Blessings....author unknown

If we could shrink the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like this:

57 Asians

21 Europeans

14 from the Western Hemisphere

8 Africans

52 females

48 males

70 non-white

30 white

89 heterosexual

11 homosexual

80 would live in substandard housing

70 unable to read

1 near death

1 near birth

1 would have a college education

1 would own a computer

6 would possess 59% of the world's wealth

and all of those from the US

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education become glaringly apparent.

Therefore:

If you have food in your refridgerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world;

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive the week;

If you have money in the bank and change in a dish somewhere, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy;

If you can attend a religious meeting without fear of harrassment, arrest, torture or death, you are more blessed than 3 billion people;

If you have never experienced the danger of war, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are more blessed than 500 million people;

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over 2 billion people who cannot read.

As you are reminded how life is for many of our fellow human beings, remember just how blessed you really are.

A Political Witch Hunt? Nah.

Tom Delay has been indicted by a Travis County Grand jury at long last; the crack in this insolent punk's armor is beginning to split wide open. You can get away with a lot when you are an unscrupulous politician who will stoop to any low to advance his party's cause, but you can't get away with an abuse of power in Travis County due to that little ole prosecutor named Ronnie Earle.

Now Delay's people are crying political witch hunt. Kevin Madden, DeLay's spokesman, dismissed the charge as politically motivated. "This indictment is nothing more than prosecutorial retribution by a partisan Democrat," Madden said, citing prosecutor Earle, a Democrat. Madden later added: "They could not get Tom DeLay at the polls. They could not get Mr. DeLay on the House floor. Now they're trying to get him into the courtroom. This is not going to detract from the Republican agenda." Not so fast Kevin.

Ronnie Earle is an equal opportunity prosecutor. He's prosecuted 11 Democrats and 4 Republicans during his 27 years in office. Among these was Democrat Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox. Democrats, for their part, are still upset over his prosecution in 1985. While pushing a state lawsuit against Mobil Oil Co., the Democratic AG argued with Mobil's lawyers, which led to his indictment. He was acquitted and years later, Jim Marston, a civil lawyer in Austin and friend of Mr. Mattox, asked Earle why he went ahead with the questionable case. "I said, 'Ronnie, how can it be an abuse of power to threaten a lawyer? We threaten each other all the time.' He told me that elected officials are held to a higher standard. They are supposed to be [above suspicion]...". Earle himself perhaps put the matter best: "This is not about Democrats and Republicans. It is about cops and robbers. This is an investigation of a crime."

Tom Delay has hardly been above suspicion and the whole Texas Association of Business and Texans for a Republican Majority mess surely smells criminal. Texas District Judge Joseph Hart ruled on May 28, 2005, that the treasurer of Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), organized by DeLay, violated the state's election law by failing to report $684,507 in contributions from corporations and other donors in 2002. The decision upholds a complaint by Democrats about the way DeLay and his advisers financed a 2002 political victory in Texas which allowed DeLay's allies in the state Legislature to redraw congressional districts and elect four additional Republicans to the U.S. House in 2004. Violating state election law would be a crime. Criminal conspiracy is truly a crime that's punishable by six months to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000. Ouch! No wonder Delay's spokesman is crying.

Delay consorts with some rather slimy folks, such as Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe. The airfare for a London and Scotland trip taken by Delay in 2000 was charged to an American Express card issued to Abramoff. House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyists. This is just one of a host if smelly affairs Delay has been involved in.

Watch him squirm folks, watch him squirm.

The Bug Killer Gets Some Payback

DeLay Indicted in Campaign Finance Probe
WASHINGTON Sep 28, 2005 — A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that could force him to step down as House majority leader.

Sweet!

The Presidents in Oz

The last four ex-U.S. Presidents are caught in a tornado, and off they whirled to OZ. They finally make it to the Emerald City and come before the Great Wizard.

"WHAT BRINGS YOU BEFORE THE GREAT WIZARD OF OZ?

"Jimmy Carter steps forward timidly: " I've come for some courage.""NO PROBLEM!" says the Wizard. "WHO IS NEXT?"

Ronald Reagan steps forward, "Well, I.......I think I need a brain.""DONE" says the Wizard."WHO COMES NEXT BEFORE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ?"

Up steps George Bush sadly, "I'm told by the American people that I need a heart.""I'VE HEARD IT'S TRUE!" says the Wizard. "CONSIDER IT DONE."

There is a great silence in the hall. Bill Clinton is just standing there, looking around, but doesn't say a word. Irritated, the Wizard finally asks, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

Bill answers, "Is Dorothy here?"

An Unreal Conversation

I work as a licensed agent for an insurance company and take inbound calls from people with questions/concerns about their policies. The calls range from payments to changes on policies to inquiries about premium changes. Sometimes boring, sometimes challenging, sometimes mind blowing. What follows is a real conversation with a policy holder who was incredulous that her policy had cancelled over a month earlier because we had not received required paperwork back from her.

me: Mam, your policy cancelled because we didn't receive back from you paperwork required the state. We sent it out to you when you bought the policy and then sent 2 reminders.

customer: Well I never read that stuff you send me. I always assume it's just junk mail.

me: Mam, you might wish to think of anything you receive from an insurance company you are paying money to to insure your property as anything but junk mail and important enough to open.

customer: Really?

Mind blowing.

A Message of Compassion from the Dalai Lama

Yesterday I had a most extraordinary opportunity to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Erwin Center here in Austin. This opportunity presented itself 3 weeks ago as I was riding public transit around the city on my day off. I'd gone to the area where my bank is located and had stopped in front of a nearby book store to peruse their sales items. I happened upon "The Art of Happiness at Work" by the Dalai Lama for the bargain price of $4.99 and snapped it up. When I got back on the bus, the Lifestyle section of the Austin paper was sitting on the seat next to me and when I picked it up and turned to the inside page, there was a notice advertising the spiritual leader's upcoming talk. I noticed that the tickets were being given away the following Tuesday and he was speaking two Tuesdays after that. Tuesday being my day off during the week, it seemed to me I was supposed to go see the Nobel Peace Prize winner. It was also in keeping with my committment to explore spirituality.

Wearing traditional red and gold robes, His Holiness entered to a standing ovation and acknowledged the crowd with hands clasped in Buddhist style greeting. He took off his sandles, seated himself cross legged on the ornate chair, cleared his throat and began to speak. I had difficulty understanding him for the first few minutes as English was clearly not his first language. Once I did begin to follow him, I realized that his message was clear and simple; compassion was the key to living in a global community and all human beings are entitled to a happy life.

His Holiness also called for religious harmony, saying that "all religions have some potential to serve humanity." Religion, he said, can offer hope in times of tragedy such as hurricanes. This reminded me that regardless of my strong feelings about the many evils of organized religion, it does indeed serve a vital purpose for millions around the globe.

He went on to say that if audience members found his ideas interesting they should follow up with "further investigation." "If you think these ideas are not much of interest, then forget it," he said, drawing laughter from the 12,000+ in attendance.

This experience with a"simple monk", as he referred to himself, was exhilarating, moving and one which I'll never forget. Truly a once in a lifetime encounter, it has encouraged me to continue my spiritual search and reminded me that my daily prayers should always include the request that I have the ability to deal with all human beings in a compassionate way

Restroom walls

FROM THE RESTROOM WALL:

If Bush were captain of the Titanic, he'd say we were stopping for ice.
- Smoky Joe's, Philadelphia

If you voted for Bush in the last election, you can't take a dump here. Your asshole is in Washington. - Men's room Outback Steakhouse, Tacoma, Washington

Bush: A Borrow and Spend Republican

Republicans are fond of labeling opponents as "Tax and Spend" democrats. Of course, nothing is ever said about the "Borrow and Spend" Republicans who are in control of the White House and both houses of Congress. W made a major speach from Jackson Square in New Orleans the other night in which he promised to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Before Katrina hit, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the 2006 budget deficit at $314 billion, down from $331 billion for the current fiscal year. Those annual deficits add to the historic federal deficit which now totals a mind boggling 7.9 trillion dollars! Analysts estimate reconstruction costs will be at least $200 billion. But two top White House officials, during a briefing with reporters Friday, refused to estimate the total cost of Bush's proposals so no one really knows for sure what the total will be for this unprecedented domestic rebuilding.

Now our "I will not raise your taxes" president was quoted as saying, "We should not raise taxes." Of course, what this means is an ever exploding federal deficit the majority of which was accumulated under Reagan and W. This is a debt that we pass on to future generations to pay off, a debt that will increase interest rates for current generations, a debt that will largely be held by and payable to foreigners and just flat out poor policy. One would think that given the facts that we are at war (albeit an illegal, immoral one), that our country has suffered a historic natural disaster that requires rebuilding whole cities and caring for hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens and that prudence dictates increased spending on homeland security, that the top 1% of income earners could give up their very lucrative tax cuts to pay for these necessities. But W would rather just borrow the money and add to the debt.

And so it goes.

The Rehabilitation of Me

July 28, 2005 is a date that marks a major event in my life. For 28 years I've been using some form or another of mind altering chemical, legal and/or illegal. Initially it was all fairly harmless and very recreational. Over the last decade this has changed dramatically; 2 overdoses, several car accidents, legal trouble, financial ruin, estrangement from family and friends are all fairly indicative that one has a problem with substances. Not being able to go without your substance of choice without the onset of severe illness is fairly indicative of addiction. I had reached that point sometime over the last 2 years and was only staving off illness, not enjoying any euphoria from the drugs I was using. On July 27, 2005, even in my extreme morphine and xanax induced haze, it was clear that I was powerless over these substances, my life was increasingly unmanageable and I was slowly dying.

I called Starlite Recovery Center in the Texas Hill Country and my workplace EAP and made arrangements to check myself in the following day. By late afternoon on July 28, 2005 I poured myself through the doors of Starlite and began my 29 day stay.
The first few days were spent detoxing and were physically very rough. Suprisingly I was in relatively good shape emtionally as I was so relieved and grateful to be getting the help I so desperately needed. The ensuing days consisted of regular meetings including addiction education, relapse prevention, 12 step study and 12 step meetings. It also included a great deal of time and opportunity for introspective thought.

At Starlite, one is housed with 69 other people ages 18-70 who are addicted to virtually any substance that you choose to mention, from alchohol to heroin. There was a police officer, a Russian Orthodox priest, a schoolteacher, a banker, a couple of attorneys and a variety of others. I came to know and befriend virtually all of my fellow addicts and understand that although we were different in so many ways, we were also very much alike and certainly shared the disease of chemical dependancy. This disease does not discriminate in any way.

I completely bought into the entire program, something I had previously been unwilling to do. I began studying and working the first steps of the 12 step program and quickly discovered that what I had for years been resisting would be the key to getting well. I completed my stay on August 27 and arrived home feeling refreshed, reborn and having crystal clear thought.

I've since returned to work and settled into a schedule that includes regular sleeping patterns, regular meals, gym time 5 days a week, no mind altering chemicals, weekly couseling appointments and NA/AA meetings and, as my brother so aptly points out, a rather boring life. The word "boring" is used as a positive adjective here considering the "exciting" life I'd been leading was surely killing me.

People close to me have been amazingly forgiving of my drug indiced antics and supportive of this effort. I feel loved. The family members who I've been in contact with have shown love and compassion. I'm slowly contacting old friends who had long since given up on me and broken off contact. I was particularly grateful for my friend Michael who called and didn't feel the need to tell me how fucked up I'd been (I am acutely aware and can kick myself for it better than anyone else), but simply said, "I'm really impressed and proud of you for taking this step."

I'm impressed with and proud of me too.

The W spin machine cranks it out

It's no secret that I'm no fan of the current president. Indeed I loath that putrid, pathetic, peccant individual. His dismal performance in the days since Hurricane Katrina absolutely nauseates me and is additional grounds for impeachment. But the administration spin machine is in full swing. He is set to now speak to the country about rebuilding the gulf coast (Where was he the day after the hurricane? In San Diego meeting with his Republican business buddies?) and we continue to hear comments from the administration about not playing the "blame game." The fact is that he is to blame; he is the president and the buck does stop with him. The media is slowly but surely getting away from the story of his and his administrations nonresponsiveness to this disaster. Give it six months and the gullible American public will poll as asying the Federal government did a good job.

Welcome! Lets start

Taking a cue from a few people I know, I've decided to try my hand at blogging. My life is interesting enough (at least to me) right now that it seems appropriate to put thoughts, experiences and opinions down for my own review and that of others. And we're off......