The book was the translation by Gia Fu Feng and contains beautiful black and white nature photos by Jane English. I was pleased with this gift and was eager to dive in get acquainted with the Tao Te Ching. Wow, it was so mysterious to me at first. I had very little understanding of what these eighty one ideograms meant and how they could apply to my life.

It is illegal to ask party affiliation in Washington, so as long as you are willing to sign a sheet that states that you consider yourself a Republican and that you won’t vote in another caucus, all voters are welcome. With Obama safely installed as the incumbent, I figured I may not get another opportunity like this for another 8 years.

I moved to Salt Lake City, UT for a job.  I was divorced with two young girls.  The job was great and within a year I was able to buy a twin home for the girls and me.  We were excited!  Only after we moved in did I learn that [...]

The Dickensian disdain for the poor resonates with some people today.

  First off, I apologize to Kalima, Bito, KQ or Adlib for not asking permission to write this post but I thought I would do so prior to getting too busy, mea culpa in advance.  Yesterday I posted a recipe for a favorite cookie recipe that I relate to Christmas [...]

Hello, planeteers! Although I haven’t posted here in a while due to an overflow of work, I’ve been lurking from time to time and am glad to see that the quality of commentary here has not declined in the slightest. Keep up the good work! In my travels through the [...]

Some say corporations are people. What if political parties were people? Could the GOP be clinically diagnosed as a sociopath?

There is not, throughout the whole book called the Bible, any word that describes to us what we call a poet, nor any word that describes what we call poetry. The case is, that the word prophet, to which latter times have affixed a new idea, was the Bible word [...]

Married to someone with a childhood so terrible, he blocked it out for years.

A late update from the 2011 Irish Presidential Elections.

Stating that gay people were born with their orientation seems like the perfect counter to the conservative argument that being gay is a choice, but this life-affirming rebuttal opens the door to other attacks.

When the London (and other English cities)riots rampaged earlier this year, I read with droll amusement, the armchair activist quarterbacks’ wistful comments in Huffington Post and elsewhere, basking in admiration and awe of what they thought they were seeing. Viewed from a closer range … like here in the UK … [...]

Toby Keith, Democrat, says:- I don’t know, but I expect the wealthy to write a check ’cause it’s as bad as it’s ever been. It would be unpatriotic not to try to save the country. I’m sure people will bitch about it, but if it meant we get to operate in this [...]

  America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~Abraham Lincoln   Lincoln’s words are as true today as they were over 160 years ago when he first spoke them. Since the birth of our nation [...]

When I was growing up in a Democratic kitchen, my parents made the difference between Democrats and Republicans abundantly clear. Keep in mind that this was in the 1960s, and I was a small child, just starting school, when Kennedy was elected. Before I knew the real difference between Democrats [...]

In the modern era of punditry and media, we have now become accustomed to news being a never ending chain predictions. As the crude saying goes, predictions are like assholes, every news show has them.

    In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior. ~Francis Bacon Whoever appeals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool or a coward. Whoever cannot take care of himself without that law is both. [...]

Loads of people love to talk about fascism coming to the United States, draped in a flag and carrying a cross. Well, maybe that’s so; but I happen to think that it’ll come the way good, old-fashioned fascism came to Germany. In fact, it’s almost here now. Last Sunday, the [...]

How does a lib engage with a RWer in a way that doesn’t convey acrimony while still standing strong?

I usually try to get back to the Commonwealth once a year. I’ve lived for the past 30 years in the same part of England to which two other Virginia women, Pocahontas (my kinswoman) and Nancy Astor, were condemned; and so I feel that if I don’t wiggle my toes [...]

Did you hear that? ~Batuwara(Krakatoa Island 1883) This is the first in a series of articles discussing one of my favorite subjects – The end of the world. Now, before you ask, “What the fuck is your problem?”, I’d like to say that it is a purely scientific interest only [...]

A Cop Rapes a Woman at Gunpoint. An 11-Year-Old Rape Victim is Smeared. KBR sues a rape accuser for $2 Million. What is it with our inability to find justice for victims? If events of the last few months have sent any sort of message to women in America it’s [...]

I know all there are scores of too-cool-for-school kids who hang out on Bill Maher’s Facebook page and stoke this little man’s enormously fragile ego. Bill’s always been a big fan of Ron Paul’s, although he’s not too keen on Rand Paul. I can’t figure out why, because their idealogy [...]

When you’re born you get a ticket to the freak show. When you’re born in America, you get a front row seat. George Carlin This is a short story set in America in the year 2030. President for life, Rick Perry has established Christian law in the country and rules [...]

Coincidence? I think NOT! YOU DECIDE!!! Enjoy!