Abe's Loving Kindness - by Jon Erlbaum (and TPO)

Abe’s Loving Kindness (*)
------------------------
The greatness of our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was not so much what he accomplished for us. It was rather the substance of his person, and how he went about pursuing his mission. Some may argue that he really was nothing but an accidental tourist who could have gone in any direction. And, as result, we may have had different outcomes of his life and times. However, the true core of Abraham Lincoln, namely his loving kindness, his candor, his common sense, and his implacable sense of right and wrong could not have led to any other destiny than the actual one.

Abe Lincoln was, in the best sense of the term, a rebel. At a time when the world was suffering from self-delusions and self-deceptions not unlike the present day, he stood up and challenged conventions. He correctly perceived them as destructive beliefs, and set out to face them head-on. He was the last person who wanted to tell people they were wrong – and yet he was challenged to say it to the whole world!

But, true to his loving nature, Abe masterfully managed to pull off this mission in the only way it could prove effective: through genuine motivations, sensitivity, tact, recognizing the good in others, and truly learning to love those he was reaching out to. In these ways, Abe gracefully modeled a timeless message for humankind: that in order to improve the world, we must often take unpopular stances, and we shouldn’t be afraid if those stances place us in the minority.

He, in effect, demonstrated his wish thru the campaign message that he himself coined: “Friends don’t let Friends hide behind their destructive delusions.”

There is really no mystery to the Great Man. He was not only honest, but he demonstrably taught us that that while “Live and let Live” may be a more enlightened philosophy than some of its gruesome counterparts, it should never be mistaken for the ideal that we should truly strive for: to LIVE AND HELP LIVE!

__________________________________________

(*) Source: Jon Erlbaum 

"Cattle Call" - by Eddie Arnold

Eddie Arnold (1918 - 2008) The great yodeler sings his famous "Cattle Call."  

     

More About People - by Ogden Nash

Ogden Nash (1902 - 1971) More About People ------- // -------   
When people aren't asking questions
They're making suggestions
And when they're not doing one of those
They're either looking over your shoulder or stepping on your toes
And then as if that weren't enough to annoy you
They employ you.
Anybody at leisure
Incurs everybody's displeasure.
It seems to be very irking
To people at work to see other people not working,
So they tell you that work is wonderful medicine,
Just look at Firestone and Ford and Edison,
And they lecture you till they're out of breath or something
And then if you don't succumb they starve you to death or something.
All of which results in a nasty quirk:
That if you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so
that you won't have to work.    

"Life Is Fine" - by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)
---------
Life Is Fine

I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!               

Stop the Talking - by TPO

"Stop the talking!"
----------
by TPO ** On the few occasions when I watched them on TV or read their latest rants, the persons portrayed in this video have given me nothing but indigestion and depression. I should, therefore, point out that I made this video for a purely selfish reason. I just want to tell all these folks to "shut up." **
 

_________________________________________________________________
Many thanks to The Black Eyed Peas for giving words to my sentiments here.
Also, I thank Google as a resource for the pictures. It is indeed true: A picture is worth a thousand words!

"Apparitions" - by William Butler Yeats

W B Yeats (1865 - 1939)
--------
"Apparitions"

BECAUSE there is safety in derision
I talked about an apparition,
I took no trouble to convince,
Or seem plausible to a man of sense.
Distrustful of thar popular eye
Whether it be bold or sly.
Fifteen apparitions have I seen;
The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger.

I have found nothing half so good
As my long-planned half solitude,
Where I can sit up half the night
With some friend that has the wit
Not to allow his looks to tell
When I am unintelligible.
Fifteen apparitions have I seen;
The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger.

When a man grows old his joy
Grows more deep day after day,
His empty heart is full at length,
But he has need of all that strength
Because of the increasing Night
That opens her mystery and fright.
Fifteen apparitions have I seen;
The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger. 

Not Fussy! - by TPO

This cat is not fussy!
---------  

              

Seeing the Forest for the Trees - by Hénock Gugsa

Seeing the Forest for the Trees
----------- Hénock Gugsa Call me a simpleton, if you want. But, at least I think I see the forest for the trees. We Americans have been so busy ragging on the Government that we have not noticed what else we have been doing to ourselves and to America.

Take the basic premise of a free economy (i.e. going back to Econ101)... we have 3 sectors (the Private, the Public, and Household) ... of these, the Private sector (Business) and Household are driven by self-interest ... the Public sector, which is Government, is a provider of essential services to both Business and Household. These services are of-course ones that cannot be provided fairly and equitably by Business, and Household is too splintered and unable.

Government needs taxes to perform all its duties, and its only motivation is to serve and not to make profit. So, the wailing and railing by Libertarians and/or "anarchists" is nothing but storm in a teapot. We can argue about the fairness of taxes, whether they are too regressive or progressive. But one basic truth stands undeniable. Somebody has to provide the services that Government performs today, and nobody can do them more responsibly than Government itself. These services don't come free, hence the necessity for taxes. The Private sector may claim that it can do the job cheaply and efficiently ... but responsibly, I don't think so! And what's more, we know business doesn't give anything away free anyways.

Consider also one important point ... Governments are generally outward-looking, while Business (the Private sector) is, by necessity, focused inwards. And in a truly democratic state, Government is not a self-serving body, which it would be if it were transformed into Business.

To be sure, the Private sector has no qualms whom it trades with, and there is no patriotic element in any of the transactions that are conducted. The country can be split up, parceled and sold out to any buyer as far as Business is concerned. Nationhood and/or "patriotism" is only good for one thing ... namely the establishment and maintenance of a military body to protect the interests of Business. Meanwhile, Household is cajoled and encouraged to cling to patriotism in order to maintain the myth of nationhood.

Business does not want to be taxed, but it does not mind if Government simply stayed in the shadows and left everything well enough alone. In like manner, Household does not want to be taxed either, although it wants all governmental services from A to Z. In a nutshell, Business and Household want Government to ensure that we have at least two official holidays, Christmas and Independence Day, and oh, ... one more thing ... could we just do away with the I.R.S altogether?

And so, finally, ... greed reigns supreme while social responsibility and national conscience become things of the past. Everything is for now, and hardly anyone cares for tomorrow. Borrow it or hawk it, it doesn't much matter anymore.

Those are the conclusions I have reached, and I sincerely apologize if they do not agree with yours.

"Hamlet" ( Andy Griffith ) - by Hénock Gugsa

" H A M L E T "
----------------
Rendition by Andy Griffith  

"Hard Times ..." (Thomas Hampson) - by TPO

"Hard Times Come Again No More"
by
Thomas Hampson
This is a song for the ages.
It is beautifully sung by the wonderful American baritone, Thomas Hampson.

2010 Gymnastics Recap - by gymastike.org

Visit gymnastike.org for more Videos

A Congressman Named "King" - by TPO

Irony of Ironies

(Rep. Pete King [of New York] Wants to Ban Guns Near Congressmen)

<< Despite being a Republican, Rep. Peter King is not totally opposed to gun control laws, especially when they are controlling guns near him. Politico reports that King "wants to make it illegal for someone to carry a gun within 1,000 feet of certain high-ranking federal officials, including members of Congress." "It is imperative that we do all that we can to give law enforcement the tools they need to ensure the safety of New Yorkers and prevent an attack before it happens," King said Tuesday in New York. The proposal isn't likely to go anywhere in the Republican-controlled House, but it's noteworthy if only because it represents the first post-Tucson foray by a Republican into the Bermuda triangle of gun control advocacy. Meanwhile, King says he's not interested in expanding the scope of the hearings on Muslim extremism that he's ordered in his new role as the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security: "We've always had throughout our history deranged people taking up arms." >> (*)
___________________________________________________________________

(*) Source: Slate.com (01/11/11)
Read original story in Politico | Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011 

 

 

 

 

 

"La Paloma Adieu" - Mireille Mathieu

Mireille Mathieu (1946 - )

"La Paloma Adieu" ----------------

Le soir ma mère nous chantait quand j'étais enfant
L'histoire d'un bateau perdu et d'un oiseau blanc
Un jour le bateau s'en va droit vers l'océan
Et seule, le cœur plein d'amour une fille attend
Le marin lui a dit : "n'oublie pas je t'aime"
L'hiver et le printemps elle attend quand même
Elle voit un oiseau blanc se poser près d'elle
Qui portait quelques mots au creux de son aile

La paloma adieu, adieu c'est toi que j'aime
Ma vie s'en va mais n'aie pas trop de peine
Oh mon amour adieu !
La paloma adieu, adieu c'est toi que j'aime
Ma vie s'en va mais n'aie pas trop de peine
Oh mon amour adieu !

Elle prend tout contre son cœur le bel oiseau blanc
Tout deux ils s'ont repartis droit vers l'océan
L'amour ne meurt jamais j'ai vue deux colombes
S'envoler vers la mer et que la nuit tombe
La paloma adieu, adieu c'est toi que j'aime
Ma vie s'en va mais n'aie pas trop de peine
Oh mon amour adieu !
La paloma adieu, adieu c'est toi que j'aime
Ma vie s'en va mais n'aie pas trop de peine
Oh mon amour adieu !

Choice - by William Butler Yeats

C H O I C E
--------
BY
William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)


The intellect of man is forced to choose
perfection of the life, or of the work,
And if it take the second must refuse
A heavenly mansion, raging in the dark.
When all that story's finished, what's the news?
In luck or out the toil has left its mark:
That old perplexity an empty purse,
Or the day's vanity, the night's remorse.          

To Palin, Beck, Bachmann, et al. - from TPO

I would like to dedicate the following video to Sarah Palin, to Glen Beck, to Michele Bachmann, and all other assorted demagogues, megalomaniacs, wacko pundits, and their disciples ... 
You're all W R O N G !!!

Wrong
------------
by
Depeche Mode

  wrong

wrong

wrong

wrong

I was born with the wrong sign
In the wrong house
With the wrong ascendancy
I took the wrong road
That led to the wrong tendencies
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme
On the wrong day of the wrong week
I used the wrong method with the wrong technique

Wrong

Wrong

There's something wrong with me chemically
Something wrong with me inherently
The wrong mix in the wrong genes
I reached the wrong ends by the wrong means
It was the wrong plan
In the wrong hands
The wrong theory for the wrong man
The wrong eyes on the wrong prize
The wrong questions with the wrong replies

Wrong

Wrong

I was marching to the wrong drum
With the wrong scum
Pissing out the wrong energy
Using all the wrong lines
And the wrong signs
With the wrong intensity
I was on the wrong page of the wrong book
With the wrong rendition of the wrong look
With the wrong moon, every wrong night
With the wrong tune playing till it sounded right yeah

Wrong

Wrong
(Too long)
Wrong
(Too long)

I was born with the wrong sign
In the wrong house
With the wrong ascendancy
I took the wrong road
That led to the wrong tendencies
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme
On the wrong day of the wrong week
I used the wrong method with the wrong technique

Wrong

"The Cat and the Moon" - by W B Yeats

The Cat And The Moon
------
by
William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)


THE cat went here and there
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon,
The creeping cat, looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would,
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet.
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn,
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes. 

Guns in America - by TPO (a.k.a. J.J. Sefton)

[In response to the reactions about guns following
Saturday's (1/8/11) shootings in Arizona ....]

Perhaps others have said this before and much better than I, I have no doubt. The problem with guns in America is not their proliferation due to lax laws or laws with too many loopholes. The problem really is that old and persistent national hunger for bigger, faster, and more powerful products ... or in a nutshell, the "super-size me!" mentality.

A poignant example of this societal conundrum: People buy and drive trucks when they don't even have the need or use for one-tenth the power they're getting. In the recent snow and ice storms here in the twin cities, nature turned out to be the winner anyways!

And almost everybody knows or is party to the fast-food craze in this country. And despite the health risks (obesity, etc.,) some politicians (you know who they are) want to insist on our God-given right to eat whatever we want! But, I'm fine with that; it's not as scary as the fascination with faster-loading and more powerful guns. 

 

 

 

 

Senior Texting Code (STC) - by TPO

Senior Texting Code (STC)
ATD : At The Doctor's
BFF : Best Friend Farted
BTW : Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT : Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM : Covered By Medicare
CUATSC : See You At The Senior Center
DWI : Driving While Incontinent
FWB : Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW : Forgot Where I Was
FYI : Found Your Insulin
GGPBL : Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA : Got Heartburn Again
HGBM : Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO : Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO : Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL : Living On Lipitor
LWO : Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR : On My Massage Recliner
OMSG : Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
ROFL... CGU : Rolling On The Floor Laughing... [and] Can't Get Up
SGGP : Sorry, Gotta Go Poop
TTYL : Talk To You Louder
WAITT : Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA : Wet The Furniture Again
WTP : Where's The Prunes?
WWNO : Walker Wheels Need Oil 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Comment - by TPO (as J J Sefton)

In Response to Eric Blank's Article
on MinnPost

(#11) On January 7, 2011, Author Editor J.J Sefton says:

It is not too surprising that "conservative" republicans led by the zealot Ms. Bachmann are preparing to take a quick "Constitution for Dummies" course from Judge Scalia. After all, they have all consistently demonstrated that they suffer from a cognitive disharmony that we can call "selective attention disorder." Let's just dub it SAD!

On the other hand, I'm only glad (happy, actually) that the President does not need to take lessons on the Constitution from those dullards at the Supreme Court. I understand he knows the Constitution forward and backward. And I'm glad that at least he recognizes who the heroes of the Constitution were, i.e. Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt, to name a few.

And while we are on this topic, may I suggest that we all push for the U.S. Supreme Court to be moved to another location as far away as possible from the Capitol. That way, we'll ensure the judiciary and the legislative bodies will have little contact with each other. They won't have lunch together, or go quail hunting on weekends together. Let's put the U.S. Supreme Court somewhere on the west coast or maybe in Alaska!

"Rose, Rose, I Love You" - by Frankie Laine

Frankie Laine (1913-2007)
"Rose, Rose, I Love You"
---------------
Presented by Henock Gugsa
This song takes me back, way back. It is from the 50's, and it was quite popular in Ethiopia among those exposed to cultures from abroad.

This video is also available on YouTube at youtube.com/gugsah.

Thank you for your patronage.

Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart.
What is your future, now we have to part?
Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away,
Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay.
Make way, oh, make way for my Eastern Rose.
Men crowd in dozens everywhere she goes.
In her rickshaw on the street or in a cabaret,
"Please make way for Rose," you can hear them say.
All my life I shall remember,
Oriental music and you in my arms.
Perfumed flowers in your tresses,
Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms.
Rose, Rose I love you with your almond eyes.
Fragrant and slender 'neath tropical skies.
I must cross the seas again and never see you more.
Way back to my home on a distant shore.
All my life I shall remember,
Oriental music and you in my arms.
Perfumed flowers in your tresses,
Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms.
Rose, Rose I leave you, my ship is in the bay.
Kiss me farewell now, there's nothin' to say.
East is East and West is West, our worlds are far apart.
I must leave you now but I leave my heart.
Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart.
What is your future, now we have to part?
Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away,
Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay.
Rose, Rose I love you, I cannot stay.

Homage to Westerns - by Hénock Gugsa

By now, I suspect you all know me enough to surmise that I'm kind of partial to anything American, I mean real American. Ever since I was a little boy, I've been exposed to nuggets of American culture (music, film, and literature) through various media and also at school. I sometimes wonder how it was that a foreign culture from thousands and thousands of miles away could practically overtake my own.

And now, in my old age, it is safe to say that I am as American as anybody. This is especially true because I understand and appreciate America. In short, America has adopted me, and I have adopted America in like measure.

When it comes to movies, my special affinity has always been towards westerns. I've always liked the deceptive simplicity of this genre. I believe that the grade "A" westerns always had layers of richness (moving, heroic stories tinged with morality, humor, visual grandeur, and rousing theme music.)

This is my homage to westerns ....

"Treat Me Nice" - Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley (1935-1977)

"Treat Me Nice" When I walk through that door Baby, be polite You're gonna make me sore If you don't greet me right Don't you ever kiss me once Kiss me twice, treat me nice I know that you've been told It's not fair to tease So if you come on cold I'm really gonna freeze If you don't want me to be Cold as ice, treat me nice Make me feel at home If you really care Scratch my back and run your pretty Fingers through my hair You know I'll be your slave If you ask me to But if you don't behave I'll walk right out on you If you want my love then take my advice Treat me nice Make me feel at home If you really care Scratch my back and run your pretty Fingers through my hair You know I'll be your slave If you ask me to But if you don't behave I'll walk right out on you If you want my love then take my advice Treat me nice, treat me nice If you really want my love Then treat me nice.

"W i n t e r" - by William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
-------
"Winter"

When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When Blood is nipped and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.