Whenever we hold onto our anger, we turn "small stuff" into really "big stuff" in our minds. We start to believe that our positions are more important than our happiness. They are not.
11.10.2010
#14 Create "Patience Practice Periods"
Being patient allows me to keep my perspective...in the midst of a difficult situation, that what's before me--my present challenge--isn't "life or death" but simply a minor obstacle that must be dealt with.
11.09.2010
interesting read.
America - He's your President for Goodness Sake!
By William Thomas
Posted: Friday, October 1st, 2010
There was a time not so long ago when Americans, regardless of their
political stripes, rallied round their president. Once elected, the man
who won the White House was no longer viewed as a Republican or
Democrat, but the President of the United States. The oath of office
was taken, the wagons were circled around the country’s borders and it
was America versus the rest of the world with the president of all the
people at the helm.
Suddenly President Barack Obama, with the potential to become an
exceptional president has become the glaring exception to that
unwritten, patriotic rule.
Four days before President Obama’s inauguration, before he officially
took charge of the American government, Rush Limbaugh boasted publicly
that he hoped the president would fail. Of course, when the president
fails the country flounders. Wishing harm upon your country in order to
further your own narrow political views is selfish, sinister and a tad
treasonous as well.
Subsequently, during his State of the Union address, which is pretty
much a pep rally for America, an unknown congressional representative
from South Carolina, later identified as Joe Wilson, stopped the show
when he called the President of the United States a liar. The president
showed great restraint in ignoring this unprecedented insult and
carried on with his speech. Speaker Nancy Pelosi was so stunned by the
slur, she forgot to jump to her feet while clapping wildly, 30 or 40
times after that.
Last spring, President Obama took his wife Michelle to see a play in
New York City and republicans attacked him over the cost of security
for the excursion. The president can’t take his wife out to dinner and
a show without being scrutinized by the political opposition? As
history has proven, a president in a theatre without adequate security
is a tragically bad idea.
Remember: “Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”
At some point, the treatment of President Obama went from offensive to
ugly and then to downright dangerous.
The health-care debate, which looked more like extreme fighting in a
mud pit than a national dialogue, revealed a very vulgar side of
America. President Obama’s face appeared on protest signs white-faced
and blood-mouthed in a satanic clown image. In other tasteless
portrayals, people who disagreed with his position distorted his face
to look like Hitler complete with mustache and swastika.
Odd, that burning the flag makes Americans crazy, but depicting the
president as a clown and a maniacal fascist is accepted as part of the
new rude America.
Maligning the image of the leader of the free world is one thing,
putting the president’s life in peril is quite another. More than once,
men with guns were videotaped at the health-care rallies where the
president spoke. Again, history shows that letting men with guns get
within range of a president has not served America well in the past.
And still the “birthers” are out there claiming Barack Obama was not
born in the United States, although public documentation proves
otherwise. Hawaii is definitely part of the United States, but the
Panama Canal Zone where his electoral opponent Senator John McCain was
born? Nobody’s sure.
Last month, a 44-year-old woman in Buffalo was quite taken by President
Obama when she met him in a chicken wing restaurant called Duff’s. Did
she say something about a pleasure and an honour to meet the man or
utter encouraging words for the difficult job he is doing? No. Quote:
“You’re a hottie with a smokin’ little body.”
Lady, that was the President of the United States you were addressing,
not one of the Jonas Brothers! He’s your president for goodness sakes,
not the guy driving the Zamboni at “Monster Trucks On Ice.” Maybe next
it’ll be, “Take Your President To A Topless Bar Day.”
In President Barack Obama, Americans have a charismatic leader with a
good and honest heart. Unlike his predecessor, he’s a very intelligent
leader. And unlike that president’s predecessor, he’s a highly moral
man.
In President Obama, Americans have the real deal, the whole package and
a leader that citizens of almost every country around the world look to
with great envy. Given the opportunity, Canadians would trade our
leader, hell, most of our leaders for Obama in a heartbeat.
What America has in Obama is a head of state with vitality and insight
and youth. Think about it, Barack Obama is a young Nelson Mandela.
Mandela was the face of change and charity for all of Africa but he was
too old to make it happen. The great things Obama might do for America
and the world could go on for decades after he’s out of office.
America, you know not what you have.
The man is being challenged unfairly, characterized with vulgarity and
treated with the kind of deep disrespect to which no previous president
was subjected. It’s like the day after electing the first black man to
be president, thereby electrifying the world with hope and joy,
Americans sobered up and decided the bad old days were better.
President Obama may fail but it will not be a Richard Nixon default
fraught with larceny and lies. President Obama, given a fair chance,
will surely succeed but his triumph will never come with a Bill Clinton
caveat – “if only he’d got control of that zipper.”
Please. Give the man a fair, fighting chance. This incivility toward
the leader who won over Americans and gave hope to billions of people
around the world that their lives could be enhanced by his example,
just naturally has to stop.
Believe me, when Americans drive by the White House and see a sign on
the lawn that reads: “No shirt. No shoes. No service,” they’ll realize
this new national rudeness has gone way, way too far.
OCTOBER 2010 SENIOR LIVING MAGAZINE VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
By William Thomas
Posted: Friday, October 1st, 2010
There was a time not so long ago when Americans, regardless of their
political stripes, rallied round their president. Once elected, the man
who won the White House was no longer viewed as a Republican or
Democrat, but the President of the United States. The oath of office
was taken, the wagons were circled around the country’s borders and it
was America versus the rest of the world with the president of all the
people at the helm.
Suddenly President Barack Obama, with the potential to become an
exceptional president has become the glaring exception to that
unwritten, patriotic rule.
Four days before President Obama’s inauguration, before he officially
took charge of the American government, Rush Limbaugh boasted publicly
that he hoped the president would fail. Of course, when the president
fails the country flounders. Wishing harm upon your country in order to
further your own narrow political views is selfish, sinister and a tad
treasonous as well.
Subsequently, during his State of the Union address, which is pretty
much a pep rally for America, an unknown congressional representative
from South Carolina, later identified as Joe Wilson, stopped the show
when he called the President of the United States a liar. The president
showed great restraint in ignoring this unprecedented insult and
carried on with his speech. Speaker Nancy Pelosi was so stunned by the
slur, she forgot to jump to her feet while clapping wildly, 30 or 40
times after that.
Last spring, President Obama took his wife Michelle to see a play in
New York City and republicans attacked him over the cost of security
for the excursion. The president can’t take his wife out to dinner and
a show without being scrutinized by the political opposition? As
history has proven, a president in a theatre without adequate security
is a tragically bad idea.
Remember: “Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”
At some point, the treatment of President Obama went from offensive to
ugly and then to downright dangerous.
The health-care debate, which looked more like extreme fighting in a
mud pit than a national dialogue, revealed a very vulgar side of
America. President Obama’s face appeared on protest signs white-faced
and blood-mouthed in a satanic clown image. In other tasteless
portrayals, people who disagreed with his position distorted his face
to look like Hitler complete with mustache and swastika.
Odd, that burning the flag makes Americans crazy, but depicting the
president as a clown and a maniacal fascist is accepted as part of the
new rude America.
Maligning the image of the leader of the free world is one thing,
putting the president’s life in peril is quite another. More than once,
men with guns were videotaped at the health-care rallies where the
president spoke. Again, history shows that letting men with guns get
within range of a president has not served America well in the past.
And still the “birthers” are out there claiming Barack Obama was not
born in the United States, although public documentation proves
otherwise. Hawaii is definitely part of the United States, but the
Panama Canal Zone where his electoral opponent Senator John McCain was
born? Nobody’s sure.
Last month, a 44-year-old woman in Buffalo was quite taken by President
Obama when she met him in a chicken wing restaurant called Duff’s. Did
she say something about a pleasure and an honour to meet the man or
utter encouraging words for the difficult job he is doing? No. Quote:
“You’re a hottie with a smokin’ little body.”
Lady, that was the President of the United States you were addressing,
not one of the Jonas Brothers! He’s your president for goodness sakes,
not the guy driving the Zamboni at “Monster Trucks On Ice.” Maybe next
it’ll be, “Take Your President To A Topless Bar Day.”
In President Barack Obama, Americans have a charismatic leader with a
good and honest heart. Unlike his predecessor, he’s a very intelligent
leader. And unlike that president’s predecessor, he’s a highly moral
man.
In President Obama, Americans have the real deal, the whole package and
a leader that citizens of almost every country around the world look to
with great envy. Given the opportunity, Canadians would trade our
leader, hell, most of our leaders for Obama in a heartbeat.
What America has in Obama is a head of state with vitality and insight
and youth. Think about it, Barack Obama is a young Nelson Mandela.
Mandela was the face of change and charity for all of Africa but he was
too old to make it happen. The great things Obama might do for America
and the world could go on for decades after he’s out of office.
America, you know not what you have.
The man is being challenged unfairly, characterized with vulgarity and
treated with the kind of deep disrespect to which no previous president
was subjected. It’s like the day after electing the first black man to
be president, thereby electrifying the world with hope and joy,
Americans sobered up and decided the bad old days were better.
President Obama may fail but it will not be a Richard Nixon default
fraught with larceny and lies. President Obama, given a fair chance,
will surely succeed but his triumph will never come with a Bill Clinton
caveat – “if only he’d got control of that zipper.”
Please. Give the man a fair, fighting chance. This incivility toward
the leader who won over Americans and gave hope to billions of people
around the world that their lives could be enhanced by his example,
just naturally has to stop.
Believe me, when Americans drive by the White House and see a sign on
the lawn that reads: “No shirt. No shoes. No service,” they’ll realize
this new national rudeness has gone way, way too far.
OCTOBER 2010 SENIOR LIVING MAGAZINE VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND
11.04.2010
10.02.2010
Night Catches Us.
This looks like its going to be a really interesting movie.
In 1976, after years of mysterious absence, Marcus (Anthony Mackie, “The Hurt Locker”) returns to the Philadelphia neighborhood where he came of age in the midst of the Black Power movement. While his arrival raises suspicion among his family and former neighbors, he finds acceptance from his old friend Patricia (Kerry Washington, “Ray,” “Lift”) and her daughter. However, Marcus quickly finds himself at odds with the organization he once embraced, whose members suspect he orchestrated the slaying of their former comrade-in-arms. In a startling sequence of events, Marcus must protect a secret that could shatter everyone’s beliefs as he rediscovers his forbidden passion for Patricia..
the history of hip-hop as told by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake
too fresh. Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon cover the history of hip-hop in this medley - hilarious but so dope. And the roots as the back up band...enough said.
no love. don't hurt me.
It's been quite sometime since I last posted - but with the recent events I really wanted to share my thoughts. There was an article in the New York Times this past week about a kid from Rutgers committing suicide. That in itself was disturbing to me - but when I read the story - and learned about the events that led up to the young man taking his life I was disgusted.
The NYT's article sums up the young man's life better than I can but what happened was that his roommate video recorded and streamed him and another man having sex. The young man had not come out about his sexual preferences and so by being video taped - and streamed over the internet he was humiliated.
Going back a little - I have been lucky enough to have never really had to deal with a hard hitting issue such as sexuality - and attending Brown, a community that is very open to differences in any and everything - experiences like these just don't occur.
This story really stuck with me tho. Especially when I read about another gay young man taking his life at the nearby Johnson & Wales University. As I read more and more into this, I found out that this hasn't been the only 2 cases recently, but over the last few weeks there 5 LGBT suicides.
These are young people. Our friends. Our family. Our classmates. Our teammates. Our partners. Our generation.
This needs to stop. It is hard to believe that still in 2010, people still have to go through taunting, bullying, pressure, and humiliation because they aren't "the norm." We need to respect others and the decisions they make. Don't ridicule, mock, or discriminate against other people - be stronger than that. See people for who they are not what they look like, where they come from, or what sex they're attracted to.
I truly hope this is the last of these deaths and that the larger community, and not just the LGBT community, can really make a stand for what's right.
You never know what is going on in other peoples lives - that is the bottom line. So treat people the way you'd like to be treated. The way they deserve to be treated. Before you say or act, think about it - it could be the difference between life and death.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, Billy Lucas, and Seth Walsh, and Raymond Chase.
The NYT's article sums up the young man's life better than I can but what happened was that his roommate video recorded and streamed him and another man having sex. The young man had not come out about his sexual preferences and so by being video taped - and streamed over the internet he was humiliated.
Going back a little - I have been lucky enough to have never really had to deal with a hard hitting issue such as sexuality - and attending Brown, a community that is very open to differences in any and everything - experiences like these just don't occur.
This story really stuck with me tho. Especially when I read about another gay young man taking his life at the nearby Johnson & Wales University. As I read more and more into this, I found out that this hasn't been the only 2 cases recently, but over the last few weeks there 5 LGBT suicides.
These are young people. Our friends. Our family. Our classmates. Our teammates. Our partners. Our generation.
This needs to stop. It is hard to believe that still in 2010, people still have to go through taunting, bullying, pressure, and humiliation because they aren't "the norm." We need to respect others and the decisions they make. Don't ridicule, mock, or discriminate against other people - be stronger than that. See people for who they are not what they look like, where they come from, or what sex they're attracted to.
I truly hope this is the last of these deaths and that the larger community, and not just the LGBT community, can really make a stand for what's right.
You never know what is going on in other peoples lives - that is the bottom line. So treat people the way you'd like to be treated. The way they deserve to be treated. Before you say or act, think about it - it could be the difference between life and death.
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