The dream

The dream gets better and better. She keeps coming to me in dreams and each time I welcome her. I just wonder why she comes to me in dreams. Is that the only place I can see her, know her? Maybe it is. Each time she brings comfort. Each time she reveals a little more of herself. Not by what she says, but simply by showing up every so often as she does.

"God must be greater than the greatest of human weaknesses and, indeed, the greatest of human skill. God must even transcend our most remarkable-to emulate nature in its absolute splendor. How can any man or woman sin against such greatness of mind? How can one little carbon unit on Earth-in the backwaters of the Milky Way, the boondocks-betray God almighty? That is impossible. The height of arrogance is the height of control of those who create God in their own image."

~~~Ramtha, speaking through J.Z. Knight (from the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know?")

African American Lives | PBS

African American Lives | PBS

Why is this controversial? If there is no historical evidence of what Jesus looked like...no one painted his portrait..., why is the only acceptable image of Jesus a white image? Should there be no image at all? Well, do away with all of them INCLUDING the ones that depict him as white! Hair like "lambs wool", feet Burnt brass... Come on!!!!!! Please, scholars have a dialogue about it! Study it, research it! The information is already out there. Research has already been done!

Who owns the image of Jesus anyway? Why is an image necessary? If it's not necessary, get rid of ALL of the images!!!!

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: January 22, 2006 - January 28, 2006 Archives

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: January 22, 2006 - January 28, 2006 Archives: "In his press conference today, President Bush suggested that the existence of photographs of himself and Jack Abramoff are no big deal and generally pooh-poohed the press's focus on the story. But our reporting suggests that the White House is actively involved in covering up and possibly destroying photographic evidence of the two men together."

Va. Delegate Accidentally Discharges Gun

Va. Delegate Accidentally Discharges Gun: "RICHMOND, Jan. 26 -- A Virginia lawmaker accidentally discharged a handgun in his General Assembly office Thursday morning, firing a bullet into a bulletproof vest that was hanging on the wall of his office. No one was hurt.

Del. John S. 'Jack' Reid (R-Henrico) apologized to his colleagues on the floor of the House of Delegates Thursday afternoon, saying that 'everyone has a right to feel safe here.'"

Man Taught Son to Work Gun, Prosecutor Says

Man Taught Son to Work Gun, Prosecutor Says: "The father of an 8-year-old boy arrested in the shooting of a 7-year-old girl at their Germantown day-care center provided his son with violent video games and showed him how to cock and release a gun hammer the day before the boy pulled the trigger, a prosecutor said yesterday.

John L. Hall has 'significant influence' over the juvenile suspect, Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Karyn McAuliffe said during a bond hearing for Hall, who has been charged with numerous weapons offenses and was arrested the same day as his son."

Closed-Door Deal Makes $22 Billion Difference

Closed-Door Deal Makes $22 Billion Difference: "Closed-Door Deal Makes $22 Billion Difference
GOP Negotiators Criticized for Change In Measure on HMOs

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 24, 2006; Page A01

House and Senate GOP negotiators, meeting behind closed doors last month to complete a major budget-cutting bill, agreed on a change to Senate-passed Medicare legislation that would save the health insurance industry $22 billion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The Senate version would have targeted private HMOs participating in Medicare by changing the formula that governs their reimbursement, lowering payments $26 billion over the next decade. But after lobbying by the health insurance industry, the final version made a critical change that had the effect of eliminating all but $4 billion of the projected savings, according to CBO and other health policy experts."

I wanted to be a couch potato today. I can still be that, but the batteries in the cable remote are dead and there are no AA batteries in the house. (ha-ha-ha)

I guess a trip to the store is in order. If I go early, like now, I can still veg out for the afternoon!

Documents Show Govt Forewarned on Katrina - Yahoo! News

Documents Show Govt Forewarned on Katrina - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - The government had advance warning of the danger and potential damage from Hurricane Katrina before the storm hit, newly released documents show.

Despite early warnings, plans to evacuate people from New Orleans in the approach of a catastrophic storm were only 10 percent complete a month before the devestating hurricane that accounted for more than 1,100 deaths.

'If you think soup lines in the Depression were long, wait till you see lines' at collection points in New Orleans, Transportation Department regional emergency officer Don Day said at a July 29 briefing with federal and state authorities.

'We're at less than 10 percent done with this ... planning when you consider the buses and the people,' Day said at the briefing, according to notes taken by contractors Innovative Emergency Management Inc. of Baton Rouge."

Bush Doesn't Remember Abramoff Meetings - Yahoo! News

Bush Doesn't Remember Abramoff Meetings - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - Although
President Bush says he doesn't recall meeting convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the two have reportedly turned up in photos together.

Both Washingtonian and Time magazines have reported the existence of about a half-dozen photos showing the two together."

Thoughts...it's been a long wile

It's been such a long time since I posted anything myself. Well, there hasn't been much to say, but there has been much going on in my life. I'll take that back... there has been much to say, but nothing I've felt moved to say in this space.

I'm busy trying to stay focused at work. Busy trying to feel okay despite not feeling so well physically.

The weather in the dc area has been really interesting. Are we going to have any more winter weather? We've had temperatures in the 60's in January.

George Bush should be impeached! Every student learned in government class a few things. They are: 1.) The United States is a democracy. 2.) There are checks and balances in our government. That's why we have the different branches of government. Executive, Judicial, Legislative...that's so that there isn't an imbalanced. Not one branch having too much power. What in the hell is going on in our country under G.W.'s watch?

Life, living, breathing is an amazing miracle. It's easy to forget with all of our complaints... Just be happy people! Smile, be thankfull, be happy!

AOL News - Black Jesus Film Makes Waves at Sundance

AOL News - Black Jesus Film Makes Waves at Sundance: "JOHANNESBURG (Jan. 19) - Billed as the world's first black Jesus movie, 'Son of Man' portrays Christ as a modern African revolutionary and aims to shatter the Western image of a placid savior with fair hair and blue eyes.

The South African film, which premieres on Sunday at the U.S. Sundance festival in Utah, transports the life and death of Christ from first century Palestine to a contemporary African state racked by war and poverty.

Jesus is born in a shanty-town shed, a far cry from a manger in a Bethlehem stable. His mother Mary is a virgin, though feisty enough to argue with the angels. Gun-wielding authorities fear his message of equality and he ends up hanging on a cross.

"We wanted to look at the gospels as if they were written by spindoctors and to strip that away and look at the truth," director Mark Dornford-May told Reuters in an interview.

"The truth is that Christ was born in an occupied state and preached equality at a time when that wasn't very acceptable.""

Rev. Jackson Denies Threatening Minister - Yahoo! News

Rev. Jackson Denies Threatening Minister - Yahoo! News: "LOS ANGELES - The Rev.
Jesse Jackson denied on the witness stand Thursday that he threatened or encouraged violence against a conservative black minister who claimed he was roughed up during a 2001 confrontation with Jackson and his son.

Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, sued Jackson alleging assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit also named Jackson's son Jonathan Jackson, who was accused of battery and false imprisonment.

Peterson, 56, is a frequent guest on conservative talk shows and has organized protests against Jackson in recent years. He testified Thursday that he felt threatened and believed his life was in danger during a December 2001 meeting involving Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and representatives of Toyota."

Civil Jury Awards $3.7 Million in Jones Case

Civil Jury Awards $3.7 Million in Jones Case: "A civil jury today found a Prince George's County undercover narcotics police corporal responsible for the wrongful death of an unarmed college student the officer fatally shot more than five years ago. The jury awarded $3.7 million in damages to the young daughter and parents of the shooting victim."

Oprah's Grand Delusion

Oprah's Grand Delusion: "Oprah's Grand Delusion

By Richard Cohen

Tuesday, January 17, 2006; Page A17

Because she has led countless billions and billions of people to the promised land of books, because she preaches self-help and self-sufficiency and not least because she has shown that even a middle-aged person can keep weight off, I must tiptoe up to the amazing Oprah and merely whisper to her that in the case of James Frey, the liar whose memoir turns out to have a good deal of fiction alongside fact, she is not only wrong but deluded. What she needs is a session with Dr. Phil.

So important is Oprah Winfrey in our culture that it is not possible to type her name and not hear the rumbling of a mighty Wurlitzer, or imagine the many antechambers that undoubtedly precede an audience with the queen of England. Oprah is huge, powerful, akin to no one and nothing else. A mention of anything on her show will make a millionaire out of a pauper or, in the case of a writer such as the Frey the Fibber, a bestseller of undreamed proportions. The man became famous and rich on account of Oprah -- and, or so we all seem to believe, happy as well.

Frey's memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," is about his recovery from drug addiction. It is apparently a hell of a read, filled with gripping, cinematic details, some of which turn out not to be true. The Smoking Gun Web site found out, for instance, that Frey had not spent three months in jail, as he wrote, but maybe a couple of hours or so waiting for a friend to post bond. His account of his stay in a treatment facility is questionable, as is his involvement in a train-car collision that took the lives of two teenage girls. These are not, as Frey keeps claiming, the usual tussle we all have between memory and fact, but veering departures from fact into fiction. It is probably significant that he first tried to sell the book as a novel.

"A Million Little Pieces" was Oprah's selection for her book club, literally sending it off bookstore shelves and into the stratosphere: About 2 million sold after her endorsement. Recommending the book was one thing. No one expects Oprah to fact-check every book she urges her audience to read. Sticking by it is quite another matter. Even after the Smoking Gun smoked Frey, Oprah told Larry King that no matter what, the book still retained its "underlying message of redemption." Instead of getting a magisterial rebuke, Frey had been pardoned.

Here is where Dr. Phil steps in. He might tell his friend and mentor that there is no redemption without honesty. Treatment, as one expert told me, begins with "owning your life" and not embellishing it for the sake of others or yourself. It was one thing when Frey's tale was believed to be 100 percent true. Now that the lie has been exposed, the message can no longer be about redemption but about concoction -- the lies that addicts tell others, the ones they tell themselves.

As for Doubleday, the liar's publisher, it uttered all sorts of nonsense about different rules for memoirs but had no real explanation of how an hour or so in jail could be recollected as three months. In this vast corporation, there seemed to be no one who knew the difference between fact and fiction, truth and a lie. (Fiction packaged as fact is a lie.) Doubleday did not seem even a tad embarrassed that it had been snookered, that it had lent its considerable name and reputation -- built on the hard work of many an honest writer -- to a sham. What's more, it did not acknowledge that it must have suspected for some time that Frey had cooked his book. Back in 2003, for instance, the Minneapolis Star Tribune had questioned the book's factualness. (Some of "A Million Little Pieces" takes place in Minneapolis.) In effect, the story was dismissed -- go away, silly newspaper, there's too much money at stake.

This, I know, is not a revelation. Doubleday will chase a buck like any other company. As for Oprah, that is not quite the case. Whatever happens to Frey's book will not make her richer or poorer. But fame and wealth has lulled her into believing that she possesses something akin to papal infallibility. She finds herself incapable of seeing that she has been twice fooled -- once by Frey, a second time by herself.

Does Dr. Phil make house calls?

cohenr@washpost.com"

Clinton Says House Run Like 'Plantation' - Yahoo! News

Clinton Says House Run Like 'Plantation' - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK - Sen.
Hillary Clinton on Monday blasted the Bush administration as 'one of the worst' in U.S. history and compared the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to a plantation where dissenting voices are squelched."

Is she lying?

AOL News - Cronkite Wants U.S. Forces Out of Iraq Now

AOL News - Cronkite Wants U.S. Forces Out of Iraq Now: "PASADENA, Calif. (Jan. 15) - Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq.

'It's my belief that we should get out now,' Cronkite said in a meeting with reporters.

Now 89, the television journalist once known as 'the most trusted man in America' has been off the 'CBS Evening News' for nearly a quarter-century. He's still a CBS News employee, although he does little for them.

Cronkite said one of his proudest moments came at the end of a 1968 documentary he made following a visit to Vietnam during the Tet offensive. Urged by his boss to briefly set aside his objectivity to give his view of the situation, Cronkite said the war was unwinnable and that the U.S. should exit."

Recovery A Constant Challenge For Barry

Recovery A Constant Challenge For Barry: "Late one night in 1996, suspicious that Marion Barry was using drugs again, boxing promoter Rock Newman sat him down and told him that he should resign as D.C. mayor and focus on beating his addiction. Newman said Barry cried in his arms.

He remembers Barry telling him: 'I love you, man. I know I betrayed your friendship.' Barry agreed to leave town for a while and take a second stab at treatment. But he wouldn't give up politics. 'He felt if he wasn't the mayor, he wasn't nothing,' Newman said."

Iran to Hold Conference on the Holocaust - Yahoo! News

Iran to Hold Conference on the Holocaust - Yahoo! News: "TEHRAN, Iran -
Iran said Sunday it would sponsor a conference to examine the scientific evidence supporting the Holocaust, an apparent next step in hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's campaign against
Israel and a move likely to deepen Tehran's international isolation.

Ahmadinejad already had called the Nazis' World War II slaughter of 6 million European Jews a myth and said the Jewish state should be wiped off the map or moved to Germany or the United States.

Those remarks prompted a global outpouring of condemnation, and Tehran further raised international concern last week when it resumed what it called 'research' at its uranium enrichment facility."

Alice Walker Quote

Alice Walker briefly appeared on a television program titled, "We Have A Dream". I was so impressed with her advice that I replayed and paused the program to write down her comments. Here it is...

The Advice I would give to anyone, but especially to the young...Find some quiet space around yourself and maintain it. And don't fill your space, or your outer space, or your interior space with other people's anything. Keep a space for you because it's the only way you can grow into being who you were meant to be. - Alice Walker

Move over, Gisele! Rio prostitutes strut their stuff - Yahoo! News

Move over, Gisele! Rio prostitutes strut their stuff - Yahoo! News: "RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - As Rio de Janeiro's biannual fashion show moved into high gear on Friday, a group of prostitutes strutted bright garments they designed, stealing some limelight from top models like Gisele Bundchen."

al-Qaida Leader Not at Site of Airstrike - Yahoo! News (No Shit!!)

al-Qaida Leader Not at Site of Airstrike - Yahoo! News: "DAMADOLA, Pakistan - Al-Qaida's second-in-command was the target of a U.S. airstrike near the Afghan border but he was not at the site of the attack, two senior Pakistani officials said Saturday. At least 17 people were killed."

AOL News - Source Says Judge in Saddam Trial Plans to Quit

AOL News - Source Says Judge in Saddam Trial Plans to Quit: "SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Jan. 14) - The chief judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein plans to step down, a source close to the judge told Reuters on Friday, in a development that could throw an already turbulent process into further disarray."

Requiem for the Crescent City

Requiem for the Crescent City: "By Eugene Robinson

Friday, January 13, 2006; Page A21

NEW ORLEANS -- Assemble the brass band and let the funeral march begin, because the old New Orleans is dead.

The passing of our most distinctive city, so prominent in American imagination and lore, became official Wednesday when a blue-ribbon commission presented its plan to rebuild on the mud-caked ruins. One way or another -- through a proposed moratorium on rebuilding in the areas flooded when the levees failed, or through protracted argument over whether to have a moratorium -- the plan all but guarantees additional months of delay and rot. Every day, meanwhile, more evacuees will decide to make new lives for themselves elsewhere."

What Would Dr. King Think?

What Would Dr. King Think?: "By Colbert I. King

Saturday, January 14, 2006; Page A23

On the eve of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, it seems fitting to ask what the Nobel Prize winner would think of America and race in the 21st century. Of course, the answer is unknowable. But it's not beyond reason to speculate how King might react to a few noteworthy events in contemporary America.

Four topics come to mind: Georgia's highest court, the U.S. Supreme Court, a fallen councilman and a suburban county coming to grips with itself."

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched ... but are felt in the heart. - Helen Keller

This is what I believe:
That I am I.
That my soul is a dark forest.
That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.
That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self, and then go back.
That I must have the courage to let them come and go.
That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women.
There is my creed. -D. H. Lawrence

Higher Ground

I never really paid attention to the lyrics of this song until I heard them today on the UNCF telethon tribute to Stevie Wonder.

Higher Ground
by Stevie Wonder


People keep on learnin'
Soldiers keep on warrin'
World keep on turnin'
Cause it won't be too long

Powers keep on lyin'
While your people keep on dyin'
World keep on turnin'
Cause it won't be too long

I'm so darn glad he let me try it again
Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin
I'm so glad that I know more than I knew then
Gonna keep on tryin'
Till I reach the highest ground

Teachers keep on teachin'
Preachers keep on preachin'
World keep on turnin'
Cause it won't be too long
Oh no

Lovers keep on lovin'
Believers keep on believin'
Sleepers just stop sleepin'
Cause it won't be too long
Oh no

I'm so glad that he let me try it again
Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin
I'm so glad that I know more than I knew then
Gonna keep on tryin'
Till I reach my highest ground...Whew!
Till I reach my highest ground
No one's gonna bring me down
Oh no
Till I reach my highest ground
Don't you let nobody bring you down (they'll sho 'nuff try)
God is gonna show you higher ground
He's the only friend you have around

For the Crone...

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. -Anaïs Nin

Utah Theater Cancels 'Brokeback Mountain' - Yahoo! News

Utah Theater Cancels 'Brokeback Mountain' - Yahoo! News: "SALT LAKE CITY - A movie theater owned by Utah Jazz owner
Larry Miller abruptly changed its screening plans and decided not to show the film 'Brokeback Mountain.' The film, an R-rated Western gay romance story, was supposed to open Friday at the Megaplex at Jordan Commons in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Instead it was pulled from the schedule.

A message posted at the ticket window read: 'There has been a change in booking and we will not be showing 'Brokeback Mountain.' We apologize for any inconvenience.'

Cal Gunderson, manager of the Jordan Commons Megaplex, declined to comment.

The film, starring
Heath Ledger and
Jake Gyllenhaal, is about two cowboys who discover feelings for one another. The two eventually marry women but rekindle their relationship over the years."

Tumbling Down

I decided to post the lyrics to this song after reading that Tom DeLay stepped down as House Leader. It reminds me of the powers that be no longer being the powers that be. If I'm not mistaken the eagle represents America and the Bear represents Russia, once a super power... History is replete with empires that once were that are no more. Most think that there is no hope for the world... no hope for America as long as Bush and Gang are in the white house. But we have to remember that we only know what they deem is safe for us to know. We only know what things when they've spun it 'til it can't be spun no more, and then they must shed light on and give certain details that don't make them look good. Just imagine what we don't know. Okay, don't do that. You might get too sad, too afraid. Believe that it's working it's way out...we have to do our part, speak up and speak out...show up when it's time to show up. Sign the petition. Write the letter to your members of Congress. It's not looking good these days. They know it. We have to realize it!!!

Tumblin' Down
WRITTEN BY
David "Ziggy" Marley and Tyrone Downie


Here comes the eagle
Here comes the bear
And they're fighting to control
The lion dominion

But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down

Here comes synthetic food
And their big time money
And they want to control
Our body and soul

But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down

Here comes the maker
To crush the oppressor
Well I bet you didn't know
It was mind over matter

But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down

Here comes the eagle
Here comes the bear
And they're fighting to control
The lion dominion

But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down (Jah, Jah know)
But the load gonna come tumblin' down (Jah, Jah know)
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down
But the load gonna come tumblin' down

Democracy Now! | An Imperial President? Bush Claims Right To Ignore New Law Banning Torture

Democracy Now! | An Imperial President? Bush Claims Right To Ignore New Law Banning Torture

WHO: Deaths in Turkey Were From H5N1 Flu - Yahoo! News

WHO: Deaths in Turkey Were From H5N1 Flu - Yahoo! News: "By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 37 minutes ago

GENEVA - Two teenage siblings who died of bird flu in Turkey this week were infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, the first time the strain has killed humans outside East Asia, the U.N. health agency said Saturday.

The World Health Organization said it was sending specialists to Turkey to determine whether the virus was transmitted from person to person.

'The laboratory in the U.K. said that they have detected H5N1 in samples from the two fatal cases,' WHO spokeswoman Maria Cheng told The Associated Press."

British withdrawal from Iraq to start within months: Straw - Yahoo! News

British withdrawal from Iraq to start within months: Straw - Yahoo! News: "Sat Jan 7, 7:15 AM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Visiting Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said it was hoped Britain's 8,000 troops would start to withdraw from
Iraq in a matter of months.

'In practice, what we hope to see is a gradual phased draw-down of British troops starting, not with Basra, but with one or two of the other provinces in our area,' Straw told AFP.

The phased withdrawal will start 'as and when the Iraqis are satisfied that their own forces can cope completely with the responsibility,' he added following talks with Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari and President Jalal Talabani.

'It's going to be a matter of months,' he added Saturday."

Katrina Victims Angry at Recovery Pace - Yahoo! News

Katrina Victims Angry at Recovery Pace - Yahoo! News: "By ERIN TEXEIRA, AP National Writer 2 hours, 57 minutes ago

NEW ORLEANS - Tangeyon Wall shivers, partly from anger and partly because it's a chilly New Orleans morning and there's no heat in her gutted home.

There's no electricity, gas, sewer service or drinkable water either.

It's been months since Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans, and Wall seethes that her city has barely begun to recover.

But she's even madder that her neighborhood, mostly black, is lagging far behind many others in getting its utilities back. And that other black neighborhoods, among the worst hit by the flooding, seem to be getting the least help."

US officials in talks with Iraqi insurgents: NYT - Yahoo! News

US officials in talks with Iraqi insurgents: NYT - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. officials have been talking with local Iraqi insurgent leaders to exploit a rift between homegrown insurgents and radical groups such as Al Qaeda, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

Citing a Western diplomat, an Iraqi political leader and an Iraqi insurgent leader, the Times said that the talks were also aimed at drawing the local leaders into the political process.

According to interviews with insurgents and both U.S. and Iraqi officials, clashes between Iraqi groups and al Qaeda have broken out in several cities across the Sunni Triangle and they appear to have intensified in recent months, the Times said."

1,100 D.C. Teachers Might Lose Jobs

1,100 D.C. Teachers Might Lose Jobs: "D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey has notified 1,100 uncertified teachers -- about 25 percent of the system's teaching force -- that they will lose their jobs if they do not obtain proper credentials by June 30.

Most of those teachers have expired provisional licenses or have not submitted proof of a valid D.C. teaching license. Janey said yesterday that he took the action because the teachers had been warned repeatedly that they were in danger of being dismissed if they did not comply."

Peru wants Machu Picchu artifacts returned - Yahoo! News

Peru wants Machu Picchu artifacts returned - Yahoo! News: "By Danna Harman, USA TODAY Fri Jan 6, 7:56 AM ET

The Incas built their mysterious city here to be closer to the gods. It was placed so high in the clouds, at 7,700 feet, that the conquering Spaniards never found or destroyed it.

Visitors to Machu Picchu see well-preserved ruins hidden among the majestic Andes: palaces, baths, temples, tombs, sundials and farming terraces, along with llamas that roam among hundreds of gray granite houses.

However, curious tourists won't find many bowls, tools, ritual objects or other artifacts used by the Incas of the late 1400s.

To see those, they have to go to New Haven, Conn.

Yale historian Hiram Bingham rediscovered Machu Picchu in 1911, and backed by the
National Geographic Society, he returned with large expeditions in 1912 and 1915.

Each time, he carted out crates filled with archaeological finds, with permission from Peruvian President Augusto Leguía."

Away from computer, but i

Away from computer, but i wanted to let the crone know that i was thinking about the Crone. Posted from cell phone

Robertson Links Sharon Stroke, God's Wrath - Yahoo! News

Robertson Links Sharon Stroke, God's Wrath - Yahoo! News: "NORFOLK, Va. - Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for 'dividing God's land.'

'God considers this land to be his,' Robertson said on his TV program 'The 700 Club.' 'You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of
Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.''"


Wow!

Memory

This is the first and only poem that I remember ever learning to recite. We were required to do so in grade school. Today I only remember the first and last line.


Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-- Robert Frost

Self-Examination

I am taking a closer look at my need to offer unsolicited advice to others. I don't do it with everyone, and it is not always done on purpose meaning I am not always aware of it immediately. But I am usually aware soon after... I hate to think that I have license to comment on another's life when they didn't ask me to. I want to understand why I do it, and what I get out of it? What gives me the right? What makes me think/feel that I have the right? Maybe it's habit... in my job I am expected to give input. Tell others what I think about this or that. They pay me well to do that... But I want to turn it off and NOT do that with friends. It's a delicate balance. If you feel that information you have is helpfull, you want to share... but if the other person doesn't ask you for your opinion, should you keep your mouth shut? I'm thinking this over because I noticed that I don't like the feeling I have after doing it. That's more than a clue to me... It's something I need to look at and I will, I am.

SOmetimes before I know it my mouth is open...my lips are flapping...fingers tapping keys. But I don't like it. I'm sure I'll speak/chat about this more in some way, form or fashion.

I'm asking the Universe for guidance on this... I don't want to be impulsive and speak as a reaction. How do you balance sharing information with loved ones with allowing them the freedome to inviting you in? I want to understand that better.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." -Henri Nouwen

Memorable Quote from movie Frida

" I don't believe in marriage. No, I really don't. Let me be clear about that. I think at worst it's a hostile political act, a way for small-minded men to keep women in the house and out of the way, wrapped up in the guise of tradition and conservative religious nonsense. At best, it's a happy delusion - these two people who truly love each other and have no idea how truly miserable they're about to make each other. But, but, when two people know that, and they decide with eyes wide open to face each other and get married anyway, then I don't think it's conservative or delusional. I think it's radical and courageous and very romantic. To Diego and Frida."

-Tina Modotti From Frida Movie 2002

Mad Hot Ballroom

I saw the cutest movie today. It was Mad Hot Ballroom, a documentary about 5th grade students in New York taking ballroom dance classes. They students were partneredwith each other male and female. If you've ever worked with or known 5th graders, you'd know that they aren't interested in gazing into each other's eyes or holding/touching each other for any period of time longer than it would take to hit someone.

The movie was funny and touching. To see the students take such an interest in a not so popular form of dance. It wasn't hip hop dancing. They were getting into the tango, the rumba, merengue, swing, and the fox-trot. I love to see the process of transformation right before my eyes. You could clearly see these kids go from "okay, this is a class" to "I wanna win the final city-wide competition". They really got into it. The camera followed the children between dance classes and competitions. They are so honest, so cute. There is one little boy, Wilson, oh Wilson... He's beautyfull!!!! BeautyFull!!! (He's dancing above.)

It's a cute movie... Go rent it. It reminded me that I wanted to take salsa lessons after returning from Miami this summer. I need to put that on my list of things to do again.

I thought I was tired but I can't get myself to sleep. Maybe it's my tummy... I ate too many "different" foods too late in the evening.

So I laid in bed watching television. As I flipped channels I see Flava Flav's new show on vh1. Again I asked, 'Is this real?' Women are crying because Flav didn't pick them. Are they crying because they won't be on televison anymore? Or, are they cryiing because they won't get to spend their time/lives with Flava? I understand hopes and dreams... People go about it in all different ways, but wow... That's all I can say... Wow!!!

My eyelids are heavy even as I type but when I lay down I'm wide awake... Sleep angels, Where yall at?

Cool Image I thought I'd Post

The Healing Runes

Several times throughout the year I will draw Runes to see where I am and what might be going on with me spiritually that I may not be fully aware of. I usually use my right hand to draw the runes (stones) from a forest green velvet bag and place my left hand over my heart. I do that so that I can transmit as much energy as I can from my heart chakra. My heart doesn't lie and my head, my thinking mind might. So today I wanted to share the Rune spread. Maybe I will find the time and energy to post what it all means. I drew 3... 1) Body 2) Mind 3) Spirit

My runes drawn today:
1) Surrender
2) Prayer
3) Serenity