September 7, 2010

MUSIC BREAK: All The Things You Are


It never fails, listening to Ella always calms my mind down and relaxes me. I'm in heaven right now. Her voice is divine! Take a music break from all of the non-sense regularly! ♥ Enjoy this beautiful song! ♥

‎"Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons.
You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body."
~ by Oliver Wendell Holmes

All The Things You Are by Ella Fitzgerald

Time and again I’ve longed for adventure,
Something to make my heart beat the faster.
What did I long for? I never really knew.
Finding your love I’ve found my adventure,
Touching your hand, my heart beats the faster,
All that I want in all of this world is you.

You are the promised kiss of springtime
That makes the lonely winter seem long.
You are the breathless hush of evening
That trembles on the brink of a lovely song.

You are the angel glow that lights a star,
The dearest things I know are what you are.
Some day my happy arms will hold you,
And some day I’ll know that moment divine,
When all the things you are, are mine!
X2

MUSIC BREAK: In A Sentimental Mood


I'm in the mood for this beautiful calming tune... Enjoy! ♥

"Give your stress wings and let it fly away." ~ by Terri Guillemets

In A Sentimental Mood by Ella Fitzgerald

In a sentimental mood
I can see the stars come through my room
While your loving attitude
Is like a flame that lights the gloom

On the wings of every kiss
Drifts a melody so strange and sweet
In this sentimental bliss
You make my paradise complete

Rose petals seem to fall
It's all I could dream to call you mine
My heart's a lighter thing
Since you made this night a thing divine

In a sentimental mood
I'm within a world so heavenly
For I never dreamt that you'd be loving sentimental me
X2

September 6, 2010

The Crimewave That Shames The World: The Murder Of At Least 20,000 Women A Year In The Name Of 'Honour'.

The Indepedent UK
written by Robert Fisk
Tuesday September 7, 2010

It's one of the last great taboos: the murder of at least 20,000 women a year in the name of 'honour'. Nor is the problem confined to the Middle East: the contagion is spreading rapidly.

It is a tragedy, a horror, a crime against humanity. The details of the murders – of the women beheaded, burned to death, stoned to death, stabbed, electrocuted, strangled and buried alive for the "honour" of their families – are as barbaric as they are shameful. Many women's groups in the Middle East and South-west Asia suspect the victims are at least four times the United Nations' latest world figure of around 5,000 deaths a year. Most of the victims are young, many are teenagers, slaughtered under a vile tradition that goes back hundreds of years but which now spans half the globe.

A 10-month investigation by The Independent in Jordan, Pakistan, Egypt, Gaza and the West Bank has unearthed terrifying details of murder most foul. Men are also killed for "honour" and, despite its identification by journalists as a largely Muslim practice, Christian and Hindu communities have stooped to the same crimes. Indeed, the "honour" (or ird) of families, communities and tribes transcends religion and human mercy. But voluntary women's groups, human rights organisations, Amnesty International and news archives suggest that the slaughter of the innocent for "dishonouring" their families is increasing by the year.

Iraqi Kurds, Palestinians in Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey appear to be the worst offenders but media freedoms in these countries may over-compensate for the secrecy which surrounds "honour" killings in Egypt – which untruthfully claims there are none – and other Middle East nations in the Gulf and the Levant. But honour crimes long ago spread to Britain, Belgium, Russia and Canada and many other nations. Security authorities and courts across much of the Middle East have connived in reducing or abrogating prison sentences for the family murder of women, often classifying them as suicides to prevent prosecutions.

It is difficult to remain unemotional at the vast and detailed catalogue of these crimes. How should one react to a man – this has happened in both Jordan and Egypt – who rapes his own daughter and then, when she becomes pregnant, kills her to save the "honour" of his family? Or the Turkish father and grandfather of a 16-year-old girl, Medine Mehmi, in the province of Adiyaman, who was buried alive beneath a chicken coop in February for "befriending boys"? Her body was found 40 days later, in a sitting position and with her hands tied.

Or Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, 13, who in Somalia in 2008, in front of a thousand people, was dragged to a hole in the ground – all the while screaming, "I'm not going – don't kill me" – then buried up to her neck and stoned by 50 men for adultery? After 10 minutes, she was dug up, found to be still alive and put back in the hole for further stoning. Her crime? She had been raped by three men and, fatally, her family decided to report the facts to the Al-Shabab militia that runs Kismayo. Or the Al-Shabab Islamic "judge" in the same country who announced the 2009 stoning to death of a woman – the second of its kind the same year – for having an affair? Her boyfriend received a mere 100 lashes.

Or the young woman found in a drainage ditch near Daharki in Pakistan, "honour" killed by her family as she gave birth to her second child, her nose, ears and lips chopped off before being axed to death, her first infant lying dead among her clothes, her newborn's torso still in her womb, its head already emerging from her body? She was badly decomposed; the local police were asked to bury her. Women carried the three to a grave, but a Muslim cleric refused to say prayers for her because it was "irreligious" to participate in the namaz-e-janaza prayers for "a cursed woman and her illegitimate children".

So terrible are the details of these "honour" killings, and so many are the women who have been slaughtered, that the story of each one might turn horror into banality. But lest these acts – and the names of the victims, when we are able to discover them – be forgotten, here are the sufferings of a mere handful of women over the past decade, selected at random, country by country, crime after crime.

Last March, Munawar Gul shot and killed his 20-year-old sister, Saanga, in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, along with the man he suspected was having "illicit relations" with her, Aslam Khan.

In August of 2008, five women were buried alive for "honour crimes" in Baluchistan by armed tribesmen; three of them – Hameeda, Raheema and Fauzia – were teenagers who, after being beaten and shot, were thrown still alive into a ditch where they were covered with stones and earth. When the two older women, aged 45 and 38, protested, they suffered the same fate. The three younger women had tried to choose their own husbands. In the Pakistani parliament, the MP Israrullah Zehri referred to the murders as part of a "centuries-old tradition" which he would "continue to defend".

Please click HERE to read the entire article... ABSOLUTE MUST READ!

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Says It's Time To 'Re-Educate' The American Public On Obama Health Care Law!


You'll hear Speaker Nancy Pelosi in this video telling us that, "We have to pass the (health care reform) bill so that you can find out what is in it. Away from the fog of the controversary." You'll also hear Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sec of Health Kathleen Sebelius admit they didn't read the Health Care Reform bill. Senator Max Baucus supposedly wrote the bill and has NO IDEA what is in it!!! This is NOT ACCEPTABLE FOLKS!

Un-FRICKEN-believable!!! From the folks who told us that "We have to pass the HCR bill so that we know what's in it." These asshats want to RE-EDUCATE us, when even THEY DON'T KNOW what the heck is in 2,600 page Health Care Reform Bill. NONE OF THEM READ THE DAMN BILL. Now they want to SPOON FEED us mis-information! Now take your medicine (POISON) like a good citizen should. UGH! :/

****************************************************************

ABC News
written by Steven Portnoy
Monday August 30, 2010 6:10 PM

With a number of polls showing a sustained level of opposition to the Democrats’ health care reform efforts more than five months after passage, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the Obama administration has “a lot of reeducation to do” heading into the midterms.

While some surveys – namely the Kaiser Family Foundation monthly tracking poll – have suggested an uptick in support for the reforms, most other surveys continue to show a steady level of opposition to the new law that remains higher than the favorable opinions of it.

“Unfortunately, there still is a great deal of CONFUSION about what is in [the reform law] and what isn’t,” Sebelius told ABC News Radio in an interview Monday.

With several vulnerable House Democrats touting their votes against the bill, and Republicans running on repeal, Sebelius said “misinformation given on a 24/7 basis” has led to the enduring opposition nearly six months after the lengthy debate ended in Congress.

“So, we have a lot of reeducation to do,” Sebelius said.

The administration is particularly concerned about the views of senior citizens – who “have been a target of a lot of the misinformation,” according to the health secretary.

As of Monday, one million seniors have received $250 rebate checks (WHOOPIE) to help them fill the “donut hole” in Medicare’s prescription drug coverage. Sebelius says by the end of the year, as many as four million Part D participants may get checks.

“Once people understand that [the rebate checks are] just one of the new features for Medicare beneficiaries, they become increasingly more enthusiastic,” Sebelius told ABC News.

In an ABC News/Washington Post poll, taken in July, 50 percent of Americans disapproved of the president’s handling of health care, with 45 percent saying they approved. The level of disapproval was stronger than approval of the Obama administration’s actions.

But the latest Kaiser poll – also taken in July – shows 50 percent of those surveyed had a favorable view of the health care reform law, with 35 percent holding an unfavorable view. Support in the Kaiser poll was up four points from the organization’s April tracking poll, with opposition down five points.

However, among those 65 years and older, 43 percent said in July that Medicare would be “worse off” under the reforms, compared to 25 percent who said the program would be “better off.”

Sebelius says she understands the concerns of American seniors.

“They’re worried about what happens to their benefits in the future, worried about what happens to the overall stability of Medicare.”

The secretary says she “strongly” disagrees with what her immediate predecessor, former Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed last week suggesting the changes to Medicare in the health care law merely create the “illusion” of reform.

“It does not ease cost pressures but papers over them with unsustainable price controls,” Leavitt wrote.

Sebelius argues the reforms “strengthen” Medicare, extending its solvency by 12 years through 2029.

“My view is actually supported by independent actuaries, by economists and by the Congressional Budget Office,” Sebelius said. [Bullsh*t Ms. Sebelius! They based their reports on the false data you provided them! (emphasis mine)]

13 SEIU Union Members Arrested At Century City Protest Of 16 Laid-Off Janitors!


UNBELIEVABLE! Get this FOLKS!!! SEIU members were protesting in Century City, CA in front of the JP Morgan building with a hunger strike and sleeping in tents on the sidewalk last week!!! They are... GET THIS... demanding to be employed again!!! JP Morgan owns the building and contracts out the janitorial services to another company.... JP Morgan made a business decision to cut expenses and therefore cut the janitorial service needs. In turn, the ABM Janitorial service company LAID OFF 16 of its workers. That's LIFE FOLKS! Life is NOT ALWAYS FAIR! 25 MILLION Americans are UNEMPLOYED right now! Our economy is heading off of a cliff and now they say the employer DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT to lay you off if they don't need you or can't afford you! WTF?! You are EMPLOYED by ABM Janitorial Services NOT JP Morgan Chase! It's ABM Janitorial Services who LAID-OFF these 16 workers. Their contracts are probably being cut from every client due to the economy because AMB Janitorial Services could have MOVED these workers to another client site.

SEIU argues that JP Morgan Chase received BILLIONS in federal bailout money and paid out BILLIONS in bonus' to their executives. They sure did. But it's not JP Morgan you should be pissed off at, it should be our federal government for loaning them that taxpayer money in the first place without our consent. The Banksters are STILL getting short term loans from the Federal Reserve at near 0% interest rate. But regardless of how the Banksters receive their money and choose to spend their money, it's their money and their business decisions. Nobody has a RIGHT TO DEMAND to keep their job. Oh and let's get this story straight, these janitors were NOT FIRED, they were LAID-OFF by ABM Janitorial Services NOT JP Morgan Chase!!!!!!

************************************************************

MyFoxLA
written by Hal Eisner
Thursday, August 26 2010, 11:09pm PDT

Century City - Thirteen people were arrested today in Century City during a march and rally in support of recently laid off janitors, police said.

About 300 people attended the march and rally outside the Century Plaza office building, where the janitors used to work, said Richard French of the Los Angeles Police Department.

"Thirteen people were arrested for blocking traffic. The arrests were without incident," French said.

Earlier, Jacob Hay of SEIU United Service Workers West, the union organizing the protest, said the rally could lead to civil disobedience, including blocking traffic on Avenue of the Stars, Century Park East and Constellation Boulevard.

He said he was only aware of nine arrests.

"It was a peaceful protest," he said. "Even the arrests were peaceful. The police did their thing, but there were no incidents."

The protest ended around 3 p.m.

The rally was part of a four-day series of events that began Tuesday on behalf of 16 laid-off janitors who worked at the building, Hay said.

January 11, 2009: President Obama's Team Discuss Why The $787 BILLION Stimulus Bill Is Necesssary And How It Will Work


I want you to hear it directly from the Obama administration. Don't just take my word for it, listen to the bullsh*t for yourself. These people are explaining what the Stimulus Bill worth $787 BILLION taxpayer dollars was supposed to be invested in. KEY WORD HERE is "Invested". What does our country have to show for the $787 BILLION spent? Plus, the Obama administration has ADDED several other stimulus or jobs bills worth BILLIONS MORE to this amount. Now President Obama is pushing for yet another $50 BILLION taxpayer dollar stimulus - jobs - infrastructure whatever name he feels will gain your support.

January 11, 2009: Transition policy experts talk about President-elect Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan -- why it's necessary and how it will work.

I AM LAUGHING OUT LOUD HYSTERICALLY at this statement made in the video at 4:40: "In every aspect of the American Recovery and Reinventment Plan we MUST act boldly and yet carefully. That's why the President Elect has declared a war on WASTE to make sure the plan is as effective and efficient as it is bold."

This is a BONUS FEATURE for your listening pleasure. This is President Obama speaking at an AFL-CIO (UNION) Picnic in Cincinnati, Ohio exactly one year ago on Labor Day. The unemployment rate in Ohio is 10.3% today. Please click HERE to be directed to STIMULUS WATCH: Projects in Ohio to take a good hard look at how the stimulus money was spent and how many jobs were created in Ohio. That is just one state mind you.

Again I have to LAUGH OUT LOUD at this statement he makes in this video, "We're REBUILDING America's infrastructure, including improvements to I-75 in Hamilton Country led by a local Cincinnati contractor. We've got more than 200 other highway projects across Ohio and we're making historical innovation." I'm tellin' you he is a damn good bullsh*ter. He has been repeating the same crap since before he took office and has been NON-STOP CAMPAIGNING! President Obama ==> CHEER-leader in chief.

President Obama Kicks Off New Campaign With A $50 BILLION Jobs Plan!

Hahahahahaha! President Obama is back from vacation and back to CAMPAIGNING!!! I thought the first $787 BILLION stimulus was going to be spent on shovel ready projects 1 1/2 years ago. Remember that money was going to repair our ROAD's and BRIDGE's. Now this... I'd like to remind everybody that it was President Obama himself that told us while campaigning before he went on vacation that "It could be worse." Now he's back to his presidential campaign slogan of "Yes we can." I posted the article detailing his "It could be worse." speech a few months ago. Oh and do us ALL a favor and STOP offering tax credits as the solution. That is different from TAX CUTS! And how much do you want to bet that this $50 BILLION taxpayer dollars goes to his campaign supporters! These will ALL be UNION JOBS! Watch and pay attention to who these government contracts go to and how many jobs are really created. The first jobs would not be created until 2011. Go figure! Does President Obama understand the meaning of the words STIMULATE and JUMP-START?

This is what President Obama tweeted today: "This Labor Day, know that I’m going to keep fighting to turn this economy around, put our people back to work, and renew the American Dream." He keeps dangling that carrot in front of all of his supporters. Now if ALL Americans would take a good hard look at what he's done with the $1 TRILLION he has already been given to turn around the economy, you may start realizing it's all a con. He's a politician not a god. There should be no blind faith for ANY politician. They work for us. They are our employee's INCLUDING the President. He has invested $1 TRILLION taxpayer dollars on junk projects and now we are watching the economy tank as a result. When he says put our people back to work, he means UNION members! Note to President Obama, the private sector makes up the MAJORITY of the labor market and is responsbile for the MAJORITY of the tax revenue or at least it did before you became president. The private sector should be your MAIN FOCUS! After all, what all of you have NEVER STOPPED to think through... it is the PRIVATE SECTOR who employs your Union buddies!!! Therefore, as the PRIVATE SECTOR SINKS into the abyss, so do your UNION buddies jobs!

President Obama may be intelligent in his area of expertise - LAW, mainly civil rights as a community organizer. However, President Obama is a real DIPSH*T when it comes to having ANY KNOWLEDGE of business, finance and economics! ERGO, this would explain his chief economist and treasury secretary cabinet choices! and ALL of the other DIPSH*T's he has surrounded himself with.

***********************************************************

Reuters
written by Steve Holland
Monday September 6, 2010 4:09pm EDT

President Barack Obama, scrambling to jump-start job creation in a sluggish economy, proposed on Monday a six-year, $50 billion plan to rebuild aging roads, railways and airport runways.

"We are going to rebuild 150,000 miles of our roads -- that's enough to circle the world six times... We're going to lay and maintain 4,000 miles of our railways -- enough to stretch coast-to-coast," Obama said.

Obama laid out the plan at a rousing labor rally where several thousand supporters cheered his every line, especially when he said the United States cannot have a strong economy without a strong middle class.

"I am going to keep fighting, every single day, every single hour, every single minute to turn this economy around," he said.

The infrastructure plan is one of several initiatives that Obama, who is struggling to persuade Americans that his economic policies are working, is due to unveil this week.

With fellow Democrats facing punishment from recession-weary voters in November 2 congressional elections, Obama is under pressure to do more to create jobs and bring down the stubbornly high 9.6 percent unemployment rate, even as economists agree he has few good options left.

A centerpiece of his new plan to stimulate the recovery is a proposal for the U.S. Congress to increase and permanently extend a tax credit for business research and development.

The tax credit proposal, which was widely expected by investors, would cost $100 billion over 10 years. He is to lay out the plan on Wednesday in Cleveland.

Economists are skeptical any measures Obama takes now will make a significant difference in the $13.2 trillion U.S. economy and point out that investments in infrastructure typically do not stimulate the economy quickly.

While Obama declared some jobs would be created "immediately" under the plan, a senior Obama administration official said the proposed infrastructure overhaul would not have an immediate impact on the economy and said the first jobs would not be created until 2011.

"This is not a stimulus, immediate-jobs plan," the official said told reporters on a conference call.

DETAILS OF PLAN

Under the infrastructure plan, Obama is proposing to:

- Rebuild 150,000 miles of roads;

- Construct and maintain 4,000 miles of rail;

- Rehabilitate or reconstruct 150 miles of runway and modernize the air traffic control system and;

- Set up an infrastructure bank to leverage private, state and local capital to invest in projects.

Transportation construction spending would likely help companies like equipment maker Caterpillar Inc, privately held engineering firm Parsons Corp, and conglomerate General Electric Co.

Obama used his appearance in Milwaukee -- and a trip to Cleveland on Wednesday -- to set the tone for the fall campaign. Monday's Labor Day holiday marks the informal start of the election campaign season.

Please click HERE to read the entire article...

'Islamization' of Paris a Warning to the West


Yep! European countries are lamenting over being made to feel guilty by these so-called moderate muslims. Now they wish they weren't so tolerant. Hindsight is 20/20. It would be GREAT if our government officials and the people of our country can look to their example and LEARN FROM IT. :/

I don't have a problem with anybody practicing whatever religion they want or worshipping whomever they want. A person can worship a rock for all I care. But what bothers me is the radical muslim culture IMPOSING their religious beliefs and religious practices on the world... every country, every government, all persons around the globe. That I take issue with.

*************************************************************
CBN News
written by Dale Hurd
Sunday, September 05, 2010

PARIS - Friday in Paris. A hidden camera shows streets blocked by huge crowds of Muslim worshippers and enforced by a private security force.

This is all illegal in France: the public worship, the blocked streets, and the private security. But the police have been ordered not to intervene.

It shows that even though some in the French government want to get tough with Muslims and ban the burqa, other parts of the French government continue to give Islam a privileged status.

An ordinary French citizen who has been watching the Islamization of Paris decided that the world needed to see what was happening to his city. He used a hidden camera to start posting videos on YouTube. His life has been threatened and so he uses the alias of "Maxime Lepante. "

Lepante's View

His camera shows that Muslims "are blocking the streets with barriers. They are praying on the ground. And the inhabitants of this district cannot leave their homes, nor go into their homes during those prayers."

"The Muslims taking over those streets do not have any authorization. They do not go to the police headquarters, so it's completely illegal," he says.

The Muslims in the street have been granted unofficial rights that no Christian group is likely to get under France's Laicite', or secularism law.

"It says people have the right to share any belief they want, any religion," Lepante explained. "But they have to practice at home or in the mosque, synagogues, churches and so on."

Some say Muslims must pray in the street because they need a larger mosque. But Lepante has observed cars coming from other parts of Paris, and he believes it is a weekly display of growing Muslim power.

"They are coming there to show that they can take over some French streets to show that they can conquer a part of the French territory," he said.

France's Islamic Future?

If France faces an Islamic future, a Russian author has already written about it. The novel is called "The Mosque of Notre Dame, 2048," a bestseller in Russia, not in France.

French publisher Jean Robin said the French media ignored the book because it was politically incorrect.

"Islam is seen as the religion of the poor people, so you can't say to the poor people, 'You're wrong,' otherwise, you're a fascist," Robin explained.

The book lays out a dark future when France has become a Muslim nation, and the famous cathedral has been turned into a mosque.

Whether that plot is farfetched depends on whom you ask. Muslims are said to be no more than 10 percent of the French population, although no one knows for sure because French law prohibits population counts by religion.

But the Muslim birthrate is significantly higher than for the native French. Some Muslim men practice polygamy, with each extra wife having children and collecting a welfare check.

"The problem of Islam is more than a problem of numbers," said French philosopher Radu Stoenescu, an Islamic expert who debates Muslim leaders on French TV. "The problem is one of principles. It's an open question. Is Islam an ideology or just a creed?"

"It doesn't matter how many there are," he aded. "The problem is the people who follow Islam; they're somehow in a political party, which has a political agenda, which means basically implementing Sharia and building an Islamic state."

In Denial or Fed Up

From the 1980s until recently, criticizing or opposing Islam was considered a social taboo, and so the government and media effectively helped Islam spread throughout France.

"We were expecting Islam to adapt to France and it is France adapting to Islam," Robin said.

About the burqa controversy, one French Muslim man told a reporter that Europeans should respect Muslim dress. One Parisian woman wearing a headscarf said "the veil is in the Koran" and "we only submit to God and nobody else."

But even if many government elites are in France are in denial over Islam, the people in the streets increasingly are not. Some have become fed up with what they see as the growing Islamization of France.

They've started staging pork and wine "aperitifs," or cocktail parties in the street. They're patriotic demonstrations meant to strike back against Islam. Another national demonstration is planned for Saturday, Sept. 4.

A Warning to the West

The French parliament is expected to debate the burqa law in September. Jean-Francois Cope, president of the Union for a Popular Movement political party, has a warning for the West and for America.

"We cannot accept the development of such practice because it's not compatible with the life in a modern society, you see," he said. "And this question is not only a French question. You will all have to face this challenge. "

Guatemala Had Back-to-Back Mudslides This Weekend After Days Of Torrential Rains. 44 People Dead.

Yahoo News
written by Luis Angel Sas
Monday September 6, 2010

GUATEMALA CITY – Searchers on Monday pulled more bodies from a mud-covered highway where back-to-back landslides buried bus passengers and people trying to save them. Yet more mudslides helped raise Guatemala's official death toll to 44 after days of torrential rains.

Authorities said 24 people are confirmed dead and at least 16 are believed to be still buried beneath the debris in the village of Nahuala, where a first mudslide buried a bus and other vehicles, then a second one turned would-be rescuers into victims.

At least 20 others died over the weekend elsewhere as a tropical depression saturated the ground and set off more than a dozen landslides around the country, according to the national disaster agency. The most recent slide, on a highway in northern Guatemala, killed one person and injured 26 on Sunday.

In Nahuala, emergency crews and villagers rushed to the Inter-American highway on Saturday, picks and shovels in hand, after radio reports of the deadly slide - only to be swamped by the second cascade of rock and earth.

Search and rescue efforts were suspended Sunday for fear that the mountainside could give way yet again, but digging resumed Monday with heavy machinery and fewer workers, said Sergio Cabanas, a Civil Protection director.

Of the 100 people originally searching for bodies and survivors, only 33 remained, all of them soldiers and firefighters, Cabanas said.

"And even they might not be able to recover the last of the bodies," Cabanas said. "It's very dangerous to have personnel there."

At least four bodies were pulled out Monday, said Mario Cruz, a firefighters' spokesman. Authorities initially said more than three dozen people were missing, but Cabanas said that estimate was lowered to 16 after further interviews with witnesses and relatives.

Local police officer Suagustino Pascual Tuy said there had been several landslides along the Inter-American highway in the last year, and authorities knew of the danger.

"Last year there was a landslide there, 15 days ago there was a landslide," he said. "But now a big one came."

President Alvaro Colom, who visited the area and declared Monday a national day of mourning, said Guatemala must improve its disaster prevention efforts. He said more geologists should study the terrain in the country's hillsides.

All told, there were 15 landslides at different spots along the Inter-American Highway - a section of the Pan-American Highway system - within in a 48-hour period, Communications Minister Guillermo Castillo said.

September 3, 2010

Back By Popular Demand: Cartoons to Help Lighten the Mood! Enjoy a Hearty LAUGH! These Toons Always Crack Me up! ;)


This Is My Wish For You...

This is my wish for you:


Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.

How Wise Are You?

Personal Worth Examiner
written by Soul Dancer
November 7, 2009 10:44pm

When it comes to learning life lessons, what type of students are we? Oops! Did I make a wrong assumption? Are we students of life? Shall we find out?

First, I invite you to read this Wall Street Journal post: "The Man Who Predicted the Depression."

Next, based on what you've read, what grades would you give out based on the state of our general physical health or economy. How about our grades on social studies, history and math? What more do we have yet to learn about wars, poverty, prejudice and pride? What does rampant obesity, discrimination and fear teach us? Are we growing more wise or more creative in ways to NOT learn?

Wisdom: a word worth paying attention to!

How do we grow wise? What ingredients do we need to cook-up some wisdom? Consider this wisdom pyramid (much like the old food pyramid):

First ingredient: data. Words, numbers, images, sounds, sights, tastes are all good examples of data. For example, open a dictionary to any page and you'll find all sorts of words. Words form a small part of our wisdom. We need more than words to become wise.

When we combine words into something meaningful, we form information. The web is wonderful in overloading us with information. Is information wisdom? Not yet! Why? Well, google some directions on how to change a flat tire sometime. I bet this information doesn't come CLOSE to containing what you need to know when you actually have to change a flat tire. When you finally DO change that tire, you turn information into knowledge.

Yes, knowledge contains the seeds of profound wisdom. While people who contain vast stores of knowledge often seem wise, don't allow all that knowledge to fool you into believing they're a wise person. For example. Imagine you've read every known book about New York city. You've listened to every know expert on the city of New York. You've watched every known movie, DVD, video and TV series there is on New York city. However, you've never actually traveled to, or lived in New York city. If the time comes for me to visit New York City I'll hire a someone who LIVES and works in New York city (hands-down any day) over anyone who's book smart about NYC.

BINGO! Experience combined with knowledge forms the initial crumbs of wisdom. Why only crumbs of wisdom versus the full on buffet? Simple! The amount of first-hand experiential time plays the pivotal role to determine how ripe ones' wisdom really is. The more time we spend practicing our craft, the more wise we become in such practice. Of course, we aid the process of becoming more wise when we add the final wisdom ingredient: perspective!

Data + information = knowledge. Knowledge + experience + time = initial seeds of wisdom. Time + multiple perspectives = savvy wisdom! To test out this formula, think back to a time when you thought you knew it all! (Is that time, today? If so, you're in for some big surprises!) As you ponder your level of wisdom, do you notice how the more you know, the more you become aware of how much more there is to know?

Is it possible to ever know ALL there is to know about some one or some thing? A wise person will automatically answer NO! If someone tells you, "Yea! I know all there is to know about [insert any topic], RUN (don't walk) away from this person. Why? Arrogance inspires blindness. Confidence inspires insightfulness.

What does forming wisdom have to do with one's personal worth?

Our personal worth is soundly rooted in how well (and fast) we learn life lessons. Those who learn quickly tend to adapt, survive and often thrive. Anyone who learns the hard way (often painfully hard), does so by repeating, repeating (did I mention, repeating?) certain lessons over and over again. Each time we repeat a lesson, we consume more time, money and related resources. While each lesson offers a nuance unlike any other lesson, it's worth our time to learn our lessons the first time around.

Any time you discover yourself feeling discomfort or pain due to repeating a less-than-enjoyable life lesson, try on this suggestion to soften or dissolve pain: LEARN with a sense of gratitude. Learning based in gratitude helps dissolve discomfort or pain when we genuinely appreciate or savor the learning process. Ready to engage the art of savoring the learning process this time? I hope so! Why? When we fail at learning something, we face repeating that lesson. The Man Who Predicted the Depression clearly demonstrates how we once again have before us some critical economic lessons. These lessons impact our personal worth on many levels.

Have you noticed how a wise person enjoys and savors the art of learning? How wise do you feel these days?

Break Free From Conditioning! Wake Up the Sleeping Lion Within...

Break Free From Conditioning
[source: Osho International]

Unless you drop your personality you will not be able to find your individuality. Individuality is given by existence (God); personality is imposed by the society. Personality is social convenience.

Society cannot tolerate individuality, because individuality will not follow like a sheep. Individuality has the quality of the lion; the lion moves alone. The sheep are always in the crowd, hoping that being in the crowd will feel cozy. Being in the crowd one feels more protected, secure. If somebody attacks, there is every possibility in a crowd to save yourself. But alone? - only the lions move alone.

And every one of you is born a lion, but the society goes on conditioning you, programming your mind as a sheep. It gives you a personality, a cozy personality, nice, very convenient, very obedient. Society wants slaves, not people who are absolutely dedicated to freedom. Society wants slaves because all the vested interests want obedience.

Osho recalls an old Zen story, about a lion who was brought up by sheep and who thought he was a sheep until an old lion captured him and took him to a pond, where he showed him his own reflection. Many of us are like this lion - the image we have of ourselves comes not from our own direct experience but from the opinions of others. A "personality" imposed from the outside replaces the individuality that could have grown from within. We become just another sheep in the herd, unable to move freely and unconscious of our own true identity.

It's time to take a look at your own reflection in the pond, and make a move to break out of whatever you have been conditioned by others to believe about yourself. Dance, run, jog, do gibberish - whatever is needed to wake up the sleeping lion within.

The Path Towards Wholeness: This Is What It Means To Be CENTERED And CONNECTED To Your Source

The Path Toward Wholeness

To do a miracle is great, but not great enough. To do a miracle is still to be in the world of the ego. A real greatness is so ordinary that it claims nothing; it is so ordinary that it never tries to prove anything.

Wherever you are, become more centered, become more alert, live more consciously. There is nowhere else to go. Everything that has to happen, has to happen within you, and it is in your hands. You are not a puppet, and your strings are not in anybody else's hands. You are an absolutely free individual. If you decide to remain in illusions, you can remain so for many, many lives. If you decide to get out, a single moment's decision is enough. You can be out of ALL illusions this very moment.

Either you make your energy creative, or it will turn sour and become destructive. Energy is a dangerous thing -- if you have it, you have to use it creatively, otherwise sooner or later you will find it has become destructive. So find something -- whatsoever you like -- to put your energy into. If you want, painting; or if you want, dancing or singing; or if you want to play an instrument, even writing.... Whatsoever you want, find a way in which you can become completely lost. If you can be lost playing a guitar -- good! In those moments when you are lost, your energy will be released in a creative way.

If you cannot be lost in painting, in singing, in dancing, in playing guitar or a flute, in writing, then you will find lower ways of being lost: anger, rage, aggression; these are lower ways to be lost.

When there is no past, when there is no future, only then is there peace. Future means aspirations, achievement, goal, ambition, desire. You cannot be here now, you are always rushing for something, somewhere else. One has to be utterly present to the present, then there is peace. And out of that is renewal of life, because life knows only one time, and that is the present.

The past is death; the future is just a projection of the dead past. What can you think about the future? You think in terms of the past, that's what you know, and you project it--of course in a better way. It is more beautiful, decorated; all the pains have been dropped and only the pleasures have been chosen, but it is the past.

The past is not, the future is not, only the present is. To be in the present is to be ALIVE, optimum -- and that is renewal.

No man is an island, we are all part of a vast continent. There is variety, but that does not make us separate. Variety makes life richer -- part of us is in the Himalayas, a part of us is in the stars, a part of us is in the roses. A part of us is in the bird on the wing, a part of us is in the green of the trees. We are spread all over. To experience it as reality will transform your whole approach towards life, will transform your every act, will transform your very being.

Logic is like a pair of scissors: it cuts, it makes things divided. Mind is a kind of prism -- pass a ray of white light through it and immediately it is divided into seven colors. Pass anything through the mind and it becomes dual. Life and death are not life-and-death, the reality is lifedeath. It should be one word, not two; not even a hyphen in between. Lifedeath is one phenomenon. Lovehate is one phenomenon. Darknesslight is one phenomenon. Negativepositive is one phenomenon. But when you pass this one phenomenon through the mind, the one is divided immediately in two. Lifedeath becomes life and death -- not only divided but death becomes antagonistic to life. They are enemies. Now you can go on trying to make these two meet, and they will never meet.

Kipling is right--"East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." Logically, it is true. How can the East meet the West? How can the West meet the East? But existentially it is utter nonsense. They are meeting everywhere.

For example, you are sitting in India. Is it East or is it West? If you are comparing it with London, it is East; but if you are comparing it with Tokyo, it is West. What exactly is it, East or West? At each point East and West are meeting, and Kipling says, "Never the twain shall meet."

The twain are meeting everywhere. No single point is such that East and West are not meeting and no single man is such that East and West are not meeting. It cannot be otherwise; they have to meet -- it is one reality, one sky.

New Zealand Hit By 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake!

The Telegraph UK
written by Staff
Friday September 3, 2010

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake has rocked New Zealand’s second largest city Christchurch, causing widespread damage including the collapse of some buildings and power outages according to witnesses.

Although many people with minor injuries sought treatment, hospitals said there were no reports of any serious injuries.

The Civil Defence ministry said the national crisis management centre had been activated.

The quake struck at a depth of 16.1 kilometres (10.0 miles) some 30 kilometres (19 miles) northwest of Christchurch at 04:35 am on Saturday (1635 GMT Friday), the USGS said.

Roads in the seaside suburbs were packed with cars as residents moved inland but there were no tsunami alerts issued.

A swarm of aftershocks were ongoing and police said damage was widespread throughout Christchurch, with electricity supplies cut to about half of the city of about 340,000.

Sewer lines were damaged and residents were being urged to conserve water supplies.

Kevin O’Hanlon, from Mairehau in Christchurch, said: “Just unbelievable. I was awake to go to work and then just heard this massive noise and, boom, it was like the house got hit. It just started shaking. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

The damage included structural harm to houses, broken glass and damaged bridges and vehicles.

Although there was no evidence of a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said an earthquake of this magnitude could generate a local tsunami.

Suicide Blast At Tajik Police Office Injuring 25 INNOCENT PEOPLE!

Yahoo News
written by Olga Tutubalina, Associated Press Writer
Friday September 3, 2010

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – A suicide car bomb blast on Friday tore through police offices in Tajikistan's second-largest city, injuring 25 people, local officials said.

Tajikistan's Deputy Interior Minister Sharif Nazarov told The Associated Press the car filled with explosives hit the offices of the police organized-crime division in Khujand at 8 a.m. Friday morning.

The suicide bomber drove his car into the office compound's gates when another vehicle was leaving. No deaths have been reported so far apart from the bomber.

Tajikistan's top investigators are to fly to Khujand to probe the attack.

Impoverished Tajikistan is plagued by crime. The country bordering northern Afghanistan is one of the main conduits for smuggling Afghan opium and heroin.

September 2, 2010

Indonesian Volcano Erupts: First Time In 400 Years!

Earth Times
Friday September 3, 2010 at 2:35:24 GMT

Jakarta - An Indonesian volcano spewed another column of hot ash Friday, a vulcanologist said.

Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province erupted for the first time in about 400 years on Sunday and Monday, forcing 30,000 people to flee their homes to temporary shelters.

About 10,000 people had returned to their villages to attend crops when the latest eruption occurred, officials said.

"There was dark smoke and the roar was heard within the radius of eight kilometres," said Surono, head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

He said he had advised local authorities to order villagers to evacuate overnight when signs of an impending eruption were detected.

"We hope it was the last eruption and residents can go back to their homes in the coming days," he said.

Indonesia has about 500 volcanoes, with nearly 130 of them active and 69 listed as dangerous.

8 Amazing Quotes from Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu was a philosopher of ancient China and is a central figure in Taoism (also spelled "Daoism"). Laozi literally means "Old Master" and is generally considered an honorific. A central figure in Chinese culture, both nobility and common people claim Laozi in their lineage. Zhuangzi, widely considered the intellectual and spiritual successor of Laozi, had a notable impact on Chinese literature, culture and spirituality. Throughout history, Laozi's work was embraced by various anti-authoritarian movements. [source: wikipedia]

8 Amazing Quotes from Lao Tzu
  1. Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.

  2. A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

  3. The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.

  4. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

  5. The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be.

  6. Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.

  7. Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

  8. Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.

BONUS

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

BONUS BONUS

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.

September 1, 2010

Orlando Mosque Finances Hamas Fundraiser


This video was brought to my attention thanks to KeyWiki. Absolute MUST SEE 14 minute documentary on U.S. fundraising for Hamas. We don't have to make this sh*t up! WATCH and LISTEN FOR YOURSELF!

WOW!

Can ALL of you in Washington D.C. get serious here!?!? Are ANY of you capable of getting serious?!?! You are ALLOWING the lunatics to take over the asylum.

Same-sex Marriage Gains GOP Support Thanks In Part To The T.E.A. Party Movement!!!

For those of you thinking the Republicans have changed their tune to keep their jobs, I have this to say: With the way the democrats have been sh*tting all over the American people, the GOP would still have their jobs even if they didn't support this. But I am very happy to hear they are understanding this as contract law and a decision made between two consenting adults.

*******************************************************************

The Washington Post
written by Sandhya Somashekhar
Friday, August 27, 2010 at 11:41pm

A growing number of Republicans are breaking with the party's traditional stance to publicly state their support for same-sex marriage, a shift strategists say stems as much from demographics as from the renewed focus on economics and the "TEA party" movement.

A solid majority of adults younger than 30 - about six in 10 - support the right of gay and lesbian couples to legally wed, according to a Washington Post poll in February.

But even many older Americans and self-identified social conservatives have changed their view on an issue that just six years ago galvanized voters in support of President George W. Bush's reelection.

Gay Republican activists credit the shift to the heightened attention within the GOP base to jobs and the economy, and by a desire among strategists to expand the party's appeal.

"Our nation is at a crossroads, and conservatives are trying to rally together to turn back the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda," said Chris Barron, chairman of GOProud, a gay Republican group. "That's why we've seen people like Glenn Beck saying, 'Look, same-sex marriage isn't hurting anybody.' Because he sees a need to create a broad-based conservative movement."

Beck, a tea party favorite, recently told fellow Fox talk show host Bill O'Reilly that gay marriage was not "a threat to the country" and that marriage is a religious, not a governmental, issue.

A number of prominent Republicans have been more outspoken, stating that they support same-sex marriage rights. They include Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.); "The View" commentator Elizabeth Hasselbeck; former first lady Laura Bush and former vice president Dick Cheney.

Ted Olson, solicitor general under Bush, was part of the legal team that successfully challenged Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. And this week, former Republican operative Ken Mehlman disclosed that he is gay and that he will be raising money to support Olson's effort.

Also at play is the rise of the libertarian-leaning tea party movement. Many of the movement's leaders have said they oppose government intervention on marriage issues, while others say their concerns about taxation and the size of government supercede concerns over social issues.

"I come from a pretty strict upbringing in that I was raised Catholic," said Dawn Wildman, a coordinator for the California Tea Party Patriots, who said she personally opposes gay marriage. "But I have this strong belief in individualism. Not to mention that we don't have the luxury to think of the social issues right now."

One striking example of the tea party's ambivalence about social issues played out this summer in a House primary race in South Florida, where many tea party activists rallied around Donna Milo, a transgender Republican candidate who was seeking to challenge Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D). Milo came in third in the Aug. 24 primary.

Opposition to same-sex marriage has by no means disappeared in either party. President Obama has said he opposes the right of gay couples to marry, although he backs civil unions. Religiously inclined conservative groups such as the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, whose political agenda has long overlapped with the GOP's, have continued to push back on the gains made by pro-gay marriage groups in recent years.

Please click HERE to read the entire article...