Self-Apotheosis

Apotheosis means "making into a God"
(as does theosis, I think, for eastern orthodox)

1.The wikipedia article on divinity says this (in reference to the lds belief-system):
"A divine being is filled with perfect love, and desires to share these qualities because of the joy they bring to each individual soul".

I agree. Who isn't all about perfect love? Perhaps perfect love is defined differently among us all. But, I AM is God's name, so...You are. Pretty simple. If you exist, you're God. Survival is Godhood.

My caveat to the lds definition is this: No one has a soul, (even if you're ghost face killah), in the sense of a ghost or spirit or non-material aspect to your identity, and you don't need a soul to be divine or have perfect love, I say. And perfect love, fyi, doesn't include a love of evil, suffering, or death. Death is an end of suffering, but so is a good meal and a loving relationship and no pain and acceptance of reality, much of which is subjective and you play a large part in creating. THAT's the 'extinction of suffering'.

2.Wikipedia's 'apotheosis' says this about human apotheosis:
"Later artists have used the concept for motives ranging from real respect for the deceased (Constantino Brumidi's fresco The Apotheosis of Washington on the dome of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.), to artistic comment (Salvador Dalí's or Ingres's Apotheosis of Homer), to comedic effect. Many modern leaders have exploited the artistic imagery if not the theology of apotheosis. Examples include Rubens's depictions of James I of England at the Banqueting House (an expression of the Divine Right of Kings) or Henry IV of France, or Appiani's apotheosis of Napoleon. The term has been used figuratively to refer to the elevation of a dead leader (often one who was assassinated and/or martyred) to a kind of superhuman charismatic figure and an effective erasing of all faults and controversies which were connected with his name in life - for example, Abraham Lincoln in the US and Yitzchak Rabin in Israel. Kim Jong-il of North Korea took the place of his father Kim Il-sung and much of the nation has grown up with the idea of the "leader" being placed at the height of society, this is the result of parents raised under a similar image by Kim Il-sung passing this view onto their children. (they're not really god, though -because love is alive. No, their spirit doesn't live on, lol).

3. The wikipedia link, regarding self-deification:
(All these other gods got nuthin' on me. I'm not a jealous god, lol. I love 'em. Do they love me? The Pope says it's all good. And only God is good. Works for me.)

link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_considered_to_be_deities#Self-deification

4. Thou art God, and grokking, etc.

5. Mystical Union, and thus Identity as...
"Theosis -in Christianity-,
Advaita, Unio Mystica is the state of being in perfect union with the Godhead
(Brahman) in mysticism (see Mahāvākyas)."

Unio Mystica
-Deep intrinsic connection to the world
Satori in Mahayana Buddhism,
Te in Taoism
-Union with God
(Henosis -a fancy way of saying making a better world- in Neoplatonism,
Brahma-Prapti or Brahma-Nirvana in Hinduism)
-Innate Knowledge (Irfan and fitra in Islam)
-Experience of one's true blissful nature (Samadhi or Svarupa-Avirbhava in Hinduism)

I imagine that Brahma-Prapti and Brahma-Nirvana implies submission and going through a lot of spiritual mumbo-jumbo like meditation and prayer and mantras...I AM.
I might not be Your God, however. "I don't know" and thus submission to a real or imagined entity that does, might be your point of view. Beware of those that THINk they know, but don't.

(Neoplatonism) Source/Force/Monad/The One- One without conflict internal or external is united with The One. "at one", as they say.
..."Neo's one noetic eon."
Like I said, Love one another. It's so, well...duh.
Noetic means of...Noesis (in Greek νόησις for "insight") is a Greek word meaning understanding as "the ability to sense or know something, immediately".
In phenomenology, it is an act of consciousness.

Aside:
Does your partner call you a God after sex? Did you ever think of Michael Jordan as a God? Do kids playing superheroes from comic books think of themselves as God? Just do it!

Divine etymology

'Divine' etymology, that is

From Old French devin, from Latin dīvīnus, from divus (“‘god’”).

Divus
Those who were deified were referred to with the word divus (Latin, noun, for "the divine/deified one"; feminine diva, plural divi/divae) before their names. Thus, Claudius was called divus Claudius. This word is often rendered as 'god' (i.e., "Claudius the god") but that is something of an over-translation, as Latin had a separate and distinct word for gods (deus). A more accurate translation might be 'divine' (i.e., "the divine Claudius") or 'deified', a somewhat softer formulation that Roman intellectuals could comfortably understand as metaphorical.
As time passed, this honour became more and more automatically associated with dead emperors, to the extent that by the time of the Dominate, it might just as well be understood as meaning "deceased". The fact that 'divus' had lost much of whatever truly religious meaning it had is made clear by the fact that it was used with names of early Christian emperors after their deaths, even after Constantine had technically abolished the practice of deification of emperors. "Divus Constantinus", therefore meant simply "the late Constantinus".

I think of divine in terms of vine and branches and Jesse tree and D,I which is the 4th and 9th letters, and my name Jesse Teshara, which in simple numerology is 4,9. I live in wine country, in Napa county, and my wife worked at Wildhurst, in Lake County. Wildhurst was the name of a street I lived on in Sacramento, in addition to the winery, so it's all pretty weird. I grew up in S.F., with the 49ers, and my wife worked at 49er video in Davis, and grew up off of hwy. 49 in Auburn, and 4+9 is 13, which for me, is lucky enough :-) My dad is big on Prop. 13, as an educator. I also think of Nirvana's Dive in me, and the album Dive.

The etymology of 'mystery', by the way, doesn't take the mystery out of it. It's "From Middle English mysterie < class="mw-redirect" title="Mysterium Fidei (Encyclical)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterium_Fidei_(Encyclical)">Mysterium Fidei (Encyclical) , Encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI on the Eucharist
Mysterium fidei (Latin phrase), Latin phrase meaning "mystery of faith"

The 1965 Encyclical, to emphasize the centrality of the Eucharist in the Church, the Pope echoed the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch, referring to the Blessed Sacrament the "medicine of immortality."

The Blood of Christ will make you IMMORTAL! (Anti-?) Muahahahahah. Moi?
Enough of this vampire shit, everybody, allright??

The Pope says it's all good

At least, that's what it seems like he's saying

"The faith tells us that there are no two principles, one good and one evil. There is only one principle which is God the Creator and He is solely good, without shadow of evil. Hence neither are human beings a mix of good and evil. The human being as such is good. ... This is the joyful announcement of the faith: there is but one source, a source of good, the Creator, and for this reason ... life too is good."

Apparently, evil doesn't exist? There is no original sin? There is no sin, period?

If Jesus is the only one without original sin, then the sex part must be the sin, eh? But God is the Creator, which is the sex, I say.

Any priests or nuns want to clarify all this for me, like what does the Magisterium say?

Would God as destroyer be bad? There is no source of evil? Can there be a human being without shadow of good? Or does that cease to be a human being...say a vampire? Is the devil good? Is there no devil? Have we moved on? Could there be one... What would be the ultimate evil? Oblivion and destruction of the universe? Or hell. War is hell. God is a man of war. Well, anyway..

Peace be with you.
They say hell is separation from God, but they also say God is everywhere. Welcome to Paradise. Is it possible everything we imagine to be bad is actually good?

Aside: maybe the church believes in fate. I mean, if Peter was a rock.. does that mean we're all just fancy billiard balls? So, instead of the 'best of all possible worlds', we're in the only possible world, so we might as well love it, for in the loving is the improving, itself :-)

Your Face

Psalm 80:7
Restore us, O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.




This is by animator George Plympton.

Washington Post

I make regular commentary to the online version of it (of late); Here are some:

Everybody should live happily, which entails living as they see fit. To me, this means the Republicans can have their own country, if they're really that unified and opposed. I don't recall signing any social contract. Maybe we all really should sign on to the laws we want to live under. There could be a patchwork of thousands of nations in America, defined by varying jurisdictions and legal codes, run as each region sees fit. I could be my own army of one, as they say, for example. Anyway, why should there be or must there be a consensus reality and morality? To each his or her own, enshrined in law! Viva la revolucion!

Personally, I think all communication is good, and the more, the better. It clarifies one's own thoughts, and helps the listener see into the process in someone else, if only a snapshot.In any case, Needing counseling can be understood in two ways: 1)You need to see a professional counselor, or 2)you need to talk (with me there?) about our problem. Counseling costs money. I think just sounding out ideas with regular Joe's could or can be just as beneficial, sometimes more.

Everyone involved should scrap the whole status quo, and start over. By this, I mean Israel should unify with Palestine, and both can call themselF (not -ves) something else, like Palrael or Israstine or something. No wall, and any problems would simply be domestic police matters, not international ones. I like More Religion, not Less' response, and I, as God, decree that everybody should just get along. If we want Iran to not have nuclear weapons, shouldn't we unilaterally disarm ourselves, to set an example? What about sovereignty? They have a right to invade us if we have a right to invade them, no? Must a nation be christian to pass moral muster, in terms of being allowed to join the nuclear club (the least prestigious club on the block, in my view)? Why do we have nukes. Space-aliens, threat of retaliation, what? F- the retaliation doctrine, I say. Ever heard of nuclear winter and escalation and innocent lives? It's time to change the mindset entirely. Iran is mostly moderate, I thought. Oh, and by the way, I interpreted Ahmadinejad's "wipe off the map" comment re: Israel not as a nuclear threat, because that would be utterly retarded, but as a desire for perhaps the idea of Palestinian-Israeli unification (Palrael?). Here's an idea: Distribute translated copies of 'Hiroshima' and Carl Sagan's work on nuclear winter to Iran. Also, treat everyone like they are "interesting." Everyone's a Mullah CIA agent, in my book, lol.

while I'm not sure I would call abortion "torture," I would still call it homicide. This is not a "faith position" as Barack has said. It is a scientific fact that life begins at conception. I, for one, as a happily adopted person, am glad I wasn't aborted.

I thought I'd mention here that 'Grave of the Fireflies' is also terrific war-themed animation.

egads. How hard is it to read and repeat an oath. geez. ugh. lol. actually, i want to know what bible passage he originally swore by (or did he affirm, and what's the difference?), and if he really has no quibbles with the constitution, such as that part that permits slavery..

I believe Life-affirming ideals inform Barack's worldview, which means he is pro-adoption, while still pro-choice. As CinC, he commands the military, which in my view, puts him in the position to commit the perfect crime, leading the gang, so to speak. The bible does say there's a time to kill, though. He is also pro-death penalty and anti-a lotta stuff, which the Secret says just creates more of whatever he's against.. I just pray he will let love rule, as Lenny Kravitz says. Love is pro-life, I would say :-). I would know, I'm adopted.

As an aside, he (POTUSA, Barack Hussein Obama), should make known what books he's already read, and reading. A good way for him to do this would be if he had something like Libary Thing (http://www.librarything.com/), which I use on my blog, to display what has influenced him, thus far. That would REALLY be indicative of an open administration, in my view. We could read his books, and be on "the same page", so to speak, in terms of political commentary.

The 2007 book, Solutions for the World's Biggest Problems, gives cost-effective answers to 23 of the most major global problems (it's 442 pp. long, but if you want a summary, I made a series of "book reports" on each chapter in my blog, under the heading SWBP, at http://jesseteshara.blogspot.com.) Happy reading!

"It signaled a generational shift in what women could be on the national stage." Ugh. They can be whatever they want. And should. Be a punk? Be a rebel? People should be able to wear anything. We're still not judging by content of character, ARE we? There's a conformity to rebellion, even. Fashion shmashion. Enough with the tyranny of aesthetic preferences. Who cares? Bathing suits and madonna cone bras. Yeah, whatever, nevermind, nothing's shocking.

Ol D.C. (or R.C., if you prefer) is a Methodist (RC is not RC). I have a Dead Milkmen album with the song 'Methodist coloring book' on it.Maybe Cheney was packing stacks of Methodist coloring books :-)

Random thoughts- A slytherin Harry Potter sensibility can get gross with "catching each other's eyes".. you can think of the woman/son, farmer, and teacher with a sense of synchronicity -or not.

The oath (or affirmation) {what's the difference?} is, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." He might not want to preserve it, though, exactly. Why not? It permits SLAVERY. Thought I'd just point that out.

everyone imagines their own god/God. And Rick Warren's idealization is such that gays (which can be defined as behavior or just inclination/identity)do not act morally (in the bedroom). I think his statement, ""any pastor could be considered doing hate speech if he shared his views that he didn't think homosexuality was the most natural way for relationships" was a bit tongue in cheek. "Most" is obviously a bit unfair.

I didn't read this whole article, but my reaction is this: my wife has a store. More money will cheapen each bills value. Do prices ever fall? They only seem to rise. Like our rent, for example. So I'm worried -which I know is the opposite, probably, of what the Fed wants me to be. Oh, well.

zero is a placeholder, and doesn't seem very mysterious to ME. 10 fingers is one grouping of our fingers, and everything else from that. The notion that nothing of anything could have the same symbol would have been obvious to an ancient mind, I assume, contrarily to the author. Oh, and binary does not require zero. Just on and off, which could be, say, 2 and 9, lol. And The zero effect was a good movie. Saved by zero, good song. It makes me think of sleep-sex (z plus eros). People say O my God, and I think a deity could be seen as neither positive nor negative. Zero begins with the LAST letter, hmm. Finally, zero could be nihility or oblivion.)

I don't often think this, but I believe Dubya is right. The automakers, in my opinion, shouldn't receive money unless it is tied to fuel efficiency production, like the air car.

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."- Albert Einstein

I'm adopted, and glad I'm alive. I don't think it's a morally valid position to be against abortion, and still remain pro-choice. That's like saying I'm against murder, but it should be legal. Life begins at conception, and the fetus is not the equivalent of a tumor or insect, people. We should teach our children to use both spermicidal foam and condoms, together, to really max out the improbability of conception.

Were the lawyers who fled the country more culpable than her? They could be free for the rest of their lives, no? But do female russian prisoners really have a higher birthrate, to get access to better conditions? I guess I don't care, really. Rarer sex could be better sex, and better sex could be more fertile.. I'm reminded of Kill Bill, with the line about "happened to get knocked up". I wish justice were just between, as well as within, countries.

"Defense has all the money and most of the deployable assets." - I am reminded of the old bake sale bumper sticker.. Here's a thought: spend money on making the world happy, and defense spending will become mooted. Spending on weapons, though fun toys for grown men, doesn't have the same happiness bang for the buck -so to speak- as $100 laptops or kindles or whatever, I think. Employ a happiness psychologist, figure it out. It being unhappiness, both general, and specifically, with the American people.

I think the U.S. needs to carefully consider and calculate how many (more? less?) enemies it will have to face, and where, upon ending it's wars, and do the long-term cost-benefit analysis thing. Personally, I think we should get out of Afghanistan, as they can't exactly swim here. Save the expense and beef up the border.

I think Obama should make his choice based on whatever would (have the potential to) relieve the most suffering in the world.

Does he really digest whole books in minutes? Some ad says he has an i.q. of 130. I'd like to know both, but mainly right now what I want to know is, can he dunk, too? I hope he won't rest on his laurels, and keep surprising everybody for a while to come.

Gary

I ran across this funky Gary thing, which I wanted to pass on.

It's from annoying.com, which is an archived site, with this link to Gary.

I've known maybe two Garys. I think my Latin American history teacher's name was, and an African-american cook who, for some reason, I associate with black bumble bees. He stole a radio from me. No bad blood, though. Hi, Gary.

lol.

ELF

No, not the Earth Liberation Front...

I saw a bumper sticker today that read ELF: Everyone Lives Forever.

Um, no. Not gonna happen. Just once. That one lifetime can be broken into infinite increments, however, if you want to get technical. But you started when sperm met egg, and you'll end when your time's up. Not to say I believe in fate. All things being equal, you have some measure of control. A range. But from dust you have come, and to dust you shall return. Your consciousness, derivative from your brain, will go when all the neural impulses stop, upon death. Your brain will turn to dust. No more you. Fin. You will not be reanimated. Your life experience is not stored anywhere else but in your head. You are not on disk. You are your body, and your experience is not virtual.

Immortality, or some form of life-after-death/hereafter, can only be achieved through memories, ideas, art, family, and your consequences, whatever form those may take, be it from a puff of breeze from your dying breath to a flower growing from your gravesite to a cult to a festival or holiday celebrating your life's work, like Shakespeare or Martin Luther King or Washington's birthday, to a cookboog, or maybe even a blog.

Everyone living forever is inconceivable. Our dna is different, and souls don't exist, and forever is fricking infinite, which means the entire lifetime of our universe is as a fraction of a second or something. Sorry to rain on your parade, silly Jesus-freak Christian, but them's the facts, I would say. As the trite tv show says, One Life to Live. Danny Elfman sings No One Lives Forever. That song might live forever, though :-)

"People living deeply have no fear of death." -Anais Nin

The Present

Here's a segment from the first paragraph of the first chapter, entitled 'a mindful approach to fear and anxiety' of a book I'm reading, Calming your anxious mind, by Jeffrey Brantley, MD, which I thought worth sharing, in particular:

"...everything happens in present moment. All we have is the present moment. What we call the past is a memory that actually occurs in the present moment, and what we call the future is something we are imagining or planning now- in the present moment."

I hadn't ever quite thought of time that way.

Stress-reducers tips (70 of 'em)

List #1

1. Wake up 15 minutes earlier, to avoid morning mishaps.
2. Be prepared. (The scout motto) E.g. prepare your day (clothes, etc.) the night before.
3. Make lists. (The most faded ink is better than the sharpest memory?)
4. Don't lie. (Don't do things that will cause you to lie later)
5. Make duplicates of your keys
6. Practice preventive maintenance (for appliances, car, relationships)
7. Have less (or no) caffeine.
8. Don't procrastinate (Do it today! even better, Now!)
9. Plan Ahead (e.g. gas, food, stamps) Don't wait til you run out.
10. If it's broke, fix it. (A constant nuisance, like a broken shoelace, needs immediate attention)
11. Be early to appointments (take the stress away from arriving exactly on time)
12. Be prepared to wait, bring a paperback (make waiting pleasant, if not downright fun)
13. Contingency-plan. E.g., If split, we'll meet here. Plan B. (Plan c?)
14. Relax. Delays can be okay.
15. Count your blessings. Be a Polly-anna. For everything that goes wrong, 10-50-100 things go right.
16. Slow down. Ask questions.
17. Say 'no' to extra projects.
18. Unplug your phone during relaxing me-time. The odds of an emergency are slim to nil.
19. Reconsider your "needs." They're actually mostly just Preferences, aside from food, shelter, and warmth.
20. Simplify x3
21. Associate with non-worriers. Avoid chronic worryworts.
22. Take a hot bath. Or cool shower, in summer.
23. Wear earplugs. (I want those Bose noise-cancelling headphones for 200 bucks)
24. Get enough sleep. Program your alarm for bedtime, too, if you must.
25. Make order out of chaos. Don't lose things. A place for everything, and everything in it's place.
26. BREATHE. Change your breathing habit, perhaps. Short, shallow breathing before, during, and after stressful events results in unexpelled stale air, incomplete tissue oxidation, and consequent muscle tension.
-Instead, take several slow, deep breaths (you'll notice they're from Both the abdomen and the chest).
27. Write down your thoughts and feelings, either in a journal or to throw away.
28. Yoga Technique: Inhale deep through your nose (for 8 seconds). Then,
Exhale, through puckered lips, (making a sighing sound?), for as long as possible (e.g. 16 seconds). Feel the tension dissolve.
29. Innoculate yourself from anxiety. Experience aspects of the full experience beforehand, either in reality or in your mind. Self-hypnosis. If giving a speech, for example, imagine the audience, the questions, the answers, what you'll be wearing, (and your speech, of course).
30. Diversion. A voluntary change in activity is good for the soul.
31. Stretch. Especially if sitting for a long stretch.
32. Avoid stressors (duh) E.g., unpleasant jobs.
33. Take one day at a time.
34. Do something you enjoy every day.
35. Add love to everything you do.
36. Talk it out. Discuss problems.
37. Do something for somebody else. (Charity, Kindness, Service)
38. Focus on understanding, loving (instead of being understood, loved).
39. Appearance. (Look good, feel good!)
40. Schedule your day realistically (don't over-schedule)
41. Flexibility. Imperfection and compromise are a part of life.
42. Eliminate destructive self-talk (I'm too old, fat, etc.)
43. Use your weekend time for a change of pace. I.e. - if your week is slow and patterned, ensure action/spontanaity. If fast-paced with deadlines and people, seek peace and solitude. Also, if you don't feel your accomplishing something tangible at work, tackle a job on the weekend which can be finished to satisfaction.
44. Be in the present (vs. the past, or the future). "Take care of your todays as best you can, and the yesterdays and tomorrows will take care of themselves." There's no time like the present.
45. Focus. One thing at a time.
46. Allow time for privacy, quiet, and introspection.
47. Do "unpleasant" things early in the day. You can enjoy the rest of your day more easily, then. 48. Delegate.
49. Take your lunch break (for your body -and mind.)
50. Before saying or doing something that might make matters worse, count to...1000, not 10, if that's what it takes.
51. Be forgiving. It's an imperfect world.
52. OPTIMISM.

22 Stress-Busters (7,15,36,and 44 from above are revisited)
1. Diaphragmatic breathing: "Place one hand on your abdomen and the other on your chest. Emphasize the breathing of the abdomen, feeling the rise and fall as you exhale. Let the chest relax.

2. Neck Exercises: a. drop head forward (chin to chest), hold for 10 seconds. Slowly rotate to the left with ear toward shoulder, hold 20 seconds. Drop forward, rotate to right, hold 10 seconds. b. Look over left shoulder, relax, hold 20 seconds. Look over right shoulder, hold 20 seconds.

3. Shoulder exercises: a. Place fingers on shoulders, rotate shoulder by imagining that you are drawing a circle with your elbow for 20 seconds. b. interlace your fingers and stretch arms above your head, facing and pressing your palms toward the ceiling.

4. Meditation: Focus your awareness on your breath either following the rising and falling of abdomen or the inhalation/exhalation through the nostrils. If the mind wanders (which it will) gently bring your awareness back to your breath. Practice for 10 to 20 minutes.

5. Double breath: Inhale a vigorous double breath through the nostrils and exhale them through the mouth with an ah-ha sound. Repeat 3x.

6. Scream: Roll up the window in the car or wrap a towel around your head and let out a scream. Screaming is a great way to let out tension or anger.

7. Cold splash: Splash your face with cold water at mid-day. This is as invigorating as a shower.

8. Clutter equals confusion: Clear up the clutter at your desk or in your home. THis does wonders for reducing mental stress.

9. Laugh: Call dial a joke, exchange jokes with a friend or think of a funny past experience. Laughter releases endorphins into the system and relaxes the nervous system.

10. Seclusion: Set aside some time (even just a few minutes) to be totally alone during the day.

11. Be present: Learn to appreciate whatever you are currently doing. We spend most of our time thinking about the past or worrying about the future.

12. Use empty times: While standing in line at the bank or waiting at a stoplight, take a few breaths and use this as an opportunity to practice relaxation.

13. Candlelight dinner: Remember to eat food slowly and never eat food if you are emotionally upset. Avoid caffeine, salt, and sugar.

14. Exercise: Take a walk, bike ride, or jog. Exercise is a natural stress reducer.

15. Progressive Muscle Relaxations: Tense and relax each of the various muscle groups: feet, calves, thighs, buttocks, stomach, chest and shoulders, arms and hands, back area, cheeks, jaw and throat, forehead and nose, back of neck and scalp. Inhale just before you tense and exhale just before you relax.

16. A Hug a day. Give and receive at least one a day. Tell a friend or spouse how much you love and appreciate them. Do something for others.

17. Music: listen to something soothing. E.g. classical or light jazz...

18. Time management: schedule time for breaks and for free time to unwind.

19. Stress cues: Use stress triggers such as telephone calls and traffic jams as cues to practice relaxation. E.g., take a couple of deep breaths before answering the phone or while sitting in traffic. You will begin to associate the stressor with relaxation.

20. Express yourself: Express emotions and feelings to loved ones. Honesty cuts through stress- talk out your worries.

21. Reward yourself. If you handle a stressful situation effectively- reward yourself with some new clothes, a movie, or dinner.

22. Count Your blessings. Stop and think about all the thins that are going well in your life, instead of what is wrong.

That's a grand total of 70 tips.
May you live a long and happy life, maximally free from stress, worry, and anxiety.
Don't worry, be happy!

astrology, in my life

I'm a virgo. Both my parents are leos. And my wife is an aquarius.

I've got a guide to compatibility, and here's what it says:
-Since Virgos like to be helpful and Leos love to be fussed over, it's a match made in heaven. Well, sort of. Your majesty the Lion rules, and Virgo obeys. As long as these roles are played well, love is grand. If a Virgo rebels and tries to overpower the throne, there's likely to be a royal uproar. Note to Leo: Virgos who feel like servants don't serve as well as those who feel appreciated. Note to Virgo: those who make jokes at Leo's expense will find their services no longer needed. (2 stars out of 5 for compatibility)

-Virgo with Aquarius:
At first you'll find a lot to talk about and will be attracted to each other's great minds, but aquarius has been dubbed a "know it all" sign by astrologers, and Virgos hate "big talkers". A virgo may think a Water Bearer is all talk and no action. Aquarians are freedom lovers who have cool, quirky personalities. There's no real connection here. Virgos need to know a relationship is going to last, but Aquarians can't be tied down. Settling down is what Virgos do best. Aquarians will never settle. They are always veering off the beaten path, thus leaving a trail of dust that Virgos refuse to follow.
(2 stars out of 5 for compatibility, 2 stars out of 5 for marriage material)
(3 for friendship and communication, 2 for attraction)

whereas
Virgo with Capricorn outclasses Aquarius for a Virgo in all categories...
(4 for attraction, communication, and friendship, 5 for compatibility and marriage material)

It makes me wonder what exactly I may have gotten myself into, and what I'm missing, but I'm not going to stress, cuz Sara's the best!

Along the same lines, and in view of the previous post, Should astrology play a role in adoption?

About Virgo

Abortion soundbite

Abortion is repugnant, and wrong, too. It should be illegal, as well as criminal. It is a scientific fact, not a matter of belief, that life begins at conception. A human life is not the same as a fly to be swattted or a tumor to be excised. There is no such thing as an unwanted baby. I was adopted, and I, for one, am glad I am alive. Even in cases of rape or incest, a baby should not be snuffed because of the crime of his or her father. The fetus, if it could legally defend itself, would probably say 'keep your laws off my body.' Finally, should we allow Siamese twins to kill their partners? After all, they're attached. Why would any mother want to kill her own baby? It's homicide, pure and simple, and infanticide at that. We should love one another, and pre-emptively vacuuming out the life of one's child is not a loving act, in my view.

Feel free to say this without quoting me. I approve my words for usage as a meme. Nothing would delight me more than to hear a politician or lawyer quote this. Well, actually, reversing Roe v. Wade would. I would buy myself a Baskin Robbins banana split. I like those.

The Bad Guys

Or, Satan, Devil, Mephistopheles, Lucifer, Beelzebub
Also, Antichrist, Ahriman...jinn, eblis, azazel...etc.

SD MLB makes me think of the San Diego Padres; sorry, fellas.
'bedlams' could also cause acronym acrimony (e is for evil); wasn't the Hospital named Bedlam named after Bethlehem? whatever, I guess.

Anyway, my point:
I guess I could cause my own religion, and name some evil deity the Anti-Jesse.
Do not succumb to the Anti-Jesse! He/She/It will make you wish you were never born!
Be your own God, or worship me, but never ever EVER worship the Anti-Jesse!!

h.a.n.d. (have a nice day)
God

Empowerment

A quote that should really do the trick:

Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right!
— Henry Ford

(next to him is a "star empowerment grid")

God is thrifty!

Plan your budget:

from the csmonitor:

A handful of websites are helping users build and manage their own budgets free of charge. By monitoring websites run by banks, credit- and debit-card companies, brokerages, and other financial institutions, these sites allow you to put your financial activity in one place

Mint, Quicken Online, Geezeo, Buxfer, Justthrive, and a few others will gather an individual's financial information over secure links daily to present a comprehensive financial picture. Each site offers different tools to illustrate this snapshot (spending comparisons, financial health scores, social network discussion pages, etc.). But all feature some form of spending tracking and budget building, which can help users stretch their dollars and avoid losses such as late fees and overdrafts.

After registering with any of these sites, users can then provide account numbers, pin numbers, and any necessary passwords required for clearance. The sites are all insistent about their safety, using encrypted connections and promising bank-level security. And since you can't use these sites to move money, potential hackers can't either; all connections are "read only."

Helen Keller on "One"

-God is One.

-With God, all things are possible.

poem:

I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do
everything, but still I can do something.
I will not refuse to do something I can do.
-Helen Keller

Happy-face

Check out the happyface spider! (from Hawaii)

Aside: did you know there is a species of vegetarian spider?

also: some species' queens and drones (of ants) can fly! Spiders sometimes fly, too...

-"Biologists have actually been studying what type of days spiders prefer to fly. Spiders don't have wings, but spiders do fly. They do it by casting out lines of silk thread that get picked up by wind currents. When enough thread is afloat the spider is lifted up and off it goes, often traveling miles through the air."

-There's also attus volans, a spider that has flaps on its abdomen that allows it to glide further when its jumps.

Kinda cool, eh?

BHO is IN

Cool

Barack's born on 8/4/61. That makes him a leo.

Leo (The Lion) (fixed, fire, social): Keyword: "I will". The Leo person is creative, generous, proud, fun-loving, dramatic, dignified, theatrical, passionate, affectionate, ardent, ambitious, loves attention, independent, noble, a leader, sunny, naive, magnetic, kingly, and powerful. They can also sometimes be bossy, jealous, patronizing, promiscuous, snobbish, egotistical, boastful, over self-conscious, and arrogant. Leos like to think that they are special and important. They love attention, and will do anything to get it. Suitable occupations are where leadership, bossiness, and powerful self-assurance can be displayed; such as manager, director, social organizer, chairperson, acting, person of the year. In medical astrology Leo governs the heart and spine. In astrology Leo is ruled by the Sun. The sun sign dates for Leo are July 23 — August 22. The fire form of Leo is a controlled bonfire.


I don't believe his presidency will be about pr, or style over substance.

He really is important. His dad was a senior (kenyan) government economist, which doesn't hurt. Personally, I wouldn't mind if he put some extra time into Kenya, and the ROW (rest of world), to lift up the poor everywhere, with some inspirational words in his fireside chats, or what have you.

my note to the Washington Post

If I were president, I would have these 2 simple ideas in my mind to keep me grounded and focused: 1)everything is logistics. We either move ideas or we move things. (God is a logistician). 2)Every challenge is an opportunity. Almost nothing is impossible. The will to do good is overwhelming and undertapped. Service is reducing suffering. Otherwise stated: increase happiness. So..First, do no harm. Killing does not increase happiness. No war, no nukes, no death penalty, etc. They say being anti-war creates more war. So pro-peace, life-affirming, pro-happiness policy. Reducing suffering might involve meditation, and calmness should inform the chaos. Mainly, basic needs are where it's at, globally. Not surviving is the worst kind of suffering. The dollar best spent might be deworming in Kenya, not a possibly unhealthy burger off the dollar menu, or part of a Harvard education you could get off Wikipedia. I'm not sure the president should be bogged in legal detail so much as inspiring the country to be global citizens, acting locally. 4yrs+ is a lot of time, though. It's 1460 days or 35,040 hours. I think slavery should be taken out of the Constitution, for one. Patriotism is nice and all, but I for one think nationalism should be de-emphasized.

Anyway,In short, I would have an unshakeable conviction in the feasibility of logistics to meet basic needs and make global, and gross national, Happiness.

I think the military, instead of destroying and killing, should develop the world, possibly without weapons, like an extension of the peace corps. We need that hard core attitude toward progress.
Economists that can see the big picture should pinpoint where CBA indicates the best investments are, of course. (cost:benefit analysis) But instead of thinking we need to rank everything, and do one thing at a time, my view is that we should have a plan for solving everything, with a sense of how long it will take, best case vs. worst case scenarios, and really go hardcore whole hog full throttle to attack all the problems (After all, it's all one big interrelated problem) and delegate and Just Do It and git 'r done and Yes we can until the progress and achievement and satisfaction snowballs until we have an amazing, vibrant, thriving, happy new world.

I just felt the need to say this in case policy wonks and legal eagles lose sight of the universe for the planet for the forest for the trees -or something.

The Vow

Take It! (go ahead, be a thief, lol)

Take the vow, link.

It's a vow to renounce violence from your thoughts, words, and action.

This could be a change for me, especially my thoughts.

I've been in the habit of using my imagination as a (sometimes violent) coping mechanism.

God's letter to POTUS Barack Obama

Dear Barack,

I am SO happy for you and hopeful for your presidency and the next 4-8 years of a revitalized American spirit of coooperation and action toward a better world. You have inspired me and I look forward to helping you. Do you like the band Presidents of the United States of America? They have a song called 'Peaches.' Barack means 'peach' in Hungarian (I read on Wikipedia). Don't get impeached! I see a strong future of change, improvement, progress, betterment, development, hope, and positivity that snowballs and gets better and better, because we collectively will it so. That's a lot of words for a basic concept: All we do is move things. We move ideas and things. Simplicity. God is a logistician. TWA, my (corporate) acronym for Thoughts, Words, and Action is the other basic paradigm for the same thing. Thinking/Saying moves ideas; Doing moves things. Rules for action: First, do no harm. Second, set an example. If the bible could be distilled into two words, or religion in general, it would be this: Do Good. My high school's motto was 'Be a man for others.' Service is only two things: Reduce suffering, and increase happiness. You are in an excellent position to do both (as are we all, really!). I believe you have sought power to be life-affirming. Thou shalt not kill. No war, no abortion, no death-penalty, and no nukes! The Secret says being anti-war creates more war. So, in other words, I'm pro-peace, pro-adoption, pro-turning your life around, and only using the military as an instrument of DEfense. Ideally, the world should have no militaries. The us/them mentality is a false consciousness. We are all human. The second step to reducing suffering, besides not killing people, is to meet basic needs. These are: Food + Water, Shelter (+ Clothing), and Health (+ Vitality). Mental health requires Peace, Comfort, and Security. You might also want to add love, companionship, and friendship. That's it! These needs can be met for everyone, worldwide. There is no excuse for it to be otherwise. Survival, in good health, is a basic human right. All of humanity should care for each other. As George Bernard Shaw said, "There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it." God is love, and kindness is my religion, to borrow from the bible and the dalai lama. But we must go beyond ensuring survival. A thriving, vital, love and happiness must be our goal. You should try to be a Happiness-in-chief! Gross National Happiness is, I believe, more important than GNP. The Science of Happiness should guide policy. Don't get down. Challenges are opportunities. You have the goodwill of the world and the nation. Mobilize your supporters to collect ideas, and post them all, online. Create a vigorous dialog and debate, and solicit ideas from around the world, young and old, all governments, all perspectives, to create a database of solutions to problems. Yes, we really can. As Nike says, just do it. Harness the power of the people. It's not on your shoulders alone. You spearhead a movement. There is a hunger for change. When the people lead, the leaders will follow. And you have eloquently described, better than most, this understanding that you are part of a team effort, as I'm sure a basketball mentality has contributed to. Let's be global citizens and ensure the Millenium Development Goals are met, as a bare minimum. We can do SO much. I have written summaries of the each of the 23 chapters of Solutions for the World's Biggest Problems, a 2007 book edited by Bjorn Lomborg, on my blog, which I have put love into, so anyone with a computer can learn about and lobby for the many excellent ideas in this book. My personal belief, which differs from the premise of the book, is that ALL problems really can be solved, if we put our minds to it and stopped talking so much, watching tv, etc. and took action. But the book is a source of good ideas on how to get the ball rolling, most cost-effectively. If you ever hit up my blog, I hope you like it! Peace, health, and happiness-

Your friend,
Jesse L. Teshara

citizen advisor to POTUS :-)

post script: Logisticians
Average annual earnings: $64,250
Average beginning salary: $38,280

-The picture is of Fidel Castro's letter, age 12, to the US president.

Al Gore's Assault on Reason

He really did assault it, too, in my opinion.
(Is he trying to MAKE us think critically by intentionally lying so much?)

or, what I'm calling his (frequently erroneous, ironically enough) meaningful reflective rational cognitive thinking/reasoning idea-brain complexity process (from his higher-order logic mind). (!)

I'm reading his 2007 book, and, since he's so damn negative (which isn't necessarily bad, if he didn't come off as such a blowhard), I'll critique every damn point in this "manifesto for clear thinking" I disagree with, which I imagine he might love, if he has any integrity. I can't believe I voted for this guy. His book is wrong in ____ ways, in my opinion.

(I believe big Al is a bit stuck on himself/full of himself, and although I agree with alot of his book, there are more than a few points of disagreement, that I would be remiss to not mention, regarding a book that seems to tout itself as the height of rationality, if not genius).

Link to Wikipedia article on the book, including reviews (maybe I should leave this to the professionals, lol).

POINTS I disagree with:
Intro
1. the public sphere is hospitable to "the enemies of reason"

First of all, reason has no enemies. I believe anyone can be persuaded to any point of view, if the arguments hit home well enough. Reasonable reasoning (!) is tailored to each individual. Second of all, his assumption seems to be that some points of view are unreasonable. Well, maybe because we don't have iq's of 135 or whatever like Gore is said to have, he thinks people are stupid/unreasonable. I disagree. All points of view have their genesis. "Unreasonable" points of view are simply incomplete points of view, and, by that definition, all of us are unreasonable. Only (omniscient) God can make the right decisions. I think atheism is reasonable. So where does that leave us? Reality is like blind men around an elephant (I forget the exact analogy), and we each have our own (incomplete) perspective. Academics like to think they have a larger perspective, from all their cogitatin' and book-learnin'. The most reasonable perspective on any issue is the most informed, and then, only if the various arguments are weighted or prioritized. Who's to say a snap judgement is any worse than one that is extensively reflected on? This is because even the most "informed" perspective may be missing something (big). There is the law of unintended consequences. If things are not black and white, perhaps even supreme court cases could be decided by a flip of a coin. I'm just saying. Finally, I would hope that the public sphere would be hospitable to "unreasonableness." We live in a free society, and I wouldn't have it any other way. If there are actually "enemies" of reason that are actively trying to make us stupid or irrational, that may be bad, but that's their right.

2. goal to make the public more aware of the forces at work on our minds.

This sounds superstitious to me. "Forces", ooh. I am a robot. I am an automaton. I have no free will, no freedom. Is it like the matrix movie, where everybody is part of the machine...are we all completely predictable? Is there a collective unconscious (let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me), and is someone like me telling you what to think? Personally, I think I'm already somewhat on the same page as Al, cuz I mute commercials and eschew tv often and write this blog, but perhaps I'm still just as ineffectual an activist, a mere blip in eternity, a speck in the vast, amidst a sea of endless hypnosis. Stimulus-response. Action, Reaction. Cause, consequence. Rules and laws governing psychology and physics, etc. A perhaps sad sense of fate. My head shocks all the time...that's how I see this stupid "force", plus a voice interrupting and guiding my thoughts, for absolutely no (evident) reason. Maybe the public shouldn't be aware of this shit. It's fricking tragic. Maybe a lot (most? virtually all?) of us are already. Thus, depression.

3. persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy

Obviously, he's focused on the Iraq war. What else might he be referring to? I would like to believe that our legislators use solid intelligence in the vast majority of their decision-making. Hindsight is 20-20. I think Bush gambled that the U.S. would find some weapon of mass destruction to justify (after the fact) the invasion. If he did, then Al wouldn't be so persnickety about the lie. I think a reason we went to war just might be Hollywood...because we think terrorists are just teeming with malicious villains and supervillains who are out to destroy our way of life and make us all wear turbans and burquas. Terrorists are people, too. Maybe war is fun. Or getting riled up about a great satan or something is more exciting than moping around in life's daily tedium. That applies to both sides. Anyway, our thirst for excitement may be leading us astray, not a failure of logic. It's logical to want to feel alive, dude.

4. we have free speech.

We actually don't, in some very real ways. Free speech is being able to say anything to anyone at anytime. You can't do that with cops. Or in court. Or with what the law calls "fighting words", or slander/libel/calumny, whatever. Seriously, words are just words. We should all get over our sense of propriety, and start saying what's on our minds, even if that means swearing at babies or whatever. Sticks and stones. Grow a hide. Cowboy up.

5. Our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln ...

First off, he's telling us what to think. Stupid, in light of his premise, in my opinion. Secondly, here's some info from the Huffington Post:
He (Lincoln) vowed to uphold the draconian Fugitive Slave Act, which many Northerners considered unconstitutional. He promised to suppress slave insurrections. And he declared that he would never interfere with slavery in the states. Congress had just passed a new constitutional amendment in the hope of wooing Southerners back into the Union. Although it was never ratified, this "first" Thirteenth Amendment was the exact opposite of the actual one that abolished slavery (in 1865). It was an unamendable amendment guaranteeing slavery in the states forever. Lincoln affirmed it in his Inaugural, declaring: "I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable." Does Gore approve of slavery?

6. Cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason must furnish the materials, in particular, for a reverence for the Constitution and laws.

Hell, no. Where to begin. There are so many stupid laws out there. And what's wrong with having passion for the ones you agree with? I have a copy of the Constitution. One line I don't revere is this: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States..
I say NO ONE, not even convicted criminals, should be SLAVES. Slaves are property and have no human rights. Criminals, on the other hand, are human beings, and deserve happy lives as much as anyone, even if they made mistakes, or went against the moral majority and/or legal code. We're a country that believes in freedom, and we are animals, and animals in nature get to do whatever they want. People are not irrational, and much of crime is sensible to those doing it. For an anarchist, law itself is a crime. I don't recall signing what is referred to as a "social contract." Anarchism is reasonable, in the face of an unjust justice system (although perhaps not the MOST reasonable). Just look at the world. There's more slavery now than at any time in history. America is a party to this. We are terrorists to criminals, a group that has more passion than the rest of us automatons, I would say. Must we be so dead? Must we be so cruel?

7. senators don't feel that what they say on the floor of the Senate really matters that much anymore.

I imagine Al would know this better than I would. Still, if you believe in something, you want it on record (unless you're a global telepath, and merely thinking something ITSELF changes the world). Perhaps this is symptomatic of a wider anomie, in which pretty much everything doesn't seem to matter, in a world even the bible calls absurd. Also, it sounds like Al Gore thinks all decisions should be obvious conclusions of well-reasoned debate... I think senators aren't open to other points of view as much as they should be, and everybody is full of themselves -like Al Gore- to the point of debate becoming perhaps creepingly more moot. I believe if there was a common understanding that everyone (including senators) comes at every issue with an incomplete picture, they would be more willing to supplement and listen to each other's understandings. But egos are big, opinions are stubborn, and "facts" are ideological and even sometimes opposite. Ugh.

8. trust in the wisdom of a well-informed citizenry.

It depends on what they're well-informed with. Few people are trying, like me, to get a handle on every important issue, and then throw their weight around. Most people are into fluff and People magazine, for example, I would say, and celebrity culture. My wife is, anyway. There's nothing wrong with that, and Courtney Love's dress is more weighty to some people than nuclear agreements with India. So it goes. Gonna keep bitching, Al? Just deal. It's a mad world, with corporate sociopathy, like a mad crazy insane MCI. By the way, Is the democratic party a corporation? I liked in your movie how you like how the soil "gives a little" -consider it a corporate contribution from the "body politic."

9. in free countries, the law ought to be king and no other.

Law pisses me off. Reality is insanely complex, and I wouldn't trust a bunch of yahoos on a jury -or a judge- to make an objective unbiased fully-informed decision, ever. It's all mind control, goddamit, and I don't think we should trust the fates of the accused to these master hypnotists we call lawyers. Everyone should live under their own laws. I am my own king.

10. proverbial fish doesn't know it lives in water.

whatever, Al. Then again, you're the pisces.

11. 4:35 a day on tv (2/3 discretionary time)

Ugh. People are fat, retarded couch-potatoes. Is that what you're trying to say? Feeling superior, are we?

12. increase in av. time spent by Internet users watching tv while using net.

Trying to sink the ship of fools? I agree, though, some of us are scattered and overstimulated, and ought to pick up reading.

13. tv increases impact over printed word "by several orders of magnitude"

I get your point, but still, 100X+?

14. sighs controversy. "fine."

I don't know if I saw the debate you're referencing, but I remember getting frustrated with the moderator, like you, and expecting that to be an opportunity for you to show leadership by commenting on the poor moderating or structure of the debate, but instead you got pouty and superior and just said "fine" in a snippy and exasperated tone, and that showed -to me- resignation, underlying fury, and being pushed around instead of being a leader. Which I completely understand, but it was a disappointment. In my crazier self-centered moments, I wonder if that one word sunk your campaign.

15. "psychographic" categories

How do they gather the data on this? Scary. Which one am I in? Maybe a computer has read my blog and assigned me.. I actually think people can easily transcend that crap, with a little self-awareness. There's a hidden Robin Williams lurking in each of us, able to play any role?

16. we must create new ways to engage in a genuine and not manipulative conversation about our future.

I hope this blog post is meeting your need, sir. The "way", however, is not new. It's just a letter.

17. we rely more heavily now- for good or ill- on electronic images that can elicit emotional responses, often without requiring relective thought.

It's okay to feel, Al. (Should thought balance feeling 50-50, say, in your opinion?)

18. fullest and freest comparison of opposite opinions.

The internet is ideal for this. I think there should be a really advanced politics.org or something that allows chat, collects arguments, and stimulates thought and debate on EVERY SINGLE issue, ANYWHERE. This was a brainchild I had back in 2000, that I never followed up on. It could have a function where it asks your views on all the issues, tells you if you're liberal or conservative or moderate (graphically?, and indicates which candidates you are most aligned with, and why. It could also be a resource for politicians seeking innovative solution ideas from the public. All those letters to politicians could be categorized by ideational content, separated from the sender and receiver, and presented purely on the basis of the ideas they represent.
I must admit that sheeple can be dumb, and emotional arguments or poor ideas (well presented) might perhaps sway people away from an ideal solution.

19. explosion of knowledge...to masses of people who had previously had received no knowledge whatsoever that wasn't transmitted from above by some hierarchy of power, either religious or secular.

No knowledge whatsoever? Come on, now.

20. With the print revolution came a hunger for wisdom and culture that elevated the power and possibility of individuals to seize more control over their destinies.

On the most fundamental level, in my opinion, we're just animals trying to survive and pass on our dna. In that respect, uneducated yahoos controlled their destiny as well as we do. I don't necessarily see how more words and ideas in your head gives you more control over your destiny.

21. knowledge as a source of power to mediate between wealth and privilege.

what?

22. "we the people" made it clear where the ultimate source of authority lay.

um, people give others authority over themselves, they relinquish it, people are already naturally in charge, and some political document at the Smithsonian doesn't tell us where the "ultimate source of authority" is. As if the leaders of our country aren't people, too.

23. meritocracy of ideas.

hmm. Ruled by the most meritable ideas.. How's this: freedom (no rules). Silliness.
Seriously, though, we take law as an article of faith. What would America look like without any law in this day in age?

24. I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against evrly form of tyranny over the mind of man.

Priests at the altar have been known to tyrannize the minds of many men...

25. increased cynicism toward and distrust of the integrity of our national institutions and processes.

Integrity is living up to your own values. If it's all about money and re-election for example, I'm sure politicians have shown plenty of integrity.

26. Jon Stewart, the brilliant host...

I don't know about brilliant.. But okay, why not. Some internet site says his iq is 119.

27. printing press made the idea of America thinkable.

Uh, if you say so, mr. omniscient one. Sounds patently absurd, to me.

28. logic, reason, and reflective thought...truth

I think truth is probably more along the lines of an acid trip. But I've never taken acid, lol. It could be like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator, though, processing everything in his field of vision. Truth is the entirety of human experience, from complete love of life and being in love to being possessed or suicidal. Truth is the void in space or a rich world in your imagination while comfortably reading a book. Death is truth.

29. letters have no intrinsic meaning themselves

they can
Must I do this? A is a grade, evokes the Ace card, thus Ace hardware...B looks like a butt or breasts...C sounds like see or si or sea...D is an emoticon smile, for example...E could be ecstasy..F is flunk or 6 (the sixth letter) and so, similar to sex or fuck (f you) or the note F...G is whatup, G?, G-Unit!...H is Honda and Hannibal or Hospital...I is me, myself, and eye...J as in wwjd, or 10, as in Tennessee, K is for k-street or kill or kwell, ha...l is elle or a knight or el (lord) or..m is mcdonald's or male..n is 14 (troop 14, rah)...o is god (omg) or zero or offense or orgasm or oh or oxygen or or..p is pee or ack..q is a star trek character...r is what a pirate says..s is allah or a hiss or sibilance or serpentine slithering snake of the house of slytherin...t is a cross or the drink with jam and bread...u is you...v is a tv show..w is a president or double-you...x is a kiss or an ex or generation x...y is why..z is sleep or zorro.

What I'm saying is letters DO carry meaning for some of us, and many associations besides.

Politics of Fear, ch. 1
1. Fear is the most powerful enemy of reason. (I think fear sometimes sharpens it)
2. Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be. (we have nothing to fear but fear itself? phobophobia! Plus, you're not paranoid if there's really someone out to get you. No Fear brand t-shirts is just stupid. Fear is good (especially for a soldier). Unreasonable fear is maladaptive, perhaps.)
3. Fear is ubiquitous and universal in every human society.
4. what we call our conscious life is usually an elaborate post hoc rationalization of things we do for other reasons. (living in the past, don't stop thinking about tomorrow)
5. George W. Bush is my president, and I will follow him, as we all will, in this time of crisis.

Ch. 2, Blinding the Faithful
1.

p. 16. (one-direction)

post in progress...

YOU can change the course of History

I quote this from a campaign email from Al Gore in support of Barack:

In 2000, the entire election came down to a small number of votes in one county in Florida. Four years later, we (the democrats) came up short by an average of nine voters per precinct in Ohio. A small change in voter turnout would have made all the difference.

If that's not an incentive to activism, I don't know what is.

In fact, I'd wager that one person, acting differently, could have swung Bush's reelection the other way.

Feel powerful? You ARE God! :-)

The Solution to Everything

If, when described most basically, and in the simplest terms, all we do is move things, then the solution to everything is moving things well. Ideas and things, that is. I think ideas are things.

Here are the principles of moving ideas and things (Or IT, if you like):
ideas
1.availability
-books, magazines, tv, radio, internet, movies....libraries
goal:
-I believe the future should have virtual libraries, where people can access the total of human knowledge (and be able to run a truth filter over past literature, etc.).

2. the right ideas to the right people
-since we're all god, education as lifelong learning for all.
-since, operatively, not all of us are "movers and shakers," then ideas should be moved to create the world we want selectively, according to each's realative ability to create that change.

We often like to believe this happens naturally, throught the goodwill of the Universe. I encourage everyone to perhaps be more proactive.

Efficiency: with least effort and cost
Intelligently-directed: Seeing the big picture, with resources allocated to meet all goals, in the most reasonable time frame.

IT (ideas/things) should be moved to meet our ideals of personal and collective progress.

You might think this happens already, but I think it deserves reflection. What ideas and things do you want to move? Is stillness the answer?

Change a' comin'

Laird Hamilton is God

Pink Floyd says... but Laird lives!

There's some amazing video of him...this you-tube video is just one.

l...ong live Laird!

Simplicity

What is everything?

1. All we do in life is move. We move things, or we move ideas.

2. "(lyrics to Breathe)....is all your life will ever be." -Pink Floyd

3. "Simplicity" -Hannibal Lecter

A simple derivation of #1 is that.. All progress and social change is a matter of logistics.  

Therefore, God is a logistician.  He wants to employ you.  He likes to move it, move it (lol) (I'm quoting a funny song from the animated movie Madagascar).

My personal belief, for better or worse, is that Oblivion is universally unavoidable, and that hope for an afterlife is unfounded.  To put it mildly, I think heaven is highly unlikely, but you never know.  Anyway, to my worldview, then, Heaven must therefore be created, individually (in yourself, and one person at a time) and collectively (through mass psychology, structural and institutional change), in the here and now, in your community.   It's a global village.  A good idea in your houshold could transform the entire planet, if you follow through.

On a more spiritual plane, om, it is said an island of peace spreads ripples outward.  Maybe you CAN change the world simply sitting on a pillow.  I haven't figured that out.   But being calm is a force for making calm.  And that is a service in itself.   I'm a Catholic.  A Cat-holic.  A calm and tranquil -holic.   If I shed my attachment to that, I can really immerse myself in the chaos and hopefully do some good.  I guess I'll go to Mass next Sunday.  Haven't been in awhile.

And by the way, I don't believe I'm riding the biggest wave, whatever that means (from Breathe).  Maybe I'm making waves, but simply put, everything is logistics, everyone is God, and every lifetime is precious, to be lived fully and hopefully happily, with meaning, which for me is service with a foundation of lovingkindness.   Not very complex, in my opinion. 

Aside:

Maybe everything is hypnosis.   Hannibal signed his name H.  H is Honda, on the highway.  My sister died after ejecting from a Honda.  Yup, no sis.   Weird world.

Summary of Everything

In this blog...What exactly, am I trying to say?? you may be asking yourself.

I've said alot, and I think I should summarize things, maybe clarify, in this post for you.

We are a part of reality.
We are each our own reality.
Reality is God.
God is love.
God is good.

I know there's a lot of pain and hatred and victimizing/sin/criminality that goes on, and this can be the dominant reality for some of us. I suffer, too. And I throw blame around and hate. I can be a hater. Teshara can be anagrammed 'as hater' in addition to 'as heart.' It's only natural. I say I am God because I want to be love, I want to be good, and I want to use my power, the power that perhaps I deludedly only think I have, to fight for love and goodness against the cruelty and malice and unthoughtfulness and apathy that makes our world less than what we idealize as heaven. I have ideals and ideas. You can still embody love while hating. You hate the sin, not the sinner. You share the love. I am.

It's a free country, and all ideas should be thought about critically, to negate becoming sheeple. So, in order to prevent being a hypnotized pc zombie or whatever, you may in fact believe, for example, that (the opposite of the above assertions):
-we are not a part of reality
-we are not each our own reality
-reality is not God
-God is hate, and/or
-God is bad

Maybe you're right, and, either way (or both? neither?), you're still alright in my book.
In other words, I'll still love you. Beliefs about me are irrelevant to me..
I really do love everybody.
I just hate (or as my mom would say: really, really dislike) a lot of actions.

I want to say, in the way of explanation, that, like porn, I know these actions when I see them. I guess I'll make a separate blogpost on God's law, for all you lawyers. Number one, for anybody, of course, would be don't hurt or kill me. Thou shalt not kill.

On "Reality is God"
Consensus Reality might not be your personal reality. "Reality" might deserve a few more lines, if I say the big R is God. God is a word, and maybe you think that is all it is. Maybe I don't know what reality really is. I certainly don't understand Schrodinger's wave equation. It's the equation shown above. It is said to describe "ultimate reality" in terms of wave functions and probabilities. I am my own reality, and I suppose reality doesn't have to understand itself. Maybe God is an out-dated concept. I guess I'll have to do a search on the equation in relation to psychology/mind, and layman's language. See, as for the God concept, I'm trying to freshen it up a bit. To know thyself, do I have to understand this Schrodinger thing? I am definitely not omniscient, I'll tell you that. In any case, I'm cool with being love, and doing my part to helping everyone have all their needs met, to live happy and healthy lives as part of a global community that should always be getting better, not worse.

His name is I am. And so, I am.
(I think)...therefore...I am! (lol)

God is One. I am Jesse. Jesse is J (10) being. I do numerology. 10 is 1+0=1.
Voila! I am.

Gaians believe god is earth. Teshara anagrams to 'as earth'
Voila! I am.
(a little hocus-pocusy, I admit, but why not)

God is a man of war. I fight psychic battles everyday in my head. I suffer head shocks.
There are prayer warriors, and I think of my thoughts often as telepathic interaction...
or, in other words, psy war...
Voila! I guess I am.

God is love.
Love is agape, philia, and eros.
I have fatherly love: I want everyone to be genuinely happy, healthy, and successful.
I have some friends: I would like to think that I could be a friend to any one of you.
I have sex. Although I suppose I could start having sex with everybody, I have enough love in me already to refrain from having to make love, as they say. Can you ever have too much love, though? Actually, I think the answer to that might be yes.
So I have love.
I have God.

God is everything, they say.
Maybe I am everything... Nah, I'm pretty sure I'm not alot of stuff. (!) But dunno, though.
Maybe identity is a strange thing, and I am in reality as reality is in me... in some other sense than my body.. Was Kurt Cobain right? Is all in all all we are? To know God, do we just have to know ourselves? By "all", would that include every..thing? the entire universe? an infinity?
I like these kind of thoughts. Thought I'd share. I'm a Teshara (pronounced T' share uh..)

But maybe I am buying into my own bullshit, and need to remain humble, as the mere speck of a worm that I am in the vast. A puff of breath or something to you all reading this in the future. I could think that everybody's me, or that I am everybody, or even that everybody experiences reality like I do. I think I'd be wrong on all 3 counts, though.

So maybe, like the great guru swami KC said, yeah whatever nevermind.

But here's a thought:
Only god is good, the good book says. Only the good go to heaven, they say. Only people in heaven enjoy eternity (unless you're a vampire, or go to hell...) of pleasant experience. I bet people in heaven can even be vampires, with virtual victims or something, if they so choose that as a pleasant diversion... Vampires may be immortal, but they don't live forever, if they're not careful, lol. Anyway, heaven seems like a pleasant prospect. I would love to have my own utopian kingdom, anywhere I can get it: at home, in a virtual afterlife, or on a seriously alive and loving planet. So I'll play with the God concept and hypnotize myself into thinking that I can create a heaven on earth, in the process. Can't hurt, can it? Sorry if my premise offends you. Just humor me, lol. Do I have any worshippers? (I don't care if I don't) Well, anyway, I basically want you to empower yourself, and Be a God. Can you dig? Peace.

I did say that Maybe I AM (Almighty God is a living man)... I have to say I'm not Almighty -I can't even heal myself of my trinity of symptoms (headshocks, voice, and chest pains)- but things take time, and maybe I'll have a good year, this year, and really come out on top. With God, all things are possible :-)

I was raised Roman Catholic, and I'm curious to know how all this flies. That would be funny if the Pope told me I take antipsychotics because I really am God. (!)

Maybe instead of hating the sin and loving the sinner, I should just love everything.
They do say it's all good.

I have a friend who thinks computers are evil...
the web is called the inter-net, muahahaha. Boo!
I'm going to eat you for dinner, hahaha, says the spy-der on-line.

Feed your head, words are food for thought...