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Monday, September 28, 2009

WE'VE HAD ENOUGH - BARACK OBAMA NEEDS TO SHOW RESOLVE ABOUT THE DEFINING ISSUE OF GENOCIDE WHILE PRESIDENT

This IS outrageous. U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, needs to spend some time with his family. And President Obama needs to find some resolve on this "Defining" Issue. We need some of the hope we all fought so hard to be manifested when we campaigned for our new President.


U.S. Envoy's Outreach to Sudan is Criticized as Naive
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

EL FASHER, Sudan -- The volatility of this East African nation -- from the Darfur conflict to the threat of renewed civil war in the south -- is becoming a test of how President Obama will reconcile a policy of engagement with earlier statements blasting a government he said had "offended the standards of our common humanity."

Top administration officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss a major review of the United States' Sudan policy. But even as that document is being finalized, U.S. diplomacy has remained mostly in the hands of Obama's special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, who is pushing toward normalized relations with the only country in the world led by a president indicted on war-crimes charges.


Although Gration describes the approach as pragmatic and driven by a sense of urgency, his critics here and in the United States say it is dangerously, perhaps willfully, naive. During a recent five-day trip to Sudan, Gration heard from southern officials, displaced Darfurians, rebels and others who complained uniformly that he is being manipulated by government officials who talk peace even as they undermine it.

Still, at the end of the visit, Gration maintained a strikingly different perspective. He had seen signs of goodwill from the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, he said, and viewed many of the complaints as understandable yet knee-jerk reactions to a government he trusts is ready to change.

"We've got to think about giving out cookies," said Gration, who was appointed in March. "Kids, countries -- they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement."

Gration's approach has supporters, including Eltyeb Hag Ateya, a Sudanese professor and critic of Bashir's ruling party. He said Gration is "completely different" from previous envoys, who succeeded only in alienating the people who hold the levers of power in Sudan.

Gration's detractors say his approach is based on a misunderstanding of how Bashir's ruling party works. John Prendergast, co-chairman of the Enough Project, a human rights group advocating tougher, multilateral sanctions against Sudan, said Bashir and his top advisers respond only to pressure. "They do not respond to nice guys coming over and saying, 'We have to be a good guest,' " he said. "They eat these people for dinner."

Adam Mudawi, a Sudanese human rights activist who has seen envoys come and go, put it more bluntly: "In six months, he'll find out," he said. "They are liars."

But in interviews during the trip, Gration said that Sudanese government officials have not lied to him. He spoke of new realities in Darfur, where a brutal government campaign has given way to banditry and fighting among rebel factions and tribes. Although many say the government has orchestrated the chaos, Gration spread the blame. Rebels have turned into criminal gangs and failed to unify for peace talks, he said. And many displaced Darfurians are dealing with "psychological stuff" that is leading to unhelpful mistrust of the government, he said.

Gration said that in his view, the ruling party deserves some credit lately for allowing some foreign aid groups to return after Bashir expelled others following his March indictment by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in Darfur. Gration said economic sanctions, first imposed against Sudan in 1997, have thwarted development that would help marginalized parts of Sudan.

And as distasteful as it may seem, he said, engaging the ruling party is the only way to get a settlement in Darfur and to avert a potentially devastating war ahead of the semiautonomous southern region's 2011 vote on independence.

Ghazi Salahuddin, a close Bashir adviser, praised Gration for "trying to be evenhanded." During a stop in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, Gration was greeted like a rock star by hundreds of cheering Bashir supporters in a conference hall plastered with posters of Bashir and Obama, poorly photo-shopped together.

Read page 2 at www.washingtonpost.com

Read page 3 at www.washingtonpost.com

Darfur Conflict

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Remember Darfur

No More Empty Promises


Whatever you did for one of the least of these
I don't consider myself a religious person at all.
Spiritual person, yes. Religious, no.
However, I love this passage of the Bible at the above link.


We are visitors on this planet.

We are here for ninety or one hundred years

at the very most.

During that period,

we must try to do something good,

something useful, with our lives.

If you contribute to other people’s happiness,

You will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama


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GENOCIDE WILL STOP WITH US


"The Most Important Office is That of Private Citizen"
Louis D. Brandeis


Comments to President Obama:

202-456-1111 or 1-800-GENOCIDE


Dear President Obama - A letter sent March 12, 2009

Join the Fast for Darfuris


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed people could change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead


www.savedarfur.org


www.stopgenocidenow.org


WhileWeWaitSudan.blogspot.com

www.stopgenocidenow/campdarfur.org


Help - Use Your Voice


1-800-GENOCIDE


Click my post title for Human Rights First site


NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE


If We Only Have Love

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HEATH - OUR LOVE IS AS ALIVE TODAY AS HIS SPIRIT REMAINS TO BE IN OUR HEARTS


So

here

is

my youtube video that I did last night. I started when it was time to go to bed and finished around 8:00 a.m. this morning. It has some flaws in it. But, I don't get paid to do it, I told myself and present it here "as is".

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A Knights Tale's deleted scene of Mr. and Mrs. Chaucer appears at 2:12.
Channel Icon
Uploaded by me - ilovemylifesblog

Channel Icon
Special thanks to youtube poster jopicca who makes beautiful video tributes for Heath Ledger. The lovely picture in my video that is in triplicate is from her. One of her videos:
Heath Ledger - In Loving Memory


My Little Soapbox of Creative Disappointment

I don't know why, but when I run this video on my MAC with iMovie, there are no glitches - the video runs smoothly. But at Youtube there are glitches - mainly at the end where I have a picture of Heath hugging fans (which only plays on youtube for a split second for some unknown reason) and then my photos of the beach and sky, one of which is completely left out on
youtube's site. I apologize. I did try to fix the issues and have better transitions overall. I edited and re-edited and uploaded it at youtube four times. But this is it for this video. Disappointing for me, but I put my best effort forward and still ended up...well, with what looks like gaps in my presentation. Done with love, though.

A Knights Tale cast:
imdb

A Knights Tale can be purchased at:
www.amazon.com

Quotables from A Knights Tale:

Rufus Sewell (Adhemar): * You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me?

Alan Tudyk (Wat): We're the sons of peasants. Glory, and riches, and stars are beyond our grasps. But a full stomach, that dream can come true.

James Purefoy (Prince Edward): Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough.

Heath Ledger (William): Welcome to a New World. God save you, if it is right that he should do so.


Alan Tudyk (Wat): You have been weighed
Mark Addy (Roland): You have been measured
Laura Fraser (Kate): And you have absolutely...
Paul Betteny (Chaucer): Been found wanting.


* What does this Bible scripture line mean?

* This expression is rooted in the Bible Book of Daniel, Chapter Five.

The occasion was a feast that King Belshazzar held. Belshazzar, who ruled Babylon in the days of Daniel, came under God’s judgment,. In the year 539 B.C.E., a strange handwriting appeared on the wall of his banquet room while he and his royalty were having a feast, in which they defiled the sacred vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jehovah’s temple in Jerusalem sixty-eight years earlier

The handwriting warned him: “God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has finished it. . . . you have been weighed in the balances and have been found deficient. . . . your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”
(Daniel 5:26-28)


Writer, producer and director, Brian Helgeland, of A Knights Tale tells that * this line was taken from the Bible in the commentary of the dvd of the movie.

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By the way, if you have a chance, try listening to the dvd special feature Brian Helgeland and Paul Bettany Commentary On option. Two friends sit and talk about the movie from beginning to the end. I thoroughly enJOYed it, emphasis on JOY. During the commentary, Paul Bettany, the actor who played Geoffrey Chaucer and the director, Brian Helgeland, give interesting information. The bonus is they are a hoot together. I laugh every time to the same stuff and catch things I missed before.

Included in the commentary, is the fact that Heath met Brian on the street one night in Prague, the Czech Republic and told Brian that he had a better idea for the music for the dance scene. The song was supposed to be Get Down Tonight by KC and the Sunshine Band. Brian agreed with Heath that Golden Years by Davie Bowie was a better idea and that's what we have for eternity.

Brian also shares that Montgomery Cliff practiced for weeks and weeks so that he could just step into the sadle's stirrup in one movement and mount the horse in the movie Red River. And Heath did it in his stylish graceful way in A Knights Tale - the first time he wears his armour when he is being laughed at due to his newly designed lightweight armour.

During this scene:
Mark Addy/Roland: If the nobles find out who you are, theyll be hell to pay.

Heath/William: Then pray that they dont.

Heath smiles. No, Heath lights up the screen and FLASHES a SMILE.

During this scene, the dialogue is:

Paul Bettany Here, a shot (waiting for Heath to smile)......THERE you go, WHAT a smile. (A photo of this Heath glowing smile is at 9:01 in my video above.)

Brian follows that with: Errol_Flynn .

A few other bits included:
James Purefoy (Paul called him James Puresex) was voted sexiest man in the film by the cast. And Rufus Sewell had some "free" parties. And a very special moment when Brian is complimenting his friend, Paul's acting talent and Paul slides in easily and naturally, "I love you." And Brian responds, "I love you, man."

I wanted to make a video with the gems from this special feature, but everything on the dvd was accessible but this one thing. Hmmm....


Click on my post's title and find another tribute to Heath. There are a bunch of us at youtube who can't let loose of our admiration and love for Heath, so making videos is an expression of our love that is as alive today as his spirit remains to be in our hearts.


I read this quotable paragraph of Heath's at andreabby008

"I don't have a technique. I've never been a believer in having one set technique on how to act. There are no rules and there is no rulebook. At the end of the day, it all comes down to my instincts. That's the one thing that guides me through every decision professionally. Socially, also. That's my technique. Yeah, you read through the script 100 times. I guess I have little characteristics about myself. Sometimes, most often than not, once we start shooting I won't look at the script at all until we finished shooting. It's kind of like it's been imprinted in my head during rehearsals. You just let it go." -Heath Ledger



Lyrics


"Let's Be Friends (Skin To Skin)"

I been watchin' you a long time
Trying to figure out where and when
We been moving down that same line
Time is now maybe we could get skin to skin

Don't know when this chance might come again
Good times got a way of comin' to an end
Don't know when this chance might come again
Good times got a way of slippin' a-way
Let's be friends, baby let's be friends

I know we're different you and me
Got a different way of walkin'
The time has come to let the past be history
Yeah if we could just start talkin'

Don't know when this chance might come again
Good things got a way of comin' to an end
Don't know when this chance might come again
Good things got a way of slippin'
Let's be friends, baby let's be friends

Do, do do doo do do do doo
Do, do do doo do do do do doo
Do, do do doo do do do doo
Let's be friends
Do, do do doo do do do doo
Do, do do doo do do do doo
Let's be friends

There's a lot of talk going 'round you
Let them talk you know you're the only one
There's a lot of walls need tearing down
Together we could take them down one by one

Don't know when this chance might come again
Good times got a way of comin' to an end
Don't know when this chance might come again
Good times got a way of slippin'
Let's be friends, baby let's be friends
.


What is going on?


I have had 1,509 page views of my blog posts and 941 readers and 60 off-site clicks - since 3:00 a.m. last night on my blog and it will keep counting until 3:00 a.m. EST USA. This is not typical. More typical is the day before statistics: 437 page views, 283 readers, 22 off-site clicks. And those are really strong statistics for my humble little blog. I hadn't even posted a new post since last Thursday, September 24, 2009.

So, I wonder what is going on.

Usually, my posts with Rafael Nadal pictures get the most hits. And well after they have been posted. But for some reason an old post (September 19, 2007) has picked up a lot of activity lately: There's a Woman in Somalia - She Lives a Life She Didn't Choose and this one gets a lot of views (I think because of the post title): Heath Ledger - Soul in Search - Pain Always Finds a Way to Show Up
(183 hits yesterday)

This one is also getting a lot of renewed attention lately and does periodically:
The Neglected Story of Discrimination - Indigenous Native Americans

And this one also:
Slingin Sammy Baugh and My Dad Played Football - Some Memorabilia

I got a lot of hits during my posts on Ted Kennedy, too. A lot of people wanted to hear the song sung: Love Changes Everything Sung by Nick Littlefield
and hear the Memorial Service. Great source of information at this website:
www.tedkennedy.org

Every once in awhile this one gets a lot of hits:
Though My Dad Died He Lives On

For me, it is difficult to figure out this increase. Probably, Rafa. The China Open is upcoming October 5 - 11, 2009. www.chinaopen.com
Although, Heath, also brings people here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember Darfur

No More Empty Promises


Whatever you did for one of the least of these
I don't consider myself a religious person at all.
Spiritual person, yes. Religious, no.
However, I love this passage of the Bible at the above link.


We are visitors on this planet.

We are here for ninety or one hundred years

at the very most.

During that period,

we must try to do something good,

something useful, with our lives.

If you contribute to other people’s happiness,

You will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



GENOCIDE WILL STOP WITH US


"The Most Important Office is That of Private Citizen"
Louis D. Brandeis


Comments to President Obama:

202-456-1111 or 1-800-GENOCIDE


Dear President Obama - A letter sent March 12, 2009

Join the Fast for Darfuris


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed people could change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead


www.savedarfur.org


www.stopgenocidenow.org


WhileWeWaitSudan.blogspot.com


Help - Use Your Voice


1-800-GENOCIDE


If We Only Have Love


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Thursday, September 24, 2009

QUALITY TV - HOW NICE IT IS - FLASH FORWARD

I liked this show. I hate most TV. I never have watched a "reality" show and most scripted TV is mediocre at best. This is a show with a great premise, quality acting with great production all with some serious money behind it. I'll be watching Flash Forward this season. Let's hope it gets an audience and keeps its quality strong. Joseph Fiennes is a great choice to bring quality to an ABC series.

Flash Forward was on tonight, Thursday, on ABC at 8:00 p.m. The season premiere will be repeated Friday, September 25, at 8:00 p.m.
EST USA.

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LOVE LETTERS STRAIGHT FROM YOUR HEART

I love sunsets.
I took this picture recently
at Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge
Atlantic Ocean
Middletown, Rhode Island, USA
Photo credit: Sandra Hammel

I needed this. To post a little something that has a good feeling to it before signing off.

I looked for the song "Love Letters" by Patti Austin on Youtube and having failed finding that, I found this.

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Ketty Lester sings "Love Letters"
The poster retracked the video and tried to synch the lips with the video.
Uploaded by VJTOMYAZ

I also love this..........
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Bette Midler sings "Do You Wanna Dance?"
Uploaded by DivineMissM

Bette's "The Story of Love" can be found by clicking my post's title.

"...Human kindness is overflowing..."


Small portion of my poem

The Power of Beauty - Higher Than Reason

I will not remember

what you are in the form of words,

but

in essences.

It isn’t words

that give you power over me.



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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

BILL SPARKMAN VICTIM FOUND HANGING FROM A TREE


51 YEAR OLD MAN, PART-TIME U.S.A. CENSUS WORKER
FOUND HANGING DEAD FROM A TREE

The victim's name is Bill Sparkman
September 12, 2009
in Daniel Boone National Forest
in rural southeastern Kentucky

The word "FED" was scrawled on victim's chest.

Western Governors University spotlighted Mr. Sparkman's story before this story
at
http://www.wgu.edu/wgu/profile_16

Here is the text:

Graduate Profile

William Sparkman
Graduate Speaker at February 2008 Commencement

Bill Sparkman's education story is one of thoughtful parental involvement for his son and for himself, personal fortitude in the face of very difficult circumstances, including very serious personal illness. He thought of it as volunteering in his son's classroom. He never imagined it would lead to a career change. Bill began his career path as a sports editor for the Mulberry Press and through various jobs thereafter, it landed him in London, Kentucky, just as his son was entering elementary school.

His son could pass any test but was struggling with completing the required assignments, so Bill thought by volunteering in the classroom that he could help his son's learning situation. Eventually, he was offered the job of a paraeducator. Several years into the job, he realized he was doing many of the same things that the teachers were doing. Talking with several other paraeducators, he learned they were all going to school, working on their teacher certifications.

"Being a single parent, I knew I couldn't quit my job and I would have limited nights to go to school, so it could take a long time to finish," said Bill. "I checked around and discovered Western Governors University. WGU offered everything that I wanted. I didn't have to sit in class and I could go as fast or as slow as I needed to."

Bill was making great progress when a life-threatening brick wall popped up. A cyst had formed on the right side of his neck and it was found to be non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Refusing to let that get in his way, he persevered. He began the necessary medical treatment and continued to do his student teaching. "My mentor provided me great support through this obstacle and continued leading me down the path to graduation," Bill said. "As more people discover WGU, I believe that more great teachers will be there for more students and be able to provide the support everyone deserves."

Bill graduated from WGU in December 2007 with his bachelor's degree in mathematics education. With warnings from his doctor about traveling by plane, Bill attended the actual graduation ceremony in February 2008 in an alternative way-—by driving all the way across the country to Salt Lake City to attend in person to receive the diploma he worked so hard to earn. While Bill is waiting for a math teacher position to open, he is substitute teaching in various school districts in London, Kentucky.

Note: WGU has learned that William Sparkman passed away unexpectedly in September 2009. The university and its staff extends condolences to Mr. Sparkman’s family and friends.

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Click my post title to go to article about this story.

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Billie Holiday singing Strange_Fruit
First released in 1939 - 70 years ago

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Nina Simone singing Strange Fruit

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DREAM TEAM - DARFUR

Tonight Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show had a segment regarding Darfur

Spotlighting...
Darfur Dream Team brings schools in Darfuri refugee camps together with schools outside Sudan

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The text below is from the website www.darfurdreamteam.org

Young people everywhere are more alike than different. They want a good education and opportunities for the future. Children in refugee camps who have survived the war in Darfur are no different. They dream of quality education and a chance to help rebuild their lives and homes.

When Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets heard about the massive challenges children from Darfur were facing in the refugee camps in Chad, he decided to see for himself. After spending days listening to the harrowing stories of young Darfuris in the refugee camps and their incredible thirst for a better education, he decided to act. When Tracy and his traveling companions from the Enough Project returned, they hatched the idea for the Darfur Dream Team's Sister Schools program linking American middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities with schools in the Darfuri refugee camps. Tracy's Journey to the refugee camps in eastern Chad is chronicled in the movie 3 Points.

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Darfur Dream Team

Uploaded by darfurdreamteam

10 minutes

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3-points Documentary
1 hour
Houston Rocket Tracy McGrady, c0-founder of Darfur Dream Team goes with John Prendergast to Darfuri refugee camp

No More Empty Promises


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HEATH LEDGER CONTINUES TO INSPIRE


My friend Johanna does such loving and beautiful tributes to Heath Ledger.
Here is her most recent one.
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Heath Ledger - In Loving Memory by Alter Bridge
Uploaded by jopicca

Lyrics

Thanks for all you've done
I've missed you for so long
I can't believe you're gone
You still live in me
I feel you in the wind
You guide me constantly

I've never knew what it was to be alone, no
Cause you were always there for me
You were always there waiting
And I'll come home and I miss your face so
Smiling down on me
I close my eyes to see

And I know, you're a part of me
And it's your song that sets me free
I sing it while I feel I can't hold on
I sing tonight cause it comforts me

I carry the things that remind me of you
In loving memory of
The one that was so true
Your were as kind as you could be
And even though you're gone
You still mean the world to me

I've never knew what it was to be alone, no
Cause you were always there for me
You were always there waiting
But now I come home and it's not the same, no
It feels empty and alone
I can't believe you're gone

And I know, you're a part of me
And it's your song that sets me free
I sing it while I feel I can't hold on
I sing tonight cause it comforts me

I'm glad he set you free from sorrow
I'll still love you more tomorrow
And you will be here with me still

And what you did you did with feeling
And You always found the meaning
And you always will...

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Heath Ledger - Smiles
Another upload by jopicca

Heath's movie
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

Interesting post about Heath's screen test
for Shekhar Kapur, director of The Four Feathers

www.shekharkapur.com


I don't understand why The Four Feathers
is so often left off the list of Heath's greatest movies.
It is such an excellent work.



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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

RAFAEL NADAL'S SIDELINE CAREER


Rafa Nadal NIKE shoot
Photo credit: unknown


Rafa Nadal NIKE shoot
Photo credit: unknown


Rafa Nadal NIKE shoot
Photos credit: unknown

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Rafa Nadal - The making of the NIKE video from AW77
Uploaded by ozonmag

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Rafa Nadal inPromo shoot for Balearic Islands
Uploaded by meriko100

Balearic Islands Promo shoot
Photo credit: unknown

Rafa Nadal Lanvin picture
Photos credit: unknown


Rafael Nadal of Spain was named Ambassador of Tennis by ITWA during day three of the 2009 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Photo credit: unknown

Pictures retrieved from here
See
Rafa Off Court thread
Then
Rafa's off court pics


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OBAMA TO SPEAK TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS, SEPT 23, 2009

LINKS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ADDRESS TO THE UNITED NATIONS 64TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

UNITED NATIONS PAGE

www.unausa.org/obamaspeakstotheworld


Click here to watch the speech live.

Streaming video
and Live Chat via
obamafacebook
UNA-USA will be presenting President Obama's speech live video streaming on Wednesday the 23rd. Additionally we will be hosting a live chat through the Facebook application located here.

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When UN Secretary/General, Ban Ki-moon talks, does the Government of Sudan care what he says?

Deeply Concerned at Reports of Recent Clashes between Sudanese Government Forces,

Rebels in North Darfur, Secretary-General Calls on All Parties for Restraint

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by reports of recent clashes between the Government of Sudan and rebel forces, and the resultant loss of civilian lives and properties in the area of Korma, North Darfur.

The Secretary-General calls on all parties to use restraint, renew their commitment to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and redouble their efforts to reach a political settlement of the conflict in Darfur.

The Secretary-General also reiterates the importance of ensuring a safe and free passage for United Nations and humanitarian personnel to assess the situation on the ground and provide life-saving assistance to those in need.

Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sgsm12473.doc.htm


Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Deadly Attack on Village in Southern Sudan

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the 20 September attack on residents of Duk Padiet village in Jonglei State, in Southern Sudan. Initial reports indicate upwards of 100 persons were killed in the attacks. The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) continues to determine the full extent of this terrible event.

The Secretary-General urges the Government of Southern Sudan to further strengthen their efforts to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of these crimes.

In the meantime, the Secretary-General commends the efforts of the Government to restore order, deter retaliatory attacks and to pursue dialogue and reconciliation among all concerned parties.

Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sgsm12472.doc.htm


Secretary-General Remains ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Abduction of Two

United Nations Staff Members of Hybrid Mission in Darfur

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General remains gravely concerned by the abduction of two international staff members at the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), taken from their homes on 28 August 2009. UNAMID officials are working closely with authorities from the Government of Sudan to ensure their safe release.

The Secretary-General wishes to underscore the importance of the peacekeeping and humanitarian work being undertaken in Darfur, and his belief that United Nations staff members carry out valuable work around the world, which they should be able to do without fear of harassment or intimidation. The Secretary-General expresses his solidarity with the families of the abducted staff members, and calls for their safe and speedy return.

Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sgsm12471.doc.htm

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HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES DESERVE ALL THE MONEY THEY CAN MAKE. RIGHT?

The title to the post is wrong. I don't believe the statement. It is irony.

I have always had serious issues with the wording in the Declaration of Independence. Specifically this excerpt:

The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

* See below for text that goes here.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

The indigenous people had a right to protect their way of life. After all, it is felt today, that the United States has a right to protect their way of life by those who attacked the USA on September 11.

I believe the wording which calls the indigenous people "merciless Indian Savages" is full of prejudice, ignorance and racist. And here it is institutionalized in one of the most important documents - other than all those treaties the government signed with the indigenous peoples and broke one after another.

Ironic, that the following words are what is written between the above statements. Some of the very things that the Declaration of Independence is faulting King George of Great Britain of doing to the Europeans, who landed in North America, the Europeans were doing and worse to the indigenous people already inhabiting the land being taken or stolen by the Europeans.


* He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence begins:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life...

"...certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life". "Life" includes health care, health insurance. And yet, so much trouble around a health care bill that provides this right to life, even for those who can't afford insurance.

Source of Declaration of Independence:
www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration

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Some irony in this video.

The pledge of allegiance to the USA flag, which there was such a flurry about during the Presidential campaign ends with the words "with liberty and justice for all". There were false claims at that time, that Barack Obama would not wear a patriotic flag pin or say the pledge of allegiance.

There is a lack of "justice for all", if not all can afford health care.


Furthermore....
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I say it is racism.

Professor James Peterson puts it very well in this video.

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Monday, September 21, 2009

DESTINY UNFOLDS WHEN A HEART EMBRACES IT


Sunset at Sachuest September 2009
Middletown, Rhode Island

meditate

Photo credit: Sandra Hammel

I love to write in my journals. I only have 3 blank pages left, so journal number 21 is about to begin. I write a lot to gain clarity, process personal pain, write about social injustice, the needs of children. And my son. Many books from past years are full of relationships that now as I read those pages, I realize I tried too hard to make something work that wasn't destined to work.

Today I wrote to my son in my journal...

September 20, 2009

1:45 p.m.


A stray sentence once in a while in the times we have been together over the years, I have heard you say or merely mention your saxophone, your clarinet, heard you recently read your own poetry that you obviously felt drawn to do –


Please bear with me so I can say to you – it seems to me to be apparent that your playing music, your writing, is a way for you to feel more yourself, lets you feel your soul in a way that is uniquely you.


Be aware of this specialness. Always be aware, the gift of doing these things, where art can be a “home” for your spirit, your heart, your soul. Don’t let the busyness of life cheat you out of being in your art, whatever it is – music, writing, drawing, creating. “Being” in these art moments will bring you more joy, peace, depth of feeling than the business of life can ever mimic.


You are your destiny. The universe is unfolding you and for you. Be mindful of it. It will be a source of joy, contentment, sustenance and freedom from anxiety.


Always be listening for the destiny’s voices. The destiny happens when we let it.


In a way, it is our job to be happy, to be kind. All else is a form of waiting for these moments.


End of Journal entry

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The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 4 - 8:15

At 4:13 " Eastern philosophies fundamentally say that ... human beings are stronger if they embrace their destinies. They believe that destiny is given. And therefore, your strength, your honor, your dignity, your purpose in life lies in your embracing your destiny." Shekhar Kapur, Director of The Four Feathers

Uploaded by springrose147


I encourage my son to follow his dreams. I hope that he will.


I haven't always followed mine front and center. But I have always been nearby the dreams. Never completely off the track. I have followed my heart, confused as it has been, at times. I have been honest with myself.


Recently, I had a "SoulProfile" done. A Soul Profile lists lifetimes lived before, where my soul originated and other places I have visited and the gifts that I have gained from those places. Whether others believe in such things, is a personal thing, like other beliefs. When I was in my early twenties and taking a required course in philosophy at an extremely conservative fundamentalist Christian college, it came to me that believing is a personal thing, in that, where we choose to draw the line of what to live by is arbitrary for the most part. As someone who was raised to be a fundamental Christian, including the dos and don'ts of my parents' beliefs - I was searching for my own principles of what to live my life by.


I threw out the don'ts of don't: dance, wear make-up of any kind, go to movies, wear jewelry, conservative everything... and the limitations of what a female should and shouldn't do. The don'ts of what is acceptable got a major overhaul by me. In my family, I am the odd one out. I am okay with that because I have no other choice. I have followed my destiny. I am at "home" with my music, my writing, my creating. I am most alive at times that I am in touch with my rawest and deepest parts of my spirit. It is a time of communion with my destiny, my universe.


We are breathing energy and the fact that the universe is like a big complex energy field, makes it acceptable for me - to believe we are part of the universe of energy. And just because we are life forms as human beings, that doesn't mean that there aren't other life forms that manifest differently from our physical forms.


The centering thought for me

I think the most important thing is to be kind. Kind to ourselves and kind to others. Kindness is always welcome.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

I have found pretentious people repelling. Always.

People who are closest to being themselves are the ones I want to be in the presence of.

I like this story...


"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.

"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."


Excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams


Read the full story: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/williams/rabbit/rabbit.html

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The Four Feathers is probably my favorite movie with Heath Ledger. And that is saying a lot. Although he lived a short life, he played his roles with such realness. Such authenticity. He let the characters come through him as he was their vessel. This movie's story has such depth. It is about destiny and finding yourself with the willingness to do what it takes to do so.


I highly recommend The Four Feathers and watching its special features. Below are some of the special features uploaded by springrose147.

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The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 1 - 7:50

Uploaded by springrose147

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The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 2 - 8:03

Uploaded by springrose147


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The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 3- 7:58


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Embracing more than western religion


Click on post title to go to Joseph Campbell talking with Bill Moyers talking of Faith and Religion - Perspectives. Included there, is text as well as audio.



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