how much??

good gawd! and just how many bowls of hot soup would that buy for those who don't have enough to eat this winter? how many blankets would that buy for those who are cold? and why do some people still think any politician actually cares about them?



WASHINGTON — Democrat Barack Obama, who is on track to spend a record $230 million on television advertising, will punctuate his broadcast strategy Wednesday with prime-time commercials on CBS, NBC and Fox.

question...

if an orange is orange
and amber is amber


what is a purple?

Senate Slips Huge $488 Billion Pentagon War Funding Bill in Under The Radar

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14967.cfm

Senate Slips Huge $488 Billion Pentagon War Funding Bill in Under The Radar

• Senate Slips Huge Pentagon War Funding Bill in Under The Radar
  By Tommy News
  OpEd News, October 1, 2008
  Straight to the Source
  
  

The Senate has acted against the will of the American people and caved to the Bush Administration yet again. US Senators donned their Harry Potter invisibility cloaks and under the cover of darkness late Saturday night, with the smoke and mirrors distraction of the Wall Street bailout, quietly voted on and passed a huge, outrageous spending bill that gives an additional $488 Billion dollars to the Bush Administration and The Pentagon for funding of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There has been a near media blackout of this vote, and we need to get the word out that this outrageous warfunding is quietly continuing while the news media is being distracted by the gigantic and horrendous Wall Street bailout bill.

While we have all been preoccupied with the staggering $700 billion bail-out of wall street, boggled with the size of the dollar amount, having to raise the National debt limit and borrow money from foreign nations to fund it, late Saturday night the Senate passed a bill of a comparably huge dollar amount which made little news, but gives $488 Billion to the Pentagon for the continued funding of the the war, There has been a near media blackout of this vote, and we need to get the word out that this outrageous warfunding is quietly continuing while the news media is being distracted by the gigantic and horrendous Wall Street bailout bill.

The Pentagon is in line for a record budget. In addition to $70 billion approved this summer for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department would receive $488 billion, a 6 percent increase. The spending bill was bundled in with a bill which also offers aid to victims of flooding in the Midwest and recent hurricanes across the Gulf Coast. The total cost of the spending legislation exceeds $630 billion.

Such a huge bill usually would dominate the end-of-session agenda on Capitol Hill. But it went below the radar screen because attention focused on the congressional bailout of Wall Street.

The bill was quietly rushed to Bush's desk to be signed into law, and John McCain rushed quietly back out of Washington and yet again avoided having to vote on another controversial spending bill. When the roll call on final passage occurred, McCain was at his campaign headquarters in Crystal City, Va., only five miles from the Capitol. McCain has missed a staggeringly huge number of Senate votes.

With the election fast approaching, I want to give you a breakdown of the 78-12 Senate vote as recorded in the Congressional Record. I urge you to take this outrageous spending vote into strong consideration when you cast your votes on November 4th.

*From the Congressional Record:*

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00208

Sammy the Dragon

a nice little coloring page created by my oldest daughter.

red-tailed hawk vs rattlesnake

cool video

i highly recommend muting it and watching in full screen. ;-)

mass hysteria

so our local news created a panic yesterday. there was a run on gas. hardly any stations had any gasoline left in their tanks, and there were long lines last night, people going crazy, getting bent out of shape, about to fight each other.

link one

link two

it's the same thing they do when the weather looks like it might snow, everyone rushes to the grocery store and buys up all the bread and milk. it is somewhat frightening to see how easily my neighbors are manipulated by what they see on the teevee.


update: as of noon today, everything seems back to normal. i noticed the price had gone up 40 cents since i filled up the tank two days ago. there were lots of cars at every station, but no lines.

and more...

3-D mandalas i created using chaoscope (see previous blog entry):

chaoscope

from their website:
"Chaoscope is a 3D strange attractors rendering software." (link)

and here are some pictures i made using the free software...

life of work

Longest Walk 2

Hello Friends, Supporters, Colleagues and Walkers –

LONGEST WALK 2: The Final Stretch Into D.C.
by Tashina Banks Moore, National Coordinator
June 12, 2008

Hard to believe it’s been four months of walking already! To date, The Longest Walk 2 northern and southern routes have covered over 6,000 miles through 17 states with less than a month to go to reach Washington , DC on July 11, 2008. We need your support. We INVITE YOU TO JOIN US IN D.C. on July 11, 2008 as we take the last steps of The Longest Walk 2 journey and the first steps on our next – taking our concerns to an International audience. JOIN US on July 11, 2008 to send a powerful message to the lawmakers of this country that we have a message to deliver and we seek accountability from our government.

Sponsors needed for Welcome Celebration on Washington , DC . As we prepare for the Welcome Celebration on the National Mall at Washington Monument July 11-13, we are seeking sponsors to support the celebration expenses such as sound, lighting and travel expenses to help bring in Native American artists and performers.

Tentative Schedule of Welcome Days in Washington, DC.:

July 7 – 10: Cultural Survival Summit at Greenbelt Park, Maryland (National Park Service)
July 11: Longest Walk 2 Final Leg Into Washington, DC - meeting point: TBD / Press Conference
July 12 & 13: Welcome Celebration – Washington Monument

Dennis Banks, my father, has asked the national committee to put a CALL OUT FOR BIKERS. The Longest Walk invites bikers from around the country to join us as we enter D.C. A motorcade of 1,000 bikers to open the path for the Walkers would make a powerful statement!

Please spread the word and send this email to anyone who wants to join The Longest Walk as we walk into Washington , DC .

SHORT TERM SUPPORT ALSO NEEDED: both routes are in need of funds to get them through the last days – gas prices are over $4/gallon and food costs are also rising. We ask you to please go to www.longestwalk.org and make an online donation if you can - $5.00, $10.00, $100.00, $1,000.00, $10,000 whatever you can afford.


Tashina Banks Moore
Volunteer
National Coordinator
LONGEST WALK 2008
www.longestwalk.org
www.myspace.com/longestwalk

hawks

hawk

For Tawodi, my dear friend. You are in my thoughts.

May your broken heart heal to beat stronger than ever before.

got some things to talk about

Whoa, oh, what i want to know
will you come with me?

www.longestwalk.org

trying to get anybody excited about helping out the Longest Walk is the most discouraging endeavor I have ever undertaken. (undertaken? does that make me an undertaker? haha)

seriously, some people have offered to bring some food, and there's one person, Tammera Hicks, who has been a HUGE help. She found the campsite, after I kept running into brick wall after brick wall, she got it taken care of, and I couldn't thank her enough for all the help she's been. I honestly thought this was such a big deal that there'd be hundreds of local volunteers signed up to help out, and I was the only one here in town who did. I never intended to do more than help prepare food. Nobody else stepped up to the plate, but there's plenty who have problems with the things I have done. well...??? uh...

anybody reading this? well, we need volunteers to help out with food when the Longest Walk comes through Chattanooga. All I'm trying to accomplish is getting together enough food to feed about 200 people. that's all. I figured a pot-luck would be the cheapest, easiest way for people to contribute. Anybody can cook a pot of beans, you would think.

Sunday Morning Ramblings

The doves have built their nest taller as their babies have gotten bigger. I often see a little head poking up, looking out at the world, and I sometimes even get to watch as the parents feed their little ones. They will stop and look at me watching them, then just go about their business.

My pink roses in the front yard are almost ready to start blooming. Almost. The red roses are in full swing, though recent rains have left the branches drooping under the weight of all those wet blooms. Irises are done, cleaned up the mess this morning, some of it anyway. Time to mow down the daffodil leaves, they look raggedy. Something that looks like trumpet vine is coming up EVERYWHERE, even in the driveway. Birds must have brought it somehow, I sure didn't plant the stuff. When I go outside, everything smells of rain and roses and honeysuckle (try as I may, I will never defeat that Japanese Honeysuckle. I will not give up the fight!!). And, best of all, there are a bajillion (yes, a bajillion) flower buds on my gardenia bushes. :-)

Little Cedar Mountain

for the "official" TVA government line of bullshit, click either of these links:

http://www.tva.gov/environment/reports/littlecedar2/index.htm
http://www.tva.gov/environment/reports/littlecedar/


From local Channel 9 website:

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/tva_968032___article.html/cedar_mountain.html


TVA Discusses Management of Controversial Little Cedar Mtn. Land

April 18, 2008 - 10:21AM

Richard Simms

TVA officials will be holding a public tour of a new interpretive trail at Little Cedar Mountain Small Wild Area and TVA's resource management plan for the Lower Nickajack Properties.

The area has been the subject of much controversy in recent years as developers sought more than than 600 acres of public land for an exclusive golf course and housing development. (link - s)

The TVA Board finally voted to sell the land to developer John Thornton in a trade-off deal after Thornton purchased several other tracts of lakefront property to offer in a barter deal for the Little Cedar Tract.

However TVA retained ownership of the area known as Little Cedar Mountain just South of I-24 at the Nickajack Dam Exit where the public interpretive trail will be located.

In addition, TVA is making plans for the future management of other tracts obtained in the deal known as Burns Island, the Boyd Farm and Big Cedar Mountain.

DETAILS

WHAT:
Discussion and tour of new interpretive trail at Little Cedar Mountain Small Wild Area and TVA's resource management plan for the Lower Nickajack Properties.

WHO:
TVA Endangered Species Biologist Hill Henry and TVA Watershed Team Representative Andy Lawson

WHEN:
10 a.m., Tuesday, April 22 (please note the date this story was aired - s)

WHERE:
Meet at Nickajack Dam

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
TVA has received inquiries from several organizations and the public regarding the strategy for using property acquired during TVA's Supplemental Environmental Assessment at Little Cedar Mountain in Marion County, Tenn. TVA is developing a comprehensive resource management plan on four parcels in the vicinity of Nickajack Dam -- collectively referred to as the Lower Nickajack Properties. They include Boyd's Farm, Burn's Island, Cedar Mountain tracts and TVA's Little Cedar Mountain Small Wild Area. The plan being developed defines proposed management goals, objectives, and activities designed to protect cultural and natural resources and improve public access on each tract.

Hill Henry and Andy Lawson will conduct a guided tour of the new interpretive trail at Little Cedar Mountain Small Wild Area, discuss stabilization of Burn's Island and plans for the use and access of the Boyd's Farm property.

The activities will occur rain or shine.


(also please note the lack of any mention of Native American artifacts, including bones and human remains, that have been found in the area. Also the lack of mention of any concerns regarding such artifacts. - s)

I believe that eggshell came from the doves' nest in the eaves of our house, but I am not certain of that. Yesterday I watched as the baby robins learned to fly. They still have fuzzy feathers poking up in all directions, and can't fly more than about ten feet before having to stop for a rest. This morning, it was a baby mockingbird came to visit me. So sweet. Doesn't have the white stripes in his tail feathers yet but he was flipping that tail just like any grown-up mockingbird.

Big Mama Bunny Rabbit must have had her new babies. The bigger babies have been kicked out of the nest, and are hopping around in the ditch behind our house as I type this. We'll just think of them as hawk food, and hope they leave me a few veggies from my garden this year.

yesterday, in the garden...

ignorance

REALITY

is like a jar of marbles, infinite in scope and magnitude
all different possible colors and sizes of marbles
some of them move very fast, some move slow
some are sticky, and like to congregate with other sticky marbles
forming clumps and clusters and groups.
some are unstickable.
each marble has it's own awareness,
and it's own unique perspective on what the "jar" consists of.
but from any one given standpoint, none of them can possibly see this jar,
or really ever know if it exists or not.
and pragmatically (in Jamesian terms, not the new definition of that word)
what difference does it make, anyway?

today in my garden

HAPPY SPRING, EVERYONE!!

there is a red-tailed hawks' nest in a tree in our front yard:
There are two hawks. I assume they are a breeding pair. we don't see them hunting in the neighborhood so much anymore, but i have seen them coming in to roost right at dusk.

AND... not one, but THREE golden eagles have consistently been heard calling and seen flying overhead!

what suprised me the most, was how completely different eagles are from hawks. i mean, you think big bird of prey, same same. but NO! They look different, they act different, they sound different. they simply aren't the same at all... neat, huh?

toxins found in "natural" products

CONSUMER ALERT:CANCER-CAUSING INGREDIENT FOUND IN LEADING "ORGANIC" & "NATURAL" PERSONAL CARE PRODCUTS

A newly released study commissioned by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and overseen by environmental health consumer advocate David Steinman (author of The Safe Shopper's Bible), revealed the presence of the undisclosed carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane in leading shampoos, body washes, lotions and other personal care and household cleaning products claiming to be "natural" or "organic". The study results, to be released this weekend at the Natural Products Expo in California, are already sending shockwaves through the "organic" and "natural" body care industry. Laboratory tests showed that products certified under the USDA National Organic Program DID NOT contain this toxin, but most of the best selling personal care products claiming to be "organic" (but not USDA certified) contained the cancer-causing ingredient. All leading self-proclaimed "organic" brands have at least a few individual "certified organic" ingredients, but for most of these top-selling brands, the product, as a whole, is not USDA organic certified, thereby allowing the presence of synthetic toxins. Similar studies have revealed the presence of this toxin in conventional personal care products, but this is the first study indicating the presence in misleadingly labeled "organic" and "natural" products. Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/comingclean.cfm



HOW TO AVOID 1,4-DIOXANE IN YOUR PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS:

Some of the products found to contain 1,4-Dioxane: JASON Pure Natural & Organic, Giovanni Organic Cosmetics, Kiss My Face, Nature’s Gate Organics (see a full list of OCA's study results here)

Remember that just because a personal care product labels itself with the words "organic" or "certified organic" doesn't mean it meets any specified organic standards.

Look for products that are certified under the USDA National Organic Program (or a similar German program) and products that bear the "USDA Organic" seal.

Search product labels for ingredients with the following in their names to avoid products containing 1,4-Dioxane: myreth, oleth, laureth, ceteareth, any other eth, PEG, polyethylene, polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, or oxynol.

In general, avoid products with unpronounceable ingredients to be sure to avoid synthetic toxins and carcinogens.

good morning, sunshine!

tell the EPA to stop allowing factory farms to poison the air

ALERT OF THE WEEK:
EPA GIVES FACTORY FARMS RIGHT TO IGNORE POLLUTION LAWS

The EPA is accepting public comments until March 27, 2008 on an outrageous proposal to eliminate clean air standards for factory farms. Federal laws currently require industry of any type to report hazardous substances they are spewing into the atmosphere, but according to the EPA, factory farms should be exempt so as to "to reduce the burden on the regulated community." It's time to tell the EPA to stop allowing factory farms to poison the air in our rural communities. Learn more and take action:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10380.cfm

things kids say

oldest daughter: "if we try to go normal, we'll go crazy instead"

younger daughter: "if I'm a fairy, that makes you an angel, Mommy!"

USDA extends comment period on "naturally raised" labelling of meat

FOOD LABELING ALERT:
PUT THE "NATURAL" BACK IN MEATS LABELED AS "NATURALLY RAISED"

Thanks to a backlash of consumer letters from concerned consumers, the USDA has extended its public comment period on its proposed standard for meats labeled as "naturally raised". A 2007 Consumer Reports survey found that 83% of consumers assume a "naturally raised label means "it came from an animal raised in a natural environment." Yet the USDA's proposed standard is so weak, it would apply to a cloned animal raised in the confines of a factory farm, and fed a steady diet of genetically engineered grains. The public comment period on this labeling standard will close on March 3, so take action now: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_9692.cfm

"Subdue yourselves to the federation of the world, or else"

H.G. Wells:
Subdue yourselves to the federation of the world, or else
Old-Thinker News Feb. 7, 2008

By Daniel Taylor

H.G. Wells is perhaps best known for his status as the father of science fiction and his "War of the Worlds", which was recently transformed into a modern Hollywood production. Unknown to many, Wells penned several other books and essays which were not of the science fiction genre. The "New World Order", and the "Open Conspiracy" are two notable pieces that Wells produced.

Wells wrote the first edition of "The Open Conspiracy" in 1928. This book details what Wells called the "Open Conspiracy" among intellectual elites who despise the old order of things and desire to work towards a grand world directorate, a global society in which individuals no longer hold fast to tradition, but yield themselves willingly to the world state for the good of all. The Open Conspiracy utilizes propaganda, educational and governmental reform, and other forms of influence to achieve its goals. The scientific management of the world is at the heart of the open conspirators agenda. Of course, this tight management is sold as being for the benefit of all.

Population control is named by Wells in the Open Conspiracy as a "primary condition" of the world directorate. Wells writes,

"There is a clear hope that, later, directed breeding will come within his [mankind's] scope, but that goes beyond his present range of practical achievement, and we need not discuss it further here. Suffice it for us here that the world community of our desires, the organized world community conducting and ensuring its own progress, requires a deliberate collective control of population as a primary condition.

Very slight adjustments in social and economic arrangements will, in a world of clear available knowledge and straightforward practice in these matters, supply sufficient inducement or discouragement to affect the general birth rate or the birth rate of specific types as the directive sense of the community may consider desirable.

We want watchful and understanding guardians and drivers of complex delicate machines, which can be mishandled and brutalized and spoilt all too easily. The less disposed these masters of our machines are to inordinate multiplication, the more room and food in the world for their ampler lives. Even to the lowest level of a fully-mechanicalized civilization it is required that the human element should be select."

A concise and bluntly stated summary of Wells' idea of a federation of the world can be found in the introduction that he wrote for prominent eugenicist Margaret Sanger in her book "Pivot of Civilization", written in 1922. Wells speaks with an authoritarian and elitist voice condemning the world for misusing the "gifts" that the elite have so kindly presented to mankind. He writes these chilling words,

"The New Civilization is saying to the Old now: "We cannot go on making power for you to spend upon international conflict. You must stop waving flags and bandying insults. You must organize the Peace of the World; you must subdue yourselves to the Federation of all mankind. And we cannot go on giving you health, freedom, enlargement, limitless wealth, if all our gifts to you are to be swamped by an indiscriminate torrent of progeny. We want fewer and better children who can be reared up to their full possibilities in unencumbered homes, and we cannot make the social life and the world-peace we are determined to make, with the ill-bred, ill-trained swarms of inferior citizens that you inflict upon us."

With this one paragraph, Wells succeeds in presenting the full intent of population control: total domination.

See more on this in an upcoming report:
An Introduction to The Open Conspiracy - Utopian Dreams of a World Scientific Dictatorship
Preview:

"The world is shifting to a globalized structure. The infrastructure of world governance is nearly complete. Proclamations of a "New World Order" herald the emergence of a new global order of nations, once sovereign but now interlocked with international organizations and bound by allegiance to the world state. Is this the natural trend of governance and human affairs, as some would say, or a deliberate, systematic, scientific attempt by the elite of the world to forge a new global order?"

http://www.oldthinkernews.com/Articles/oldthinker%20news/hg_wells_subdue_yourselves_to_the_federation.htm

daffodils!

to those of you in colder climes:

neener
neener
NEENER

couldn't resist taking a photo of the sweet iris, too.

looks like I'll have flowers in bloom by my birthday!! :-)