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“We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love. We must look deeply in order to see and understand the needs, aspirations, and suffering of the person we love. This is the ground of real love. You cannot resist loving another person when you really understand him or her.From time to time, sit close to the one you love, hold his or her hand, and ask, ‘Darling, do I understand you enough? Or am I making you suffer? Please tell me so that I can learn to love you properly. I don’t want to make you suffer, and if I do so because of my ignorance, please tell me so that I can love you better, so that you can be happy." If you say this in a voice that communicates your real openness to understand, the other person may cry.That is a good sign, because it means the door of understanding is opening and everything will be possible again. Maybe a father does not have time or is not brave enough to ask his son such a question. Then the love between them will not be as full as it could be. We need courage to ask these questions, but if we don’t ask, the more we love, the more we may destroy the people we are trying to love. True love needs understanding. With understanding, the one we love will certainly flower.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

via Peace Is Every Step Quotes by Thích Nhất Hạnh.

If I could have a fraction of this wisdom.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

What exactly does this mean? I read it and it says to me that we, the citizens of the United States of America are supposed to be joined together in a great cause. First and foremost we are supposed to “establish Justice”; a word that means; blind, fair, equitable, impartial, truthful and reasonable. This justice is not defined or limited. But on these words alone we the citizens have an obligation to ensure that Justice is the law of the land. To me this means that if Congress has to pass a law to ensure that pay is equitable and that people are treated with equality and voting rights are protected for all citizen; then they have a Constitutional obligation to pass such laws. This also means if any law or practice within any state is in opposition to the establishment of Justice then it is unconstitutional. Seems like basic common sense to me.

Whether it is the shit that comes out of the mouths of celebrities who stop at nothing to gain attention to the crap people will post on the internet; from facebook to internet news story comments.Now what I find to be the saddest part of of all of the hate coming out of people’s hearts is that statistically 75% of the people in the world belong to a major religion that have specific teachings against such hate. Of course it can be argued that all of the people spreading hate are in the other 25% except many of them happily advertise their religious beliefs; they just don’t think what they say is wrong. There are also those who agree with them and support their hate; strengthening their beliefs they become more emboldened.
It is a vicious cycle.

Why do they come in so many damn different sizes. I have been scanning all of these pictures and I have 1×2 2×2 2×3 3×2 3×4 3×5 4×5 4×6 I cant keep up. And then trying to organize the hard copy pictures after they have been scanned, arrgghh! I am seriously thinking the only thing I can do is get new photo albums and organize them since sizes are all over the place putting them in picture boxes is next to impossible. I still have stacks more to scan but really need to come up with a solution before my mess grows out of control.
Oh and please, please put notes on your pictures. 70-80 years from now no one will have a clue who the people in your pictures are and will have to struggle to identify everyone.

I smoked for twenty years starting when I was thirteen years old. Around seven or eight years ago normal breathing slowly became more difficult; almost like trying to breath through a straw. So now if I get a cold, have allergy problems or any other upper respiratory problems it then becomes more like breathing through a coffee stirrer full of sand. For the last week I have been fighting something and it has moved into my chest as of last night.  The things we do to ourselves 

The stress increases my anxiety and my anxiety can increase my stress. Sometimes my anxiety is the reason for my stress and my stress is the reason for my anxiety. There are also the times when there is no cause, I will be sitting at work doing my job and all of a sudden I will realize I have tightened every muscle in my body and I am starting to hurt because I have my jaw clinched so tight my teeth start hurting. I can’t even tell how long it has been happening. Then there are the times when my jaw hurts from not grinding my teeth keeping them from just barely touching, no less painful. Other times I realize it is occurring when my eyes start to ache because they get dry from a lack of blinking. Suddenly I feel it, the tightness that starts in my throat and works its way down to my chest; suffocating, smothering,  almost as if a belt was being tightened around my rib cage. Minutes, hours pass fighting to relax and catch my breath.

Sometimes everyday, never more then 2 weeks between. Not always as intense. But always just around the corner.

Long live the opinion. I would like the FCC to pass new rules that require news sources to watermark any non factual items with OPINION NOT FACT or more helpful would just be BULLSHIT. At least if you come here this blog is my opinion, my own personal take on the world. The problem is that the 24 hour news cycle leaves so much air time that has to be filled, instead of actually hiring reporters they chase ratings by hiring blowhards to confuse the truth with bullshit. The sad part is that it works, large groups of people hang on the words of these shills, letting them sell a false reality that makes them happy.

It is a sad world we live in indeed. Would we survive without the lies they tell us? Would we want to?

Violence be-gets violence and it is a sad reality of the world we live in currently. What we must realize is that each day as violence occurs and we ignore it and do not condemn it; we are responsible for the perpetuation of violence. Unfortunately I believe violence will persist until we as a nation truly believe that all Americans are equal, that we should all have the same chances and opportunities to succeed.
And it isn’t just violence, it is systematic inequality that brings us to the same place every time. When someone like Cliven Bundy, a man who has stolen millions in natural resources from the American people, who’s supporters took up arms and threatened those tasked with enforcing the law. When this man and his supporters are still living and breathing, free and not in jail then inequality exists. When the same people who sang his praises on national television turn around and sing the praises of Darren Wilson there is a clear system of inequality.
When the only answer some people have is “yeah but look what these black thugs did to these white people”, advocate shooting people of color, or my all time favorite response bringing up Martin Luther King JR; because what people of color are supposed to not be like the rest of Americans. Seems to me after 9/11 we opened a collective can of angry whoop ass on people, quite a few who were innocent bystanders lost their lives and property in the ensuing war. Why is it ok when one group lashes out in anger but not another? Why do we cheer for one and condemn the other?
What does it take to bring the American people together, how do we honestly work through issues that divide us when many don’t seem to even care if the issue exists? Others believe we should be divided further; and yes I see this on both sides of the issue. Though in my personal life often times a person who will make overtly racist comments about people of color; will then complain that “they want to make it about race” or “they are playing the race card”; I am sorry, if you have ever disparaged a person because of the color of their skin you are the problem.
And I am just as much a part of the problem as everyone else. I have not raised my voice to condemn violence. I have remained silent as people I have worked for and with speak words of hate against others because of their skin color. I have not gone out into the community to help make a difference. I have kept my head down and looked out for myself. My apathy is as much of a problem as others lack of empathy.

Memorial Day one of the many holidays in the USA where we celebrate by having heavily commercialized sales and events; and we don’t need to regulate business because they would never exploit the people. Maybe I am just cynical.
Today my family will be spending Memorial Day honoring my father who died this year of lung cancer from exposure to Agent Orange. We are going to spread his ashes around on the walking trail he made.
So no sales for us, today we honor James W England Feb 26, 1950 – Jan 25, 2014. Husband, father, teacher, soldier.