The Original Thanksgiving © A. Scott Piraino When most Americans think of the origins of Thanksgiving, images of Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and feasts with Indians come to mind. That is not true. The Thanksgiving holiday we celebrate today originated in 1864, the bloodiest year in US history. The Civil War had been raging for nearly four years. Over half a million soldiers were dead in what was by far the biggest war on earth up to that time. In 1864, the American people had to choose whether to end the war and dissolve the United States, or continue the carnage and hope for victory. The Army of the Potomac had borne the brunt of the fighting, and had usually lost to the dashing Robert E. Lee. Bull run, The Peninsula Campaign, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville had been debacles for the Union Army. Only Antietam and Gettysburg could be called victories, and these battles were won because the Union held their ground, not by outmaneuvering the wily Confederates. In the summer of 1864 command of all Union Armies passed to Ulysses S. Grant. His grim strategy was to engage the Confederate armies in a relentless war of attrition. To that end, the Union Army under Grant fought a series of battles in Virginia. The Army of the Potomac suffered 66,000 thousand casualties in six weeks, losing over half their strength. Out west, Sherman’s Army faced equally stubborn Confederates in a battle for Atlanta. In the Shenandoah valley, another Confederate Army was marching towards Washington. In total, Union Army casualties in the summer of 1864 surpassed 100,000. The press and public were horrified. President Lincoln was criticized for his conduct of the war, and his insistence that slavery, and the confederacy, be destroyed before the war could end. With the Presidential election just four months away, the prospects for President Lincoln, and the United States, appeared bleak. Lincoln’s opponent in the election was George McClellan. A former Union Army General who was responsible for some of the bungled campaigns of the previous years. He promised an immediate end to the war, and negotiations with the Confederacy. Had he won, the United States would not exist. On August 23rd, President Lincoln wrote, “it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so cooperate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such grounds that he cannot possibly save it afterwards.” Then on September 3rd, Sherman captured Atlanta. Two weeks later a Union Army took the offensive in the Shenandoah valley. After three victories, the Shenandoah valley, breadbasket of the Confederacy, was in Union hands. Although the Army of the Potomac did not win any decisive victories in the summer of 1864, their sacrifice had finally besieged Lee’s Army. The most infamous Confederate army was entrenched at Petersburg, unable to move. The South now had no chance to defeat the Union in the field, and change the course of the election. After two months of campaigning, what had been a futile war with no end in sight suddenly appeared to be all but over. The reversal of fortunes was astounding. By October of 1864, it was clear that the Union would win the Civil War. That November, the American people voted to re-elect President Lincoln,and pursue the war to it’s conclusion. Grateful for the victories that had saved the United States, Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November to be a national day of Thanksgiving. Our country is being brought to the brink of another abyss by our cynical, corrupt leaders. Americans have survived tough times before, and we will suffer through the events of the near future. When we do let us give thanks. “Over half a million soldiers were dead in what was by far the biggest war on earth up to that time.” _______________________________________________________________ When you look back on the reality of what happened in our country not so very long ago, when we as a nation of human beings became so unconscious that we believed it necessary for us to kill our own brothers over disagreements of  ideology…. You are directly seeing the power of the collective egoic consciousness …for what it truly is The battle has been raging all day in the distance and I am unable to ascertain whether any thing has been gained or not. O how I long for this war to end. How I long for peace. How will I hail the day when I return to the bosom of my family. My Dear I hope to see you.” (Samuel D. Lougheed letter to his wife Jane “Jennie” Lougheed, April 30 – May 1 1863)   This is the same power that drove the nails into the Body of Christ A power that still rules our world today, and with far more control than ever. It’s danger enormous because by it’s nature it remains totally hidden from our eyes. No one man is to blame, Lincoln’s Thanksgiving day proclamation,  for example was made with the best of intention Even Bush was no more than a puppet, playing out a role scripted for him by an energy field he doesn’t even know exists The irony of giving thanks for one side “winning” over the other is totally insane. There will never be victors in War…..War is always a lose/lose situation.   I am thankful for one thing …. the power of the collective ego is an illusion we have created in our minds. I know that we as free people of this earth have the true power ….We can decide in this moment to choose to be presently conscious and dissolve this matrix of illusion which has blinded us for so long  from the TRUTH  I give thanks that we are free in each moment to decide.  Where we go from here ….Is a choice I leave to you.     Blessing to you all, and may your God be with you doug

 

 This one is for the birds

 

THE PARROT

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift.

The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary.

Every word out of the bird’s mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

John tried and tried to change the bird’s attitude by consistently saying only polite words,

 playing soft music and anything else he could think of to “clean up” the bird’s vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot
yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even
ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and
put him in the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.

Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.

Fearing that he’d hurt the parrot, John quickly open the door to the
freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John’s outstretched arms
and said

“I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and
actions. I’m sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions

and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable
behavior.”

John was stunned at the change in the bird’s attitude.

As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued,

“May I ask what the turkey did?”

 

 

“Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one’s awareness of one’s ignorance,” he claimed.

When asked for an explanation, he said,

 ”When you come to see you are not as wise today

 as you thought you were yesterday,

you are wiser today.”

Anthony de Mello, SJ

 

 

God and the devil were walking down the street. 

God suddenly spotted a splendid ball of light

just laying on the ground. 

He picked it up, in wonder and said,

“Look! This is the Truth, right here and now. 

The devil snatched it from his hand and said, 

“Here, give that to me….

I’ll organize it for you.”

 

 

\

 

I was reading blogs the other day and saw an interesting question.

It went something like this:

 

What is meant when someone claims to be

“Spiritual but not Religious”

 

 

the one comment to the post said this….

“It means the same thing as “democratic but not a voter”

“It means you like the idea, but your’re not ready to commit.”

 

I like the comment above because within it’s narrow core philosophy it demonstrates, in part, why many people profess to be ….”spiritual but not religions”.

 

Some religious organizations push religion as if it were a business idea, and they are making a sale…to you the consumer … their agenda is to give you hope, but not enough assistance to actually help you find god…thus keeping you as a member of the congregations that always will need to come back next sunday hungry for more.

Religions preach to you that the goal of enlightenment is unattainable for the average human within their life times.  Grrrrrr

Not exactly what Jesus tried soo hard to tell us…..

Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him.”

In a sense they feed you a fish, but they don’t teach you how to catch the fish for yourself.

This is a very old practice indeed.

If the sum total of all the spiritual experiences a religion can provide you with is nothing more concrete than mere ideas about god…then join a religion and let people sell you on their beliefs….and you will live in poverty.

But if a religion does not merely tell to believe in god, but instead helps you achieve the state of consciousness that will enable you to experience god for yourself….then maybe they haven’t strayed off the path, and can be very helpful.

For an example of this I would recommend reading  

http://www.xanga.com/mourning2dancing

  

“Spiritual but not religious”  

 Can mean many things to different people

Many today recognize that the major religions of the world no longer represent the spiritual values of their founders, and this realization has turned them away.  A Christian perhaps may feel this, yet still maintain their faith that Jesus’s message is a legitimate and powerful spiritual teaching.  By incorporating his teachings into their everyday lives they find the inner peace of the path.  To me these people are the real Christians alive today.

Still others, having established a deep and abiding personal connection to God, have found the inner peace which flows in abundance from this eternal source. These fortunate few feel no need to label themselves. They need no minister or priest to given them what they already have. …let me find that quote that expresses this so well…

Jesus said,

“Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen,

 for you will find the kingdom.

For you have come from it, and you will return there again.”

 

I am very interested to hear from you all

How does the idea 

“Spiritual but not Religious”

 relate  to you personally?

 

 

 

 

 

 

At times I wonder what people who believe in satan think about him?  

 It is not difficult to see God as Light

Yet darkness is not satan

Darkness is the absence of light

perhaps then I could imagine

Satan as a  dark reflection of the collective egoic mind

The absence of God in our lives

 Is a quality of the deafness

 resulting from the constant din  of our incessant thinking…

 preventing us from hearing  the subtle beauty

of his His voice.

  

 

 

 

Who excites and controls the masses like Obama 

Promising us hope for the future…

If we just give our trust over to his leadership.”

-dosmangoes

 

fear-mongering fox news is doing a great job

of instilling this fear to all their viewers.
the fact that you would compare him to Hitler

is fucking ridiculous and outlandish.

so he brought multiple nations happiness

and a sense of hope..

a hope in US Govt. we haven’t seen in ages.

what’s so bad about that?

we can all praise jesus, but god forbid we praise an actual person that

could bring about some real change to this entire world.

go buy another gun to add to your arsenal

and continue to as i quote you ‘be scared’.

what a way to live a life.

and all of this coming from what i thought was such a highly evolved being.

when the time comes, maybe your crystals will help you see the light.”

 

 

 

 It’s true enough that I had almost given up hope  

anyone was paying attention.

And I was afraid indeed

that no one would respond  to the message I had sent.

……this post about Obama  that I made

good grief!!!

 

I expected to be totally blown out of the water . 

 But  thankfully one person bothered to express outrage.

Congratulations to the one who wrote this.

Thank you.

Your response is perfect.

You are normally a very considerate, conscious person.

Yet what happened …

you were outraged.

Your identification with Obama caused you to feel threatened by what I said.

In your anger you descended deeply into the egoic mindset…

 feel the anger you sent my way

dripping like poison from the harsh venom in your words as

you lashed out … attacking me personally because of your beliefs.

Is this the  model we can expect from Obama supporters?

 Wow!

I was glad you were paying attention and responded.

I want to talk about this until it’s easy for all to understand.

I am not saying Obama is Hitler.

I am saying something so much deeper .

Leaders can do no more than we allow them to.

It was a mistake of the German people to allow someone to mislead them.

The conscious level of the German people at the time was very little different from our own now.

Case in point:  we have just allowed a criminal psychopath to lead us for 8 years.

I see little need to elaborate, because you all know the senseless things we’ve allowed to happen.

What we must do now is to pay attention to exactly what is going on.

If Obama represents the same insane factions which have been controlling this nation for years and years, many things will change indeed, they always do

 and all of them will be bad, very bad.

However, if Obama is consciously present and leads this nation toward peace and love, then we must all see that he stays alive to complete his task.

Make no mistake about it:  the interests he will be opposing are enormously powerful.

Only with great conscious effort on all our parts could we hope to help him reverse the years and years of our historical insanity.

It’s going to take more than just helping him. 

We must help ourselves.

We must help our brothers and sisters, our sons and our daughters, our neighbors and friends to awaken from the state of egoic consciousness which has dominated every aspect of all of our lives in spite of the teachings so beautifully explained to us 2,000 years ago.  This gospel has been lost to us for far too long.  The time is now for us to remember the presence that is deeply part of who we truly are.

It is time for the children of God to awaken.

 

It is not just about those who lead us

It is about the authority we give them.  Our past record sucks.  We’ve go to do better now. 

The luxury of time in which to make mistakes is gone.

What I am telling you is this, together, let us find out the truth about Obama, and more importantly, let us learn the truth about ourselves.

Can you see now my intention for comparing Hitler and Obama was simply to wake you up?

 I never want you to believe what I write.

I need you to find out for yourselves.

the choice I leave to you

 

 

 

 

 

As-Salaamu Alaikum

“Peace be upon you”

 

“Holding on to anger

Is like grasping a hot coal

with the intention of throwing it at someone else.

You are the one who gets burned”

-Buddha?

 

 

If you look at the world today from space you see a beautiful,  living plant

An oasis of life 

teaming with harmonious, interacting energy systems.

No matter how closely you look however,

 Something  that we humans consider so vitally important

 is totally absent.

Our planet, when seen as it truly is,

 has no boundaries drawn on it’s surface/

  The truth is there for all to see:

no-thing  natural

separates the people of the earth 

from living as one …

yet

make no mistake here

Lines drawn by blood 

Written in the sands of time

National boundaries have become the reality that divides us.

 

   Is there any truth to these boundaries?

 

We have chosen to do this out of ignorance

During our biological evolution

we were extremely successful as a species because we evolved a mindset able to control time.

It was an extremely useful adaptation that quickly allowed us to rise to the top of the food chain.

For instance, growing crops requires planning for the future, and ownership of the land.

But the ability to control time became something that ended up controlling us.

It separated us from the present moment.

We lost touch with present moment reality to such an extent that the past and future became

more important than the present.

This is a total reversal of the Truth.

Deeply lost in the fearful egoic mindset, we made the choice  long ago…

to live divided

 

politically, religiously, ethically, ideologically,

and most significantly, separated by nationalism.

 Over the centuries. and by the misguided authority of our freewill

Nationalism has gained such momentum and power 

that its very existence has become the instrument

which prevents us from experiencing

 that which so many of us desire above all things:

A world of harmony, fellowship and  love.

A world living in peace.

 

 

 

But nationalism, religious intolerance, racism, hatred, bigotry, selfishness, pride and indifference

are not the problems ..they are only symptoms.

 

The symptoms of a condition that so many of us have, that we can no longer even see it.

What we have lost sight of is 

Truth itself.

That word over the ages has lost all meaning to us…

yet despite all our blindness

 our spirits hold it fast to our hearts

and we yearn so much to know the truth.

 

Ironically  it is the temporality of our own minds which blinds us from seeing it. 

 

Let the chatter in your mind be silent for a moment …

relax and take a few calming breaths

close your eyes for second and just breathe…

Now listen to the sounds you hear…

open your eyes

what you see and here now…

 

 Is the only Truth!

 

The Truth is everything that is happening now, everywhere 

 in this moment…

 

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

 

 

this is  powerful  statement of momentary consciousness

 

 

Not an easy thing for the mind to grasp

for if you stop to think about an event that just happened

the truth you just experienced dissolves into a pale shadow of reality.

 

 

The event exists now only in the past as a memory. 

It’s not the truth any more, it’s a model of the truth. 

If you were presently conscious  

during the experience your model of it might serve as a sign post

useful for pointing back to the event

…but your memory can never be the actual momentary reality  

    just as a map is not the territory it represent.

It is curious how in a court of law you might be asked to swear on a holy book

 to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…

 

I dread the day they would ever ask this of me for I would surely be headed to jail.

There would be no way I could swear to such ignorant garbage.

 

Look at the world we have made for ourselves

 

 

 

Can you open your eyes and see the truth of what we have become?

For if we can learn do that 

Together we can find the path to peace e\

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Howard’s New Creation

I love it 

 

Available Now

 

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/canada_rocks3852

• 
  
   

 

 

Let’s pull  out the crystal ball and see who wins …

 

Obama Wins!!

Surprise Surprise Surprise

 

 

Like Carlin

(who is no longer alive btw)

Was saying…in the you-tube vid.,

 

There is a reason for all of this

Obama will win this election

 

The powers that be …the real owners of this country

Gave this guy the nod long ago…they

Filled his coffers with more  gold than he could ever spend

Their Media…..

Painted this guy as the glorious new golden boy of change.

I have never seen a more rigged game.

They told us what to believe…about their boy.

And we ate it up hook line and sinker.

 

His slick polished oratory promises everything !

Hope, change and deliverance from the insanity of the previous administrations.

 

Man did they choose the right man for the Job.

I can’t remember a speaker since Adolf Hitler

Who excites and controls the masses like Obama 

Promising us hope for the future…

If we just give our trust over to his leadership.

 

Why do we need him now???

The timing of our present, apparent economic troubles was perfectly orchestrated  for him to step in and save us…

He will succeed, the country will emerge from this crisis,

And we will love him for it….

And then he will have us totally enthralled

His power will be unchecked.

 

Machiavelli himself could not have set it up better.

This guy and the egoic power structure he represents scare me beyond anything I could dream up in my imagination.

 

Just a hint of what’s to come can be found in a speech he made on July 2nd —

 Obama’s ‘Civilian National Security Force’

 ”We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”

Do you see it yet?

  Have a look at this…

 

I want so very much to be mistaken  about my what my intuition is tell me about all of this.

I pray that I am….wrong and Obama will be a president

who preserves the laws of the land

and upholds the constitution.

 

 

 

Education in this country is a joke

 

and its time the teachers take some of the blame for it

don’t get me wrong here

I am not saying educator are at fault  because they are  ineffective classroom teacher

Some are of course,   but that is not the point 

I am saying that we the ones in the trenches every day

We are the only ones who are in a position to truly understand what is happening

day to day,  in each moment in the classroom

And we know damn well 

Nothing is being proposed by those in  positions of  power that

will do anything to improve the present situation….

and

That if left unchecked…the path we are on today  will result in generations of citizens that will be unprepared  to meet the tremendous challenges they will face in the days to come.

They will however be the perfect drones … submitting without resistance to countless injustices, allowing wars and bloodshed to continue until civilization such as it  it disappears complete  from the this earth.

Why are the teachers to blame…

Because we as a group have allowed ourselves to become powerless.

……………………………………..

case in point

Our district operates on a schedule called AB block

Which means that we see the students every other day. Students have 4 classes and teacher teach 3, one period for the teaches is a planning period. In this period we are expected to grade papers, prepare lessons, call parents, and the list goes on … as hard as you try it is impossible to get it all done in the time allowed.

The AB block has always been a failure. 

When you see the student only three times one week and twice the other week …the result are about what anyone with any sense would expect….students forget the much of the  information and much time is spent refreshing their memories.

    

The traditional schedule of teaching the same students every day provides the vital continuity necessary for the teaching process to be effective.

The traditional schedule worked…I was there …I lived it.

 

Today in class I asked anyone to tell me anything about the lesson we did three classes ago.

No one could remember a thing… because they agreed  it was so far in the past.

 

 

I know by my  directly experience of the inefficiency of the AB block

While teaching  in the Aubrey school district, acting  as the head of the science dept.

We were one of the first in the state to adopt this block schedule.

The direct result  2 years later was found to be 

 one third of the curriculum had to be deleted.

This fact was never publicly acknowledged.

 

A few years later much to my horror and despite my warnings  the new district I had moved to adopted the same AB schedule

The result was identical…

A third of the science  curriculum was abandoned.

Again this fact was never acknowledged

 

It appeared  no one cared in a position of authority cared  about inefficiency of the new system

Perhaps  because everyone liked it.  It made everyone day a bit easier

The academic failure of the new system was totally denied.

 

Things have changes  as things always do and now

Our district has run out of money and is in a financial crisis and so it is frantically looking for ways to save money

This is a godsend opportunity to revert to the tradition schedule of seeing the student every day  …as it is also much more cost efficient to do so….

Yea! I was elated

Yet woooo

 The adminstration  believes the answer to this problem  is to have teachers give up our one of our conference periods and teach an additional class of 25 -30 student…and keep the insane AB block intact.

This would be a total disaster.

But they have also asked the teacher to particulate by suggesting other alternatives..

 

This is the moment for teachers to finally stand up unite and

make their voices heard, and regain the power they have lost

but will this happen?

NO……

 

It is not often that I am told to shut up by a group of my fellow teachers

but it has happened to me enough times that I am beginning to see a trend

It goes something like this

I see a clear and present situation leading in a direct cause and effect way

to a result that No one wants to experience. 

result that will have a negative effect on teaching.

And when I tell them the situation in no uncertain terms

They become defensive and reject what I am saying…

  

 

Today I was told basically  by a group of teachers  again  ”to shut up”

In a meeting discussing this AB block scheduling issue

It was clear that the majority of teachers are united in agreement for a schedule that would result in more daily contact with the students.

I listened in the meeting as we complained and whined about how helpless we are

The teachers believe the administration has already made the choice to continue the AB block 

and that what we want will be totally disregarded,

 I agree with them.

So after holding up my hand for 5 min the leader of the meeting finally recognize me.

I stood up and begin to speak…it went something like this

 

“Here we are again, each of us knowing what needs to be done yet not having a clue as to how to make it happen

How powerless we all feel.. and how powerless we are for each of us is alone as long as we fail to unite

 Afraid that if we speak out against the wishes of the powers that be we will lose our jobs.

“My fellow teachers it is clear are in agreement about what is best for the children

and it is also clear that if we do not act …that change will not happen.

It is time for us to wake up and realize the only power we have is to unite behind this cause and speak with one voice….

Unite the teachers and the parents  of this district.

We need to seek out and include the parents of the district to join with us in this just cause. For their support is vital. 

The crucial step is this!

We must empower a charismatic individual to represent us.

We must give them our authority …. empowering  them  to speak for us 

We must give them the power to say:

“I have been chosen by a group of  teachers and  parents of this district to speak for them.

They have sent me because the district asked the teacher to participate in this crucial decision

I come here now to speak with one voice for all of us.

This (give them a handout) is the plan we whole heartily endorse…

(explain the plan in brief)

 Well now………….

I further told the teachers 

That I was not the one to represent them. 

I am not suitable….

Look around the room…. i said

“I have angered many of you right now just saying these thing. Yet they must be said for if you do not listen to the message I am telling you and take immediate action  Your voices will not be heard and our one chance to make a change for the better for all our student will be lost. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

It was about this time one of the teacher told me

“Stop talking …   don’t say any more”

As if he had been given the authority to speak for all of them?? 

“Is no one with me in this?”….I asked.

Silence. Some looked angry, others would not look me in the eyes.

Some looked at me with pity 

I just got up and left.

 

Like i said before…

Education in this country is a joke

and this is one time the teachers should take some of the blame for it.