CB

The Joy of Senility

CB

Layoff Kings

CB

Matthew 21:[12,13]

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

American families have always shown remarkable resiliency, or flexible adjustment to natural, economic, and social challenges. Their strengths resemble the elasticity of a spider web, a gull’s skillful flow with the wind, the regenerating power of perennial grasses, the cooperation of an ant colony, and the persistence of a stream carving canyon rocks. These are not the strengths of fixed monuments but living organisms. This resilience is not measured by wealth, muscle or efficiency but by creativity, unity, and hope. Cultivating these family strengths is critical to a thriving human community.
Family Life Specialist with the University of Wyoming’s Cooperative Extension Service

- Ben Silliman

Just for the record I like Barack Obama. I voted for the MAN. I support the MAN, and I’m tired of hearing people blame him for what ails them. As if any one person could ever be responsible for every problem. Wake up! If anybody wants to spread blame for the predicament America finds herself in, they can blame many, like the rich greedy sons of bitches who run the big banks and ruthless corporations that rightfully got us in this mess, but don’t blame Obama. If you think it’s that simple you’re an idiot–period.

Anyway back to Facebook. I’m tired of it. Tired of it draining my time and attention away from stuff that matters. Tired of the patronizing platitudes that go back and forth there. Tired of myself for even being there.

Those of you who used to comment on my FB profile, if you want to make comments here, then please register and I’ll approve you first, and your comments second, if I think they are appropriate. That’s not being autocratic, it’s just being practical. So far, with the exception of a few friends, about all this site has attracted are hack-offs who want to post their spam.

Sayonara FB!

CB

He ran for president in 1968 and 1972 and was defeated in a landslide by Nixon in the 1972 election. As a peace candidate, I supported him both times as did many of the younger generation, but it wasn’t enough. Nixon too vowed to end the war during the election campaign of 1968, but few people realized he meant to do it with force. Over 40% of the total casualties of the Vietnam War occurred after Nixon took office.

I often wonder what kind of outcome we’d have had with McGovern….?

CB

Therein is the heart of the question, for all of the mainstream religious sects claim an exclusivity to the divine ear. So much so that, were their creator to listen intently, he/she would hear only a cacophony of voices each claiming to be right. Unfortunately, believing you are right is not right-eousness.

The shaman has long been the spirit mediator of mankind, a sort of interpretor and advocate rolled into one. He achieves an altered state of consciousness by varied means, from within which he is able to “see and know “ that which is invisible.

Wallace Stevens said: “The poet is the priest of the invisible.” Though I agree with that statement, for present purposes, I would take it slightly off track and say, “The shaman is the voice of the invisible.” He fully speaks the language of the spirit world, an invisible world from which poets and priests merely glean fragments of cognition.

Once again, what is religiously considered the aboriginal concept of a multidimensional universe, is perhaps closer to truth than the plausible denial of these transcendental states. If we believe in spirit, we acknowledge the existence of other dimensions of being. The shaman is able to bridge the gap between them and remember where the bridges are, returning time and again to centering ground.

To do so he places himself in a “trance” by ingesting entheogens, fasting, dancing, etc. from which he achieves a closeness with the spirits and oneness with creation. In this state he is equipped to do anything from heal sickness, to exorcise demons.

Many religious sects fast and pray as a way of getting closer to their God. Many also believe in healing and exorcism by the laying on of hands. They acknowledge a singular leader as being closer to God, and claim divine guidance through revelation. Some leaders are authorized to grant absolution from sin. Others are canonized as icons and made into examples of faith and righteousness.

Who then among them has the right to claim such keys, without first emerging the God within himself?

Freedom of religion is paramount, and I understand and respect that “right “. The truth will surely set you free. Though the source is singular, the tree of life has many roots and branches.

#11. Of the Thirteen Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

“We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.”

There are few who know the meaning of religious persecution better than the Mormons. Our history is rife with it.

My secular thought differs only in that mainstream religions, including mine, claim a divine authority which is solely theirs by right of some perceived chain of custody. Therefore they must exercise faith in their own authority as well as in God.

For me, I just don’t have to be right. I do have faith in something greater than ourselves. Yet I know the path to God is through my own spirit, and so I must know myself before I can truly know Him.

To do that I need to look inward and find my “shaman”.

CB

Among these ideologies is one that seems to come to the spotlight more and more often these days in the mainstream media, the issue of “race”. Recently, I’ve found myself wondering if it is really a legitimate issue for a presidential candidate to feel compelled to address in the United States of America. After all, we are a nation of immigrants, who have been mixing bloodlines for centuries, which fact establishes unequivocally that there is no true biological demarcation. No white person or black, yellow, red, or green for that matter, living in the world, can say for certain they belong to any singular “race”, even in the wilds of Amazonian jungles or the depths of Africa. In fact, it was recently proven scientifically through DNA profiling, that we humans experienced a near extinction, which at one point, dropped our numbers to as low as 3000 individuals worldwide. Out of this near catastrophe has emerged a “human race” that can trace its DNA roots back to a singular female profile. In essence, we all have a common Eve ancestor, if you will.

Outwardly I am white skinned, but my bloodlines I’m sure are as diverse as any American’s: Scots/English/Irish/Swedish/Norwegian/Austrian/and many genealogical unknowns, as both my grandmothers were adopted. The point is: I don’t honestly consider race based on skin color an issue, nor do I think I would, even if I was not outwardly white skinned. The candidates to me are not separated from the rest of us, or one another by race, gender, or religion for that matter. There are far more decisive rather than divisive criteria on which to evaluate their political strengths and weaknesses besides “race”.

What are your thoughts?

It became a holy calling to learn the skills of der schmeid, the smith, who had the secret knowledge to make precious charcoal. A man’s eyes could learn when to strike according to the colors of the iron, but he also needed the will and endurance of a mighty warrior to hammer and sweat for many hours at the forge. The ultimate results of his labor were beautiful, well balanced, razor edged swords, with brightly polished blades and bejeweled hilts; highly prized works of art, often named reverently by the great kings and blade-masters who paid dearly for them.

Yet within that beauty, lay a dark weapon of destruction, a weapon that brought out the basest instincts of mankind, a weapon of war designed for close combat. The kind where adversaries stood ankle deep in the blood of their comrades and looked each other in the eye; where there was no quarter expected and none given. Victory went to the last man standing. Trust, if it existed, was ultimately in the steel.

No warrior was a true master of it, yet no true warrior was subject unto it. For those who lived by the implements of war, it was honor, justice and truth combined. Power was its reward and blood was its sacrifice. Entrails spilled and heads rolled as empires were carved out of human landscape with nothing but strength and steel.

The names of victors were remembered and recorded for all time in Norse sagas, Celtic tales and various chronicles of their day. Such names as Beowulf, Arthur, and many others are almost household names among us, well known to anyone who studies literature or history, their names made infamous by the advent of steel.