Let's Sage the White House - Get out all of Those Evil Spirits = Dark Energy

Kate Clinton said the idea grew from hearing about shamans who cleansed the area around Machu Picchu of evil spirits by saging after George Bush visited.

“We are going to meet in Washington at 6PM on January 19th at the new White House visitor's center,” Clinton said in a new interview. “We'll mill around there for a little bit. And then we're just gonna walk over towards the White House, or as close as we can get, with our little sage sticks and try to get out the bad spirits. So, we can clear out the bad spirits in time for the new Obama administration to come in on the next day.” (hundreds have signed up!)

http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/2008/12/19/saging-the-white-house/

above strategy superseded -

new meeting place & plan.....




This couldn't HURT......Indigenous people are onto something(s) alot deeper and more profound than our current level of human connection with the Soul of the World/Planet. Come to think of it, I'm gonna sage my house after the TV news broadcasting into my living room all of the horror going on in Gaza right now.....the heaviness is palpable. The sadness and deep psychic trauma of that circumstance is best left for another post entirely.

Maybe we should sage the entire planet, do a world-wide Puja....

Uncle Jay Explains the News ....

US Media Unconditionally Supports Israel.....Eyes Wide Shut

Once again, during an Israeli Military action against Palestinians, the US is silent, the media is silent, even left-wing bloggers are (for the most part) silent when it comes to questioning or criticizing Israel. On Huffington Post I found some excerpts of recent Israeli press commentary and even they have been asking questions that are more pointed than anything to come out of the US. To wit:

One Sunday analysis at Haaretz: "A million and a half human beings, most of them downcast and desperate refugees, live in the conditions of a giant jail, fertile ground for another round of bloodletting. The fact that Hamas may have gone too far with its rockets is not the justification of the Israeli policy for the past few decades, for which it justly merits an Iraqi shoe to the face."

Another opinion piece in Haaretz -- titled, "Neighborhood Bully Strikes Again" -- by Gideon Levy: "Israel embarked yesterday on yet another unnecessary, ill-fated war. On July 16, 2006, four days after the start of the Second Lebanon War, I wrote: 'Every neighborhood has one, a loud-mouthed bully who shouldn't be provoked into anger... Not that the bully's not right - someone did harm him. But the reaction, what a reaction!' Two and a half years later, these words repeat themselves, to our horror, with chilling precision. Within the span of a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, the IDF sowed death and destruction on a scale that the Qassam rockets never approached in all their years, and Operation 'Cast Lead' is only in its infancy."

Also from Haaretz, Zvi Barel writes: "Six months ago Israel asked and received a cease-fire from Hamas. It unilaterally violated it when it blew up a tunnel, while still asking Egypt to get the Islamic group to hold its fire." Yet the U.S. media refers that only Hamas violated the ceasefire.

Could it be that the most conservative wing of the Israeli political spectrum, actually resides in the US?

And Now, for Something Completely Different

Well, I've got myself a head cold as of yesterday around lunch time.   Sneezed like I was getting paid for it, all day into the night.   Spent the afternoon on the computer listening to lectures on YouTube.   Had a limited night's sleep so I've been surfing the net today as I rest in bed, drinking tea.    In a conversation with a friend,  it was suggested I check out Red Ice Creations website which I did.    Found some very interesting info on, oh you know, Secret Societies,  Ancient Symbology, Astro-theology (Hi, Zacharia Sitchin, my old buddy....)  

Anywho, As Michael Tsarion (great series on YouTube entitled "The Origins of Evil" in 13 parts) kept mentioning the Atenists.....so I looked up Aten and here's what I found:

Here is wiki blurb:

Both Ra and Horus characteristics are part of the god, but the god is also considered to be both masculine and feminine simultaneously. All creation was thought to emanate from the god and to exist within the god. In particular, the god was not depicted in anthropomorphic (human) form, but as rays of light extending from the sun's disk. Furthermore, the god's name came to be written within a cartouche, along with the titles normally given to a Pharaoh, another break with ancient tradition.


Aten
The Aten, the sun-disk, first appears in texts dating to the 12th dynasty, in The Story of Sinuhe, where the deceased king is described as rising as god to the heavens and uniting with the sun-disk, the divine body merging with its maker.[2]
Ra-Horus, more usually referred to as Ra-Herakhty (Ra, who is Horus of the two horizons), is a synthesis of two other gods, both of which are attested from very early on. During the Amarna period, this synthesis was seen as the invisible source of energy of the sun god, of which the visible manifestation was the Aten, the solar disk. Thus Ra-Horus-Aten was a development of old ideas which came gradually. The real change, as some see it, was the apparent abandonment of all other gods, above all Amun, and the introduction of monotheism by Akhenaten.[3] The syncretism is readily apparent in the Great Hymn to the Aten in which Re-Herakhty, Shu and Aten are merged into the creator god.[4] Others see Akhenaten as a practitioner of an Aten monolatry.[5]

Pretty interesting eh?   The Sun (Son) rising to return to the Creator/Source/Light (Father).    This is even similar to the old Vedantists and Yogis of India saying that we are all a manifestation of Light and at death or total Enlightenment return to dissolve back into Light.   I can get with that.  :-)

Our god is a sun god, RA RA RA!
Our god is a fun god, RA RA RA!!! 

(feel free to wave your pom poms at any time)

Israel Vows to Keep Firing on Palestine

What else is new?!

I don't know if I even believe the official reports out of the New York Times on this subject anymore. Every time I read a story like this about Palestinians shooting rockets at Israel, JUSTIFYING Israel's MASSIVE response, I consider the source of the story. I used to think that Israel was a client state of the US, but I am beginning to see that, no, the US is a client state of Israel, no matter WHICH way the MONEY flows. It's not about the money, necessarily. It's about US foreign policy, middle east strategies, who is in Washington DC calling the shots, behind the scenes. I have heard news reports from sources other than American and Israeli during other conflicts such as this (same sh*t, different day...) and the reports are markedly different. Generally what I find is that the US and Israel exaggerate beyond all credibility Palestinian actions and couch the language so as to dehumanize and de-legitimize ANYTHING the Palestinians do, even if it is a young kid simply lobbing rocks at an Israeli soldier.

Israel is the sacred cow of our time. No one seriously interested in public office in this country, can dare BREATHE a word against Israel. Just as in the beginnings of settlement on this continent, no one dared breathe a word against the Crown in England. You were a loyalist or you were a Revolutionary. Before the revolutionary idea caught on most people were still loyal to King George and the idea of the Monarchy. These days, people would consider it a revolutionary idea, to questions out loud Israel's actions, Israel's legitimacy, Israel's "security" in the Middle East.

I supported Barack Obama as everyone who knows me is aware, but I was taken aback when he came out and stated in the strongest terms, that Israel and it's agenda was sacrosanct, basically. He had even stronger words of support than even some right wing neo-cons. I realize he had to come out and say SOMETHING signaling his alliance with Israel, especially in the face of those idiotic attempts to link him to Islam via "Barack Hussein Obama" etc. But what about Palestine?

What about the Palestinians? How long can the world's people just shrug this off? This whole two state solution idea is way past time to come, but even if that is the eventuality, how will the Palestinians avoid becoming just a state "in name only"? How will they be essentially sovereign? Is that possible and does anyone even care, other than Hamas?

Professor Juan Cole who runs a very informative website called "Informed Comment" had this to say today (excerpt):

The outbreak of hostilities affects Americans, since al-Qaeda hit New York and the Pentagon in some important part over the Israeli occupation of the Palestinians. The airstrikes and large death toll also present a challenge to the incoming Obama administration, which may find peace-making more difficult now.

The UN Security Council held a special evening session on Saturday and issued a call for an immediate ceasefire. The attacks drew a furious response from the Arab world. Egypt, which has collaborated with Israel in blockading the Gazans, branded its partner's air strikes "murder." The US, which for some odd reason holds an irrational hatred of the Palestinians, branded the dead Gaza policemen "thugs" and blamed the massive aerial strikes solely on Hamas, the fundamentalist Muslim party that controls Gaza.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, outgoing president of the European Union, issued among the more measured responses: "The President of the Republic expresses his lively concern at the escalation of violence in the south of Israel and in the Gaza Strip. He firmly condemns the irresponsible provocations that have led to this situation as well as the use of disproportionate force. The president of the republic deplores the significant loss of civilian life and expresses his condolences to the innocent victims and their families."

Sarkozy "requests an immediate cessation of rocket fire directed at Israel as well as of Israeli bombardment of Gaza, and he calls on the parties to exercise self-restraint. He reminds everyone that there is no military solution to Gaza, and demands the implementation of a durable truce."

This statement, which I seem to be the only news source to present in full in English, seems to me to be the best issued by any head of state on this particular incident, and shames the insensitive and one-sided statement issued on behalf of the US by Gordon Johndroe.

Israel blames Hamas for primitive homemade rocket attacks on the nearby Israeli city of Sederot. In 2001-2008, these rockets killed about 15 Israelis and injured 433, and they have damaged property. In the same period, Gazan mortar attacks on Israel have killed 8 Israelis.

Since the Second Intifada broke out in 2000, Israelis have killed nearly 5000 Palestinians, nearly a thousand of them minors. Since fall of 2007, Israel has kept the 1.5 million Gazans under a blockade, interdicting food, fuel and medical supplies to one degree or another. Wreaking collective punishment on civilian populations such as hospital patients denied needed electricity is a crime of war.

The Israelis on Saturday killed 5% of all the Palestinians they have killed since the beginning of 2001! 230 people were slaughtered in a day, over 70 of them innocent civilians. In contrast, from the ceasefire Hamas announced in June, 2008 until Saturday, no Israelis had been killed by Hamas. The infliction of this sort of death toll is known in the law of war as a disproportionate response, and it is a war crime."

I agree and if you would like to really research the subject and study the history, I suggest you peruse Professor Cole's excellent website:

http://www.juancole.com/

The Mom Song

The Mom Song from Northland Video on Vimeo.

Mark Twain Quote

I know for a FACT that what Mark Twain says here, is the Truth! ;-))


“We are always hearing of people who are around seeking after the Truth. I have never seen a permanent specimen. I think he has never lived. But I have seen several entirely sincere people who thought they were permanent Seekers after the Truth. They sought diligently, persistently, carefully, cautiously, profoundly, with perfect honesty and nicely adjusted judgment- until they believed that without doubt or question they had found the Truth. That was the end of the search. The man spent the rest of his life hunting up shingles wherewith to protect his Truth from the weather.”

– Samuel Clemens, What is Man?

Duck, Duck, Goosed!

Odd Job should have aimed better.....

FDIC Chair Has the Right (and FAIR!) Idea

Sheila C. Bair, Chairwoman of the FDIC has proposed several variations of a plan to help homeowners stay in their homes. The Treasury Department, officials at the White House are angry at her, however. Angry at her.

From today's NY Times Article:

"Around the time that the F.D.I.C. took over IndyMac, Mrs. Bair began urging Treasury and White House officials to use taxpayer money to encourage other lenders and mortgage servicing companies to modify large numbers of at-risk loans, a plan she expected would help 1.5 million borrowers avoid foreclosure and reduce an oversupply of homes on the market. She estimated the program would cost taxpayers about $24 billion."

Controlling the housing market by reining in the flood of homes for sale, would really help those who are watching their own homes decline in value. Equity, the investment homeowners have always banked on is slipping away like Santa Monica beachfront properties built on sand. Going, going, there they go....bye bye! GONE!

These vulture bankers have gotten theirs and are now using the cash to pay off stockholders, maintain their positions, basically indulge themselves, as per usual.

Meanwhile, people who have NOT screwed around financially, who've played by the rules are in danger of losing so much of what they've worked so HARD for. I am thinking of my brother right now, who owns a business which is poised to really take OFF. Orders for his products are better than last year; he has some very heavy hitters in his industry who have submitted orders that could really help his business take off. Yet he faces the bankruptcy of his business. Why? The S.O.B.s in the banking industry are not providing the revolving credit to businesses one month in advance of revenues, as they used to do. That is how business has been done. Not now though. They've gotten taxpayer funds, but are hanging onto the money themselves as already mentioned and people like my brother; always a fair and honest businessman who treats his employees and customers VERY well, is facing a total drubbing.

THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL! I'll be looking for ways to put pressure on lawmakers about this; if any of you know of an organized effort to do so, let me know!

Senator Bob Casey D-PA, re: the Big Three Automakers

I have to say also, with regard to the labor concessions -- Mr. [Ron] Gettelfinger [UAW president], I wanted to review some of those. Because I am stunned by the kind of -- when you hear the talking heads on television and when you read what some people say in this town and across the country about the mythology that's out there about how we're -- how we got to this situation. And, frankly, the scapegoating of the men and women of organized labor, and in particular, autoworkers.

Point number one: In 2005, cuts in wages for active workers and health-care benefits for retirees -- point number one. I'm reading from your testimony. Cuts for new workers, bringing the wage level down to 14 bucks an hour. How many industries are doing that? Reducing the company's liability for retiree health care by 50 percent. And I realize these have been in the record before, but it is very important.

And wages and benefits. You said yourself that they're about 10 percent -- 10 percent of the budget? You would think listening to some of the people talk out there, some of the so-called experts, that wages and benefits were 70 percent of the cost. So there's a lot of mythology, a lot of myth generally that has been put on the record.

In 20-- since 2003, downsizing by the companies has reduced their workforce by 150,000 people. That doesn't get said very often. The labor-cost gap with foreign transplant operations will be largely or completely eliminated. OK? So, it's -- I think it's important to put this information on the record for this hearing. And then we've heard this garbage about 73 bucks an hour. It's a total lie, and some people have perpetrated that deliberately in a calculated way to mislead the American people about what we're doing here. It's a lie, and they know it's a lie.


This is what my husband Ted was telling me; it's all horse puckey, the whole $73 an hour hype. Designed to rile up other working Americans against Union workers.

Saving the Big Three for You and Me

So the Big Three Auto Execs are back on Capitol Hill with their tin cups in hand again today. They face a skeptical Congress and they SHOULD! The P.O.S.'s they've been manufacturing for DAYS.... are a joke and so is their management style. Michael Moore has a message for them, AND for us. I know, I know Michael Moore.....he can be so damned Michael Moore-ish....but he makes some good points and he's pretty funny too. Check him out:

Saving the Big 3 for You and Me...

A Message From Michael Moore

by Michael Moore
Friends,
I drive an American car. It's a Chrysler. That's not an endorsement. It's more like a cry for pity. And now for a decades-old story, retold ad infinitum by tens of millions of Americans, a third of whom have had to desert their country to simply find a damn way to get to work in something that won't break down:
My Chrysler is four years old. I bought it because of its smooth and comfortable ride. Daimler-Benz owned the company then and had the good grace to place the Chrysler chassis on a Mercedes axle and, man, was that a sweet ride!

When it would start.
More than a dozen times in these years, the car has simply died. Batteries have been replaced, but that wasn't the problem. My dad drives the same model. His car has died many times, too. Just won't start, for no reason at all.

A few weeks ago, I took my Chrysler in to the Chrysler dealer here in northern Michigan -- and the latest fixes cost me $1,400. The next day, the vehicle wouldn't start. When I got it going, the brake warning light came on. And on and on.

You might assume from this that I couldn't give a rat's ass about these miserably inept crapmobile makers down the road in Detroit city. But I do care. I care about the millions whose lives and livelihoods depend on these car companies. I care about the security and defense of this country because the world is running out of oil -- and when it runs out, the calamity and collapse that will take place will make the current recession/depression look like a Tommy Tune musical.

And I care about what happens with the Big 3 because they are more responsible than almost anyone for the destruction of our fragile atmosphere and the daily melting of our polar ice caps. Congress must save the industrial infrastructure that these companies control and the jobs they create. And it must save the world from the internal combustion engine.

This great, vast manufacturing network can redeem itself by building mass transit and electric/hybrid cars, and the kind of transportation we need for the 21st century.
And Congress must do all this by NOT giving GM, Ford and Chrysler the $34 billion they are asking for in "loans" (a few days ago they only wanted $25 billion; that's how stupid they are -- they don't even know how much they really need to make this month's payroll. If you or I tried to get a loan from the bank this way, not only would we be thrown out on our ear, the bank would place us on some sort of credit rating blacklist).

Two weeks ago, the CEOs of the Big 3 were tarred and feathered before a Congressional committee who sneered at them in a way far different than when the heads of the financial industry showed up two months earlier. At that time, the politicians tripped over each other in their swoon for Wall Street and its Ponzi schemers who had concocted Byzantine ways to bet other people's money on unregulated credit default swaps, known in the common vernacular as unicorns and fairies. But the Detroit boys were from the Midwest, the Rust (yuk!) Belt, where they made real things that consumers needed and could touch and buy, and that continually recycled money into the economy (shocking!), produced unions that created the middle class, and fixed my teeth for free when I was ten.

For all of that, the auto heads had to sit there in November and be ridiculed about how they traveled to D.C. Yes, they flew on their corporate jets, just like the bankers and Wall Street thieves did in October. But, hey, THAT was OK! They're the Masters of the Universe! Nothing but the best chariots for Big Finance as they set about to loot our nation's treasury.
Of course, the auto magnates used be the Masters who ruled the world. They were the pulsating hub that all other industries -- steel, oil, cement contractors -- served. Fifty-five years ago, the president of GM sat on that same Capitol Hill and bluntly told Congress, what's good for General Motors is good for the country. Because, you see, in their minds, GM WAS the country.

What a long, sad fall from grace we witnessed on November 19th when the three blind mice had their knuckles slapped and then were sent back home to write an essay called, "Why You Should Give Me Billions of Dollars of Free Cash." They were also asked if they would work for a dollar a year. Take that! What a big, brave Congress they are! Requesting indentured servitude from (still) three of the most powerful men in the world. This from a spineless body that won't dare stand up to a disgraced president nor turn down a single funding request for a war that neither they nor the American public support. Amazing.

Let me just state the obvious: Every single dollar Congress gives these three companies will be flushed right down the toilet. There is nothing the management teams of the Big 3 are going to do to convince people to go out during a recession and buy their big, gas-guzzling, inferior products. Just forget it. And, as sure as I am that the Ford family-owned Detroit Lions are not going to the Super Bowl -- ever -- I can guarantee you, after they burn through this $34 billion, they'll be back for another $34 billion next summer.

So what to do? Members of Congress, here's what I propose:
1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important functions our government must address. And because we are facing a massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president and Congress must do what Franklin Roosevelt did when he was faced with a crisis (and ordered the auto industry to stop building cars and instead build tanks and planes): The Big 3 are, from this point forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail (a corresponding public works project across the country will build the rail lines and tracks). This will not only save jobs, but create millions of new ones.

2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You're going to demand collateral anyway if you give them the "loan," and because we know they will default on that loan, you're going to own the company in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.)

3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent vehicles and get us into the 21st century.
This proposal is not radical or rocket science. It just takes one of the smartest people ever to run for the presidency to pull it off. What I'm proposing has worked before. The national rail system was in shambles in the '70s. The government took it over. A decade later it was turning a profit, so the government returned it to private/public hands, and got a couple billion dollars put back in the treasury.
T
his proposal will save our industrial infrastructure -- and millions of jobs. More importantly, it will create millions more. It literally could pull us out of this recession.
In contrast, yesterday General Motors presented its restructuring proposal to Congress. They promised, if Congress gave them $18 billion now, they would, in turn, eliminate around 20,000 jobs. You read that right. We give them billions so they can throw more Americans out of work. That's been their Big Idea for the last 30 years -- layoff thousands in order to protect profits. But no one ever stopped to ask this question: If you throw everyone out of work, who's going to have the money to go out and buy a car?
These idiots don't deserve a dime. Fire all of them, and take over the industry for the good of the workers, the country and the planet.
What's good for General Motors IS good for the country. Once the country is calling the shots.

Yours,
Michael Moore

Prop 8 ~ The Musical!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Adi Da Samraj has Transcended Manifest Existence

Adi Da, AKA Da Free John, AKA Da Love Ananda. He was my Guru for many years. I was a formal student for some of that time, but not all. Near or far, apparently connected or apparently not, he has been one of the most powerful influences in my life. He has died, but not really. Not for me and I know not for many. He is in my bones. Here is the Press Release on the Adidam website:

In the early evening of Thursday, November 27, His Divine Presence, Avatar Adi Da Samraj, Departed from the Body. He was in His Fijian Hermitage, Adi Da Samrajashram (the Island of Naitauba).

His Passing was entirely peaceful and free of any struggle. He Passed of natural causes. At the time of His Passing, He was Working in His Art Studio, surrounded by devotees who were engaged in serving His Artwork.

His Body will be interred in the most sacred Place of Adidam — the secluded Temple which Avatar Adi Da established in 1993 (at Adi Da Samrajashram) as His burial place.

On the morning of His Passing, He had completed His Writing of The Aletheon, the book which He designated as "first and foremost" among all of His Writings. Avatar Adi Da worked on The Aletheon intensively for the last two years, bringing all of His most essential Spiritual and philosophical communications into a final form. The Aletheon is scheduled for publication by The Dawn Horse Press in 2009.

His Divine Presence Bequeathed to humankind a Legacy of Inexhaustible Profundity and Limitless Blessing-Power.

Spiritual Way

Avatar Adi Da's Primary Gift is His own Eternal Transcendental Spiritual Being. The Primary Purpose of His human Lifetime was to Establish the means by which any and all beings could be truly connected to Him and in devotional Communion with Him. Thus, He Worked with utmost intensity, throughout His entire Life, to develop and establish His Transcendental Spiritual Way-Adidam, or (more fully) the "Radical" (or Always "At-the-Root") Reality-Way of Adidam Ruchiradam.

Most fundamentally, the Reality-Way of Adidam is the devotional relationship to Avatar Adi Da Samraj as one's Divine Avataric Master. That Way was established and elaborated by Avatar Adi Da in the greatest possible detail, during His human Lifetime. Thus, His precise Instruction relative to all aspects of His Way will always guide and align practitioners of His Way, in the process of always deepening Communion with Him.

Teaching Literature

Avatar Adi Da's literary, philosophical, and practical writings consist of over sixty published books — including The Knee of Listening, His Spiritual Autobiography, and The Dawn Horse Testament, His magisterial Revelation of the entire Spiritual Process from beginning to end.

His Divine Presence did a tremendous amount of Writing in the years 2005-2008. Just two weeks before His Passing, He designated the five books that He Wrote during that three-year period as "the Five Principal Books of My Forever Comprehensive Seventh-Stage Address to all-and-All":

The Aletheon: The Divine Avataric Self-Revelation of His Divine Presence, Avatar Adi Da Samraj

The Gnosticon: The "Perfect Knowledge" Reality-Teachings of His Divine Presence, Avatar Adi Da Samraj

The Pneumaton: The Transcendental Spiritual Reality-Teachings of His Divine Presence, Avatar Adi Da Samraj

Not-Two Is Peace: The Ordinary People's Way of Global Cooperative Order

Transcendental Realism: The Image-Art of egoless Coincidence With Reality Itself

Prepublication editions of The Aletheon, The Gnosticon, and The Pneumaton — as well as the second edition of Not-Two Is Peace and the first edition of Transcendental Realism — are currently available from The Dawn Horse Press.

Examination of world religions

Over a period of many decades, His Divine Presence undertook a massive examination of the world's religious traditions, culminating in an annotated bibliography of approximately 10,000 items, entitled The Basket of Tolerance. A briefer "epitome" version of The Basket of Tolerance is scheduled for publication by The Dawn Horse Press in 2009.

Avatar Adi Da also created original translations of traditional Spiritual texts, translations in which He brings out the deepest meaning of the original texts. The recent publication Reality Is All the God There Is (published by Inner Traditions) presents His translations of texts from the traditions of Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta.

Practical literature

Avatar Adi Da's writings on fundamental practical areas of human life, examined from the Spiritual perspective, include Green Gorilla (published by The Dawn Horse Press), relative to raw diet, and The Complete Yoga of Emotional-Sexual Life (published by Inner Traditions).

Literary Works

Avatar Adi Da's principal literary work is His trilogy entitled The Orpheum. In the late 1990s, poet Robert Lax said of The Mummery Book (the opening volume of the Orpheum trilogy), "Living and working as a writer for many decades, I have not encountered a book like this, that mysteriously and unselfconsciously conveys so much of the Unspeakable Reality." The Orpheum is also presented in the form of cutting-edge theatre — as shown online at www.mummerybook.org.

Spoken Discourses

In addition to His Writings, Avatar Adi Da gave thousands of hours of recorded Discourse. Many key Discourses have already been published by The Dawn Horse Press on CD and DVD. And many more will be published on an ongoing basis.

Artistic Works

Avatar Adi Da was an extraordinarily prolific artist, producing over 100,000 works, primarily in the years since 2000. He was invited to show His work in a solo exhibition at the 2007 Venice Biennale, and also as part of the 2008 Winter in Florence Festival. Noted art critic Donald Kuspit has written, "It is Adi Da Samraj's imaginative triumph to have conveyed the illusions created by discrepant points of view and the emotionally liberating effect when they aesthetically unite . . ." Among the publications of Avatar Adi Da's art are The World As Light, Transcendental Realism, and The Spectra Suites. His artistic work can be viewed online at www.adidabiennale.org and www.daplastique.com.

Work with non-humans

As an expression of His Deep Love for and Constant Blessing of all beings and things in the entirety of the natural world, Avatar Adi Da founded and developed Fear-No-More Zoo (www.FearNoMoreZoo.org). His Divine Presence created an extensive body of Wisdom about the Spiritual nature of non-human beings, and of the non-human world altogether, for the sake of humans' ongoing understanding, respect, and stewardship of all life. Avatar Adi Da's Vision of Fear-No-More is one wherein human and non-human exist equally, at heart, within one diverse sacred culture.

Call for World Peace

Another dimension to Avatar Adi Da's far-reaching Legacy is the social wisdom embodied in His book Not-Two Is Peace (published by The Dawn Horse Press). In it He Calls for the establishment of a Global Cooperative Forum that mobilizes "everybody-all-at-once" on the basis of recognizing the prior (or inherent) unity of the entire human family. He proposes that such a forum is the necessary and effective means for addressing the world's most pressing issues. Information about this initiative is available online at www.globalcooperationproject.org

"I Will Not Be Gone"

Many times during His Lifetime, His Divine Presence, Avatar Adi Da Samraj, prepared people to rightly understand the significance of His Bodily Lifetime and the fact that His Bodily Lifetime would inevitably come to an end at some point.

In the following passages from His Essay "I Am The One Who Has Always Been Here", written in 1995, Avatar Adi Da Speaks of His Eternal Transcendental Spiritual Existence, His Everlasting Regard for all beings, and His Constant Blessing-Grace.

I Will Be here Forever.
I Will Be every "where" Forever.

I Cannot Leave, For My Transcendentally Spiritually "Bright" Divine Spherical Self-Domain Is Not Some "Where" To "Go To".
My Divine Self-Domain Is Eternal.
I Am Eternal, and I Am Always Already Merely Present-here, and every "where" In The Cosmic Domain.

By Means Of My Divine Avataric Incarnation here, I Have Given you My Divine Secret.
My Divine Secret Is This: I Am Eternally Present, and I Am Omni-Present.

My Bodily (Human) Avataric-Incarnation-Form Has Its time, Whereby I connect (or Freedom-"Bind") you (and every one, and all, and All) To Me.
When The Time Of My Divine Avataric Incarnation is Fulfilled, Then I Am "Retired" To My Eternal Form-The Divine-Body-Power Of My Divine Self-State Made Infinitely Intact In The Cosmic Domain (Forever).

As he would say, "Tcha". Om Sri Da Hridayam.

Hitler goes into Foreclosure - Parody

In Honor of Our New President.....With the Greatest Respect and Appreciation....Oh Hell Yeah!

"Religion is Killing the Republican Party"

Gee, ya think??

Kathleen Parker wrote a piece for Washington Post where she does a post-mortem on the bleached out, bloated cadaver that is the current GOP. I couldn't agree more....

Exerpt:

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I'm bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

Prop 8 Allows Religion to Dictate to State

Here are the latest stats:

Roughly 85% of Christians of all denominations voted FOR it, roughly 85% of non-Christians voted AGAINST it. What does that tell you? I'm tired of people arguing about the 'vast majority of religions' think blah blah blah.... My answer to that is this:

Even if the case is, that "the vast majority of people across a wide spectrum of religions share a viewpoint", it doesn't give them the right to impose that viewpoint on others via the law, if it violates Civil Rights.

Case in point: In 1967 the Supreme Court finally recognized the Civil right of white people to marry black people: Inter-racial marriage. (It had been illegal prior to that). Even THOUGH the SCOTUS declared it legal and Constitutional, a full 80% of people across a wide spectrum, as you say, shared the viewpoint of DISAPPROVAL. Had they the ability to vote on the matter, they would have voted to ban it. Exactly the same thing is at play here, only the ban is on gay marriage.
The same arguments were heard then that God intended the races to marry only each other, blah blah blah.....just as they now say "God's" intention (as if anyone could adequately know) is that only heterosexuals may marry.

The REAL question is this: Are gays and lesbians full fledged citizens of the USA, or not? In California: Are they full fledged citizens of CA or not? That is the fundamental matter in question and it IS one to be handled by the SCOTUS ultimately.

Mormon Church Should Lose Its Tax Exempt Status

The Mormon Church contributed roughly HALF of the funding for the Yes on Proposition 8 Campaign to ban gay marriage in California. Volunteers poured in from Utah as the church felt this was a "moral imperative". The Church basically gave marching orders to members to flood into our state and involve themselves in our political process, which they did. The $5 MILLION influx of cash in the last two weeks of the campaign enabled all of those deceptive, fear-mongering TV ads featuring little kids being "taught" gay marriage in school.

Where is the separation of Church and State?? The Yes Campaign says that they were very careful NOT to distribute leaflets or talking points on church property to avoid the APPEARANCE of church involvement in politics, but come on......that is the slimmest of slim technicalities. We all know this was a church based initiative; we're not willing to let them off the hook with an "oh, okay then..." Now the Mormon Church is upset that people are well..upset. After all of the fear and deception, lies, mean-spirited bigotry they are crying "foul" when gays, lesbians and their supporters are protesting on behalf of Civil Rights. It boggles the mind!

From today's NYT article (linked below) :

Mr. Otterson said it was too early to tell what the long-term implications might be for the church, but in any case, he added, none of that factored into the decision by church leaders to order a march into battle. “They felt there was only one way we could stand on such a fundamental moral issue, and they took that stand,” he said. “It was a matter of standing up for what the church believes is right.”

That said, the extent of the protests has taken many Mormons by surprise. On Friday, the church’s leadership took the unusual step of issuing a statement calling for “respect” and “civility” in the aftermath of the vote.

“Attacks on churches and intimidation of people of faith have no place in civil discourse over controversial issues,” the statement said. “People of faith have a democratic right to express their views in the public square without fear of reprisal.”

Except that you didn't just EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS, you pulled out all the stops and placed your church members and their ideologies smack in the middle of our political process. Your missionaries, flush with cash, proselytized our electorate with your religious dogma and doctrine to directly influence the outcome of the vote. Now you want people, whose Civil Rights have been abridged by YOUR efforts, to simply "play nice" and walk away saying "oh okay, guess we lost then....bye bye now..." ????

I hope there is such a brouhaha following this smackdown of Civil and HUMAN rights that there will be AT LAST a serious reexamination of the Tax status of many of the religious organizations (AND cults, let's get real) who are entwining themselves like Poison Ivy into so many of our public and secular institutions.

LINK to NYT article:

Cocoa Tea's Barack Obama Reggae Song

Sweet!! Check it out!

To People Complaining about Obama tapping Clinton Era Heavyweights

What don't people get about the concept of CHANGE? We suffered under the Bush Crime Family for 8 loooooong years. The Iraq war, Enron, Homeland "Security", FEMA's non-response to Katrina, Faith based initiatives, socially retrograde appointments to the SCOTUS, decimating Roe v. Wade at every opportunity, de-regulating and privatizing everything they could lay their greedy hands on.

When Obama spoke of CHANGE, what did that mean to you folks? For me, it meant that we would have a change from what has been going on for the past 8 years. Certainly Bill Clinton made some fundamental errors, NAFTA being one, the way it was structured, the Patriot Act to name but two. HOWEVER the change we need at this point is to undo much of the damage done by BushCo. The economy is first order of business to include Healthcare reform. The Iraq war, our international relations, infrastructure repair, need I go on?

In order to effect these changes Obama may call on some old tried and true Democratic hands. SO WHAT? This is a plus in my book. I trust Obama to be enough of his own man to differ and alter course if need be, should these folks offer solutions that seem unwise. Meanwhile give the guy a break and remember all the Bush havoc from which we wish to change.

Can't let the Passage of Prop 8 Pass....

Living here in CA in Santa Cruz; Berkeley by the beach, it was a real buzz kill to learn that Prop 8 passed.

While gay marriage was legal in CA, what, precisely has happened to heterosexual marriage? Did couples awake in the night in terror? Did they suddenly question their fidelity, ability to continue the commitment? What?? No longer able to feel "saved" and special quite like before?

Love ya Keith Olbermann and your Special Comment last night, but the real question is this:

Are gays and lesbians full citizens of the United States or not? Are they full citizens of the state of California? If they ARE, then they have identical rights as everyone else. If NOT, then it must be spelled out legally and no half-baked measures will do. We will then know precisely what we are up against.

By we, I mean all people living in 2008, mentally as well as physically, not those living in the Bronze Age.

Southern Strategy for Winning National Elections: Buh Bye! don't let the door hit you in the...

So, Political Scientists are uniformly declaring that the Southern Strategy to win elections at the National level is dead. This angling for the supposed all important white, racist, conservative vote is now irrelevant. The election of two men, one of African American descent, who are NOT from the South demonstrated clearly that this old paradigm is disappearing rapidly in our collective rearview mirror. Here's what we're losing (from NYT article today):

Race was a strong subtext in post-election conversations across the socioeconomic spectrum here in Vernon, the small, struggling seat of Lamar County on the Mississippi border.

One white woman said she feared that blacks would now become more “aggressive,” while another volunteered that she was bothered by the idea of a black man “over me” in the White House.

Mr. McCain won 76 percent of the county’s vote, about five percentage points more than Mr. Bush did, because “a lot more people came out, hoping to keep Obama out,” Joey Franks, a construction worker, said in the parking lot of the Shop and Save.

Mr. Franks, who voted for Mr. McCain, said he believed that “over 50 percent voted against Obama for racial reasons,” adding that in his own case race mattered “a little bit. That’s in my mind.”

Many people made it clear that they were deeply apprehensive about Mr. Obama, though some said they were hoping for the best.

“I think any time you have someone elected president of the United States with a Muslim name, whether they are white or black, there are some very unsettling things,” George W. Newman, a director at a local bank and the former owner of a trucking business, said over lunch at Yellow Creek Fish and Steak.

Don Dollar, the administrative assistant at City Hall, said bitterly that anyone not upset with Mr. Obama’s victory should seek religious forgiveness.

“This is a community that’s supposed to be filled with a bunch of Christian folks,” he said. “If they’re not disappointed, they need to be at the altar.”

Finally, these under-educated Confederates can no longer determine the direction of our country and our society. They are the dinosaurs of this era and a meteor has just landed in their backyard. Woo hoo! Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/us/politics/11south.html?th&emc=th

David Brooks: Republicans in "World of Pain"

I enjoy David Brooks; watch him every Friday at 6:00 p.m. on PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer. I don't always agree with him by a long shot, but he is a SANE Republican. He knows how to take the temperature of the country. He sees trends, changes, forward MOVEMENT for god's sake. He gets it that issues need to be addressed from a balanced perspective rather than a hellbent for leather ideological vortex of whirling fears and prejudices with a death-grip on the past.

For my part, if the Republicans are in a world of pain as Brooks said here on Face the Nation yesterday, they've no one but themselves to blame. Those chickens coming home to roost are so massive, so leaden, the whole house is caving on them and unless they learn the lesson, it will be a generation at least before they come into power again. It heartens me very much to hear Brooks' dead-on analysis; he's nailed it, more than any other pundit I've read so far. Note what he says about Sarah Palin. Watch:

Synchronicity

Well it's been quite a week. It has been an emotional high for me. Lots of tearing up and feelings of relief and I'll admit, some "payback' as I feel the power of my party of choice beginning to take over the White House. It feels so gooooooood.

What has simultaneously occurred is that people I knew in my former spiritual group/Sangha have contacted me within the past couple of weeks. Three of them I've not heard from in years. The commonality we all share now is some perspective at last on the circumstances which caused us to bail on this "spiritual" group. At first, we went through varying degrees of feeling traumatized and in need of space and healing.

My response was to remove myself utterly from the spiritual scene altogether. What I did for awhile was to attend an AA 12 step meditation group at Land of the Medicine Buddha in Soquel, near where I live. It was great; the people were inspirational but I felt out of place and a bit of an oddball, being that I've never been a drinker much at all, let alone an alcoholic. I just loved their vibe and the fact that they all were looking at their addictive behavior. Where does one find "Guru huggers Anonymous"? I was at a loss, so the meditation group was a stop gap measure. It served. Since I left that, I've not joined or participated in ANYTHING other than my beloved job, which has it own spiritual merits and benefits and my physical fitness program which also has similar benefits.

After hearing from my oldtime buddies I began to ponder once again, what is it that I've gained in my almost five years distant perspective on the whole spiritual game? (Realize that we all felt we'd been in a cultic situation, if not an outright cult). As I did my walk/jog in the redwood forest today (I know, I know, I'm a lucky duck to live here...) I was looking at what I'm left with in how I view the whole long strange trip it WAS. What has percolated up as bonafide Reality? What if any insight have I gained?

What came to mind was that what I trust, are those insights or feelings that reflect something Universal, something inclusive and wholistic. If there is a sense coming from any quarter of "All of this is ONLY God" or "Love is the guiding intelligence of my life", I can get with that. That feels trustworthy to me. Bob Marley's "One Love, One Heart, Let's get together and Feel Alright".....I can get with that. IF there is any personal reference or anyone making self congratulatory remarks about how great their revelations have been; how much wisdom they've gained, how, in ANY way, "special" they are....my B.S. detector goes "bzzzzzzzzzzt" and if it as if I am suddenly swimming in sharky waters and my instincts are to paddle AWAY man....and get to dry land!

So it's clear to me I've been successfully innoculated, FINALLY against the lure of these charismatic, spiritual "leaders" (Blech!) Yet it is refreshing and heartening to feel that, yeah, I can feel connected to the Unknowable Source, the Ground of Being and it's no-graven-image aspect feels supremely trustworthy.

Maybe there IS something to that biblical second commandment after all. Did I just make a biblical reference?? Yeah, I guess I did. Pssssssst...Chris Hitchens, I still love ya.....

Men's Brains, Women's Brains

This explains ALOT!

Our joy; our sentimental Wednesday...messages from loved ones

From my friend Sue: "I was just about to e-mail you! when those red states started flipping last night the full impact of the message for the desire for peace and unity this sends to the world hit me. I cried for an hour. Our generation is over kiddo. Let's hope the youngsters do a better job! xo!!!!!!"

From my friend Chelsea when I said "President Obama" sounds so great:

"Damn right, that feels great! I haven't felt this way since I was a
little kid and I saw Bobby Kennedy in my hometown. Hopefully, Obama
will survive his two terms as president. I have to confess I'm a bit
worried for him, just because it only takes one crazy person and one
slip up on the security.

But today I won't think about that. I'm celebrating like everyone
else!

You go girl. I love your blogs.

Voicemail from Elizabeth: "Dude! We are sooooooo happy! Yay!! Oh god, it is so great! Call me!"

Voicemail from Millie: "Hello my beloved friend...I want to say thank you for working so hard, thank all of us....now we have to work to reach out to those who have been on the other side....."

Phone call from John: "Heh, heh...heh.....wooo...heh....heh...."

Phone call with Roxy: "This is so great but now I want to see Bush, Cheney and all of them, not just kicked out of office, but put in jail!"

(Ah well, some of us are still mightily pissed....:-) )

President Obama!

Oh god, if this is a dream don't wake me!

Overjoyed to say the least! I am so happy for America, I am so proud to be American. I look forward to being able to say these words for the first time in 8 years "Turn on the TV honey, the President is giving a press conference."

Yes we can. Yes we did.

Thank God/Goddess/Jesus/Krishna/Buddha all beings of Light. The universe needed this.

Whew......

Don't Speak for me, Sarah Palin by Hockey Mama for Obama

I want to MEET all these cool people putting out thoughtful, funny, insightful videos!

This gal also has a great soprano voice. Check her out:

Wassup?????

Jon Stewart Interviews Obama 10/29

ACLU calls for Government to Release Info on Troop Deployment within the US

ACLU Demands Information On Military Deployment Within U.S. Borders (10/21/2008)

Deployment Erodes Longstanding Separation Between Civilian And Military Government

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today demanded information from the government about reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control" – matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities. This deployment jeopardizes the longstanding separation between civilian and military government, and the public has a right to know where and why the unit has been deployed, according to an ACLU Freedom of Information request filed today.

"The military's deployment within U.S. borders raises critical questions that must be answered," said Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "What is the unit's mission? What functions will it perform? And why was it necessary to deploy the unit rather than rely on civilian agencies and personnel and the National Guard? Given the magnitude of the issues at stake, it is imperative that the American people know the truth about this new and unprecedented intrusion of the military in domestic affairs."

According to a report in the Army Times, the Army recently deployed an active military unit inside the United States under Northern Command, which was established in 2002 to assist federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities. This deployment marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command.
Civilian authorities, not the military, have historically controlled and directed the internal affairs of the United States. This rule traces its origins to the nation's founding and has been reaffirmed in landmark statutes including the Posse Comitatus Act, which helps preserve the foundational principles of our Constitution and democracy.

"This is a radical departure from separation of civilian law enforcement and military authority, and could, quite possibly, represent a violation of law," said Mike German, ACLU national security policy counsel and former FBI Agent. "Our Founding Fathers understood the threat that a standing army could pose to American liberty. While future generations recognized the need for a strong military to defend against increasingly capable foreign threats, they also passed statutory protections to ensure that the Army could not be turned against the American people. The erosion of these protections should concern every American."

In order to assess the implications of the recent deployment, the ACLU requested the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense today to immediately make public all legal opinions, executive orders, presidential directives, memos, policy guidance, and other documents that authorize the deployment of military troops for domestic purposes.
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Department of Defense has dramatically expanded its role in domestic law enforcement and intelligence operations, including the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping programs, the Department of Homeland Security's use of military spy satellites, and the participation of military personnel in state and local intelligence fusion centers. The ACLU has repeatedly expressed concern about these incremental encroachments of the military into domestic affairs, and the assignment of active duty troops to Northern Command only heightens these concerns.
A copy of the ACLU's information request is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/general/37272lgl20081021.html

Mecca Lecca High Mecca Hiney Ho....Mecca Lecca Chi Mecca Chiney Ho...

I am calling on all gods and goddesses of things, large and small, faeries, gnomes, elven folk, space aliens, Jambi the Genie; ANYONE who can pull strings for this beautiful blue/green planet, to DO so, to get Barack Obama elected.

I want to experience the collective psychic joy of the globe, when he is pronounced the winner for Leader of the Free World.

Amen

Gotta LOVE Jon Stewart

More West Virginia Machine Flipping Votes From Dem to Repub

Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.

From Pleterh on Digg: "Republicans are on their way to stealing a 3rd election by manipulating the voting machines. The oldest trick in the book. Solution: take in your video camera and record your vote on video. If it flips, you have the evidence. Use technology to fight abuse of technology!"


I was going to take my camera phone in the voting booth anyway to take a pic of my ballot. We have paper ballots where I live, but if YOU live where they have electronic machines, video your vote! Everyone who can, should be doing this! I don't care what your party affiliation is, it is important for all votes to truly COUNT!
read more | digg story

CBS News: New Study Details Massive Voter Roll Purges Underway in At Least 19 States

This is the only way McCain can win. People around the world have asked Americans, "How could you people have voted for George W. Bush TWICE?!" The correct answer is "We didn't!" It was decided by Diebold hackers, hanging chads, the Supreme Court GOP appointed Justices, the lack of sufficient voting machines in poor neighborhoods, and an average of a 15 minute wait for voters in wealthy, white neighboroods and an average of a 4 hour wait in poor, black neighborhoods. It was due to fliers tacked up in poor, black neighborhoods stating "Republicans vote on Tuesday, Democrats vote on Wednesday." It was due to Republican operatives jamming phone lines at Voter Information Hotlines and on and on....

All of this is documented in "How To Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative: Allen Raymond, Ian Spiegelman (In stock at Amazon btw, I checked!)

A Nation Held Hostage by Nitwits

Journalist discusses the intellectual qualities of a person who cannot decide between say, a Prius and a fully loaded Humvee with Ozone depleting afterburners.......a tofu salad or a 32oz. steak and a side or ribs......or Obama and McCain.....Who ARE these people??

read more | digg story

Sarah Palin Booed Loud, seat view. Flyers game.

Crowds getting Uglier at Palin/McCain rallies

True to Republican values, McCain and Palin are using tactics to get crowds "mad as hell" and are scapegoating the media. Nothing new for Republicans, when the news is reported on things they've said and done and it is not couched in fawning and favorable terms, they decry the media as "liberal! left wing! biased!" Only this time, their tactics of whipping up the crowd into a literal "mob" (in this case think 'lynch mob') is unprecedented. Gee, do you think it could having anything at all to do with the fact that Barack Obama is.....shh..............(black?)

Story on Talking Points Memo:

Dana Milbank -- the Washington Post reporter who wrote this morning's piece about the Palin crowd's disgusting abuse of reporters at a rally yesterday -- tells me that the McCain camp's repeated attacks on the media have spawned crowd hostility towards the press that's running at a "degree of intensity" he's never experienced in covering presidential politics.

As Milbank wrote, one Palin supporter hurled an unspecified racial epithet at an African American sound man, and told him: "Sit down, boy."

I checked in with Milbank to get a bit more on what happened yesterday, because the ugliness unleashed by McCain-Palin's nasty crowd-riling tactics are becoming a story in this campaign.

"None of this is new, but the degree of intensity is different," Milbank says. "It's taken an uglier turn. I've been doing this for years, and there's never been anything quite like this."

Milbank says that after the Palin attacked the New York Times and Katie Couric in her stump speech yesterday in Florida, he and other reporters were pelted with boos, with some saying things like "screw you" and "fucking liberal media."

"McCain has so overtly taken on the media -- they're doing it to rile the base," he continued. "And lo and behold, the base is good and riled."

Tina Fey on SNL The "Debate"

Fey nails it once again! Watch:

Union President Defends Obama Against Racism (VIDEO)

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka offers this moving defense of Obama against racial attacks. (h/t Sullivan)Richard Trumka serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, , he was elected in 1995. He previously was president of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to December 22, 1995. Trumka was born in Nemacolin, PA, a third-generation coal miner who went to work in the mines at age 19. He attended Penn State U and his law degree from Villanova. While president of the UMWA, Mr. Trumka led the successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Company. It became a rallying symbol for the entire labor movement. A major issue in the dispute was Pittston's refusal to pay into the industry wide health and retirement fund created in 1950. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience to confront the company in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and relied on a sophisticated corporate campaign involving Wall Street investors. Besides his fighting aggressively against employers on behalf of his members, then-President Trumka established an office that raised U.S. mine worker solidarity with the mineworkers of South Africa while they were fighting racial apartheid.] He further served as the U.S. Shell boycott chairman, which challenged the multinational Royal Dutch/Shell Group for its continued business dealings in South Africa. Upon being elevated to the AFL-CIO, Secretary-Treasurer Trumka has focused on creating investment programs for the pension and benefits funds of the labor movement, fighting Wall Street greed, and challenging politicians to create an equitable economy for working people.

read more | digg story

Hey Sarah, Sarah...

Quote

President Franklin Roosevelt once told a group of activists lobbying him, "I agree with everything you said. Now go out and make me do it."

We the People only have power if we use it.

Sometimes the Blogs' commenters are even better

than the bloggers! At least as interesting. In response to Bob Cesca's column about Sarah Palin being a "hooplehead" and in her own words a "Joe Six Pack" candidate, a commenter named Spartanmom had this to say:

"

Hey, Can I be in McCain's cabinet?

I could probably handle a couple of positions.

Interior-I garden, can use a shovel, have one each, Native American and African American neighbor. So that covers agriculture, mining, Indian Affairs

Defense-My father was a Marine in WW2, My son was in the army in Afghanistan (and I had to buy stuff to send to him so I know about procurement), I own two guns (one of them is from WW1 so I have knowledge of the history of conflict)

Treasury-I pay my bills, can use Quicken (and I'm a quick study so QuickBooks should be no problem) Subscribe to the Economist (but I wouldn't play that up for fear of looking elitist)

Attorney General-my sister and her two daughters are lawyers

Commerce-I buy stuff in several states, Europe and Japan.

State-I've had a passport since 1975, I've been to three Canadian provinces, England and San Francisco. My husband has been to Taiwan and India. My daughters have been to Ireland. I've had trouble with my neighbors so I know about conflict.

Wait, never mind a cabinet post, I'm running for President."

Hawwwww!

Dennis Kucinich ROCKS! He always asks the right questions....

Katheleen Parker - National Review A Conservative's POV

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDZiMDhjYTU1NmI5Y2MwZjg2MWNiMWMyYTUxZDkwNTE=

">http://article.nationalrevi...

Palin Problem She’s out of her league. By Kathleen Parker

If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream — away from Sarah Palin. To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.

Or, as I am guilty of charging her early critics, supporting only a certain kind of woman. Some of the passionately feminist critics of Palin who attacked her personally deserved some of the backlash they received. But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick — what a difference a financial crisis makes — and a more complicated picture has emerged. As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion. Yes, she recently met and turned several heads of state as the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York. She was gracious, charming and disarming. Men swooned. Pakistan’s president wanted to hug her. (Perhaps Osama bin Laden is dying to meet her?) And, yes, she has common sense, something we value. And she’s had executive experience as a mayor and a governor, though of relatively small constituencies (about 6,000 and 680,000, respectively). Finally, Palin’s narrative is fun, inspiring and all-American in that frontier way we seem to admire. When Palin first emerged as John McCain’s running mate, I confess I was delighted. She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock-wearing sisterhood — a refreshing feminist of a different order who personified the modern successful working mother. Palin didn’t make a mess cracking the glass ceiling. She simply glided through it. It was fun while it lasted. Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League. No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted. Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.” When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?” If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself. If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true. What to do? McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden. Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first. Do it for your country.

My take: The wheels are coming off the 'Straight Talk Express". It has now become Gobbledygook LandRover. Her performances are flabbergasting. For the sake of the country, I hope that McCain continues to embrace Palin. He shouldn't get off so easy. . I think if he was able to jettison Palin, he could put in Tom Ridge or someone much more palatable to Independents and it would shake up the campaign all OVER again. He picked her, he can now reap the "rewards"

Jack Cafferty: Is Sarah Palin fit to be President? Take a guess at what I think...

Chris Rock on Larry King

I love this one!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1811529197

Obama, not McCain Shows Steady Hand in Crisis

From Bloomberg this morning:

Obama, Not McCain, Shows Steady Hand in Crisis: Albert R. Hunt

Commentary by Albert R. Hunt

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- For the first time since 1932 a presidential election is taking place in the midst of a genuine financial crisis. The reaction of the candidates was revealing.

John McCain, railing against the ``greed and corruption'' of Wall Street, won the first round of the sound-bite war. He came out with a television commercial on the ``crisis'' early on Monday of last week, and over the next three days gave more than a dozen broadcast interviews. He and running mate Sarah Palin would reform Wall Street and regulate the nefarious fat cats that caused this fiasco.

It was a great start. It then went downhill as he stumbled over his record of championing deregulation, claimed the economy was fundamentally strong, and flip-flopped over the government takeover of American International Group Inc.

For his part, Barack Obama didn't come across as passionately outraged and wasn't as omnipresent or as specific.

More revealing, though, was to whom both candidates turned on that panic-ridden morning of Sept. 15, and how the messages evolved before and after that day.

McCain called Martin Feldstein, the well-known Republican economist and Reagan administration adviser, John Taylor of Stanford University, who served in President George W. Bush's Treasury and Carly Fiorina, once the chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Co.

Obama called former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, and former Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers.

It was a mismatch.

Towering Volcker

Feldstein, for all his intellect, was ineffective in the Reagan administration; then-White House deputy chief of staffDick Darman cut him out of important action. Volcker, first at the Treasury and then as chairman of the Federal Reserve, was a towering figure in every way.

Taylor is a well-regarded academic. In four years as undersecretary of the Treasury, he left few footprints. Summers, as both deputy secretary and secretary, left a lot.

Fiorina is smart and quick; to put it charitably, Rubin will forget more about financial markets than she'll ever know.

When it comes to governance, and either Democrat Obama or Republican McCain will inherit this miserable financial mess, the best guide is who they talked to, what they said, where they've been, and how knowledgeable they are.

Obama's record and earlier speeches belie some of his more populist rhetoric. Yet they also suggest, as do his advisers, a much more activist government role than is likely under a McCain-Palin administration.

Comfortable With Subject

Obama called for the overhaul of the financial-regulatory system and tougher enforcement well before this past week's traumas.

Detached observers who watched him last week, especially in a Bloomberg Television interview, were taken by how conversant and comfortable he was on the subject, despite his thin record. Few detached observers came away with that impression watching the Arizona senator.

Much of the re-regulatory fever focuses on the Federal Reserve and any new agencies created to clean up the fiasco. Central, however, will be a more vigorous Securities and Exchange Commission, or whatever holds that investor-protection function.

McCain displayed a sudden interest in the SEC last week when he demanded that Chairman Chris Cox be fired. When his campaign was asked if the senator had ever criticized the current commission's performance before, they failed to respond.

All For Obama

Tellingly, three former SEC chairmen, a Democrat, Arthur Levitt, and two Republicans, David Ruder and Bill Donaldson, have endorsed Obama. Levitt is a board member of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

Donaldson, who was tapped by Bush to head the SEC, says Obama called him last year about the financial-regulatory problems. He has never heard from McCain.

``Obama has been talking about the need for better financial regulation well before this crisis hit and has done some real thinking about it,'' says Donaldson, a lifelong Republican. ``McCain comes across as someone who suddenly realized changes have to be made.''

There is a case for McCain: it's if you believe in less regulation, that the government should get out of the way and let the markets work their will.

No `Real Understanding'

``I don't think anyone who wants to increase the burden of government regulation and high taxes has any real understanding of economics,'' McCain said this spring at an Inez, Kentucky, town hall meeting, where he also declared ``the fundamentals of our economy are good.''

Until recently, he repeatedly invoked Ronald Reagan's calls for less regulation. He voted for the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-governance regulations -- then last year said he regretted that vote.

McCain isn't averse to some regulations. He has strongly championed a greater federal role in campaign finance, tobacco and boxing. In each case, he saw a clear villain -- special- interest money, a tobacco product that puts profits ahead of lives, and unscrupulous boxing promoters.

There has been little evidence that prior to last week he ever put financial firms in this category. Although he assailed excessive corporate compensation last week, McCain has opposed a tepid House-passed bill that would give corporate shareholders the right to cast a non-binding vote on compensation of top executives.

Turning to Gramm

The person he has turned to most for counsel on such matters is his ex-Senate colleague Phil Gramm. Gramm is a political Gordon Gekko, a brainy economist with a Darwinian view of markets and public policy.

It's not easy to remember what the financial world looked like 10 days ago much less 10 months ago. Decisions that will be reached after this election will be the most important since the 1930s.

Obama, as more than a few Democrats are complaining, hasn't been as quick, sharp -- or demagogic -- as they would like. McCain has been beset by deeper difficulties: an inchoate and inconsistent message that seems to reflect political exigencies more than principled convictions.

On the financial crisis, last week belonged to Obama.

(Albert R. Hunt is the executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Albert R. Hunt in Washington at ahunt1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: September 21, 2008 09:33 EDT

NY Times Op-Ed: Barack Obama, John McCain and the Language of Race

Is race still a factor in the year 2008 in the Presidential election? You bet and it is just under the surface, until it's not. A couple of jaw-dropping examples, in case you've missed them..

White women, no way / Once pro-Obama, but now swoon for McPalin? Who the hell are you?

From Mark Morford, column at SFGate on Friday 9/19:

Every white woman I know is positively horrified.

Mark Morford

* White women, no way Once pro-Obama, but now swoon for McPalin? Who the... 09.19.08
* David Foster Wallace All literary flags at half-mast, rightfully so. In... 09.17.08
* Are you an elitist? 18 revealing ways to know for sure 09.12.08
* Evil: It's the new good! Shut up and drink your high fructose corn syrup... 09.10.08

More Mark Morford »

Wait, that's not exactly true. It's more accurate to say that every thoughtful or liberal or intuitive or open-minded white woman I know worth her vagina monologue and her self-determination and two centuries of nonstop striving for equal rights and sexual freedom and exhaustive patriarchal unshackling is right now openly horrified, appalled at what the addition of shrill PTA hockey-mom Sarah Palin seems to have done for the soggy, comatose McCain campaign -- that is, make it not merely remotely interesting and melodramatic, but aggressively hostile to, well, to all intelligent women everywhere.

Truly, among women in the know and especially among those who fought so hard to bring Hillary Clinton to the brink of history, nausea and a general recoiling appear to be the universal reactions to Palin's sudden presence on the national stage, stemming straight from the idea that there's even a slight chance in hell such an antagonistic, anti-female politico could be within a 72-year-old heartbeat of becoming the most powerful and iconic woman of all time.

They say: You've got to be kidding me. They say: This is what we get? This could be our historic role model? Two hundred years (OK, more like 2000) of struggle, only to have this nasty caricature of femininity try to hijack and mock and undermine it all?

It cannot be true, they say. The universe must joking, would not dare dump such a homophobic, Creationist evangelical nutball on us, this anti-choice, God-pandering woman who's the inverse of Hillary, this woman of deep inexperience who abhors birth control and supports abstinence education and shoots exhausted wolves from helicopters and hates polar bears and actually stands for everything progressive women have resented since the first pope Swift-Boated Eve.

But now, the truly bizarre part. Despite this defiant outcry, a great many pundits and reports have suggested that, just after the Palin VP announcement, a sizable chunk of predominantly white women nevertheless abandoned their tentative support for Obama and leapt into the lyin' arms of McCain, presumably simply because of Palin's gender and PTA momhood.

And thus did the harrowing wail go out: WTF? Could it be true? Are cadres of formerly Obama-leaning white women really so enchanted by Palin's gender and motherhood status that they openly ignore the fact that she basically wants to shove women's rights back about five decades? Can it be so simple, crude, sad?

Let us analyze. Let me, being a straight white male and therefore only capable of gazing in awe at the spectacle that is the indecipherable female intuitive response, foolishly attempt to decipher some of it anyway, and explain why in hell some women might jump to Palin, despite the fact that she essentially hates them. Shall we begin?

"She's one of us." This was the resounding quote from many deer-in-the-Palin-headlights fans, a bizarre, dangerous sentiment that echoes the blue-collar Midwest's blind love of George W. Bush, simply because he came across as the kind of simple-minded aw-shucks guy you'd want to have a beer with, never you mind that giant silver spoon sticking out of his mouth or that giant daddy's-boy chip on his droopy shoulders.

Is this all it is? Does "one of us" merely mean white women really believe Palin could, if McCain didn't survive his first term, effectively lead the most powerful, flawed, complicated nation on the planet merely because she's a hard-workin' mom with moxie, that she's managed to raise a gaggle of strangely named kids who hunt and don't believe in evolution and get pregnant before they're old enough to buy a pack of Marlboros?

Or does it mean they agree with Palin about not giving a damn for equal pay, or honest sex education, or separation of church and state, or alternative energy, or a woman's right to choose, or their own daughters' rights if they get knocked up after being raped or incested? Nah, that can't be it.

Maybe we're just not used to seeing the female voting demographic depicted this way. Truly, it's usually men who are the knuckleheaded ones, who will flip their vote merely over a single inconsequential issue ("I like everything about Obama except he supports gun control, and I love my guns, so I guess I gotta go for McCain"). Women, according to the eternal mythology, are no such dupes, and choose more wisely, from deeper intuition, instinct. Right?

Wrong. Maybe this is our simple summary, the blaring headline we should be reading in the wake of recent events. "Easily duped Palin supporters prove: Some white women are just as dumb as men." Is that all it is? Maybe so.

Ah, but there is good news. It appears the bloom is already off the McPalin rose, the baby bump she gave McCain is already gone, as everyone from here to Wasilla is sick to death of hearing about her. Every day that goes by it comes clearer that the Sarah juggernaut is no juggernaut at all but merely an increasingly disturbing PR stunt, and a bit of a disgrace for John McCain himself, whose once-noble aura of integrity and class has essentially vanished.

A potent backlash is coming fast. Actually, it began almost immediately, just after the Republican National Convention, when the GOP cheerfully announced they'd raised a whopping one million bucks in the 24 hours following Palin's speech, so inspired was the heavily drugged conservative base by her teleprompter-reading skills (she didn't write a single word of her own speech, of course; it came from a former Bushite, well before she was the VP pick).

Well, gosh. Really? A million? Wow.

But then Obama's campaign issued a statement of their own. Turns out they'd raised a bit money in the exact same time frame, a rather impressive outpouring of cash from all those on the left who could be heard screaming "oh my God no way in hell" to their TV screens as Palin's finger jabbed at the heart of all that's right and good with the world. The amount Obama raised in the same 24 hours? $10 million. Well now.

How much of that staggering amount came from the newly galvanized, infuriated female populace from the left who see right through Palin's shrill charade and damn well recognize an imposter in their midst, it's impossible to tell. But I think it's a damn safe bet to assume, they are legion.

And let me tell you, they are pissed.