THINGS MY FATHER TAUGHT ME:

 1. Hold the door open for anyone older then yourself or a woman,
 2. Never fault a working man or woman for wanting as much as he or she can get for their labor.
 3. Always, without exception, say thank-you.
 4. Never, under any circumstance, believe what a politician tells you.
5. Big business is something you have to view with a lot of skepticism.
 6. You can become a Republican if you like, but I wouldn't recommend it.
7. Be respectful of everyone, regardless of color, social status, religion, or disability.
8. If you ever get the notion that you are better than anyone else, discord it.
 9. Not many things appear as they are.
10. Never cry over spilled milk. Slurp it up, clean it up, and pour another. Or drink water.
11. You can do whatever you want in life, but you can't undo it.
That's about as far as we got. My father died when I was 18.

MONDAY MORNING PRAYER-PRAISE IN THE GREAT CONGREGATION

We are bold, as your creatures, to praise you.
We praise you for the gift of life,
    and for the gift of new life in Easter.
We praise you for the mystery of creation,
    as we stand in awe alongside
       all your creatures---
           zebras,
           cabbages,
           sharks,
           all the birds in the air,
           all the fish in the sea,
           all the beasts of the field.
We praise you alongside all our human cousins
      of the single family of humanity:
           Hispanics and Koreans,
           homeboys and immigrants,
           our good friends, our fearful enemies.
We praise you with full throat and glad hearts.
We praise you on this glad day.

Around the edge of our doxology are other brothers and sisters
      with whom we stand in solidarity.
      So we name them for your attention:
           the war-wounded and amputees;
           the mothers whose sons are gone but not forgotten;
           the dying who lack health-care;
           the poor who eat less than we eat;
           the prisoners who have not had smart lawyers.

We look up to you in exuberance.
We look around at them and our praise is muted,
    because we wonder some about your mercy;
         we are not completely sure of your generosity.
    Our praise turns to plea:
        look upon us in our common need
            and give us life again.
        Give new life and we will recover
               our voice of praise.

Until then, we will watch with eager longing
    and voice muted, hopeful but with those in need;
    we pray toward you but are marked by hints of absence....
            and we wait.

Prayers for a Privileged People, Walter Brueggemann

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car.”
Garrison Keillor

I WAS ONLY DREAMING OF THINGS THAT I COULD SEE

• How would it be to not have to worry about health-care?
• No more war.
• We come to our senses about climate change.
• Elections are fair, and open, and on the weekend.
• We heat and cool with solar and wind power. Keep big business out of it. Government-state owned.
• No more hunger. That should be our first priority.
• We have millions of vacant homes. Why not put the homeless in them?
• We get a Congress who represent the poor, not the rich.
• Every day we should read in the newspapers about people who are making a positive difference in the world.
• Television is used to make us think, not to create and foster stupidity.
• We fund the arts like we fund math and science. We don't need any more engineers to work for the military.
• We grow food to feed people, not to feed cars.
• We stop building churches and start acting like Christians.

I was only dreaming of things that I could see.

SUNDAY MORNING SERMON: I CAME BACK HAUNTED

It was 15 yrs. ago today I had a heart attack. It wasn't bad, but did require open heart surgery. No problem until 10 wks, later. A massive sternal staph infection. They called my family in twice, thinking I was about to die. I came back haunted.

• After being out for 8 days with a 105.8 degree temperature, no one was for sure if my brain hadn't been fried. As luck would have it, I'm the same left handed, left leaning nut I was, minus a bit of memory. Unfortunately, I can still remember all my failings. Just the luck.
• You get to wondering why you were spared? I haven't come up with really a whole lot. I haven't turned over any new leaves, to speak of. I did decide to finish 18 hrs of credit in seminary to finish a theology degree I started in 1971. My first course was hard. I forgot how demanding and time consuming graduate courses can be. My professor took it really seriously. More serious than I was hoping. Still, I managed an A. Actually, it was credit with distinction. No letter grades. First time I've ever done anything with distinction. It felt pretty good.
• I am trying to use my time in a more useful and effective way. I volunteer on Tuesday and Thursday at the food bank in Hot Springs. I mainly load food as providers come in to pick it up. The work can be a little heavy, but so far I've managed. I enjoy meeting all the providers of service. Sure a lot of good people. I'm thinking of changing one day, or adding one day, to serving meals at the Salvation Army. I miss the contact with people receiving services. It makes me feel uncomfortable seeing so many people in need, which I prefer over getting naive' and comfortable with the status quo. I feel more useful and in touch with the community.
• I am, unfortunately, getting less and less tolerant with all the right-wing nonsense going on. It all seems pretty hateful and racist oriented to me. I channel my frustration into writing, which helps. Where these people are coming from is a place I have never been, thank God. I'm glad I came back haunted. Not only am I haunted about what might happen when you die, I am haunted about what might happen if you live.

President Obama sings Amazing Grace (C-SPAN)

AMAZING WEEK FULL OF GRACE

The week has given President Barack Obama some much needed relief from all the obstructionist energy he has faced during his presidency. On numerous fronts, he had the legacy of his presidency cemented in positiveness. On the health care front, the Supreme Court upheld the creation and methods of the Affordable Care Act. While maybe not meeting my standards, it has helped millions to be able to afford some health coverage. This endorsement from of right-wing, Republican court. The Supreme Court also endorsed the marriage of all people, granted to them in the constitution. Love had to have cleared the way for this decision. The exact letter of the law would not have allowed for his. It is too ambiguous and wrought with too much interpretation. And now, a eulogy in Charleston for Rev. Clementa Pinckney. If you have not listened to it, do yourself a favor. It will be one of the best speeches you have ever heard in your lifetime. In a mere week, I was moved back to feeling good about President Obama's presidency and the man. While I am not completely happy about some of the things he has endorsed and done, I am back among the faithful. In his eulogy, you will see him take charge of a nation at the moment it is brought to its knees. President's need to serve as moral and spiritual guides in times like this. In one week, he demonstrated the requirements of a good President in times of crisis and despair. He gave us hope to overcome.

THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM THE INTERNET

• I apparently need a bigger penis. Or so it seems, according to my e-mails. I'm not sure how they knew.
• I can borrow money in seconds, get a credit card in minutes, and buy anything imaginable, and charge it all to you.
• You can get the news instantly. This is both good and bad. Now I know every damn stupid thing that happens, like the guy in Ohio who peed on a power line. 
• There are no rules. No one has figured out how to enforce any. I'm in favor of that. I think there are way too many rules. Rule #1: Let's get rid of some of these rules.
• Women are always making advances toward me. They must be really hard-up.
• You no longer have to talk face to face with anyone. You can be anybody, or anything, anytime you want to be. Being anonymous doesn't help truthfulness.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"IT DOES ME NO INJURY FOR MY NEIGHBOR TO SAY THERE ARE TWENTY GODS, OR NO GOD, IT NEITHER PICKS MY POCKET NOR BREAKS MY LEG."

Thomas Jefferson

PEEVER LAW #103

BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE. IF YOU ARE RICH, GIVE MOST OF WHAT YOU HAVE TO THE POOR. IF YOU ARE POOR, TAKE IT. THEY PROBABLY STOLE IT FROM YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE.

In Surprise Decision, SCOTUS Rules Against Discriminatory Housing Practices

In Surprise Decision, SCOTUS Rules Against Discriminatory Housing Practices



I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS TREND CONTINUE, BUT....

PEEVER LAW #11

Capitalism has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with profit and exploitation.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.”
Eugene V. Debs

'Enough is Enough!' Sanders Declares Corporate Greed Must Go

'Enough is Enough!' Sanders Declares Corporate Greed Must Go



CAPITALISM IS DESTROYING US.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"YET IN THROWING OFF THE YOKE OF AN INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH, THE NEW NATION (United States), GRADUALLY DEVELOPED INTO A KIND OF CHURCH ITSELF. PATRIOTISM BECAME A FORM OF RELIGIOUS DEVOTION. THE FLAG WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A TOTEM. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS CAST AS A COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND HIS NEW CHOSEN PEOPLE. THE CONSTITUTION TOOK ON THE PATINA OF DIVINE SCRIPTURE.
FROM MANIFEST DESTINY TO THE WAR ON TERROR, THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN INFUSED WITH A SENSE OF SACRED PURPOSE, A CONVICTION THAT AMERICA'S VALUES ARE GOD'S VALUES, MEANT FOR THE WHOLE OF THE WORLD."

Beyond Fundamentalism, Reza Aslan

 AND SO, THIS IS WHAT WE GET. CHARLESTON. OKLAHOMA CITY. YOUNG MALES, RADICALIZED BY RIGHT-WING POLITICIANS AND PARENTS INTO BELIEVING THEY ARE CARRYING OUT THE WILL OF GOD BY KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE. THE WHOLE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENCY WILL CONVINCE YOU OF THIS. IT IS A COSMIC WAR, FOUGHT IN THE NAME OF GOD, NOT UNLIKE THE TERRORISTS WE SO MUCH FEAR. IT IS HOME-BRED, AND RESTS SQUARELY ON THE BACKS OF THE NRA, RIGHT-WING POLITICIANS, AND PARENTS WHO TEACH HATRED TO THEIR CHILDREN. IT WILL TAKE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO BEAT THIS HOLY ARMY. BUT THRU COMPASSION, COMMITMENT, NONVIOLENCE, AND LOVE, GOOD WILL PREVAIL.

60 SENATORS SHOULD HAVE NO HOME

So much for the senate rejecting the fast track trade bill. Seems at least 60 of them think it is a good idea to keep things secret from us. I think it is a good idea if we throw 60 of them out of the Senate. Manually. But gently. As gently as most cops are handling us nowadays.

Constituents to Senators: Reject Fast Track, or Don't Come Home

Constituents to Senators: Reject Fast Track, or Don't Come Home



IF PASSED, THIS WILL BE BARACK OBAMA'S LOWEST POINT AND A PITIFUL LEGACY THAT HE WILL LEAVE. I TOLD YOU HE WAS AT BEST A MODERATE REPUBLICAN.

THE RICHEST FAMILY ON EARTH

FROM MOTHER JONES: FOUR OF AMERICAN'S 10 RICHEST PEOPLE, AND THE WEALTHIEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD, ARE WALMART HEIRS. EVEN AFTER A MAJOR ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, THEIR JOINT WEALTH IS $145 BILLION. AND YOU THINK YOU ARE BUYING THINGS CHEAP AT WALMART?

IT AWAYS MATTERS

Killing people with drones is not justified under any circumstances. It does matter how you conduct yourself in times of war.

Arming everyone with handguns is insane. You say it’s for safety. I say it’s for fear. It does matter.

You preach on and on about the hungry and how terrible it is that children go to bed at night hungry. Yet, have you every handed a hungry child a sandwich? It does matter.

So you are against abortion. After all, your minister thinks it’s sinful. Have you ever talked to a woman about to have an abortion? Have you asked her why? It does matter.

You believe that politician when he says climate change is a bunch of liberal garbage. Did you ask him where he got his information? Or did you ask to see his relevant Ph.D. It does matter.

You think white people are superior to all others.  Can you hear your father or mothers voice when you think that? It does matter.

You believe the rich should get all of the governments resources and that the poor are living high-off-the-hog on food stamps and welfare. How about I help you trade places with someone who is down and out. You too can lead the good life. It will matter.

You think the government interfering in our private lives and private talks is a matter of security and safety. Have you given any thought at all in terms of what it means to democracy? It does matter.

We seem to believe it is alright to torture the enemy in the name of freedom and democracy. If so, they can do the same when they catch us. You don’t think it matters, but it does. Endorsing evil always matters.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I DON'T THINK THAT GOD SAYS,"GO TO CHURCH AND PRAY ALL DAY AND EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE." NO, FOR ME GOD SAYS, "GO OUT AND MAKE THE CHANGES THAT NEED TO BE MADE, AND I'LL BE THERE TO HELP YOU."

Elvia Alvarado

Two Other Ways Racists Kill

Two Other Ways Racists Kill

Love Is Stronger Than Hate

Love Is Stronger Than Hate

SUNDAY MORNING HYMN: Amos Lee w The Roots Jesus

SUNDAY MORNING SERMON

SUNDAY MORNING SERMON

"YET IN THROWING OFF THE YOKE OF AN INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH, THE NEW NATION (United States), GRADUALLY DEVELOPED INTO A KIND OF CHURCH ITSELF. PATRIOTISM BECAME A FORM OF RELIGIOUS DEVOTION. THE FLAG WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A TOTEM. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS CAST AS A COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND HIS NEW CHOSEN PEOPLE. THE CONSTITUTION TOOK ON THE PATINA OF DIVINE SCRIPTURE.
FROM MANIFEST DESTINY TO THE WAR ON TERROR, THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN INFUSED WITH A SENSE OF SACRED PURPOSE, A CONVICTION THAT AMERICA'S VALUES ARE GOD'S VALUES, MEANT FOR THE WHOLE OF THE WORLD."

Beyond Fundamentalism, Reza Aslan

AND SO, THIS IS WHAT WE GET. CHARLESTON. OKLAHOMA CITY. YOUNG MALES, RADICALIZED BY RIGHT-WING POLITICIANS AND PARENTS INTO BELIEVING THEY ARE CARRYING OUT THE WILL OF GOD BY KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE. THE WHOLE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENCY WILL CONVINCE YOU OF THIS. IT IS A COSMIC WAR, FOUGHT IN THE NAME OF GOD, NOT UNLIKE THE TERRORISTS WE SO MUCH FEAR. IT IS HOME-BRED, AND RESTS SQUARELY ON THE BACKS OF THE NRA, RIGHT-WING POLITICIANS, AND PARENTS WHO TEACH HATRED TO THEIR CHILDREN. IT WILL TAKE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO BEAT THIS HOLY ARMY. BUT THRU COMPASSION, COMMITMENT, NONVIOLENCE, AND LOVE, GOOD WILL PREVAIL.

SUNDAY MORNING WORD

"THE CREATOR OF ALL IS ONE. TRUTH IS HIS NAME.

From The Mul Mantra

SONG OF HOPE: Amos Lee "A Change Is Gonna Come"

JUNE LOVELINESS SHATTERED-A PRAYER FOR THOSE KILLED IN CHARLESTON

This June--like every June---
    is a fine time to be alive:
  the sun is warm, but not yet too hot;
  the light stays longer and night comes later;
  the summer eases the schedule,
     and we are taken up
           in weddings and brides,
           in proms and graduations,
           in successes and endings,
           in exciting new beginnings.

We are among the many creatures of your creation,
        who luxuriate in long days
           ready for peaceable nights;
        a great serenity comes to us,
           in sure knowledge that you govern well
                  and care for us in generous ways.

Just at the cusp of night,
     for an instant the loveliness is shattered:
        there is a siren in its
               disruptive eeriness---
         happily not too close, but we do not know:
                a robbery,
                an assault,
                a heart attack,
                a scene of domestic violence,
                some shattering that sobers our ease.

We are reminded
   that the world is deep in instability,
   that the world is saturated with ready violence,
   that our ease is without full guarantee,
   and that death stalks close even to us.

We come to rest---torn between grateful ease
               and weariness at the edge.

Just as we fall into sleep or dream or nightmare,
         after the piercing siren,
              we hear a bird,
                  a curfew against our anxiety,
                  a trust affirmed,
                  a witness to your good governance.

We fall back not fully at ease,
     but confident enough to trust our
June night to your safekeeping.

We pray in the name of Jesus who walked into Saturday night
      and began again at daybreak.

Walter Brueggemann-Prayers for a Privileged People

Latest Poll Confirms Nation's Desires Marching Leftward

Latest Poll Confirms Nation's Desires Marching Leftward



WELCOME ABOARD! I KNEW YOU'D SHOW UP FOR THE PARTY.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"NO RELIGION IS INHERENTLY VIOLENT OR PEACEFUL; PEOPLE ARE VIOLENT OR PEACEFUL."

BEYOND FUNDAMENTALISM, Reza Aslan

THESE ARE THE THINGS I COULD DO WITHOUT

1. RIGHT-WING, WHITE, CHRISTIAN REPUBLICANS. OR, FOR THAT MATTER, DEMOCRATS.
2. I COULD DO WITHOUT THE SUPREME COURT. THEY ARE NOT VERY SMART.
3. HOW ABOUT WAR? WAR IS OLD NEWS. KILLING PEOPLE TO MAKE THEM BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU DO IS WRONG. I'M GUESSING HELL IS GOING TO BE FILLED WITH A LOT OF PRO-WAR PEOPLE.AND BY THE WAY, TREATING EVERY HOLIDAY LIKE IT'S A MILITARY RAH-RAH DAY IS GETTING BORING. THE SAME FOR SPORTING EVENTS.
4. I'VE LOST MY FAITH IN POLITICIANS. WE NEED A WHOLE BUNCH OF NEW  ONE'S, PREFERABLY FROM ANOTHER PLANET.
5. THE CHURCH NEEDS TO STAY SEPARATED FROM THE STATE. ANY CHURCH WANTING TO BE INVOLVED IN POLITICS NEEDS TO BE TAXED. MOST NEED TO BE TAXED ANYWAY.
6. IF GOVERNMENTS WANT TO SAVE MONEY, THEY SHOULD CUT THEMSELVES OUT OF THE BUDGET. INSTEAD, THEY PICK ON THE POOR, EDUCATION, AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS. THIS IS A SIGN OF POOR JUDGEMENT AND LACK OF WISDOM.
7. I COULD DO WITHOUT PRESIDENTIAL RACES. ALL THE BULLSHIT IS GETTING OLD.
8. SECRET TRADE DEALS, OR SECRET SPYING, OR SECRET ANYTHING IS NOT HOW A DEMOCRACY IS SUPPOSE TO WORK. IF IT IS KEPT SECRET FROM THOSE WHO VOTE PEOPLE INTO OFFICE, IT IS STRAIGHT UP WRONG. IT NEEDS TO END.
9. I COULD DO WITHOUT TELEVISION, ALTHOUGH MY WIFE DOESN'T BELIEVE THAT. SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF TELEVISION IS CRAP. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT ISN'T BAD, BUT NOT NEAR WORTH MY CABLE BILL.
10. EVERYTHING TODAY IS BEING SETTLED BY LAWYERS AND COURTS, WHICH ARE ONE AND THE SAME. THIS IS NOT A GOOD TREND. 

I COULD EASILY PUT DOWN ANOTHER TEN, LIKE YOUNG, RADICALIZED WHITE MALES WHO BELIEVE IT IS NOBLE TO KILL BLACKS, BUT I DON'T WANT TO RISK SEEMING NEGATIVE. THOSE IN POWER HATE PEOPLE COMPLAINING SO MUCH, AND I WOULDN'T WANT TO UPSET THEM.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“NC passed law against global warming science, therefore it's not happening. So I'm ignoring Twitter's 140-character limit, so it's not happ”  

Stephen Colbert

'Climate Is a Common Good': Pope Francis Calls for Justice on Warming Planet

'Climate Is a Common Good': Pope Francis Calls for Justice on Warming Planet



FINALLY, A POPE WHO CAN SEE BEYOND HIS OWN RELIGION.

Sanders: Call for 'Political Revolution' Is About Mass Movement, Not Me

Sanders: Call for 'Political Revolution' Is About Mass Movement, Not Me



I'M ALL IN.

THE PEEVER PUTS HIS MARK ON WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY

Number one: It's inhabited by humans.

Number two: There are way too many right-wing, Republican, Christians. One or two would be ok. Evolution would take care of them.

Number three: With everyone carrying a gun, what we are going to end up with is nothing but sorrow. That, and a bunch of itchy trigger fingers.

Number four: Just exactly how ignorant do you have to be to deny evolution and human produced climate change? I'm going with an IQ of 50 or less.

Number five: Capitalism will not work. We have way too many people with no intention of sharing the wealth. Walton family: $120 billion; Kock Bros.: $85 billion; Bill Gates: $79 billion; Warren Buffett: $72 billion. This amount of personal wealth is destroying the economy and dangerously distancing the rich from the poor. Violent revolution will be the result.

Number six: We have a right-wing Supreme Court who place ideology above justice. And five of them will do nothing that would get them excommunicated from the Catholic church. Abortions will soon be moving to the back alleys of America, completing our evolution back to a third world country.

Number seven: Health-care has become a commodity for sale to the highest bidder. Who would have ever thought sickness would leave people bankrupt? It's almost unbelievable that we do not view health-care as a right. Only in America.

Number eight: Perpetual war. Props up the economy and makes the rich richer, while the poor fight unwinnable wars. These cosmic wars against terrorism are promoted on every holiday and at every sporting event in America. It is all designed to keep us living in fear. Little do people know that they are more likely to be killed by lightening than by a terrorist. Now they want our contributions to care for those they put in harms way. I thought that's why we send them our tax dollars? And we no longer face the enemy. Now it's war by remote control. Drones. Seems like a glorified video game. The dead are no longer fellow human beings: no fathers, sons, daughters, mothers, uncles, cousins. Only spots on a GPS. Bang! Sorry if there were any civilians around. Collateral damage, acceptable in this new sport.

Number nine: Big business and big money now run America. Elections are for the most part a joke. Democracy is fading. Welcome to the brave new world.

I was going to list ten, but I'm tired of this. It's way too depressing.But it does make for some good peeves. There is never a shortage.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Christian Republicans have taken Jesus’ teachings of compassion, love, and acceptance and completely forgotten them. They instead use the Bible to discriminate against gays and deny climate change. They don’t care about the religion, they only care about the votes that religion can deliver.

Ring of Fire

BENEDICTION

AND THEN IT WAS OVER. THE WORDS WERE DONE. IT WAS TIME TO TAKE ACTION.

SUNDAY MORNING HYMN: Grace Potter And The Nocturnals - The Lion The Beast The Beat

HEARING BETTER VOICES

WE MAKE A PAUSE
     AMID MANY VOICES---
         SOME INNOCENT AND SOME SEDUCTIVE,
         SOME VIOLENT AND SMOE COERCIVE,
         SOME FORGIVEN AND GENUINE,
         SOME NOT.

AMID THIS CACOPHONY THAT PULLS US
         IN MANY DIRECTIONS,
    WE HAVE THESE OLD VOICES OF YOUR PROPHETS;
     THESE VOICES ATTEST TO
         YOUR FIERCE SELF,
         YOUR SEVERE SUMMONS,
         YOUR GENEROUS PROMISE,
         YOUR ABIDING PRESENCE.

GIVE US GOOD EARS,
    PERCHANCE YOU HAVE A WORD FOR US TONIGHT;
GIVE US GRACE AND COURAGE TO LISTEN,
                                                             TO ANSWER,
                                                             TO CARE,
                                                              AND TO REJOICE,
    THAT WE MAY BE MORE FULLY YOUR PEOPLE.

Prayers for a Privileged People, Walter Brueggemann

SUNDAY MORNING HYMN: Grace Potter - I Shall Be Released - Love for Levon

SUNDAY MORNING SERMON

One day, many moons ago, a missionary came to our land and converted our people. Because I was a great dancer and usually ran around naked, they gave me the name Tom Smith and put clothes on me and said not to dance anymore. They said this was the moral and righteous thing to do. So I bought fancy clothes, got a job from 9-5, and began attending church on Sunday morning. I did this for many years. On my death bed, someone asked me about my beliefs and where I wanted to be buried. I told them to ask the missionary. He seems to know what is best for me.

DREAM MANIFESTO

Spending 3 months by the ocean.
­­A log cabin next to a lake.
­­No more Presidential elections. Let's just appoint someone. Someone nice. No right-wing Republicans need apply.
­­No war. No need. NO HATE.
­­Coffee in a small cafe in Paris.
­­Compassion. Forgiveness. Unrelenting love.
­­A good book, a nice chair, quiet.
­­Universal health care.
­­Fine food, good friends, cheap wine.
­­Patience.
An 8 handicap in golf. 
Dream on.
­­

ANTI-WAR QUOTES OF THE DAY

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
― Howard Zinn 

“Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

“You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.”
― Albert Einstein 

  

 “When the rich wage war it's the poor who die.”

― Jean-Paul Sartre, Le diable et le bon dieu

“The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King   

 “They Have Money For War But Can't Feed The Poor.”
― Tupac Shakur

 “Do you think it's possible for an entire nation to be insane?”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment: The Play 

 “The choice is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

A CONVERSATION WITH THE DARK SIDE

• Eve would have been better off with the snake.
• Hell is no further down the road than the first hungry child you meet, or the homeless person you see on the street, or the lonely shut-win begging for a visitor.
• Dying is not near as hard as living.
• Which is worse: A prostitute, a drug dealer, or a fortune 500 CEO?
• Killing and destruction have always been popular activities among humans.
• It is not necessary for the human race to survive. Time could care less.
• Which came first: Air, water, or management screwing labor?
• How did society come to believe that health-care is a privilege rather than a right?
• If you find yourself in a state of mental confusion, where things just don't add up, my advice to you would be to quit watching Dancing With the Stars.

CAN'T STAND THE PAIN

Have you ever walked down a road where you can’t stand the pain? How do I get to be the husband I would like to be? Why can’t I take that next step? What is it in me that keeps holding me back? Do I have to spend every minute worrying about the world? Can’t it get along without me? Every day I try to be a devoted father. Am I as devoted to that as I am to my job? My community needs me to help. Now? How about next week? My neighbor is out of work. What can I do? I’m a 62 year old man. Is there never any rest? When the road gets painful, am I willing to keep stepping forward? Or will it burn holes in my shoes?

More Guns For Everyone! Idaho School Arms Teachers and What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

More Guns For Everyone! Idaho School Arms Teachers and What Could Possibly Go Wrong?



WHAT A SICK IDEA. NO PSYCHIATRIST WOULD FIND THIS SANE BEHAVIOR. WELL, MAYBE A WHITE, RIGHT-WING, CHRISTIAN, PARANOID ONE MIGHT, BUT HE OR SHE WOULD BE WRONG.

'He Should Get the Nobel Peace Prize': Ellsberg Champions Snowden's Profound Impact

'He Should Get the Nobel Peace Prize': Ellsberg Champions Snowden's Profound Impact



WE SHOULD ALL BE THANKING HIM.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The first lesson a revolutionary must learn is that he is a doomed man.”
Huey P. Newton

WE ARE IN NEED OF REMEMBERING JESUS THE REVOLUTIONARY

"TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATE, THE CHRIST OF PAUL'S CREATION HAS UTTERLY SUBSUMED THE JESUS OF HISTORY. THE MEMORY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ZEALOT WHO WALKED ACROSS GALILEE GATHERING AN ARMY OF DISCIPLES WITH THE GOAL OF ESTABLISHING THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH, THE MAGNETIC PREACHER WHO DEFIED THE AUTHORITY OF THE TEMPLE PRIESTHOOD IN JERUSALEM, THE RADICAL JEWISH NATIONALIST WHO CHALLENGED THE ROMAN OCCUPATION AND LOST, HAS BEEN ALMOST COMPLETELY LOST TO HISTORY. THAT IS A SHAME. BECAUSE THE ONE THING ANY COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE HISTORICAL JESUS SHOULD REVEAL IS THAT JESUS OF NAZARETH--JESUS THE MAN--IS EVERY BIT AS COMPELLING, CHARISMATIC, AND PRAISEWORTHY AS JESUS THE CHRIST. HE IS, IN SHORT, SOMEONE WORTH BELIEVING IN."

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan

Greenwald: Obama, Media 'Irresponsible' for Scaring Public Over Patriot Act

Greenwald: Obama, Media 'Irresponsible' for Scaring Public Over Patriot Act