Most of us live our lives largely by habit. We get up at the same time each workday, hurry through our morning routine, pop off to work, come home in the evening and relax a little with the family and then sleep a while before we get up and do it again. Pretty soon we wonder where the week went...then where the months went. I blinked a moment ago and suddenly my baby son is in the middle of his college years! Life is far too precious to squander blindly.
So why are we really here? What are you doing with your life? I believe that the single highest purpose to which we can each devote ourselves is spiritual development. I also believe that that is an extremely personal endeavor - a pursuit that should remain outside the reaches of government. Spiritual practice takes many forms and there is no one right way, just as there is no one right religion. It is up to each person to find their way, and it is abhorrent for anyone to push their own spiritual beliefs on another.
Another very important and very worthy pursuit is to do what one can to make the world a better place, and that is my topic today. This work takes many forms, and now it is vital that we each take it upon ourselves to do something to ensure that the government of the United States is steered back to a course that promotes freedom rather than restrictions, opportunity for the many rather than excesses for the few, harmony among nations rather than unilateral interventionism, and hope and vision of a better world rather than fear and expectation of terrorism and war.
The Republican Party, the Bush Administration, Fox 'News' (and all of Rupert Murdoch's media companies), along with right-wing 'conservative' radio hosts and many others have been working for years to promote the legislation of their brand of morality. Bush - through incredibly gullible criminally-negligent dependence on bad 'intelligence' - or through conscious deception - has plunged us into horrible quagmire in Iraq. After pledging to find Osama in response to September 11, 2001 ...we hardly hear of Afghanistan, and we have killed 13,000 Iraqi civilians, lost 1,000 coalition troops, suffered 5,000 wounded, produced countless orphans, and for what? So that maybe we can control the Iraqi oil?
And what about healthcare? How many more must go bankrupt or go without care due to lack of insurance and high medical bills? What about education? 'No child left behind'? Are you kidding? I know many teachers, and these are some of the most dedicated individuals you could ever find. They certainly aren't in it for the money! They'll spend chunks of their own money and many, many extra hours to see that the kids they teach get the attention they need and have the supplies that they need. It's not due to anything Bush has done.
Folks, Bush and the Republican Party are all talk. They'll toss out little slogans and big blatant lies, and figure that we will just take it at face value. DON'T!
Please:
- Hunt for the references for 'facts' before believing the drivel of Fox 'News' folks like Bill O'Reilly. They just pass on whatever they are told to convey. Why do you think Canada won't allow Fox 'News' to broadcast up there? It's because Fox 'News' is editorial , yet the company bills itself as 'Fair and Balanced'.
- Consider boycotting Fox 'News' completely
- EDUCATE YOURSELF . Please do not believe everything you hear on TV or read in the paper. Find several opposing viewpoints and consider them all. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
- Go see (or buy or rent) some of the movies that have been released recently (Fahrenheit 9/11, Outfoxed, Control Room, and the various other movies that are out or are coming out offering an alternative to what Fox and the rest of the right-wing media want to tell you.
Now, I know that some will say that they can't stand Michael Moore. Well, I admit you do have to filter what you see from his movies or anyone's. But, I must also state that I have read some of his books, and one of the very good things about his writing is that he lists the reference for every statement he makes. You can go and check if a certain newspaper really published a quoted story, or if the Congressional Record really does contain some quoted text (and I have checked a number of the references, and have always found them to be accurate).
OK, bottom line: Educate yourself, be critical of all that you read and hear, and once you've decided whom to support in the election, get active. Talk to others, write letters to the editor, put bumper stickers on your car, volunteer at the campaign office, donate money to organizations that will help humanity.
Peace.
August 22, 2004 
We spent the first week of August 2004 on Maui. Since the primary goal was to relax, we spent most of the time snorkeling. We saw plenty of fish and coral, but were amazed at how many sea turtles we saw! We've snorkeled in the waters off Kauai, the big island of Hawaii, down in Rarotonga and Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, and now Maui. Never have we seen so many sea turtles! We stopped counting after the first few days. So here's a start on the Maui pics (click any small image on the pics page to see the full-size image, and to be able to navigate through the other pics). Most of these are of turtles seen while snorkeling, and there are a few beach pics. Lots more to come!
Here's the before picture. The ingredients included an apple, an orange, a lime, a banana, some strawberries that we bought fresh and then froze, some blueberries, several baby carrots, a slice of cabbage, and a slice of pineapple (and I tossed in a few ice cubes). I did wash the apple and pull out the stem, and did peel the banana, orange, and lime, and cut the rind off of the pineapple. So there was some prep (very fast).
...and here's the finished smoothie (actually, this made two very full glasses). This was very, very tasty! It amazes me that I didn't taste the cabbage nor the carrots at all. What I'm discovering here is a very easy way to have extremely healthy drinks (we've also made soup, salsa, ice cream, nut butter, etc. using the VitaMix). Most of us do not take in nearly as much fresh fruits and vegetables as we should for optimum health. I wish now that we'd bought a VitaMix years ago. I am definitely sold on this machine!