So, as I understand it, the Republicans lost the numbers to pass the mammoth bailout bill because Senator Pelosi hurt their feelings. What a stupid reason! Grow Up!
Those ninnies in the GOP need to learn to use their big words and clearly articulate their real reasons for their actions. The default Republican plan for everything is: When all else fails, blame the Democrats!
None of us are happy about the state of our economy. The fact that there was no oversight and regulation of the market and the banking industry lies squarely in the lap of the Republicans. Starting with their hero, the master deregulator, Ronald Reagan, and his Neo-Con Disciples, all controls went out the window.
It is time for the Republicans to own their mistakes and bad judgment. It is past time for the American People to start paying attention and learn a bit about how our government works.
Don’t let the Republicans fool you with their rhetoric about the “Democrat Controlled Congress”. A simple majority of any party does not necessarily give that party much power. The Democrats need a bigger majority to override a filibuster and a majority of two thirds to override a presidential veto. It’s past time to increase our numbers in the House and the Senate. It is time to take back our government.
OK. Because our youngest son and his family live on the other side of the continent, we don't get to see him as much as I'd like. So every once and I while, when I am missing him, I do a quick Google search to check for new pictures of the baby and to see if anything else is going on.
Tonight, I was following links and came across a way to embed music in a post. I noticed one of those little boxes which included the words embed and copied it to see if it worked on my blog. Eureka! It did. Was this is one of the songs Matt used for Issy's dance party when she was just a month old? It sounds very familiar. Very Cool!
Mom is smiling!
"At first people refuse to believe that a strange thing can be done, then they begin to hope that it can be done, then they see that it can be done . then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago."
- Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden, 1911
The world is filled with wondrous things and unbelievable beauty. It has always been so. The smallest change in awareness can free us from the tyranny of all of our past beliefs. Even the littlest change in consciousness can make everything new again.
Within each and every one of us exists a light so bright, a force so overwhelming; that most of us fear it. We turn away, cover our eyes; fearing its brightness. We flee from the knowledge of our essential greatness because we distrust our ability to control it. But we need not do so, for what exists inside is not wicked. What lies inside is simply and most probably the indwelling spirit of love.
We can look up, uncover our eyes, and try to comprehend what is right in front of us. We can open our minds and acknowledge our intrinsic nature. We can hope, and joyfully welcome the possibilities that lie ahead. We can believe that what is coming is good. We can try to understand that while change may be difficult, we are up to it.
Within each and every one of us exists indescribable power and strength, a light so bright, a heart so true that we can achieve great feats.
Now, let us go. Let us forge ahead into the future. Shoulders straight, light of heart, sure of step. Let's work together to create a new world!
"Be not the slave of your own past.
plunge into the sublime seas,
dive Deep, and swim far,
so you shall come back with
Self-Respect, with new power,
with an advanced experience,
that shall explain and overlook the old."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If you planted hope today in any hopeless heart,
if someone’s burden was lighter because you did your part,
if you caused a laugh that chased a tear away,
if tonight your name is mentioned
when someone kneels to pray,
then your day was well spent."
-Author Unknown
Dear Senator McCain,
I am distressed by the dishonorable way you are allowing your campaign for the presidency to move forward. The blatant bigotry used by your surrogates to alarm the voter is disgraceful. How can you live with yourself?
The very people you used to call the “agents of intolerance” are seemingly now your best friends. The fear your campaign is trying to drum up with the underling messages of your TV ads is despicable. Shame on you for using the usual “code words” to link your opponent with the biblical prophesies of the end days! Have you lost any sense of decency? Or did you simply sell your soul to the devil to realize your blind ambition?
My husband and I used to think you were an honorable man, but it is clear to us now that that you have lost any integrity you once had. We are very disappointed to see the lengths you have gone to win this election. The way your campaign is being conducted (with your approval) is thoroughly ignominious.
Though we never thought of you as a liar and hypocrite before, we now see that you cannot be trusted with the highest office of the land, and we fear for our country if your ambition is realized.
While I doubt that you will ever be allowed to see this message, or it would cause you a moment of concern, I needed to write it.
We Americans need to face the future with hope and the confidence that we can change for the better ... and move together for a More Perfect Union.
This is the time to look closely inside and shine the light on what has been hiding in the darkness. This is the time to uncover our fears and our deeply held preconceptions. Now is the time for growth and change.
I am still hopeful that we are ready to make a great leap forward.
May it be so.
Once again, the Republicans are resorting to out and out lying in order to win an election. I don't mean that they are just exaggerating their strengths and their opponent's weaknesses; they are simply and effectively lying. If the public doesn't figure this out, then our country and our constitution are toast.
Sarah Palin scares the hell out of me! After listening to her speech at the Republican Convention last night, I had an almost visceral reaction. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something about her seemed just down right evil.
Today, while speaking with a relative on the phone, the subject turned to the ideas of evil and sin. We were not talking about politics. That is an issue we generally avoid. The reason for the call had nothing to do with current affairs.
My relative is a born again Christian, and I love her, but we do not see eye to eye on many issues. She knows that I do not believe in the innate sinfulness of humankind.
As the conversation moved on ... the topic changed. We began to speak specifically of 'sexual sin'. This is another touchy subject. She told me that she knew that I thought she was hung up on sex. I don't actually believe that, but it seems to me that this is the only form of sin that I have ever heard her strongly condemn.
We have had this discussion before, and I have shared that I never can understand why born again Christians do seem to be so preoccupied with sex, when it seems to me, there are far greater sins.
She very strongly told me that God told us that certain acts are sinful, and added that we know this to be true because it is in the Bible. She was speaking of sex outside of marriage and homosexuality.
I reminded her that I do not believe that what is written in the Bible is necessarily the word of God. I added that the Bible is just one of many books that are considered to be Sacred Writings. I didn't bother to try to talk about the many changes and translations that have taken place over the years. We have been over this subject in the past.
She said that Pete and I readily quote passages from the Bible, but that we could not just pick and chose the parts we want to believe. That led me to ask her that if she believed that everything in the Bible is true, why then didn't she adhere to the Jewish dietary laws?
She replied that she doesn't pay much attention to the Old Testament.
"But" I asked, "Isn't one of the sins you speak of only found in the Old Testament, in Leviticus?" She said it might be, but it is also in the New Testament. I'm not sure about that, so I didn't argue the point.
I asked, "But what about the Psalms and the Proverbs?" She admitted that she loved and found comfort in the Psalms and Proverbs, so I guess the Old Testament hasn't been tossed aside completely.
She then asked me if I even believed that evil exists? I have been asked this queston before. I gave her a qualified yes, in that I believe that people are capable of committing great acts of evil. But that even in that, maybe at some spiritual level, these experiences are put in front of us to help us grow in love and awareness.
She said, "I know that you don't believe in hell." "Well", I said, "I don't believe in the kind of hell you do." I told her that I believe that we can be in Hell while we are alive, and made an example of a time when I felt completely cut off from everything, even the Divine. "That was hell for me"; I said.
But, I added, I don't believe in death. I believe that there will come a time when we all must leave our bodies, but I believe that our spirit just moves on. And, I added, I do not believe that we can ever be separated from God.
We agreed that life is everlasting. That is good. It is always good to find some common ground.
I added that if all people were created by a loving God, then how could we call them evil simply because of who they were, and then asked her when she chose to be straight?
This question brought another area of common ground. She told me that she believes that homosexuals are born that way.
So I asked again, how then could it be evil to choose someone that you loved to become your life's partner? It seems that this desire is only natural. After she pressed me on one of the issues that was brought up before, I admitted that there are some things that make me uncomfortable, but I cannot say that they are intrinsically evil. And, I cannot condemn them, because in my experience, I have often found myself walking in the shoes of people I have previously judged.
"So", she asked, "what do you consider to be a great sin?" It took me a moment to reply to this question.
I answered; “I hate hypocrisy. I hate bigotry and prejudice.” I told her that I think it is a sin to preach that certain people are evil because of who they are, their religion, or because of where they live in the world. I think it is a sin to blame all Muslims, and to condemn any religion or any people for the acts of a few. I told her that I think that this is preaching hatred, and I believe that that is a sin.
I didn't get into the the topic of the war and the fact that so many people feel perfectly fine about bombing the hell out of people 'over there'. I never can understand how people justify the killing of innocents, but that is another thing about judgments. I have never experienced war. I have never known what it is like to feel that I must participate in war to survive. Maybe I would feel differently if I felt personally threatened and attacked.
That is the thing about judgments. All off us are continually making them. We do so throughout each and every single day. It is that feeling in our 'gut' that we generally follow. If we didn’t, we would most likely perish. As I have said before, Judgment is a basic survival mechanism.
Sometimes each of us judges badly, and when we do, we call that sin. So to get back to the original topic, my thoughts on the newly chosen Republican candidate....
I admit that I probably shouldn't make such a harsh judgment after watching and listening to only one speech. And who am I to be talking about evil?
But in this case, something in my gut is screaming, “Beware”!