A friend of mine posted this on facebook, and I completely agree with it. So I'm sharing it here. Think, please.
"I hear so many say they wish for world peace and say they know that is starts in their own back yard, but more than that is starts with every person you know and love or hate or are indifferent about, and i just wanted to share this with the people in my life for the new year. Something to think about that touched me deeply and speaks to my soul in a way that few things ever do these days. This is our world and these are our lives and only we can make the differences in them.
THE PARADOX OF OUR AGE
BY HIS HOLINESS THE XIVth DALAI LAMA
WE HAVE BIGGER HOUSES, BUT SMALLER FAMILES
MORE CONVENIENCES BUT LESS TIME
WE HAVE MORE DEGRESS, BUT LESS SENSE
MORE KNOWLDEGE, BUT LESS JUDGEMENTS
MORE EXPERTS BUT MORE PROBLEMS
MORE MEDICINES BUT LESS HEALTHINESS
WE'VE BEEN ALL THE WAY TO THE MOON AND BACK BUT
HAVE TROUBLE CROSSING THE STREET TO MEET THE NEW NEIGHBORS
WE BUILD MORE COMPUTER TO HOLD MORE INFORMATION
TO PRODUCE MORE COPIES THAN EVER BEFORE,
BUT HAVE LESS COMMUNICATION,
WE HAVE BECOME LONG ON QUANTITY AND SHORT ON QUALITY
THESE ARE THE TIMES OF FAST FOOD AND SLOW DIGESTION
TALL MEN, BUT SHORT ON CHARACTER
STEEP PROFITS, BUT SHALLOW RELATIONSHIPS.
IT IS A TIME WHERE THERE IS MUCH IN THE WINDOW BUT NOTHING IN THE ROOM.......
for me all this rings true, and to me all of it shouldnt. I may be an old soal or born in the wrong era or living on repeat of a past life, but whatever it is ive always wanted to live simpler, and i dont mean in every way i mean in the ways that count. I like to know my neighbors and to know the names of the people i pass in the streets the markets and in the woods. I want to live in a world where all the essentials that i cant make and have to buy , i know the people who made them, know their familys live in their neighborhoods. i know this is a pipe dream, a fantasy of a life from a world thats long gone by even though not even a hundred years ago thats the way things were. and i know that those hopes are big hopes and i will continue to hope them. But i am practical i know the little differences come from buying from your local sotres and not box stores and bringing bags to the market instead of recieving plastic is better. But to me these things arnt enough. and the little things we do really matter. In the new year my goal for myself is to get in touch, not just more with spirit or with nature or with the things that will save the environment, but with the people in my world because thats just how i am made and what im made for. And as silly as this may sound to all of you i had to share it anyways, because this last year for me was one of the hardest ones ive ever had and i know that without you in my life i wouldnt have made it through, and i mean that very literally. This year take time out to show the love and apprecaitaion you feel for your friends and aquantences, dont just feel it, because it isnt enough and without it our world suffers and everything in it and all of the people in it do to. when the resources are depleated and the fields are barren and all we have left is the commmunity we share i want to have real community left to share it in, to me thats what really counts and all that really matters, i think someday other people will realize it too, i hope its just not too late."
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The mighty sexists and racists
If you've read anything else I've posted, you can probably figure out that I really don't like Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Here's one of the biggest reasons why.
Here's Beck's latest about the idea of running for VP under Palin:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/26/beck-rules-out-2012-run-w_n_371728.html
He's saying she belongs in the kitchen. Maybe not in so many words, but he did say "I'm sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I'm not in the kitchen." To me, that's close enough to saying that she should only be in the kitchen.
Now, granted, I think Palin was the worst thing that happened to McCain. She's one of the dumbest women I know of. "Stupid is as stupid does." Africa's a country. "I read a lot of magazines and newspapers, different ones, all of them." But to make the comment that she should be in the kitchen is referencing an age old saying of women should only be in the kitchen. That women shouldn't have jobs. That they are lesser than men.
And oh way too many times did Rush Limbaugh made sexist comments about Hillary Clinton before Palin was nominated. Or made other comments about other women. And how many times he's made racist comments about Obama, or Al Sharpton (or whatever his spelling is), etc. Because of Limbaugh, so many people believe that Obama is a muslim, and believe that we should fear all muslims. Get a clue people. Just because his name is the same as some muslims doesn't make him a muslim terrorist. And doesn't mean he was born outside of the country. Yes, his father is from Kenya, but his mother is American, and Barack was born in Hawaii.
But let's take this further. Away from these hating people and look at music for a moment. Specifically current pop music (hip-hop, rap). Here are some quotes from pop music over the years: (WARNING: contains profanity!!!)
Shake it like a salt shaker
I wanna fuck you like an animal
Back that ass up
Let me see that thong
she says "this pussy's yours, Daddy"
Oh give me that ass
Shake that ass ho, make that cash ho
Pop that pussy ho
So take off all your clothes
I'm bare, boned, and crazy for you
Girl you know I like it when you climb on top
U make me wanna sweat
We've only just met and I'm undressing you with my eyes
Hit me baby one more time
I'm a slave 4 you
Girl you look like someone I done fucked before
Creepin' up and down now
I see you winding and grinding up on that pole
I wanna fuck you, you already know
Oh what we do when the pants are down
Down and dirty, hot and squirty
Only good for a fuck
You know you gotta back the fuck up
I know you want it, the thing that makes me
It's fuck and run, fuck and run, even when I was twelve.
This is the music we listen to. WFT? This is the music that parents let their teenage girls listen to? yes, it is. And what does this do to the kids? It puts a woman's worth into how well she can shake her @$$. But does anyone realize it? Nope. Kids say, "I don't listen to the music for the words, I just like it cause I can dance to the beat." But look at what kind of dancing you're doing. Grinding, @$$ shaking, b00b shaking, etc. It's not helping.
Our music encourages cheap sex with no commitment. And encourages girls to be sexy, and guys to expect girls to be sexy, and if they aren't, then they should be taken and raped. Yes, I said it, pop music is encouraging rape. Maybe not blatantly, but that becomes a result. As much as we like to think that music and video games and movies don't effect us, they do. They very much do.
We need to start thinking about it. Treat women with respect, treat minorities with respect, don't judge people because they are different. The Bible says the most important thing is love, but we don't know how to love everyone, so we should strive for respect. Self-respect, and respect for others. And sexual respect is something that is needed above all.
Think about what you listen to and watch, and what you do.
Here's Beck's latest about the idea of running for VP under Palin:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/26/beck-rules-out-2012-run-w_n_371728.html
He's saying she belongs in the kitchen. Maybe not in so many words, but he did say "I'm sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I'm not in the kitchen." To me, that's close enough to saying that she should only be in the kitchen.
Now, granted, I think Palin was the worst thing that happened to McCain. She's one of the dumbest women I know of. "Stupid is as stupid does." Africa's a country. "I read a lot of magazines and newspapers, different ones, all of them." But to make the comment that she should be in the kitchen is referencing an age old saying of women should only be in the kitchen. That women shouldn't have jobs. That they are lesser than men.
And oh way too many times did Rush Limbaugh made sexist comments about Hillary Clinton before Palin was nominated. Or made other comments about other women. And how many times he's made racist comments about Obama, or Al Sharpton (or whatever his spelling is), etc. Because of Limbaugh, so many people believe that Obama is a muslim, and believe that we should fear all muslims. Get a clue people. Just because his name is the same as some muslims doesn't make him a muslim terrorist. And doesn't mean he was born outside of the country. Yes, his father is from Kenya, but his mother is American, and Barack was born in Hawaii.
But let's take this further. Away from these hating people and look at music for a moment. Specifically current pop music (hip-hop, rap). Here are some quotes from pop music over the years: (WARNING: contains profanity!!!)
Shake it like a salt shaker
I wanna fuck you like an animal
Back that ass up
Let me see that thong
she says "this pussy's yours, Daddy"
Oh give me that ass
Shake that ass ho, make that cash ho
Pop that pussy ho
So take off all your clothes
I'm bare, boned, and crazy for you
Girl you know I like it when you climb on top
U make me wanna sweat
We've only just met and I'm undressing you with my eyes
Hit me baby one more time
I'm a slave 4 you
Girl you look like someone I done fucked before
Creepin' up and down now
I see you winding and grinding up on that pole
I wanna fuck you, you already know
Oh what we do when the pants are down
Down and dirty, hot and squirty
Only good for a fuck
You know you gotta back the fuck up
I know you want it, the thing that makes me
It's fuck and run, fuck and run, even when I was twelve.
This is the music we listen to. WFT? This is the music that parents let their teenage girls listen to? yes, it is. And what does this do to the kids? It puts a woman's worth into how well she can shake her @$$. But does anyone realize it? Nope. Kids say, "I don't listen to the music for the words, I just like it cause I can dance to the beat." But look at what kind of dancing you're doing. Grinding, @$$ shaking, b00b shaking, etc. It's not helping.
Our music encourages cheap sex with no commitment. And encourages girls to be sexy, and guys to expect girls to be sexy, and if they aren't, then they should be taken and raped. Yes, I said it, pop music is encouraging rape. Maybe not blatantly, but that becomes a result. As much as we like to think that music and video games and movies don't effect us, they do. They very much do.
We need to start thinking about it. Treat women with respect, treat minorities with respect, don't judge people because they are different. The Bible says the most important thing is love, but we don't know how to love everyone, so we should strive for respect. Self-respect, and respect for others. And sexual respect is something that is needed above all.
Think about what you listen to and watch, and what you do.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The truth about some things we hate
"If a man has two blank, and his neighbor has none, he should give the extra to his neighbor."
"Now Johnny, don't hog all the toys, share with the other kids."
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me water, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me."
"...a landowner who went out in the early morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them one denarius for the day...About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the market place doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard and I will pay you what ever is right.'...He went out again the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around...'You also go and work in my vineyard.'...The workers who were hired at the eleventh hour he also payed one denarius. So they all were payed the same."
Ok, so there is a quote that has been said is from the Bible, though not actually, but often used in society as good advice; a generic quote that any parent or school teacher tells the kids; and two quotes from the Bible, from Jesus.
What are those things but the idea behind communism and socialism.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we teach our children communism by telling them to share their toys. Jesus' parable of the vineyard owner, communism: everyone gets payed the same wages, enough to survive one day. And the separation of the sheep and the goats ("what you have done for the least of these, you have done to me") is encouraging socialism. Helping out those who don't have.
Capitalism? It's working to gain more and more. To better our monetary worth. It's greed. Those who have get more, those who don't have get walked over.
Sure, a CEO of some big company worked hard to get there, but then what? A teacher works hard to learn a lot, then has to deal with 15-30 or even 200 or more kids who are often disrespectful. Being a teacher is much harder than being a CEO. Yet teachers get $45,000/year if they are lucky, while a CEO can make $100,000/hour. That's too much.
With capitalism we end up with some people owning multiple huge houses, and others barely able to hold a box.
Course, the real problem with socialism and communism, and the way they have been practiced, is that its forced on people. Those ideals can't be a form of government, none of them work as a form of government. They only work as social ideals. The people must be socialist on our own.
We need to change our mind sets to be more willing to help others out, and be less greedy. People need to understand that we make too much money. Half of the world lives on less than $1/day, and many on less than $1/year. Even the poorest Americans are rich compared to most of the world. But we're too concerned about not being able to get that 42" flat screen TV.
Course, if houses didn't cost so much (thank you deregulation) we would all be living more comfortably and have more excess to help save those in Africa who don't even have clean water. (many water wells in those places are 10 feet from the hole int he ground toilet.....drink toilet water anyone?)
"Now Johnny, don't hog all the toys, share with the other kids."
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me water, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me."
"...a landowner who went out in the early morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them one denarius for the day...About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the market place doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard and I will pay you what ever is right.'...He went out again the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around...'You also go and work in my vineyard.'...The workers who were hired at the eleventh hour he also payed one denarius. So they all were payed the same."
Ok, so there is a quote that has been said is from the Bible, though not actually, but often used in society as good advice; a generic quote that any parent or school teacher tells the kids; and two quotes from the Bible, from Jesus.
What are those things but the idea behind communism and socialism.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we teach our children communism by telling them to share their toys. Jesus' parable of the vineyard owner, communism: everyone gets payed the same wages, enough to survive one day. And the separation of the sheep and the goats ("what you have done for the least of these, you have done to me") is encouraging socialism. Helping out those who don't have.
Capitalism? It's working to gain more and more. To better our monetary worth. It's greed. Those who have get more, those who don't have get walked over.
Sure, a CEO of some big company worked hard to get there, but then what? A teacher works hard to learn a lot, then has to deal with 15-30 or even 200 or more kids who are often disrespectful. Being a teacher is much harder than being a CEO. Yet teachers get $45,000/year if they are lucky, while a CEO can make $100,000/hour. That's too much.
With capitalism we end up with some people owning multiple huge houses, and others barely able to hold a box.
Course, the real problem with socialism and communism, and the way they have been practiced, is that its forced on people. Those ideals can't be a form of government, none of them work as a form of government. They only work as social ideals. The people must be socialist on our own.
We need to change our mind sets to be more willing to help others out, and be less greedy. People need to understand that we make too much money. Half of the world lives on less than $1/day, and many on less than $1/year. Even the poorest Americans are rich compared to most of the world. But we're too concerned about not being able to get that 42" flat screen TV.
Course, if houses didn't cost so much (thank you deregulation) we would all be living more comfortably and have more excess to help save those in Africa who don't even have clean water. (many water wells in those places are 10 feet from the hole int he ground toilet.....drink toilet water anyone?)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Christmas in October? And religious freedom.
I recently got a job working at Sears Portrait Studio. The studio is located in the back of the store, so I have to walk through a good chunk of Sears in order to get to work.
Why do I pass by Christmas stuff when we haven't even had Halloween? Christmas keeps coming earlier and earlier each year. I remember when I was a kid that we were shocked when we saw Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, now it's before Halloween!
When did Christmas become so commercial? Oh yeah, capitalism. "We can make money off this holiday!"
Christmas is no longer a religious holiday, I have mixed feelings on that, some good some bad. Yet in the last few years people have been objecting to any sort of celebration or display of Christmas stuff because of its religious origins. It's no longer religious, its commercial, quit complaining. (And for the Jehovah's Witnesses who don't celebrate any holidays, that's your choice, let the rest of us have our fun.)
(as the rant changes subject)
Our nation was founded on freedom of religion: freedom to practice or to not practice with out the fear of persecution. So anyone who has problems with those of us who practice get your heads out of your rears and let us practice, if you don't like it, ignore it. And to those of us who do practice, get your head out of your rears and let them be, it's their choice to not believe, let them be. You can't convert someone to your beliefs, even if it looks like you do it's not you, it's your god that allows the person you're trying to convert to see the "light."
Let's just all get along, as our founding fathers intended us to. And quit celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving, let alone Halloween!
Why do I pass by Christmas stuff when we haven't even had Halloween? Christmas keeps coming earlier and earlier each year. I remember when I was a kid that we were shocked when we saw Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, now it's before Halloween!
When did Christmas become so commercial? Oh yeah, capitalism. "We can make money off this holiday!"
Christmas is no longer a religious holiday, I have mixed feelings on that, some good some bad. Yet in the last few years people have been objecting to any sort of celebration or display of Christmas stuff because of its religious origins. It's no longer religious, its commercial, quit complaining. (And for the Jehovah's Witnesses who don't celebrate any holidays, that's your choice, let the rest of us have our fun.)
(as the rant changes subject)
Our nation was founded on freedom of religion: freedom to practice or to not practice with out the fear of persecution. So anyone who has problems with those of us who practice get your heads out of your rears and let us practice, if you don't like it, ignore it. And to those of us who do practice, get your head out of your rears and let them be, it's their choice to not believe, let them be. You can't convert someone to your beliefs, even if it looks like you do it's not you, it's your god that allows the person you're trying to convert to see the "light."
Let's just all get along, as our founding fathers intended us to. And quit celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving, let alone Halloween!
Divided We Fall
I remember it being said many times, “Divided we fall.” If we want to make the world a better place we have to stick together. Our President promised to reach across party lines to bring this country together, get it out of the recession, and fix health care. In order for President Obama to reach across party lines, the “other side” must be willing to reach out to receive that hand, and work together. Yet a few months ago, all we heard on the news is how “Boss” Limbaugh wants the President of the United States of America to fail. Now maybe he’s not saying him personally, but his policies. But I have to ask if he was just sour about losing the election? Are most of the Republicans in our country sour over it? And if so, that’s really pathetic. I know republicans have always been the “patriotic party”, tell me, where is the patriotism in wishing failure in the President’s policies?
There is no way that we will be able to fix these problems if the Republican leaders are refusing to work with the Democrats.
We are the UNITED States of America, let’s start acting united. Both Democrats and Republican, put aside your differences, and hope for success no matter who the leader is. That’s the only way we will have survive this.
There is no way that we will be able to fix these problems if the Republican leaders are refusing to work with the Democrats.
We are the UNITED States of America, let’s start acting united. Both Democrats and Republican, put aside your differences, and hope for success no matter who the leader is. That’s the only way we will have survive this.
God does NOT hate fags
Too many people, who claim to be Christians, or a follower of any other organized religion, have misconstrued the ideals of their gods.
I’ve been a Christian my whole life, and never do I remember reading anything that says “God hates (fill in the blank with a type of people).” I do remember something to the effect of: hate the sin, but not the sinner (though not actually stated in those words), and that we are not supposed to judge, that is up to god to do. The God of the Bible, and I’m sure the gods of the other religions, are not about hatred, they are about love. God doesn’t hate fags (forgive the term).
Jesus preached love: love for everyone, including those you don’t agree with. He talked about being kind, and helping out those less fortunate than you. If a man has two blankets, and his neighbor has none, he should give the extra to his neighbor; sounds almost like socialism. Furthermore, read Matthew 20:1-15; to me, that sounds like communism. Jesus believed in socialism and communism (granted not as they have been practiced, but the way they were meant to be). Jesus was NOT a capitalist, those were the Pharisees. Pharisees were prideful, arrogant, and did not trust those who were not like them.
I also don’t think Jesus would own a gun.
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