shining some sunlight

Taking in the companionship of the natural
I am made so happily aware
of all that I have to share



It's the sweet little gestures
the warm caring touch
the joyous glint of welcome
that say: you are safe and loved;
open and be fulfilled



Liberalism is a political philosophy that raises the rights of the individual above the government. Unfortunately, not only is liberalism misconstrued in today's politics, so is conservatism. Today's "Conservatives" are not about free markets, allowing people to enjoy each their own little economic fiefdom or supporting freedom.
They are about protecting big business at the expense (financial and in a great many other ways) of the individual.



I recently watched Bill Moyers' Journal's reporting about the issue of torture against "enemy noncombatants." A story was brought up about psychiatrists planning interrogation procedures, to some extent based on experiments with dogs who were given electric shocks on an intermittent (not related to cause/effect) basis. Eventually the dogs were so dispirited that they cowered and would not leave open cages. It seemed to me that is what depression is. People shocked intermittently by life without means to intervene or mitigate these shocks may well eventually give up, cower, no longer have the spiritual endurance to move forward.



I have seen studies suggesting that impairment from mj for drivers is far less dangerous than that with alcohol. Usually people on mj are going more slowly rather than more quickly, and concentrate more, rather than the more careless loosing of inhibitions of alcohol.

As to being able to test if someone is driving impaired, well are they driving in a dangerous or erratic manner, for any reason? I have seen all kinds of studies indicating that the most dangerous condition is not being drugged, but lack of sleep, which is ubiquitous in our culture.



We can not be absolutely positive in the existence of anything, at least not in the way that we define and relate to its existence, including ourselves. There is way too much clutter, static, confusion, in the general human structure of belief and "knowledge" to claim truth in this regard.

As to the existence of "god": My take is that there is everything, there is what is called "universe" or even "multiverse" -- all that is, which is both eternal (outside of time) and infinite, ever in flux, ever manifesting in a variety of dimensional possibilities, in a diversity of forms. Some of these "forms" exist on a "spiritual" plane, others on "material" planes, yet fluidly between dimensions. Some of us who have manifested in human form on the planet we call Earth have interactions with spiritual beings. Often we gather around some spiritual being(s) in a community of worship. But this is about our limited human interpretations.



Disengage from the guilt of others. It is not yours/ours but theirs. I take responsibility for my own actions, the ones I can have some sort of control over. No possibility of control = no responsibility = no guilt. So, no, don't deny the bad things that others do. Take responsibility for what you can do, like speaking out against them. From much of what I read and experience, a true counterbalance to the powerlessness of depression is taking back your own power, doing what is meaningful to you.



I have been involved in a discussion of a lack of outrage in the populace over current socio-economic-political situations due to a large number of people being "numbed" by antidepressants. I wonder if there is some pharma-governmental if not conspiracy at least understanding of mutual benefits in keeping potential troublemakers numbed out on drugs, starting at the earliest possible age. You get the street kids who don't have so much access to medical insurance and such thrown into jail for being involved with street drugs. Those who are seen as more potentially productive get chemically emotionally castrated. OK, it's a sci-fi conspiracy nut scenario, but that doesn't mean there isn't some truth to it.



Money is just a concept. Those pieces of paper and metal are mere metaphors for work done, products distributed, services served. It is neither evil, a root, nor a necessity.



The civil suit is meant to be our best protection against harmful activities or negligence. Unfortunately, it has been made more of a joke or a scam by so many bad actors that no one gets righteously concerned when penalties and conditions lower the protective value.




In my long and varied life experience, I find heterosexuality to far outweigh homosexuality as hurtful to society, and individuals.




Educators, noneducators, parents, friends, neighbors, we all have a role in the education of our upcoming generation. I have been thinking a nationwide mentor program would be beneficial.



In the fullness of eternity
may happiness speak
to your soul of souls
in its own language



Oh grow up, anti-gay Christians. Christ was as gay as they come. Why do you think he hung out with all those men he had abandon their families,wandering about, sleeping rough, talking about loving neighbors?



Sweet and strong. I feel this song playing with my inner windblown airstream, gentling into a misty breeze.



The compromise is not between freedom and equality, but freedom and rule of law. Obviously we are not equal. We each have our own set of talents and foibles, different world views, different manners of expression. We can, though, be equal under the law. Laws that we are all expected to honor are best crafted to give fair and equal treatment to all. Yet, laws curtail freedom. But laws also protect freedoms from mob rule. So the compromise needs to be carefully crafted to limit freedom as little as possible while promoting legal procedures to work out disagreements and limit violence. All of these ideas are important to the crafting of a workable, honorable, humane and reasonable society.



Olive Oyl, how she did toil
to get her man,
or at least his foil
In cartoon land
where a silly plan
is better than
the rules of Hoyle.



Politics is not something reserved to running for elected office. It is the fundamental jockeying for power evident in any group.



You think you have love to give to someone? Exactly what is that love you have a want to give? Give it to yourself.



There is no need to limit the freedom of the businessman to make profit. Laws, of course, must be in place to assure the profit is not based on dangerous practices that do direct harm. Financial considerations are a separate matter. There is no reason that capitalism be the only tier of an economy. We could well (and to some extent do) have parallel systems whereby everyone gets a fair share of the society's wealth in terms of basic goods and services, while more specialty or consumer items could be provided by the capitalist business model. Or, some other arrangement.



Scientists are not gods, nor infallible authorities. Scientists do not create truth, or even discover it. They merely make suppositions, observations, experiments, hypotheses. The bits of reality, how things work, what exists, discovered by science is often found to be incomplete or even untrue by further investigation. It is a process, but too often casually interpreted as set definitions, real reality.


I don't think that it is a surprising commonality between metaphysics and science, but more that science is getting advanced enough to start to understand the truths that have been presented by metaphysical research.

Science is just a way; not the way. I have been involved in metaphysical study for a great many years, and recently am starting to see new ways of understanding and experiencing experiences. Well, not new, but new to me. Having gained these insights through hard and treacherous journeys, I find I want to tell whoever will listen and add to their insights as well. It is wonderful that you people are responding here so intently and wisely. I know I still have a lot to learn.



We can never demand freedom too much. There is a balancing act involved, indeed. However, far too often people unthinkingly deny the value of freedom in pursuit of other (social, economic which is also social, security which is foolish in that freedom allows for better security than nonfreedom, etc.) goals. Of course we can not have limitless freedom. This material world is all about limits. Freedom in this regard is not a physical, but a political issue. Politics is the art/science of power. Freedom is our ability to live as we believe is best for individual us in spite of the power others want to use to take over our lives.



Yes, the weird and dangerous gay agenda: to peacefully enjoy lives with love and family. Obviously this can't be allowed as it would undermine the chaotic destruction of humankind so ardently worked for by those whose goal is to bring on Judgment Day and Rapture because their mean, horrible lives are too unbearable.




America Take Hope, and Stop Praying to the Media God. What should I care what the media wants me to believe? I use the media for what information and entertainment I find, and let it go at that. If the rest of us would just take their rantings for what they are -- attempts to raise ratings -- and not some kind of Truth, we would all be much saner.



I see everyday wonderful creative market, research and other solutions to the energy problems -- or rather the problem of oil addiction. We all know that any new drilling opportunities provided by the President's will being done would not produce results for some time, and then would not produce enough to significantly lower the price. Not only that, but by the time this oil would be available, we most likely won't be in this mess because we will have found that trademark American ingenuity has already come to the rescue (or, perhaps worldwide ingenuity).



There are plenty of mean-spirited and even adolescent in behavior older folks, plenty of mature and kind young ones.



When you know your best
are your best
live your best
cuddle up in the warm arms
that best support you
stand gracefully on the strong legs
that take you where you best would be
listen intently with the best of wisdom
moving through into your heart
see the best of everything
yours for the desire
You have bested those of greedy
souls, insecure mouths, mindless
enthusiasms, caught up in glamour
You have no need of admiration nor
validation
You are you as best you might be



It's all a big game, a joke, isn't it. People say they want to know where candidates stand on the issues. We still keep hearing that old refrain from the talking points mill about Obama making pretty speeches but saying nothing substantive. Yet, he always gets as much substance in his speeches as the polity will allow, which isn't really much. John McCain's crew, the Republican machine, has it pretty well down. People don't really think that much about issues, even those that directly affect them. People like the gossip, the small talk, often vicious, to put those in the public eye in their private place. People like to agree with their friends and show proud disdain to those outside their circle. People like to make clever quips or spread soundbites as sound doctrine to show off. People very often vote a party line, or to be in line with their social set. Remember Bush's popularity as the guy we'd rather have a beer with? If we the people don't take our government seriously, why should the candidates?



Closing, closing, closing
winding in among memories and dreams
hiding saintly still
caught in reverberation
ever more densely
molecules bending in, condensing
whole, strong, hard,
fit to stand,
unfit to move



The fallacy of aggressive action is that there is something to be won which outweighs the losses, labeling an enemy to make the murder alright, destroying what we intend to save, squandering treasure and goodwill because we don't know how to effectively communicate and make good bargains




I do not agree with presidential candidate Obama's every policy or strategy. There are many issues on which I have very strong disagreements with his stated opinions. What I do admire and appreciate is his attitude of serious thoughtful consideration with eyes on the big picture. Some hopehead rhetoric is not what he is offering, but serious reasoning and respect to bring hope to we who listen.

Obama seems to me a true gentleman, a man of character. He has the qualities I want to see in a world leader. In many elections I have voted out of protest. I am glad to be voting out of conviction.



Today's "Conservatives" are not about free markets, allowing people to
enjoy each their own little economic fiefdom or supporting freedom.
They are about protecting big business at the expense (financial and in
a great many other ways) of the individual.



I recently heard, yet again, a successful writer interviewed explaining that if you have to write, you will. It is true. Probably for any expressive art, the impulse becomes an overwhelming obsession of that story that has to be told. There are a vast variety of ways to be creative. Some have no discernable product beyond the moment, creative play or creative interaction or creative understanding. It happens all the time without comment, possibly without notice.

Writing can be like magick. I put myself in the ritual space, summon my intent, move deeply into the collective stream, and scratch out arcane symbols. Writing is moving the images from behind my eyes onto a visible surface. Writing is working out zig-zaggy thoughts and emotions into a more coherent flow of imagined conversation. Writing is my conversation with those I show that written message.



Trapped inside random generations
Caught up unwieldy, wheeling round and round
soundwaves, waves of perdition, waves
swirling through sand blinding
no true visions allowed inside
tied up in bitter thornbriar
no way to emote, erupt, erase
make reference to exquisite taste
or degrading pain
as hurried harried humanity
rushes by




So very many ills are caused or exacerbated by unnecessary stress. I have found meditative dance to be an excellent mood stabilizer, stress buster, negative energy release, positive energy generator.



I love artistic minds and the art they engender. I love liminal experiences, way out possibilities, the movies in my mind and probably the movies in your mind.



Governmental machinations have become far too complex allowing all kinds of irrelevancies, hidden profiteering, useless bickering resulting in maladroit legislation, nonadherence to basic rules and precepts, quite a mess. We have become too needy of big government, dependent on leadership that does not lead, empty democratic calories. Each of us who becomes aware needs to take back responsibility for our own lives, and join to take back our own neighborhoods, communities, making a system that works for us.



Apparently more drilling will not immediately solve anything. Apparently the real problem is finding cost-effective, quickly efficient alternatives to foreign fossil fuels. Apparently there are many entrepreneurial and even environmentally motivated thinkers/doers out there working on these issues, and finding a plethora of options. A supermarket view of energy options rather than narrow focus is probably best, and what we seem headed towards.




If the month of August drains ye, write of drains and secret seasons
If the month of August grieves ye, write of grief and the miseries of love
If the month of August dries ye like a grape in the sun, write of lush wet rivers and drowning rains, saluting to the fruit of the vine



There is so much more to the world than left and right and center. The points that make up the full circle are more visible when you are not so fixated on the extremes.



I don't think a death penalty is a concept for the realm of "belief." It is a tactic, not an ideology, like terrorism.



The soul is not a piece within
like liver, heart, blood or brain
It is the very essence, we begin
from, every part of which we're made



I would whisper secret songs
willing you to dance
I would whisper strange enchantments
to twirl you into trance
I would whisper deep emotion
to lift you from despair
Whispering beneath your wings
lifting them to air




Boundaries are made for bending
Listen to your dreams unending
Move beyond the walls to find they're gone
Nothing but words refined to form
a comforting bed for a weary head
rest inside until you find markers for your trail
beyond the bordered veil



Money is not the only value, even in the "marketplace". Better products, better pr due to better business practices, better value, can outweigh mere price differentials. Look at all the "super-premium" products -- higher cost for higher value. Business and social paradigms are in flux. Let's take advantage and promote values more valuable than elusive, imaginary money.



They are not "putting their lives on the line for perfect strangers." They are doing their job, which may at times be dangerous. They chose these vocations because of the meaning doing these jobs have for them. Perhaps they come from families who have traditionally held such jobs, or have someone in their family who extols such work. Perhaps they enjoy the excitement, the adrenalin rush. Perhaps they or close ones have been adversely affected by the "enemy" they now fight. Perhaps other scenarios. I am in no way denigrating people who do valuable, dangerous work. I'm just saying, their motives are usually not so simply altruistic.



I don't know about you, but I don't give or withhold political support based on personal sexual infidelity. There are, to me at least, a few more important issues.



We who are not bound by the faiths of "the book" know that spirituality is the real deal; religion is a fan club.



Creative play allows us to makeover our points and swaths of view, to see different ways of perceiving what we and others do, to take the raw and bleeding soul and make it whole and new.



Dancing is heaven on Earth. It is a very basic healing wholistic healing tool. Dance all you can. It will make you healthier; it is wonderful exercise. Dance where no one is watching if it is the only way you can. Eventually, the practice will lead to better balance and grace, that you will be happy to share.



If I let it, my heart would ache and ache and there would be nothing else left of me for all the needless suffering based on stupid principles of what we call "economics" but is really some kind of horrid societal curse of blindness.



rules are an integral part of magic (as is naming, which is in a way a rule) -- we create what doesn't materially exist, such as groups and other relationships, by making boundaries that say: this is [ ] without these boundaries, everything just kind of mushes together



I wonder why Ron Paul has been so unobserved by the mainstream media.



ok, I think I'm starting to get it. All these people who complain Obama never says anything or hesitates too much, as here, I thought they just weren't paying attention. Apparently we have different definitions of "saying" or "specific answers". As a slowly thoughtful person myself, I understand that Obama is deeply considering and responding with nuanced complexity. The people who complain, however, are probably those who more easily engage in light conversation and expect short, direct, simple statements.



I have been having some long talks with myself about the kinds of status, security, belonging, even base safety needs that may exhibit as tight-armed (or other parts of the anatomy) righteousness. People talk about needing to fight for our freedoms, but we push those freedoms right out of our homes and neighborhoods and public places. What mainstream America really seems to want is our own straight and narrow fiefdom so we never have to worry because everyone fits right in to where we belong. We rant and expect the government to make it all right with laws and enforcements, small government without taxation of course. We want the schools to be injectors of morality, somehow fitting the knowledge necessary for high-paying jobs into squeezed-smaller minds. We want those who might threaten in their angry poverty or social confusion or misfit unpredictability to be thrown away.



Happiness is a mind thing, not a state of objective reality. I have recently thought about this, realizing I do not want at all times to be happy. Emotions are not only situation specific, but an important source of information and artistic inspiration. I enjoy all the emotions, each in their time. If I did want to be always happy, I could find that happy place in my mind and live there only. I'm more of an explorer.



I've have been meditating on finding that opening into the collective well of art/inspiration/dream imagery/polylinguistic possibilities. I do wonder what the walling off is about. Perhaps its that thing that happens of unconscious vulnerability when we don't remember our dreams but only murky bits, or when in the throes of ecstatic experience that fade away.



I was earlier today thinking that it is the common folks, the peasant class, who lose and yet admire and prop up their lords in an effort to maintain a world they have learned to expect.




I read Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook so long ago now I only have a vague impression, though I know it was a transcendent experience at the time. One of the greatest books ever written, to my mind, is The Four-Gated City, which deeply yet so very accessibly explores ideas of identity, madness, relationships, family, and fantasy. It is not, though, an easy book to read in many ways. It demands commitment and openness of mind.



We do need to be more innovative about educational resources. I like the idea of the organic roof gardens -- for everyone, not just schools. I really like the idea of teaching kids outside of the classroom, where they can move around and explore. I am also in favor of regular exercise breaks, even just dancing around in the classroom. It is proven that exercise is good for keeping the brain active, alert.

It's true. We don't have to be slaves to the local public schools. Especially in these days, with so much knowledge available to anyone who can get access to the internet, if we have the will we can learn, and teach our kids, even create our own educational groups.



It is amazing the way people will see the same event differently based on our preconceptions. I am still having trouble getting my mind around people who continually harp on Obama having no real plans or answers or specifics. John McCain basically hopes it will all turn out well, gives anecdotes about his war experiences in Vietnam, and does his avuncular life of the party routine. Barack Obama gives clearly nuanced, thought-out responses and keeps reminding us that this is our country together, that we all have obligations to make it better. I fear for the lack of discerning ability among a meaningful percent of the American public.



Renewables, "alternatives" really are taking off. People who have been working on these ideas since the '70s finally have the incentive in the higher oil prices that have gotten the general attention. I am seeing all kinds of mainstream tv ads about alternative energy plans and technologies. This could easily be the dotcom boom of this decade solving energy issues and economic issues simultaneously, if only political posturing would get out of the way.

keep these ideas coming
don't let our planet die because we were too stubborn to be creative
the only reason we are on a fossil fuel economy is because that was the cheap and easy alternative chosen at the time of the industrial revolution
we are post-industrial
time to rethink energy commitments



I keep wondering, with all the advances in brain research and body/mind connection, why we don't have a simple method to break the pain connection.




If we stop to think about all the truly stupid, horrid, ridiculous and dangerous ways our so-called government works to undermine us, no wonder depression is rampant in the US.




Of course none of us like being taxed. [Personally I much more hate the yearly self-disclosure job, and would prefer to just be billed, but I digress.] On the other hand, most of us like to have the use of public works, public infrastructure, governmental agencies, and military might. Presumably these could be paid for by means other than taxation, but if taxation is the method we have agreed to use, taxes there will be. The rich obviously get a greater return on their tax investment than those who lack the resources to make much use of anything. They are also in a better position to pay more, even if only for a short career burst of time. Yes, saving and investment need to be better encouraged. Those who are wealthy have the option of paying for top advice and making good investment decisions. The encouragement needs to go to the barely making it, so they will gain the advantages of growing their resources and have more of a stake in the game. In terms of economic growth, we have become a consumer economy. That means that the more dollars going to the margins means more people have the means to be consumers, means more products will be consumed, greater economic advantages for all.

In terms of percentage of income, we are overtaxing the poor. There are many taxes other than "income tax." The wealthy get to pay for lawyers and
accountants so they can minimize their taxes. The poor get hit everywhere they look. Yet, it is more fair and useful to tax the wealthy. They are the ones that are getting most benefit from the structure provided by that tax income. A great many of the wealthy get there through inheritance, or at least growing up with the advantages of wealth to give them a leg very far up the ladder. Do you have any idea the discipline and effort it takes to be of the working poor, having to take on several jobs none of which give benefits, all of which pay poorly to do the most obnoxious work that no one wants to do? People struggling, and not even making it, living on the streets or in substandard housing, eating from dwindling food pantries or dumpsters or unhealthy fast and cheap foods, freezing for lack of funds to pay for heat, you get the idea, these people are not really benefiting from the great wealth of this nation. I believe the income tax was created for the Civil War, and subsequently brought back to pay for other wars, then for other programs, and so forth. It was not about thieving. It was because people wanted the programs and Congress wanted their votes. In any case, this is the system we are now living with. Fine, do away with all taxes altogether. Then we can look at other ways to do what we all need and want done as society. Probably we could find much better, more efficient methods. The resources that morally belong to all of us, and even more to the Earth itself, are being stripped, wasted, destroyed for a quick profit. That should be paid back. I don't want profiteers exploiting our resources. Economics needs to include the costs to the Earth, the general resources of those living here, the ability of laborers to maintain a healthy life, the ability of those coming up to get useful and comprehensive educations that they have the skills to do well, etc., and so forth. Maybe we could tax the resources directly, or license their use, for enough money to do away with taxes. There could be waives for use which is shown to be for the general good. People could use for profitable enterprise resources that they have helped to produce, or buy or license their use for fair value.



Rape is exploitation. It is dehumanizing in the service of a selfish demand for inappropriate power. It is dividing off humane feelings because a numb machine is so much more efficient at hoarding resources rather than let the natural flow allow all to succeed. It is pain wanting to produce more pain rather than looking for a cure.

Maybe this is why there is such a fear of gay soldiers: the rapists realizing that payback's a bitch.



In my experience, a child does not automatically get bestowed any rights. Rights generally come with responsibilities. We mostly get rights by being active citizens and having the power of the vote, if not other forms of social power.

I wish people who claim to have concern about human life really had concern about the living and not just the souls to give to their hungry lord. Why would anyone want to be born into such a mean-spirited world?



Child of man
glowing in the warm sunshine
rolling naked in the muddy rain
taking back the day and night to gain
a worthy place to stand
a world that's yours and mine
and billions strong
learning that living isn't wrong
when you play to the music
of our ever after song



I was just wondering about the people who claim to be Christians but forget about the mission of Christ. They quote from the worst of the angry OT god, fearing and kowtowing to him. Yet Christ was given to man as sort of an apology for the excesses of that pre-Christ time. The OT time was violent, angry, about slaves freeing themselves and building a new world separate from the others of their time. There were many unfortunate results in the psyche of these tribes. Christ is sent to say, turn away from these old teachings. Life on Earth is meant to be about Love, not Hatred, if we are to create the Kingdom here for mankind.



There are none so blind as those who insist on looking through a distorted lens.



We are no longer free to travel throughout our country. It is no longer our own, but owned by the terrormongers, not Islamic Jihadists but US Neocon Crusaders. Looking at the political landscape of the early 21st Century, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, we're all caught up in a worldwide fascist alliance.



Last hours in the sun
tasting ecstasies, agonies, peace and pain
trailing like fading rays
on glory's highway
fading from memory
into eternity