POWER IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING EMPOWERED

I think of George W Bush when I listen to the lyrics of this song. I wonder what was in the mind of the composer or lyricist who wrote these words.
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Weeping sung by Josh Groban with Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Fifteen year old Brittany from Seattle put together this video about South Africa' s apartheid.

I knew a man who lived in fear
It was huge, it was angry,
It was drawing near.
Behind his house a secret place
Was the shadow of the demon
He could never face.

He built a wall of steel and flame
And men with guns to keep it tame
Then standing back he made it plain
That the nightmare would never ever rise again
But the fear and the fire and the guns remain.

It doesn't matter now it's over anyhow
He tells the world that it's sleeping
But as the night came round I heard
It slowly sound
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping.

And then one day the neighbors came
They were curious to know about the smoke and flame
They stood around outside the wall
But of course there was nothing to be heard at all

"My friends," he said,
"We've reached our goal
The threat is under firm control

As long as peace and order reign
I'll be damned if I can see a reason to explain
Why the fear and the fire and the guns remain."

>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:>:

Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
and ask your U.S. Representative and Senators
to pass the funding fully for the UN Peacekeepers
for Darfur

President Bush's Comment Phone Line
202-456-1111
He needs a push to do something right.

THIS IS MY CHRISTMAS CARD TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH

So this is Christmas
and what have you done



Every year, self-proclaimed Christians have Christmas and it is marketed as the biggest money-making "event" of the year. Many can't afford to buy presents for their children. Many can't feed their children or afford to send them to school where a better future waits. Many can't afford medicine. GENOCIDE flourishes in Darfur and neighboring Chad because WE don't care enough to use our political will to make a difference. And the words Peace on Earth are prominently displayed everywhere at this time of the year. But Peace on Earth isn't practiced, truly practiced, anywhere.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvNRHrKyaX4

The person who posted this video on Youtube goes by the name of
yocapoweb and is from Capital Federal, Argentina.

He writes this with his video:
Christmas is near, it's time to think about it...

I can't find the right words to express what this video and this song means to me. I personally think that everybody must watch this video, specially the ones who rule the world.

Lennon was such a great man, we all miss him so much... Thank you John!

Ahora se acerca la navidad. Los medios nos lo recuerdan contantemente en las publicidades. No nos quedemos con eso solo para esta navidad. Creo que todo el mundo debería ver este video y comenzar a recapacitar.
¡Gracias John!

Lyrics to John Lennon's This Is Christmas

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now.
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I typed in my window "World Hunger" and one of the websites that came up is the following . . .

Hunger and World Poverty

About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often.

Yet there is plenty of food in the world for everyone. The problem is that hungry people are trapped in severe poverty. They lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves. Being constantly malnourished, they become weaker and often sick. This makes them increasingly less able to work, which then makes them even poorer and hungrier. This downward spiral often continues until death for them and their families.

There are effective programs to break this spiral. For adults, there are “food for work” programs where the adults are paid with food to build schools, dig wells, make roads, and so on. This both nourishes them and builds infrastructure to end the poverty. For children, there are “food for education” programs where the children are provided with food when they attend school. Their education will help them to escape from hunger and global poverty.

Source: http://www.poverty.com/

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I typed in my window "Darfur Genocide and one of the many websites came up with this . . .

The ongoing Darfur Genocide is no accident, no local tribal conflict. The genocide is the brutal plan of three men in the Sudanese national Government -- President Bashir, Vice-President Taha, Security Chief Gosh. Now they are spreading their system of terror to other African countries, including Chad and the Central African Republic . Yet our governments continue to cut deals with them - deals they repeatedly break. It is time for the US and European governments to stop appeasing genocide. We call on our governments to fully support the International Criminal Court to indict the perpetrators of genocide, and to help ensure their arrest. It is time for justice, because only justice can bring peace.

For Bashir, Taha and Gosh, it is time for handcuffs, not handshakes.

Source:http://www.darfurgenocide.org/

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I typed in my window "Aids numbers" and up came the following . . .

Global HIV/AIDS estimates, end of 2007

The latest statistics on the world epidemic of AIDS & HIV were published by UNAIDS/WHO in November 2007, and refer to the end of 2007.

	Estimate	Range
People living with HIV/AIDS in 2007	33.2 million	30.6-36.1 million
Adults living with HIV/AIDS in 2007	30.8 million	28.2-33.6 million
Women living with HIV/AIDS in 2007	15.4 million	13.9-16.6 million
Children living with HIV/AIDS in 2007	2.5 million	2.2-2.6 million
People newly infected with HIV in 2007	2.5 million	1.8-4.1 million
Adults newly infected with HIV in 2007	2.1 million	1.4-3.6 million
Children newly infected with HIV in 2007	0.42 million	0.35-0.54 million
AIDS deaths in 2007	2.1 million	1.9-2.4 million
Adult AIDS deaths in 2007	1.7 million	1.6-2.1 million
Child AIDS deaths in 2007	0.33 million	0.31-0.38 million

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.

Africa has 12 million AIDS orphans.

Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide.

In developing and transitional countries, 7.1 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 2.015 million (28%) are receiving the drugs.

Source: http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm

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I typed in my window PEACE ON EARTH and . . .

I found a blogger post ~ how appropriate ~ a blogger ~ someone like you and me . And here is what she wrote . . .

....and let all begin with me...

In the dawn of Christmas day,
I am sitting down in the dark, with 3 big candles..
Candles of love, peace, and hope... glowing in the dark...
Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me.

Let there be Peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be!
With kindness as a value , Humans all are we.
Let me walk with my brothers and sisters in perfect harmony. (Okay, I changed the words ~ do you think God is offended?)

Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.
With every breath I take, let this be my solemn vow;
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally!
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me!

Let there be Peace on Earth.

Let there be Hope on Earth,

Let there be Love on Earth,

and let all begin with me.

(You want to jump on board?)

Source:
http://merlyna.blogspot.com/2004/12/and-let-all-begin-with-me.html

and I found . . .
While we’re well versed in the profits of war, can we even fathom the profits of peace? Of not being on “Alert” status, of varying degree and hue? Source:
http://phaelosopher.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/thoughts-on-peace-why-bother-part-i/

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I typed in "World Peace" and one thing I learned is that we have

The 1981 United Nations resolution reads: "Declares that the International Day of Peace shall henceforth be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day...

“Invites all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, and non-governmental organizations and individuals to commemorate, in an appropriate manner, the International Day of Peace, including through education and public awareness, and to cooperate with the United Nations in the establishment of the global ceasefire.”

A powerful activity on the International Day of Peace ~ September 21 ~ is the Minute of Silence at 12 o’clock in every time zone as it circles the globe.

For complete information about the International Day of Peace, please visit:
http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org

One single day of peace, wow. . . (do you think even that happens?)

. . . How about a Year of Peace?

Call me a dreamer, right?


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So disturbing, I won't say anything other than, if you have the courage, go to this link on Abu Ghraib ~ happening in your name USA citizens (and I am one) How thoroughly shameful, President Bush ~ ON YOUR WATCH! Check out the videos while you are there. The link is on the left side and it is number 10.
http://www.salon.com/news/abu_ghraib/2006/03/14/chapter_1/index.html

Once you see this, consider what Christmas means to the USA. And our self-proclaimed Christian ~ President Bush.

JOSH GROBAN SINGS HIS HEART OUT

So romantic. Sublime.
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http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=nKDkXOOHG34
Per te

Josh Groban ~ Italian Per Te Lyrics

Sento nell'aria profumo di te
Piccoli sogni vissuti con me
Ora lo so
Non voglio perderti
Quella dolcezza così senza età
La tua bellezza rivali non ha
Il cuore mio vuole soltanto te
Per te, per te, vivrò L'amore vincerà
Con te, con te avrò
Mille giorni di felicità Mille notti di serenità
Farò quello che mi chiederai
Andrò sempre dovunque tu andrai
Darò tutto l'amore che ho per te
Dimmi che tu già il futuro lo sai
Dimmi che questo non finirà mai
Senza di te non voglio esistere

Per te, per te, vivrò L'amore vincerà
Con te, con te, avrò
Mille giorni di felicità
Mille notti di serenità

Farò quello che mi chiederai
Andrò sempre dovunque tu andrai
Darò tutto l'amore che ho per te
Non devo dirtelo
Ormai già lo sai
Che morirei senza di te
Per te, per te, vivrò
L'amore vincerà
Con te, con te, farò
Tutto quello che mi chiederai
Andrò sempre dovunque tu andrai
Darò tutto l'amore che ho per te
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Translation is done by Google mostly, except for the first stanza which someone at Youtube left as a comment and translation. The Google translation was very awkward for this part in particular ~ so I went with . . .

I smell in the air the scent of you
Little dreams had lived with me
Now I know, I don't want to lose you
That sweetness which has no age
Your beauty has no rivals

My heart wants only you
For you, for you, I live
The love I win with you, with you . . .
A thousand days of happiness,
A thousand nights of serenity
I will do what you ask
I will always go wherever you go
I will give all my love for you
Tell me that you already know the future
Tell me that this will never end
Without you I do not exist
For you, for you, I live
The love I win with you, with you,
A thousand days of happiness,
A thousand nights of serenity

I will do what you ask
I will always go wherever you go
I will give all my love for you
I do not have to tell you
Now I already know
I would die without you

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cJpesyEGl8o
Interview Josh Groban
In this interview with George Stroumboulopoulos, Josh opens up on fame, his career and his fans.

READ the article that you can link to from hovering your mouse over my post's title.

Want something else cool? I wasn't going to post this yet, because. . . well Christmas is a ways off yet but, okay, no embed, just the link. . . now go and enjoy . . . http://youtube.com/watch?v=nx0C5ZDi1rs

(I reserve the right to post another O Holy Night another time, though. I just like this one because it has that "extra" inspirational-Josh ~ the setting and all ~ had to be awe-inspiring for Josh to soar like he does here.)

Pictures by Sandra Hammel, Washington, D.C., Firenze, Italiano, Huntington, Indiana