I shall pet you now - from Cute Overload.com

Cat and parrot

I live in Orange County and my world has been turned upside down.

In 10 days, I will have yet another major back surgery that will leave me as one fused piece of bone from the pelvis to T1. I will be able to move my arms, shoulders, legs, and turn my head from side to side and extend my neck in every direction. Those are the only motions I will enjoy. No twisting, bending, in any direction.

I anticipate that I will be terminated from my job. No love lost there. I have a discrimination lawsuit pending, among other things. I'll have EDD for a year, and I have a pending claim for permanent disability with Social Security. I resigned myself to the fact that after that, if I do not find other sources of income, that my standard of living will decrease immeasurably. I harbor no delusions about obtaining what I need from the systems currently in place, for they are designed to *not* provide for our needs. We can observe these dysfunctional systems collapsing right before our eyes.

Love is All There Is.

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Love is All There Is.

Anything else is the pain of illusion born of separation.

There is no "other."

We are merely fractals of consciousness, looking at itself.

Unconditional love for self and others is the path out.

No hierarchy. No attachment to form.

Our judgment of emotions, separating them into a "good" pile and a "bad" pile, is a deception. All feelings are equal. They are merely fractal facets of All That Is.

And Love is All There Is.

Nothing is real, except Love. Everything is merely perfect Love and Support in disguise.

We came here to remember this and to bust the systems of illusion, separation, and lack.

Our relentless pursuit of Love outside ourselves is a distraction from what Is.

Love is All There Is.

I remember.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas full of Love and Laughter and Joy! I have all these things and more; friends who love me and make me feel that I belong, a wonderful home full of warmth, a lover who is a mirror of my soul. These are the things I cherish, for there was a time when I had none of them. Such precious gifts! GRAB SOMEONE NEAR AND HUG THEM TIGHT!!!

I just have to know if others score as highly on the perv scale as I did. I'm 100% perv - I admit it!

http://www.gotoquiz.com/are_you_a_pervert_2

http://www.youthink.com/quiz.cfm?action=go_detail&sub_action=take&obj_id=582&take_again=yes

http://www.quiztron.com/tests/much_of_a_pervert_an_quiz_79658.htm

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/365191/pervert_test/

The connection between forgiving ourselves and being present in the Eternal Now Moment

Even if you are not particularly sensitive to your own experience of the Human Condition, you can probably still identify things in your every life that you beat yourself up over, regret, or otherwise berate yourself for doing/thinking/feeling. We are all stuck in behavior patterns that were formed early on in an attempt to get our needs met when they were not. We even participate in elaborate stories or games with others in an attempt to seek external validation, or "strokes." We substitute the sustenance obtained by the "strokes" for actual physical contact, which is essential for survival, and which we are ultimately deprived of by our parents somewhere along the way. Whether or not we are ever able to consciously observe ourselves in these mini-dramas, or whether we are never able to separate ourselves from the viewpoint of the participant in the drama, guess what? We are all taking part in the dramas.

It would seem, therefore, that the age-old conventional wisdom about our need to forgive ourselves for our shortcomings is necessary. None of us are free from the limitations that being human entails, and none of us need suffer the agony of refusing to forgive ourselves for simply existing and for trying to get our needs met.

By doing so, we are then able to step back into the Now Moment, and are free to enjoy the stimulation, excitement, and comfort that are available to us and to our loved ones during each moment that we are able to share together, and during each moment that we are only sharing with ourselves.

So go ahead - forgive yourself for something that's been eating you. Then give yourself a hug, and be sure to give your loved ones a hug next time you spend a moment with them. It is much easier to give others permission to be human when we have given ourselves permission to be human, faults and all.

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE, FOR WE ARE ONE

Gimme some-a-DAT

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1100584/Commander-briefs-Obama-shows-war-chest-holiday-Hawaii.html

Well he's head and shoulders prettier than Bush

Jesse and Neal at a staff meeting...

I have Love Addiction...

...that is interfering with some of my friendships. So I have to fill this hole in my heart with something substantial enough to prop me up on my own. Another childhood drama brought to you by Dysfunctional Families, Inc.

Sunday 12/21/08 - First Day of Winter

Hang on everybody, only a couple of days remain until we begin moving back into longer days and more light. December is always a most challenging month. I always say, "Good Riddance" when it is over.

What we need around here is a good laugh.

A husband is at home watching a football game when his wife interrupts, "Honey, could you fix the light in the hallway? It's been flickering for weeks now."

He looks at her and says angrily, "Fix the light? Now? Does it look like I have a G.E. logo printed on my forehead? I don't think so."

"Well then, could you fix the fridge door? It won't close right." To which he replied, "Fix the fridge door? Does it look like I have Westinghouse written on my forehead? I don't think so."

"Fine," she says, "Then could you at least fix the steps to the front door? They're about to break." "I'm not a damn carpenter and I don't want to fix the steps," he says. "Does it look like I have Ace Hardware written on my forehead? I don't think so. I've had enough of you. I'm going to the bar!"

So he goes to the bar and drinks for a couple hours. He starts to feel guilty about how he treated his wife, and decides to go home and help out. As he walks into the house, he notices the steps are already fixed. As he enters the house, he sees the hall light is working. As he goes to get a beer, he notices the fridge door is fixed. "Honey, how'd this all get fixed?"

She said, "Well, when you left, I sat outside and cried. Just then a nice young man asked me what was wrong, and I told him. He offered to do all the repairs, and all I had to do was either screw him or bake him a cake." He said, "So, what kind of cake did you bake him?"

She replied, "Hellooooo... Do you see Betty Crocker written on my forehead?"

A Definition of Unconditional Love

http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/listing/A-DEFINITION-OF-UNCONDITIONAL-LOVE/san-francisco-ca/18135125-4ac6-4b03-b58a-7fb4fe63a26d

by Sandy Stevenson

I love as you are as you seek to find your own special way to relate to the world, or the way you feel that is right for you. It is important that you are the person you want to be and not someone that I or others think you should be. I realize that I cannot know what is best for you although perhaps sometimes I think I do. I've not been where you have been, viewing life from that angle you have, I do not know what you have chosen to learn how you have chosen to learn it with whom or in what time period. I have not walked life looking through your eyes so how can I know what you need. I allow you to be in the world without a thought or word of judgment from me about the deeds you undertake. I see no error in the things you say and do, in this place where I am. I see that there are many ways to perceive and experience the different facets of our world. I allow without reservation the choices you make in each moment. I make no judgment of this for if I were to deny your right to evolution than I would deny that right to myself and all others. To those who would choose a way I cannot walk, while'st I may not choose to add my power and my energy to this way, I will never deny you the gift of love that God has bestowed within me for all creation, as I love you so I shall be loved, as I sow, so I shall reap. I allow you the universal right of free will to walk your own path, creating steps or to sit a while if that is what is right for you. I will make no judgment of these steps, whether they are large or small, nor light or heavy or that they lead up or down, for this is just my viewpoint. I see you do nothing and judge it to be unworthy and yet it may be that you bring great healing as you stand blessed by the light of God. I cannot always see the higher picture of divine order. For it is the inalienable right of all life to choose their own evolution and with great love I acknowledge your right to determine your future. In humility I bow to the realization that the way I see is best for me does not have to mean that it is also right for you. I know that you are led as I am following the inner excitement to know your own path. I know that the many races, religions, customs, nationalities and beliefs within our world bring us great richness and allow us the benefit of teachings of such diversedness. I know we each learn in our own unique way in order to bring that love and wisdom back to the whole. I know that if there were only one way to do something there would need to be only one person. I will not only love you if you behave in a way I think you should, or believe in those things I believe in, I understand you are truly my brother and sister though you may have been born in a different place and believe in another God than I. The love I feel is for all of Gods world. I know that every living thing is part of God and I feel a love deep with every person, and all tree, and flower, every bird, river, ocean and for all the creatures in all the world. I live my life in loving service being the best me I can becoming wiser in the perfection of divine truth, becoming happier in the joy of unconditional love.

touch me

hours turn into days

since we last touched

and my longing deepens

to feel your skin again

comfort finds its way

into my heart

knowing that you will soon return

to my open arms

I remember that

friendship and love

can reach across

time and space

but nothing

can console me

like the kiss of your lips

on my face

From Nick in the UK on tribe

"Without other people you wouldn't know how beautiful you are... the only eyes you cannot see are your own... yet you see them everytime you are reflected in another you."

That's why it feels as though I am looking at myself when I see you, through the eyes of this other costume that I wear named Dave.

There is no Other.

We are One.

Synch!

Jennifer Carbonell - "Broken Pieces"- F&L Mix

A beautiful song that I first heard tonight, where the singer is begging to "love you over and over again, to find the broken pieces..." (of her heart/self/soul).

So, a simple thank you to those who help me with the seemingly endless task of finding my broken pieces. Apparently, they are all over the place LOL!

I AM the luckiest man alive.

No kidding.

And I am very grateful.

Even though I am feeling very broken these days, and very broken-hearted.

I just want to feel good again someday.

I want to live and laugh and love, not hurt and toss and turn, and have to try to escape being in my body all the time.

One more month.

I feel so crazy right now.

Sooooooooooooooo, David finds out he has abandonment fears and issues.

The past few days have been a bit of a rollercoaster, as ascension tends to be, as we get closer and closer to our authentic selves. Each time we get skilled at operating a a new level of joy, the oscillation returns, giving us an opportunity to purge ever more of the programming that holds us back from our natural State of Bliss. My personal purge this week involved recognizing some feelings that are like abandonment fears, sort of. It is actually rooted in childhood, when my feelings were always discounted, and when I was not allowed to express my feelings. Then, moving into adulthood and always being single, this grew into having no one to express my feelings to. Now that I am fortunate enough to have amazing friends and a new love interest, the fear arose that I might one day not have them anymore. YIKES! That was awful, and I am so glad I get to be aware of this now and work it out of my consciousness.

Therapy is no substitute for the clear mirror that loving relationships provide, which I constantly tell those who love me. Inching ever away from separation consciousness -

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE, FOR WE ARE ONE

I did not like my last post or the way it came across.

The current round of ascension clearing is BRUTAL, and is forcing us to look or core fears in the eye. REMEMBER, THERE IS NO SEPARATION - REMEMBER THAT WE ARE LOVE, AND THAT WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER UNCONDITIONALLY - BY DOING THIS, WE CAN OVERCOME ANYTHING.

"Milk"

I was fortunate enough to see "Milk" this weekend. It was superb. I asked a friend what it must have been like to live in those days, at that time, in that place, free from the fear of having sex and of contracting disease. I was surprised how fast the answer came, and how brutal it was. I would have had my heart broken. Over, and over again.

All my angels were on duty today.

Angel Chuck woke me up to tell me that he had left his shoes here. Angel Raffy Chan, asian man, came and got the old furniture today to make room for the new. Angel Howie helped him, but we learned that Angel Howie fucked up his knee at work and he is probably going to have surgery - so he and I can sit and be surgical bitches together LOL. I finished DVD 6 of Journey to the Infinite. I like it a lot. I got rid of my headace, but only after I pooped green. WTF? I finally broke down and bought Claritin-D because part of the headache is sinus pressure.

.

Angel Dale came home from a trip and promptly went to bed so he can take care of me this weekend. Angel Jesse came home from a trip too, and he and Angel Michael were snuggling up in hibernation downstairs. I took an evening nap, and awoke from a very lucid dream, wherein Angel Michael was snuggled up around me as though he was protecting me, in a big white fluffy quilt or something. He is one of my guardian angels, always with me, but the lifelike quality of the dream made it a bit unnerving to awaken and find him not there. (A core fear - that I lose him, or any of my angels).

.

Since I was flying solo, I decided to go to the Tin Lizzie, but it was so full of 20-somethings I immediately gave that up. Angel Alexa called an I went to take her to buy an enema bag like the one I got in Palm Springs, since she suffers with plugged-up guts like I do. She got me some candles and stuff for Christmas and made me open them on the spot.

Angel Howie turned on my iTunes and this song popped up - and how perfect.

..

All of my angels have to know - there it is - my core fear - that I will lose you.

.

I would die without you.

.

I invite and desire each of you to dance with me, and rest your head on my shoulder, as we sink into this BEAUTIFUL song.

.

Is it my turn to wish you were lying here.

I tend to dream you when I'm not sleeping.

Is it my turn to fictionalize my world.

Or even imagine your emotions.

I tell myself anything...

.

Is it my turn to hold you by your hands.

Tell you I love you and you not hear me...

Is it my turn to totally understand.

To watch you walk out of my life and not do a damn thing...

.

(chorus)

If I have to give away...

The feeling that I feel.

If I have to sacrifice...

Oh, whatever babe, whatever baby.

If I have to take apart...

All that I am...

Is there anything that I would not do, cause inside

I'd die without you...

.

Oh, I apologize for all the things I've done.

But now I'm underwater and I'm drowning...

Is it my turn to be the one to cry.

Isn't it amazing how some things just completely turn around...

So take every little piece of my heart...

So take every little piece of my soul...

So take every little bitty piece of my mind...

cause if you're gone...

inside...

I'd die without you...

11/28/08 Late-Night Journal Entry

11/28/08. Dale visiting. Could not get comfortable in the bed no matter what. Smoked hash. Became aware of a new level of anxiety to release. Dale makes me vibrate very fast; there is no room for anything in our relationship except the most authentic, Be Here Now presence. It is remarkable. This, coupled with Michael and Jesse and Linda, means that now I prefer to have nothing less than this in all my relationships.

Michael and Jesse are the reason that I was able to grow enough to hold this high frequency, which then allowed Dale to happen to me. I wonder if they really understand how much they mean to me? I wonder if I will be able to have an equally profound effect on their lives?

So I am in bed, with Dale, and I totally leave my body. Now I am spontaneously able to see myself interdimensionally. Astral travel cannot be far off now. Had strong urge to write. Managed first journal entry in bedside booklet.

I am supposed to be documenting my pain and loss of function. At this point, everything hurts from the waist down. I can no longer trust that I will be able to be on my feet, and had an "I have to lie down right now on the spot" attack at Maryann's Thanksgiving dinner. Yikes! I am stiff, sore, achey in a burning kind of way. I have minimal colon function and require high enemas (and have for quite some time). I can't bear to stand, walk, sit or lie for any period of time now, unless I am totally fucked up (all on legally prescribed meds, mind you). I am beginning to be unable to handle the basic minimum of keeping up my apartment. I am no longer shopping and cooking, as the standing, walking and carrying is just too much. And I am struggling to simply get my physical needs met (hot baths, showers, hot tub, stretching, grooming, etc).

Through all of this struggle, I continue to be amazed at the profound awareness I am gaining, and the amount of Love bubbling up from my heart.

Deeply.

Endlessly.

Love.

What a high vibration, indeed.

Brother came for Thanksgiving.

Hi Josh!

I sent my sweeties some flowers
to say thank you for taking such good care of me. I wanted to see if I could brighten their day like they brighten my day, every day.


Jesse prepared a wonderful Thanksgiving feast for everyone.


The only picture I got of Donna was with her eyes closed and her mouth open. Well, that was predictable.

Michael's mother came armed with a big auto repair bill.

And was promptly lectured about it.



Then I headed off to Maryann and Floyd's house.


There were so many people that it took TWO tables to seat them all. Apparently, the "old" were separated from the "young." Well, at least I was placed at the youngsters' table (whew).

Me, Craig, William.


Duncan, Alex, Linda.

Craig only went because he is in love with Maryann.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My baby made me pancakes.

YUM.

My mom insists on coming to help me after surgery.

Well, you have to admit. She does sort of have a knack for it. I know she has a few tricks up her sleeve for making do in a horrible situation.

I am looking forward to spending 2 uncensored weeks with her, at my complete worst and most helpless. I am pondering how I might help us both do some emotional growth during this period.

Honestly, I am glad for the chance.

Helpless agony.

"I hope the exit is joyful, and hope never to return." Frida Kahlo

What a ridiculous treat to see Selma Hayek's masterpiece again, "Frida." Alone. It was much like seeing myself in the mirror. I did it intentionally to get myself in the right frame of mind to deal with my upcoming back surgery. I have great instincts. I am so glad I listened to myself this time.

I am so glad that she left us her legacy concerning her struggle with chronic pain, though exceedingly dark. The beautiful depiciton of her romance with Diego Rivera, wherein she healed her self-perception of being "damaged goods" and a "burden" to her family really knocked my socks off. When Trotsky told her that the reason her art was so powerful was because it expressed what everybody felt inside, that they were alone and in pain, I wept. I wept a lot during this movie.

At the end of the scene where the doctor is cutting her out of a body cast, when it is finally removed, and she falls into her own arms trying to become oriented in her body, I wept. However magical it felt when the cast was removed, I know from experience that you never regain your orientation inside a body that has been through what hers had. You adapt.

I wept seeing her drink, and smoke, and enduring injections of drugs to quiet relentless attacks of pain, which never made it go away completely. I know the comfort that she sought.

I wept when I saw Diego's love for her transform him from a ruthless womanizer to a tender caretaker. I need caretaking now, and I have been a caretaker, too.

I wept when I read her immortal words again, "I hope the exit is joyful, and hope never to return." I wept because I no longer feel that way.

I wept because I love my life so much that I would endure anything to keep it.

.

However much it is possible for one heart to love; that bursting heart belongs to ME.

.

Anyone who might search for a way to assist me during the upcoming ride may simply want to sit down, crawl beside me, hug me, touch me, and kiss me, to make me remember how much I love you. That's all I need, really.

.

That's all any of us needs.

.

In Lak'esh

(I am another yourself)

Spinal tap/myelogram was easy...

...till I got home and started puking. I am confined to bed rest for two days, and the neighbors are taking care of me. Surgery better not make me puke. I HATE that shit.

Laser teeth whitening is barbaric.

I have never experienced such pain.

But the results sure are purty.

If you love spiritual trance music like I do...

...listen to Ferry Corsten free, online!

Nov 2008 channel by Steve Rother

http://www.lightworker.com/beacons/2008/2008_11-Fear.php

Sun Turtle Inn

Dale pampered me again in Palm Springs, this time at Tortuga del Sol. While not a 5-star resort like Hacienda, it is nonetheless charming it is own ways.

Swim, bask, eat, sleep. A perfect recipe for happiness. Too bad Mr. Turtle's all-over tan is not looking as good as mine.

This little guy has GROWN - now at 80 pounds- I just wonder if he knows how big his shell is REALLY going to get - OMG.

Next stop, hospital room. And after that, if I can somehow manage to live in Palm Springs at least part-time, I am so THERE.

YOU can contribute to this project.

http://charterforcompassion.com/

The approaching 6th Day of the Galactic Cycle of the Mayan Calendar

Happy 11/11 everyone, and can't you feel that Full Moon just YANKING at us as hard as it can! Truly, we have arrived at the Promised Land!

I wanted to take a few minutes, or as long as it takes me, actually, to reflect on this dawn of the next 360-day cycle of the Mayan Calendar that we are about to enter, the 6th Day, the Flowering, the Renaissance. Many of us who have studied this for some time, who have witnessed the prophecies come to pass right before our very eyes, who have experienced the changes described by every source of information, from the ancient Sanskrit texts, to the current channeled messages from other dimensions/planes/beings,

...many of us find ourselves standing at the 11/11 and 6th Day gateway staring a completely new life in the face, at a transformed self, unbelievably, and we can barely keep our mouths from hanging open. TRULY, the Age of Aquarius is upon us.

Those of us who have relentlessly fought to free ourselves from fear have now graduated into our new roles as Way-Showers, as healers. We are here to offer to assist others to remember that they are Divine. While we can lead the way, the work is strictly up to each individual. But make no mistake - ALL is possible on the earth plane at this time.

The idea that we have been given a crystal-clear indication of this, immediately before the beginning of the 6th Day, is most intriguing, because the 6th Day is when we are going to begin to begin to see the fruits of our efforts materialize, and is when we will begin to see the New Earth being created as we continue to system-bust through the entire 3D paradigms that are so old, so tired, and so broken.

In my own personal life, I am *astounded* to see my journey transform from one of seeking to know the Truth, to being able to lead others to the Truth. The idea that I have been placed in the position to help heal so many others is so deeply, deeply sacred to me, since this has only been possible by my own struggle through the matrix, and by those who helped direct me as I grew.

It is as obvious as the nose on my face that this IS my passion, and I have no doubt that it will become my vocation, only effortlessly, and I will never, ever, percieve this as a "job" that I have to do to make a living. The opposite is true. I LIVE for this path and for this task. It is the primary essence of my being.

A special message to those in my real-time, physical life, to everyone that I love, I urge you to *not hesitate* to seek solace and direction from me, because your answers will come from my higher self, or from the Divine, however you wish to view it, and I am confident that your guides will speak directly to you through me, or, I will be able to direct you to the appropriate place for information. To be of service to others is my mission. No problem is too large, no fear is too great, no suffering need exist, if you are willing to question everything you know, and are willing to face ANYTHING that presents itself for examination. And you have my personal experience with this to help you - I have BEEN THERE. You can overcome ANYTHING and can be at peace.

I PROMISE.

I know that momentous change is also present in many of the lives of those that I love, some of which is very obvious, and some of which is not. I know that all of you are feeling this. We have arrived! This is IT! Mother Earth is raising her vibration, and the higher realms are available to anyone who wants to visit them.

So, remember, the next 360-days are about the natural process of Creation bringing to pass the flowering of the lives we have desired for so long. The process of Creation will work EFFORTLESSLY for you to make any change that you want to see, and you will see the full bloom in the coming year. The next stage in 2010 (6th Night) will be the wilting of the flower, and then this will be followed by the 7th Day (2011), when everything comes to fruition and the fruits of our efforts are realized individually and as a collective. At that point we will continue to see our old societies and their old systems die and be replaced by all of the new systems that Creation is working effortlessly to create. We all have a role to play in this process, and what a Grand process it is, indeed.

If you still don't believe it is an amazing time to be alive, check out all the trouble that little Rupert the Deer (pictured above) had getting to the planet, and check out his *utter* perfection. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH.

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE, FOR WE ARE ONE.

In Lak' ech

(I am another yourself)

Dave

OMG Another great poem from my tribe.net friend...

"Unconditional Love...........

A treasure to be cherished,
A gift from God above;
Is the beauty of a friendship,
Touched by unconditional love.

A love that asks no questions,
Believes in all the best;
Never doubting, ever trusting,
Withstanding any test.

A love that weathers any storm,
And yet that love still stands;
Through the very darkest hour,
It still reaches out a hand.

There in that hand the sweetest gift,
That you can give a friend;
A heart that cares, a love that shares,
That will be there till the end.

A treasure to be cherished,
A gift from God above;
Is what I share with you my friend,
An unconditional love."

IT'S TRUE - I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO EXPERIENCE THIS MYSELF, AND WISH IT FOR ALL OF YOU.

Does Michael Phelps have Personal Shavers? (Just ignore the short car ad).

Well, we have certainly upgraded our Presidential Sex Symbol.

Another awesome poem from a tribe.net friend...

Dedicated to those closest to my heart - they know who they are...

"The Risks of Loving ..........

There is a risk involved in everything.
Every time you share a smile,
Every time you shed a tear,
You are opening yourself up to hurt.

Some people tread slowly through life,
Avoiding the closeness risk brings,
Sidestepping the things they can't understand,
Turning away from those who care too much,
Those who care too long,
Those who hold too tightly.

There is never an easy way to love.
You cannot approach it cautiously.
It will not wait for you to arm yourself.
It does not care if you turn away.
It is everywhere, it is everything.

Love is the greatest of all risks.
It is not reliable, it is not cautious,
It is not sympathetic.
It is unprejudiced and unmerciful.
It strikes the strongest of mind,
And brings them to their knees in one blow.

Even in the best of times, love hurts.
It hurts to need, it hurts to belong,
It hurts to be the other part of someone else,
Without either of your consent,
But, from the moment it overtakes you,
It hurts worse to be alone."

Kaskade and Deadmau5 - "Move for Me"

Another night out, another dance floor...
Another night out, another dance floor...
Another night out, another dance floor...
Another night out, another dance floor...

Here we go - another night out.
Waited all week just to get out.
Where we do we come from?
Do I know your name?
Does it really matter -
In this life we're all the same...

Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you

A DJ - a light show

Speakers puttin' out, As we go

This way and that way...
Getting past your name...
Doesn't really matter.

In this life we're all the same...

Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you

Another night out, Another dance floor...
Another night out, Another dance floor...

Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you
Move for me, I'll move for you

Where the Hell is Matt?.com

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Suzanne Opton's Art Project: Soldier

Haunting, moving, and beautiful.

http://www.soldiersface.com/

Opton's website can be found here -- www.suzanneopton.com

Email interview between Suzanne Opton and Stuart Horodner, 8/22/2008:


Q: How did you conceive the SOLDIER project and gain access to the military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan?

A: I'm interested in portraiture and I was curious to see who these people are who volunteer for the military. Watching them on TV at the beginning of the war, I couldn't really see them. They were always hidden behind so much gear and they were speaking in their role as representatives of the military. My son would be eligible for the draft if there were a draft, and thinking about what it would have been like for him to be in the military, I wanted to see these soldiers as I would see my own son.I called military bases all over the country trying to gain access. I plied them with my credentials as an editorial photographer, but I was turned away. When I called the public affairs office at Fort Drum, the officer asked if it was a political project. I said, "No. It's art. Portraits of soldiers. Just art." They asked when I wanted to come and how many people I wanted to photograph. I was lucky.

Q: What were your goals or expectations for the project?

A: I wanted to make a vulnerable portrait of a soldier. I wanted to stand our idea of soldiering on it's head, because when I think of soldiers I think of how young and vulnerable they all are. I wanted to make portraits that show soldiers as brothers, fathers, sons or lovers.Being a photographer is a license to go where you don't belong. I wanted to know who these soldiers were and I wanted to find out what of their war experience we could see on their faces.

Q: How did you decide on the pose for the soldiers - head down and looking sideways?

A: I had been interested in playing with the idea of a subject laying his or her head down, but it never quite worked out. When I was invited to the army base, I thought this was the perfect situation for this pose.I work slowly with a large format camera. I'm interested in a collaborative sort of portraiture. Even though the photographer has the final power, if you give the subject time, he composes himself for the camera. Richard Avedon once said that people often confess to photographers. It's an unearned and fleeting intimacy, but it can be nurtured. By giving someone a provocative and appropriate pose, and then leaving them alone, their minds may wander and they may bring a revealing aspect to their portrait.

Q: Have the soldiers seen the photos and what do they think of them? Are they aware of the billboard project?

A: I sent one of the black and white standing photographs to each of the 90 soldiers who participated in the project. The first show was in Syracuse NY not far from Fort Drum. We sent out catalogs and invited all 90 soldiers to the opening. I was in touch with some people who said they were excited to come - they'd never been to an art opening. Critic Vicki Goldberg gave the lecture and I thought it would be an evening of art meets the military... But then some soldiers were shipped out shortly before and in the end none of them attended. They were aware of the billboards, but I never heard directly from any soldiers about them. One soldier's mother wrote to me and wanted a print of the image on the billboard. She said that his time in Iraq and Afghanistan was hard on him and his family and "this photograph portrays his trials."

Q: What have you learned about these soldiers through the process?

A: It was very interesting to be on the army base. I had no first hand knowledge about soldiers. We were all struck by the camaraderie, the love between the soldiers we met. One of my assistants was a 21-year old photo student, who said, "My mother would kill me but I'm almost jealous of these guys." They had some powerful things his life lacked - comrades who would risk their lives for each other, a sense of making a difference in the world and a clear mission. Whatever else, we had great respect for that.I didn't understand, however, what the soldiers thought of the photographs. Later I met a Vietnam vet who told me that while in active duty, these portraits are not images that soldiers could comment on. He told me that they would have to wait ten years until they had grieved over the piece of their life they lost, and then maybe the photographs would have meaning to them.

Q: What has been the most surprising or satisfying response to the project?I have been surprised and gratified by the huge response the project has garnered. And when I saw the very large prints I realized that they were like the heads of fallen statues and yet they maintained their intimate quality. I've never liked sentimental imagery, but I think these portraits are both intimate and tough. I have been surprised by people thinking the images are so disturbing and some people thinking the soldiers were actually dead.

And for today's Top Design...

http://www.bonobos.com/

Written to a friend...

Earlier today, I attended a lecture by the esteemed physicist, Nassim Haramein, whose mathematical model of the Universe and its fractal nature consolidates every single thing I have been studying relentlessly for YEARS, including the religious, philosphical, metaphysical, and esoteric subjects. Immediately I thought of your question to me, whether there was hope for a "conservative Catholic," who had found many "disappointments," which I did not know quite how to answer at the time. Consider this: you and I were both produced in the same environment in North Texas. Intrinsically, you are most certainly capable of finding the answers you seek, just as I did.

My journey (in this fractal that is my life, which includes the characteristic of being gay), began during my earliest memories when I recognized the logical error posed by the teachings of the church that I attended during childhood, which were that my experience of being homosexual (one of my earliest memories) did not "jive" with what I was hearing from the church and the society at large. My quest began at that young age to somehow communicate to people that "it is not really that way AT ALL," and I am thankful that there are MANY people on the planet at this time who "get it." Now, I would never ever belittle or be condescending to anyone's religion, but rather challenge people to question, and to do the research for themselves, instead of simply accepting someone's "interpretation" of, and therefore teachings about, reality. I recognize that we must all allow each other to exist in the space and at whatever level that each of us in currently in, much like we were talking about a parent being unable to override a child's free will. This is taught to us on the macrocosmic scale in that our relationship with God is the same - unconditional. That is where the A.D.- era teachings about homosexuality falls apart.

This subject is such a small part of the nature of the duality in which we are immersed, wherein each of our fractal existences (each a part of the Whole of consciouness), have been designed to make us think that we are unique individuals. All of my decades of research has led me to the same conclusion that Nassim has reached - that is, that we are all directly connected to Source, or to God, or to the One, which intrinsically means that we are all connected to each other and to all beings.

This is the basis for my eventual rejection of the Judeo-Christian model in which I was raised. I do *not* however, mean to imply that it has no value. All recorded religions have value, even though most of us would agree that most every religion that we see contain individual teachings that are not in harmony with the greater religious concepts of the religion from where the teachings arise (let's choose the Muslim infidel as an example, the caricature that is a stark contrast to the idea that Islam professes to be a holy belief system). I believe that the reasons that these inconsistencies are present is due to human interpretation that is flawed, rather than finding that the religion in which the inconsistency exists is invalid, or is of no value. They all have value. But none of them individually reconciled my experience as a human, who is just as directly connected to Source as is any other human, with the teachings of my church that this was not the case.

I want you to know how privileged I feel to have a willing audience for me to express this to, and that I value and respect your understandings, opinions, and feelings just as if they were my own. In this way, my intention is to provide a loving mirror in which you can clearly see your own reflection. It is within the context of these unconditionally loving relationships that we begin to find the truth about life, about reality, about ourselves - a truth that is distorted if unconditional love is not present.
Thank you for giving me the attention and the time to read this, and my greatest hope is that it is received as intended, which is as an invitation to explore those things that you told me you found "disappointing." If you are not simply ecstatic and electrified to be alive, I invite you to find your inner spark. Every atom in our bodies is produced by protons and neutrons spinning around each other AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT. The Light is INSIDE us.
With much love,
your humble servant
dave

Nassim Haramein, esteemed physicist

I got to meet this man at a lecture tonight given to about 40 of us for FREE. An absolute highlight of my life. His theory of the Unified Field and the EXACT mathematics that describe a fractal, geometrical world of physics, and that reconcile Relative and Quantum physics, ALSO mirror the teachings of the fractal nature of our consciousness. All this is based on a scalar model of the electromagnetic and gravitational interaction with the everpresent vacuum. Free energy is right around the corner, people, and Ascension will follow that SOON. HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS!!!!!!!

What a miraculous time to be alive!

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE, FOR WE ARE ONE

(P.S. The youtube posts seem to be taken down when you search for them on that website, but if you use the scrolling feature at the bottom of this embedded video, you can view a 4-part interview with Nassim that is a MUST-SEE for any Truth Seeker).

Not a moment too soon.

A New Day for America!

Madelyn Payne Dunham, 1922 - 2008

Earlier I sent an e-mail to Senator Obama as a condolence, letting him know that we share his profound loss at having to lose his grandmother, and that he has to re-live so much pain surrounding the death of his mother, all this, on the eve of what will be one of the most notable days in history - when he is elected President of the United States.

I also wrote that I find this an excellent opportunity to revisit how we experience reality, and to challenge our ideas about life and death. You see, his grandmother held on until she was absolutely convinced that his election was certain before electing to depart. But the illusion that she is gone is false. She will be present with the Senator, and the President, at every moment that he has to make a change in our country, to once again unite our divided nation. She held a very high vibration on this dense plane, and provided him with the environment to be his authentic, uncensored self, which made him who he is today. She hasn't gone anywhere, and you can count on that.

I challenge each of my readers to re-examine their beliefs about life, death, and suggest that perhaps their pictures of reality could use a little adjustment as well.

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE

dave

Boy I love Sirius Satellite Radio - the music is so spiritual on Area 38!!!!!

The Art of Trance - "Breathe" - by Caroline Lavelle

And here she is performing on TED Talks, where the most brilliant minds on the planet are hanging out. (Notice Thomas Dolby is her keyboard player).

My Prayer

I pray that everyone's needs can be met, lovingly and completely, without struggle, without causing others discomfort, jealosy, or pain of any kind.

Scotch Tape x-rays (produced in a vacuum)

http://seekerblog.com/archives/20081029/scotch-tape-x-rays/

My friend on tribe.net, Melissa, writes:

"My friend Alice's nephew died last Tuesday.
He was shot in the chest twice by the Anaheim, California police. One shot went right through his heart.

He heard a commotion at the neighbor's house and ran outside to see if they needed help. Because he was young, strongly built and black, the police assumed he was part of the problem.

He had no weapon. He just wondered if anybody needed help.
He had been married less than a week. His wife is expecting a baby in December. He was studying veterinary medicine in college.
I just thought people should know.

My friend Alice told me she wishes she had a storm cellar, so she could crawl in, latch the door and scream until she can't scream anymore.
She said she can't though, because there are too many people who need her to be strong. Then she said the most remarkable thing.

"Melissa, we can't let bitterness and hatred into our hearts now. We can't let any man make us hate. Then he wins."

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers and offers of support. The family is still so shocked that nothing has really been set into motion, but I will certainly keep you all posted.
Alice and her family are devout Christians, and they believe God called Julian home for a reason.

I am thinking about his grandmother, his wife, his unborn child, his parents, all of his aunts and uncles and friends. I can't see the Divine Plan here, but maybe I'm not meant to.

Hold your loved ones tight. Put your wagons in a circle. Try to find some warmth and light in this cold, dark night."


I am spreading this message so that we can all continue to help raise the consciousness level on this wretched planet, where suffering caused by so many things, including racism, still exists as part of the separation consciousness, which is now leaving the planet.

I have offered to write the story up for the internet news blogs, but will only proceed with Alice's permission.

I know that many of my readers are lightworkers, and I intend that this message assist us in reaching each other through our heart chakras in a simultaneous meditation, so that we can pass that high vibration on to others that we know as well as to strangers. This simply must end.

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE

dave

Julian Alexander Memorial Fund

c/o Bank of America

406 North Euclid Street

Anaheim, CA 92801

One of the Forerunners.

from http://snoedel.punt.nl/?r=1&id=417017 - for the entire channel, click the link

"I am speaking of within the energies of the earth's plane in this moment. You are each expanded hugely, your consciousness moves out in every direction. For some you, you are not even aware of what this effect is to you.

Draw back your energies. I invite you to come forth as a group. As you create this group in which to invite that hologram of the earth, many of you are maintaining your dimensions of expansion. Whatever is comfortable for you is what I encourage you to do in this moment. As this group is creating somewhat of a circle, it's somewhat loose, you see moving up from within it the hologram of the earth.

For the past several months, maybe as much as nine months or almost a year, each time that the hologram comes up within your group, you are becoming much more aware of the layers or the dimensions that are around the earth. It's not just a picture of the earth or a globe of the earth. It is the earth and then all those shifts in consciousness that are now becoming incorporated. As you look at this hologram and you send an impulse from your consciousness into the hologram, it becomes illuminated with light, illuminated with energy. Perceive how you create a space for yourself. Perceive how you align within this essence."

Posted by Tuvasana Soma on tribe.net

http://unearthly-souls.tribe.net/thread/b71994ec-fe03-4afa-b165-12228ab59f50

"What does We Are All One meen? First Responce Channel AWM.

From the UNIversal Records of I AM.

We are all ONE refers to the realm of energy and source of Universal Life Force. At the beginning of the cycle of ignorance during mankind's plunge into the dark and sublime experience of individual consciousness through the past 26,000 years, HUmans' spiritual energys fragmented into a multiplicity personalities which taught you to interact and relate to one another. In this infantile stage of your developments the light of compassion was released into the darkest of your hours. Fully experiencing realms of dynamic opposites in the psyche of the individual experience of the collective mind, both Universal and of the Earth, as you are rooted in its vibratory frequencies as a physical being. As the speed of light changes and expands with the eternal clarity of Light entering the Solar System by the Photon Band. You have called and beckoned to attain the next step of your evolution. To this as ONE unified wholistic system of biological and intellectual life. One, NOW, fully awakened THROUGH individual experience. Now navigating the overtones of the Unified Field of consciousness which will soon lead to your collective ascension and your stepping fully into higher realms of existance while living a physical and Earth centered existdance. Seeding other galaxies and solar systems with biological life replicated by the fundamental truths observed through your Unification process. This merging collective mind is very difficult for those whom have an imbalanced relationship with the Ego, a necessary integrational frequency for the development of your I AM completion mode. Mode of Divinity and Man. As the imbalance becomes naturally attuned to the ONEness. The harmonic of UNITY will once again ripple throughout the known UNIverse, as it does at the beginning of each new cycle, will cleanse and balance the dark night of the HUman psyche. Purging the very systematic ways of disorder and causes of negative effect. This is not to place blame or judgment upon the observed imperfections of your current societies. This is of pure compassion and objective observation of the inherent results of the experiment of individuality. We do not wish separation from the sovereign freedoms of the individual experience, this is the integration of that experience into an expanding realm of being, which is inevitable in nature due to the necessity of creation to expand and experience new and joyful ways of BEing. A result of this integration is the development of your INDIGO SENSORY upgrade. The first 5 senses, each aligned and attuned through the vortices of energy known as your chakras (Root/Touch. Sacral/Taste. SP/Sound. Heart/Smell. Throat/Sight) As your primal natures began to infuse with the angelic nature of your higher self, These first five centers developed as a result of your original materialization into matter. The physical UNIversal will always seek to harmonize with the Spiritual realms. Your mind and thought processes have demanded the creation of a subconscious realm of existance for the balance of the lack of focus in the spirtual dimensions. Your focus became external and you created and invented the most amazing gadgets and gizmos which reflect the fullest potential of your internal UNIverse. This is the imbalance of the AGE, lack of internal work and maximization of the external experience. This is manifest in the dysfuncitional modes of your current structures which are not aligned with Love, the divine heart center where physical manifestation much stem from or the results will be subjected to the destructive and unrooted energies of the lower plains (root, sacral, SPlx) As you now experience the attunement of your 6th and 7th sensory completion. The HU of HUman becomes the relevant result of your experience. Hu (Hu (Sufism), a name for God.) The angelic infused and Divine nature of your being dancing harmoniously and consciously with the primal and rational states of your unified experience. There have been those whom have incarnated fully awakened with these sensory upgrades and have guided the innovative and intellectual ventures of your cultures. The day soon approaches where each incarnate being will be consciously working with the unified field where all information and records of past experience of duality exist. Telepathic communication will be the normal mode of communication where external devices will be seen as ancient relics of the new technology you are experiencing with your own bioelectric communication grids. No thing will be capable of existing which does not support the UNIversal grid matrix. In other words the physical reality will maintain equal resonance with the fabric of creation and will not be supported in its manifestation if the intended creation does not maitain the fullest light frequencies of the collective wholistic grid. When this happens there will be no defining term for wholistic medical practice, for there will be no practice which does not serve the highest good. Nothing will be shadowed or hidden, there cannot be unspoken intentions and motives. All will be clear and finely resonant with all environments and colective grids of the Earth and the Cosmos. Your breath merged with the gentle breezes from canyons to open plains, Your sight as precise as an Ant's and as vast as the Eagle, Your words the notes of all creation and your footsteps as gentle and strong as the deepest Aspen roots. Please allow your heats to release the fear by which enslaves your wildest dreams. Please remember the eternal child within which will guide you to the most joyful of dances without. Take a moment to breathe with a tree and let it speak to you its story of eternal truth as your roots blend and sing with the most vibrant of reds in to the veins of blood red lava flowing beneath your homes. Universal Fire and passion in perfect alignment with your home and environments. Breathing deeply into the depths of the primal egoic self and exhaling through the crystalline essence of creation shooting through the haloed crown of your divinity bouncing back from every star in the universe through rainbow prisms and spirals showering a spectrum of physical reflections and creation. Feel the presence of integration, feel the wholeness of your gentle and quiet breath. Feel the living essence of everything around you. SUN MOON STARS EARTH WATER FIRE AIR AND ETHERS. Now awakened within a fully functioning vessel of attuned BEINGness. A complete and resonant reflection of Harmony, Free and ALIVE inspired by all things in joy and innocence living moment by moment the eternal promise of LIFE.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Omega Tranzmission ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Medical technology has certainly changed.

I have been given the plan by the surgeon team, which involves lower lumbar surgery with pedicle screw fixation which will fuse L4-5, L5-S1, and the pelvic bone. The arthritic joints at those levels will be cleaned out to make more room for the nerve roots, so that they will not be squeezed anymore. This should relieve a great deal of my low back symptoms and prevent progessive permanent nerve damage. While I harbor no delusions about being completely pain-free, I am now well on the way to some much needed relief. This will mean that now my entire spine and pelvis, with the exception of 7 vertebrae in the neck, will be fused as one solid piece. Dr. Mudiyam says that my motion should not be affected too much, since there is barely any motion at the remaining lower levels anyway. Part of my old hardware has to come out, so my entire spine will be exposed during surgery, through the same incision as before. I also have some trochanteric bursitis of the right hip (inflammation of connective tissue) due to altered mechanical function due to the prior fusion, which will require cortisone injection treatment. It looks like this will be scheduled in December.

The Gifts Our Friends Give Us

The greatest gift in the world, in my opinion, is being given the freedom to express to someone how much they mean to you, and to express that you completely and unconditionally love them down to the last hair on their little toe, no matter what. When this happens, you begin to perceive them as the very same soul, observing yourself with their eyes. This is where God lives.

This has been the most precious gift I have received from a group of people who I am fortunate enough to have this freedom with.

You get to express love.
You get to express joy.
You get to express happiness.

You get to express disappointment.
You get to express confusion.
You get to express vulnerability.

You get to express anger.
You get to express bewilderment.

You get to express the fear that you would be *nobody* without them.

You get to heal this and other fears, since you are free to express them.

You get to express forgiveness (especially of yourself).
You get to express the growth of your soul as you change.
You get to express to them their Divinity.

You get to express deep appreciation for all of these things.

This is why I love my life. This is why I am so excited to be alive for the first time in over 20 years. The prospect that my presence on earth migh allow someone the freedom to express themselves unconditionally, and that my presence might allow someone to experience the sort of growth that I have experienced, is such an exciting and awesome perspective to have.

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE, ESPECIALLY OURSELVES.

The Higher Dimensions are allowing much to be purged from the planet now.

Physicality can be completely brutal at this point, because we lightworkers are beginning to allow en masse the purging of some of the archetypal belief systems based in fear. This work is much different from any other work we have done thus far. Much more intense. After all, musn't we by definition be purging our individual fear-based beliefs, as well as those that many individuals have in common, at the same time? Of course. We might feel literally pulled apart or pummeled with a baseball bat. We have to allow it pass through us like a wave, rather than trying to attach to any of these thought forms or group energies that come into our awareness. Sometimes it is helpful to call the emotion by name, to thank it, and to ask that it consider itself released from your attachment to it.

I feel as though this ability that I have to verbalize concepts that many cannot grasp without hearing the linguistic definition of the concepts themselves it a very important task at this time, as we reach into our collective memory and discover things there that cannot be easily conceptualized without a thorough linguistic analysis being performed.

It's the best job I've ever had, and I like it a lot.

Welcome to the Cosmic Party!

The August and September energies were the final power-blasters that have now cleared the way for us to begin the long-awaited Aquarian Shift. The Golden Age is upon us. Those of us who felt completely lost here for so long are so excited and so ready to begin this process at long last. Truly, it is a Dream!

Whether you perceive it as that there are guides from a Higher Dimension, or that there are angels protecting us, or that ET's are visiting in UFO's and telepathically, or that we exist simultaneously in dimensions too numerous to count, or that there is a return of Christ Consiousness to Earth, or that Gaia is raising her vibration and is taking us with her, or (insert any belief or any actual perception here)...

...All Systems Are Go.

We now have full access to knowledge from a future time in our evolution; a time when suffering and lack do not exist. This is possible because the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine operate in concert at all times, to provide all needs necessary for existence in all planes of existence (or dimensions). As hard as this may seem to believe, the same is true on the Earth Plane.

The circumstances are now ripe for the Ascension to begin. Those of us who are beginning to reunite with our soul groups are finding that the increase of the speed of this process has become exponentially faster as of late. Our shared mission is unfolding before us as though we have found a comfortable home constructed eons ago, just waiting for us to move into it, and to allow it to support us fully. Many of us do not know the concrete details about the actual paths our lives are about to take, but this suddenly seems irrelevant. It is Good to be Home.

The idea that no entity can override free will in this dimension has puzzled many for a long time, because that conceptual framework is simply not necessary from whence we came. When we allow ourselves to accept that this paradigm is a complete illusion borne of duality, we become free from all barriers that might have interfered with our ability to experience the expression of Unity Consciousness, and to be the embodiment of Love itself. We are then able to fully allow our hearts to replace our egos, and to begin to conduct business as usual, from the higher-dimensional point-of-view. There is nothing left to fear or to wait for.

Whatever societal systems that prevent us from expressing the Love of the Creator will begin to fall away more rapidly now. There are individuals who will experience chaos and fear, which is why others are standing by ready to assist them to allow themselves to accept Love,to embody Love, and to express Love.

Let's Go!

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE
dave

Brasscheck TV.com is amazing

I am asking everyone that I know to watch this 10 minute video (linked below) in its entirety.

The experiment depicted (about a Muslim woman) is so shocking that any loving person will most likely be completely devastated to a shriveling little ball of tears - bring the tissue box - it can hit HARD - as it hit me. Some may not feel such a personal connection to the events depicted. There is nothing gory or anything of that nature - the depiction is a purely psychological and sociological experiment.

The reason I am asking everyone to view this very difficult film is because I recogize that this is the type of work that I agreed to do when I incarnated, so as to help anchor LOVE in every corner of earth, and in every human heart - or to die trying. We have much work to do. This type of attitude is so pervasive in our society, and it is up to all of us to speak up and to stand up for dignity, in every situation.

I would venture to say that we have all experienced discrimination of this nature at one time or another, some more so than others, be it because of our gender, our race, our sexual orientation, our age, our disabilities, and on and on and on the list goes. Some characteristics have legally protected statuses, and some do not. I can tell you that this is one of many reasons that I will never leave California - because my sexual orientation is a protected status under State discrimination laws. And it is NEEDED FOR A REASON - I have been treated or have seen others being treated as badly as the actors and the unsuspecting public members in this experiment treat each other, and it is not something we can allow to continue. If we don't stand up and say the right thing when called to do so, we are not living up to our highest potential.

I love you ALL so very much. We have much work to do.

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/451.html


My new signature "e-mail signature" is so much more relevant to me now than ever before.

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE

Breath-taking painting of Rumi, the Persian mystic and poet

Jala al-Din Al-Rumi called Maulavi from 1207-1273 was the founder of Sufi, whose music and dance became known as the Whirling Dervishes. It is believed that Rumi had a long lasting homosexual relationship with Shams-e-Tabrīzī, the person to whom he wrote so much of his poetic verses (after their separation).

from the second chapter of "The Prophet," by Khalil Gibran, which is entitled "Love"...

...Love has no other desire than to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."

LOVE TO ALL, JUDGMENT FOR NONE
dave

Subject for counselor (note to self)...

I feel most judged when admitting to any kind of need. And, I don't like it at all.

Remember to BREATHE.

Dale is in the UK through next Friday.

At least we will have beach weather for a whole nother week. I guess I'll have to go, won't I, since there is nothing else to do. {wink}

An article I wrote for OPED News.com

http://www.opednews.com/

My article: Universal Health Care


My first thought was to perform research and to document that the amount of money spent in the USA on health care is astronomical, and that the majority of the population does not have access to affordable health care. I decided not to spend my time assembling facts and figures that everyone already knows, that are readily available elsewhere, and that most people would not read anyway. Instead, I decided upon a different approach. The issues we face about health care in this country are not simply statistical or economic. The issues also involve philosophy, morality, common sense, and the question of whether or not we intend to act toward each other in a manner which is humane. Come to think of it, most of the failed social polices in this country can be described in exactly the same way; lacking common sense, morally bankrupt, and inhumane. This article is the declaration of an ordinary American, who is speaking on behalf of millions and millions of Americans who have completely lost faith in their elected officials, who have completely lost the ability to communicate with their elected officials, and who are no longer represented by their elected officials. Politicians take heed; the current “official” vision of the future of this country is unacceptable. In order for us to survive as a society and to be able to sustain ourselves in the future, several changes must be made. First and foremost is a mandatory Universal Health Care Plan.
I believe it is time that we recognize that the experiment we have been conducting by providing health care to our citizens with a free-market system, especially employer-sponsored health coverage, is a failure. It does not meet and will never meet the basic needs of our population. Too many persons have no access to health insurance coverage, and those who do are seeing themselves being slowly but surely priced out of that market and unable to afford basic services. Meanwhile, for critical care, those who are unable to pay don’t, and the cost is indirectly passed on to those who can through higher premiums and higher service costs. An analysis of this model shows that this trend is not sustainable since more and more employers are reducing or eliminating coverage for employees altogether, thereby reducing the amount of persons in the pool of patients with access to care and with the ability to make payment for the care. The shrinking pool of covered patients can only result in higher prices for all services. The costs are spiraling out of control, and yet we are able to provide less and less care for fewer and fewer persons. Is this humane? Emphatically, no. Does this make sense? Of course not. Are our elected officials listening to us when we say that we want meaningful, lasting change that will meet our needs? I am afraid not.

A popular critique of the idea of a Universal Health Plan is that it is based upon a “socialist” model which has no place in a free-market society. Those who support the free-market version profess to want to provide the most care and the best care to the highest number of persons possible at the lowest cost possible, driven of course, by free enterprise. However, those persons are not willing to take the final step that is necessary in order to protect those who have coverage from paying for the care of those who do not have coverage, namely, refusing those persons access to care. This is viewed as inhumane, and rightly so. Critical care is provided whether or not payment is afforded, and the cost is merely passed on to those who do have coverage. The flaw in the logic, then, is that while it is currently professed that we live in a society with a market-driven health insurance model, nothing could be farther from the truth. We are spreading the risk over the entire population in order to pay for the care of the entire population, and are simultaneously paying for care for persons who do not or cannot participate in, or contribute to the plan, for a variety of reasons. The current system, while disguised by political pundits as a free-market enterprise, is nothing more than a socialist model which is broken and which does meet the needs of the entire society. I dare a politician to announce that we, as a society, will no longer pay for care for those who cannot afford it, and that we will exclude those who cannot pay from using our system. This would include critical care needs in auto and other accidents, acute and long-term care for the critically and terminally ill, and children, and non-citizens, to name a few. It will never happen. And unless it happens, the system we have is not a free-market enterprise, but rather a substandard version of a socialized plan. The true socialist model mandates that everyone have the same access to care, regardless of income or social status. If we are going to operate under a socialist model, we might as well be good socialists and at the very least meet the needs of all of our citizens. Since our current system, mislabeled by politicians as a free-market system, cannot meet the needs of our society, it is time to replace it with a system that will. If that system is based upon an ideology that is considered to be “socialist” or “communist,” but yet provides a more comprehensive and humane approach than our current system, then perhaps it is time to recognize that the free enterprise model of economics cannot and will not solve the health care crisis, and that perhaps the notion that a free enterprise system can solve every problem in society is flawed. Is that un-American? I think not. Is that anti-capitalist? I don’t believe so. I believe it is more anti-capitalist to expect that employers and employees continue to pay enormous costs that prohibit them from being competitive and that ultimately lead the businesses to fail. What is so wrong about wanting to find a way to provide health coverage for all our citizens in a cost-effective manner that protects both our lives and our jobs? Nothing! What if the most effective method is a “socialist,” mandatory, Universal Health Plan? So be it!
We need a Universal Health Plan that provides cradle-to-grave coverage for all members of society, citizen and non-citizen, funded by premiums paid by all participants based upon the ability to pay (yes, a graduated, flat tax with no deductions, exemptions or loopholes), that eliminates the current level of bureaucracy in the administration of benefits, that frees the most amount of money to be spent directly on patient care rather than on bureaucracy and administration, that is free from the propaganda of managed care (another colossal failure) and that allows freedom of choice in treatment options, that fosters research, innovation, and a high quality of services, and that excludes no one. Is anybody listening?