a
hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their
unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn
them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended
the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and
thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy
winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail,
imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it --
for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes,
blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make
heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain
the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask
it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of
Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all
that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and
contrite hearts.
Amen.
(*After a pause.*) "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire
it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic,
because there was no sense in what he said.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Twain apparently dictated it around 1904-05; it was
rejected by his publisher, and was found after his death
among his unpublished manuscripts. It was first published
in 1923 in Albert Bigelow Paine's anthology, Europe and
Elsewhere.
The story is in response to a particular war, namely the
Philippine-American War of 1899-1902, which Twain opposed.
See Jim Zwick's page "Mark Twain on the Philippines" for
more of Twain's writings on the subject.
Monday, November 01, 2004
LAZY BOY LYRICS
Underwear Goes Inside The Pants
Why is marijuana not legal? Why is marijuana not legal?
It's a natural plant that grows in the dirt.
Do you know what's not natural?
80 year old dudes with hard-ons.
That's not natural.But we got pills for that.
We're dedicating all our medical resources to keeping the old guys erect,
but we're putting people in jail for something that grows in the dirt?
You know we have more prescription drugs now.
Every commercial that comes on TV is a prescription drug ad.
I can't watch TV for four minutes without thinking I have five serious diseases.
Like: "Do you ever wake up tired in the morning?"
Oh my god I have this, write this down.
Whatever it is, I have it.
Half the time I don't even know what the commercial is:people running in fields or flying kites or swimming in the ocean.
I'm like that is the greatest disease ever.
How do you get that?
That disease comes with a hot chick and a puppy.
The schools now: It is all about self-esteem in the schools now.
Build the kids' self-esteem, make them feel good about themselves.
If everybody grows up with high self-esteem,
who is going to dance in our strip clubs?
What's going to happen to our porno industry?
These women don't just grown on trees.
It takes lots of drunk dads missing dance recitals before you decide to blow a goat on the internet for fifty bucks.
And if that disappears, where does that leave me on a Friday night with my new high speed connection?
Masterminds are another word that comes up all the time.
You keep hearing about these
terrorists masterminds
that get killed in the middle east.
Terrorists masterminds.
Mastermind is sort of a lofty way to describe what these guys do,
don't you think?
They're not masterminds.
"OK, you take bomb, right?
And you put in your backpack.
And you get on bus and you blow yourself up. Alright?"
"Why do I have to blow myself up?
Why can't I just:"
"Who's the fucking mastermind here?
Me or you?"
Americans, let's face it: We've been a spoiled country for a long time.
Do you know what the number one health risk in America is?
Obesity.
They say we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic.
An epidemic like it is polio.
Like we'll be telling our grand kids about it one day.
The Great Obesity Epidemic of 2004.
"How'd you get through it grandpa?"
"Oh, it was horrible Johnny, there was cheesecake and pork chops everywhere."
Nobody knows why were getting fatter?
Look at our lifestyle.
I'll sit at a drive thru.
I'll sit there behind fifteen other cars instead of getting up to make the eight foot walk to the totally empty counter.
Everything is mega meal, super sized.
Want biggie fries, super sized, want to go large.
You want to have thirty burgers for a nickel you fat mother fucker.
There's room in the back.
Take it!
Want a 55 gallon drum of Coke with that?
It's only three more cents.
Sometimes you have to suffer a little bit in your youth to motivate yourself to succeed in later life.
Do you think if Bill Gates got laid in high school, do you think there'd be a Microsoft?
Of course not.
You got to spend a long time in your own locker with your underwear shoved up your ass before you start to think,
"You'll see. I'm going to take of the world of computers! I'll show them."
We're in one of the richest countries in the world,
but the minimum wage is lower than it was thirty five years ago.
There are homeless people everywhere.
This homeless guy asked me for money the other day.
I was about to give it to him and then I thought he was going to use it on drugs or alcohol.
And then I thought,
that's what I'm going to use it on.
Why am I judging this poor bastard.
People love to judge homeless guys.
Like if you give them money they're just going to waste it.
Well, he lives in a box,
what do you want him to do?
Save it up and buy a wall unit?
Take a little run to the store for a throw rug and a CD rack?
He's homeless.
I walked behind this guy the other day.
A homeless guy asked him for money.
He looks right at the homeless guy and says why don't you go get a job you bum.
People always say that to homeless guys like it is so easy.
This homeless guy was wearing his underwear outside his pants.
Outside his pants.
I'm guessing his resume isn't all up to date.
I'm predicting some problems during the interview process.
I'm pretty sure even McDonalds has a
"underwear goes inside the pants" policy.
Not that they enforce it really strictly,
but technically
I'm sure it is on the books.
Why is marijuana not legal? Why is marijuana not legal?
It's a natural plant that grows in the dirt.
Do you know what's not natural?
80 year old dudes with hard-ons.
That's not natural.But we got pills for that.
We're dedicating all our medical resources to keeping the old guys erect,
but we're putting people in jail for something that grows in the dirt?
You know we have more prescription drugs now.
Every commercial that comes on TV is a prescription drug ad.
I can't watch TV for four minutes without thinking I have five serious diseases.
Like: "Do you ever wake up tired in the morning?"
Oh my god I have this, write this down.
Whatever it is, I have it.
Half the time I don't even know what the commercial is:people running in fields or flying kites or swimming in the ocean.
I'm like that is the greatest disease ever.
How do you get that?
That disease comes with a hot chick and a puppy.
The schools now: It is all about self-esteem in the schools now.
Build the kids' self-esteem, make them feel good about themselves.
If everybody grows up with high self-esteem,
who is going to dance in our strip clubs?
What's going to happen to our porno industry?
These women don't just grown on trees.
It takes lots of drunk dads missing dance recitals before you decide to blow a goat on the internet for fifty bucks.
And if that disappears, where does that leave me on a Friday night with my new high speed connection?
Masterminds are another word that comes up all the time.
You keep hearing about these
terrorists masterminds
that get killed in the middle east.
Terrorists masterminds.
Mastermind is sort of a lofty way to describe what these guys do,
don't you think?
They're not masterminds.
"OK, you take bomb, right?
And you put in your backpack.
And you get on bus and you blow yourself up. Alright?"
"Why do I have to blow myself up?
Why can't I just:"
"Who's the fucking mastermind here?
Me or you?"
Americans, let's face it: We've been a spoiled country for a long time.
Do you know what the number one health risk in America is?
Obesity.
They say we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic.
An epidemic like it is polio.
Like we'll be telling our grand kids about it one day.
The Great Obesity Epidemic of 2004.
"How'd you get through it grandpa?"
"Oh, it was horrible Johnny, there was cheesecake and pork chops everywhere."
Nobody knows why were getting fatter?
Look at our lifestyle.
I'll sit at a drive thru.
I'll sit there behind fifteen other cars instead of getting up to make the eight foot walk to the totally empty counter.
Everything is mega meal, super sized.
Want biggie fries, super sized, want to go large.
You want to have thirty burgers for a nickel you fat mother fucker.
There's room in the back.
Take it!
Want a 55 gallon drum of Coke with that?
It's only three more cents.
Sometimes you have to suffer a little bit in your youth to motivate yourself to succeed in later life.
Do you think if Bill Gates got laid in high school, do you think there'd be a Microsoft?
Of course not.
You got to spend a long time in your own locker with your underwear shoved up your ass before you start to think,
"You'll see. I'm going to take of the world of computers! I'll show them."
We're in one of the richest countries in the world,
but the minimum wage is lower than it was thirty five years ago.
There are homeless people everywhere.
This homeless guy asked me for money the other day.
I was about to give it to him and then I thought he was going to use it on drugs or alcohol.
And then I thought,
that's what I'm going to use it on.
Why am I judging this poor bastard.
People love to judge homeless guys.
Like if you give them money they're just going to waste it.
Well, he lives in a box,
what do you want him to do?
Save it up and buy a wall unit?
Take a little run to the store for a throw rug and a CD rack?
He's homeless.
I walked behind this guy the other day.
A homeless guy asked him for money.
He looks right at the homeless guy and says why don't you go get a job you bum.
People always say that to homeless guys like it is so easy.
This homeless guy was wearing his underwear outside his pants.
Outside his pants.
I'm guessing his resume isn't all up to date.
I'm predicting some problems during the interview process.
I'm pretty sure even McDonalds has a
"underwear goes inside the pants" policy.
Not that they enforce it really strictly,
but technically
I'm sure it is on the books.
Saturday, October 09, 2004
Who is RAVEN?
...that trickster guy
The traditional Northwest Coast creation story involves the sun, moon, people and raven. In the beginning, people didn't have a sun, and had to do all of their work by starlight. This made things very difficult for everyone, including raven, who was tired of the fly by night business. .
A powerful and wealthy aristocrat, who was also a chief, owned the sun and the moon. He kept them in boxes in his house. After a nasty crash into another tree in the dark, raven was very angry. "Who does this chief think he is that he can own the sun and the moon, and keep the rest of us in the dark," he cawed with righteous indignation. Raven paid a visit to the chief with the sun and the moon. After observing the scene from a perch high in a tree, he noticed that the chief had a daughter and that the boxes with the moon and sun were kept in the house. He thought up a strategy and set about his work.
When the chief's daughter went to get water from the stream, raven turned himself into a spruce needle and floated into her basket of water. When she drank from it, he impregnated her with himself. The new baby raven was immaculate in every way. He was born a healthy baby boy, who looked like a miniature of his new grandfather, who couldn't have been more pleased. Grandfather was curious as to who the father was, but waited for his daughter to tell him on her own terms.
The chief was obliging and kind to his new grandson, and spoiled him. Nothing was denied his grandson, and raven delighted in spilling food on his grandfather, pulling his mustache hair out and screaming at him when he wasn't fast enough serving him. Baby raven also got a special pleasure from rubbing mud on his grandfathers' finest robes while sitting on his lap. Raven laughed openly at his grandfather, who was grumbling to himself while cleaning up the mess.
The only thing the chief denied his grandson was to play with the box of daylight. By this time, raven was very, very good at throwing fierce tantrums that made his grandfather shake. The chief was weary of the scenes and finally one day acquiesced to baby raven. Raven snatched the sun from the box and darted out of the smoke hole in the ceiling with it. Until this time, raven was white, and the trip through the smoke hole made him black, as he is today. As he was ferociously pumping his now black wings to the sky, the small feathers on his head were starting to smoke and his beak was hot. Raven looked down to see the chief storming out the door, his regal robes flying behind him as he shook his fist at him, mouthing some choice words. With a flick of his head, raven shot the sun high into the first morning light of the land. As he soared home the only thing he could think of was, "I'm going to miss teasing the old fart... was that a moon I saw in the other box?"
Larry McNeil - Fly By Night Mythology
If you would like to read more about Raven,
Here are a few links.
Raven and Crow's Potlatch
Raven and The Tides
Raven and The First Men
RAVEN Stories: Background
A Message
A message to all the people in my world,
to all the people of the entire world!
I wish you enough sun
to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain
to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness
to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest
joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain
to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss
to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos
to get you through the final good-bye.
I wish you enough!!
ANON
to all the people of the entire world!
I wish you enough sun
to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain
to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness
to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest
joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain
to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss
to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos
to get you through the final good-bye.
I wish you enough!!
ANON
Imagine............................1971
Imagine
John Lennon
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
I was raised to believe it was ok to be a dreamer.
I was told I had to dream if I wanted anything.
"Dare to dream,
for out of dreams are shaped realities"
John Lennon
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
I was raised to believe it was ok to be a dreamer.
I was told I had to dream if I wanted anything.
"Dare to dream,
for out of dreams are shaped realities"
Sky has a thought.
I was ruminating these things I have just posted and this came to mind...
How can a person stand with one foot on a platform that is pro-life,
Making a statement that all life is precious and must be protected;
While the other foot stands on a platform that allows him to send people into war,
to kill and to die.
I understand both arguments, but for the life of me
I can't understand how these two elements can coexist,
together in one mind, one heart.
Forget justifications and rationalizations for the moment.
Forget Republican and Democrat for now.
Forget us and them!
How can both truthfully exist within one human being?
How can a person stand with one foot on a platform that is pro-life,
Making a statement that all life is precious and must be protected;
While the other foot stands on a platform that allows him to send people into war,
to kill and to die.
I understand both arguments, but for the life of me
I can't understand how these two elements can coexist,
together in one mind, one heart.
Forget justifications and rationalizations for the moment.
Forget Republican and Democrat for now.
Forget us and them!
How can both truthfully exist within one human being?
Thursday, October 07, 2004
BLUE MAN GROUP
I saw these guys perform live late last year, and this had to be the very best performance I have ever seen. It was also most likely the loudest! I can't speak highly enough of the talent and creativity this trio possess.
If you dig the cool stuff that is humorous, and filled to the eyeballs with intelligence and talent, go here. Check out the Videos. (Broadband recommended)
Blue Man Group <---Link
If you dig the cool stuff that is humorous, and filled to the eyeballs with intelligence and talent, go here. Check out the Videos. (Broadband recommended)
Blue Man Group <---Link
Monday, October 04, 2004
God and Balance. Thanks Joe!
Once upon a time, God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God. "Where have you been?" God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction, and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made." Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?" "It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put Life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance." "Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused. God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example, Northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over there I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. "Balance in all things," God continued pointing to different countries. This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice." The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land mass and said, "What's that one?" Ah," said God "That's Washington State, the most glorious place on earth. There are great rivers and small streams, forested hills and a barren basin. The people from Washington State are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent and humorous, and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats, and carriers of peace." Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then proclaimed, "What about balance, God? You said there would be balance." God smiled, "There is another Washington......wait until you see the idiots I put there
Sunday, October 03, 2004
All One Tribe
We all gotta dig the Wombat!
Click the click and be ready to do the dance.
Foundation for Global Community - The Wombat
Click the click and be ready to do the dance.
Foundation for Global Community - The Wombat
A letter to my brother.
How come so few people can look at a stand of trees where no human has intruded and not see incredible value as it is? Why is value always measured in marina's, homes, and restaurants? Why is the value of a view always seen FROM the place, and not looking AT it? not in the letter(example: Many would argue that watching a sunset is one of lifes basic pleasures. Well turn around sometime and watch the distance that would normally have been behind you, as the sun sets.)
I guess I'm a West Coast body who has to live in the midst of east coast thinkers. The entire south shore is in the process of being developed now. The space of trees, where we used to play, the area east of what used to be the black forest, and is south of the road, has buldozers in it. They are currently in the process of putting a road from just West of Dead Lake up the hill to the top of Prune hill. (no small task) When this is finished, all of Prune hill will have been house planted. The day I took that pic that is on my blog of Lacamas Lake I walked around up on those trails. I wanted to look around again before it was all someone's lawn. I came across a man, maybe a decade or and a half younger than me, out walking his dog and he asked me, Do you suppose they will save any of this? I said I doubt it! Not even the spaces too steep to plant a house will be spared! We both agreed that it's a damn shame that a place so wonderful had to be owned by just a few, a few that manage to be economically well off. As if having money makes a person more deserving of the special places. Now granted this is just one small area of the world. But it's a part of MY world and no one asked me what I thought we should do with it.
I wish I were god for a day. I would remove the concept of land ownership. Or as Chief Seattle said in his letter to President Pierce in 1855.....
I guess I'm a West Coast body who has to live in the midst of east coast thinkers. The entire south shore is in the process of being developed now. The space of trees, where we used to play, the area east of what used to be the black forest, and is south of the road, has buldozers in it. They are currently in the process of putting a road from just West of Dead Lake up the hill to the top of Prune hill. (no small task) When this is finished, all of Prune hill will have been house planted. The day I took that pic that is on my blog of Lacamas Lake I walked around up on those trails. I wanted to look around again before it was all someone's lawn. I came across a man, maybe a decade or and a half younger than me, out walking his dog and he asked me, Do you suppose they will save any of this? I said I doubt it! Not even the spaces too steep to plant a house will be spared! We both agreed that it's a damn shame that a place so wonderful had to be owned by just a few, a few that manage to be economically well off. As if having money makes a person more deserving of the special places. Now granted this is just one small area of the world. But it's a part of MY world and no one asked me what I thought we should do with it.
I wish I were god for a day. I would remove the concept of land ownership. Or as Chief Seattle said in his letter to President Pierce in 1855.....
The Message
We call him Chief Seattle because his true name "Seealth" is nearly unpronouncable in english.
Would I but dare to say Chief Seattle was a great man?
Of this I have no doubt. The words of his that have been preserved are both eloquent and most likely altered. The Speech of 1854 during the end of treaty negotiations has several forms. This version, CHIEF SEATTLE - THE SPEECH" */ Comes from the Seattle Sunday Star, published Oct 29, 1887. Suquamish Tribe This is the version kept on file by the Suquamish Tribe in Suquamish Washington, which is said to be from the same Seattle newspaper article.
What I consider important here, and what I am leading up to, is that to me the exact words are not as important as what was actually said. The intention. One can squabble over who actually said what and miss the whole message! A message that is still valid today!
Scroll to the bottom of this blog to the very first posted image. Lacamas lake. The last naturally wooded section of what is called "Prune Hill" (In Camas Washington) which drops down to the shores of this lake is currently under attack by buldozers and developers who do not understand concepts such as something this once great Native Chief would have said. I guess we all know every town that is situated across state lines from a big city in a state with a much higher property tax rate, that the growth of neighborhoods filled with half million dollar homes, and privately owned views, is inevitable. And I must be please when some small piece is developed and saved for us not so fortunate to enjoy, such as the Heritage trail.
This is part of a letter Chief Seattle wrote to President Franklin Pierce in 1855:
The Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. . . . But we will consider your offer, for we know if we do not . . . the white man may come with guns and take our lands. . . . How can you buy or sell the sky— the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. . . . Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. . . . When the buffaloes are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the views of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone.
And so it goes. Today we fight when we can, and learn to cope with the inevitable.
Would I but dare to say Chief Seattle was a great man?
Of this I have no doubt. The words of his that have been preserved are both eloquent and most likely altered. The Speech of 1854 during the end of treaty negotiations has several forms. This version, CHIEF SEATTLE - THE SPEECH" */ Comes from the Seattle Sunday Star, published Oct 29, 1887. Suquamish Tribe This is the version kept on file by the Suquamish Tribe in Suquamish Washington, which is said to be from the same Seattle newspaper article.
What I consider important here, and what I am leading up to, is that to me the exact words are not as important as what was actually said. The intention. One can squabble over who actually said what and miss the whole message! A message that is still valid today!
Scroll to the bottom of this blog to the very first posted image. Lacamas lake. The last naturally wooded section of what is called "Prune Hill" (In Camas Washington) which drops down to the shores of this lake is currently under attack by buldozers and developers who do not understand concepts such as something this once great Native Chief would have said. I guess we all know every town that is situated across state lines from a big city in a state with a much higher property tax rate, that the growth of neighborhoods filled with half million dollar homes, and privately owned views, is inevitable. And I must be please when some small piece is developed and saved for us not so fortunate to enjoy, such as the Heritage trail.
This is part of a letter Chief Seattle wrote to President Franklin Pierce in 1855:
The Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. . . . But we will consider your offer, for we know if we do not . . . the white man may come with guns and take our lands. . . . How can you buy or sell the sky— the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. . . . Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. . . . When the buffaloes are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the views of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone.
And so it goes. Today we fight when we can, and learn to cope with the inevitable.
Monday, September 27, 2004
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