taigapoetry

Justin Bieber's Favorite Songs

2011-11-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

We know you're wondering what's happening in those headphones.

Justin Bieber Wins Everything

2011-11-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Though he's yet to score a Grammy, the pop star has racked up quite the collection of trophies over the years.

The History of Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T17:15:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is a day of "thanks" celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada each November. More specifically the fourth Thursday in November. In 2011 Thanksgiving will fall on November 24th. Thanksgiving is observed by both Federal and State Governments as a major holiday. The history of Thanksgiving is one of great debate. So how did Thanksgiving begin?

Thanksgiving originated in North American from a hodgepodge of ideas from both Native and European traditions. In the United States the modern Thanksgiving holiday as we know it today can be traced back to 1621; however, some believe it goes back even further to 1565. In 1565 Spanish explorers in Florida had a harvest celebration. The celebration we think of as the first official Thanksgiving, the one that took place in 1621, was held at Plymouth, in the state that is now known as Massachusetts.

The 1621 celebration and feast was the result of a good harvest that year. This harvest is reported to be in part thanks to the help and wisdom of the Wampanoage Native American Tribes. These Native Americans helped teach the Pilgrims how to fish and plant various seeds for food and reproducing crops. History reports the Pilgrims did not have enough food or skills to feed themselves.

The history of Thanksgiving is still up to debate these days. Some disagree on the location and who actually started and founded the holiday. Some believe it was the United States, some do not agree. Some historians believe the first Thanksgiving was founded by the Spanish in 1565.

Regardless of the dates and where it was founded one thing everyone can agree on is the meaning - to give thanks. More specifically in earlier times it was to give thanks for food and bounty, something that was not easy to come by back then. The first Thanksgiving is reported to have served very different foods than the ones Thanksgiving is known for today.

100 Hottest Supermodels

2011-11-27T04:59:00.000-08:00

Whether they're strutting their stuff in lingerie or landing campaigns with high-end designers, find out which supermodels are really on top.

The Sexiest Singers

2011-11-27T04:31:00.000-08:00

From punk rock princesses to country cuties, there are some seriously hot songstresses out there.

Movie Star - Celebrity Photos

2011-11-24T07:17:00.000-08:00

Today's entertainment world undoubtedly revolves around movies and movie star. Music has been a source of entertainment from the very beginning. But movies, feature films and videos are latest addition in the entertainment industry.

Ever since it is invented it has been able to capture audience rapidly. Much of its credit goes to our movie stars and celebrities who charm us with their charismatic acting ability, style and elegance.

Movies stars are today's style icons. Youngsters are always fond of them. It is hard to find any one who doesn't keep details of his favorite movie star. Internet and electronic media take us even into the bedroom of the celebrities!

Courtesy Internet that all sorts of celebrity photos, videos and movies are just a matter of one mouse click. Twenty years earlier, it was only the news and celebrity magazines that we had to look for our favorite movie stars' photos and articles. But the web is spreading rapidly; you don't have to wait for the monthly issue of popular film magazines to get celeb photos any more. You can easily download popular celebrity photos, pictures and wallpapers any time.

Today's youngsters are not happy with mere professional details of the celebs. How many awards have Russel Crowe or Leonardo DeCaprio won; how Daniel Craig has outperformed everyone in his latest release Defiance; whether Kate Winslet has been nominated for the Academy Award or not are not of interest of common people anymore. They want more. There are hundreds of websites to provide you with every detail of your favorite star such as what he or she loves to eat, loves to wear, what's her favorite brand for apparel and accessories or what her favorite pass time is and many more.

Websites are competing with each other with exclusive news, articles and photos of celebs and movie star. Winnoa Rider was caught for shop lifting is not news anymore. The latest news is that she has been accused of swiping Bulgari jewels worth $124,000 before attending an award ceremony.

Free Wallpaper

2011-11-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

Wallpapers are the backgrounds for your computer screen. They are easily available on the Internet. Instead of keeping a plain background on the computer screen, one can download many types of free wallpaper.

Using free wallpaper is very easy. All that has to be done is to choose the free wallpaper you intend to use on your computer. Then you have to click on the link that applies to your screen resolution. Upon doing this, a new window appears on the screen. The wallpaper you had chosen appears in this window. Then you have to right click on the free wallpaper, and select 'set as wallpaper'. However, the downloading of the free wallpaper will take awhile, especially if you are on a low-speed connection.

There are many sites offering free wallpaper. Sometimes the wallpapers may be divided into different categories on the site. They may be site-exclusive wallpapers, which are made by the staff of the site, fan-submitted wallpapers, which are wallpapers submitted by fans of the website, and theme-based wallpapers. These are wallpapers that follow a particular theme in their pictures.

Selena Gomez Next Disney Star

2011-11-24T04:02:00.000-08:00

Before starring in the Wizards of Waverly Place show, Selena Gomez starred as an extra in various other television programs, Barney & Friends being one of the more popular ones. She then auditioned for the show and got the main role, Alex who is a wannabe wizard after finding out that her parents have magical power. The show is currently in the middle of Season 2 and its popularity is increasing.

Remember last year around the same time when Hannah Montana, the TV show was starting up? The history with regard to this seems to be repeating as even though Miley Cyrus didn't become popular overnight, Selena Gomez is following up closely and who knows where her popularity will be in a year from now.

My two daughters are absolutely crazy about both the Hannah Montana and Wizard of Waverly place episodes and even I am inclined to watch, more often the latter whenever new episodes come out. I guess the characters have such a good personality and they make you feel as if you are actually involved, in the TV. It appears that Disney have finally figured out that quality works over quantity and here I am referring to shows like Just Raven or the Suite Life which have lots of episodes but are of minimalistic quality, and the actors aren't that great either.

I therefore congratulate Disney for picking great actors such as Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus for these two shows and it looks like their change in 'management' has definitely helped raise the fan numbers.

Happy New Year Poems

2011-11-24T03:02:00.000-08:00

As we reach the finish line of another wild, crazy, contentious, depressing and marginally hopeful year, which ominously manipulated the mass imagination once again; let's hope we can individually and collectively make a resolution to try and be our own, best selves. Maybe, we might be in a failing empire; where the rich get much richer and the crumbs for the rest continue to crumble, and where much of the rest of the world perceives us as either arrogant or ignorant, or a bit of both. Empowered by the words from the eloquently, written final stanza of, "The Waste Land" by poet, T. S. Eliot, "Shall I at least set my own lands in order?" Can we not passionately, yet patiently begin to 'set our own lands in order', as well?

A little kindness here, a little listening there and a little caring everywhere, can usher in what singer songwriter, Mary Chapin Carpenter recently referred to in her lyrics from, "The Age of Miracles."

"It seems we're just standing still
One day we'll get up that hill
In the age of miracles
There's one on the way"

Now, this new age doesn't necessarily require divine intervention, or even The Law of Attraction, but I'm not saying it might not benefit from either. The point is: If we can just begin to let go of our increasingly, negative self-fulfilling prophecies for only one day, or even a week, or best of all, throughout the New Year, we just might see our better self start to re-emerge.

Personally, I'm sick and tired of living in a time similar to the age that poet, WB Yeats referred to in his iconic poem, "The Second Coming,"

"The best lack all conviction, and the worst are filled with passionate intensity."

Such divisiveness breeds sickness, conflict and despair, and unfortunately real leaders and healers are in short supply these days. This doesn't mean that by striving to be our best and most committed selves, we can't learn to lead and heal ourselves in a world we can begin to cherish as we once did.

If, we become truly resolute, it can happen. But, we must have clear intentions, persevere, as realistic idealists and act from our hearts at least as much as we do from our heads. We need deep acceptance of difference and otherness, rather than a tepid tolerance, which can easily snap into tyranny.

In some ways we may well be unique, but in others we are very much connected. The problem is we have lost sight of this connectedness and the notion of a greater good that transcends the ultimately alienating notion of enlightened self interest. To be our best, our most committed and compassionate selves, we need to tear down walls that divide us and regain the openness and optimism that will restore our hope and happiness.

Fashionable and Stylish

2011-11-24T02:50:00.000-08:00

Fashion and style. What are they? Do they always go together? Do they mean one and the same thing? It's hard to say. According to specialists in the field, fashion is actually a synonym for style or glamour. It has been agreed on the fact that fashion is a way of personal expression, and according to this criteria, one can be fashionable when he/she fits in this expression mode, or unfashionable, which would be the opposite. Fashion has manifestations in all the fields of human activity, that is when can speak about fashion when we refer to topics such as architecture, clothing, music, cosmetics, entertainment, forms of speech or even politics or technology. Anything in these fields can be described as being fashionable or not. When one speaks about materialism or trend s using the term 'fashion', it can be associated with a negative meaning.

Most people today perceive fashion as a term referring mostly to clothes. The beginnings of what we call fashion today did actually refer to clothes and they go back as far as the sixteenth century. However, it was only two centuries later that the real manifestations of fashion took place and it happened in Europe, among the wealthy upper classes. Fashion, just like any other manifestation of human activity, underwent major and continual changes, to the point where it is today, that is, being related to many fields of activities.
Of course, it would be unjustified to assume that fashion is the same all over the world. First of all, fashion differs from one society to another. Then, within a certain society, there are a lot of factors which may influence fashion such as age or generation, social class, profession or occupation. Even the geography of certain regions may bring about differences in fashion among the people of the same society.

But how does fashion change? Because we all know that constant change is what fashion is actually about. Everyone will agree that what is new now will soon become old, and the process goes both ways, that I what was once into fashion but is now considered to be old and obsolete will soon turn into something new again. Capitalism has brought along with its numerous good aspects some less appealing ones, such as waste. People buy things which are not necessary to them and consequently speed up the process of change as far as fashion is concerned. Young generations have much to do with this change in fashion as well, because they are always eager and willing to try interesting things, things that they haven't experienced before, something new to be more precise Now.

The Turkey Vote

2011-11-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

I want to take this opportunity to wish all the readers of this blog, and my fellow progressive bloggers, a very happy Thanksgiving Day. I hope you all have many wonderful things to be thankful for. (And yes, I know I have a sick sense of humor. But when I saw this picture on FaceBook, it was just too funny and I had to steal it.)

Cain's Deadliest Enemy

2011-11-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Clay Bennett in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

A Few Things To Consider

2011-11-23T22:04:00.000-08:00

While you are stuffing yourself with some great food, enjoying time with family & friends, and maybe even watching a bit of football today, here are a few things you should probably remember:

* The Labor Department says there are 16.5 million people unemployed in the United States (and that is undoubtably an undercount), and another 8.9 million who are working part-time because they can't find full-time work.

* There are at least 100 million Americans living below or near the poverty line (that's nearly one out of every three Americans). And more than 15% of the U.S. population lives below the poverty line.

* The number of children living in poverty in the U.S. grew by 1,000,000 between 2009 and 2010 (from 14.7 million to 15.7 million). This means more than one in five American children are currently living in poverty.

* About 49 million Americans aren't sure where their next meal is coming from, and more than 15% of the population is now receiving food stamps (a jump of about two-thirds since 2007).

* The Bush tax cuts in 2011 for the richest 1% of Americans is more than the average income of the other 99%. The average tax cut for the 1% is $66,384, while the average income for those in the 99% lucky enough to have a job is $58,506.

* While the wages of workers are still stagnant (with buying power diminishing), the cost of a Thanksgiving meal increased about 13% over what it cost in 2010.

And just to put things in perspective, here are a few more facts:

* The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing the American people about $13 million every 40 minutes this year.

* The multi-billionaire Koch brothers increase their wealth by about $13 million every eleven hours.

The Republicans want to continue both of those wars and give the Koch brothers a massive tax cut -- and they want to do it by cutting the programs that help hurting Americans. I can't think of anything more ridiculous or mean-spirited than that.

A 2011 "Black Friday"

2011-11-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Mike Keefe in The Denver Post.

This Is Freedom ?

2011-11-23T22:02:00.000-08:00

This composite picture (shamelessly stolen from the blog of Yellowdog Granny) should make all Americans stop and think. We are a nation that prides itself on our Constitution and it's Bill of Rights. So why is it that when peaceful American citizens try to speak freely, peaceably assemble, and redress their government for their grievances, it winds up far too many times looking just like the scenes in a dictatorship?

The pictures on the right, from Bahrain and Tunisia, are no surprise because those countries don't have the constitutional freedoms supposedly guaranteed to Americans. But the pictures on the left are another matter. They should remind Americans that we are not yet as free as we thought we were or want to be. Our government, at all levels (local, state, and federal) doesn't seem to mind at all ignoring the Constitution and suppressing free speech -- especially if they find that speech uncomfortable or in opposition to those in power.

Free speech is meaningless unless it can be used to speak truth to those in power. It's time for the American people to demand that our government, at all levels, respect and obey the Constitution and its Bill of Rights. A Constitution that is not rigorously followed by all government authorities is useless and might as well not even exist.

Bonus Vs. Bone Us

2011-11-23T22:01:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Bill Day at caglecartoons.com.

A Few Hippies Or A Nationwide Movement ?

2011-11-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

Many of the politicians, especially the Republicans, would like for Americans to think the Occupy Wall Street movement is nothing more than a few hippies raising a little hell. Newt Gingrich even said they should just take a bath and get a job (even though his party, with blue dog help, has systematically destroyed or outsourced millions of American jobs, leaving a double digit number of applicants for the few jobs available).

The above map shows what an outrageous lie that idea is. Each of the red pinpoints above represents a city where Occupy Wall Street protests have been and are being held. That doesn't look like a few hippies to me. That looks like a nationwide movement demanding change. The politicians of both parties had better start taking this movement seriously, or they could well find themselves part of that change (and out of a job).

NOTE -- This map was found at Daily Kos.

Falling Behind

2011-11-22T22:07:00.000-08:00

Americans like to think that the United States is number one in nearly everything, and there was a time when that was pretty much true -- not so anymore. By neglecting things like our crumbling and antiquated infrastructure, we are letting many other countries get ahead of us. Why won't Congress put Americans back to work upgrading our infrastructure? Do they think platitudes and wishes will allow us to compete? The truth is that lower taxes for the rich will not solve our problems, and it certainly won't repair and update our infrastructure. Sometimes tax money is necessary.

Congress More Unpopular Than IRS (Or Communism)

2011-11-22T22:06:00.000-08:00

The current Congress has reached a historic level of unpopularity. The most unpopular federal government agency, the Internal Revenue Service, is more than four times as popular as Congress. Even other groups commonly reviled in this country (such as bankers, lawyers, and oil companies -- even BP during the Gulf disaster) are all significantly more popular than Congress. Hell, even the idea of the United States going communist is 2% more popular than the current Congress!

The worst part of this is that this is not due to a misperception on the part of the American people. Congress has earned every single percentage point of their massive unpopularity. The country is still mired in a recession, millions of Americans are out of work and not nearly enough new jobs are being created, jobs are still being outsourced to foreign countries, there is a $15 trillion national debt, wages for workers have remained stagnant while their buying power has significantly declined, poverty is reaching record levels, housing prices continue to fall as foreclosures continue at a record-setting pace, and the incomes of the super-rich (the top 1%) has increased by over 270% while their taxes paid remained virtually what they were 30 years ago (creating a huge gap between the rich and the rest of America).

The American people knew who to blame for the recession, the job losses, and the vast inequality in wealth and income -- George Bush and the congressional Republicans. That's why they elected a Democratic president and put Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress in 2008. The hope was that the Democrats would do what was necessary to start to pull this country out of the Great Recession (like they did when returned to power in 1932 and started the process of bringing the country out of the Great Depression).

But that did not happen. It is true that a large part of this failure can be laid at the Republican doorstep, since they did everything in their power (including misusing the filibuster) to block everything the Democrats tried to do. But it is also true that the Democrats gave in to ridiculous Republican demands far too often, and allowed the failed Republican "trickle-down" economic policies to continue unabated (including extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich, watering down the new regulations on Wall Street, and turning health care reform into a giant payday for the private insurance companies).

Congress had an opportunity to act in a bipartisan way after the 2008 elections and take steps to heal the severely damaged American economy. President Obama and his Democratic cohorts actually tried to work with the Republicans (sometimes too much) to reach bipartisan solutions -- solutions that would not have given either side all they wanted, but could have started this nation's economic healing. But the Republicans put ideology and a return to power over the well-being of the American people, and the Democrats (thanks mainly to the blue dogs) were too divided and incompetent to adequately address the Republican intransigence.

Now we have a Congress that can accomplish nothing except to posture for the next election. And the American people are disgusted -- with both parties. They no longer see the Congress as being able to address the serious problems facing this nation, and they are right. That is why the Occupy Wall Street movement was started, and why it has appealed to many Americans across this nation. They want changes, and they see Congress as being incapable of delivering those changes.

Congressional gridlock may have been tolerated in the past when the nation's economy was healthy and jobs were plentiful, but that is no longer the case. That gridlock cannot be tolerated in the midst of the current economic crises, because it just keeps making that economic crises worse. That is why the popularity of Congress has sunk to such a historic low -- a well-deserved low.

A New Low

2011-11-22T22:05:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Mike Keefe in The Denver Post.

The Militarization Of The Police

2011-11-22T22:04:00.000-08:00

I wrote yesterday about the indefensible actions of a policeman who pepper-sprayed peaceful sitting demonstrators at the University of California - Davis. But that was far from the only police overreaction that has happened against the peaceful Occupy Wall Street demonstrators. Several people were hospitalized in Oakland due to unnecessary and brutal police actions. In Seattle, a pregnant woman was pepper-sprayed and attacked, and that was most likely the cause of her miscarriage a couple of days later. And those are just three of many incidents across the country.

Some on the right have been trying to make excuses for the unnecessary police actions against peaceful people trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Just a couple of nights ago, a couple of talking heads on Fox News tried to minimize the use of pepper spray. Responding to a statement by Bill O'Reilly just causes some burning of the eyes, Megyn Kelly said, "It's like a derivative of actual pepper. It's like a food product, essentially."

That's a ludicrous statement, making it seem as though getting pepper-sprayed by police was no worse than the stinging that occurs when you rub your eyes after cutting some peppers at home. The truth is far different. The hotness of peppers are judged by the Scoville scale. In peppers readily available and used for cooking that scale ranges from 0 for the Bell pepper to about 350,000 for the hot Habanero pepper. Those are food products. The pepper spray used by the police is military grade and would rate between 2,000,000 and 5,300,000 on the Scoville scale -- much worse than any "food product".

But this unnecessary use of pepper spray is only one part of the overreaction by police across the nation to the peaceful Occupy Wall Street protests. The truth is that we have militarized our police in this country and now use that militarized police in ways that we shouldn't. Is it really necessary to have the police dressed in riot helments and protective gear and armed with pepper spray, tasers, automatic weapons, and billy clubs just to control a peaceful demonstration? Isn't this as much a way to provoke violence as to prevent it?

That is the opinion of ex-Seattle police chief Norm Stamper (and I agree with him). Stamper is the police official who turned the riot police loose on the World Trade Organization protesters in that city in 1999. Stamper writes, " My support for a militaristic solution caused all hell to break loose. Rocks, bottles and newspaper racks went flying. Windows were smashed, stores were looted, fires lighted; and more gas filled the streets, with some cops clearly overreacting, escalating and prolonging the conflict."

He goes on to fault the militarizing of our police nationwide, especially since the 9-11 attacks, and says, "Everyday policing is characterized by a SWAT mentality, every other 911 cal a military mission. What emerges is a picture of a vital public-safety institution perpetually at war with its own people."

He is absolutely right. I'm not saying (and neither is he) that there is never a use for a SWAT team -- only that we overuse the concept. And when we turn out fully-garbed riot police to deal with obviously peaceful demonstrators, then we are giving both the demonstrators and the general public the impression that the government considers the protestors to be enemies -- enemies that war must be waged against. Is it any wonder then that the attitude will also permeate the thinking of some of the police officers, and encourage them to act in a violent and improper way?

There is no need to use the SWAT team, or their big brother the riot police, to control a peaceful demonstration. Doing so just heightens the possibility of violence rather than preventing it -- and far too often it is the non-violent who end up getting hurt (and far too often it is the riot police doing that hurting). So far, this extreme tactic has not worked -- it has just re-energized the demonstrators. I hope they don't fall into the trap of reacting to the police violence with violence of their own. That would be a serious mistake.

Turkeys

2011-11-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by John Cole in the Scranton Times-Tribune.

Will Democrats Get Their Fondest Wish ?

2011-11-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

For months now the Democrats have been hoping that the Republicans would give them the wonderful present of nominating one of their truly crazy candidates to be their presidential nominee. It not that they don't think President Obama could beat Mitt Romney -- I think most Democrats think he would. But if one of the real nut-jobs were to get the nomination, it would not only make the election much easier, it could also have a down-ballot effect of putting many more Democrats into office.

Democrats have kept their fingers crossed as one after another of the crazies took their turn at leading the Republican race -- from Donald Trump to Michele Bachmann & Ron Paul to Rick Perry to Herman Cain. All of them would have been wonderful candidates -- in Democratic eyes. But they all fell by the wayside. However, hope is not lost.

With only six weeks left until the Iowa caucuses, a new champion has emerged to snatch the race lead from Mitt Romney. And this candidate -- Newt Gingrich -- could easily fill the fantasies of Democrats. Because he truly is a flawed candidate who will turn off a lot of voters in the general election. He has been married three times, having been unfaithful to both of his first two wives, and leaving them after finding out they were seriously ill. He is the only House Speaker to have been disciplined for ethics violations, and was driven from that job by members of his own party.

Then after leaving the House and bad-mouthing mortgage giant Freddie Mac, he accepts $1.6 million to be their lobbyist in Congress (and violating the law by not registering as a lobbyist). Now he is compounding those problems by revealing some of his truly bizarre political beliefs -- like eliminating child labor laws and privatizing Social Security.

This guy is not only a true far right-wing nut-job, he is also an ethically-challenged hypocrite. He has Democrats not only crossing their fingers, but their toes as well. Could they really be lucky enough to have the Republicans nominate Newt? Well, three new polls show it could definitely happen. The teabaggers seem ready to accept this ethical black-hole, since most of them believe anyone is better than Mitt Romney.

First up is the Gallup Poll. Gallup does things a little differently, by revealing what they call a Positive Intensity Score (PIS). The PIS is determined by subtracting those who have a highly unfavorable view of the candidate from those with a highly favorable view. The resulting number shows the depth of a candidate's support (and the higher the number, the stronger the candidate). Here are Gallup's latest Positive Intensity Scores:

Newt Gingrich...............+20 (up from a low of +1)
Herman Cain...............+14 (down from a high of +34)
Mitt Romney...............+11 (down from a high of +20)
Rick Santorum...............+6
Ron Paul...............+2 (down from a high of +16)
Rick Perry...............+2 (down from a high of +25)
Michele Bachmann...............+1 (down from a high of +24)
Jon Huntsman...............-2

Next is the CNN/ORC International Poll. This poll was taken between November 18th and 20th, and has a margin of error of 5 points. It showed:

Newt Gingrich...............24%
Mitt Romney...............20%
Herman Cain...............17%
Rick Perry...............11%
Ron Paul...............9%
Michele Bachmann...............5%
Rick Santorum...............3%
Jon Huntsman...............3%

And finally we have the newest Quinnipiac University Poll. The poll was done between November 14th and 20th, with a margin of error of 3 points. It showed:

Newt Gingrich...............26%
Mitt Romney...............22%
Herman Cain...............14%
Ron Paul...............6%
Rick Perry...............6%
Michele Bachmann...............4%
Rick Santorum...............2%
Jon Huntsman...............2%
Don't know...............19%

Like I said, it's still six weeks until the official voting starts and a lot could still happen. But right now it's looking good for Democrats, who might actually get their fondest wish.

The Last Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T22:01:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by R.J. Matson in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The "God Lobby" Is Growing In Washington

2011-11-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Most Americans may believe in a separation between church and state (religion and government) but it look like a lot of so-called "religious" organizations don't. There are about 212 religious groups that spend a ton on money lobbying Congress -- about $390 million a year. This seems like a waste of a lot of money to me, since the Constitution forbids the government from interfering with the free expression of religion by any individual. It also forbids the government from favoring any one religion over others. I suspect that this money is being spent to get around those constitutional guarantees -- to get the government to favor a particular religion or religious belief. I can't help but believe that $390 million could be spent in a better way, like feeding and clothing the poor. After all, aren't we our brother's keeper?

Moto GP

2011-11-22T02:24:00.000-08:00

The day clearly belonged to one driver and one driver only - Casey Stoner. The main Aussie of the Moto GP show silenced all his critics. Unusually for the 21 year old team Ducati rider he had a bad start. Slipping down the order to seventh position. This never seemed to phase the guy aptly described as "a genius" by his project manager Livio Suppo. Instead of tip-toeing around the drenched circuit and waiting for things to unfold ahead of him, Stoner went ahead and in the next 3 laps worked his way up to third place. By halfway through the race he'd passed the race leader Colin Edwards (who had led the race from pole position up to that point) and from there on in he never looked in the slightest discomfort with riding in the changing conditions, changing conditions because the track had started drying out to the point that a clear dry racing line had formed on the track.

Chris Vermeulen (are the Aussies taking over?) had to repay his team because he had crashed his bike 3 times over the weekend, so finishing 3rd was good enough for him. Having started way back in 12th position he had an excellent start and managed to pass Valentino Rossi in the closing stages of the race. Rossi brought his bike in to 4th place to at least keep the fight for the championship between himself and Stoner more than alive. Rossi had a difficult race firstly not having the pace of Casey Stoner and also tearing his tyres up in the latter half of the race due to the track drying out.

John Hopkins caught Rossi at the end but couldn't put in a decent passing move on the 7 times Donington winner so had to settle for 5th.

The rest of the top 10 finishers were Randy de Puniet on his Kawasaki in 6th, still recovering from his knee surgery. Alex Barros passed Dani Pedrosa for 7th place on the last lap of the race. Pedrosa started well on his Honda but slipped down the order and seemed a bit easy for the other riders to get past. Behind Dani Pedrosa were Alex Hoffman and Marco Melandri, with Melandri seeming to have made an incorrect tyre choice since he came to the party in the latter stages as the track dried out.

Moto GP Germany

2011-11-22T02:03:00.000-08:00

Round 10 of the Moto GP world championship took place under the sweltering summer sun in Germany at the Sachsenring track on the 15th July. Many feared that tyres would be a deciding factor as the excessive heat might cause the tyres to break up over the 30 lap race.

On pole started the Australian chamipionship leading Ducati rider Casey Stoner out to prove that being on pole is not cursed as many fear and the only way he could do that was to win. Starting in a very good 2nd position on the grid was Dani Pedrosa on his Repsol Honda and alongside him closing out the front row was Marco Melandri on his Gresini Honda. Randy de Puniet started in 4th place on his Kawasaki, lining up next to him was the American John Hopkins on his Rizla Suzuki and aside him the ever-threatening Valentino Rossi on his Fiat Yamaha. Following these top 6 riders from qualifying was, in order, Loris Capirossi, Alex Barros, Sylvain Guintoli, Shinya Nakano closing out the top 10 and Chris Vermeulen started in 11th. Nicky Hayden started way down in 14th place, his team having already apologised to the Texas Tornado for not providing him with a decent bike for the weekend as he had struggled with various problems since Friday.

Dani Pedrosa got off to a good start and led into turn one, Casey Stoner in 2nd place and bringing up 3rd was Marco Melandri, coming out in 4th after the 1st corner was John Hopkins. On lap 2 Marco Melandri got passed Stoner who didn't seem to put up too much of a fight. Casey Stoner re-passed Melandri at the end of lap 2 and then got passed Dani Pedrosa as well, but only for a few metres as Pedrosa came straight back at him to re-take the lead of the German Moto GP. With 3 laps gone Carlos Checa went down but was able to eventually get his bike back up and into the pits. There his team changed his gear lever which had broken and he went back out onto the track with his race obviously over.

Valentino Rossi found himself stuck behind the green Kawasaki of Randy de Puniet and not being able to find a way past the Frenchman. Chris Vermeulen's race was effectively over as it was announced that he needed to serve a "driver-through" penalty for jumping the start of the race. Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli's race came to an early end as he crashed out with 26 laps to go.

Then came one of the most important parts of the race. Valentino Rossi pushed too hard into a corner trying to pass on the inside of Randy de Puniet and he and his bike went down sliding across the asphalt and into the gravel trap. Rossi struggled with his bike to try and get back into the race but simply couldn't; his handlebars were broken in the fall.

With a full 22 laps left in the race Dani Pedrosa was already starting to pull away from Casey Stoner and his Ducati with his lead being extended to slightly more than 0.8 seconds. On lap 10 Alex Barros crashed out on his Ducati, his race over immediately while he clutched his injured right hand tightly to his chest to avoid further injury to it. With 14 laps to go Nicky Hayden passes fellow American Colin Edwards while the gap from Pedrosa's Repsol Honda to Aussie Stoner's Ducati had grown to as much as over 2.5 seconds. With 12 laps left of the race not only was Stoner falling further and further back from away from the Spaniard Pedrosa, who was now lapping the German track 2 seconds faster than the Australian, but he was now comeing into the clutches of the chasing Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi. Into corner one of the Sachsenring gp track Stoner became the center of a Capirossi and Melandri sandwich as they both tried to pass him, Melandri taking the outside line and Capirossi the inside. Melandri ran wide though and had to abort the pass while Capirossi went through and up into 2nd place.

While Dani Pedrosa rode unchallenged at front heading to his first win in over a year, the rest of the pack were fighting for the final positions and points. With 9 laps left in the race Marco Melandri managed to pass the defending Stoner who was clearly just trying to hang on with his tyres having fallen away drastically by now. He now was in damage limitation mode with both Nicky Hayden and John Hopkins closing in on the current championship leader. On lap 23 the flying Texas Tornado was able to get passed both John Hopkins and Casey Stoner, Hayden's compatriot Colin Edwards was also able to pass the other American John Hopkins. With 6 laps to go Nicky Hayden even managed to pass Marco Melandri for the final podium spot, having started way down in 14th place. With 4 laps left Casey Stoner passed Marco Melandri for 5th position.

So, the top 7 race positions:

1) Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda)

2) Loris Capirossi (Ducati)

3) Nikcy Hayden (Repsol Honda)

4) Colin Edwards

5) Casey Stoner

6) Marco Melandri

7) John Hopkins

2011 In Motor Racing

2011-11-22T01:54:00.000-08:00

In the 2011 MotoGP we are all desperate to find out how Valentino Rossi will be performing on the Ducati and how Casey Stoner will be doing on the Repsol Honda. In the winter testing Valentino Rossi had getting the Ducati up to a competitive speed. Rossi is one of the most popular MotoGP racers and 2010 was a disappointing year with his injured shoulder and then his crash and broken leg. Let us cross our fingers that he has recovered well from these for the 2011 season. We have a several British interests again in the MotoGP with Cal Crutchlow on an 800cc, young Brit Bradley Smith in the Moto2 and a strong representation of 4 Brits in the 125GP. The 2011 British MotoGP is in Silverstone having switched from Donington park in 2010. For fans who watch the MotoGP on the BBC, it is exciting to have Matt Roberts leading the coverage, taking over from Jennie Gow's 2010 coverage

The 2011 Formula 1 also promises to be exciting with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button remaining on the McLaren team. Red Bull dominated the Formula 1 in 2010 with their flexible front wing and the relationship between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber being somewhat tempestuous at times. Robert Kubica is out of the 2011 season having been involved in an horrific crash in February leaving him with many broken bones and a partially severed hand. He has a long period of rehabilitation ahead and there is a possibility that he is out of racing for good.The British Formula 1 remains at Silverstone. The Bahrain circuit that was scheduled to start the 2011 season has been withdrawn but the new Indian circuit promises to be exciting.

Moto GP Valencia

2011-11-22T01:47:00.000-08:00

Rossi suffered a mediocre start dropping down into 5th position, and gradually down to 7th through a few corners more. Blasting from the docks was Nicky Hayden, who held an advantage in fourth place though would have to catch the Ducati Duo of Bayliss and Capirossi, who held the One-Two positions in any attempt at reeling in the world title.

Unforeseen was Championship Leader Rossi's huge error on lap five whilst leant over mid corner. The young Italian lost the front end of his Camel Yamaha, sending his 2006 title hopes into the gravel and out of contention. Despite the off a desperate Rossi remounted in hope of retaining some points, it was not yet over by Rossi's standards. Uncharacteristically the Italian had seemed edgy throughout morning warm-up, having only posted an eleventh quickest time in the untimed practice. Turned on its Heels, the advantage now lay with Hayden how rode amazingly, even under the serious pressure of having the world title within immediate reach.

Almost overlooking the battle for honours at front having witnessed the title drama unfold, Troy Bayliss had extended his lead to an incredible two-seconds over part-time team mate Loris Cappirossi. In search of his first ever Moto GP victory, Bayliss a man on a mission, held his own to the line and braced a superb win. Capirossi followed home in second place making it a one two for Marlboro Ducati, whilst we all waited in awe for that #69 Honda of Nicky Hayden to blast out onto home straight. A glimpse in the distance of the orange and blue Repsol livery through the final curve ensured it was finally here, the dawn of a new World Moto GP champion! Bracing the chequered flag, Kentucky Kid Hayden raised his arms in disbelief, having earlier almost accepted Rossi's title retaining yet again. Followed by an emphatic display of emotion, Hayden pursued to smoke the back tyre, wheelie and celebrate in true championship winning style!

Moto GP - Rossi, Pedrosa, Stoner -The Speed Masters In Action

2011-11-22T01:36:00.000-08:00

Last weekend the sixth race of the Moto GP World Championship took place at the French Speedway - Le Mans Bugatti Circuit - which has been active since 1967. Amongst some of the manufacturers that currently participate in the 60th Edition of the Tournament are: Yamaha, Honda, Ducati, Suzuki, and Kawasaki.

Additionally, the top five riders who presently lead the scoreboard are: in first place Valentino Rossi from Italy with 97 points, the Spaniards Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo both with 94 points - second and third place respectively, Casey Stoner from Australia with 56 points and in fifth place the American Colin Edwards with a total of 47 points.

Last Sunday the Italian Valentino Rossi who rides for Yamaha accomplished a double win by becoming the French champion after his previous win in China; this triumph is his 90th win fact that moved him to the first position in the overall standings besides tying his record to that of the well-known Angel Nieto.

"To tie Nieto is like a dream," said Rossi, who also won the Shanghai GP two weeks ago. "I didn't expect to be so fast, but we made some modifications after the warm-up and the bike worked well. "I haven't won two races in a row since 2006. That means we are back in business."

Rossi's latest win is certainly an incredible achievement as his counterpart the Australian champion Stoner was pursing the lead but unfortunately for Stoner he had to retire during the 20th lap as his machine had a mechanical malfunction. Situation which benefit Pedrosa who pushed his Honda but both Rossi and Lorenzo moved ahead as Rossi won the first place and the Spaniard who also rides for Yamaha came in second showing an amazing display of cleverness and speed skills.

Moto GP - Valentino Rossi Wins the Czech Grand Prix

2011-11-22T01:26:00.000-08:00

The Italian Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi took the victory at the latest Moto GP Grand Prix in the Czech Republic after defeating Ducati rider Casey Stoner despite the Australian's good performance leading the competition. Toni Elías who is also a Ducati rider arrived in second place after a sensational race.

With this achievement Rossi adds twenty-five extra points to his name and now is fifty points away from the Australian Stoner while there are only six races remaining to finish the championship.

Other two strong rivals are the Spaniards; Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) who did not have a very impressive race and finished in tenth and fifteenth position respectively. Unfortunately for Pedrosa he is no more a candidate to win this year's title. Another unexpected finish was that of Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) who finished in ninth place.

The Czech Grand Prix was considered a new chapter in the fight both riders Stoner and Rossi put up at Laguna Seca a few weeks ago. During the exit in pole position Stoner quickly took advantage over Rossi who led a small group behind him, among them were John Hopkins (Kawasaki) and, after him, Anthony West (Kawasaki), Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and Pedrosa.

In the third lap Elías reached the eighth position while Pedrosa began to fade behind to the ninth place and in the following lap Stoner just could not keep up the paste and also felt behind the group situation that favored Rossi was able to lead with a seven second of advantage.

By the fifth lap Pedrosa had already lost enough positions and was in thirteenth place. The peak of the competition was reached only within seconds after when Stoner completely lost control of his motorcycle falling to the ground. Despite his actions to continue racing and setting his motorcycle on track, he became aware that the right part of the handlebars was broken and he had to withdraw. Rossi was then advised by his teammates that Stoner was no longer behind him and he had the track completely for himself.

For the remaining part of the race the rider Toni Elías showed an impressive display of speed reaching the second place and keeping it until the very end of the race; this was without a doubt an unforgettable weekend for the young rider. Meanwhile, Randy de Puniet also faced mechanical problems and finished last.

Currently, the Italian Valentino Rossi leads the Moto GP World Championship with a total of 237 points followed by the defending champion, the Australian racing star Casey Stoner, who is also one of the favorites to win the title. The Spaniard Dani Pedrosa remains third, with 172 points and Jorge Lorenzo is in fourth place with 120 points. Even though the championship is not over yet we can see how the pieces are adjusting as we start to see whom the next world champion may be.

MotoGP Build Up to Sachsenring

2011-11-22T01:18:00.000-08:00

There will be no doubt that Jorge Lorenzo will want to get off to the best possible start at the Sachsenring following his race win at Mugello a fortnight ago after taking over Dovizioso and Stoner. He will be looking to cut the MotoGP 2011 cahmpionship lead that Stoner has at the minute. The battle this weekend will be between these two. i think that Simoncelli will carry on with his form and crash after doing well last time out. Or has he finally got rid of his demons? Will he finish the race and maybe get the podium that he deserves.

The Yamahas have become strong in the past two races with Spies winning at Assen and Lorenzo at Mugello. They have brought a few little bit of extra tech to help them out in the battle with Repsol Honda. The Ducati's have not been on the pace even though Rossi has been running the GP11.1 bike (next years chassis with an 800cc engine in). Hayden has not been able to do this as he had already used too many of his engines for the season. The riders get a limit fo six engines for the season, averaging three races each. Rossi is on to his fifth engine of the season.

Another team that is doing well in the face of adversity is the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. Both of its riders had suffered collarbone breakages but getting back on the bikes the following race. Crutchlow will be wanting to get the issues of tyre pressures sorted for the race on Sunday. Edwards will be looking to bag himself some more points with his collarbone hopefully fully healed now.

The Repsol Honda riders of Stoner and Dovizioso will be looking to be near to the front of the pack come Sunday as they are most weekends. Pedrosa will be looking to get higher up the order than he did in Mugello now that he is back from his double collarbone break.

Why Nothing Gets Done

2011-11-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wonder why Congress won't do anything to help the people they are supposed to serve? Why they won't act to create jobs? Why they don't want to make having decent healthcare a right for everyone? Why they are perfectly OK with the top 1-10% of Americans owning most of this country and getting most of the wealth and income?

This chart explains that very clearly. 183 House members and 43 Senators are among the richest 1% of Americans. And the richest 10% of Americans includes 357 House members and 83 senators. They don't want to tax the rich because they are the rich. Only 30 members of the House and 7 Senators are not in the top quintile, meaning they are in the bottom 80% with most Americans (but even they make over $160,000 a year with great benefits and perks).

Congress won't help the Americans hurt by this recession because no one in Congress understands what it's like to be without a job and bills coming due. They haven't been hurt by this recession. Some of them don't care, and most of the rest don't understand. That's why it's going to be very hard to change anything in this country.

Super-Committee Failure Is A Good Thing

2011-11-21T22:06:00.000-08:00

The images above are of the members of the congressional "super committee", composed of six Democrats and six Republicans. They were tasked with the job of coming up with a way to cut the budget deficit by another $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. But after weeks of arguing, they finally admitted yesterday that they had failed. They were unable to agree on a proposal to submit to Congress for a vote.

The Republicans wanted to cut the whole $1.2 trillion by doing nothing but cutting programs that help ordinary Americans. They absolutely refused to cut the defense budget (which makes up more than half of all discretionary spending -- and about 44% of all military spending worldwide). They also refused to even consider raising taxes -- including tax raises that would only affect those making over a million dollars a year. The plan wanted by the Republicans would have been good for the military-industrial complex, other corporations, and the richest Americans, but it would have been disastrous for most other Americans.

The Democrats on the other hand, wanted to cut the budget deficit by using a combination of broad-based cuts and new taxes on the richest Americans. This plan would have been painful, but that pain would have been spread among all Americans -- even the richest Americans. That would have made things just a bit more palatable. But in the final analysis, neither side was willing to give in. Some of us progressives are breathing a sigh of relief, because we have seen the Democrats give in to ridiculous Republican demands far too many times in the past few years.

Thank goodness the six Democrats showed some backbone and refused to go along with the Republicans this time. With the Republican intransigence, that is probably the best outcome that could be hoped for. The budget deficit will still be reduced by $1.2 trillion over ten years (beginning in 2013), but the cuts will be evenly spread across the discretionary spending budget. This includes $600 billion in cuts to the outrageously bloated defense budget (about $60 billion a year).

Some Republicans (and blue dogs) are already complaining that this will hurt our national defense. That's not true. The cuts will simply be made in some of the special weapons programs (many of which either don't work or aren't really needed). There is absolutely no reason not to make these small cuts to the defense budget (and they really are small cuts).

So if Congress does absolutely nothing (and that is a real possibility), the budget deficit will be cut by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. And the Bush tax cuts for the rich will expire. That's two very good things to be accomplished considering the intractability of the current Congress. All we have to do now is how the Democrats make good use of their newly found backbones and don't let the Republicans block the defense cuts or the expiration of the Bush tax cuts for the rich.

And it sounds like the president is still willing to make use of the backbone he recently discovered he had. He has threatened to veto any plan that fails to cut the budget deficit by $1.2 trillion or tries to do it in an unfair or unbalanced way. The president said, "The only way these spending cuts will not take place is if Congress gets back to work and agrees on a balanced plan to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. That's exactly what they need to do. That's the job they promised to do. And they've still got a year to figure it out."

It may seem a little strange to hail a committee failure as a real victory, but in this case that's exactly what it is.

Never Mind

2011-11-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Daryl Cagle at msnbc.com.

Capital Gains - The Unfairest Tax Of All

2011-11-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

It is a fact that an American citizen that makes $34,500 (well below the median national income) is taxed at a higher rate than most millionaires and billionaires who make most of their income from "capital gains". That's because the federal government makes a distinction between types of income. Wages and salaries (which makes up the total income of most Americans) is taxed at the regular income tax rate, while income derived from capital gains (investment income which comprises the bulk of the incomes of the rich) are taxed at a special lower rate.

Most Americans think that as a person's income increases, they are taxed at a higher rate. It's called the "progressive" income tax. But that is only true for income from salaries and wages. All income from capital gains is taxed at a flat 15% rate -- regardless of how much of that income is earned ($10 billion or more in capital gains income would be taxed at the same 15% rate as a paltry $100 in capital gains income).

And most capital gains income is earned by the richest Americans -- the Americans who could most afford to pay taxes. In fact, more than 80% of all capital gains income in the past 20 years has been earned by the richest 5% of Americans. And more than half of all capital gains income in the last 20 years has been earned by the richest 0.1% (that's only one tenth of one percent -- or about 315,000 Americans).

And if you look at the dot-chart above (which you can click on to get a larger easier-to-read version), you will see that the average pay for the top 9 hedge fund managers is $1,872,500,000 (or about 25,161 times the income of someone at the 50th percentile). And since all of their income is made from capital gains, it is all taxed at the 15% rate -- a smaller percentage tax rate than someone making only $34,500 would pay. How can that possibly be considered fair?

The Republicans tell us that the incomes of the rich must be taxed at a lower rate because they will use that income to create jobs (the trickle-down theory). That's just not true, and no matter how many times that lie is repeated it is still just a lie. Giving rich people more money does not create jobs. If it did, we would have more jobs than we could fill since the rich are doing better than ever (even in this recession).

There is only one thing that creates jobs -- demand. When the people have money to spend it creates a demand for the products they want to buy. Then capitalists will act to fill that demand and hire the people they need to fill it (by producing and delivering the goods and services demanded). Until the demand exists, the rich will just put the extra money in their bank accounts and no jobs will be created. And right now, with most of the population hurting from the recession, there is not enough money in the economy to create strong demand.

A fairer tax policy that asks the rich to pay their fair share of taxes, in conjunction with increased spending on social programs, would funnel more money to more people and create a demand for goods and services that would spur the growth of new jobs. It's time the government did that. And a good start would be to eliminate the special capital gains tax and tax all income, regardless of its source, at the regular income tax rate -- a progressive rate that gets higher as the income gets larger. Those who get the most should pay the most. That's just common sense.

Corruption Occupies Capitol Hill

2011-11-21T22:03:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Unnecessary Police Violence Is Indefensible

2011-11-21T22:02:00.000-08:00

By now you have probably seen the above picture. It shows a policeman pepper-spraying students staging a non-violent protest at the University of California - Davis. And frankly, this image makes me sick. It is inexcusable behavior on the part of the policeman (and the other police at the scene who did not stop him).

Before I go further, I feel I need to say that I am not one of those who believe there is never a reason for the police to use force. I spent over 25 years in various jobs in law enforcement (working in a correctional institution, as a patrol officer for a university located in a high crime area, and as a parole officer -- in both the adult and juvenile systems). I have faced many violent and dangerous situations, and many others that had the potential to turn violent. I know that there are times when force (violence) is required.

But the force applied to control a person or group must always be the minimum amount of force needed to protect the safety of individuals (or the officer). And if the safety of no individual is at stake, then the use of force is never to be used. And the use of both pepper spray and tasers do constitute the use of force (violence). They may be advertised as non-lethal (which is not always true), but that does not mean they are not a use of force.

In the above situation these students being pepper-sprayed presented no danger to the police or anyone else (or any property). The students were peaceably assembled and had made no threats to engage in any violence. In addition, they were sitting on the ground -- the most non-threatening posture they could assume. I do not see how the police officer's action could possibly be justified.

This is certainly not an example of good police procedure. In fact, it is not even an example of bad police procedure. It is simply a mean individual who is using his position of authority to cause unnecessary pain and suffering to other people. If someone else did this, it would be classified as an assault and they would be arrested. And that is exactly what should happen to this officer -- he should be arrested and charged with assault and misuse of authority. Then he should be fired (since he obviously has no respect for the law or the badge he is tarnishing).

There are many thousands of brave and decent men and women who put their lives on the line daily to protect and serve the general public by wearing the badge of a police officer in this country. With his unnecessary and mean-spirited behavior, this officer has not only tarnished the reputation of decent officers all over this country, but he has also made their jobs a little bit more difficult. That is inexcusable.

Skeletons In The Closet

2011-11-21T22:01:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Kevin Kallaugher (KAL) in The Economist.

Bernie Asks "Which Side Are You On?"

2011-11-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

If you've read this blog for very long, then you'll know that I consider Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) to be the best senator in the United States Senate. He is a staunch defender of the American working and middle classes, and has been fighting for economic and social justice for many years. He has never been afraid to stand up to those in power and tell the truth. And he's still doing it. Here is his latest missive (and as usual, I find that I agree with every single word he has written):

Here is something we all can agree on: Federal deficits are a serious problem.

Here is something no one seriously disputes: Today's big deficits were caused mainly by big tax cuts for the wealthy, two unpaid-for wars, a horrible recession caused by Wall Street greed, and an expensive prescription drug program rigged to favor pharmaceutical companies.

Here is something we should not agree to do: Cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

There is surprisingly broad consensus among Americans (except inside the corporate-dominated D.C. beltway) on what to do about deficits. In poll after poll, strong majorities favor making the wealthiest Americans, who, in many cases, have never had it so good, share the sacrifice and pay a little more in taxes. Increasing taxes on the wealthy is overwhelmingly supported by Democrats and independents. A majority of Republicans and people in the Tea Party movement also support taxing millionaires to help bring down deficits. Even many millionaires say they should be paying higher taxes. At a time when many profitable corporations pay nothing in federal income taxes, there also is widespread support for closing corporate tax loopholes. Taking a hard look at mushrooming defense spending also enjoys widespread support.

For far too long, the Washington agenda has been set by powerful corporate interests and a right wing that do not represent the needs and aspirations of most Americans. For too long, the Democrats have gone along with Republican demands and caved in to these powerful special interests. Enough is enough! The Democrats must stand tall and continue to resist Republican demands to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while leaving the wealthiest people and largest corporations in this country exempt from shouldering their fair share of the tax burden.

As a Thanksgiving deadline nears for action by the powerful Super Committee on deficit reduction, I am outraged (but not surprised) that Republicans refuse to listen to the American people and continue to insist on supporting their wealthy friends and corporate benefactors. I hope that Democrats will not once again capitulate just for the sake of an agreement but will instead demand that deficit reduction is done in a fair and responsible way. But that has, unfortunately, not been their pattern.

In December -- when Democrats controlled the Senate, the House and the White House -- Congress and President Obama not only extended Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthy but also gave new breaks to heirs of the super-rich.

In April -- with a Democrat in the White House and Democrats still in the majority in the Senate -- Republicans threatened to shut down the government and delay the processing of new Social Security benefits for senior citizens unless their demands were met. Democrats went along with $78 billion in cuts from the president's budget request.

In August, in an outrageous display of unprincipled gamesmanship, Republicans put the United States on the brink of bankruptcy. Instead of invoking clear 14th Amendment powers to honor our nation's debts, the president and most Democrats agreed to a $2.5 trillion deficit-reduction package.

That's how we got to where we are today.

Incredibly, throughout all of these negotiations -- in December, in April, in August and again today -- the wealthiest Americans and the country's major corporations have not yet been asked to contribute one penny toward deficit reduction. That is despite huge cuts in life-and-death programs for working families.

The American people have had it. The Occupy Wall Street movement is growing, and energizing young people in particular in a way that we have not seen for many years. A virtual popular uprising forced Bank of America to drop an unpopular $5 monthly debit card fee. On Election Day 2011, in Ohio and many other states the American people said NO to right-wing extremism and corporate greed.

The American people are very clear. They do not want Democrats to reach another 'grand bargain' with representatives of the rich and powerful that eviscerates the most successful and popular social programs in the history of this country. They want Democrats to stand up for the 99 percent, not the 1 percent.

If the president and Democrats on the Super Committee go along with cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the three pillars of the New Deal and the Great Society, and permanently extend the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent, the American people will shake their heads in disbelief. They will arrive at the reasonably valid conclusion that there are no significant differences between the two parties controlled by corporate interests.

I think that Democrats, as the Super Committee deliberations near conclusion, may finally have gotten the message.

This is a pivotal moment in American history. The rich and large corporations are doing phenomenally well while the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing. Now is the time to answer the question that the Woody Guthrie song poignantly asked, "Which side are you on?" The Democrats must answer boldly that they are on the side of working families and the middle class and that they will fight to protect their interests.

What if the Super Committee ends in stalemate? Across-the-board, automatic cuts are set to kick in. That so-called sequestration wouldn't start, however, until 2013. That would make 2012 one of the most important election years in modern American history.

If Democrats stand with ordinary Americans and make it clear that they are prepared to take on the wealthy and the powerful, they could win both houses of Congress. They could give Obama a fresh infusion of boldness as he enters a second term in the White House.

Senator Bernie Sanders

Illegal / Legal

2011-11-20T22:07:00.000-08:00

It doesn't take a genius to know that it has never made any sense to make (or keep) marijuana illegal while much more dangerous things are legal in this country. We must understand that this was never a decision made to protect Americans. It is a political and financial decision. Those items on the right in the picture above are the drugs of those in power. The drugs of the power-brokers will always be legal. Making marijuana illegal gave the powerful a way to help control everyone else (especially the poor, protesters, and minorities) -- and a way to use tax money (more than a trillion dollars so far) to benefit themselves and their friends. Isn't it time to stop this nonsense?

The "Officially Poor" Are Not The Only Ones Hurting

2011-11-20T22:06:00.000-08:00

The other day I posted about the growing problem of poverty in America -- a problem that now encompasses nearly 50 million people and more than 15% of the population. So that must mean nearly 85% of Americans are doing just fine -- right? Actually, no! It turns out that there are a lot of people in this country that are hurting even though they don't quite fit the official government definition of living in poverty.

According to a U.S. Census report detailed in The New York Times, there is another 51 million people in the United States that don't make an income below the poverty line but live on an income lower than 50% above the poverty line. These people are being badly squeezed in this recession economy. They have seen their wages fail to rise for years while the price of nearly everything they have to buy has gone up dramatically. These families are just scraping by, and many of them are just a paycheck or two from slipping into poverty themselves.

That means there are currently about 100 million people in the United States who live below or near the poverty line. That's about a third of our total population. And many of these people work in full-time jobs (although usually low-wage no-benefit jobs). And for many others, they are barely kept out of poverty by government programs like unemployment insurance.

Of the 51 million living just above the poverty line, nearly half are White, about 26% are Hispanic, and about 18% are Black. Around 49% live in the suburbs (along with a lot of the poor). Poverty and near-poverty are no longer just a problem in our inner-city urban areas. About 20% were kept above the poverty line by one or more government programs.

The Democrats in Congress don't seem to have an answer for these hurting Americans. And the Republicans are even worse. They want to cut or abolish the government programs that help many Americans to keep their heads above water, so they can give even more money to the richest Americans and corporations through new tax cuts. Is it any wonder that the Occupy Wall Street movement has found favor with millions of Americans?

Hot Air

2011-11-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Mike Luckovich in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Newt Takes The Lead In The Latest Poll

2011-11-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney might finally wind up with the Republican nomination. After all, he is the choice of the Republican establishment and the Wall Street money men. But it has become obvious that the Republican Party's base (the teabaggers) don't trust him, and they are still desperately searching for another candidate -- and considering the options they have been through, they're pretty much willing to take anybody else.

Just look at the candidates who have been seriously considered by the teabaggers -- Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain. The fact that any of these four "not-ready-for-prime-time-candidates" were seriously considered for the nomination shows the depth of distrust and dislike for Mitt Romney. They have literally scraped the bottom of the barrel to find an alternative to Romney, and a new Reuters/Ipsos Poll shows they are now willing to look under that barrel.

Just about seven days ago that same poll showed Herman Cain was slipping out of first place as voters come to terms with his sexual improprieties. Romney had again assumed first place with 28%, Cain had dropped to second with 20%, Gingrich had risen to third with 16%, and Perry was in fourth place with 12%. But the newest poll (conducted November 18th and 19th of 423 Republican voters, with a margin of error of 5.3%) shows that Gingrich has now surged into the lead. Here are the new numbers for the top four candidates:

Newt Gingrich...............24% (up 8 points)
Mitt Romney...............22% (down 6 points)
Herman Cain...............12% (down 8 points)
Rick Perry...............10% (down 2 points)

I have to admit I am rather surprised by the teabaggers turning to Gingrich. This is a group that claims to support the "sanctity of marriage", but they are now supporting a candidate who has been married three times -- and was unfaithful to both of his first two wives (both of whom he asked to divorce after learning they were seriously ill). He has shown less of a belief in the "sanctity of marriage" than any other candidate (including Herman Cain).

He is also the only Speaker of the House of Representatives who has been disciplined for ethics charges. After agreeing to a single charge, the other 83 ethics charges were dropped. The House voted to sanction him by a 395 to 28 vote, and made him pay back $300,000 in "investigation" charges in 1997. The following year he was forced to resign his speakership by members of his own party.

And his ethics didn't improve after he left the House of Representatives. He received $1.6 million from Freddie Mac. He has tried to say he was hired as a historian and to give advice to the company on their practices. That is absurd. Historians don't get paid $1.6 million for their services -- even good ones. And the company wouldn't seek his advice on housing finances, since he had no expertise in that area. He was paid more than a million dollars to be their lobbyist in Congress, and use his congressional-ties to get bills passed that would be favorable to them. And making matters even worse, he broke the law by failing to register as a lobbyist.

The fact that this morally and ethically challenged politician could even be seriously considered for the nomination shows the depth of hatred the teabaggers have for Mitt Romney.

Flavor Of The Month

2011-11-20T22:03:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Clay Bennett in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Texas Democratic Leaders Vote To Have No Beliefs

2011-11-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

There was some rejoicing among Texas Democrats last week when the Federal Court (composed of two Republican and one Democratic appointees) tossed out the redistricting plan passed by the Republican legislature and redrew the district lines for the upcoming elections. The court had found the Republicans had drawn district lines that were unfair to minorities. Although most of the state's growth in the last ten years was by Hispanics, the new districts failed to create enough new districts that reflected that fact. The much fairer district lines drawn by the court not only created new Hispanic districts, but turned several other districts into toss-up districts that could be won by either party.

But for those of us who had hopes that the Democratic Party would now go out and fight for those districts by offering the voters a real choice -- a choice that was different from the failed policies of the Republicans -- the rejoicing may have been short-lived. It seems like the current leadership of the state Democratic Party is happy with things just as they are.

You have to understand that the current Democratic leadership has been a disaster. They decided for some reason that Texans would not vote for people who espoused progressive values (even though Texas has elected many good progressives in the past), and so they have encouraged conservative "blue dogs" to run on the Democratic ticket. These are people who call themselves Democrats but vote with Republicans to oppose progressive bills and values. This idiotic policy has resulted in the Republicans having not only huge majorities in both houses of the legislature, but also holding every single statewide elective office.

Now anyone with even a few functioning brain cells would be able to see that what they have been doing has been a miserable failure and that something new must be done. The fact is that if people want to vote for someone with Republican beliefs and values they will vote for a real Republican -- not for a Democrat who's basically telling them they believe the same thing, but would somehow be better. Until the people are given a real choice, a better choice, they will keep voting for the Republicans.

But in spite of the crushing defeats the Democrats have been suffering through in Texas for many years now, the state party leaders have still not learned their lesson. They want to continue doing the same old thing, in the futile hope that someday it will result in a different outcome. As the excellent blogger, Juanita Jean, tells us, the State Democratic Executive Committee just met -- and the results were not good.

The SDEC was considering proposals for party support. Now this would have been a good start in showing voters that the Democrats stood for progressive values and the party was going to give them a real choice in November 2012. But that would have required some political vision and backbone, and the majority of the SDEC doesn't seem to have either one. These political cowards defeated anti-death penalty, pro-gay rights, and pro-marijuana legalization proposals. They said they didn't want to saddle their candidates with these progressive proposals (as if offering the voters a real choice would be a bad thing).

They did not support the opposite views of those progressive ideas -- they just wanted to not support them either. In effect, they want to be the party that is devoid of ideas and values (because ideas and values might upset some voters). So now I guess the Texas voters will have a bad choice to make in 2012. They can vote for the party of bad ideas (Republicans) or the party of no ideas (Democrats). Frankly, that doesn't sound like a choice, but a good reason to just stay home (and that's probably just what too many voters will do).

It's time for our state leaders to understand that voters want people with good ideas who are willing to fight for those ideas. They will always vote for a candidate like that over a candidate (or a party) too afraid to stand for something.

It's time to replace our party leaders. If you vote to keep them in power at the next convention, you will be voting for the defeatist status quo.

Could It Be That Easy ?

2011-11-20T22:01:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by David Horsey in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

A Simple Concept

2011-11-19T22:02:00.000-08:00

This is a simple enough concept so that anyone should be able to understand. Why can't the Republicans understand it?

Back To The Basics

2011-11-19T22:01:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Jack Ohman in The Oregonian.

Taking A Day Off

2011-11-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a mental health day today (cause I'll go crazy if I don't take a day off). I'll be back to regular blogging tomorrow with renewed vigor.

Megan Fox Biography

2011-11-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

MEGAN FOX (height 1.68 m, 5' 6"), was born May 16, 1986 in Rockwood Tennesse, USA. She has one older sister. Megan grew up in a very poor household, but this did not stop her parents from encouraging her interest in arts at an early age. Megan's parents divorced when she was young and she and her sister were raised by her mother and her stepfather.

She began her acting career in 2001 with several minor television and film roles, and played a recurring role on Hope and Faith. In 2004, she launched her film career with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Megan finally got her big breakthrough role in a live-action film "Transformers" in 2007, where she played the role of Mikaela Banes, the love-interest of Shia LaBoeuf. Megan Fox has been voted as the 'Sexiest Woman in the World.

Beautiful Love Poems And Quotes

2011-11-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Love Poems And Quotes Wallpaper,Image,Picture

How To Write a Good Poem

2011-11-19T09:32:00.001-08:00

What constitutes good poetry differs from person to person, and what one reader might enjoy, another will not. Judging a good poem is very subjective. Basically, this means there is no way to truly determine what 'good' poetry is, but there is a way to tell if poetry is 'bad.'Poetry, more than any other type of writing, is usually very personal or emotional. Because of this, readers will like poetry with which they can feel a personal or emotional connection and probably won't like poetry with which they cannot connect. Just because someone can't relate to the emotion of a poem doesn't mean the poem is bad, and just because some can relate to a poem doesn't necessarily mean it is good. Like I said, it's very subjective.

The first thing you most know about poetry is that there is no set of 'rules' for poetry. While there are some guidelines for certain types of poetry, such as a haiku (which is written in seventeen-syllable verse form, arranged in three lines of five, seven and five syllables), most poetry tends to be free verse. Some of it rhymes and some of it doesn't, and that's okay!

When writing poetry, avoid using all caps or toggling between upper and lower case. This does nothing to appeal to the reader and actually detracts from the visual imagery your words are supposed to convey.

Using phrases such as "Undying love" or "I love you more than words can say" are cliché, and honestly, unoriginal. We've heard these tired lines over and over. Plus, there's nothing worse than reading "I love you more than words can say..." but then to go on and read three pages of a poem where words are saying how much love is there. If words can't express love, then why write the poem in the first place?

Avoid over and under use of punctuation. I have seen a lot of poems that have no punctuation at all, which makes it difficult to read and pause while reading. I've also seen poetry that has an over-abundance of punctuation, which causes the poetry to be choppy and hard to read it with any type of flow.

Don't misspell words. Edit your poetry, proof it, read it out loud like your reader would read it, not like you think you have written it. Poor spelling or misuse of words will detract from the emotion of your poetry.

When writing poetry, esoteric poetry is great, as long as the reader can get a sense of what you mean or can connect and find a meaning all their own. A poem that makes no sense and leaves the reader wondering, "What was that about?" is truly not good poetry. The reader doesn't have to understand it from your point of view, but they need to be able to feel something or understand it from their point of view.

Fresh imagery, visual imagery, or emotive conveyance - you want your reader to see something they have never seen when reading other poetry. You want your reader to be able to visualize your poem, in full living color - see it, feel it, or even for the moment to live it, and you want to do it in a way that others have not done it many times before. Poetry that fails to do this is simply not good poetry.

Take a look at how the poem looks on the page. Are there some lines that linger out longer than others? Does it look choppy or have a weird flow to the lines of the poem? In fiction or non fiction writing, how the words appear on the page is pretty much standard, but in poetry, how the lines flow, the 'shape' of the poem is sometimes as important as the poem itself.

Think about how the words flow, the meter and rhythm of the cadence. Does it have a beat, a pulse, a pattern? It's not required, but when you read it, does it flow well? Read your poem out loud and see if your voice rises and falls naturally with a good ebb and flow.

Good poetry does not have to rhyme, however, if you do rhyme your words, don't stretch too far to try to make them rhyme. For example, if one would have to change the standard pronunciation of a word in order to make it rhyme, this is not good poetry - with the exception of humor poetry, which sometimes forces rhyming as part of the very humor of the poem itself.

Use the proper words and meanings. Just because a word sounds interesting or rhymes with another word, that doesn't mean it's okay to use it if the meaning of the word doesn't fit with what is being said. After all, poetry is more about the meaning than about the reading of it - a word may sound good, but if the poem makes no sense, who cares? Get yourself a good synonym finder online or a good thesaurus and look up interesting or even archaic words that mean what you want to say, but never throw a word in there just because it sounds good if the meaning is skewed. Again, humor poetry is an exception, and sometimes using words intentionally incorrectly might be the point of the poem if it is meant to be humorous. I adore 'play on words' poetry.

Human beings like twists. We don't always want to know what is going to happen next. Poetry is a story in verse form, and it should have a 'plot' of some sort that we can see. Use irony, metaphors, analogies - tell us a story, and let us be sucked into it. Make your poem a condensed short story and give us a good ending to our short word journey.

Okay, after all I've said, this one will seem to contradict - emotion isn't enough! I know, I have said over and over to be emotive and make us feel something, but truth is, your raw emotion is not something with which I can connect. Write your poem based in and infused in your emotion, but do it in such a way that I can feel that emotion too.

Oscar Wilde once said, "All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling."

Emotion is good, but poetry needs words to convey the emotion, and you should choose the words and the meter and style that fits the emotion you want to convey to the reader of your poem.

Emotion isn't only sorrow or love or grief... happiness and elation are emotions too. Humor is a great way to convey emotions to the readers of your poetry. When you are stuck on a poem, try taking a break and write about an opposite emotion instead - be silly, be funny, and the person who reads your poem can have an emotional connection to that too. Good poetry doesn't have to be esoteric and morose.

In the end, good poetry is the poem that makes you feel something... it will make you think, respond emotionally, laugh, cry, get angry - but FEEL something. If a poem fails to evoke emotion in a reader, then it is a bad poem. If a poem cannot be understood or the reader cannot connect to it in some way, then it is a bad poem.

And lastly, don't write poetry just for yourself. Some of the best poems ever written were written by the poet for someone else. Learn to write for you as well as for other people who will read your poetry. Spark emotion in them, make them laugh, smile, cry or scream - and if you do, that is how you know you have written a good poem.

How To Write a Good Poem

2011-11-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

The Taylor Swift Story

2011-11-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

Born on December 13, 1989 in Pennsylvania and named Taylor Alison Swift, this beautiful young lady started performing in her hometown of Reading at the age of 10. She would sing at fairs, festivals and at karaoke contests. By the time she was 12, she started writing songs and her parents got her a guitar. She loved the country music style of music; especially admiring those had gone before like Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton.

Taylor's mother and father traveled to Nashville and through her determination, Taylor was the youngest songwriter to sign with Sony/ATV. Her parents then moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee to support her with her music. A talent scout, Brochetta, discovered her at the Bluebird Café and her career was born.

The song "Our Song" was written by Taylor for a talent show in the ninth grade. She humbly admits she never thought it would be such a success.

Her MySpace page gained a huge following early in her career. She would personally connect with her fans until she surpassed over 40 million streams and became the No. 1 Country artist online. She has always been so good to her fans, even letting them pose with the CMT Video award that she won in 2007.

She now plays a 12-string guitar and has a passion that shows through in her songs, one of which is a Top 20 hit. Most of the songs she has written are taken from her personal life experiences. Her first album has sold over 3 million copies.

Upon winning the CMA Horizon Award, Taylor Swift was quoted as saying "This has definitely been the highlight of my senior year!"

Taylor gives tribute to her grandmother, who was an opera singer, Garth Brooks, LeAnn Rimes, and Tim McGraw. She says that Garth Brooks was the inspiration of how she should treat her fans.

Taylor Swift's Career In 2011

2011-11-19T09:14:00.001-08:00

When Taylor Swift was very young her parents noticed that she had passion for music and when she was 12 years old she started playing the guitar on your own for several hours daily. Nowadays, Taylor Swift has already been building a name within the industry with her beautiful songs and amazing voice. She is essentially one the most renowned young singers these days across the world. During the start of 2011, Taylor will start her worldwide "Speak Now Tour" that will get started on the 9th of February, 2011 throughout Singapore. This concert tour is going to cover pretty much 19 nations and 87 locations worldwide.

Taylor's last concert tour was called "Fearless" and this was much smaller compared to the upcoming concert, which could be challenge for this beautiful young blond. She will likewise perform along with other well-known artists such as U2, Rolling Stones and Kenny Chesney.

The concert is going to be sponsored by the popular Covergirl brand. The tickets aren't very costly, but it's not entirely cheap. There is no release for the ticket information, so it is best to keep up-to-date if you want to get front seat tickets. As outlined by various concert organizers in several countries worldwide, the tickets for Speak Now Tour are already sold out in various locations particularly in Asia. In case you're lucky, it is possible that you can find promo tickets and other contest which might be offering free tickets for people to see Taylor Swift performance.

Taylor Swift's Career In 2011

2011-11-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

Taylor Swift Biography

2011-11-19T09:06:00.000-08:00

The Taylor Swift biography begins on December 13, 1989 when she was born in Wyomissing, PA. Her father was a stock broker and her mother stayed at home with Taylor and her younger brother Austin.

Her first taste in fame came in third grade when she won a national poetry competition with a three page poem called "Monster in My Closet." Poetry morphed into songwriting and by age 10, she was writing songs, singing in karaoke contests, and performing at various festivals and fairs.

She was picked up by the sketch comedy group TheaterKids Live! But the mother of the show's producer, Kirk Cremer, saw her sing Karaoke at a cast party and suggested that she would have even more success as a singer rather than an actress or comedian.

Cremer rented venues such as mall space and also lined Swift up to perform in various contests.

When she was 11, Swift traveled to Nashville to hand out copies of her work to country music producers. She was rejected by the producers and ridiculed by her peers. But she was not deterred.

She went back to Pennsylvania and learned the 12 string guitar. She continued to travel to Nashville to stay connected with the producers she had met. To minimize the travel, when she was 14, the whole Swift family moved to the Nashville suburbs.

This finally paid off when Scott Borchetta signed her to his new production company Big Machine Records.

Treasures Of The Taiga

2011-11-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

On Love

2011-11-19T08:48:00.000-08:00

Love is such a broad topic. I think it is the most energetic
force in the universe. The opposite of love is fear. This
love is a greater love than we can fully grasp. Pure
love is one without judgment, without conditions, and
without motive. Love encompasses respect and compass-
sion but it is the greater element. To love someone is to
truly accept them as they are. This applies to self-love as
well. Truly accept yourself as you are. Offer love and
acceptance and forgiveness to every part of yourself.
It is necessary to do this first to a great extent before you
give out love to others.

Love is also about change. Love will always offer a better
way of doing something or a way of being in exchange
for one that is not working. Love encourages us to the greatest
arena of our imagination and life. It encourages everyone
equally. It offers acceptance equally. As you open to "Love"
it begins to fill your whole being. Then it begins to fill your
whole sphere of influence; your friends, your family, your
students, your associates, the people that you encounter.
One person or creature offering out pure love begins an
overflow of energy that can affect the whole world, and the
whole universe. It doesn't sound possible but love is such a
big force that wave after wave of love can affect great
change starting with you.

Love transforms fear, which contain all the elements that
vibrate at low frequencies; fear, terror, anger, hatred,
rage, envy, jealousy, grief, sadness, hostility, disrespect,
disgust, and alienation. Love heals. It takes away the
hurt and transforms any residual that remains. Love purifies
everything that it touches. But once it comes in it never
leaves you nor forsakes you. It continues to purify to the
highest vibration possible. It affects change because it
purifies so deeply, and so completely. It is capable of touching every area of your life and others. Love does not force. Love just keeps loving.
With love great joy is allowed to come in.

If you don't feel that you have love in your life, start
offering love first to yourself. Offer yourself to love.
Let it have every thought, every hurt, every dark, bad
moment. It will receive everything that you give it without
condemnation and offer great compassion.

Next allow the people that come to offer kindness, and
compassion to touch you. Let them hug you. Hear their
words. Let words of love come into your thoughts without
rejecting them. Change any thinking that has been telling
you that you are unworthy of love or kindness. Begin to
receive the small shows of affection. The hugs, the
smiles, the gentle touches. Children offer unconditional
love. They are usually happy to offer you hugs and
affection. Animals are a good source of affection and love.

Volunteering is a very good way to extend love out.
Practice kindness. Imagine how past kindly loving
guides would love them. How would Jesus love this
person? What would he think about them? What would
he say to them? How would he feel about this person or
about me? How would Gandhi act in this situation? How
would Mother Teresa behave towards them?

If you have not read about the lives of these great kindly
beings, read everything that you can. The New Testament
in the bible Specifically John is a great place to start.
Gandhi The Man is very good book. As is
The Celestine Prophecy series, Conversations With God series.

If you are open to it strangers may surprise you with an
act of kindness and love. Very often spontaneous moments
offer great warmth and love. Do not reject this. Many
times we are afraid of the other and do not offer affection to
someone that is hurting. One way to receive more love
is to reach out to someone who is hurting. A stranger or an
acquaintance could greatly use kindness and love from you.
In that moment there is a great exchange of love. You have
acted as an instrument of love.

Praying about love and asking how to be a more loving
person
can give you great comfort and insight. Examples will be
shown to you. Moments will be open to you in which you
can choose to give love and to receive it. The more times
that you embrace those moments in a loving manner, you
will begin to open to the subtlety of love. Acts of loving come
in the small quiet places to the great big dramatic moments.
Each time if you pray and meditate in your heart and ask how
would "love" react here you will receive insight as to how you
could act to express love.

It is not always easy especially when you are dealing with
a person who is cranky, grouchy, unjust or nasty. You have to
look beyond the criticism, beyond their unpleasantness and see
that more often than not they are afraid. Perhaps that person
has gotten to this moment of crankiness, and being mean or
controlling because they learned that behavior. They don't
know how to be nice. Or they have been hurt so many times
that they have forgotten how to drop their defenses. They are
stuck. You can help them by accepting them as they are.
Offering love and kindness in spite of how they behave.

A Journey to Love

2011-11-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

You and I are on an incredible journey at this very moment, dancing in an exciting adventure that takes us into a new expansiveness beyond our imagination. It is a journey of love, one that knows no limits, has no fear, is authentically powerful and reaches for all possibilities. Is this your experience right now? Is your heart smiling with loving endless energy that you are radiating throughout the world, or are you lost in your own fearful limiting patterns, stuck in a box of your making, stagnant in movement?

I invite you to walk this journey with me for a while. I have been on a journey most of my life searching for love, wanting to know and understand this love, and only recently found it in the most unexpected place. Through my journey I often asked other people about love. Many responses were given about what it meant according to their perception - companionship, security, someone to come home to, sexual intimacy, procreation, sharing space, good feelings, belonging, feeling of family - but it wasn't enough. I knew there was more to real love than was being revealed. So I kept searching. Perhaps you too are searching. You see, finding love is the innate desire of all beings on this planet.

Most people search for love in the physical realm. You know, that zap of "chemistry," candlelight dinners, warm fuzzy feelings, making love, being together and sharing it all. This is love in the physical realm. Although wonderful and exciting, it does not begin to comprehend the vastness of real love. We all know that physical love can change rather rapidly - our divorce statistics certainly equate this - for physical intimacy provides only short-term gratification with connection that lacks depth. So if physical connections - whether partner/partner, friend/friend or parent/child - do not provide the filled up, satisfying, overflowing love, well then, what does?

The search continued. First was a long marriage, but the love faded away until it was gone. There were five children - they kept me busy and fulfilled and happy for a while it seemed. I was too busy to look further so just accepted this was it, even though I longed to know more. Funny thing though, the kids grew up and moved onto their own path, leaving me behind. I tried one business after another, did well in all of them, but something was always missing. I was empty and my soul cried out for that love. My face told the story of my heart's condition, for what one is on the inside is mirrored to the outside for all to see. I kept looking.

I continued my journey and some revealing insights came to me. I looked at other people walking past me or even beside me, and saw the same emptiness in many of them. I was puzzled, but also relieved that I wasn't the only one searching. Most were doing what I was doing, hurrying here and there thus avoiding time to think about the emptiness, filling their lives with busyness. Sadly, the more I accomplished, the more accolades I received, the busier I became, the emptier I was. What a mystery. It surely wasn't turning out as I had been taught - get married, raise a family, take care of everyone's needs, work a job perhaps, go to church, live by the "Golden Rule," give and give, and you will know love.

Oftentimes I'd look back and try to figure out where I went wrong according to my perception. I must have done something wrong or taken a wrong turn. Of course, I thought, the problem is with the marriage; I must have married the "wrong" person. No wonder I couldn't find love. So perhaps I'll find another partner who is the "right" one. Ever traveled this path?

Years had gone by, illness overtook me, recovery was slow because of the internal pain. It was during that time that I understood another dimension of illness - emotional pain. As I journeyed this path and explored every nook and cranny for answers, I discovered some wondrous insights and was divinely prompted to write my first book - A Woman's Path to Wholeness: the Gift is in the Process. My intention had been to write a different book, but I was led down this path. I realized the core of most physical illness is found in the emotional and spiritual realms and many needed to hear these insights. Then one day I came to a crossroad that offered several possibilities. Which one was the right path? How could I know? God intervened and a cosmic two-by-four, strategically placed, got my attention so that I realized I needed to step out of my comfort zone and grow. My entire life began to transform and new doors opened in miraculous ways. My intuition literally exploded with massive force as realms of enlightenment overtook my beingness. Perhaps you've experienced this process.

One day, as I rounded a bend, there it was, staring me right in the face, the love I had been searching for all my life. How could I have missed it all this time I wondered? For the love I had longed for, cried for, dreamed of, prayed for and searched for was with me all the time. It was inside of me, right there in my soul and heart, and I couldn't see it. It was on the other side of the fears - the anger, hurt, shame, guilt, defectiveness, bitterness, blame, manipulation, control, jealousy, pain, and revenge - completely shadowed by them. And the love inside of me was reflecting the love of God from whence I came. I am a child of God! At that moment I realized how magnificent I am, a woman of worth, the embodiment of divine, unconditional, boundless love.

I had work to do to uncover this love. Release, let go, surrender became words to live by. I quit resisting the love and it spilled out to heal the multidimensional wounds of my life experience and let them go. Learning to retrieve the love from its hidden place and remember from whence one came, is not an instant realization. It involves steps to allow it to be revealed, like peeling away layer upon layer of encrusted negative patterns. I had to unconditionally love myself - not an easy assignment after a lifetime of self-incrimination - and to accept that we are all perfectly created from nothing but love. We've never been anything else but love as part of the universal, perfect love of our Creator; we just forgot.

So there it was - the secret to finding love - be the love you are seeking and it will find you. I replaced the fear and all its derivatives with loving energies - forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, appreciation, kindness - and the love grew and grew. I glided down the path now without the weight of the past. I forgave the people who according to my perception had hurt me, going beyond the dimension of human comprehension, and there I found love, real love, that moves above the externals of the physical realm and sees the divine light in every soul. I claimed my birthright power in this process and felt the most healing expansiveness I had ever experienced, way beyond the realm of my past knowingness.

Knowing this unconditional love shifts everything in your mindfulness. I looked at the world - all these people screaming out for love - feeling such depth of sadness that it was eluding them as it had me for so long. I wanted to shout from the rooftops that they already had it within them, but I knew they wouldn't listen. The world looks with different glasses so love seen by their misguided eyes is simply need. This is why love fades away for many - they are trying so hard to use this interpretation of love to validate themselves, to fill up the empty caverns within them, to feel secure, approved of, connected, complete, desired - all of ego.

Most amazing of all is that love doesn't need to be achieved, it simply is. It's always there for us and in us just as air is always present to allow us to breathe. Such is real love, divine love, our life-force breathing out to all people on this planet. It has no judgment or expectations. It allows for you to be yourself, standing in your own magnificence, complete as you are. Real love doesn't require approval, does not judge, and isn't a manipulative force.

Again my divine guidance came with urgency to put aside the book I was working on and write The Realness of a Woman, A Journey for Seeking, Remembering and Being Who You Are. As the words poured through me I realized the powerful effect of this Divine Consciousness for a world that needs to remember.

The journey to love begins and ends within our hearts and souls. The mirror of life reflects only what it sees. Does your mirror reflect the divine eternal love of your Creator so that your heartspace radiates love to those who walk the path of life with you? Or is your love obscured by the shadows of doubt and fear and hidden from the view of the world as you hide in the "box" you created for your life? Our journey is for our spiritual awakening to the glorious awareness of a life of love. The love you are seeking begins as you!

"Real love doesn't need to be achieved, it simply is. Once you have obtained the knowingness
of love as the Universe intended us to feel, nothing in your life will ever be the same again,
and you will see that the love of the world is not really love, it is need. This awareness can
transform your life and create a passion that grows and grows, a passion for life itself as you
realize the greatness already within your being. It is recognizing this greatness that already
lies within you that gives you realness in being the wonderful woman you really are, one who
is genuinely in love with herself!

This book is written for those women who seek more from life, who know they are more and
are searching to be revealed. Your journey through these pages is solely to substantiate
enlightenment of your soul, the place where you are real. As you read this book, yearn to
understand the relevance of knowing the depth and breath of divine love, for the love you are
knowing is you. Love is all there is."

Other Names for Love

2011-11-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are in February and many people are celebrating St. Valentines. It is a good time to think about love and relationships to put a bit of warmth in our lives after a long winter.

Today, I would like to look at what love is. The English language only has one word for love and it is used interchangeably for almost everything. We can say I love my husband and I love Chocolate. Both are using the same word and it is only by the context that we can ascertain the difference. The Greeks, on the other hand, have four different words to describe love. Each word gives a different nuance to the word that helps us understand more fully what is being spoken of.

I want to look with you at the four Greek words for love.
These are:

1) Eros

2) Storge

3) Philia

4) Agape

Eros:

The first type of love we are all familiar with. Our English word Erotica is derived from this word. Sadly, some people never get passed this type of love and base their relationships purely on sexual attraction. This is the type of love that merchandisers tend to play on with the public trying to get us to buy their products to make us more attractive to the opposite sex. Unfortunately, aromatherapy is being misrepresented by these same people also to traffic their products. You would be surprised to see how many products are being offered specifically to attract the opposite sex using aroma.

Studies have been done trying to prove the theory of attraction through Pheromones based on animal instincts. I personally feel that attraction of a life partner is much more than the basis of his/her smell. In fact, it was impossible for me to fall in love with my fiancé based on smell as we met through ICQ on the Internet. It was impossible for smell to play any part in our meeting. Our relationship was based on character and friendship which later developed into love. You can say we met each other and we just clicked ;-) (pun intended) {by the way, we are getting married next month.}

So, the point is that erotic love is not a deep meaningful love but superficial and based on sexual attractiveness only.

2) Storge:

This type of love is what we find in families between the different members. It is the love of mother, father, brothers and sisters. This is a much stronger type of love and involves commitment. "Blood is thicker than water" and most people will do all they can to stand behind their families.

3) Philia:

This type of love is pertaining to what we might call a brotherly love. Not brotherly in the sense of family, but in the sense of kinsmenship. This is the type of love that makes us want to help the little old lady cross the street safely and watch out for our fellow man. It is a good type of love and helps us to see others as needing our love but, sadly, it can often also be a selfish love. Many people only show love to others if they can get something out of it.  Thankfully, most people love out of pure motives.

4)Agape:

The fourth type of love is called Agape love. This is the highest form of love there is. This is an unconditional love for others in spite of their character flaws and weaknesses. It is a difficult love to obtain simply because we, as humans, are usually concerned more with ourselves and how the world and people around us affect us. In order to love in the agape way, we must overcome our selfishness and look to the needs of others. Prime examples of this type of love are people like Mother Theresa, Cardinal Leger etc. These are people who look out for others interests above their own. It is a special kind of love that needs to be cultivated for it to grow. We can only achieve this type of unselfish loving as we put the needs of others as a priority.

Without getting religious here, I just want to tell you there is a verse from the Bible that fits well with this concept. It is called the Golden Rule. Luke 10:27, says "Love your neighbour as yourself" and "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 7:12 . All relgions of the world share in this same philosophy.

One thing that stuck out to me as I read these is that it says to love your neighbor as yourself. Sadly, many people in this day and age, don't love themselves. If you don't love yourself how can you love others? Unconditional love needs to start with you. You must learn to accept the fact that you are a special and unique person. Yes you have flaws, we are all human, but these flaws do not make you less of a person. Learn to love yourself in spite of your shortcomings and accept yourself for who you are. As you love yourself you will find it easier to love others.

One Love

2011-11-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

Have you ever felt like that? When I first heard that, it hit me like a ton of bricks. To be in LOVE like that or to be loved like that would just rule forever. Is that not what we are all yearning for? Do we not seek out LOVE from the second we breathe as an infant? We search our parents eyes for that look of LOVE. We smile because we know it makes them smile with the LOVE that they feel for us.

To LOVE or not to LOVE? This is the question we all ponder through out life.

Why do we yearn to be someones everything? We want nothing more than to feel like the LOVE of one`s life. We spend our lives looking for that special person that will make our world seem like a dream. We want to feel safe and secure in our choice of partners. But how do we really know that this one is "the one" we will LOVE unconditionally forever? How do we know that this choice of LOVE will not break our heart? How do we know that this LOVE will LOVE us when the chips are down and we are not that perfect person that they fell in LOVE with?

Well I hate to sound like a wet blanket here on a cold night, but nothing is guaranteed. Life promises us nothing. We make our lives what they are, right at this moment. In matters of the heart we gamble, and as I have said before, to give LOVE is to risk losing LOVE. That is just another one of those bleary facts. Like rain storms and snowfalls, we have no control over anything that nature has given to us. We can only do our best with what we have. I have spoken before about gifts. Well, LOVE is a gift when it is given and when it is received. It does not happen because we say we want it to, or when we like a person and say "LOVE me". HA. I am sure that almost everyone out there will agree to that. I am also certain that the word "Stalker" comes from that notion.

LOVE can be a very scary risk. "Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it! It makes you so vulnerable. It opens you up, totally exposing your heart only to let someone get inside you and twist things up so tight, you can barely breathe. You build up defenses, you build an entire suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then that person, not seeming any different from any other person, wanders into your lonely life. You give them your heart. They didn't ask for it. They did something one day, like kiss you or smile your way, and then your life isn't your own any more. LOVE takes your heart hostage. LOVE swarms inside you. LOVE devours your entire being and leaves you crying in the darkness. With the simple phrase, "lets just be friends", it turns into a knife, cutting its way into your heart. The pain is like no other you have ever felt nor ever want to feel again. Not just in your imagination, not just in the mind. It's like losing a part of who you are, or rather who you were. That my friends is one reason we are so careful to not make the wrong LOVE choice. I know reading this totally makes one never want to do that. But we do, over and over again. Why?

Is it such a deep needed desire that we really have no control? Is cupids arrow that strong? YES on both counts.

LOVE is one of the most powerful sensations we will ever endure in our lives.

LOVE knows no limit to its power, no end to its trust, no loss of its hope.

LOVE can overpower anything.

LOVE stays up, when all else has falls down.

LOVE is felt when one grasps another's hand.

LOVE is as much of an object as an obsession. Everybody wants it and everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it. Those who do, will cherish it, get lost in it, and among all, will never, ever forget it.

LOVE does not waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead it creates a perfect love.

LOVE is somewhat like an hourglass, the heart fills up on one side as the brain empties the other.

LOVE is admiring ones heart: as admiration is the love of ones mind.

LOVE is with you when you least deserve it, because that's when you really need it.

These are a few thoughts that I have that tell me what LOVE is and why LOVE is.

When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us.We must understand that until we admit that while our partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we alone are the only ones that can bring that same fulfillment to ourselves. No one is responsible for our happiness.

Some people fall into a pattern of needing that NEWNESS LOVE in their relationships. These people will go from one relationship to another forever, never getting off that roller coaster of failure. They never understand that LOVE has stages. LOVE at first is so full of mystery and excitement. Then we move into becoming comfortable with one another and blending our ways to continue to strengthen our LOVE for one another. We continue to grow with each other, adding newness to each other by growing in one world, but as two people. Our years together build our road to our destiny of spending our lives and enduring tribulations as one. If you want life to always be a bed of roses, then you best grow a few gardens, because the roses will only get there if you grow them or bring them to your life. In other words sweet people of LOVE, your LOVE and passion is only what you make it. If you ignore it or get too busy to feed it, it will die or fade away. It's like any other living breathing thing. LOVE needs to be treated with respect and treated like the special gift that it is.

Another thing we must be careful of is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image, otherwise LOVE is only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. LOVE like you mean it, it is the only true way to let your LOVE for one another grow stronger and continue to be all powerful and wonderful.

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

Relationships ask us to contemplate "forever" as a way of life.

It is a world without end of our own creation.

Toni Sciarra Poynter

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

The purpose of life is to discover your gift.

The work of life is to develop it.

The meaning of life is to give your gift away.

The gift, is LOVE!

The Power of Love

2011-11-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

"There must be a higher love/Without it life is wasted time." Those are the opening words to one of my favorite Steve Winwood songs. What could a higher love mean in your life - in the life of your clients?

Often, during a speaking engagement, I include a potent and important word that has people flinch -- "Love." They try to manage their flinching by adjusting their seats so that their neighbor or I won't notice. But, however subtle the movement, there it is. I'm not sure what all that flinching is about, but it makes me smile and piques my curiosity.

I've always been interested in what we are afraid of when it comes to love -- be it love of self or other. Certainly it is what we all desire, right? Now I'm talking real brotherly/sisterly love --universal love --not that acting like you care, "has a nice day" kind of sentimental formality. Why does the act of sharing love beyond the parameters of family and friends make us shift in our seats? Is it that we don't believe in it? Don't know how to attain it?

Bringing a higher love to coaching and any other relationship for me means letting it all go. All those wonderful mechanics we put in place to make us feel safe have to go. "Letting go" means taking off the armor and putting down the shield -- in whatever form it takes --that we use to defend ourselves should love be used against us or withdrawn from us at some future date. Letting go means putting aside those mental structures, such as judgment and comparison, which act as filters when we decide how to present ourselves to the world. It means not checking to see if we are safe enough to be ourselves or don one of our many personas. When we filter our interactions with the world in this manner, we remain cut off from ourselves, our source, our heart. The problem with letting go is that we have nothing to hang onto when we do so. It can feel like going into free fall without a parachute.

Our parachutes are the relationships we invest in, which include the relationship with ourselves. True investment, on the other hand, means we stack up the chips of love against all else, and we bet it all on love. Sure, it's risky, but playing it safe doesn't really make us feel safe anyway. So what are we really risking? When we orient ourselves from Love, what we are risking doesn't feel so scary because the focus is on who we are being in each moment -- no conditions, no pretenses, no strings attached. When we orient ourselves from fear, then each moment is a calculated, high-risk venture because so much of what we are betting on with fear has to do with our perception of "the other." And so we hedge our bets; we lock and load our filters.

In the space of unconditional love, a coach's hearing is fine tuned to hear beyond the words of the client to hearing the energy of them - a much richer space to be in. We are no longer listening for the love we need or the attack we expect. Our listening moves from the ego's power-hungry center to the heart's welcoming center. In love, there are no boundaries regarding what we would risk saying, asking or telling in the interest of our clients' well being. From the space of Love, I will risk sounding unprofessional, like a judging machine or even vulnerable. You name it; I'd risk it. In my experience, mistakes made out of love have had far more success then any hard wired, logical sequence of inquiries my mind could create. Love is illogical to the mind and thus follows a more fluid, intuitive, divine pattern. It gets into places the mind hasn't even imagined let alone conceptualized. Sometimes I'm even afraid of what Love asks me to say to my client. I often refer to this type of interaction as "Coaching with Pampers."

I had been coaching one client for over a year and we were getting nowhere very slowly. While coaching him, I found myself multitasking: making grocery lists, counting lint and wanting to read my e-mail when Love pulled on my earlobe and whispered, "Tell him the truth." My face froze at the nudging and my heart rate increased. How could I tell him what I truly thought? It was too rude, crude and he'd hate me for sure. And Love responded cheekily, "Good thing this isn't about you then." So I took a deep breath, envisioned pampers where my underwear should be and said, "You know I love you, and I've got to tell you that you are a man without a spine; and a man without a spine will never move forward." I continued, "I don't think this is how you meant to be living your life, and I know inside of you lives a man of great courage. Can I coach him now?" Then I shut up, and the line went silent. After a month of being really angry with me he called and said, "I have been really mad at you and really grateful. You were the only one to tell me what I've known about myself for years. I'm ready to grow a spine and live my dreams. Will you help me?" I'm not sure how long we cried together. The moment transcended time. I guess that's the power of Love.

When I allow Love to lead the way in my coaching, I am w-a-y over there with my client -- my agenda, my great ideas and my inhibitions long forgotten. For the love of my client's dreams, visions, goals and success I'd risk it all -- even being wrong or offensive. When the coaching is tempered with Love clients can hear anything and everything a coach has to say because they can feel that you are in it for them. In fact, you may be the first person they feel is really in it for them without any hidden agendas!

As our clients come to understand that their coaches are not just another professional with strategies and techniques but, instead, are allies in their lives, they come to trust that, regardless of what they reveal to us, we will hold that space for them and still love them. By teaching our clients that judgment cannot reside in the space of loving connection, we free them -- and ourselves -- from the fear of rejection. Love literally helps shift us from a perspective of suffocation and limitation to embracing liberation. When clients shift their perspective, their worlds change. And life flows easily once the passageway is cleared. Once they are released from withholding all of whom they are and from fear of rejection and shame, clients become more available to themselves. Eventually their negative mental chatter quiets.

Have you ever seen a child who has not been loved? There is a deep pain where love never goes much less lives. If that child doesn't receive love, he or she is never quite right. And, through that pain, suffering builds a stronghold in his or her spirit. Whenever we are in pain and there is no love to comfort us, we are suffering and alone. What an unbearable existence! We were meant to thrive not exist. Sure, some pain is part of living, but so is comfort and loving kindness, and that comes in the form of the human exchange of love.

Another client I coached for a few months revealed to me a case of molestation as a child. This was something she had never shared with anyone, not even a therapist she had seen several years back. I had to inquire, "What made you share this information with me?" She responded, "Because, with you, I knew that, no matter what I had done, you would see me as beautiful and worth loving." Love coached this woman, and I was happy to be the conduit. Through our mutual admiration, respect and love, she later learned to trust another therapist to move him through her pain. That afternoon, her response sold me on the power of Love and altered my coaching and my interactions with people forever. "Wow!" I thought, "If Love could lift that boulder from her back, then we are both lightened."

Many people have told me that they became coaches to help make a difference in people's lives. In making that difference or having a positive impact for the sake of our clients, we must distinguish ourselves from the amateur who is inexperienced or unskilled in love. Whether I am coaching a high level executive or a prison inmate, I find that the capacity to love my clients enhances my ability to coach them. When I let go of the rules of society that dictate distance and formality in the name of professionalism, I find that we are just two human beings sharing a very real human experience -- connectedness. The Random House dictionary describes professionalism as "the standing practice or method of a professional, as distinguished from an amateur." Well, there you have it. But why bother? Sure it sounds plausible, but you may ask yourself can I an executive coach, a sales coach, teen coach, business coach really cross that boundary of professionalism? More importantly, am I willing to redefine professionalism to accommodate the very real needs of my client in a given moment? Are you?

Ultimately, Love is the only thing that matters and, because this is so, Love is the only thing that makes change possible and permanent. Stop to think of what you have changed in yourself. I'm sure Love was part of the equation. Will power just isn't enough to sustain clients in the long run. Love is the fuel when the will power of being goal oriented burns us out.

One of the reasons I am in the coaching profession is the fact that we have permission to love our clients deeply. Being with my client up close and personal there is a honoring of their humanity that allows them to relax into the relationship revealing things that have been walled away for many a lifetimes.

To love our clients deeply, to reveal our willingness to love unconditionally puts us in a vulnerable space. As humans, we are always teaching one another how to walk in the world. As coaches, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to model deeper universal truths that manifest the vastness of bigger possibilities. The modeling of vulnerability calls us forth to stand in the light -- client and coach. Once exposed to the light of Love, those dark secrets that hindered personal and/or professional success cease to have ultimate control and, thus, no longer dominate how clients respond and interact with their world. Counterintuitive as it may seem, vulnerability isn't about people taking advantage of us or standing by patiently while they attack us. Quite the opposite, vulnerability entails opening our hearts to the love that is forthcoming, and expanding our capacity to love others. Vulnerability is an act of loving trust.

We'll never find a better teacher than Love. Love teaches me without shame. It has me stay in relationships when I'd rather run away. When I find my clients boring, unwilling to move, grow or change, Love tugs at my ear, reminding me again to stop putting boxes around them. Love wipes the fog of judgment away from eyes, allowing me to see how my lack of vision for my clients stunts their growth -- and mine. Instead of making them "wrong" with my limited vision, Love shows me how to witness their pain, struggles and efforts with compassion and grace. When I stifle my client, I stifle myself, and Love flees. In those precious few moments we have with our clients, we have the power to create an intimate cocoon and to bringing a higher love into the space. This action creates a life-sustaining force that grounds both client, coach, and serves as a beacon when either party looses them self to the chaos of the ego's persuasive, self-indulgent chatter.

Loving is the simple practice of softening one's heart to feel another's. We begin by stopping any objectifying of our clients that we may be doing. We start holding them as the most important subject of interest. Even the simple task of moving from thinking of them as a group of clients to individualized relationships allows us to co-create something very different. By this simple practice, we become vulnerable to that most needed commodity -- compassion, this "feeling with" that engenders empathy and loving-kindness. The energy field of unconditional love releases us, and our clients, from the polished and superficial skills of manipulation, hiding, lying and being scared of not being accepted for who we are. It grants us permission to step out from behind our mascaras, our masks.

One thing I know for sure and my coaching experiences support this: every person I have coached has shared with me, in one form or another, his or her desire for the freedom to love and be loved. To be truly loved -- warts and all. Every client -- be it doctor, lawyer, coach, financial planner, chef, parent, teen, inmate, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Native American, spiritual follower --wants the same thing: Love, pure and simple. And why not? It is the birthright of each and every one of us to love and be loved.

I Am The 99%

2011-11-18T22:05:00.000-08:00

Protesting for economic justice and fairness is not just for the young -- it's the duty of everyone who believes in the American Dream.

Swelling The Ranks Of The Poor

2011-11-18T22:04:00.000-08:00

Republican congressmen/women like to talk a lot about class warfare. Their talk is really code for keeping the rich in the advantageous position they have, and preventing any new laws that might distribute income and wealth more evenly throughout the population. After years of funneling the nation's riches into the pockets of the rich, the very idea of "economic justice" is anathema to them.

But the truth is that there is a class warfare going on, and it has been happening for the last thirty years -- a war directed by Republicans on behalf of the 1% and waged against American workers. It started with Reagan's initiation of trickle-down economics about 1980, and was kicked into high gear in the presidency of George W. Bush. Over that thirty year period the income of the 1% of richest Americans has increased by over 270%, while the wages of the bottom 80% of Americans has been stagnant (and has actually dropped in the power of what those wages will purchase).

Republicans now want to blame the recession for the economic hurt that is being felt by far too many Americans. And in a way, that is partially true. But the truth is that the recession (brought on by the Republican economic policies) just hastened a process that was already well under way before the recession hit in late 2007. A report by the Economic Policy Institute tells us that during the period between 2000 and 2007 (before the recession hit), the real median income of working-age households fell by $2,114. That's a drop of over $176 a month, and that is a drop in real dollars, not purchasing power.

But while the Republican policies were making the rich richer and lowering the wages of workers, perhaps the most insidious and tragic effect of these policies has been to swell the ranks of the poor. We now have more than 46 million people who depend on the government food stamp program to put food on the table, and more than 15% of the total United States population now lives below the poverty line.

President Johnson's War on Poverty had been reducing the number and percentage of people living in poverty in America since the 1960's. Poverty hadn't been wiped out, but the country was starting to get a handle on it. Now, thanks to the Republican economic policies, all of those gains have been wiped out and we are now once again at record levels of poverty in America.

And most tragic of all is the number of children who are being forced into poverty. Thanks to Republicans blocking job creation, denying extensions of unemployment benefits, and slashing the funding of many social programs, the number of children being thrown into poverty is reaching disastrous proportions. In just one year more than a million children were added to poverty rolls -- from 14.7 million children in 2009 to 15.7 million children in 2010.

This means that currently more than 20% (or one in every five) of all American children now live in poverty. In some states, like Texas, that rate is 25% (one in every four) or 1.8 million children -- and Texas is a state the Republicans hail as being the beneficiary of a Republican economic "miracle". The fact is that in Texas and in the nation the Republican policies may be good for the corporations and the rich, but they have been an economic disaster for everyone else.

The Republicans have driven the American economy into a deep ditch. How much longer will we allow them to force our economy to stay in that ditch? Can we really afford to let them retain even a semblance of power?

Exposed To The Light

2011-11-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Daryl Cagle at msnbc.com.

Sheeple

2011-11-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

Far too many Americans seem to have completed this evolutionary cycle. Found at the blog of Yellowdog Granny.

GOP Tries To Blame Obama For $15 Trillion National Debt

2011-11-17T22:06:00.000-08:00

The Treasury Department of the United States government admitted that this week the national debt of this country has, for the first time, topped $15 trillion. That's an incredibly large figure, and just about equals the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country for one year. And the Republicans are trying to blame one person for the entire debt -- President Obama. They act like they had nothing to do with creating any of that debt.

Obviously the old canard about elephants never forgetting is not true -- at least for political elephants. The GOP elephants have had to forget the economic history of the last 30 years to arrive at their ludicrous conclusion. Let's take a look at the history of the national debt. First of all, the fact that some national debt exists is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, there has never been a time in this country's history when there was not some level of national debt -- from the presidency of George Washington to the present, and yet the nation and it's citizens have prospered.

As the chart above shows, the national debt reached about $2.5 trillion during World War II, which was understandable since large sums of money had to be spent to arm ourselves and our allies and fight the war. And the national debt stayed around or just below $2 trillion through the next seven presidencies (Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter). And generally, the economy was very good during this stretch -- both for workers and entrepreneurs.

Then Ronald Reagan was elected president and things changed. He tossed out the Keynesian economics followed by previous presidents and instituted a supply-side "trickle-down" theory of economics. This trickle-down economic favored the rich, and the gap in wealth and income between the rich and the rest of America began to widen -- and the national debt began to grow much larger. By the time Reagan left office, he had increased the national debt from the $2 trillion he had inherited to nearly $4 trillion. George Bush I continued the trickle-down policies and grew the national debt to $5 trillion.

After assuming office, it took Bill Clinton a few years to bring the deficit under control. But by the time he left office, the nation was actually enjoying a surplus each year (of a little more than $200 million) and the national debt was starting to be paid down. He left the next president with a national debt of about $5.6 trillion and a small yearly surplus.

Then George Bush II was elected president, and he quickly kicked Reagan's trickle-down economics into high gear. This created a deficit and started to balloon the national debt. He instituted huge tax cuts for the rich (which added about $400 billion a year to the deficit and national debt), increased military spending (adding about $180 billion a year to the deficit and national debt), and started two unnecessary wars (adding more than $100 billion a year to the deficit and national debt) among other things.

By the time Bush left office at the end of 2008, the gap in wealth and income between the rich and the rest of America was the biggest it had been since the 1920's -- and the national debt stood at about $10 trillion. And the nation was thrown into a serious recession that cost many millions of jobs. The economy was a mess and Bush had laid the groundwork for the deficit and national debt to continue climbing.

But even though President Obama inherited an economy that was a horrible mess, he cannot be completely absolved from any part in further increasing both the deficit and the national debt. That's because he continued many of Bush's worst mistakes. He didn't end the wars, he increased the military budgets more, and he extended the Bush tax cuts for the rich. If he had stopped all of those things, the national debt would not stand at over $15 trillion today -- but he didn't.

So now the Republicans want to blame President Obama for the deficit. But that is hogwash. The dirtiest hands are those of Republicans. Obama's sins are not of commission, but omission (for not stopping the trickle-down madness initiated by the Republicans). But regardless of who is to blame, the fact is that we have a national debt of $15 trillion. What can we do about it? Republicans tell us that it can be controlled by doing nothing but making cuts to education and social programs and Medicare. That's ridiculous. Even completely eliminating all of those would not pay off the national debt.

They also want to cut Social Security benefits (or abolish or privatize it). That's also ridiculous. Social Security did not cause even 1 penny of the deficit or the national debt. They just want to get rid of it because they've never liked it. So, what can be done to control the deficit and pay down the national debt to a reasonable level? There are some sensible solutions. Here's what I would suggest:

* Stop both foreign wars. They are accomplishing nothing except to bleed our national treasury.
* Make serious cuts to the military budget. The military budget accounts for more than 54% of all government discretionary spending, and there are many cuts that could be made (waste, unworkable and expensive programs, closing of foreign bases, etc.). In fact, we could cut the military budget in half and still be spending several times as much as any other country in the world is spending.
* Let the Bush tax cuts expire. This is a $400 billion a year drain on the budget that we can no longer afford.
* Abolish the special 15% tax on capital gains. Then tax capital gains at the same rate that all other income is taxed at. Income is income, and the income of the rich should not be taxed at a lower rate than the income of everyone else.
* Establish a small tax on Wall Street trading of stocks and other financial instruments.
* Continue the estate tax, and consider lowering it to include estates of only one or two million dollars.

That's where I would start. Maybe you have some other suggestions. But one thing I don't believe should be done in the middle of this recession is to cut social programs or education. The social programs are the only thing keeping millions of Americans' heads above water, and education is the only way for millions more to better themselves.

The Republicans like to say we are passing our debt on to our children and grandchildren. That will only be true if we fail to act right now.

"The Little Engine That Could"

2011-11-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by David Fitzsimmons in the Arizona Daily Star.

Americans Beginning To Accept Reality

2011-11-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

Americans are generally a pretty optimistic people. Even when things go wrong, most people think they will improve soon. This was shown back in 2009 with a CNN/ORC Poll. Even after more than a year of recession and the loss of millions of jobs, most people that were polled believed that things would be going well in America in another year. About 63% of the people believed that.

I think at that time (November of 2009) people may have thought the politicians in Washington would act to cure the economy and create jobs. They were wrong. While a few politicians tried to do something, most (especially the Republicans) were much more interested in the 2010 and 2012 elections than in fixing the economy or putting people back to work.

When the poll was done again in November of 2010, about 55% of the people thought things would be going well in another year. After all, they had shaken things up in the election that year. Surely the politicians had paid attention to their growing anger. But they were wrong agin. The politicians either misread the message being sent, or they simply didn't care. Nothing was done to fix the economy or create jobs, and the politicians actually cut programs that were helping hurting Americans.

Well, it's November again, and CNN has again done that same poll. But the people are starting to realize that no one in Washington is helping and it's going to be a long time before things get better. This time, only 44% said things would be a lot better next year. I'll bet when the poll is done again next November that will have dropped down into the 30's.

Americans may be optimistic, but most of them aren't stupid. They're finally beginning to realize they've been duped and sold out by the corporate-owned politicians.

Not Quite Anybody

2011-11-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by Mike Keefe in The Denver Post.

Perry Gets Zinged By Pelosi

2011-11-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

It seems like Rick Perry never tires of showing just how intellectually-challenged he really is. In an effort to bring his presidential bid out of the low single digits, he decided to pick on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California). After all, other right-wingers take shots at Pelosi all the time and she generally ignores them (probably because their silly remarks don't deserve any reply). I guess Perry thought he could do the same, and appeal to his teabagger base without any embarrassment. He was wrong.

Perry has recently come up with a ridiculous idea of making Congress a part-time institution. The plan didn't get much press, probably because most media outlets thought it was silly. So Perry decided he could get some press by challenging Rep. Pelosi to a debate about his plan. He knew the debate would never happen (and was no doubt counting on that since he could be out-debated by a third-grader). He just wanted some headlines -- and he got them, although not the kind he wanted.

Pelosi answered Perry's debate challenge. Here is what she said:

"He did ask if I could debate here in Washington on Monday. It is my understanding that such a letter has come in. Monday I'm going to be in Portland in the morning and I'm going to be visiting some of our labs in the afternoon, that's two, I can't remember what the third thing is I'm going to be doing."

ZING!! You have to admit that Perry left himself wide open to that one. The only thing that would have made it worse is if she added an "oops". I think it may be time for Perry to get out of this race while he's losing. He sure wouldn't want to accidently become the nominee and then have to debate President Obama. That would be an absolute slaughter.

Oops

2011-11-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

Political cartoon is by John Darkow in the Columbia Daily Tribune.

MotoGP

2011-11-17T07:22:00.000-08:00

The weekend is nearly upon us and as such it is nearly the time for the MotoGP calendar to get underway at Sachsenring. The riders will be looking to get the set ups right for the weekend as the weather is to be nice up until Sunday.

There will be no doubt that Jorge Lorenzo will want to get off to the best possible start at the Sachsenring following his race win at Mugello a fortnight ago after taking over Dovizioso and Stoner. He will be looking to cut the MotoGP 2011 cahmpionship lead that Stoner has at the minute. The battle this weekend will be between these two. i think that Simoncelli will carry on with his form and crash after doing well last time out. Or has he finally got rid of his demons? Will he finish the race and maybe get the podium that he deserves.

The Yamahas have become strong in the past two races with Spies winning at Assen and Lorenzo at Mugello. They have brought a few little bit of extra tech to help them out in the battle with Repsol Honda. The Ducati's have not been on the pace even though Rossi has been running the GP11.1 bike (next years chassis with an 800cc engine in). Hayden has not been able to do this as he had already used too many of his engines for the season. The riders get a limit fo six engines for the season, averaging three races each. Rossi is on to his fifth engine of the season.

Another team that is doing well in the face of adversity is the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. Both of its riders had suffered collarbone breakages but getting back on the bikes the following race. Crutchlow will be wanting to get the issues of tyre pressures sorted for the race on Sunday. Edwards will be looking to bag himself some more points with his collarbone hopefully fully healed now.

The Repsol Honda riders of Stoner and Dovizioso will be looking to be near to the front of the pack come Sunday as they are most weekends. Pedrosa will be looking to get higher up the order than he did in Mugello now that he is back from his double collarbone break.

Simoncelli and Aoyama, will be racing hard for the Gresini Honda team as Simoncelli will be pushing for his first podium finish of the MotoGP 2011 season. Aoyama will be looking to improve as he finished down the order last time out at Mugello after starting well.

Cute Hairstyles for Little Girls

2011-11-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Having a baby girl is something that most women feel happy about. It is quite explainable regarding the fact that as a mother, you can doll up your girl by giving her some of the cutest accessories and clothes in stores. Beside accessories and clothes, creating some cute hairstyles for your girl is also something fascinating. Imagining the fact that you can make your pretty daughter even cuter by styling her hair, learning to make several hairstyles should be on your to-do-list from now on. To do this, you can learn to create the hairstyles from some hairstyling books sold in bookstores or from the internet. There are lots of video tutorials available online that you can try.

Some of the most famous hairstyles for little girls are ponytails, French braid, or side plaits. All of these hairstyles though are usually good if your little girl has a medium to long hair length. Even, for some occasion, you can try curling your daughter hair with the help of the tutorial on the internet. It will make her super cute. As to a girl with fairly short hair, you may want to do some experiments with her haircut. The most common hairstyle used to this kind of hair length is bob cut. It will create a girlish look on your daughter yet the sense of her young age will still be visible. This kind of hair is very good if your daughter has a straight and sleek hair type. If not, I recommend you to let your daughter have a longer hair so that you can do more experiments on her hair with the help of hair accessories. Beside bob cut, pixie cut is also a famous hair cut for short-haired girls these days. You can simply go to your favorite hairstylist and she/he will surely know which hairstyle best suits your daughter face and age.

Taking Care of a Baby's Hair

2011-11-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Taking care of your baby's hair is important. From cutting to styling, there is something beautiful about having a baby with great hair. You don't have to spend a lot of time to get good results.

Here are some tips on caring for your baby's hair, cutting your child's locks, and using styling products for children. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you spend an appropriate amount of time based on the event. You may only want to put a little effort into a play date or park hairstyle, but if you're attending a formal event or holiday dinner, spend a little extra time to get the do just right. You won't regret it; cameras will capture your baby's hairstyle forever, and Grandma's sure to show off the pics to all her friends. You don't want to have to explain years down the road why you didn't have time to make your daughter or son look extra cute for holidays or parties.

Care

Many baby bath products double as body wash and shampoo. Even though you may not use a separate shampoo on your baby's hair, you may want to consider a light leave-in conditioner for the hair in the back that can be more coarse from keeping baby on the back to sleep.

While sleeping on the back is essential for baby safety's and to help prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), it's rough on a baby's hair. A light conditioner can be just the solution to keeping your infant's hairstyle soft and manageable.

Eventually that baby hair is going to grow out into big-kid hair, but until then you're going to have to make do with hair that's not as easy to work with. If your baby has fine hair you may want to skip the conditioner, which will make the hair even more silky, and stick with a great style or accessory to keep your child looking great.

Cut

As much as parents try to put off that momentous first haircut, there is nothing wrong with keeping your little one's bangs trimmed and the hair out of your baby's face. You don't have to do a great job or put layers in your child's hair, but you do have to practice serious scissor safety. Either have a professional cut your baby's hair or, if you do it yourself, buy safety scissors that don't have the sharp tips. That way if your baby does a quick head-turn you won't have an injury on your hands.

And that old wives' tale about cutting the hair before your baby turns one-year old causing bad luck? There's no basis in fact. If your baby's hair is in his or her eyes, cut it. It only takes a few minutes to trim baby bangs.

Hair Products for Babies

From pigtails to barrettes, there are tons of great ways to style your baby's hair. The problem is when you take baby out for a car ride, getting in and out of the car seat or stroller, and general bad weather conditions like rain and humidity can turn your work of art into a hot mess pretty quickly.

Not A Difficult Concept

2011-11-16T22:07:00.000-08:00

Those Dirty Blue Dogs !

2011-11-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

I've about had it with the "blue dog" politicians in Washington. For those of you who don't know, a "blue dog" is a person who gets elected as a Democrat but votes with the Republicans. They call themselves conservatives, but what they are is scoundrels who fool the voters of their district or state into thinking they support Democratic values while they are really just corporate-owned politicians (no different than Republicans).

Once again these blue dogs have crossed the line of good sense and sided with the Republicans against the citizens of this country. They have announced that they support Republican efforts to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. They do this in spite of the fact that the BBA would double the current level of unemployment and shrink the economy by more than 17% -- throwing the country into a severe Depression. Here's what the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the BBA would do:

“The constitutional balanced budget amendment that the House is expected to consider this week could force Congress to cut all programs by an average of 17.3 percent by 2018.

“If revenues are not raised (the House-passed budget resolution assumes no increase above current-policy levels) and all programs are cut by the same percentage, Social Security would be cut $184 billion in 2018 alone and almost $1.2 trillion through 2021; Medicare would be cut $117 billion in 2018 and about $750 billion through 2021; and Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) would be cut $80 billion in 2018 and about $500 billion through 2021.”

I find it hard to believe that anyone elected as a Democrat could vote to do such damage to this country. And frankly, I think all Democrats should refuse to vote for these blue dogs in the next election. I know some of you are going to say that would just result in a Republican being elected to replace them. My answer to that is that you are already being represented by a Republican (dressed in Democratic clothing). Once they have been voted out, you can start working to replace them with a real Democrat who will vote for Democratic ideals and values.

I know Democrats are famous for their "big tent" philosophy, but these rabid blue dogs are not just stinking that tent up, they are trying to burn it down. They are destroying the party, and they are helping the Republicans destroy the country. For your information, here are the 25 members of the Blue Dog Coalition in the 112th Congress:

Members in the 112th Congress

Jason Altmire (PA-4)
Joe Baca (CA-43)
John Barrow (GA-12), Co-Chair for Policy
Sanford Bishop (GA-2)
Dan Boren (OK-2), Blue Dog Whip
Leonard Boswell (IA-3)
Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)
Ben Chandler (KY-6)
Jim Cooper (TN-5)
Jim Costa (CA-20)
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Joe Donnelly (IN-2)
Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8)
Tim Holden (PA-17)
Jim Matheson (UT-2)
Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
Mike Michaud (ME-2)
Collin Peterson (MN-7)
Mike Ross (AR-4), Co-Chair for Communications
Loretta Sanchez (CA-47)
Adam Schiff (CA-29)
Kurt Schrader (OR-5)
David Scott (GA-13)
Heath Shuler (NC-11), Co-Chair for Administration
Mike Thompson (CA-1)

Sense Of Humor

2011-11-16T22:05:00.000-08:00

Political Cartoon is by David Fitzsimmons in the Arizona Daily Star.