I HEARD

I heard...

that a major nationwide retailer is going to start Black Friday next year the day after Memorial Day

that some "low information politicians" think our electoral system puts too much power in the hands of  "low information voters"

that an NBA star making $250,000 per game (that's over $5,000 per minute played, $125 per second, and more than what a typical fan will earn in 5 years) is looking for a raise, to be paid for by higher ticket prices

that a world-renowned cruise ship company will offer a 4-day cruise in 2014 that never leaves port...it is designed for those who get seasick on traditional cruises but who now feel "left behind"

that the government, in an environmental plan to save our trees, will be opening Coupoff stores, in which it will sell packages of discount coupons for all sorts of products sold at all sorts of stores...the government, after 3-years' study, has concluded that its new stores will substantially reduce the number of trees that need to be cut down to print those massive weekend newspapers (that are never read) which now contain so many coupons...even though the newspapers have said they will have a special section offering discount coupons to Coupoff stores

that a tech startup company has developed a NapAp...it is a pillow containing a transvibrational coagulator that gives you a choice of 3,000 dreams you are guaranteed to have if you rest your head on the pillow while sleeping (in a recent survey, sexual dreams were ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the type of dreams most appers opted for)

that the reason people rarely change their mind on an important issue, no matter the persuasive power of the arguments they hear, is that they do not have a mind to change

Good days are acomin'.

OF CHIMPS AND CHAMPS AND CHUMPS

Some years ago, a chimp was born that looked somewhat different than the other chimps...and because of that difference and the somewhat different way he acted, he was often excluded from the fun and frolicking activities of his peers.

To that  single historical circumstance, many senior students of human behavior attribute our pervasive and seemingly insatiable desire to belong.   Whether it be to a race, a religion, a family, a country, or a country club, we seem to need to be accepted, to be "one of the guys" if we are to remain mentally healthy.  Our self-confidence, it seems,  substantially relates to the frequency of our success in being "on the in", and is significantly diminished by the frequency of our being on the outside looking in. The implication is clear:  you, your life, alone does not measure up, does not mean much.

And to be successful, many freely pay the highest price:  their soul.  The group becomes king, personal thoughts become prisoners within the confines of one's mind, and individualism metamorphs into groupism.  "And God created man" becomes "And God created herds".

Throughout history, untold savagery and human degradation have been perpetrated by groups and their belongees, who still do not understand that there are, for good reason, four "I's" in "individualism" and none in "group".

And the chimps continue laughing.  Can you hear?

PLAYING GOD

I can understand why it is difficult for Democrats to be religious.

God gave man a unique brain capable of thinking, and He gave him free will, but Democrats don't think the apparatus God built in man was of a high quality. Which is why they think they, the few blessed with superior mental equipment, not only have the right but the sacred duty to tell the rest of us how to live our lives. I suppose, too, that the reason they don't go to God to fix the inferior equipment he made is that they think the warranty has expired.


Also, Dems don't like the uterus/conception/ pregnancy thing God conceived, and push ardently to give women the right to override His obvious plan that had women as the 9-month caretakers of God's new children and become their destroyers instead. And when they do put their hand on God's book and say "So help me God", they do not consider it an oath to tell the truth, but rather a simple request to the Almighty for assistance...like, "So, help me God, won't you, its so hard for me not to lie". The fact that they repeatedly succumb to lies and deception proves to them that God is impotent, or no longer cares. Which is why it is difficult, as I said earlier, for Democrats to be religious.

One further thing.  They support Obamacare, and Obamacare has a death panel to decide who is and is not eligible for medical care...and who must die because they are too old, too young, to sick.  Now if they don't see that that is too much playing God, they had better pray there is no God.

RAPTURE: MARY DID YOU KNOW

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: KOL NIDRE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: MEDITATION

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: CHAVALA

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: ICE GLACIER

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

ANYTHING GOES

My wife told me yesterday that our computer was running slow, and as a long-time-ago seminary student, though now atheist, I blithely said "Maybe God wants us to slow down."  She responded by saying that the local library computer was also running slow, and I conjectured "Maybe He wants us all to slow down."

Years and years ago, the voice of God, real or imagined, played an important role in human affairs.  It set a minimum desired, ethical, humane standard for human behavior.  A very needed standard.

But God's voice seems much quieter to me now.  Almost silent.  A CNN article flashed on the Internet around the world yesterday, sought to relieve President Obama of any shame for his now-admitted Obamacare lies by professing that "all Presidents lie," "duplicity is part of ... greatness."

So, lying is great.  After all, Clinton's lies about what was going on in the Oval Office did help to to unshackle liars  from the unwarranted disgrace we previously assigned to those who defaulted on their vows.  A convicted rapist was recently sentenced to but 30 days in prison, and another to no time in prison, casting  what used to be a heinous crime into more favorable light.  Police more and more promote the "shoot first and ask questions later" social ideal.  Etcetera.

80 some years ago, Cole Porter wrote:

"In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, God knows,
Anything Goes.

Good authors too who once knew better words,
Now only use four letter words
Writing prose, Anything Goes.

The world has gone mad today
And good's bad today,
And black's white today,
And day's night today..."

Porter should see it now.

One lifesaver for me.  My daughter, Kira, has been spearheading an honesty experiment highlighting the value and virtue and beauty of honesty.  It is very much worth reading her posts on the subject.  I am talking to you, CNN.  Do you have it in you to give her equal time?

Just Google, "Kira Newman The Honesty Experiment."

Or would that not be a great thing to do?

RAPTURE: MARK TWAIN

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: JOHN CURRY

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL


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BE PRACTICAL

"Stick 'em up.  Give me all your money!"

"I'll give you half."

"OK, you are being practical."

"Stick 'em up.  Give me all your money!"

"But I already gave you half."

"Be practical."

"OK, I guess you're right.  Here's half of what I have left."

"Stick 'em up."


That is politics today.  Think there is something wrong going on?

Be practical.

RAPTURE: MAKING THE VIOLIN

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

BUTTONHEADS

We`are fascinated as a society with buttons.

We "button up" when it's cold, and we tell others to "button up" when we want them to shut up. We know we had better "button down" if we want to get that job done. We think our little child is "cute as a button" and he/she is "as bright as a button". And occasionally, we have been known to "hit the panic button".

But those are not the button uses I want to address today. I want to talk about the ones that equate our lives with elevators. You know. If you want to get in someone's favor, or get that job and get ahead, , you had better "push the right buttons". Can't get in my favor or to the right floor if you "push the wrong buttons", you know. That suggests that there is only one way to get to where we want to get to, that we are no more creative, no more thoughtful, no more daring, than the monotonized, routinized, predictable elevator that simply goes up and down all day, and occasionally stalls.

But that analogy is false. There are a thousand ways to get to where you want to get to. You can get to the 18th floor by hitting the button marked "18". Or, you can hit the "16" button and then walk up two flights. Might actually be healthier for you. Might also meet someone on the staircase you wouldn't have met otherwise, someone who could change your life. Or you can hit the "23" button and enjoy sliding down five bannisters. You get the idea.

Buildings traditionally did not wish to have a 13th floor. Bad luck, it was thought. So there was no "13" button in the elevator. But of course a building with more than 12 floors did have a 13th floor, it was just labelled "14". And that should have warned us that the whole button scenario was screwed up, and that sometimes the wrong buttons may be the right ones.

Now, I would like to  think that my life is something more than elevator.  So please don't try to push my buttons, or I'll zip(per) you up.

RAPTURE: DECLAN GALBRAITH

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: ROGERS & ASTAIRE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: HOLY TEMPLE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL

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RAPTURE: SOLITUDE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: INVICTUS

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY AROUND US EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL INVICTUS....WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

THE SHAME OF GETTYSBURG

Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. We remember that speech in noble terms, but we do not remember Gettysburg in the horrific terms it deserves. First, the Civil War was not fought principally on the issue of slavery. It was begun and fought on the issue of states' rights...Southern states not wishing to bear the brunt of a growing federal bureaucracy (sound familiar?)that favored the industrialized Northern states. The slavery issue may have been brought in to rally the North to stand firm against the eleven secessionist Southern states. Second, I have neither read nor heard any convincing argument why, in a nation founded on the principle of freedom, a state, by appropriate and lawful vote by its citizenry/elected representatives, were not free to secede from a Union it had voluntarily and freely chosen to join. To deny that right, in my view, is unconstitutional. That issue is being awoken again as a State or two has indicated a desire to secede from the United States, and portions of a State are voicing a desire to secede from a State. The military fatalities at Gettysburg, 51,000, were the greatest of any battle the U.S. has ever fought. Civil War military fatalities were 10 times greater than those in Vietnam, 50% greater than those in World War II, 15 times greater than those in Korea, and 100 times greater than those in Iraq/Afghanistan. The Civil War was a brutal war that saw Americans slaughtering Americans with whom they had, just a moment before, shared a dream. Lincoln hoped that a nation of, by and for the people would not perish from the Earth. Nor should 51,000 of its people have had to perish.

RAPTURE: TROPICAL FOREST

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY AROUND US EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: WAIKIKI BEACH

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY AROUND US EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN OUR SOUL

RAPTURE: HELEN KELLER

Helen Keller: All doers are optimists

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Kira M. Newman

“The desire and will to work is optimism itself,” writes Helen Keller in Optimism: An Essay (1903). “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.”

In our world where the gray, 9-5 cubicle represents the antithesis of hope – the promise of dreary, monotonous, dull days to come – we seem to have lost the connection between optimism and work that Keller speaks of. So what was she talking about?

The desire and motivation to work, she says, are fueled by the fundamental belief that you can have an impact; that your efforts mean something and can change the world for the better. You can take fragments of ideas or materials and turn them into something orderly, meaningful.

“The optimist believes, attempts, achieves. He stands always in the sunlight,” she writes. “Some day the wonderful, the inexpressible, arrives and shines upon him, and he is there to welcome it. His soul meets his own and beats a glad march to every new discovery, every fresh victory over difficulties, every addition to human knowledge and happiness.”

Read more.   http://kiramnewman.com/2013/11/19/helen-keller-optimism/

RAPTURE: EVEREST

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS OF OUR SOUL Mt. Everest in the Himalayas is the highest point on Earth(29,029'). It was first ascended by Tenzing Norqay and Edmund Hillary in 1953.

RAPTURE: DANZON2

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZPNS WITHIN OUR SOUL

EXPANDING THE COSMOS WITHIN 5 THE ALPS

I have a vision of my brain as a duplicate of the Universe, my inner cosmos rushing ever outward toward expanding horizons. I equate the expanding "universe" within my brain with an expanding vision of the beauties of life. I have seen an infant's rapture as his or her internal universe expands from moment to moment. From time to time, I will post something that fuels my expanding cosmos...and perhaps it will yours. **************************************************************************************************************

EXPANDING THE COSMOS WITHIN 3 PARIS

I have a vision of my brain as a duplicate of the Universe, my inner cosmos rushing ever outward toward  expanding horizons.  I equate the expanding "universe" within my brain with an expanding vision of the beauties of life.  I have seen an infant's rapture as his or her internal universe expands from moment to moment.

From time to time, I will post something that fuels my expanding cosmos...and perhaps it will yours.

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

HEAVEN KNOWS, ANYTHING GOES

There are many reasons, I am sure, for the wave of violence we are witnessing in the country.  But one reason that I never hear mentioned, is the low level behavior of public officials.

The Toronto mayor's vulgarity, well publicized in this country, may not of itself qualify his removal from office.  But the major harm he caused may not come from what he did, but from what he didn't do.  He did not show a basic respect for other lives, a respect that is the cornerstone of civilization.   And the message his behavior sends to the impressionable is loud and clear:  "If he can act that way and be  successful, then so can I".

The same for the flood of lies we have heard from our President...a continuing blaring message emanating from Washington and resonating around the country:  "Anything, just about, goes if it'll get me what I want".  Many, armed with deadly weapons, drop the "just about".

In the scope of things, I don't know of anything greater a political leader can do than to lead the way to a more benevolent, honorable and dignified society.

RAPTURE: SHAKESPEARE

THE RAPTURE OF BEAUTY EXPANDS THE HORIZONS WITHIN MY SOUL "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
 I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends posses'd

Desiring this man's art and that man's scope
With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising
Haply I think on thee, and then my state
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;

For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings"

Shakespeare

EXPANDING THE COSMOS WITHIN 1 I LOVE YOU

I have a vision of my brain as a duplicate of the Universe, rushing ever outward toward  expanding horizons.  I equate the expanding "universe" within my brain with expanding awareness, knowledge and wisdom of life.   It is so beautiful to see. I have seen an infant's excitement...nay, rapture...as his or her internal universe expands from moment to moment.  I wonder whether boredom and apathy and negativity have their roots in internal "universes" that have ceased expanding. Each week, I will post something that fuels my expanding cosmos...and may fuel yours. ***************************************************************************** Saying "I love you" in...

Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief Arabic - Ana behibak (to male) Armenian - Yes kez sirumem Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu Bulgarian - Obicham te Cambodian - Soro lahn nhee ah Cherokee - Tsi ge yu i Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse Chinese - Cantonese - Ngo oiy ney a   Mandarin - Wo ai ni Comanche - U kamakutu nu Creol - Mi aime jou Croatian - Volim te Czech - Miluji te Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig Dutch - Ik hou van jou Esperanto - Mi amas vin Estonian - Ma armastan sind Ethiopian - Afgreki' Filipino - Mahal kita Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort Georgian - Mikvarhar German - Ich liebe dich Greek - S'agapo Hawaiian - Aloha Au Ia`oe Hebrew - ani ohev otach"  Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae Hungarian - Szeretlek Icelandic - Eg elska tig Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu Inuit - Negligevapse Irish - Taim i' ngra leat Italian - Ti amo Japanese - Aishiteru  Korean - Sarang Heyo  Latin - Te amo Latvian - Es tevi miilu Lebanese - Bahibak Lithuanian - Tave myliu Luxembourgeois - Ech hun dech gaer Macedonian - Te Sakam Malay - Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu Maltese - Inhobbok Moroccan - Ana moajaba bik Norwegian - Jeg elsker deg- Persian - Doo-set daaram Pig Latin - Iay ovlay ouyay Polish - Kocham Ciebie Portuguese - Eu te amo Romanian - Te iubesc Russian - Ya tebya liubliu Scot Gaelic - Tha gra\dh agam ort Serbian - Volim te Sign Language - ,\,,/ (represents position of fingers when signing 'I Love You') Sioux - Techihhila Slovak - Lu`bim ta Spanish - Te quiero / Te amo Swahili - Ninapenda wewe Swedish - Jag alskar dig Swiss-German - Ich lieb Di Surinam - Mi lobi joe Taiwanese - Wa ga ei li Tahitian - Ua Here Vau Ia Oe Thai -  Phom rak khun Tunisian - Ha eh bak Turkish - Seni Seviyorum Ukrainian - Ya tebe kahayu Urdu - mai aap say pyaar karta hoo Vietnamese -  Em ye^u anh Welsh - 'Rwy'n dy garu di    Yiddish - Ikh hob dikh Zulu - Mena tanda wena or Ngiyakuthanda    ***************************************

POSITIVELY POWERFUL

The human brain is unquestionably a most glorious and phenomenal instrument.  But it has a significant limitation:  it pretty much cannot do more than one thing at a time.  At least, do them well.

The reason I mention that is because I have heard a fair amount of talk lately about the internal battles many have trying to maintain a positive, rather than negative, perspective on life.  Some of the difficulty may stem from, of all things, the American dream of achievement and success.  Particularly in today's high speed pace of life.  Looking ahead, wanting what we do not as yet have, can propel us to set goals and take action to achieve them.  And that is a good thing.  But it can be difficult at times, because of our general inability to walk and chew gum at the same time, to simultaneously focus on both the future and the present at the same time.  To both plan the future and treasure the present.  To see wanting and having as bosom buddies.

But they are.  Having speaks of achievement, of capability, of self-esteem, of successful prior planning...and can serve as a positive propellant to wanting, future planning and future achievement.

But if having is to have those effects, it must be listened to.  And that takes time...not a lot of time, but a bit of time.  And remember the walking/chewing gum admonition.  So, when you are about to set out to do anything, allow yourself a moment or two to meditate your mind on where you are, the beauty and pleasure of some one thing you have in your life.   And always include the time to feel the moment on your list of things you want to have.   The most positive human being I have ever seen is a newborn infant lying in a crib sucking on a bottle.   
  
 Slowing down has its rewards. I think it is the most powerful progenitor of positivity.  It is for me.

BUBBLE BUBBLE HERE COMES TROUBLE

So here we go again.

The cauldron that is the Mid-East is bubbling with threats and warnings, ancient hatreds and prejudices, pent-up emotions, blurred facts and fiction, melting together heading toward a nuclear firestorm ready to explode.

At the center of the cauldron: Iran, now within months of nuclear weaponry...and Israel, which Iran has sworn to eradicate from the face of the Earth.
 
And who is to quiet the cauldron?  Why, who better?  Cold war enemy Russia...historically anti-Semitic Germany...equivocally unprincipled France...anti-freedom loving China...helpless England...and the inept in-the-process-of-being-transformed lying United States.

Oh what fools we mortals be
When first we practice to deceive

Happy Veterans Day veterans...better get your uniforms cleaned and ready to go.

SITTING AROUND

We sit on our buttocks for hours and hours each living day...when watching tv, when using our IPhones and computers, when eating a meal, when riding in a car or bus or train on the way to and from a job at which we sit at a desk, when viewing a live sporting event at some stadium or arena, when entertaining guests at home, when attending classes in school, when in a church praying, when testifying in court, when meditating, etc., etc., etc.  We do this despite the fact that those who sit 8 or more hours a day are 15% more likely to die  earlier than those who sit 4 or fewer hours per day.

There must be more to life than sitting wondering if there is more to life...don't you think?

ELECTING DICTATORS

I wrote in a prior post that the US was a dictatorship and some may wonder "but our president and members of Congress are elected by us".  True, they are...as have so many other renowned dictators in history.  Hitler was elected, Stalin was elected, Rhee was elected, Mao was elected, Mussolini was elected, Castro was elected.

How do dictators get elected?


    *  they don't tell you they're dictators (they call themselves socialists, statists, progressives, reformers)

    *  you have no election choice (they are the only ones running)

    *  your election choices are this dictator or that dictator (and your choice is voting for the "better" dictator

    *  they demand your vote under threat of your banishment or death (ever hear of Siberia, the gulags?)

    *  THEY BRIBE YOU (know anyone who did/does/will continue to do that as long as you let him?)

    *  they count on your passivity, intellectually and otherwise.

That's how.

ONLY YOU AND YOU AND YOU

President Obama and his team denounce the outcry over the mess that is Obamacare on the grounds the number of people that are covered by their own personal non-employer, non-government health policies and who may lose those policies and have to pay significantly higher premiums for policies with higher deductibles is "only 5%" of the population.

Do you know that 5% of the population is more than the total combined population of everyone living in:

PHILADELPHIA   
PHOENIX   
SAN ANTONIO   
DALLAS   
INDIANAPOLIS   
SAN FRANCISCO   
DETROIT   
MEMPHIS   
BOSTON   
SEATTLE   
DENVER   
NASHVILLE
BALTIMORE   
LOUISVILLE   
PORTLAND   
OKLAHOMA CITY   
MILWAUKEE   
SACRAMENTO   
KANSAS CITY   
SALT LAKE CITY

Oh, is that all it is?

Foolish me to think that 5% is a large enough number to warrant our concern...and that "only 5%" doesn't do them justice.

I guess it's just another Hillary moment:  "So what difference does it really make?"

WE DECIDE

A dictatorship is a dictatorship.

Germany under Hitler was a dictatorship, the Politburo under Stalin was a dictatorship. the US Government under Obama is a dictatorship.  The US Constitution was adopted as an anti-dictatorship document.  Obama and the Congress ignore it.

Ray, are you equating the US Government with concentration camps?

Well, let's see.  Obamacare sets up a panel to decide whether you are eligible for certain medications and medical procedures.  It has indicated that the elderly may be denied life-saving procedures because they are too expensive and "the elderly don't have long to live, anyway".  That is a death panel, a concentration camp mentality.  
 
The Obamacare panel has indicated that the newly-born suffering from life-threatening or disabling conditions may be denied available procedures because they are too expensive and "those newly born, even if they make it, will not live a quality life".  That is a death panel, a concentration camp mentality.

Millions of people of all ages have had their health insurance policies cancelled, or cannot afford the higher Obamacare premiums, or have had no choice but to buy policies with large deductibles.  They will not get the care they need and will die earlier.  That is a concentration camp mentality.

To whom else will that mentality be extended?

I don't now.  Do you?

The German death camps were evil not because millions (estimated at over 10 million) were killed there, but because one person was killed there.  And they were evil millions of times.

The answer to that question above is "Yes", because the philosophy underlying Obamacare and the concentration camps is the same."We decide if you live".

NEW GAME IN TOWN

Tuesday's election results seem to suggest the following:

1.  Records don't matter as much as they used to.  New Jersey has high unemployment, possibly the highest taxes in the country, is traditionally a Blue state, and Christie won easily.

2.  Those who are anti-Dems are splintered between the Repubs, Conservatives and Tea Partyers, making it an uphill fight for them absent a super-popular candidate.

3.  Political principles are not particularly important.  Bill de Blasio is an outright statist, opponent of individual rights/freedom, ran on a platform of increased taxes on the higher income earners and fewer police powers, likely to result in a substantially increased crime rate, and he won very big in the race for New York mayor.

4.  Money doesn't talk anymore in political campaigns.  It SCREAMS!  (Look at Virginia.)

What seems clear is that the  Dems and the Repubs have, from a very significant perspective, switched sides.  The Dems were always seen as the "liberal" party, easy going in terms of regulating, limiting, the people.  Their views on abortion, gay marriage, legalization of marijuana, etc., all supported the permissive society the Dems favored.  The Repubs were seen as the more controlling party, supporting traditional values and religious beliefs, social protocols, tougher punishments for crimes, etc.

Today, the Dems want a more dominating government that will control more and more aspects of our lives, restricting our liberties in the interest of doing away with the rewards of personal effort and success, and imposing a greater equality of life through massive entitlement and giveaway programs.  The Repubs, and in particular the Conservatives and Teapartyers, are the ones calling for smaller, less controlling government (which is society's middle name), and greater recognition and protection of Constitutional rights and freedoms.  To be sure, the ideological transformation is not complete, so that both parties hold contradictory and conflicting principles.

It's a new game.

JUDICIALINSANITY

You've heard it, haven't you...or more accurately, you haven't heard it, have you...that speed talk at the end of some commercial, words spoken at 100 miles an hour, intended to relieve the company behind the commercial of some liability with regard to the product or service it is selling.

In the one I heard today, I could barely discern a few words, something to the effect of  "the purchaser of this product shall have no claim based on anything said in this commercial."  How twisted.  What you can't really hear (the speed talk) has meaning, and what you can hear (the commercial) has no meaning.

Ifthatspeedtalkhasanyefficacyinacourtoflawthenthejudicialsystemisinshamblesandidiocyhaswon

Get that?

THE LADDER APPROACH TO GOAL SETTING

We pretty much all know that setting goals is helpful in getting what you want out of life...but how to set them is yet another subject our educators think needs not be taught to us.

Here are some things you might want to think of when setting your goals:

1.  If your goal is to obtain certain tangible things or possessions...e.g, a home, a car, a painting...remember that there is an endless, ever-growing number of them and it may be that attaining the ones you now seek may not bring you the satisfaction and pleasure you now think they will, but simply be replaced by new desires.

2.  If your goal has as a key element the attaining of the recognition and the admiration of others, remember that such a goal make you dependent on others...thus putting the goal outside your control.

3.  If your goal places you in competition with others, it is important to remember that not achieving it is more likely than achieving it, for all competitors.  Being overtaken in the final yards of the Olympic marathon is not a reason for tears.  Being the second fastest runner in the world is not a failure.

4.  We have been told that long-term goals are bigger and better than short term goals.  I am not certain of that.  It is difficult to know exactly what your desires will be in the distant future, and your presently-perceived goals, even if attained, may not satisfy those desires.  Further, it is difficult to maintain the pursuit of a goal when the achievement of it is distant in the future.
   
5.  Remember that all human activity has both a mental and a physical component to it.  So, in choosing what it is that will please you to achieve (the mental component), be sure that you are willing to do what needs to be done to achieve it (the physical component).

6.  I suggest a Ladder Approach in goal-setting.  The ultimate goal may be the top step of the ladder, but there are almost always interim goals and steps leading to it.  The football coach wants his team to win the game, to do which they need to score points, to do which they need first downs, to do which they need possession of the ball.  Those are the steps on the coach's ladder. 

You might want to be Miss America.  The steps on your ladder might be being named Miss Town of the Year, winning the State Beauty pageant, etc.  Those are shorter term goals that ought be the focus of your attention...that ought bring you satisfaction and pride and encouragement in your quest for your top goal.

Writing this post is a step on my ladder.

UNDERNEATH THE WOOL

The idea that obamacare is a humane act because it provides needed health insurance to the poor...the basis on which the dems are selling it...is mistaken and misleading.  If that was what the government was trying to accomplish, why was it necessary for it to take over the entire health insurance industry?  Did it need to take over the entire food industry to provide food stamps to the poor?  Or take over  all colleges and universities to provide federal school credits to those who can't afford higher education?       

Rather than a`10,000 page misnamed affordable care act, a simpler and easier, though equally unconstitutional solution, would have been to impose an annual HIT (Health Insurance Tax) of, say, $100, or so, on the non-poor and use that money to buy insurance for the poor.  Done, over!

So what then is the idea behind obamacare?  It is the dems' desire TO TAKE OVER our lives.  To transform America into a socialist/communist/fascist state.  Totally.  Fully.  Completely.  The "let's help the poor" pitch is nothing more than sheep's wool, warm and comforting as it may seem to many, being pulled over your eyes.

DON'T ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE BLINDED UNDER THE GUISE OF COMPASSION.

Why do I smell a government takeover of the farming industry coming round the corner?

WIN-WIN

We are two months away from that annual useless tradition...New Year;s resolutions.  The air will be filled with the sounds of "This year I mean it".  BS. If you really meant to do what your resolution says you will do, you would, in all likelihood, have already have done it.  Which is why 99.8% of all resolutions never get resolved.

So,your resolutions are just a benign, harmless, effort to convince your friends, most of whom are inebriated when you make them, that unlike them, you are in control of your life and that you can move up the ladder of your potential whenever you wish.  BS.  If that were true, they wouldn't be your friends.

I have one key tip to those who, despite my sage advice, will remain resolute in making resolutions.  Make this your first resolution:  "This year, I will not keep my other resolutions".  If you don't keep the others, then you will have kept this one...and if you don't  keep this one, then you will have kept all the others.  Win-Win.

Glad to be able to help you with that.

WHAT DOES "TO" MEAN?

One section of today's SAT exam requires test takers to identify any error in the underlined words of a sentence.  The following sentence is an example:

Obamacare has been advertised as a program to provide lower income people with their right to healthcare.

The correct answer is "right to"...that is, "right to" is wrong.
 
Here is what the Declaration of Independence says:
  
      "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Do you see anything in there about having a right to anything? No.  All the rights you have and will ever have are already yours...you were endowed with them by your Creator and they are unalienable, forever yours.   So any program that purports to give you your rights, is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Plus, your rights do not refer to tangible goods or services, as presently and commonly perceived.   The rights of  life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness mean you are sovereign over your own life, you are free to pursue the goods and services and other things that will make you happy, as you and you alone choose to pursue them.  A perceived right to something requires others to provide it to you, and that would be a rejection of their endowed unalienable rights.

Every welfare program, no matter how compassionate and noble sounding it may be, does not provide rights, but rejects rights...and is rooted in the same vulgar ideas underlying slavery.