Sharing

Blogging....

kimberlyanne — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:25:59 GMT

I've stopped blogging here since I started a blog at blogspot which usually gets updated on Tribe too but not always so if interested - it's here: http://amondala.blogspot.com/ AND thought this was cute - burning man stuff/s = PLAYA NAME STAND at 4:00 and Esplanade started at 4 pm everyday (except Monday).

Ahhhh - the ART!!! Burning Man again

kimberlyanne — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:46:11 GMT

Here is a preview of the art of 2008 http://blog.burningman.com/?p=2336 And here is the building of the temple!! It looks AMAZING!! http://flickr.com/photos/danieljung/sets/72157605654829884/show/ And here is a cool animation of what to expect from this year's temple: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ5IU_LXooU The temple (and my peeps) are what keeps me coming back home...

Building Black Rock City

kimberlyanne — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:22:43 GMT

They're working and we can watch and read all about it !!! http://blog.burningman.com/?cat=31

The dust will set you free

kimberlyanne — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:56:51 GMT

A few weeks before Burning Man and already my nightmares have begun. This is par for the course for me. I start having Bman nightmares about a month before and they usually get more intense as the date draws closer. And then, the week before I change my mind and want to sell my ticket, out of fear, but I push through and am always glad I did. This first nightmare – beginning last week – wasn’t as horrible as ones have been in the past but there were uncomfortable moments. Usually I can’t breathe, dust chokes me and I lay gasping on the desert floor. But this dream was of green fields and a lake yet still the playa. The part that was icky were the amount of people. So many that I felt like a sardine, it was like being in NYC in Times Square during rush hour, or even worse – New Year’s Eve. And thinking back to last year, the playa was almost that crowded on Friday night – much to my dismay. So what are the fears and where do they come from? I have had and conquered my fear of the heat, my fear of the dust, my fear of the sheer amount of people, of the noise, of the alcohol and drugs, of the shirt-cockers and of my desire for the sparklies used as bait by those who are playa fishing. I wanted, prayed last year for a dust storm as I had not yet encountered one and I was blessed with 2. While some people had trouble, my amazing camp rejoiced. We banned together and held down the kitchen and chill space – we rebuilt the main tent together when it collapsed and the most amazing part of all was the way we all danced and danced together for hours in the dust. I don’t know how I came across this story – written by someone else – just now – but I did and although it was written 5 years ago it is beautiful and I want to share it with everyone now ☺ Because the title is the truth - the dust will make you free…. And the Dust Will Make You Free By Michael Dees 04.11.03 Sitting in an open sided tent with several newfound friends, we hear the dreaded words from across the 275 Plaza, "Dust storm coming!" We all look up and see that the mountains to the west have disappeared. Almost as if by magic, faces all around me have been transformed into a sea of dust masks and goggles. Even people seemingly with no visible means of concealing such devices on their persons are suddenly equipped for whatever the desert has to throw at them It's nearing sundown, so Bill heads directly across the playa at top speed to start our dinner. I'm pulling Tessa C. Horse, so have to ride much slower to keep from breaking her flapping wings off - one wing has already suffered from my exuberant pedaling and amateur welding skills. I don my protective gear and strike out toward The Man. The city is in the shape of a giant "C", with the statue in dead center, and my camp is exactly opposite from my present location. Within a minute that landmark is no longer visible, nor is anything else more then five feet in front of me. The blindness and disorientation is worse than in any snowstorm whiteout I've ever encountered. My eyes and lungs are well protected, so I perceive no real danger, and decide to extract the most from this encounter with nature. I continue pedaling in what seems like a straight course to The Man. After a few minutes I hear sounds dead ahead, and people start appearing in my small bubble of visibility. I ask one of these apparitions where we are. "Two-fifty and Esplanade," he calls back. I have made nearly a complete U-turn and am only 25 degrees further around the inner circle than where I started. I again head out toward what my internal compass tells me is the center of the playa. Three more times I discover the wind has turned me back, advancing me only 15 or 20 degrees around the city. Visibility is now up to 15 feet, and I can sense more shadows around me. A bikini clad woman trudges by with only her hands to protect her from the choking cloud. I offer her a spare dust mask I carry for just such an occasion, and am rewarded with the upper half of a grateful chalky smile and a heart felt, though muffled, "Thank you." A little further into this wonderland of dust I hear the faint beating of a drum. Is this some lone minstrel lost in the storm and calling to his mates? Is he using his instrument like a foghorn in the mist to keep from being run over by blinded bicyclists like myself? Drawing closer I realize it's a lively tune he's playing for the pure joy of it. Evidently I'm not the only one attracted by his music - a half dozen people are happily dancing around him, and others are joining in as they are drawn to this circle of life in the middle of utter desolation. No one seems to care that they can barely see those opposite them in the ring - they're just happy to celebrate life anywhere and in any way that they can. I'm again reminded that there are no islands in this Floating World, but a continuous network of bridges connecting all of us in ever changing patterns and groupings. The bridges here demand no emotional or monetary toll of those wishing to use them, but the travelers gladly contribute their talents to enhance the enjoyment of those around them. I continue my trek, wondering what other amazements this storm has to offer. I don't have to travel far to find out. Here in front of me, in the middle of a desert are two young ladies casually sitting on an overstuffed sofa - one dressed as a belly dancer, the other as a mermaid, compete with shells covering strategic parts of her body. Both are wearing elaborately decorated and bejeweled dust masks and ski goggles as if these are a normal part of their daily wardrobe. A detached wheel leans against the front of the couch, conjuring up the image of two ladies waiting in their disabled car for the auto club to come and rescue them. After talking with them and inspecting their living room furniture, this image turns out to be very close to the truth. This is a motorized love seat that threw a wheel and was abandoned by its owner while he retrieved some supplies from his camp. The ladies had chanced upon this meager haven from the wind and decided to wait out the storm in relative comfort rather than fighting their way through it. When the owner returned with his tools, old crumpled straw hat, and dust caked face, the image of a back country shade tree mechanic assisting stranded motorists came sharply to view. Even the ladies' sedentary resolve didn't deprive them of the wonders to be found in a Burning Man dust storm. As we talked, a large white figure emerged from the murk - a man well over six feet tall wearing a long, flowing wedding gown, a half-face respirator, and ski goggles. He stood with his train billowing in front of a huge fabric art display mimicking the dress' action, looking like an ad for Bride's Magazine on the planet Dune. Visibility is variable now as the wind depletes one source of buff colored ammunition, and then quickly finds another supply to throw at us. In a brief moment of clarity I can see Pod Village in the distance, and am able to regain my bearings toward home. To my left is a man dressed only in a respirator, ski goggles, tennis shoes, and the suit he was wearing at birth. Pedaling a little further, I can feel the storm waning a bit and am almost sorry to see it go. I ask myself, "What other unique experiences could I enjoy from this unbridled burst of nature, so unavailable anywhere else in my world?" Three minutes later a sight never before seen on this planet makes its dramatic appearance - a naked man riding a bicycle pulling a seahorse with one flapping wing across a wind whipped prehistoric lake bed. Funny how I had never before noticed that spring wire protruding from the seat of my bike. When I arrive back at camp Bill can't (or doesn't want to) believe his eyes, and stands there laughing his head off. "Why?" he asks between snorts. "For the hell of it!" I reply. Covered with a uniform layer of fine dust, he says I look like I've been in a talcum powder fight and came out the loser. I can confidently say I have extracted all I could from this heaven sent dust storm. I started this journey across the playa as a spectator on a bicycle inconvenienced and blinded by the weather. Through my brief glimpses of improbable reality in the belly of the storm I saw joy where there should have been desperation. I saw beauty where one would expect only sun-cracked earth. I experienced the inner warmth of helping someone in need. I saw people reveling in the harshness rather than cursing the skies. And I learned once again that happiness in living comes from enjoying and learning from the journey no matter where it takes you. Attitude is everything! Emerging from this baptism by dust, I felt like a full-fledged citizen of Black Rock City, and open to anything my stay here might teach me. I'm reminded of the words of the great philosopher and songwriter Roger Miller - "You can't roller skate in a buffalo heard, but you can be happy if you've a mind to." The wind that brought us this dust storm has one more surprise in store. Its higher strata have nudged some welcome clouds between the sun and Black Rock City. While enjoying the coolness, the first thunderclap takes everyone by surprise, likely thinking someone has fired off one of the many propane canons usually reserved for roistering on the open playa. But it's real this time. As the leading edge of the rain makes its way across the city I can hear a continuous roar of thankful screams, like waders in the shallow waters of a gently sloping beach rejoicing when a wave lifts them in turn on its way to the shore. I see people standing outside with their arms wide and faces to the sky, hoping for a shower long and hard enough to wash at least the top layer of playa from their dust covered bodies. What we get instead is just enough to coagulate the uniform coating into a semi-regular pattern of splotches, which would later become the universal identifier of burners' cars as they made their trek back home. But even this short cloudburst is just enough to cleanse the air in preparation for the brilliant golds, oranges and reds that fill the western sky as the sun offers up its last gifts of the day. Eating our dinner of half-pound hamburgers and baked beans while sitting in the van, the open double doors frame the sunset like a canvas done by an artist who has squeezed too much paint onto his pallet and feels obligated to use it all up. I feel this whole sequence of weather must have been choreographed just for me, and I am truly grateful to the director. http://www.burningman.com/blackrockcity_yearround/tales/michaeldees2.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo Credits: CAPTION: dust storm on the playa YEAR: 2000 PHOTOGRAPHER: Gabe Kirchheimer URL: http://www.gabekphoto.com

3 Facts That Could Change This Election (If We Share Them With Enough People)

kimberlyanne — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:41:43 GMT

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6430781 3 Facts That Could Change This Election (If We Share Them With Enough People) Here are 3 Stunning facts that could not only change the outcome of this election, but with regard to the first two points, they could change the results of every election for years to come *if* we make enough people aware of them. I want to keep this as simple and short as possible, so that the people who need to read this actually do. And again, I encourage you to share this information with as many people as you can, either by recommending and commenting on this thread, by emailing these points out and or by posting a link to this thread on the appropriate websites. 1)-Over 70% of our National Debt was created by just 3 Republican presidents. Go ahead, get out your calculator and add up debt by president/party. Apparently the party that claims fiscally responsibility thinks it's ok to borrow massive amounts of money from foreign countries like China. Consider that we spend hundreds of billions of dollars in interest payments on this debt each year. That means more and more of your hard earned money is going to make interest only payments on what is basically a Giant National Credit Card. Not to mention the fact our debt/deficits are largely behind the weakness of our dollar, which in turns makes gas more expensive and creates other serious problems. If you want to learn more about the National Debt, check out these links: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock / http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20... http://zfacts.com/p/447.html (A running clock with the cost of the war) http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/business... 2)-According to new research from Larry Bartels out of Princeton, real middle class wage growth is double when a Democrat is president compared to when a Republican is president. "...Even more remarkable, the real incomes of working-poor families...grew six times as fast when Democrats held the White House. Only the incomes of affluent families were relatively impervious to partisan politics, growing robustly under Democrats and Republicans alike...": http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/magazine/27wwln-ideal... Here is a short summary of this research: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008... And here is a good, short audio interview with Larry Bartels: http://youngturks.wmod.llnwd.net/a591/o1/4-25-08Bartels... 3)-90% of Americans would pay less taxes under Obama's proposed tax plan compared to McCain's. This is according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Institute as reported by CNN: http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/11/news/economy/candidates... People making under $112,000 a year in individual (not household) income would pay less taxes under Obama's plan. By contrast, John McCain's tax cuts mostly benefit the top 10% of Americans. Under McCain's plan, people making over 2.9 million dollars in individual annual income would get almost a million dollar tax break. Conclusion: Countless millions of Americans vote Republican because they believe they'll pay less taxes and that they'll have their money spent more responsibly. As you can see, those beliefs are directly contradicted by the facts. Of course we can choose to ignore the facts and instead focus on which candidate is wearing a flag pin (you ever notice that Hillary and McCain don't wear them? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi5nbZvS9cg ) but I think we're a smarter country than that. PS---If you're not sure how to respond to those laughably bad, factually inaccurate anti-Obama smear emails and or you want more information on John McCain, here is a nice resource guide of articles, videos and commentary: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

To Clarify - THIS IS A JOKE!!!! I AM NOT Voting Republican!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kimberlyanne — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:43:40 GMT

To Clarify - THIS IS A JOKE!!!! I AM NOT Voting Republican!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read text below about why NO ONE SHOULD EVER VOTE REPUBLICAN - AND WATCH THE SHORT FILM - LINK BELOW OR ON MY FRONT PAGE.... Awesome short film!!! Also on my front page - http://www.imvotingrepublican.com/ You can read about the facts including in the movie on their website: http://www.imvotingrepublican.com/more.php - OR below: MORE ABOUT THE MOVIE The movie was written and directed by Charlie Steak and produced by SyntheticHuman Pictures. Everyone worked on the film for free. Contributions from individuals paid for most of the expenses. A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE SEGMENTS OF THE MOVIE: "We just love cheap plastic crap from China" Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the United States. It is the largest retailer in the world. Its revenue in 2007 was $351.1 billion dollars. That exceeds the GDP (gross domestic product) of at least 155 of the world’s countries. 70% of Wal-Mart’s sales are of items manufactured in China. Wal-Mart has resisted providing adequate and meaningful health care coverage for its workers and has prevented its U.S. employees from forming unions. Wal-Mart pays most of its workers less than the amount needed to live on. (Starting pay for a cashier is less than $8 per hour. That’s less than $16,000.00 a year. The federal poverty level for a family of four in 2006 was $20,444.) From the Democratic Party Agenda Democrats believe that the most effective way to increase opportunity for our families is a high quality, good paying job. The Democratic Party supports fair trade agreements that raise standards for all workers here and abroad, while making American businesses more competitive, and we don’t believe in tax giveaways that reward companies for moving American jobs overseas. We will create jobs that stay in America and restore opportunity for all Americans, starting with raising the minimum wage, expanding Pell grants and making college tuition tax deductible. "I don't want a cure for AIDS or breast cancer" There is no known cure for breast cancer or AIDS. The Bush administration has been more interested in promoting AIDS treatment in Africa (for the benefit of American pharmaceutical companies) than in assisting American citizens who have AIDS. The administration has also withheld money from organizations in Africa that distribute condoms in attempts to control the spread of HIV/AIDS. From the Democratic Party Agenda "Today we renew our call for the development of a comprehensive, science-based strategy for combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic that includes expanding access to treatment, fully funding research and education programs, expanding HIV prevention efforts, and reducing HIV-related racial disparities. If we do these things, we can save lives and ensure the quality of life for all Americans." Thoughts: Developing a cure for breast cancer is less important to some white males than creating medical solutions for male impotence. (With a revitalized penis they can always find a new wife.) Most medical research is financed by private corporations who have no interest in finding a cure for disease. That would be to their disadvantage. They are very interested in finding expensive patentable treatments. American criminal law makes it difficult to prosecute pharmaceutical executives who either intentionally or negligently gamble with the lives of patients when introducing new drugs. "A classroom with thirty other children" The average size of an elementary school class is more than 20 students. Speaking from experience, there is no way anyone can do an adequate job of teaching that many students at the same time. Insanity rules. The ideal ratio for the best results is eight students per instructor. Teachers are not well-paid. 25% of elementary school teachers make less than $35,000 a year. (Did you know that in some states, California for one, teachers often cannot afford to live in the district where they teach?) The federal government could do a lot more to help. Some of that 12 billion (yeah, $12,000,000,000.00) per month spent on the Iraq war could help. From the 2004 Democratic Party Agenda …we will offer high quality early learning opportunities, smaller classes, more after school activities, and more individualized attention for our students, particularly students with special needs, gifts, and talents. We need to do more to attract and retain teachers, more to encourage their excellence, and more to ensure that all teachers are offering high-quality teaching. We must raise pay for teachers, especially in the schools and subjects where great teachers are in the shortest supply. "Women just can't be trusted to make decisions about their own bodies..." A woman’s right to choose whether to terminate her pregnancy is controlled by state law as limited by the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. If and when Roe v. Wade is overturned by the current Republican-appointed majority of Supreme Court Justices, abortion will be outlawed in some states. The pregnant daughters of the well-to-do lawmakers in those states will be flown by their mothers to states where abortion is still legal; the poor in those states will return to using coat hangers. From the Democratic Party Agenda Democrats stand solidly in support of women and their right to make important life decisions about their health care. It's critical that abortion remain a personal decision. If Roe was overturned, women and their doctors would be treated like criminals, jeopardizing women's health and safety. We can all agree that reducing the number of abortions in our country is an important goal, and in fact abortions have decreased. We will continue to work towards common-ground solutions to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, while allowing women to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. "Continuing our use of fossil fuels..." We don’t have cars that are as fuel efficient as they could be because the Republicans have kept the government from encouraging car manufacturers to make such cars. Our continuing disproportionate use of oil benefits the president’s friends and supporters. As America’s corporations continue to have the ear of the Republican administrative branch, protection of America’s national wildlands has decreased. Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park have been under attack. Whether it’s oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or uranium at the edge of the Grand Canyon, if there’s money to be made for a corporation, no loss is too great. From the Democratic Party Agenda We will create a cleaner, greener and stronger America by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, eliminating billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and use the savings to provide consumer relief and develop energy alternatives, and investing in energy independent technology. Energy independence puts America in the driver's seat to pursue affordable and efficient energy solutions that will benefit all Americans, improve America's security, reduce the burden on American families, and help clean our environment. American families should not have to pay the price for a failed national energy policy. They deserve an energy policy that creates a cleaner and stronger America that reduces our dependence on foreign oil and also creates new jobs for American workers. By clearing the pathways to innovation, investing in our workers and infrastructure, and providing American consumers with broader, more responsible choices, the Democratic plan will provide the tools to help move America forward, toward real energy security for the 21st century. "Even if we're separate we'll still be called equal" Despite advances in social equality in the last 50 years, whites and blacks are all too often separated in this country, and the government’s unwillingness to recognize the spirit of inequality causing this separation prevents progress. In many ways America is a segregated nation. Most whites and blacks live in separate neighborhoods, go to separate schools, and seldom make friends. The Supreme Court, rarely a leader and never courageous, has eviscerated any ongoing attempts to achieve diversity in institutions of higher education and has undone the efforts to desegregate public schools following the 1954 decision in Brown v. The Board of Education, that held that “separate but equal” schools were inherently unequal. From the Democratic Party Agenda Democrats are unwavering in our support of equal opportunity for all Americans. That's why we’ve worked to pass every one of our nation’s Civil Rights laws, and every law that protects workers. Most recently, Democrats stood together to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act. On every civil rights issue, Democrats have led the fight. We support vigorous enforcement of existing laws, and remain committed to protecting fundamental civil rights in America. From the Democratic Party Agenda regarding the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (holding that it is impermissible to consider race to maintain racial diversity in school districts): Across the country, people expressed dismay at yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that turned back the clock on 53 years of work by schools around the country to provide all children with a quality education. Editorial boards echoed the sentiment saying that the Court “repudiated the last half-century of race-conscious efforts to overcome that tortured racial legacy,” “will accelerate the trend toward school resegregation in many parts of the country,” and that in the “name of abiding by the letter of Brown, the court has dishonored its spirit.” “Saving the worst for last for last, the Supreme Court ended its 2006-07 term Thursday by rebuking two school districts that had made good-faith efforts to realize the vision of the court's landmark 1954 decision in Brown vs. Board of Education — an America in which children of different races share the same classroom…In the name of abiding by the letter of Brown, the court has dishonored its spirit.” L.A. Times 6/29/0 "I need the government to tell me (who I can love)" It just kills some straight people that two men or two women might love each other enough to want to join themselves together as one, and ask that the world recognize that union. As Republicans in Arizona, which already has a law excluding same-sex unions from marriage, try to put a similar provision in their constitution, the message reverberates: “we don’t just hate you, we really, really, really hate you.” Denial of equal recognition and status by the government encourages hatred and persecution. An Oklahoma State Representative, Sally Kern, recently said homosexuality is the biggest threat our nation has, more so than terrorism. As recently as February, 2008, in California, a 15 year-old boy was killed at school for being gay. From the Democratic Party Agenda Governor Dean and Rick Stafford, chair of the DNC's GLBT Caucus, issued the following statement for National Coming Out Day: "Today, in celebrating National Coming Out Day, we honor the courage and dignity of the millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans who have made the decision to live openly in our society. Coming out is an act of personal courage that truly empowers people to stand up for their values. As Democrats, one of those values is our commitment to equal rights and protections under the law for every single American.” "The EPA is an outmoded idea..." The Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to help investigate and enforce regulations keeping America’s environment clean and healthy. Republicans have seen to it that the EPA doesn’t. It was too expensive for corporations. Under the Republicans, the federal law that deals with investigating and cleaning up toxic waste sites (The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act - known as Superfund) has been gutted and efforts have been made to shift costs from the responsible parties (corporations) to consumers. Our groundwater supplies are in danger of contamination from toxic waste sites. Now pharmaceutical waste is everywhere in our surface water. Why does our government fail to protect us? Because we’ve let the government come under the control of corporations. From the Democratic Party Agenda The Democratic Party believes that it is our responsibility to protect America's extraordinary natural resources. The health of our families and the strength of our economy depend on our stewardship of the environment. We reject the false choice between a healthy economy and a healthy environment. Farming, fishing, tourism, and other industries require a healthy environment. New technologies that protect the environment will create new high-paying jobs. A cleaner environment means a stronger economy. Far too many Americans live with unhealthy air or water quality. Democrats will fight to strengthen the laws that ensure we have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. And Democrats will make sure these laws are enforced. "So long as the label says it's food..." Corporations aren’t interested in letting you know what goes into your food. If they did, you wouldn’t eat it. The government isn’t interested in keeping you safe; that would be bad for business. So you eat meat that is full of hormones, dairy products that are full of hormones, grain products that have been genetically-modified, and produce covered with pesticide residue. The Food and Drug Administration fails to regularly inspect the food industry, and when it finds violations, does little or nothing to enforce regulations. Many facilities get inspected less than once a year. Truth in labeling is constantly resisted. About 70 percent of grocery store food in the U.S. and Canada contain genetically engineered ingredients, and there is no mention of this on the labels. "Getting screwed by the utility company..." The Republicans have worked hard to deregulate many industries, claiming that it would result in more competition and said competition would be good for the consumer. The opposite has been true. Deregulation has led to less competition and consumers having to pay rates that the government allows to rise and rise and rise. Five years ago, the average American family spent $3,300 on gasoline, home heating, and electricity. This year, the average American family will spend over $5,100 on gasoline, home heating, and electricity. This is an increase of nearly $2,000 per family. The indirect costs of higher energy prices in the form of higher prices for consumer goods and services are likely to cost families another $1,400 per year. From the Democratic Party Agenda Democrats know that a sensible energy policy is key to a strong economy, our national security, and a clean environment. Democrats are committed to the next generation of affordable and renewable energy for the 21st century and to conservation measures that will immediately reduce our dependence on foreign oil. From the 2004 Democratic Platform: We will work to create new technology for producing electricity in a better, more efficient manner. Coal accounts for more than one-half of America's electric power generation capacity today. We believe coal must continue its important role in a new energy economy, while achieving high environmental standards. Working with the coal industry, we will invest billions to develop and implement new, cleaner coal technology and to produce electric and hydrogen power. We will also work to make sure that our people have access to an affordable, secure, and reliable supply of electricity at all times. We support mandatory, enforceable reliability standards. We also support public-private partnerships to make our power systems more flexible, resilient, and self-healing—and more environmentally friendly than ever before. "We need more minorities in prison" While black men make up less than 12% of the general population, they account for almost 50% of the prison population. One third of all black males are on some sort of criminal justice supervision. One third of all black males are not dangerous and evil. Until this year possession of crack cocaine and powder cocaine were punished differently. Crack cocaine (commonly possessed by black defendants) was punished 100 times more severely than powder cocaine (the preferred form used by whites.) Improved education, housing, and health care and meaningful job opportunities would do more to stop crime than increasing incarceration. It would also be much less expensive in the long run. "Hybrid cars really suck" Not really. Actually, they suck less of our natural resources from us. And with increased innovation they will allow people not just to get around, but to transport their stuff, and express their persona. From the 2004 Democratic Party Platform Creating the energy-efficient vehicles of tomorrow. We support creating more energy-efficient vehicles, from today's hybrid cars to tomorrow's hydrogen cars. We support the American people's freedom to choose whatever cars, SUVs, minivans, and trucks they choose, but we also believe American ingenuity is equal to the task of improving efficiency. We support improving fuel standards, and because of the challenges this poses, we will offer needed incentives for consumers to buy efficient vehicles, and for manufacturers to build them. We are also committed to developing hydrogen as a clean, reliable domestic source of energy. Our economy cannot convert to hydrogen overnight, so we will fund research to overcome the obstacles to hydrogen fuel and continue our other efforts to achieve energy independence. "I don't feel that I deserve health insurance" Most health insurance used to be provided by employers as a benefit for the employee and the employer (healthy workers are more productive). Now health insurance is provided by private insurance companies with employees covering some or all of the cost. Health insurance companies also increase their profits by denying claims. In 2007 health insurance companies made profits measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. People who can’t afford health insurance live in fear of getting ill or losing their job. A national health insurance program would allow part of the money currently counted as profit to help cover everyone else. From the Democratic Party Agenda In the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth, no one should have to choose between taking their child to a doctor and paying the rent. Democrats are committed to making sure every single American has access to affordable, effective health care coverage. "Texas needs more billionaires" Not! Many of them have profited from good old boy deals with the Republicans – from oil and mineral rights to non-competitive sub-contracting for the Iraq war. Today, ExxonMobil announced that “its third-quarter earnings rose to $10.49 billion, the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company.” Royal Dutch Shell also “beat all forecasts with a 21 percent rise in underlying third-quarter profit.” These earnings reports come “as high crude prices this year have fueled record profits in the oil industry” which has triggered “an outcry from consumers who were being asked to pay about $3 a gallon for gasoline in early August.” [AP, 10/26/06; Reuters, 10/26/06] “These record profits for oil companies while Americans still face sky-high gas prices, is one more example of the consequences of President Bush’s decision to let his friends in big oil write our nation’s energy policy,” said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. “While oil companies have received tax breaks, the pocketbooks of America's working families have been squeezed by a combination of rising energy costs and declining incomes. Americans are ready for a new direction. Democrats remain committed to reducing our dependency on foreign oil, and creating a robust domestic industry for alternative energy sources that will create jobs." "Sometimes the Constitution is one big inconvenient headache" Our Constitution is, in the end, what America is. It is through adherence to and respect for our unique governing document, with its wise checks and balances, that we maintain liberty and the rule of law. America is not a certain race, or religion, or even a geographical area – (the America that was comprised of the original 13 states in 1789, or of 48 states in 1940, was no less America than the 50 United States of today). America is, rather, a system of governance that vouchsafes, through the constitution, our individual and collective freedoms. If we stray from it, America ceases to have meaning. The Constitution encourages color-blindness and equality. But judges (and Supreme Court justices) don’t really “interpret” the constitution. Judges decide the result of the case, based on their political beliefs, and then write their opinion, claiming to have “found” the answer in the Constitution. As long as we have judges who aren’t black, Hispanic, gay, female, or poor, we’re going to go on getting law that is unfriendly to blacks, Hispanics, gays, women, and the poor. From the 2004 Democratic Party Agenda Our commitment to civil rights is ironclad. We will restore vigorous federal enforcement of our civil rights laws for all our people, from fair housing to equal employment opportunity, from Title IX to the Americans with Disabilities Act. We support affirmative action to redress discrimination and to achieve the diversity from which all Americans benefit. We believe a day's work is worth a day's pay, and at a time when women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, we need stronger equal pay laws and stronger enforcement of them. We will enact the bipartisan legislation barring workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. We are committed to equal treatment of all service members and believe all patriotic Americans should be allowed to serve our country without discrimination, persecution, or violence. We support the appointment of judges who will uphold our laws and constitutional rights, not their own narrow agendas. "The world should be run by one big corporation" When that happens, we will all be slaves. America’s strength comes from the ability of its citizens to engage in free enterprise, to compete, to innovate, and to create jobs for themselves and other Americans. "We should start as many wars as we need...Iraq...Iran" The United States has a history of interfering in other countries when politics in those countries are adverse to American corporations’ business interests. We also like to sell weapons, so wars are good for business, and therefore are encouraged by weapons manufacturers. To date more than 4,000 Americans and countless Iraqis have lost their lives because President Bush and his advisors decided to go to war based on faulty information. Death is final, mysterious, and a terrible unknown. I can see nothing about the present war that justifies the ongoing loss of life and waste of resources. As mentioned earlier, we are also spending 12 billion dollars a month on the war. $12,000,000,000.00. Each month. Do the math.

Looking for Answers in Life? Here's your Key...

kimberlyanne — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:33:17 GMT

I met this amazing woman last month in Hawaii - Nora Dunn. She is a "professional hobo" and a great writer. I wanted to share her blog - it's amazingly inspirational. And if you can't currently travel, you can virtually travel with Nora - who is on the move again! Her blogspot is here: http://freedom30.blogspot.com/ and her " Looking for Answers in Life? Here's your Key..." article is copied below: http://www.wisebread.com/looking-for-answers-in-life-heres-your-key Looking for Answers in Life? Here's your Key... by Nora Dunn So many of us are feeling stuck in our lives, searching for something we seem to flirt with and skirt around through life: true happiness. We attend motivational conferences, read self-help books, change careers, see counselors, and take up meditation and yoga – all in the hopes of finding that nugget of information; that light at the end of the tunnel; the “aha” moment; that magical idea which will lead us to a truly happy place in our lives. Sometimes using these methodologies we find what we need, and go for it. And sometimes, we leave that motivational conference hopped up and, well, motivated, only for the adrenaline from the event to dissipate within a week. We end up searching for that perfect career/partner/balance/life all over again. I write about this because I’ve done it all – over and over again. My bookshelf was stacked with self-help issues. I took courses and saw career counselors. I put myself through aptitude tests and attended conferences. I did yoga with the best of them. I filled my agenda with so many activities in search of a happy life, ultimately I burnt out entirely. And although I am still constantly searching for something (hence the life of a nomadic Professional Hobo – travelers are always searching for something), I can also honestly say I’m happier now than I ever have been, and have found a calling of sorts. I got the golden nugget; had an “aha” moment; and ran with it. Here’s how you can do it too: Think of five moments in your life when everything flowed. All was good, and you found yourself the happiest you’ve ever been. Everything just clicked. Write it down. Describe those moments in as much detail as you possibly can. What happened? Where were you? How old were you? Who was with you? What were you doing? Bring yourself back to those very moments as much as you can, right down to the smell in the air. See? You’re already feeling happier. But you’re not finished yet. Find the commonalities between all these moments. Is there a theme at all? Were you in solitude or surrounded by people? Were you outdoors or in? Was it summer or winter? Working or on vacation? Were you a child, teenager, or adult? Were you on stage? Learning something new? Or teaching somebody? If you can’t connect the dots with a theme, try to discern what exactly it was about each moment that made you happy and define that instead. Now… How can you get to that happy place again? If you realize the biggest common denominator was one of mentorship or teaching, what can you do now to incorporate it into your life again? If you’re not up for a career change to become a teacher, can you volunteer as a big brother or big sister? Or start a small side business or club showing other people how to do that thing you love, like scrap-booking or climbing? If the common theme was that you were on vacation, then how can you change your life accordingly? What specifically about the vacations made you happy? Exploration? Adventure? Something different and new? Doing absolutely nothing? Or just being away from your crappy job? If it’s the latter, then your first big step is obviously to get another job! And maybe that job could be abroad… By bringing yourself back to those “happy places” mentally and emotionally, you stand a chance of getting back there again. It’s along the same lines as creating vision boards, playing the prosperity game, and brainstorming up a variety of ways to change your life with no restrictions or judgment. Just get yourself thinking about the possibilities, and remembering the good times, and you just may find that “aha” moment you have been searching for. Permalink | 8 comments Tagged: answers, key to happiness, self-help Email this Email this | Subscribe Subscribe | Delicious Delicious | Digg Digg | Reddit Reddit | Technorati Technorati About Nora Dunn Nora Dunn's picture As a Professional Hobo and Writer, with a background as a Certified Financial Planner and Entrepreneur, I've got lots of bases covered - not the least of which are practical money matters. Nora Dunn's profile Nora Dunn's blog

7 Ways To Control Your Programming

kimberlyanne — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:21:56 GMT

7 Ways To Control Your Programming By Ellesse Chow http://www.goal-setting-college.com/success/anchoring-self-hypnosis-affirmations-positive-selftalk-profiling/ Since realizing that I was unconsciously “programming” my little niece, I’ve been pretty wary about how I’m interacting with her. Young children are just like sponges and will absorb almost anything we feed into them. They don’t have the filters to differentiate what’s right and wrong and having to correct those improper ones when they’re grown up can be quite an excruciating experience. Not to mention the embarrassment at times. I used to have this University ex-hostel mate. A brilliant straight-As student. When she was still in junior high school, she got this impression – most likely from her parents - that if a boy and a girl “slept together”, the girl would be pregnant. Well, theoretically she was right, wasn’t she? But apparently her parents omitted the “important prerequisite” for the pregnancy. One day when she went to a school camp, she was so worried the whole night if she would be pregnant the next day that she didn’t sleep well! The whole class of boys and girls slept in the same vacated classroom! Ha ha! Not many people can be so upfront with their improper beliefs like she did. Talk about it to her friends. Laugh it off as a joke. And develop new beliefs to replace it. Most chose to ignore and let the issue snowball. Some, like my sister, wasn’t even aware of it. In my opinion, revamping our deep seated negative beliefs and thoughts is necessary. But what’s even more important, is to curb the inflow of lack programming. Otherwise, no matter how much correction you do, you’ll constantly find yourself in a continuous, never ending truckload of negativity & lack. So what else can you do besides watching what you say or do, censoring your information sources, reviewing your habits and be mindful of the people you hang around with? Here are some other ideas. (1) Anchoring This is the same approach I’ve used to condition my niece. It associates a stimuli – either an action or sense – with a particular thought or emotion. In the case of my niece, my rummaging in the bag is a stimuli. The lingering sweet taste of the candy is the thought. In the 1890s, Nobel Laurette, Ivan Pavlov did a similar experiment. He rang a bell as some dogs were given food laced with chilli powder and the moment the dogs saw it, they salivated. After a couple of repeated actions, Pavlov was able to induce the dogs to salivate just by ringing the bell alone! Now, if anchoring has the power to make my niece run across the hallway for an imaginary piece of candy, chances are you can create your own feel good designer anchors and activate them whenever you want. Especially if you’re in need of a positive boost. Let’s use an example. Assuming you want to recreate the rush-in-the-adrenaline “ah ha” feeling you often get after reading an inspirational story, * First, decide on an anchor to activate this feeling. Such as clutching your fingers into a tight fist. * Refresh your memory of the “ah ha” feeling. If you have problems recalling it, pick up an inspirational story book and re-read it. * As the sensation gets vivid and reaches its peak, immediately clutch your fingers * Then release the tension on your fingers as it begins to wear down. Otherwise, you may be also associating the anchor to a draining adrenaline loss if you keep holding on to the tension. * Once the feeling is totally gone, relax in a count of 10. * Repeat the steps above to make sure the anchoring stays. * Test it out! I was giving this anchoring method a test drive at the point of writing this article. During the anchoring process, I was constantly practicing it with my right hand and it works wonderfully. When I tried the same using my left hand, hey but I don’t get the same feeling at all. Interesting. Go ahead. Give it a try. (2) Affirmations or Positive Self Talk By constantly repeating a positive statement to yourself everyday, you hammer a thought, condition or feeling into your subconscious mind, inducing it to believe as true. To do this, you need a piece of paper, a dash of creativity and not to forget, a continuous flow of emotions and persistence : * Write down the phrase “I am so happy “ on the paper. * Continue writing the condition or feelings you want to achieve. Something like this : “I am so happy that I am now achieving total success in every aspect of my life. Good health, true happiness and money flows into my life in an easy, relaxed and positive way.” * Feel free to add your goals into the statement if you want. Some people gets very positive vibes whenever they dream or talk about their goals. You may be one of them. * Take out this piece of paper and read the statement to yourself loudly and emotionally every morning and evening I had a chance to play around with affirmations many years ago and frankly, I didn’t have had much good results with it. Reading the statement out loud every night felt like a chore as I wasn’t able to summon strong emotions and feel for the words. Sometimes, I even forget to read them! Spicing up the process by listening to motivational music helped, but over the course of the year, I’ve found an easier and more effective way to work with affirmations. That is, reading it via Dr Lens’ approach, also known as the Hoponopono method. I’ve briefly mentioned this method in a previous article. Through the use of 4 simple phrases during my daily chanting prayers, I was often able to invoke positive emotions pretty easily. I guess reciting the phrases towards someone with a spiritual connection allows me to take accountability for my problems, seek forgiveness, express gratitude & love at the same time, all of which are pretty powerful sensations. There were times when I could literally feel a shudder running through my spine. You’ll feel as if you’ve just confided in someone, letting go of the truckloads of negative emotions within you to make way for the positive ones. And yes, I usually get pumped up and reinvigorated afterwards. (3) Self Hypnosis Even though I’ve yet to achieve great results with self hypnosis, many people have reported huge success with it. They use it to lose weight, quit smoking and some even use it to increase their self esteem! Sounds incredible, isn’t it? Self hypnosis can be pretty similar to affirmations in that you run suggestions and positive statements through your mind everyday. The difference is, you do it in a sleepy or trance like state often conducted via the hypnotist’s voice in a tape. It’s believed that the mind is less likely to resist the suggestions during a semi conscious state, making it easier to alter one’s consciousness. Sometimes, the hypnosis can also put you into an imaginary setting so that you’re able to draw certain observations from your interaction with the situation. For example, I remembered listening to a hypnosis tape to help me predict how I would fare 10 years’ later. The speaker led me into an imaginary woods to locate a house and asked me to describe it to myself. “The house will be your home in the future” he said. I was subsequently asked to step into the house to greet the future “me” and my family. And you know what I saw? I saw myself dressed in a house dress with my “husband”. Gee, I thought I really looked like a housewife. The other funny thing was, the guy who was supposed to be my “husband” looked like someone I was admiring at that time! Ha ha. Though I can’t imagine myself being a housewife and the “husband” whom I was supposed to be with is now happily attached to someone else, the whole self hypnosis experience was quite fun. However, it’s important to note that no one can be “hypnotized” against his own will. That means, if you’ve bought a self hypnosis tape thinking that it wouldn’t help, chances are, it wouldn’t. Because, the effect of hypnosis really depends on your motivation, willingness and faith to make it work for you. If you’re interested to learn more about self hypnosis and find out if it works for you, try signing up for this free 5 day online eCourse to get free hypnosis lessons, audio samples, worksheets and even a trance script in your email. (4) Profiling I’m sure you’ve heard of this. If you want to be successful, emulate the ones who are there because success leaves clues. That’s the principle behind profiling. Say you want to play tennis as well as Roger Federer, you can read his autobiography, watch his every matches, analyze his strokes and factor them into your own practice. While reading and watching more about him, you begin to adopt as many of the habits that lead to his success as an accomplished tennis player. In other words, you play copycat. Profiling can be a rather powerful programming technique. But like all approaches described, it’s also a double edge sword. Drawing a line between picking up only the good habits versus idol worshipping can be a challenge for people who constantly like to use profiling to program themselves. I know that’s ironical but it’s true. For example, haven’t you seen young people smoking pot because their glamorous celebrities in Hollywood do it as well? Or young achievers sinking into complacency because their idols fall for it too? (5) Vision Board Many people thought Vision Boards are just for physical goals. But if you recall my Vision Board experiment, positive emotions can also be included in it as well. For example, under the Health & Fitness section of my Vision Board, I’ve used a picture of a man jumping into the air to signify the vitality associated with good sleep and regular exercise. To make that feeling even more obvious, I attached the affirmation “I Feel Healthy and Energetic After Sleeping Well and Exercising Regularly” to that. I’ve personally derived a lot of fun from my Vision Board experiment and would strongly recommend this approach to anyone who’s keen to give add a little positivity in your life without losing all the joy. Do refer to one my earlier articles How I Create My Vision Board – Revealed! if you need help with creating your own Vision Board. (6) Gratitude Journaling Do you know that being grateful for the little things you possess in life can actually increase your happiness level by 25%? In an exclusive interview with Sharpbrains.com, Professor Robert Emmons revealed this finding in his 2003 paper. In his research, more than a hundred people were asked to keep a journal and subsequently separated into 3 different groups. The first group was asked to write about anything they felt grateful about. The second, on issues that they felt disturbing and irritating. And the last, on matters that had a great impact on them. After 3 rounds of experiments and analysis, people in the 1st group were concluded to enjoy a higher level of general well being than the other 2 groups! They slept better, exercised more and had better expectations of the week ahead. On hindsight, it’s not difficult to understand why. When one’s always complaining, he’s constantly engaging his mind to think of how life has been unjust to him, totally clouding the possibility that he can breakthrough this with a bit of effort. Sometimes, sticking your head out for a breath of fresh air by just focusing on your “haves” rather than your “don’t haves” will let you see things in a totally different perspective. Remember, when you start changing what you see, the things you see change. I don’t keep a personal gratitude journal but am seriously tempted to do so now! (7) Masterminding When I first wrote The Beginner’s Guide To Mastermind Groups, I belong to 2 teams which were more of the open and communicative style. One was structured as a members only forum and whoever has a question, can raise it to the floor. The other was confined to email correspondences. Even though both groups were very much dormant now, during the times when they were active, one of the first things I would do everyday was to login to the forum or my email to check if there were any new ideas or case studies reported by the teams. It was very inspiring to hear of any successes. Especially those that came about as a result of the group. Because it proved one thing. If they could do it, so could I. The only question was, how? And my mind would be so focused on brainstorming the followup strategies that I didn’t have much bandwidth left for brooding over negative stuff. ** Photo By Derrick T

Burning Man Bikes - $30

kimberlyanne — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:50:58 GMT

Bikes for Burning Man If you're in need of a bike that is great for Burning Man, contact us at the Reno Sparks Kiwanis Bike Program. We have a limited supply of bikes for $30 and up that you can purchase and at the same time support our programs to fix up bikes for at risk kids in our area. If you return the bike you bought from us we'll be very appreciative, and promise to use it again next year. We would also love to have other bikes that you're willing to donate after the event. We'll be at our shop at 2605 Comstock Drive the week before and the first few days of Burning Man to get you a bike, but to reserve one you need to go to our web site and make a $30 deposit for a bike. You can also learn more about our programs in northern Nevada, we're on our site at www.kiwanisbikes.org. We have about 400 bikes for Burning Man this year, so pass the word to others. It helps us support programs for kids in the area and gets you wheels for the playa. Call 775-746-9310 or email kiwanis_bikes@sbcglobal.net if you have questions.

Why was I the only one?

kimberlyanne — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:12:16 GMT

I just drove back home to Marin after a wonderfully delightful night.... On the GG bridge were a few anti-war protesters with signs - and about as many cops. It was almost surreal. The protesters all carried pink signs - maybe they were from code pink?! http://www.codepink4peace.org --- The signs said "honk for peace", "impeach cheney", "no more war" and the like. I drove by 3 of them surrounded by cops at first and then further on there were about 10 more and I began honking. They cheered and flashed me the peace sign, which I flashed back. Then I realized I was THE ONLY ONE HONKING!!!! The bridge was packed. Because of the rubber-neckers, we were almost stopped or going 5 miles an hour - yet I WAS THE ONLY ONE HONKING!!!!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?! I was incredulous. The cops even looked at me funny. How can this be???? Am I living in the San Francisco Bay Area in California?! Am I the only driver to protest the war in the group of 100 that crossed the 3 mile bridge, spanning 3 lanes at this exact point in time?!?!?!? What is going on?! That's when my emotions took over and I started to cry. I cried for peace, I cried for all the people who have died in this needless, pointless, ego and money driven war - all the dead and injured on both sides, I cried for all the people who are left without family members, all of the people who have been sent to fight this bullshit war, our sick sick government and all of us (me included) who have laid down passively with our stomachs wide open and our legs up in the air and have not revolted properly. Sure I've gone to all the anti-war protests, sure I've spoken about my distaste - as have many - yet I too have felt helpless and confused for these past years, not knowing what to do to stop it. This didn't happen during the Vietnam war. There was proper protesting then. When we weren't all fat and comfortable, sitting in front of the TV with our eyes glazed over eating carbs and sugar. Who are we - as a nation - as a people? What have we become? Will this upcoming election change anything? What have we learned?

Blimp TV - "New Bush Coins"

kimberlyanne — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:53:08 GMT

http://blimptv.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-bush-coins.html

Chocolate cravings may be physiological

kimberlyanne — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:57:36 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_he_me/diet_chocolate_craving By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Fri Oct 12, 4:34 AM ET WASHINGTON - If that craving for chocolate sometimes feels like it is coming from deep in your gut, that's because maybe it is. A small study links the type of bacteria living in people's digestive system to a desire for chocolate. Everyone has a vast community of microbes in their guts. But people who crave daily chocolate show signs of having different colonies of bacteria than people who are immune to chocolate's allure. That may be the case for other foods, too. The idea could eventually lead to treating some types of obesity by changing the composition of the trillions of bacteria occupying the intestines and stomach, said Sunil Kochhar, co-author of the study. It appears Friday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Proteome Research. Kochhar is in charge of metabolism research at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. The food conglomerate Nestle SA paid for the study. But this isn't part of an effort to convert a few to the dark side (or even milk) side of cocoa, Kocchar said. In fact, the study was delayed because it took a year for the researchers to find 11 men who don't eat chocolate. Kochhar compared the blood and urine of those 11 men, who he jokingly called "weird" for their indifference to chocolate, to 11 similar men who ate chocolate daily. They were all healthy, not obese, and were fed the same food for five days. The researchers examined the byproducts of metabolism in their blood and urine and found that a dozen substances were significantly different between the two groups. For example, the amino acid glycine was higher in chocolate lovers, while taurine (an active ingredient in energy drinks) was higher in people who didn't eat chocolate. Also chocolate lovers had lower levels of the bad cholesterol, LDL. The levels of several of the specific substances that were different in the two groups are known to be linked to different types of bacteria, Kochhar said. Still to be determined is if the bacteria cause the craving, or if early in life people's diets changed the bacteria, which then reinforced food choices. How gut bacteria affect people is a hot field of scientific research. Past studies have shown that intestinal bacteria change when people lose weight, said Dr. Sam Klein, an obesity expert and professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Since bacteria interact with what you eat, it is logical to think that there is a connection between those microbes and desires for certain foods, said Klein, who wasn't part of Kochhar's study. Kochhar's research makes so much sense that people should have thought of it earlier, said J. Bruce German, professor of food chemistry at the University of California Davis. While five outside scientists thought the study was intriguing, Dr. Richard Bergman at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, had concerns about the accuracy of the initial division of the men into groups that wanted chocolate or were indifferent to it. What matters to Kochhar is where the research could lead. Kochhar said the relationship between food, people and what grows in their gut is important for the future: "If we understand the relationship, then we can find ways to nudge it in the right direction."

Formaldehyde in Chinese made clothes and blankets

kimberlyanne — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 08:27:14 GMT

Here are links to articles which the mainstream media has not covered about formaldehyde in Chinese made clothes and blankets. http://www.rense.com/general78/ozz.htm http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/40502/consumer/formaldehyde-clothes http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/08/22/afx4042637.html Make sure you wash any new clothing before you wear it. Many people are very sensitive to chemicals on new clothing. Original post by Rob Latta

MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOW!!!

kimberlyanne — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:18:56 GMT

Just Say NO to Plastic We’ve all heard how horrible plastic is for the environment yet it’s so ingrained into our society that often times we overlook it and don’t see the part we can play to make a change. What can you do right now to make a difference? 1. When you get take out food or have leftovers you can either bring your own reusable plastic or glass container for the food or if you forgot to bring one and they use plastic and what you’ve ordered is not too “soupy” you can ask for wax paper or even wrap half a sandwich in a napkin. I do this constantly and I tell the restaurant why, not in a blaming way though, instead I say “plastic does not biodegrade so whenever I can I use paper as it’s better for the environment”. Educating others is very important but being high and mighty about it will have the opposite effect. 2. Do not buy plastic “nalgene” bottles. These break down over time and deposit phytoestrogens into your water and thus your body, which wreak havoc in your system plus they NEVER biodegrade. Instead buy the “Kleen Kanteen”, or other types of stainless steel containers or carry a glass jar and drink your water out of those. 3. Say no to plastic straws and drink out of the cup. Say no to plastic “to go” cups when you are eating in – opt for glass instead. When taking a cup to go, ask if they have paper instead of plastic. Or carry a cup in your car and bring it in for “to go” orders. 4. Carry compostable plastic bags with you to pick up environmental litter or trash, carry compostable utensils or stainless steel utensils from home when eating on the go. 5. Bring your own reusable canvas bags to the grocery store. Reuse those plastic vegetable bags for the vegys you buy next week. 6. Use ecologically friendly household products for cleaning. Instead of bleach, try using vinegar or vinegar + baking soda. For my stained kitchen sink I use Ecover’s “Non Chlorine Laundry Bleach”. I leave it on overnight. In the morning the sink is sparkling white and there is no odor or environmental hazard. I use the Ecover brand because it comes in a paper box instead of a plastic container and it works great! Yes it is “laundry bleach” but works wonders on the kitchen sink and bathtub! 7. When your plastic shower curtain gets moldy you don’t have to throw it out! Instead throw it in the washing machine with 2 - 3 towels (to keep it from ripping) and 1 cup of vinegar, some detergent and wash on hot. It will be as good as new! The down low on plastic. Plastic does not biodegrade – ever! Unless it’s compostable plastic made of starches, like potato starch. Plastic ends up in the ocean where birds and fish eat it and die horrible and painful deaths. “If plastic doesn’t biodegrade, what does it do? It “photo-degrades” – a process in which it is broken down by sunlight into smaller and smaller pieces, all of which are still plastic polymers, eventually becoming individual molecules of plastic, still too tough for anything to digest.” – per algalita The #1 recyclable product is glass, aluminum is #2. Plastics have a number stamped on the bottom. #1 and #2 are the easiest to recycle but can only be recycled once. All other numbers are too expensive to recycle and so most are not. #6 (other) cannot be recycled at all – this includes styrofoam (THE ABSOLUTE WORST). ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A TREMENDOUS DIFFERENCE!!!!!! ☺ 1. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3892310789953943147 2. http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/pvcdatabase/bad.html 3. http://www.besafenet.com/PVCDisposalReport_2-Column_R6.pdf 4. http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plasticizers/Out-Of-Diet-PG5nov03.htm 5. Make your own environmentally and body friendly cleaners for the kitchen, bathroom and more! http://www.wswmd.org/recipes#dish 6. http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Algalita-Ocean-Plastic22oct02.htm 7. http://www.algalita.org/pdf/plastic-in-the-environment.pdf 8. http://www.acfnewsource.org/environment/plastic_plankton.html 9. http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=3Yu&resnum=0&q=bird+plastic+algalita&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

11th Hour Movie - watch preview - then make a difference!

kimberlyanne — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:05:01 GMT

http://wip.warnerbros.com/11thhour/

Find out what toxins are in your cosmetics

kimberlyanne — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 05:59:09 GMT

It's not only what you put in your body that's important, it's what you put on your body that's almost more important - as your skin absorbs products directly into your blood stream!!! Here you can look up particular brands or ingredients that you've always wondered about and find out how toxic they really are. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1 I've opted to switch to 100% natural products such as: 1. Pure Shea butter for body and face lotion ---- fair trade brands only - I recommend http://ojobacollective.com/shea_butter.html (if you're in the Bay Area, Rainbow Market sells it for $3.75 less and you won't have to pay for the shipping or further hurt the Earth with more packaging waste) 2. Also pure glycerin soap for face and body soap. 3. Pure titanium dioxide for sunscreen. All sunscreens contain harsh toxic chemicals. The only Pure Titanium Dioxide I could find after hours of research is - Professional Solutions 100% Pure Titanium Dioxide Water-based - and it's reasonably priced at @$13.00 4. Toothpaste w/out sodium lauryl sulfate such as all Weleda brands or Cleure brands (all other toothpaste brands contain sodium lauryl sulfate - read about sodium lauryl sulfate concerns here: http://www.healthy-communications.com/slsmostdangerousirritant.html ) Taking care of your body from the inside OUT :) http://www.beautycocktails.com/aware.html

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT/MORNING!!!!

kimberlyanne — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:39:10 GMT

Shelley Yates and her 4 year old son were dead underwater for 15 mins before being brought back to life with an important message for us all and how we can help the world on 7/17/07 - at 11:11am Greenwich Mean Time (4:11am PDT) - one hour of your time can heal the planet - and if you are asleep at that time and can't wake up to participate you still can make the same enormous contribution by writing your intentions on a piece of paper and signing it - if you choose this route write something akin to: I give permission to my soul to connect w/the grid and it’s my intention to heal the earth. Write your joys in life (ie: your family, ice cream, etc.) and sign it. If you can be awake at that time - meditate or pray - or do something joyful and give thanks for it (read to your children, paint, sing, etc.) What do you have to lose? For the full story and information please go to: http://www.firethegrid.com Or watch Shelley speak here - she explains it all in 8 parts: http://youtube.com/results?search_query=fire+the+grid&search=

Interesting 45 Minute Video

kimberlyanne — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:58:46 GMT

Guys and Dolls http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3710987618964917848 Thanks Scott...

Zeitgeist Movie Doc - watch here!

kimberlyanne — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:09:30 GMT

http://zeitgeistmovie.com

Watch SiCKO for Free - Michael Moore's new movie

kimberlyanne — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:06:16 GMT

Watch online or download Michael Moore's new movie SiCKO for free here!!!!! http://www.opposingdigits.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6652 or here http://www.springmanrecords.com/springman/avi/sicko.html WHAT CAN YOU DO RIGHT NOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/what-can-i-do/ I have been informed that Michael Moore printed a statement saying he does not mind people watching SiCKO online for free! Other opinions: http://www.star-telegram.com/245/story/161795.html Also: 1. I posted the links in my student yahoo group and people felt it was more important to support Michael Moore's efforts and pay to see it in a theater. I personally agree, however with the time constraints of going to school full time I would have to wait another 3 months before that was possible and felt that it's better to see the film now than to wait to see it. I emailed Michael Moore asking if there was a way that ppl who watch it online for free can send the price of a ticket to him via paypal. I also have quite a few friends who are doing both, watching it online and going to the theater. 2. I talked to a man yesterday who is a liberal but "has a problem with Michael Moore" - he feels that Michael Moore uses sensationalism to keep getting richer himself. He felt that Michael is coming from Ego rather than from Helping the People. He spent quite some time explaining why he felt this way and I was able to see his point of view as well. He did say however that Michael does get people thinking and talking, which is important none-the-less.

Pesticides In Produce - Buy Organic!

kimberlyanne — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:17:59 GMT

Why Should You Care About Pesticides? There is growing consensus in the scientific community that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can adversely affect people, especially during vulnerable periods of fetal development and childhood when exposures can have long lasting effects. Because the toxic effects of pesticides are worrisome, not well understood, or in some cases completely unstudied, shoppers are wise to minimize exposure to pesticides whenever possible. Will Washing and Peeling Help? Nearly all of the data used to create these lists already considers how people typically wash and prepare produce (for example, apples are washed before testing, bananas are peeled). While washing and rinsing fresh produce may reduce levels of some pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Peeling also reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. How This Guide Was Developed The produce ranking was developed by analysts at the not-for-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2004. A detailed description of the criteria used in developing the rankings is available as well as a full list of fresh fruits and vegetables that have been tested (see below). FOR MORE INFORMATION (DOWNLOADABLE) AND A COMPLETE LIST OF TESTED PRODUCE GO TO: http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php

The Bees, The Bees - Good News

kimberlyanne — Tue, 15 May 2007 20:08:32 GMT

Organic Beekeepers Reporting Zero Losses http://groovygreen.com/groove/?p=1388 With all the frightening news over bee losses throughout the world, it appears that one tiny minor piece of information was overlooked: the losses are occurring in colonies besieged with chemicals and artificial additives. Organic bees are fairing quite nicely, thank you. From the article, “‘I’m on an organic beekeeping list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list,’ said Sharon Labchuck. ‘The problem with the big commercial guys is that they put pesticides in their hives to fumigate for varroa mites, and they feed antibiotics to the bees. They also haul the hives by truck all over the place to make more money with pollination services, which stresses the colonies.’” In our efforts to make larger bees that are resistant to more predators or diseases — have we crossed the line in how far we could go? As the article states, “Who should be surprised that the major media reports forget to tell us that the dying bees are actually hyper-bred varieties that we coax into a larger than normal body size? It sounds just like the beef industry. And, have we here a solution to the vanishing bee problem? Is it one that the CCD Working Group, or indeed, the scientific world at large, will support? Will media coverage affect government action in dealing with this issue?” http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=21912 This change from fighting the mites is mostly because I've gone to natural sized cells. In case you weren't aware, and I wasn't for a long time, the foundation in common usage results in much larger bees than what you would find in a natural hive. I've measured sections of natural worker brood comb that are 4.6mm in diameter. What most people use for worker brood is foundation that is 5.4mm in diameter. If you translate that into three dimensions instead of one, it produces a bee that is about half as large again as is natural. By letting the bees build natural sized cells, I have virtually eliminated my Varroa and Tracheal mite problems. One cause of this is shorter capping times by one day, and shorter post-capping times by one day. This means less Varroa get into the cells, and less Varroa reproduce in the cells. Who should be surprised that the major media reports forget to tell us that the dying bees are actually hyper-bred varieties that we coax into a larger than normal body size? It sounds just like the beef industry. And, have we here a solution to the vanishing bee problem? Is it one that the CCD Working Group, or indeed, the scientific world at large, will support? Will media coverage affect government action in dealing with this issue? These are important questions to ask. It is not an uncommonly held opinion that, although this new pattern of bee colony collapse seems to have struck from out of the blue (which suggests a triggering agent), it is likely that some biological limit in the bees has been crossed. There is no shortage of evidence that we have been fast approaching this limit for some time. We've been pushing them too hard, Dr. Peter Kevan, an associate professor of environmental biology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, told the CBC. And we're starving them out by feeding them artificially and moving them great distances. Given the stress commercial bees are under, Kevan suggests CCD might be caused by parasitic mites, or long cold winters, or long wet springs, or pesticides, or genetically modified crops. Maybe it's all of the above...

A reminder that within all of us - is all of us :)

kimberlyanne — Tue, 01 May 2007 06:49:01 GMT

For I am the first and the last I am the honored one and the scorned one I am the whore and the holy one I am the wife and the virgin I am the barren one, and many are her sons I am she whose wedding is great, and I have not taken a husband I am the midwife and she who does not bear I am the solace of my labor pains I am the silence that is incomprehensible I am the utterance of my name. Thunder, Perfect Mind Excerpt from The Gnostic Gospels

Two Dragons

kimberlyanne — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 08:32:47 GMT

One evening an old Zen Master told his students about a "Great Battle" that goes on inside all Human Beings. The wise man said, "The battle is between 2 "Dragons" … They are battling for dominance inside us all. One is Dark, it represents Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Light, it represents Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The students thought about it for a minute and then asked the Zen Master: "Which Dragon wins?" The old wise man simply replied, "The one you feed."

Weaponized Uranium Gas to be Released AGAIN in SF Bay

kimberlyanne — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:24:17 GMT

The SF Bay area has the highest rate of breast cancer in the world. http://rense.com/general75/hyd.htm http://rense.com SF Bay Area Targeted - 7,000,000 People Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab's 200 Executioners Are Ready By Bob Nichols duweapons@gmail.com 1-30-7 SAN FRANCISCO -- About 200 Executioners will report for work one day soon at the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons "Lab" in Livermore, California and methodically, even "professionally," set about executing the premeditated random murder of hundreds of innocent victims in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area is home to About Seven Million potential murder victims, all blissfully unaware of the deadly radioactive uranium gas about to be released in a "dirty bomb" by the 200 Executioners. Gay or straight, bisexual or transgender, black or white or Asian, it makes no difference to the cold blooded murderers at Livermore as the employees mindlessly carry out their proscribed "tests" and "detonations." After all, the money's good, why would they ever ask anything? THE WEAPON. The weapon of choice in this long running random killing spree is a radioactive metal aerosol so small, tiny even, so finely divided, that it acts like a gas. Weaponized insoluble ceramic uranium oxide and uranium nitride gas or aerosols have only two purposes. Those are to 1) kill people, and 2) contaminate the land. The Executioners will gather on the Federal Government's appointed day, concurred in by the University of California at Berkeley (UC-B,) and use exotic high explosives to blast to smithereens a substantial amount of weaponized uranium gas in solid metal form. The Executioners have done this reguarly for at least 46 years, since 1961. [See attached photo.] The uranium metal then catches on fire and burns at more than 3000 degrees. The fumes are radioactive gas [aerosols] deadly to all life forms. Dr. Chris Busby found them in giant high volume air filters in England from Iraq nine days after the United States started bombing Iraq in the "Shock and Awe" bombing campaign starting on March 21, 2003. England is 2500 miles away from Baghdad. The San Francisco Bay Area is just a few miles away from Livermore's radioactive bomb detonation site. California's fantastically rich agricultural valleys are just a few miles inland. It is time to recognize the reality of the situation. San Francisco is under attack from the Nuclear Weapons Lab at Livermore, California. THE LOCATION. The deadly explosive "device" will be detonated at the Livermore Site 300 Open Air 7000 acre detonation site one mile from Tracy, California. The facility is run by the nearby Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons "Lab." The Nuke Bomb Factory is "managed" for the Federal Government by UC-B and has been, continuously, for 61 years. HISTORY. A variety of Executioners working for the Nuclear Weapons "Lab," UC-B, and the Federal Government, since 1961, purposefully detonated thousands of pounds of deadly weaponized uranium gas. The Executioners are responsible for poisoning and contaminating thousands of people, buildings and land in the San Francisco Bay Area. The British Intelligence Agency called MI-6 has used the casualty rate figure of 10,000 people killed and maimed per ton of weaponized uranium gas explosively aerosolized and released. Supposing, for example, the Executioners explode 1000 pounds a year for 46 years. That works out to a kill and maimed casualty figure of 230,000 persons - men, women, and children. The Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons "Lab" recently "requested" that the maximum amount of uranium exploded annually be increased to 8000 pounds by the San Joaquin County Pollution Control Board. In other words, the Masters of the Nuclear Weapons Lab decided to increase the annual premeditated random casualty rate by 35,000 men, women and children. However, all the radiation dose rates are calculated for male victims between 15 and 34 years of age, generally, the strongest and healthiest human specimens. This lucky group of men's chances of getting a radioactive, chemically poisonous, heavy metal particle are, simply stated, about 5 chances out of a thousand all things being equal. However, things are not equal or fair; women, children and older men suffer higher rates of radiation related death and disease. A large daily newspaper and Livermore apologist, The San Francisco Chronicle, really distinguished themselves by blaming the high rate of breast cancer in nearby Marin County in the 1990s on hot tubs and smoking cigarettes. At the time Marin County had the highest breast cancer rate in the world. The Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, now called Livermore National Laboratory, apparently regards the Seven Million human beings in the San Francisco Bay Area as just so many expendable lab rats. The picture of a uranium bomb explosion at the Livermore Site 300 caption reads "Hydrodynamic (bomb core) test on a firing table at Site 300, 1961. The bright "streaking" effect in the photo is likely from shards of pyrophoric metal, such as Uranium 238, hurtling through the air. U-238 is one of the contaminants of concern in the Site 300 Superfund cleanup. Photo: LLNL." LLNL is the commonly used shorthand name for Lawrence Livermore National Lab. HOW URANIUM KILLS AND MAIMS. Weaponized uranium metal bombs detonated with high explosives create tiny aerosols of burning uranium oxides and uranium nitrides. The uranium burns at more than 3000 Degrees. The fumes created contain the tiny ceramicized particles that are so devastating to human bodies and all living things. The ceramicized uranium gas is toxic in at least three ways. The radioactive toxicity is well known. A milligram of uranium oxide is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. For the rest of our eternity that same milligram fires of 1,251,000 little bullets a day. That's One Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Onr Thousand. Then you, individually, have the power of an H-Bomb for your own personal internal ionizing radiation source that decimates those cells around it. Cancer, anyone? The chemical or heavy metal toxicity is well known and applies equally to uranium. The catalytic toxicity of ceramic uranium compound aerosols is perhaps the most dangerous and least well known. It wrecks the information flows in the body. Uranium is always attracted to phosphate structures and since DNA, RNA, and Mitochondrial DNA are phosphate structures, genetic mutations are introduced that never go away. Whether you or your loved ones in the San Francisco Bay Area get sick and die of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, nueromuscular diseases, renal (kidney) disorders, endocrine disorders or some combination of these dreaded diseases; they all can be set off by the radioactive uranium gas Livermore's Executioners are set to send to the San Francisco Bay Area. There are two public agency meeting coming up Febuary 6th and 7th. This is where to go to have your traditional California say in whether or not this travesty continues. The City of Tracy City Council Meeting and the San Joquin Air Pollution Control District.. You all know what you should do. Bob Nichols is a Project Censored Award winner. He is a newspaper correspondent and a frequent contributor to various online publications. Nichols is completing a book based on 15 years of nuclear radiation war in Central Asia. He is a former employee of the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. Nichols can be reached by email, and readers are encouraged to write to him at: DUweapons@gmail.com Mr Nichols states "I am indebted the following individuals for sharing their knowledge and understanding of ionizing radiation which made this article possible. Dr Doug Rokke, US Army, Ret., Leuren Moret, Dr Chris Busby, Dennis Kyne, Karen Parker, JD., the US Army, Department of Defense and publications from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab with numerous authors. HELP STOP DU EXPLOSIVES http://tinyurl.com/3x8ch8 Help STOP DU Explosives 1) Donate monies to be used to fight large explosions at Site 300 at Livermore National Lab. Funding to hire experts is desperately needed. No donation is too small! Donate by check or online. Make checks payable to: Tri-Valley CAREs Put: Site 300 Explosions on Memo line. Send checks to: Tri-Valley CAREs Attn: Bob Sarvey 501 West Grant Line Road Tracy, CA 95376 Or donate online to Tri-Valley Cares http://www.trivalleycares.org/donate.asp#whydonate If you donate online, also be sure to send a note to marylia@earthlink.net telling Tri-Valley CAREs that you would like your donation to be used to oppose Site 300 explosions. Contact info for Tri-Valley CAREs 2582 Old First Street Livermore, CA 94551 Phone (925) 443-7148 * Fax (925) 443-0177 mailto:marylia@earthlink.net 2) Attend Tracy City Council meeting on Tuesday, February 6 at 7:00 p.m. to support local residents to ask Tracy City Council to oppose large DU explosives at Livermore Lab: Tracy City Hall 325 East 10th Street Tracy, CA 95376 Phone: (209) 831-4103 council@ci.tracy.ca.us Email correspondence addressed to or carbon copied to City Council is a public record. For information on Tracy City Council: http://www.ci.tracy.ca.us/city_council/ 3) Attend Hearing to show support on Wednesday, February 7 at 10 a.m. Appeal to San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District Hearing Board Meeting Location: San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District 4800 Enterprise Way Modesto, CA Information about this meeting: http://www.valleyair.org/Board_meetings/HB/agenda_minutes/ North/Cancel/HB-NR-Cancel%202007-January-3.pdf or, http://tinyurl.com/2ndu66 MainPage http://www.rense.com