text:
News Briefs 04-01-2005Posted by Greg at 00:53, 04 Jan 2005
You can donate to the tsunami relief effort (through the American Red Cross) easily by going to Amazon.com (I realise it's good advertising for the big A, but it's such a simple and easy way to make a difference that it deserves mention)...
- Randi's rant this week includes a bemusing quotation from Richard Dawkins, stating that if funds had been diverted from religious institutions to science (for tsunami early warning systems), the death toll of the disaster would have been reduced. Here's a novel idea: why not start with the military budgets first? Perhaps move on to taxing marketing and advertising income? Or diverting funds from Presidential campaigns? There are greater evils (and funding) than religious organisations, perhaps Mr Dawkins' obnoxious evangelical atheism took over from his usual logical thinking for a moment...
- Sea gypsies' knowledge saves village from tsunami.
- Making Richard Dawkins proud, schoolgirl's scientific understanding matches the knowledge of the sea gypsies and saves lives.
- Were appropriate steps taken to warn countries of the tsunami threat?
- Do monster quakes come in clusters?
- Correcting some of the stretched truths regarding the quake/tsunami.
- The loneliest whale and Ray Bradbury.
- New calendar system creates less confusion.
- Spirit celebrates one year on Mars, while Opportunity takes a drive through its own debris.
- Satellites suffer radiation damage as scientists predict magnetic pole flip.
- Using space for espionage. What a sad species we are.
- Man walked with the dinosaurs. At least according to Creationism Park. It's gotta suck being the child of Fundamentalist Christian parents. "Mum, have you heard of this place called Disneyland?"
- The ugly truth behind 'Dolphin-Friendly Tuna.'
- Star Wars 'hologram' becomes reality with heliodisplay.
- Is there anybody out there? SETI looks to the future of the search. And: a new and improved SETI.
- Britain's Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees, talks about our cosmic patch (Part 1 of 3).
- A review of Susan J. Palmer's Aliens Adored: Rael's UFO Religion.
- Iranians notice an increase in UFOs.
- Stu Hameroff comments on recent EEG-meditation findings.
- Higher states of consciousness.
- UK hands over 30 ancient Iranian artifacts.
- Four forgers have rewritten Biblical history. Time to unwrite it I guess...
- Bison bone turns B.C. history upside-down.
- World's oldest animation found in Iran.
- Pyramid rotation continues in Egypt, with Khefre's pyramid reopening (that's the one in the middle) and Menkaure's pyramid closing (the little one on the end...not the big one on the other end).
- Super-medium Allison Dubois inspires television series starring Patricia Arquette and produced by Kelsey Grammar.
- Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP): what's it all about?
- Successful prayer study a sham.
- One submarine trip I don't want to take: new expedition to search the depths of Loch Ness.
- Scientific proof of paranormal ignored.
Quote of the Day:
You know all that money we spend on the military every year - trillions of dollars? Instead, if we use this money to feed and clothe the poor of this world, which it would do many times over, then we can explore space, inner and outer, together, as one race.
Bill Hicks
- Login to post comments
As a casualty of the "New Age" movement, I think Mr. Hicks' quote is a wonderful thought, with very little practical value. During many years of looking for an idealistic movement of like-minded folks on the leading edges of conciousness I found that one thing common in the various groups--they are anything but like-minded, and mostly judgemental to boot. I am sorry to say that given an either/or vote, I go with the military spending, until some one figures out how to change our irascible human nature, which often roils over into evil. More practically, let's keep spending on both--ways to change our nature and military protection, while we work on the former.
- Login to post comments
Ah the wonderful/terrible dichotomy; three basic things have taken man to domination of the planet, and the top? of the food chain. Our creative minds; our opposable thumbs, and our aggressive nature. Lose any one of the three, and you take a different path. Without our aggressive/inquisitive nature, there would be no exploration in the face of deadly peril. Without our creative minds, no inventions to take us there. And without our opposable thumbs, we're basically foragers instead of voyagers.
I think the answer might be to embrace our nature, rather than change it, and channel the excess energy into creative areas, rather than let the overflow wreak mayhem. We will need to come to a better understanding of our basic nature, and our place in the world, with all its attendant privileges and responsibilities. Rather than picture ourselves "standing outside it all", we need to see ourselves as an interdependent part of all nature. Most of our religious doctrines fail us, because they lead us to believe we are somehow better than all the rest of nature, and especially better than men of a different faith.
We all need to take the Red Pill, and come to an understanding of how we have consistently been controlled and manipulated for others' gain over the centuries. The rabbit hole goes deeper than anyone can imagine, and I can state with practical assurance that the powers that be don't want us to know about it, much less explore it. Those who handle our strings want us ignorant, dependent, and afraid. Look around you, and you will see how well they've accomplished that objective, and we've consistently helped them at every turn.
There is a way out, but it involves the maxim: "To continue forward, sometimes you must take a step back." I wonder how many of us around the globe would embrace such a journey?
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
- Albert Einstein
- Login to post comments
I think the recent response around the world to the tsunami in Asia is ample proof of compassion. Somehow I don't think that is what you have in mind. I see no value in promoting the Red Pill for people who are trying to make a living, worship their god, and raise their kids. All the esotericism in the world is useless if it cannot be communicated to average folks, unless, that is, you support some sort of elitist society....And laying the blame for ignorance at the feet of some "they" is tantamount to abrogating personal responsibility--a key element in any "Path" as I remember. Besides, the "they" aren't that darn smart; "they" haven't a clue what you are talking about.
- Login to post comments
Hi sarngill (sorry if I have spelt your name wrong,I have sight problems).
The average folk of whom you speak are maybe just a little more ready than you realise for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
From cradle to grave we are over-organised, over-governed, over-regulated and must totally conform to the mores that our government and religion (sometimes hand in hand) have thrust upon us.
Thinking for yourself is called radicalism, and very often the average folk do not have the means or the knowhow to better inform themselves.
It is not that they don't want to, it is that they don't know how to.
The rule of the Catholic Church for centuries was that Catholics must never enter a non-Catholic church on pain of mortal sin.
Keep them in the dark and feed them bull-s$$t.The Catholic hierachy knew that if the general population knew there was another world out there they might want to join it.
The government is the same with its secrets.
As for world-wide compassion for victims of the tsunami,I have not seen it.I have heard people say that they should not be expected to give to people who are not like us.I have heard them say the victims brought it on themselves.And I have heard them say it is nature's way of keeping the population down.
There is a move though among the average folk who are learning that they too have rights, to want their experiences heard and ratified.The yearning for spiritual information is out there, unheard by the churches,and capitalised on by the New Age movement.
When your country offers you nothing but unemployment and contempt for being unemployed,and the churches ask you for money to keep them going, you bet they are going to look for alternatives.
- Login to post comments
Take the blue pill. Compassion in the face of sensational disaster is easy; compassion on a daily basis towards our fellow man, our planet, and all of nature is harder to come by. I am not supporting or espousing any kind of elitism; just an awakening of the goodness within us all, by embracing reality. Are you saying that the average person is unable to grasp man's place in nature, or just can't be bothered? Check with the Pueblo indians of the American southwest.
What higher form of personal responsibility could you wish than to understand and fulfill your place in nature? As for what "they" are up to, it's not a behind-closed-doors, spy novel awareness; it's their greed, lust for power, and desire for control manifested as manipulation of our daily lives. We help them by abrogating our personal and civic responsibility, ceding power to mommy/daddy big government, and indulging ourselves in the obscene glut of consumer goods and rank entertainments they have convinced us we need to be happy.
I'm trying to understand your anger, and failing. Are you angry with me, or because the old mythologies don't work anymore (even if you're allowed to pursue them), and the new-agey ones don't seem to work much better?
- Login to post comments
I agree, Bill's thoughts aren't about to become reality. Why? Because we are a largely unevolved species who are overly proud of our ability to think clearly and critically.
However, I think the whole concept isn't about finding a 'movement' or 'group'...it's about taking responsibility as individuals to evolve as best we can. That's the whole reason we're in this downward spiral...people want to be part of a group, so they are nationalistic, racist or whatever, they each want to preserve this little group they've got going and so they feel they need a military to do that.
It won't be until we take responsibility as individuals, and think as a species/planet (rather than as nations/races), that we will finally be on the right path. Trouble is, everyone's too shit-scared to do it.
Unevolved, scared little species...
Peace and Respect
You monkeys only think you're running things
- Login to post comments
Responsibility as individuals will come as the need to belong to a group has been annihilated from human consciousness and replaced with the consciousness of the nature, the 'number', the real and absolute name and identity of the source of consciousness, which will by its own purpose know what direction and function is his to pursue. This phenomenon will replace the social structures that we know today with an appropriate architecture of consciousness that is absolutely efficient in its organization because of the perfection of the organized consciousnesses.
For the individual, this means the authority over his own life in a more absolute fashion. This means the end of the use of the individual experience for the benefit of a group and a culture that becomes the mind frame of those who don't yet own a consciousness that has attained a level of maturity that does not anymore need a social incubator.
As birds need to be thrown out of their nest so that they learn to fly or crash, human civilization will be taken away from the tethered immature souls that have not yet been fused by their source. This will force humanity to reconsider their actions when the consequences of their total unconsciousness can't be disregarded anymore. Humans do not have the will to separate themselves from the apparently comforting embrace and illusory protection of their cultures which they tend to believe superior since they have forfeited their right of mind for an impression of security projected by a larger group. The more spiritual ones and even esoterists fall in the same trap and, even if the groups are smaller, feel their security stemming from their own spiritual pride and impression of spiritual superiority. The mechanisms are the same and, even though the form is subtler, the illusion remains, reinforced even by the higher vibration of the illusion-form.
Civilization is the last rampart of human unconsciousness since it reinforces the false impression of security in man. This impression will be taken away so that man as an individual starts creating part of his own consciousness that will become his real security since it will be based on the individual's ability to not have to belong to any group to know what needs to be done for his own good.
Once man is secure in himself, he will have no need to control others. The need to control and dominate others comes from the inability to evolve and grow. The environment then needs to be changed to fit the still nature of that person. Likewise, the current civilization, which socially is the sum of the interactions between the individuals, takes over the same reflexes and constantly attempts to secure its basis by dominating other societies by one mean or another. This is the cause of the current state of slavery of the planetary mind.
Then, groups will only be the result of perfectly free associations rather than associations for the sake of a false sense of security. The only security that is real is the one that stems from one's own consciousness. For this security to be real, that consciousness needs to develop a level of reality by exiting its experimental state, which is its karmic state and karmic ties, which is its link with death and his severance from life.
- Login to post comments
Neat story about the lonliest whale; and the tie-in to Bradbury's "The Foghorn" made me go to Amazon and order "Golden Apples of the Sun", one of his anthologies that contains the story. At one point or another I know I've owned all of Ray Bradbury's tales, but as new books come in, the old books are usually taken to the senior citizens' center for them to enjoy. I probably have purchased some paperbacks several times due to these strange but deliberate "brownian movements" of my library. Bradbury is something to be savored, IMHO, like fine wine. And, like appreciation for fine wine, the partaker needs to have matured somewhat as well. I wasn't aware that Bradbury was recruited by John Huston to become heavily involved in the screenplay of "Moby Dick", but I'll bet one of his contributions was the line by Ahab to Starbuck: "This conversation was rehearsed by thee and me a thousand years before this ocean rolled.."
"..but it is a mild day, and a mild, mild sky." Ahab
- Login to post comments
>this conversation was rehearsed by thee and me a thousand years before this ocean rolled>
Imagine being able to write a line like that!!!
- Login to post comments
Bradbury is as close to genius as it gets, I think. I know he did a lot of Star Trek stuff that he never got full credit for, and his short stories are legendary. In the movie from the book of the same name "Something Wicked This Way Comes", Bradbury uses part of the wonderful carol written by Longfellow "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", which except for the words "Christmas" and "Christendom", could express the fondest hope of any religion: peace on earth, good will to men. In a confrontation with Mr. Dark, the last of these two stanzas is used.
'And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Longfellow's son was in the cavalry during the American Civil War, and was badly wounded. During his son's convalescence at home, HWL wrote the famous carol. He must have been a man of remarkable faith, having lost his wife early on, and allowed his son Charles to enlist in the CW. Sometimes when I get depressed, I repeat the last stanza of the carol to myself. Since all Gods are one God, and all men are one flesh, the belief holds true across the board, unless you have no active belief in a deity.
The phrase "peace on earth, good will to men" has become a standard theme over the years, but I believe the actual wording as voiced by the angels to the shepherds is: "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace among men of good will, with whom He is pleased." There is a world of difference in the statements, but at this point in history, I'd take either.
P.S. If you want an interesting experience, download the ebooks "God's Debris" and its sequel "The Religion War" by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert (they aren't comedy, but philosophical fiction, and they're cheap) from Amazon.
- Login to post comments
Ray Bradbury must be getting old, because I remember reading his stories many many years ago.
My late husband owned all his books but I don't remember what happened to them.Bradbury was his favourite writer along with Rider Haggard.
I know the Longfellow poem very well, and I love it.For my own fun I memorised many of his poems when I was young and still remember them.
I will look up the books by Scott Adams, thanks for the tip.
Psychologists will tell you that music is the most evocative and moving of all the arts, but for me it has always been words.
Nothing has ever moved me like words.
As a child who mostly grew up in orphanages I memorised a lot of stuff for company.
The first book I ever read, at a very early age, was Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
So I memorised parts of it.
Then I found a copy of A Tale of Two Cities, and memorised the first and last chapters.
Dickens of course was very wordy but those 2 chapters are to me the best he ever wrote.
I can still quote it for my great grandchildren today, not that they would want to hear it.Maybe later on they will.
I was not very good at my schoolwork but my head was full of these wonderful words.
A line can become like a mantra and give peace and reassurance.
The Raven, by E.A.Poe was another I memorised along with The Ancient Mariner by Coleridge.
Nice to see that someone else appreciates the power of words.
- Login to post comments
We have much in common, especially in a love for the power of words. I've always liked Frost because of his earthiness, and have committed many of his peoms to memory. They are my companions when I need to regain my perspective. I've loved Shakespeare since high school, because it became apparent to me that the way an idea is presented is at least as important as the idea itself, and might be even more important. When Hamlet is asked by his treacherous uncle where Polonius is, he replies: "In heaven; send thither to find him, and if they find him not, seek him in the other place, yourself."
Poetry is a favorite, with Poe, Longfellow, Blake, etc. - I love descriptive poems like Walter De La Mare's "The Listeners", with the lines:
"Aye, they heard his foot upon the stirrup, and the sound of iron on stone, and how the silence surged softly backward when the plunging hoofs were gone."
If you've ever been in deep woods, you know about how sounds are like ripples in a pond, and how the quiet seems to damp them out afterward. I like the simplicity of Haiku,
like Basho's,
The butterfly,
Resting on the temple bell;
You can easily picture a Buddhist temple courtyard, in the warmth of the early afternoon, the noon meal completed, and the world in quiet reflection. So much imagery and sensory delight from so few words. Ah, we humans are so lucky to have the gift of language. I wonder if the whales and dolphins are similar? Perhaps some whale songs are like seas chanteys, to keep them company on their long journeys, and passed down through generations from the elders of the pod to the youngsters. Anthropomorphism? Perhaps, but it gives me pleasure to think we might have kindred spirits in that regard.
"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out."
--Ray Bradbury
- Login to post comments
Frost;I can feel the snow and smell the apples of his poems.
Robert Burns, who wrote a poem to a mouse whose home was broken up by a plough...
Wee, sleekit,cow'rin',tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
And another, Holy Willie's Prayer mocking a hypocritical minister.
Blake's Tiger, best poem ever written.
Emily Dickinson to whom I came late when my son bought me a book of her poems.
Walt Whitman's Song of Myself...
Failing to fetch me at first,keep encouraged,
Missing me one place, search another...
I stop somewhere waiting for you.
George Herbert's Love Bade Me Welcome.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning...
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways......
Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw........
Don Juan dies and goes to Hell where he meets Ana, daughter of the man he killed.
Ana says,"Is there justice in Heaven?"
Don Juan says,"No, but there is justice in Hell.
Heaven is far above such idle human personalities.
You will be welcome in Hell Senora.Here is the home of honour, duty, justice and the rest of the seven deadly virtues.All the wickedness on earth is done in their name.Where else but in Hell should they have their reward?
Have I not told you that the truly damned are those who are happy in Hell?"
Rudyard Kippling, who lost his faith in Empire when his son went missing in action in the Boer War.Kipling spent the rest of his life searching for his son's body.He wrote about the war dead.
They will come back,come back,
As long as the red earth rolls,
He never wasted a leaf or a tree,
Do you think He would squander souls?
And a quote from American poet Henry Beston...
We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystic concept of animals, for the animals shall not be judged by man.
They are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other nations caught with ourselves in the net of life and time; fellow prisoners of the splendours and travails of earth.
I could go on and on for hours.
The whale story caught me like no other for a long time.Yes, I think they would sing sea shanties,about mermaids and mysterious creatures of the deep.
The thought of a lone whale makes my heart ache.
Is he looking for someone and crying for his lost love?Whales do love the same as we do.
I am going to re-read all the Bradbury books, they are in the local library.
Love the last quote....what power the man has to arrange his words thus.
- Login to post comments
We do, indeed, have much in common. How pleasant that we can share our interest across the miles.
I have been a student of the American Civil War since I was about twelve, when my parents took me to the Gettysburg battlefield. My Great Grandad was there with the 20th CT Volunteer Infantry - he survived, but his letters and diary were lost years ago. During my study, I came across Clara Barton, our lady of the battefield and the founder of the American National Red Cross, who followed the Army of the Potomac and did her best to care for the wounded. Walt Whitman did the same, and his hospital sketches are exemplary of his compassion and simple eloquence.
At one of the museums in Fredericksburg, VA, a particularly bloody and futile battle, there is a section from Clara Barton's Diary.
December 12th, 1862 -- 2 o'clock A.M.
My dear Cousin Vira,
It is the night before a battle.
The moon is shining through the soft haze with brightness almost prophetic. For the last half hour I have stood alone in the awful stillness of its glimmering light gazing upon the strange sad scene around me striving to say, "Thy Will Oh God Be Done."
The acres of little shelter tents are dark and still as death. As I gazed sorrowfully upon them, I thought I could almost hear the slow flap of the grim messenger's wings, as one by one he sought and selected his victims for the morning sacrifice....
Already the roll of the moving artillery is sounding in my ears. The battle draws near and I must catch one hour's sleep for tomorrow's labor.
Good night dear cousin.
Yours in love,
"slow flap of the grim messenger's wings" - I stood in the room that contains her diary passage, preserved under plexiglas, and listened while a young woman read the passage to her aging mother, who could not read well. When she had finished, I thanked her, noticing we all had tears running. It was a special treat, hearing the words from a woman's voice, as if it might have been Clara herself. At Antietam, America's bloodiest day, Clara stood in the Piper farmhouse, her white dress soaked to the waist in blood, as she helped the surgeons with necessary amputations. What courage and resolve she had. Her diary is worth reading, if you haven't already. It (and Whitman's sketches) point up how powerful words are; the power to heal, to wound, to delight, and to fling wide the gates of hell.
"I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them."
--Clara Barton
- Login to post comments
Thank you for that remarkable insight into some of the happenings of the Civil War.I know nothing of it but have always promised myself to study it before I die.I find so little time for what I want to do.
Australia has produced its own poets in a very different form from the European and American, being uniquely Australian.
A.B.Banjo Paterson is probably the most famous, with The Man From Snowy River...
but I like best his Clancy of the Overflow....
I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge,sent to where I met him down the Lachlan years ago,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just 'on spec' addressed as follows; "Clancy, of the Overflow".
And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumbnail dipped in tar)
'Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it'
"Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are".
And so it goes.
Henry Lawson and Will Ogilvie, John Shaw Neilson and C.J.Dennis.The age of the Bush Poet is gone I think.
What I like particularly is to read the lives of the people who wrote the words that move me so much.
John Shaw Neilson was a ganger on the railways and barely literate.Henry Lawson a drunk.
And a good old Irish blessing........
May those who love us, love us,
And those who don't, may the Lord
turn their hearts around.
And if He doesn't,
May He turn their ankles,
So we may know them by their limping.
- Login to post comments
Being mostly Irish myself, I know the quote well, and appreciate it. Irish immigrants in America took part in the ACW on both sides, and fought like demons; with the enemy, and amongst themselves. Fierce, brave men they were, lovers of life and living. The German immigrants were always full of consternation at how the Irish managed to come up with beer and whiskey at their encampments. The battle of Fredericksburg was a long and drawn-out day in which the Union (north) army attacked the entrenched southerners up a long, exposed piece of sloping ground. It was suicidal, akin to the Charge of the Light Brigade, but on foot. The Confederate army (south) were firmly placed behind a stone wall, with plenty of artillery support. The Irish Brigade was one of the units sent up that murderous slope - and the records state that they put a sprig of green in their caps and turned their shoulders to the galling fire as if it were a sleet-storm.
Australia and its culture are largely a mystery to me, my own fault, partially, as I was never exposed to the folklore or literature, and have never gotten around to exploring it. Aside from what I know about the Aborigines (not a whole lot), and movies like Snowy River, The Earthling, Crocodile Dundee :D, etc., most of my knowledge is more about the geography, geology, and so forth. I know that Anzac troops were tough, fearless, tenacious fighters, respected by all their allies.
A friend who had corresponded with an Aussie maid (pen pals) for nearly twenty years had her and her husband stop by here in America during their vacation. They almost didn't stop to see us, due to our close proximity to New York - they thought the whole area was crime-ridden (see what believing the six o"clock news will do?), and discovered that our neighborhood, a small suburban town, was pretty much like their own. We had a fabulous time (I even purchased some Fosters to make them feel at home), and I think they had a more realistic view of America and Americans when they left. I think I will become more familiar with the references you gave - cute poem, somewhat reminiscent of Frost or Robert Service in their whimsical states.
The passage that first attracted me to Robert Frost was discovered in my junior year of high school (11th grade). It's from The Death of the Hired Man.
"Part of a moon was falling down the west, dragging the whole sky with it to the hills. Its light poured softly in her lap. She saw, and spread her apron to it. She put out her hand among the harp-like morning glory strings, taut with the dew from garden bed to eaves, as if she played unheard some tenderness that wrought on him beside her in the night."
Even his simplest is a wonder in observation.
Moon Compasses
"I stole forth dimly in the dripping pause
Between two downpours, to see what there was;
And a masked moon had put down compass rays
To a cone mountain in the midnight haze;
As if the final estimate were hers.
And as it measured in her calipers,
The mountain stood exalted in its place;
So love will take between the hands, a face."
Robert Frost
"And were an epitaph tp be my story,
I'd have a short one ready for my own;
I would have written of me on my stone:
"He had a lover's quarrel with the world."
--Robert Frost
- Login to post comments
Here's a little favourite poem of mine, written in 820AD by PO CHU I and translated by Arthur Waley.
The Red Cockatoo
Sent as a present from Annam-
A red cockatoo,
Coloured like the peach-tree blossom,
Speaking with the speech of man.
And they did to it what is always done
To the learned and eloquent;
They took a cage with stout bars
And shut it up inside.
When my daughter married for the second time I gave her a book of Robert Frost's poems so that she could read The Road Less Travelled.
I don't suppose she ever did read it.
Yes the Irish are fierce fighters and fierce lovers.But the Anzacs were die-hards and ill-informed romantics.I wrote previously on this forum about my opinion of them and Wilfred Owen's words....
I collect, of all things, epitaphs.Here is one written by Frank Hardy, communist and philanthropist to his good friend and spoken to him while he was still alive,fellow communist and philanthropist, eye surgeon Dr Fred Hollows.....
Belief with me is out of season,
As the tears that beckon to my eyes.
But if an afterworld confounds my reason,
I will seek you in the kind mens' ward of Paradise.
All of Australia cried when Hollows died.He stole equipment from the govenment medical services and went bush to operate on the blind eyes of the blacks.
Another one.....
Rest on her lightly O Earth,
Lightly she rests on thee.
Pliny the Elder on the death of a 6 yr old girl.
- Login to post comments
The Cockatoo poem is prophetic, and shows how long some have been afraid of speech they can't control.
The American Indians of the plains and southwest have sentiments rather like Pliny's, knowing as they do how interdependent man and nature are. Their word for harmony is "beauty", and they work hard at fitting into nature as best they can. If you want to worship God, respect yourself, your fellow man, your fellow creatures, and the Earth. Take what you need, but not more than you need, and use what you take, with respect and reverence. Replenish what you can, even if it's simply to leave things alone for a time so they will grow back.
The Grandfather and the Wolves
An old Cherokee is telling his grandson about a fight that is going
on inside himself, a fight between two wolves.
One is bad: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asks his
grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one I feed."
"If you live on this land, and you have ancestors sleeping in this land, I believe that makes you a native to this land. It has nothing to do with the color of your skin. What I was taught is that we're flowers in the Great Spirit's garden. The beauty is in the different colors of the garden, which reflect Great Spirit's beauty. I think that it's part of our job here to break down walls and appreciate our differences while celebrating what we have in common."
--Hopi Elder
- Login to post comments
Its funny Khefre, I did not see that in the cockatoo poem about speech you cannot control, I was too upset about the locking up of a bird which should be flying.But you are right, that's what it means.
Here is a little poem by me....
It is an evil evil thing
To kill or maim a bird on wing,
But 'tis a greater sin I know
To keep their brothers caged below.
Wonderful sentiments from the Hopi.The Australian aborigines have a similar sort of relationship with the land.They have the Dreamtime,a place in the beginning of Time when the earth was created and all the animals came into existence.They also have the Wandjina Man, a mouthless person who speaks no evil.People mistake him for an ancient astronaut in cave drawings, but he is really part of the Dreamtime.
And of course the Rainbow Serpent who figures in all their paintings.
I have been meaning to ask if you have read Tom Robbins.In the first book I read of his Still Life With Woodpecker, I was so impressed I copied out the last page which is words at their finest.
Americans have an excellent record for good writers for your fairly short history.
- Login to post comments
I like your poem - ever since I was a child, I could never understand why anyone would cage a bird, or even put a fish in a tank. I've had cats as companions for most of my adult life - my wife and I both work, so a dog doesn't make sense. Our cats have been a delight as friends and family members - our present cat, Stinky (it's a long story), comes and goes as he pleases, and because we treat him with respect and consideration, he reciprocates.
The idea of the Dreamtime fascinates me - and there are tie-ins to other religions/beliefs with the same underlying concept. One way it was expressed to me is that the Gods went to sleep, dreaming all of this that we perceive as "reality", and leaving humankind in charge of it all, to care for and preserve it. Do you think the Gods will be pleased with our efforts when they awaken? No wonder the ancient "uncivilized" tribes of Earth shake their heads in sadness and dismay at what our society has wrought. IMHO, the greatest "evil" in the world is that which goes against nature. When a "savage" kills his prey in order to survive, he thanks the Great Spirit for providing, and the creature for its sacrifice. We prey by proxy, going to the supermarket to buy pre-packaged chicken, or steak, or fish, or even vegetables. I wonder how many people are mindful of where their sustenance comes from, and take the time to thank not only the creator, but the source of the food itself. Ooops! There I go again, preaching; sorry. It just seems to me, the older I get, that we're on the wrong track. Progress is good, no doubt, but I wish it could come in a win/win fashion across the board, you know?
"When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no living thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."
--Tecumseh, Shawnee
- Login to post comments
That quote from Tecumseh is really beautiful.Where do you find them?There is not much in Australian literature about aborigines except a few poems by Judith Wright, a part aboriginal woman.The bora rings were still around when I was a child;they were sacred areas where the blacks had their corrobories.Where I lived in the country,a local squatter in the 19th century built an non-dimensional church on the bora ring land, which I thought was pretty inconsiderate.
Bora Ring
The song is gone;the dance
is secret with the dancers in the earth,
the ritual useless and the tribal story
lost in an alien tale.
Only the grass stands up
to mark the dancing ring;the apple gums
posture and mime a past corroboree,
murmur a broken chant.
The hunter is gone;the spear
is splinted underground;the painted bodies
a dream the world breathed sleeping and forgot.
The nomad feet are still.
Only the rider's heart
halts at a sightless shadow,an unsaid word
that fastens in the blood the ancient curse,
The fear as old as Cain.
You are right about the Dreamtime.There is a special magic in the aborigines' legends,something so old that if we let it, it will re-connect us to the beginning of Time, as it does them.
My parrot has pinched 3 keys from my keyboard.I'll have to get a new one.A keyboard, that is, not a parrot.We like each other.
- Login to post comments
I'm going to save the Bora Ring poem. When you travel into the heartland of America, you find similar situations; places once sacred to the indigenous? people that dwelt there, but now overspread or tainted by the "new temples" of Western man. Whole cultures were wiped out, or worse, subjugated and indoctrinated to the new faith of an invading culture.
"Only the grass stands up
to mark the dancing ring;the apple gums
posture and mime a past corroboree,
murmur a broken chant."
Like the abandoned kivas and medicine wheels of the American continent - the circle the symbol of eternity, the dance and song and stories around the fire a way of worshipping, passing knowledge along, and preserving a way of life.
American Indian lore and wisdom can be found on the web, and there are many quotes and stories like Tecumseh's. The Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and other tribes of the southwest have tried to keep their culture viable and intact, but you know how that goes. A culture that once lived upon and off of the land, with great respect and reverence for their interdependence with all of nature, is easy prey for invading cultures who offer all the temptations of modern civilzation. Still, there are nuclei of tribal purity - their lore and legend tells them that the time of turnover is near, so they keep the faith and watch, and wait. Time will tell.
Most aborigines, I think, share a common thread; the "Great Spirit", that which has no name but is responsible for creation, is assumed. "Gitchee Manitou", some tribes call it. There is no argument, because its handiwork is self-evident to those who live closest to the earth, and depend on it for survival. It stands outside the field of time, not subject to duality. But there are a plethora of lesser "deities", with attributes very similar to our own human ones. They are the intermediaries between man and Great Spirit, and are often represented (because man needs a point of reference for focus) as animals, or objects of the natural world.
The whole of nature; birth, growth, fullness, decline, and death are paraphrased in the cycle of the moon, as well as in the seasonal changes of the earth. The Navajo call the Earth "changing woman". You don't need to be a member in a "club", believe certain things, perform certain rituals, or anything else to be a part of this cycle; it just is. Your actions just make your experiences, and those of the creatures around you in this life either pleasant or unpleasant. Somebody will likely beat on me for oversimplifying, but this isn't an essay test. :D
Which keys did your parrot abscond with? Might not have any significance, but maybe there's a message...
When NASA was preparing for the Apollo Project, they took the astronauts to a Navajo reservation in Arizona for training.
One day, a Navajo elder and his son came across the space crew walking among the rocks. The elder, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question. His son translated for the NASA people. "What are these guys in the big suits doing?"
One of the astronauts said that they were practicing for a trip to the moon. When his son relayed this comment the Navajo elder got all excited and asked if it would be possible to give a message to the astronauts to deliver to the moon. Recognizing a promotional opportunity when he saw one, a NASA official accompanying the astronauts said, "Why certainly!" and told an underling to get a tape recorder. The Navajo elder's comments into the microphone were brief. The NASA official asked the son if he would translate what his father had said. The son, laughing uproariously, refused to translate. So the NASA people took the tape to a nearby Navajo village and played it for other members of the tribe. They too laughed long and loudly but also refused to translate the elder's message to the moon. Finally, an official government translator was summoned. After he finally stopped laughing the translator relayed the message:
"Watch out for these white guys—they have come to steal your land."
--Vol. 24, No. 3 Navajo Wisdom
from Our Daily Frybread ©
- Login to post comments
Khefre, that's hilarious!I must tell everyone.
My parrot took the bottom left 3 keys, control,windows and alt.He twisted them with his beak so although they are in place they are interfering with the other keys.
Last week I heard a talk on the radio(I cannot see the TV very well so listen a lot to the radio)by Canadian half-Cherokee author Thomas King who wrote Medicine River and All My Relations.I think the former was made into a movie.
I was very impressed.
He said that Indians in NA were starting to write their experiences down which is terrific.
There is a difference here I think in that our aborigines are still at the stage of shock at having everything taken from them.The few remaining traditional blacks in Arnhem Land would sing you their stories, as that is how they tell them.
The English settlers here looked at the aborigines and called them the most miserable people on earth, which shows how little people can tell on first meeting someone.
They called this place Terra Nullius meaning empty land and took it over, not realising that the oldest culture on earth was available to them here if they could see it.
When the first explorers went inland they died, because they would not eat the food the blacks did,( which is being flogged off in trendy eateries now as native food)although the blacks tried to help them.
In the movie The Gods Must be Crazy where the little fellow goes to jail and nearly dies,you can see a parallel of what is happening here.When an aborigine is jailed, away from his family, his culture and his land, the sense of shock is so great that many choose to die.Young men jailed for a weekend kill themselves rather than endure it.
They are not good at expressing themselves in words so we know little of what they think,but we know that a very rich culture is being killed off.
The traditional blacks can live in the desert and find water in places you would never believe;they find food and as they are nomadic they know the look of every tree and every rock and how they should look.The black-trackers are legendry.
Have you seen Rabbit Proof Fence with David Gulpilil? He is stunning, and a very spiritual person.
Europeans need to know that you don't need a church or cathedral to find the presence of God.He is wherever you look.
- Login to post comments
I haven't seen RPF, but I'll see if either Blockbuster or my local library have it. I also haven't read Tom Robbins, but he's on my list now too.
People who live a compartmented existence, i.e., most all of us in western civ, have no concept of real freedom - the capability to go walkabout, to live off the land (assuming you know how and it's permitted), and to put down roots wherever you choose. Any kind of confinement is anathema to the uncluttered, unfettered mind of the aboriginal spirit. Time was, you could walk nearly coast to coast without running up against a fence; now? Everybody feels compelled to outline their particular compartment.
There's something to be said for a truly oral tradition. It's too easy to screw with the written word, reference the current penchant of our "feel good" society for revisionist history. When the storyteller recounts the tribe history around the council fire, he'd better get it right, because there are lots of listeners who will catch him out if he editorializes without notifying them first. But publish enough "spin-weighted" books, and Voila!, you've got a whole new tradition that bears no relationship to the truth. Books, however, make knowledge freely available to those who can't sit at the council fire, but without the integrity of the tribal elder, they lose their value.
Trustworthiness, they say, is a combination of Competence and Integrity - if you are short on either, you are less trustworthy. Unfortunately, hidden agendas and "feel-good" politics very often color the content of today's texts and lessons, automatically making many educators less trustworthy.
- Login to post comments
Well said Khefre.I wonder just how many thousands of years our ancestors sang their stories and sagas around the camp fire.
I believe that hundreds of years ago there were no fences at all and everyone grazed their animals on the common.This had been a long-standing tradition, until someone I guess got more animals than he should have, and so people began fencing.
I read that there is a plan somewhere in Europe to bring back the common.I have been very disappointed that in Australia no matter where you go, how far west there are fences.
I am feeling very smug at present.I found out yesterday that our library has a whole stash of Ray Bradbury books, and some even in LARGE PRINT.I came home with a swag of them and am nearly finished The Martian Chronicles.It is as I remembered,and such a delight to read again.
My favourite story so far is the one of the future man from Earth meeting the past man on Mars.Neither of them is real and yet for a moment in time they connect.
I cannot thank you enough for the post on Bradbury that has brought this to me.It has opened another dimension in my life, and one that I truly needed.
My son is ordering Greg's book from Amazon for me, so things are looking up in the book department.
I saw Simon Cox's book on Angels and Demons remaindered at Bookworld yesterday for half price and will hopefully get it today.
Here is a little poem from America that you may be familiar with;it came from Wisconsin,1885.
Taxed on the coffin,
Taxed on the crib.
On the old man's shroud
And the young man's bib.
To fatten the bigot
And pamper the knave,
We're taxed from the cradle
Plumb into the grave.
Representative Thomas R. Hudd.
- Login to post comments
How really strange that one of our favorite tales from Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles" should be "Night Meeting". I remember reading that for the first time many years ago, well before anyone thought of doing a TV movie, which can't do the stories justice - they're better crafted in the mind's eye, as Bradbury would wish. I found myself yearning to see the tall towers and lights of the city, and the elegant boats sailing the canals on their way to the festivities; it was almost an ache..; well, maybe there's some racial memory there, or maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic. I'm glad you're re-discovering Bradbury - one of the supreme delights of literature is re-visiting old haunts witha fresh perspective, or perhaps like slipping into an old, comfortable sweater. Imagine the terrible disappointment if revisionism spread to every literary venue; suddenly that old, comfortable, threadbare sweater would become a neutral-colored polyester jogging suit. Ptooie! Read Bradbury's comments about how the editors at Ballantine "adjusted" the content of his "Fahrenheit 451".
Cute poem, and true. Tax season is here, and I usually postpone it till the last minute, especially if I owe. I don't mind paying my fair share; I just wish they'd use the money more wisely. I have to agree with the self-proclaimed time traveler John Titor; this era of American society could become known as the ones who had it all, and threw it away. Let's hope that will not become reality; after all, didn't Scrooge say "Men's ways foreshadow certain ends; if the ways be departed from, surely the ends will change." Question is, which way is up?
I'm almost finished with Crichton's book "State of Fear" - really interesting, and the quoted sources in it made me reverse my thinking about the banning of DDT. I'm willing to unlearn what I've painfully "learned", and re-learn from more authoritative sources. One of these days I may get to Greg's book, but I've got a lot of reading piled up, and the topic is pretty far down on my list of interests. Enjoy Bradbury, and pass along any tidbits from Greg's.
"And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
'You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!'"
--Banjo Paterson
- Login to post comments
Bradbury wrote The Martian Chronicles in 1951 and I think that would be about the time I read it,or sometime in the fifties.I know what you mean about a yearning for these places he described.I wonder why.I felt the same, and also when I read Arthur C.Clarke's Rendevous with Rema.Clarke is not a writer, he is an idea's man, but the ideas in this book were fabulous as were all the Rema books but I think he had another writer with him.
Also with Childhood's End and a few more of Clarke's early books, I don't like the later ones much.
I always think that Waltzing Matilda is a joke.We have no decent anthem and WM has been adopted as one, but it was written in jest in the small country town of Longreach in the 1890s and put to the tune of a Scottish song.They were tough days when a swaggie had to suicide because the police would have strung him up for stealing a sheep.
One song I really love is Woody Guthrie's This Land.I wish it was ours.But then I loved everything about Guthrie and was devastated to learn he died from Huntington's Disease which is an appalling disease.
I finished reading Bradbury's The Day it rained Forever last night and loved it, but now have to finish some borrowed books so I can return them.I still have a couple of Bradbury books so will save them for the weekend.
Stories like Night Meeting should never be made into movies.I was horrified years ago when The World According to Garp was made into a movie and although I enjoyed it, I still feel they should leave these books alone.Do you remember in Garp when he warned his soms about the undertow, and they thought he said "undertoad".In my family the undertoad has become a common word, used whenever family members are worried something bad is going to happen.
I loved most of Irving's books as I think our Rick on TDG does, but gave up reading them after a while.
To me nothing could beat Garp, and Hotel New Hampshire, and Cider House Rules.His earlier books were strange.
I must ask you a tricky question.Do you know how to put 5 consecutive "ands" in a sentence?
I do.
Tell you later.
- Login to post comments


text:
"How Our Hands Help Us Think"
A free public lecture by University of Chicago psychologist Susan Goldin-Meadow. Part of UCSD's "Darwin's Legacy" series.
When: 11 a.m. Feb. 5
Where: Center Hall 115, UCSD
Online: darwinanniversary.ucsd.edu
Years ago, it was presumed learned people didn't gesture.
Not just those kinds of gestures, but pretty much any kind.
Intelligent folk, the thinking went, communicated with speech. Gesturing was primitive. The more you gestured, the more obvious it was you couldn't find (or use) the right words.
Words, of course, fail all of us from time to time; gestures hardly ever. Those small or large movements of the fingers and hands are universal, ubiquitous and usually unconscious. They say more than you think, sometimes quite literally.
"We use our hands to add to what we're saying, to reflect what we're thinking, to impart additional information," said Susan Goldin-Meadow, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. "We gesture for others and for ourselves. Blind people gesture."
Goldin-Meadow, who will give a public lecture on gestures next week at UCSD, is part of a small but growing band of scientists exploring the use and meaning of human gestures. In recent years, they have produced a mound of studies and evidence arguing that gesturing improves not just how we speak, but how we think and learn.
For example, in an experiment first reported in 2005, psychologist Elena Nicoladis and colleagues at the University of Alberta in Canada asked bilingual children to tell the same story twice, first in one language and then in the other.
"The children used gestures a lot more when telling the story in what they considered to be their stronger language," said Nicoladis, describing the study at the time. "These results seemed counterintuitive to us. We thought the children would be more inclined to use gestures to help them communicate in their weaker language."
Nicoladis suggests the results show a connection between gesturing, language and memories. "What we think is going on here is that the very fact of moving your hands around helps you recall parts of the story – the gestures help you access memory and language so that you can tell more of the story."
Gesturing appears to aid other forms of learning as well. Studies published in 2007 by Goldin-Meadow, Susan Wagner Cook and others reported that students learned and remembered math concepts better if gesturing was involved in the original lessons.
In one study, third-grade teachers consciously used gestures while instructing one group of students in new algebraic concepts. They avoided gesturing while teaching the same material to a second group and used only gestures while teaching a third group.
Ninety percent of the students who had learned the math concepts with gestures remembered them three weeks later, compared with just 33 percent of the students who had speech-only lessons. Remarkably, 90 percent of the students who had learned the math by gesture alone (no speech at all) remembered what they had been taught.
"My intuition is that gestures enhance learning because they capitalize on our experience acting in the world," said Cook, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Iowa. "We have a lot of experience learning through interacting with our environment as we grow, and my guess is that gesturing taps into that need to experience."
Some individuals gesture more than others, of course. And gesturing as a tool of language varies by ethnic group or culture, though the difference may often be more in style (such as the space used to make them) than in amount.
Not every kind of hand gesture is useful. Goldin-Meadow said a gesture has to be meaningful to the topic at hand, so to speak. Otherwise it's just hand-waving.
In new, yet-to-be-published research, Goldin-Meadow, Cook and Zachary Mitchell found that math students learned more when they were taught to use correct, relevant gestures to describe their lessons than students who used only "partially correct" gestures, who in turn learned more than children who gestured not at all.
The nature of the subject makes precise explanations hard to find.
"There are many possible explanations," said Goldin-Meadow. "It's possible that while you're moving your hands, it may lighten your cognitive load. Gesturing imparts its own information, which may allow the brain to devote more resources to remembering things or to learning more stuff.
"Or possibly, gesturing taps into motor (physical) representations, something more basic."
Goldin-Meadow said she and others are constantly designing new studies to answer these and other questions.
Aping others Humans aren't the only primates who communicate through hand gestures. In 2007, researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland reported that orangutans repeat and intentionally change hand (or other) signals to get their message across, not unlike humans playing a game of charades.
"We were surprised that the orangutans' responses so clearly signaled their assessment of the audience's comprehension," said Richard Byrne, the evolutionary psychologist who headed the study. "Looking at the tapes of the animal's responses, you can easily work out whether the orangutan thinks it has been fully, partially or not understood, without seeing what went before."
Also in 2007, scientists at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta reported that common and bonobo chimpanzees use gestures of their hands, feet and limbs more creatively than they do facial expressions and vocalizations.
"A chimpanzee may stretch out an open hand to another as a signal for support, whereas the same gesture toward a possessor of food signals a desire to share," said Amy Pollick at Yerkes. "A scream, however, is a typical response for victims of intimidation, threat or attack. This is so for both bonobos and chimpanzees, and suggests the vocalization is relatively invariant."
The origin of human language is lost in time, impossible now to trace completely, though disciplines like paleoanthropology, primatology, lin guistics, neuroscience and developmental psychology have all reported new theories and findings in recent years.
Many scientists (but not all) argue human language probably evolved from the gestures of apes and our hominid ancestors. At some point, they say, speech usurped gesturing as the primary mode of communication.
Gesturing, though, clearly and universally remains a hands-down (and up) favorite.Copyright © 2017, The San Diego Union-Tribune

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Surname List
Name Index
Email Us
Sixth Generation
327. Jeremiah COMSTOCK191 was born (date unknown).
Little is known about Jeremiah. His wife's name said to be Sarah. He is in the 1790 Census in Sandisfield, Massachusetts; he settled in Ontario Co, NY.
Children were
A descendant of this line has the wife as Patience Pierce, 1780-1860
Jeremiah COMSTOCK and Sarah [COMSTOCK] were married. Sarah [COMSTOCK] was born (date unknown).
Jeremiah COMSTOCK and Sarah [COMSTOCK] had the following children:
Census Records | Vital Records | Family Trees & Communities | Immigration Records | Military Records Directories & Member Lists | Family & Local Histories | Newspapers & Periodicals | Court, Land & Probate | Finding Aids


text: Perhaps the most abundant North American bird, and certainly one of the most studied, the Red-Winged Blackbird has earned quite the reputation. Although some view this species as a pest, due to the crop damage it can cause, others appreciate it for its pleasant song and helpfulness in controlling insect populations and weeds. The male Red-Winged Blackbird is easily spotted by his scarlet epaulet feathers, which stand out in stark contrast to his all-black body. The male can either hide these brilliant red feathers, to avoid conflict with other males, or show them, for courtship displays and territorial defenses.


text:
The Mars Volta, led by vocalist Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez, formerly of the El Paso-based postpunk band At the Drive-In, forfeited much of their considerable mystique when they finally released their first album, "Deloused in the Comatorium," last summer. Until then, their reputation was based on concerts that had critics comparing them to everyone from King Crimson to Fela Kuti.
The album was, perhaps inevitably, a letdown, since Mars Volta's manic progressive rock can sound pretentious on record. It was difficult to see what all the buzz was about, but then a letdown implies expectations that aren't met, and if anything characterizes the career of Bixler and Rodriguez it's their refusal to fit anyone's preconceptions.
Even if you've seen them perform before, there's always the shock of the new when the band comes on. At August's Summer Sonic festival, they took the stage with spacey keyboard-guitar noodling that expanded outward and eventually exploded as the band came together in what can only be described as an At the Drive-In moment: Omar stumbling backward, Cedric diving head first toward the audience, and the band locking into a punishing, incoherent roar. For 60 minutes they lurched and changed gears without warning, alternating soaring jazz fusion freak-outs with head-banging hardcore as Cedric threw his skinny, Afro-topped body around and over things, including other musicians. Pretension it was not. It was total immersion.


text:
As the LINDSAY LOHAN life clock ticks down to Armageddon, even close friends who'd once hoped she might survive if she were committed to a psych ward are now praying she gets thrown in jail – noting she's facing a possible eight months behind bars for lying to cops about her car crash!
"Jail time is the only thing that may save her life," says a friend.
"Lindsay's in total denial and won't accept responsibility for all the things she's done.
"Rehab is not an option. It never worked for her! What will work is stripping her of her everyday luxuries and keeping her locked up in a cell."
After the two-fisted hellcat allegedly punched out a woman at a New York club, one frustrated friend actually told Lindsay to her face that jail time "would do her good," prompting the drunk/drug addict/ convicted thief to lash out at her pal: "Everyone is out to get me – even my best friends. I'm not a f****** criminal. How dare you tell me I need to be in jail! Get the f*** out of my life!"
Tick, tock…tick tock…!


text:
To the Editor:
I found Gary Caraway's article listed under "Reader poses a few key questions sheriff's candidates should answer" on Oct. 28 to be unfocused and demonstrating a clear lack of knowledge of issues already made public by Republican Eddy Lange and Democrat Frank Hernandez as well as of the responsibilities a sheriff assumes.
Mr. Caraway's purpose was unclear to me.
First, he lamented Mr. Lange's ability to head a "police department."
Clearly, the endorsement of both the local and the state Fraternal Order of Police belies this opinion.
The staff who would be guided by Mr. Lange's leadership appears to have confidence in him. A sheriff is primarily an administrator, and Mr. Lange's resume includes both police experience and county administration.
Two-thirds of the letter focused more on Mr. Caraway's disappointment in the results of the Republican spring primary and the summer run-off elections than it did on pertinent issues and candidate qualifications for the Nov. 6 election.
If Mr. Caraway attended any of the public forums at which the two sheriff candidates presented themselves and their views, he would know the answers to the questions he posed or would certainly have had the opportunity to query the candidates.
He even took the Killeen Daily Herald to task by suggesting they "could help educate the public if they could get the candidates to answer specific questions." That's already happened.
It's difficult to believe that on Oct. 28, a registered voter who seriously wants to know the answers to the six questions posed in his letter has not had ample time and resources to know these answers.
It is the responsibility of each voter to proactively educate oneself on the issues and on the skills, talents and values of all candidates before casting ballots and not to expect to be spoon-fed this information.
Diane Waite


text:
Helen Flanagan topless was photographed by Nuts Magazine and printed in September number.
Helen Flanagan the british model is gaining more fame and attention from media because everybody loves her gorgeous body. In this September Helen was featured in Nuts Magazine and we have the photos with her showing her round ass in panties and her naked nipple. Its first time when Helen Flanagan is exposing her naked nipples in a official photoshoot. For this pictorial we admire Nuts Magazine for achieving this premiere with this beautiful blonde model. Everybody is considering Helen as a modern Marilyn Monroe, as she is also a almost plus model, Flanagan has big boobs and a round butt and her blonde hair completes the look.
Helen Flanagan appears on Nuts Magazine cover dressed in a black swimsuit. Her bra has some zippers that uncover our blonde model breasts just to see enough to make you open the magazine. What is unique about this publication is that they have a few pages where the photos of the celebrity or model are looking like they are homemade. Helen Flanagan's photo collage is presenting one nude boob of hers but they censor her nipple, in the rest of the pictures Helen is showing again her big and sexy cleavage and her white dog. The photo with the naked boob is a great one because the camera angle shows her hot body and her black panties.
The main attraction of this photoshoot is the photo where Helen Flanagan is topless dressed only in a pair of yellow panties that says: "Love to Tweet this" on her ass. How lovely is this! You can clearly see Helen's nude nipple and one boob, but is enough for this picture to be super sexy. She is posing sitting down on her legs with her ass leaned on her feets, it almost a fetish pose and is very trendy these days. Her round boob is drawing your attention and you will be pleased what you will see.
Another page with four photos is picturing Helen Flanagan eating a peach while she is proud of her blue eyes and of course her cleavage, the second one a teddy bear is resting on her ass and she is dressed in black lingerie, the third one she is enjoying a glass of orange juice while her boobs are almost popping out of her top and the forth one where she is photographing her colored bikini.
A thing that we notice and is not necessary a bad thing, Helen Flanagan naked boobs are kinda hanging down, but they are bigger than average tits and she pulls out sexy photo shoots every time.
Want to see more Helen Flanagan's sexy or naked photos?
Source: Nuts


text:
It only takes a minute to get started. Fill out our uncomplicated sign up form and login to the website.
This step is optional but will dramatically raise your chances of getting noticed by other people on the site. Write a few sentences about yourself, your interests and upload a nice photo of yourself.
Use our website's cutting-edge search to locate over 60s members who meet your requirements. Or just flip through listings and locate members that you like.
Identified someone who interests you? Send a message to them or just a wink and wait for their response. With a little luck you'll be on your way to uncover the love of your life.
You won't regret it


text: If you're looking for deals on the Beko TL654 then look no further. We compare prices and offers on the Beko TL654 from some of the top online retailers in the UK. The storage capacity and freezer capacity of the Beko TL654 makes it an ideal choice even for the most demanding households. The even temperature distribution and energy rating of


text:
I'll pray for you…
How many times have you said those words? Now how many times have you acted on it. These words have been a constant failure for me. I say it and sometimes I do it and other times I don't.
Prayer is the right response to anything good or bad. Prayer has power but prayer is hard. Even if I say I will pray for someone I often find myself shooting up a quick prayer (which is good) but I fail to follow up or pray about it again.
Recently I felt super convicted about this. I said I would pray for someone then forgot about it. A week or two later it dawned on me that I forgot to pray about it. While it may not have directly affected anything in my heart I knew it was something to get better at.
Lately, I have been pumped because I have been good about it on small and large scale things: From a coworker whose kid has been sick, to a student who took a huge bail skiing and went to the hospital. And I am proud to say that I have even followed up on these things.
Saying you will pray for someone can really turn their day, week or even year around. All some people need is a prayer and we have the capacity to help them with that. The problem is we need to do it.
For many people this isn't a particularly profound step. You are likely thinking good job covering the basics. But I truly believe that anytime we make an improvement in our disciplines God is smiling down. While I may not be anywhere near being called a prayer warrior yet, I sure hope to get there before I die.
Kyle Corbin has been serving youth as a volunteer or pastor for over 10 years. He is currently the youth pastor at the Bridge Church in North Vancouver B.C. You can follow his blog at: kylecorbin.blogspot.com or Twitter: @CorbinKyle.


text:
Artist description:
Some lemonade inspired T-strap heels. :)
Flash Draw Created Jun 01, 2012 460 x 640px Unless noted Copyright 2012 SDgal.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
STREETLEVEL Jun 01, 2012
SDgal replied: Jun 02, 2012
thank you! ^.^
Page 1


text:
- Height:4.00"
- Width:4.50"
- Depth:0.50"
- Material:Nylon
- Color:Black
- Weight:1.80 oz.
- Brand:Maxpedition
- Model:Surgical Gloves Pouch
- Model Number:MX1432B
- Country of Origin:Taiwan
- Product Type:Pouch
This Surgical Gloves Pouch from Maxpedition fits a minimum of 4 pairs of latex/nitrile surgical gloves. Each pair is held in separate compartments so that you may pull one pair out at one time. The pouch has a hook and loop lid closure that opens with an oversized pull tab. The Surgical Gloves Pouch is MOLLE compatible and may be attached using two 3" TacTie Attachment Straps (optional accessory). May be worn horizontally on beltProduct Materials:
- 1000-Denier water and abrasion resistant light-weight ballistic nylon fabric
- Dupont Teflon® fabric protector for grime resistance and easy maintenance
- Triple polyurethane coated for water resistance
- High tensile strength composite nylon thread
- High tensile strength nylon webbing
- Internal seams taped and finished
- Stress points double stitched, Bartacked or "Box-and-X"
Customers Also Bought


text:
Product Information
Bring out the true potential of your HD TV with LG's BP255 smart Blu-ray player. Playback your favourite blu-ray movies in exceptional Full HD detail and high quality audio as standard. No matter what you're watching, whether it's a DVD or Blu-ray, you can be sure of experiencing it in a whole new light thanks to the upscaling technology. Access the best of the net and enjoy catch-up TV, music services and online movies from the comfort of your couch. Supersize your entertainment by connecting a USB device and playback your stored music, movies and photos directly on your HD TV.
- Blu-ray player
- Full HD 1080p
- DVD Upscale
- USB Playback
- DivX HD
- Black Colour
- 1 Year Warranty
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x USB
- 1 x Ethernet
- W x H x D: 270 x 43 x 195mm
- Weight: 0.84Kg


text:
Friday, Nov. 1 — Each week, City Pulse runs a series of stories produced by Capital News Service correspondents at Michigan State University's School of Journalism. This week's topics cover new research for teaching teenagers with autism; high divorce rates in rural areas; food pantries gearing up for the holiday season; osprey rebounding; and more.
- Food banks and food pantries across the state are gearing up for holiday season demand amid talk of looming cuts to federal food benefits. We hear from Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan in Detroit, Greater Lansing Food Bank, and Northwest Food Pantry and Access of West Michigan in Grand Rapids. By Becky McKendry.
- A study done in the Livonia schools by MSU researchers shows that video-based teaching methods that use computers and iPads can help teenagers with autism learn how to behave in new social situations. We also hear from the Southfield-based Autism Alliance of Michigan and Department of Community Health. By Matthew Hall.
- The 10 counties with the state's highest divorce rates are all rural, including Crawford, Gladwin, Montcalm and Newaygo. We hear from experts at Northern Michigan and Michigan State universities, a Saint Clair Shores psychologist and the Department of Community Health. By Becky McKendry.
- DNR reports a significant decline in the number of feral swine in Michigan, but the Michigan Pork Producers says the problem is growing nonetheless. Mecosta, Midland and Saginaw counties had the most sightings and killing last year. We also talk to DNR and MUCC. By Lacee Shepard.
- Commentary on the value of Michigan's small lakes and quiet rivers. By Eric Freedman.
- Osprey, once disappearing in the state, are rebounding with 50 breeding pairs in Southeast Michigan. Researchers at the Detroit International Wildlife Refuge tagged some this year to track their migration patterns, including one born in Monroe County that made it to Cuba. By Evan Kreager.


text:
CafeMom Veteran
She was born at 1:35 a.m....
She was born at 8:29...
Click on a link to search for moms with the same information
Click on a link to search for other moms with the same favorites
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CIARA!!! Woohoo you're two!!
I just joined April 2008 babies and saw you are Ciara's mom. So am I! I spell her name Cierra.
Hey there! I saw you are a part of the Nov 2006 group! I am from Superior and have a daughter Olivia, born Nov 3!
Happy Birthday !
Happy Birthday=0)
Featured Posts in All Groups


text:
Printable View
Ezeli rc. Moultrie rc
Originally Posted by Kadamscards
Ezeli rc. Moultrie rc
Updated. bdoody42 you have the next pick.
Garnett and rondo base if both around for my next pick
Draft is done and packages have been sent out today.
I got the package today. Thanks Jay for everything!!


text:
Results 1 to 5 of 23
Thread: Sparrow?
April 20th, 2013 11:06 AM #1
Sparrow has been one of my favorites for years and years. I am an avid bird watcher and love birds tremendously. I have kept Sparrow as a possible middle name, but am considering its first name potential. What are your thoughts on Sparrow? Should it be left on the middle name list, or upgraded to the first name list? Boy or girl?Anxiously awaiting the arrival of Luther's little brother November 2015!
Currently loving: Magnus, Tiberius, Gregor, Corvus and Ulric.
April 20th, 2013 11:22 AM #3Senior Member
- Join Date
- Nov 2012
- Posts
- 231
I have a soft spot for Sparrow. I see it as a unisex name, but leaning more towards a girl. It's absolutely darling and I would be overjoyed to meet a cute little Sparrow. The only thing holding me back is imagining an adult with the name. I would think their parents are a bit nutty. But as long as you give a nice, at least slightly common middle name it would be great in the first spot.Right Now I would name them...
∆ Ellis Apollo • Vesper Aurelia ∆
∆ Casper Aloysius • Reverie Antonia ∆
Guilty Pleasures ...
Sailor . Waverly . Ever . Harlow . Elliot . Jasper . Lirit . Muse . Egypt . Ireland . Primrose . Calypso . Rowan
April 20th, 2013 11:33 AM #5Senior Member
- Join Date
- Jul 2012
- Location
- London, England
- Posts
- 5,334
I love tiny little sparrows with their round little bodies and super cute beaks! They're so adorable when they tilt their little heads and look at you. I like it as a name! I was going to go in and rant over the girls taking all the good bird names, but then I realised that's not true at all. So I think it go for either, but I prefer it on a boy.
(There are so many cool bird names, I took down one of my bird books and I'm flipping through it right now!)My darling Marian Illyria Aphrodite, March 2013 & Little Bunny (a girl!) due 9th of February 2014
April 20th, 2013 11:34 AM #7
April 20th, 2013 11:38 AM #9
I'm not usually a fan of nature names, but Sparrow is beautiful. It could be a first name. It makes me think of the song "His Eye Is on the Sparrow".
I see it slightly more as a girl name, especially for you as you have Wolf in your son's name; I could see boy named Sparrow being a bit jealous of the bigger, stronger, fiercer Wolf.Miriam ~ Tabitha ~ Estella ~ Beatrice ~ Anastasia ~ Veronica ~ Sarah ~ EstherPaul ~ Wesley ~ Walter ~ Edmund ~ Isaac ~ Abram ~ Gabriel
Top combos: Miriam Estelle / Paul Augustin
(Still) trying for baby#1
Avatar: Nathan Altman, Portrait of Anna Akhmatova


text:
Let me start off by saying that this was not a planned fishing trip. The point of this trip was to help my grandma drive to New Mexico because the trip would take her about a week alone, and with me along, we did the trip in 2 days, saving her time and money. My mom's side of the family is from New Mexico, and have a pretty rich history in it, dating over a century in NM. Fishing was just an added bonus.
So, at the advice of my good friend Charlie Barton (nvr2L8 ), I fished the Jemez East Fork. I loaded up on small flies and headed out to the river. It was a reasonable drive from Albuquerque, just over an hour I'd guess, but I wasn't paying too much attention to the time. The country is beautiful, everywhere you look is picturesque.
Day 1
I thought this was going to be my only day to fish, so I fished from about 7:00 until around 2:00. My cousin that went with me fished for about 30 minutes before he went back to the car to sleep. I had my one day license, and I was going to use it. I tied on an orange stimi with a small yellow copper john variant, and the first cast I had a fish on. Didn't get it to hand, but I liked how the day started off so far. Second cast, missed the strike. Third cast I brought to hand a decent rainbow.
I hadn't even walked around the first bend before I'd caught well over a dozen fish. I lost my both my copper john variants in the lip of a fish, so I had to resort to other flies. Small hare's ear nymphs worked, as did BHPTs, but the action wasn't as fast with them. I caught and landed about 3 dozen trout, ranging from 2"-8". The problem I was having is that the chubs were spawning (I think?) because some had fiery red areas around their fins, and they GORGED on my BHPT. I caught 5 of them in a row.
I had so much fun that I wanted to go again. So, later in the trip, I did, except I went back with a fully stocked fly box.
"Day" 2
I put day in quotation marks because it was in the evening, and I spent 2 hours or so on the water. Same as the first day, fish were more than willing to give a bite. I didn't even try to count how many I caught, but this time, they were all browns. The only reason my cousin and I stopped fishing is because we had to hike out of the canyon back out onto the road. It's not a long hike at all, but nightfall comes fast in the mountains.
Day 3
After a horrible night's sleep at the campground, I awoke to the Indian Alarm Clock at about 6:00. I had to pee haha. So, from the Jemez Falls campground, the walk to the East Fork took about 10 minutes. I found out fishing is much better early in the morning than it is at night.
Around the bend in the river under the cutthroat picture is a deep run that is STACKED with trout. It's shallow where you're standing, but deep on the other side. There is a fallen log next to the "wall" of grass in the water, and if you can cast close to the grass, it's guaranteed you'll have a fish on. I saw a huge brown that would have gone 16-18" with ease moseying around the log, so I cast to it. The fly didn't go far enough to the grass, but it was close enough for the brown to turn after it when it passed, but stopped because my dry fly was swarmed by 3-4 smaller fish. I luckily didn't catch any of those fish, and was able to cast again. This time, the fly was going to pass right over, but snagged on a log a foot or two above the fish. Alert but unafraid, the brown meandered off into the abyss unknown
I thoroughly enjoyed myself on the Jemez. I never caught any fish in the Smokies, but I was also MUCH newer on the fly rod when I went. It was a similar experience, except the surroundings are different of course.


text: Another day at a typical HK style cafe. This time we went to Enjoy 1+1 Cafe. I have no idea why they wanted to named it that. We arrived around 1 and were quickly seated at a booth. After pondering the menu for quite a while, I settled on a preserved/pickled vegetables and duck fried rice with a cold milk tea. I was tempted to get my usual Thai style chicken fried rice but I decided to try something else for a change. My first comment is that there were no preserved vegetables in sight! But it was certainly salty enough and I guess there was enough duck in it. It had a good mix of green beans and egg as well. I really shouldn't complain since it cost $7.50 after all and the portion was pretty big for me since I ended up talking half of it home. That's like two meals for me! Also it's one of the reasons why I like HK style cafes. :) The milk tea was pretty good too.


text:
Stage 1 > Stage 2 > Stage 3
You can pay online via the secure SagePay payment system or you can fill in this
form, print it out and post it to us with a cheque.
Please enter the quantities of each item that you wish to purchase
and then click Next.
Choose the number of riders you wish to book onto the ride using the fields below. You can enter as an individual / individuals or as a team. There is no minimum number of riders needed to qualify as a team.
There are two ways to enter a team -
EITHER book and pay for a group in one go and we'll send all packs to you as Team Leader. You can then add and pay for more team members later. If you set the team to 'PUBLIC' then individuals can join your team and pay for their own entries.
OR book and pay for just one person as Team Leader, make the team 'PUBLIC' and tell others they can join your team and pay for their own entries. Entry packs will either sent to you as Team Leader or sent direct to them - you can choose which during the booking process.
To add a T-shirt or transport to your booking, or amend your booking/team details at a later date, please login to your individual account (created during booking process) and go to 'My Bike Events'.
Entry Pack
back to top
© Bike Events Ltd. 2014 / Reg No: 3017518 / Royal Oak House, Royal Oak Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4GB


text:
- 120 total posts
- 1 review
- 119 comments
Reviews & Stories
Bye Bye Belly, Hello Boobs! - Winter Park, FL
Scheduled for Dec 19th for MM: BA & TT w/ lipo. 45, 5'5 155lbs. I have 1 daughter now 18 and off to college so doing this surgery for me. I've always been slim but gained since turning 40 gained 30lbs over the past 5 years and unable to lose it. Gained 10 this year, the most ever and at 155 I'm bigger than when I gave birth. Hate the sight of my tummy, hips and stretch marks and I'm pear... READ MORE
Recent comments from sandy1219
Hi Surgery Twin, Thanks for the pep talk. I have those moments too when I look in the mirror and think WOW too. Most time I try to focus on the positive, like being able to fit in most of my clothes and looking flatter in them. Instead... READ COMMENT
Thanks Jennifer and AudeeLee. My PS is a miracle worker, and every now and again in the morning I get a glimpse of what my stomach will look like when the swellings done. But most days, by the afternoon I look like a pumped up balloon... READ COMMENT
Thanks for your honesty!!! I had my mommy make over the day before you and still dealing with the swelling, doubts and frustrations. I'm really happy with the boobs and only got 350cc, so look bigger but not huge. They've finally... READ COMMENT
Thanks. I had someone go with me to drive me home, but didn't really need it. No did not take time off. You'll be fine if you sit all day at work. No pain afterwards. It does mean no exercise again for 3 weeks and wearing spanx 24/7.... READ COMMENT
It went well-he did it in his surgical room at the office. Just did lipo in the sides. It was minor discomfort. Have to be back in the spanx 24/7 for 2 weeks. Wed was a week, and had stich removed. Its only painful when touched. Just... READ COMMENT


text:
KAI RYSSDAL: Almost 70 percent of Americans own homes. It's practically the symbol of the Amercan dream. But does that sense that we ought to be in the real estate market get us and our financial institutions into trouble? Commentator Gregory Ip says we need to decide that before we decide what to do with Fannie and Freddie.
GREGORY IP: Americans woke up today to learn the federal government had basically taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It's one of the biggest government takeovers in history.
This moment, though, has been years in the making. We knew these companies were a potentially dangerous hybrid. They are chartered by Congress to promote home ownership. But they are owned by shareholders who want the maximum possible profit. This means that they could take big risks with the knowledge that if they got into trouble, they'd be too important for the government to allow to fail. The Bush administration tried to constrain Fannie and Freddie, just as its predecessor did. But with the support of many in Congress the companies always fought off these efforts.
And then the housing crisis hit. Far from shrinking them, the Bush administration was now forced to ask the companies to expand their role of buying and guaranteeing mortgages, because, quite simply, private investors no longer wanted to. Unfortunately, just when the economy needed Fannie and Freddie the most, they couldn't do the job, because they had lost so much money on the mortgages they already owned.
Treasury says it acted this past weekend to keep the housing and financial markets stable. But it still hasn't answered the question: What role should the government play in home ownership, and do these companies have a part to play? Yes, common stock holders have been punished. They've lost almost their entire investment. And over time, the companies will have to shrink under the terms of the deal with Treasury. But Fannie and Freddie will continue to exist unless and until Congress revokes their charters. And the final decision of the companies' fate will rest with the next president and the next Congress.
Then there's the question we as a country must answer: How much should we promote home ownership? If we conclude taxpayers should back most mortgages, we must find a transparent and accountable way to do it. It's not at all clear that these companies can accomplish that.
RYSSDAL: Gregory Ip is the U.S. economics editor at The Economist magazine.


text:
Removal & Installation
Disconnect the negative battery cable.
WARNINGThoroughly wash all contaminants from around the EHCU. The area around the EHCU must be free from loose dirt to prevent contamination of disassembled ABS components.
Disconnect the two electrical harness connectors from the EBCM.
NOTEMake sure that brake lines are tagged and kept in order for proper reassembly.
- Disconnect the 5 brake lines from the BPMV.
- Remove 2 bolts securing the BPMV mounting bracket to the BPMV.
- Disconnect the 2 way ABS pump motor connector.
Remove the four T-25 Torx® screws from the EBCM.
NOTEDo not use a tool to pry the EBCM or the BPMV. Excessive force will damage the EBCM. Do not reuse the EBCM mounting bolts. Always install new bolts.
- Remove the EBCM from the BPMV. Removal may require a light amount of force.
Clean the EBCM to BPMV mounting surfaces with a clean cloth.
To install:
Do not reuse the old mounting screws. Always install new mounting screws with the new EBCM. Do not use RTV or any other type of sealant on the EBCM gasket or mating surfaces.
- Install EBCM on to the BPMV.
- Install the four EBCM bolts and tighten to 39 inch lbs. (5 Nm) in an X-pattern.
- Connect the 2 way ABS pump motor connector to the EBCM.
- Install BPMV to EHCU bracket.
Connect the two electrical harness connectors to the EBCM.
WARNINGThe brake pipes are held in the proper place by a frame mounted plastic bracket. Make sure that the brake pipes stay in the correct place for proper reassembly.
- Install the 5 brake pipes to the BPMV and tighten the fittings to 22 ft. lbs. (30 Nm).
- Bleed the brake system.
- Connect the negative battery cable.