Thursday, October 26, 2006

How to Scare a Bee


Heard this on NPR this morning after a story about the sequencing of the bee genome:

Renee Montagne: Steve, do you know how to scare a bee?
Steve Inskeep: How?

Renee: Boo, Bee



Can you Bee-lieve it?

me in the (B)EE



Tuesday, October 24, 2006

So who supports the Troops?

A complete list of the IAVA Congressional Ratings is here on their website. The IAVA is the Iraq and Afganistan Veterans of America. I saw this posted at Daily-Kos here where Bob Geiger has made a list by grades, "A" being the best and "F" the worst. From the Daily-Kos website:

As you'll note, based on the over 300 votes the IAVA used in its calculation, all Senate Democrats have been more supportive of the troops -- when it comes to their actual votes, over the past five years -- than any of the Senate Republicans.


For those of you in South Carolina, where I am, our two dear Senators scored as follows: Lindsey Graham, "D-" and Jim DeMint, "F". Lindsey Graham has recently made a statement to the press saying the Iraq war was a mess, I believe he said "quagmire"and that we need a new policy, which now we have because Bush isn't using the phrase "stay the course" any more. That solved alot of problems right there. He also spoke out against Bush's new "torture" bill, but gave in, in the end. This from an article by William Rivers Pitt tiltled, "A Study in Constant Motion."


"What you have is not 'stay the course,'" said
Snow, "but, in fact, a study in constant motion
by the administration and by the Iraqi
government, and, frankly, also by the enemy, because there are constant shifts, and you
constantly have to adjust to what the other
side is doing."

Was that Tony Snow or Tony Snowjob???

Click on picture for link to another artice by Bob Geiger called, "It's Stay-the-Course Wednesday" at
The Smirking Chimp.


Long-time South Carolina Rep. John Spratt, D, scored an "A." Even though his last letter to me was pretty vague, (it was about supporting a Department of Peace, which he said when or if it ever did come up for a vote he would "consider" my opinion), I guess has my vote still, after all he is NOT a Republican, not that all republicans are bad. Mostly the ones in office.

Another Senator I watch is Russ Feingold from my home state Wisconsin. He scored a "B."

Thanks to Daily-Kos and IAVA for this information. How did your Senators and Congresspeople do?


me in the EE

Monday, October 23, 2006

The "Goodwill" of Frank W. Benson

From Yahoo News Photo:



This is a handout photo provided by Goodwill Industries of the Columbia-Willamette showing the 1923 watercolor by the American impressionist Frank Weston Benson Friday, Oct. 20, 2006. The painting dropped off at Goodwill by an anonymous donor sold for $165,002 Thursday during an auction on the organization's Web site. (AP Photo/Goodwill Industries of the Columbia-Willamette)





Frank Weston Benson's masterpiece paintings of American society at the turn of the century are some of America's most popular works of art. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, a descendant of a long line of sea captains, Benson first studied art at Boston's Museum School where he became editor of the student magazine.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Another Great Wagnerian Singer


I've been studying the role of Lohengrin lately and found this on the web.

At a Lauritz Melchior, (the Greatest Heldontenor) site:

Franz Völker

The German tenor Franz Völker was born 1899 and died 1965. After short studies he made his debut 1926 as Florestan at the opera of Frankfurt/Main, where he stayed until 1931. Later on he sang at the Vienna State Opera and at the Berlin State Opera. To his rôles belonged lyrical Wagner parts as well as Mozart and italian opera. After World War II he sang at Munich until 1952. Franz Völker's voice had a noble, well-focused quality, highly musical control and an exemplary cultivated legato. His greatest successes were at the Bayreuth festivals from 1933 until 1942, where Völker sang Lohengrin, Parsifal, Siegmund and Eric. Franz Völker was considered to be the best lyrical Heldentenor in his best time. His performance of Lohengrin was world-famous. His vocal art is preserved as an opera singer and song recitalist, his recordings of light music can hardly be counted. Especially his Wagner records are on the highest level we can think of. Hear him with Lohengrin's grail narration In fernem Land from Wagner's Lohengrin, recorded in 1927.

For something on the lighter side check out my d-music site for some older songs I just posted there. Try "Only LoveComes." There's lots more.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Pat Tillman's Legacy

In an article by brother Kevin:



It is Pat Tillman's birthday November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice.... until we get out.

Somehow the more soldiers who die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.


Read all at link above.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Blind leading the blind

from By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

(my comments)

WASHINGTON -

President Bush signed legislation Tuesday authorizing tough interrogation of terror suspects and smoothing the way for trials before military commissions, calling it a "vital tool" in the war against terrorism.

Another inane law inacted because of perceived evil which is only one's own evil projected outward in the "world." The United States falling deeper into the insanity of fear, and doing all it can to maintain that fear disguised as strength.


Bush's plan for treatment of the terror suspects became law just six weeks after he acknowledged that the CIA had been secretly interrogating suspected terrorists overseas and pressed Congress to quickly give authority to try them in military commissions.

Admission of lies, but no repercussions for doing so. Quick, pass a law so that we look like we're doing the right thing when all along violating our own and international law. Who cares, as long as it looks like we're getting terrorists off the streets? I mean "suspected" terrorists. Maybe YOU?

"With the bill I'm about to sign, the men our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the murder of nearly 3,000 innocent people will face justice," Bush said.

Look in the mirror if you'd like the orchestrators of the murders of 10's of thousands of innocent people to face justice. Oh I forgot, evil is only projected outward. I'ts not that I think you are evil, only ignorant, and a perfect child of God, however unknowing.

A coalition of religious groups staged a protest against the bill outside the White House, shouting "Bush is the terrorist" and "Torture is a crime." About 15 of the protesters, standing in a light rain, refused orders to move. Police arrested them one by one.
That's because we live in a "free" society and have the right to speak opposing views, then be arrested.

"It is a rare occasion when a president can sign a bill that he knows will save American lives," Bush said. "I have that privilege this morning."
The only "bill" this president could sign that will save American lives is his own admission of incompetence, resignation, and apology to all the people of the world.

"We will answer brutal murder with patient justice," Bush said. "Those who kill the innocent will be held to account."

O.K. What about shock and awe? Brutal murder times infinity. Justice is patient, also karma and the Law of Compensation, and let's add the Law of Attraction, too. Are you saying that killing innocents when killing terrorists, (perceived as they may be, without court of law) is honky- dory?

The law protects detainees from blatant abuses during questioning — such as rape, torture and "cruel and inhuman" treatment — but does not require that any of them be granted legal counsel. Also, it specifically bars detainees from filing habeas corpus petitions challenging their detentions in federal courts. Bush said the process is "fair, lawful and necessary."
When insanity utters WHAT IS, as in "the process is fair, lawful and necessary," one can expect to find that their assessment is insane and now we have what is "unfair, unlawful, and unnecessary."


"The bill I sign today helps secure this country and it sends a clear message: This nation is patient and decent and fair and we will never back down from threats to our freedom," Bush said. "We are as determined today as we were on the morning of Sept. 12, 2001."

So before Sept.12,2001 there was a lack of determination, a lack of responsibility, awareness when there were reports scuh as Bin Laden (Al Queda) intends to use aircraft as weopons to attack inside U.S? And if we "shall never back down from threats to our freedom", why are you so intent on taking those freedoms away in the name of security which you boast about but have also failed so miserably?


"Over the past few months, the debate over this bill has been heated and the questions raised can seem complex," he said. "Yet, with the distance of history, the questions will be narrowed and few. Did this generation of Americans take the threat seriously? And did we do what it takes to defeat that threat?"
When incompetence and insanity take things seriously one is in for quite a ride as we are on now. With the distance of history, as Bush says but knows nothing of, will he be seen as a war criminal and our Legislatiors as accomplices? Reacting to 9/11 as a bully would to being pushed is no serious action. Killing 10's if not 100's of thousands of people for one act of violence is not serious action. It is bumbling insanity, brute and blind force, only because we have it to wield, but not without devastating consequences. We did not do what it takes to defeat the "threat" and still are not, even though big talk and bigger action seems to sway alot of people to thinking we have and are.


The American Civil Liberties Union said the new law is "one of the worst civil liberties measures ever enacted in American history."

"The president can now, with the approval of Congress, indefinitely hold people without charge, take away protections against horrific abuse, put people on trial based on hearsay evidence, authorize trials that can sentence people to death based on testimony literally beaten out of witnesses, and slam shut the courthouse door for habeas petitions," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero.

And surely to be withdrawn when wiser minds prevail. The national and international outrage will rise eventually. You can't drop a rock in the pond without creating waves and those waves come back soon enough.


The swift implementation of the law is a rare bit of good news for Bush as casualties mount in Iraq in daily violence. Lawmakers are increasingly calling for a change of strategy and political anxieties are jeopardizing Republican's chances of hanging onto control of Congress.
A rare bit of good news for Bush? Let's draw attention away from one debacle to what seems to be some progress in this delusional war on terror in order to get some good news before the masses. And if these great new interrogation laws help in the war in Iraq that'll be super.

Bush needed the legislation because the Supreme Court in June said the administration's plan for trying detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law.

It's not that I hate George Bush. It's just that I'm not fond of insanity, incompetence, and deception, not to mention arrogance, used in positions of responsibility. Don't tell me that if and when January, 2008 rolls around and George Bush and company leaves office the whole world, if not annihilated, will not breath a collective sigh of relief.

Peace, yes, to even GWB and the GOP and the American people, too

me in the EE

Also (October21,2006) here: Bush's Absolute Power Grab by Carla Binion


"On October 17, George W. Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006. This new law gives Bush power similar to that possessed by Stalin or Hitler, and grants agencies within the Executive Branch powers similar to those of the KGB or Gestapo."

"Bush justifies this act by claiming he needs it to fight the "war on terror," but a number of critics, including former counterterrorism officials, have said the administration has greatly exaggerated the threat and used illogical methods to combat terrorism."

..."The war on terror is bogus. Terrorism shouldn't be treated as if it were a nation to be battled with the military, but should instead be fought with police work and intelligence agencies."

"Terrorism is not an enemy, but a method. Even if the United States were to wipe out every terrorist cell in the world today, terrorism would be back tomorrow."

Read all at link above.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Sunday, October 15, 2006

The Tiger by William Blake

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Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?



You can hear some of my songs from Blake's "Songs of Innocence" at my dmusic site.
Video for "Star-like mingles with the Stars" from Tennyson's Sir Galahad coming soon!!!!!

Found the Tiger animation here. He's the guy I got the "The Prophet" quotes from, next post.


me in the EE
meEE

Good and Evil, Crime and Punishment


From "The Prophet" of Kahlil Gibran:

And one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil."

And he answered:
Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.
For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?
Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters.
You are good when you are one with yourself.
Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.
For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.
And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.
You are good when you strive to give of yourself.
Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.
For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.
Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, "Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance."
For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.
You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,
Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose.
And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.
You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.
Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.
Even those who limp go not backward.
But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness....


Then one of the judges of the city stood forth and said,
"Speak to us of Crime and Punishment."

And he answered saying:
It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind,
That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself.
And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed.
Like the ocean is your god-self;
It remains for ever undefiled.
And like the ether it lifts but the winged.
Even like the sun is your god-self;
It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent.
But your god-self does not dwell alone in your being.
Much in you is still man, and much in you is not yet man,
But a shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its own awakening.
And of the man in you would I now speak.
For it is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime and the punishment of crime.
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.
You are the way and the wayfarers....

The book, the author/artist that has had the greatest impact on my thinking, not that it has changed my thinking, but has confirmed and clarified my thoughts on many things. Thank you, Kahlil.

And thanks to the folks at BlondeSense for reminding me of this.

me in the EE with Kahlil, of course, and you, too!

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Gay...Nature's Way


"We may have opinions on a lot of things, but one thing is clear -- homosexuality is found throughout the animal kingdom; it is not against nature."

From an article titled: Museum's gay animals upset Christians

From my former State: Polls show Ariz. leads groundswell for equality


Only 38 percent of polled voters support Arizona's harsh constitutional ban, with police and fire unions the latest to come out in opposition.


Another article at PlanetOut: Average coming-out age now 13, survey finds


Bonobos are reknowned for thier "advanced", hmmm, creative and open sexuality.

Perhaps the bonobo's most typical sexual pattern, undocumented in any other primate, is genito-genital rubbing (or GG rubbing) between adult females. One female facing another clings with arms and legs to a partner that, standing on both hands and feet, lifts her off the ground. The two females then rub their genital swellings laterally together, emitting grins and squeals that probably reflect orgasmic experiences. (Laboratory experiments on stump- tailed macaques have demonstrated that women are not the only female primates capable of physiological orgasm.)

Male bonobos, too, may engage in pseudocopulation but generally perform a variation. Standing back to back, one male briefly rubs his scrotum against the buttocks of another. They also practice so-called penis-fencing, in which two males hang face to face from a branch while rubbing their erect penises together.

The diversity of erotic contacts in bonobos includes sporadic oral sex, massage of another individual's genitals and intense tongue-kissing. Lest this leave the impression of a pathologically oversexed species, I must add, based on hundreds of hours of watching bonobos, that their sexual activity is rather casual and relaxed. It appears to be a completely natural part of their group life. Like people, bonobos engage in sex only occasionally, not continuously. Furthermore, with the average copulation lasting 13 seconds, sexual contact in bonobos is rather quick by human standards.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Voters for Peace


"I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression a public position in his or her campaign."

Monday, October 09, 2006

Simone's Artwork (3) Bless the Children

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Simone is my niece. She speaks English and Portugues. My sister speaks Spanish, Portugues and English, (she married a Brazilian). Every now and then I get to see some of her art work via e-mail. I think she's doing great work. Her teacher uses the major artists and styles of art to educate the children. I didn't learn about the famous artists until I was in college! The top painting is in the style of modern artist Romero Britto. The bottom one is in the style of... can you guess? Keep up the good work, Simone!

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Tuesday, October 03, 2006

On the Route 10.03.06


If yesterday morning was exceptional, (see previous post below) then this morning was exceptionalER. Wow. The sky was crystal clear in every direction. So at around 5:50 am I got out of my car and did some viewing. Even better sightings of Orion, Hydra, Monoceros and Lepus, easily seen below Orion and shown in diagram to right.

Also, I remember seeing Leo, Little Leo, Ursa Major and Minor going north or left from the first group. Then Cassiopeia, Perseus and Auriga in the north and northeast. Continuing on to Triangulum, Aries and Taurus and then Orion again.

The best viewing in a long time.

As I was thinking about the stars I got to thinking about Light Years. What we see now is what was happening light years ago. Think about it!

"... to measure really long distances, people use a unit called a light year. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kilometers per second). Therefore, a light second is 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometers). A light year is the distance that light can travel in a year, or:

186,000 miles/second * 60 seconds/minute * 60 minutes/hour * 24 hours/day * 365 days/year = 5,865,696,000,000 miles/year

A light year is 5,865,696,000,000 miles (9,460,800,000,000 kilometers). That's a long way!"




Cool Fact
A light nanosecond -- the distance light can travel in a billionth of a second -- is about 1 foot (about 30 cm). Radar uses this fact to measure how far away something like an airplane is. A radar antenna sends out a short radio pulse and then waits for it to echo off an airplane or other target. While it's waiting, it counts the number of nanoseconds that pass. Radio waves travel at the speed of light, so the number of nanoseconds divided by 2 tells the radar unit how far away the object is!



me in the EE




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Monday, October 02, 2006

It's called tyranny and the illusion thereof

"There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country - if the people lose their confidence in themselves - and lose their roughness and spirit of defiance."
- Walt Whitman



Fatal Vision: The Deeper Evil Behind the Detainee Bill by Chris Floyd, TO UK Correspondent
t r u t h o u t | Perspective. From the article:

It was a dark hour indeed on Thursday when the United States Senate voted to end the constitutional republic and transform the country into a "Leader-State," giving the president and his agents the power to capture, torture and imprison forever anyone - American citizens included - whom they arbitrarily decide is an "enemy combatant." This also includes those who merely give "terrorism" some kind of "support," defined so vaguely that many experts say it could encompass legal advice, innocent gifts to charities or even political opposition to US government policy within its draconian strictures.

All of this is bad enough - a sickening and cowardly surrender of liberty not seen in a major Western democracy since the Enabling Act passed by the German Reichstag in March 1933. But it is by no means the full extent of our degradation. In reality, the darkness is deeper, and more foul, than most people imagine. For in addition to the dictatorial powers of seizure and torment given by Congress on Thursday to George W. Bush - powers he had already seized and exercised for five years anyway, even without this fig leaf of sham legality - there is a far more sinister imperial right that Bush has claimed - and used - openly, without any demur or debate from Congress at all: ordering the "extrajudicial killing" of anyone on earth that he and his deputies decide - arbitrarily, without charges, court hearing, formal evidence, or appeal - is an "enemy combatant."

Trumpeting his successes in the Terror War, Bush claimed that "more than 3,000 suspected terrorists" had been arrested worldwide - "and many others have met a different fate." His face then took on the characteristic leer, the strange, sickly half-smile it acquires whenever he speaks of killing people: "Let's put it this way. They are no longer a problem."

Bush proudly held up this hideous system as an example of what he called "the meaning of American justice." And the assembled legislators ... applauded. Oh, how they applauded! They roared with glee at the leering little man's bloodthirsty, B-movie machismo. They shared his sneering contempt for law - our only shield, however imperfect, against the blind, brute, ignorant, ape-like force of raw power. Not a single voice among them was raised in protest against this tyrannical machtpolitik: not that night, not the next day, not ever.


Now the killing will go on. The tyranny that has entered upon the country will grow stronger, more brazen; the darkness will deepen. Whitman, thou should'st be living at this hour; America has need of thee.

All this being said, let's remember, what seems to be cannot be. That is why it is temporary and fleeting. That is why it never was. These illusions are held up by humans believing in the "magic" of their misconceptions. So, be at peace knowing all is well and that which seems to be is not. Align yourself with "what is" or not knowing "what is" know that "what is" needs no illusions. Wishing peace to all that all will come to realise illusions cannot be. The physical world is an extension of reality to be sure but it is not cause, it is effect. What is is not effect, it is what IS. It is not the interpretation of reality. It is what is real. Darkness surely is followed by the dawn. Those who seek, find. It is here and now and always. Peace.


me in the EE




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On the Route Log 10.2.06

On the Route logs are a way for me to share the things I experience and perhaps just think about while out on my early morning paper route.

This morning's musical highlight: my own songs to William Blake's Songs of Innocence. I have about half of them recorded and you can hear three of them in draft form here at my dmusic site. OK, I just went there and it's been changed. You can hear one "Piping Down the Valleys Wild" on the main page and on the music link you can here two more at the bottom of the page. These are songs with, I hope, singable melodies and simple arrangements for small ensemble. Someday I'd like to arrange them for ensemble singing and stage interpretation.

Constellations:
I love to stop and check out the night sky when I can. Last two nights, (mornings) have been very clear. This morning was exceptional. Looking at Orion in the SE, it was easy to see Gemini, Canis Major and Minor, Lepus, Taurus, Aries, (not so easy to see), Triangulum, Perseus, and Auriga. Monoceros, Cancer and the head of Hydra are also in this area but difficult to make out until they rise a little more in the sky. Ursa Major is high enough now in the northeast to see the whole constellation, most know only the "dipper shape". Oh, and also Leo is coming up now, but not all there quite yet. To the north I could see Ursa Minor, which has the "North Star" around which all the Constellations revolve and west of that Cassiopeia, the "W" or "Lady in the Chair". She is also a good Constellation to use to locate others.

If one picks out a certain time of the night, or morning, and certain location in the sky it is easy to see many constellations as they take their turns in that position through the year. If you can stay up for hours at a time you can learn a lot more in a much shorter time, of course. See the sidebar for the Interactive Sky Chart link.

Other thoughts this morning: Tomorrow I teach someone to fill-in for half of the route, actually one of the two that I do, so that on Wednesday I can have a colonoscopy done. I have had, quite literally, a pain in the butt for a long time now. The result of a screening showed that my PSA was in the normal range. The doctor did feel a hard mass in the rectum. This is not the same as a boring mass near the rectory, although I have suffered with both! Getting older is interesting, no? I feel that these are the symptoms of the low level mental and emotional distress I have put upon myself, my illusions getting the best of me. Actually, the body's perfect response to the confusion and limitations of my thoughts and emotions. The body and mind being extensions of the same thing. However hard I try to limit what is unlimited and perfect and in Eternal Ecstasy, always in all ways. Of that I am certain.

Politics: Iraq, NIE, Supreme Court, the latest Washington Sex Scandal,

Other news: Two Americans win Nobel Prize in Medicine


Peace to all.

me in the EE, really



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Sunday, October 01, 2006

False Metaphors and Misconceptions, Willful Misleading Perceptions: Recipe for Illusions

"The war on terror is a false metaphor that has led to counterproductive and self-defeating policies. Five years after 9/11, a misleading figure of speech applied literally has unleashed a real war fought on several fronts -- Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia -- a war that has killed thousands of innocent civilians and enraged millions around the world."


From an article byGeorge Soros title: "A Self-Defeating War"

"With American influence at low ebb, the world is in danger of sliding into a vicious circle of escalating violence. We can escape it only if we Americans repudiate the war on terror as a false metaphor. If we persevere on the wrong course, the situation will continue to deteriorate. It is not our will that is being tested, but our understanding of reality. It is painful to admit that our current predicaments are brought about by our own misconceptions. However, not admitting it is bound to prove even more painful in the long run. The strength of an open society lies in its ability to recognize and correct its mistakes. That is the test that confronts us."


"It is not our will that is being tested, but our understanding of reality. It is painful to admit that our current predicaments are brought about by our own misconceptions."

Misconceptions as well as perceptions are never true. They cannot be by definition. What is true is what IS. You must be one with it to get it, and you cannot NOT be, although you can deceive yourself into thinking that you are separate from all else. All is one. Therein is the peace that passeth understanding. A little thoughtfulness about the nature of beingness and it's all-enveloping aspect, allowing each one to find his way within what IS and always will be. Peace to all.

me, as always, in all ways, in the EE