Update - 01.20.14

Your grandmother is in the hospital right now. Has been for several days. She'll be stabilized then sent back to the nursing home at hospice care level. Once back it is believed she'll have anywhere from a few days to a few weeks before the infection takes her life. She's not suffering at all and she's pretty loopy so is not much aware of anything let alone her situation, which is good. Over the coming days she'll just get more and more loopy. Eventually she won't regain consciousness. And one day soon simply just won't wake up again. 

However, for your chance to do the right thing, time has run out. I've said before, regrets suck and life is just too short to go around making more. This is one that you will have to own for a very long time. I hope you don't wait around for the next regret.

Codi Chasse -  Dec 27, 2013

Codi, you god damned shit head,


Christmas day your aunt Andrea and her husband Paul,  (who you have never met) your uncle Ed and his wife Geri,  your uncle Joe (who drove up all the way from the coast) and myself gathered with your grandmother Melba in the nursing home where she lives now to celebrate Christmas and family.  During that visit with your grandmother, in her wheel chair, she asked me if I had heard anything from you.  I felt bad for her, and the more I thought about it the angrier I became.

But let’s talk a moment about what it is that has made you angry with your father.  My realization is that you aren’t really angry with me, but anger is how you deal with an issue you are either unwilling, or unable to work out yet.  If you keep the issue at bay, you don’t have to actually confront it.  And yes, it truly is your issue.  It started during your last summer here.  I spoke with your then counselor and he informed me that the issue was that among other minor things, you felt I wasn’t treating you like the grown up you felt you were. (at the age of 15) I said to him that these were issues that were not so terribly uncommon and that if I were still your full time dad they would have been resolved in a matter of days. Or at least, the process would have begun just as in most any other family.  He completely agreed with me.  When did the issue begin for me?  That Christmas when I called and called you but nobody was ever home and with every call I left a message asking for return call, which never came.   After calling 2 or 3 times a day for most of a week, the evening of Christmas day I called one more time and no one answered.  I left a message stating that I was done playing this game and drew a line in the sand stating that when you wanted to talk with your dad, you knew how to reach me.  That was December 25^th, 2005.  At that time I imagined a week or two for things to settle down. I had no idea it would become this.

OK, so why did I become angry on Christmas afternoon, 2013?  It’s this.   I realize you have issues with your dad, and though I have no real power to do anything about that, I have to wonder what the rest of this family ever did to you to deserve this treatment from you.  You never had very much contact with your uncle Ed or Joe, so that’s understandable, but what about your aunt Andrea?  She’s been very good to you.  And of course, what about your grandmother Melba?  Doesn’t she deserve a Christmas card, or a note from her grandson once in a while just to touch bases?   This is what pissed me off.  Somehow or other you have learned to become a selfish, self-centered little prick that only thinks about his own needs. (and perhaps occasionally that of his mother and her family)

Look Codi, you’re 24 years old now.  It’s time you got your head out and grow the fuck up!  It’s time to cut the umbilical and stop letting your mother mess with your head and start to deal with your personal issues without your mom telling you that you don’t have too.  I have heard it said through the grapevine that I blamed your mother for everything.  First of all, that’s simply wrong.  However second and way more important, how could anybody on your side of the mountain know this?  Nobody and I mean nobody has ever asked me, so how could anyone know this to be true except that some, for reasons of their own, need for me to be the bad guy? 

I expect you to do what you think you have to do Codi, I’m not here to question that except for the question I have posed.  If you’re angry with your dad, why take it out on everybody?  Please, your Grandmother is 89 years old and stuck in bed 24/7.  She deserves to hear something from her only living grandson!  Grow some balls and get it done, before she’s dead!

FYI, not a day goes by that I don’t think about you. Nobody ever said being a dad would be easy. However, from the moment you were born I have always enjoyed being your dad.

Just one more thing. What is your last name Codi?   Yep, same as mine!

The Miniature Earth WITH SONG.

Just one of the reasons I became an aware and political human being.

Thought Y'all Might Enjoy My Art

The Rules of Being Human

You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for as long as you live. How you take care of it or fail to take care of it can make an enormous difference in the quality of your life.

You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called Life. Each day, you will be presented with opportunities to learn what you need to know. The lessons presented are often completely different from those you think you need.

There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error and experimentation. You can learn as much from failure as you can from success. Maybe more.

A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it (as evidenced by a change in your attitude and ultimately your behavior) then you can go on to the next lesson.

Learning lessons does not end. There is no stage of life that does not contain some lessons. As long as you live there will be something more to learn.

“There” is no better than “here”. When your “there” has become a “here” you will simply discover another “there” that will again look better than your “here.” Don’t be fooled by believing that the unattainable is better than what you have.

Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. When tempted to criticize others, ask yourself why you feel so strongly.

What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you create with those tools and resources is up to you. Remember that through desire, goal setting and unflagging effort you can have anything you want. Persistence is the key to success.

The answers lie inside of you. The solutions to all of life’s problems lie within your grasp. All you need to do is ask, look, listen and trust yourself.

It seems I will be back at this place quite a lot.

Below is a wonderful poem Audrey Hepburn wrote

She wrote this when asked to share her "beauty tips."
It was read at her funeral years later.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

FREECYCLE

Marketplace takes a look at 'freecycling': a new alternative to bringing your unwanted consumer items to a landfill.

Freecycle.org: Want not, waste not
Broadcast: February 6, 2005

Nancy Daniels has two obsessions: one is her parrots. She loves them so much she’s turned her home into a parrot recovery and adoption agency.

But running a bird rescue site is expensive, and that's where her other obsession comes in: an online site for free stuff.

It’s called Freecycle, a website that’s mushroomed from a handful of people two years ago, to a massive extended family of small communities across North America.

If a member has an old couch she doesn’t want anymore (but it’s too good to throw out), she simply puts a posting on her local Freecycle website. Another member who wants it replies to the posting and comes by to pick up the couch. No money exchanges hands - one member gets a couch, the other gets rid of it.

Click here


Freecycle phenomenon piques corporate interests
Broadcast: February 6, 2005
<<main page

Freecycle communities are popping up in communities across North America. LINK: Freecycle groups in Canada

The Freecycle movement was founded in 2003, but it wasn't until late 2004 that interest in the idea really ignited. Now, Freecycle groups are popping up in communities, big and small, all across North America.

Now there are over 2,000 local groups, with anywhere from one to 13,000 members.

It all started in Tucson, Arizona, with a Deron Beal -- who’s obsessed with recycling.

Before he started Freecycle, Beal worked for a non-profit recycling company (in fact he still works there, and manages the Freecycle movement in his spare time).

From his first day of work at the recycling gig, it drove Deron crazy to see perfectly good stuff being thrown away:

“I live here in the middle of the Sonora Desert, which is one of the most beautiful deserts in the world. And smack-dab in the middle of this desert, you’ve got this hideous landfill, half of which is full of perfectly good reusable stuff.”

Deron Beal, founder of Freecycle.

Click here

Other related links

Bronx FreeCycles with FreeCycleBronxNY
(02/06)
DALLAS: Web Site Offers Free Merchandise
(02/06)
ALASKA: Something for free
(02/05)
DALLAS: Thousands in area reduce, reuse, freecycle
(02/02)
FOX Carolina: "Free Cycle"
(02/02)
STERN: Hier gibt's was umsonst
(01/30)

(Canada)

Electronics recycling fee begins in Alberta (February 1, 2005)

Reduce, reuse, Freecycle (April 23, 2004)

Province applauds recycling program (July 30, 2003)

Montreal rethinking the value of recycling (August 8, 2002)

Environment suffers as recycling costs rise: expert (August 8, 2002)

Freecycle: A victim of its own success?

Rise Inc. (website for Deron Beal's day job, a non-profit recycling company)

Waste Management Inc. (the company that's now sponsoring Freecycle)

Freecycling to the rescue(USA Today)

Don’t need that old blender? ‘Freecycle’ it (MSN Money)

Freecycle.org could be next craigslist (Inland Press Association offers a perspective from the newspaper industry, which sees Freecycling as a competitor to traditional classified advertising)

Kicking your castoffs to the virtual curb (USA Today)

--------------------------------------------------------

THE COUNTER:

Number of Freecycle™ Communities:	2,244
Number of Freecycle™ Members:	894,647

Welcome!

The worldwide Freecycle™ Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is run by a local volunteer moderator (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by clicking on the region on the right. It will generate an automatic e-mail which, when sent, will sign you up for your local group and send you a response with instructions on how it works. Or, go directly to the Web site for your local group by clicking on your community's link on the left. Can't find a group near you? You might want to consider starting one (click on "Start a Group" for instructions). Have fun!

The Freecycle™ Network was started in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tucson's downtown and help save desert landscape from being taken over by landfills. The Network provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to "recycle" unwanted items. One person's trash can truly be another's treasure!

How does it work?

When you want to find a new home for something -- whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door -- you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of your Freecycle™ group.

Or, maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself. Simply respond to a member's offer, and you just might get it. After that, it's up to the giver to decide who receives the gift and to set up a pickup time for passing on the treasure.

One main rule: Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.

Non-profit organizations also benefit from The Freecycle™ Network. Post the item or items you want to give away and a local organization can help you get it to someone in need.

Who can use The Freecycle™ Network?

As Abe Lincoln once said, "Think globally, recycle locally." The Freecycle™ Network is open to all communities and to all individuals who want to participate. Freecycle™ groups are run by local volunteer moderators from across the globe who facilitate each local group - grassroots at its best!
----------------------------------------------------------

I discovered freecycle thanks to my brother about a year ago. Since then I have picked up 2 desks, 38 12' 2x6's from a deck i took apart, plus other lumber including several 20' 2x10's, a hot tub, hot tub controls, pump, heater and blower, antique kitchen cabinets, a leather coat, 3 piece sofa sectional, 4 drawer dresser, refrigerator, built in dishwasher, woodstove, wood slat curtains, and a canoe. Prolly a few other things I might have forgotten. I have given away many things myself. A Sofa, a hidabed, a bike, desks and the smaller fridge.

All of the things I got for free through freecycle were not new, but all are completely useable, though some needed minor fixing. I don't take garbage into my home. However, I have no issue with stretching my dollar and don't mind using my own elbo grease! I am not a rich man and these things have helped me considerably. But lets suppose I were wealthy? I would most likely buy new things and the old stuff, well I'd have to pay someone to haul it off! Instead, I could simply post an ad on Freecycle and someone who is not as economically well off as I am, will come and get it! I don't have to hassle with having it hauled off!

Really, the things I have seen people throw away, it outta be a crime.
Freecycle is one of the greatest inventions of our time!

Freecycle.org
Find a freecycle in your area and sign up today!

I believe I really like my New Camera!

The Last Cast

Sunset

Mt Hood

Today I went for a haircut

On my way to the barber shop,
As I passed the river at sunset,
I was presented with this view.



You can't enjoy it as I did,
Moments are somerimes like that,
This will have to do!

Just What Is the Internet?

Watch this little movie.

If you know who you are. Then you know all people.

Those of you who have taken time to read this far, have already recognized the truth. For deep within us is an awareness of truth's validity. It knows, all arguments are silenced in the fullness and wonderment of its recognition.

As Gibran says in the "Prophet"

And a man said, "Speak to us of Self-Knowledge."

And he answered, saying:

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."

Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

If you know who you are. Then you know all people.

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American philosopher who said...

You cannot do a kindness too soon
because you never know how soon
it will be too late.

I Live As Man

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"You must teach your children that the ground beneath their
feet is the ashes of our grandfathers.
So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the
Earth is rich with the lives of their kin.
Teach your children what we have taught our children, that
the Earth is our mother.

"Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.
If men spit on the ground they spit on themselves. This we know.
All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.
Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."

~Chief Seattle~
Art by R. Swanson

Raven, you can see me in his eye

We are part of each other. Together we are one!

Iniquitous American History

"Chief Joseph"
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt
(Thunder coming over land from water)
Chief of the Idaho Nez Perce
(Nimipu)
(1840-1904)







The Words of Chief Joesph
[On a visit to Washington, D.C., 1879]

At last I was granted permission to come to Washington and bring my friend Yellow Bull and our interpreter with me. I am glad I came. I have shaken hands with a good many friends, but there are some things I want to know which no one seems able to explain. I cannot understand how the Government sends a man out to fight us, as it did General Miles, and then breaks his word. Such a government has some- thing wrong about it. I cannot understand why so many chiefs are allowed to talk so many different ways, and promise so many different things. I have seen the Great Father Chief [President Hayes]; the Next Great Chief [Secretary of the Interior]; the Commissioner Chief; the Law Chief; and many other law chiefs [Congressmen] and they all say they are my friends, and that I shall have justice, but while all their mouths talk right I do not understand why nothing is done for my people. I have heard talk and talk but nothing is done. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. Words do not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my country now overrun by white men. They do not protect my father's grave. They do not pay for my horses and cattle. Good words do not give me back my children. Good words will not make good the promise of your war chief, General Miles. Good words will not give my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. Too many misinterpretations have been made; too many misunderstandings have come up between the white men and the Indians. If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them the same laws. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect all rivers to run backward as that any man who was born a free man should be contented penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases. If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the Great White Chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They cannot tell me. I only ask of the Government to be treated as all other men are treated. If I cannot go to my own home, let me have a home in a country where my people will not die so fast. I would like to go to Bitter Root Valley. There my people would be happy; where they are now they are dying. Three have died since I left my camp to come to Washington.

When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.

I know that my race must change. We cannot hold our own with the white men as we are. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. If an Indian breaks the law, punish him by the law. If a white man breaks the law, punish him also. Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself -- and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.

Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other then we shall have no more wars. We shall be all alike -- brothers of one father and mother, with one sky above us and one country around us and one government for all. Then the Great Spirit Chief who rules above will smile upon this land and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers' hands upon the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race is waiting and praying. I hope no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.

Automatic Screen Cleaner is now FREE!

Is your monitor's screen gettin a bit dirty?
Have you ever wished it would clean it's self?

Well now it can and for a limited time this
highly effective screen cleaner is free.

Click here to have your screen cleaned today!

Best of all there are no harsh cleaner chemicals.
Maybe a can of tuna, or some milk, and a toy....

Happy New Year!

Let's have the most progressive year ever!

Said Thomas Jefferson ....

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.

Astoria Bridge, Christmas Eve 04

*---- 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)

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.

*---- 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

*---- 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

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!

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.

Just an odd little story

Creep!

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

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.

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.

Real listening is a state of meditation
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.

SKY OF MIND

For a Friend

A Tag for my Boy

A personal Tag

an unassigned "tag"

Truth in Advertising

A Valentines e-Card

an unassigned "tag"

made this for a friend

My 03 e-Card

SKY CASTLES

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

*---- 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

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!"

Samuel Clemens was Brilliant.
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!

Me, 30 years ago. What a journey it's been! When my time is eventually finished, I'll slide in sideways at the purley gates and exclaim to St Peter, "Man, what a ride!"

The last bite didn't make it before he fell asleep. Someone get the hose!

Willapa bay

A rose is a rose

Winter, LaCamas Lake

Arizona Sunset

Tetons

Moose in the fall, Yellowstone

Winter on the Oregon Coast

Lani Kai Beach, Kailua Hawaii

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

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.

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.

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