[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[sparaig]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, guyfawkes91 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 its
 always possible that MMY hadn't a clue what his actions were going to
 lead to
 and suggested them in good faith.
 
 There are some people in the TMO who think it's wildly successful, and
 others who avoid cognitive dissonance by saying that Maharishi didn't
 intend it to be successful in the gross relative sense. 
 
 Well it's interesting to see how people will contort themselves into
 all kinds of strange mental states simply to avoid the obvious and
 I've heard quite a lot of excuses. The simplest and most direct is
 that Maharishi didn't have a clue why the things he did were making
 the movement contract, even though most people could have told him,
 but weren't allowed to.


McWilliams left the TMO a LNG time ago. He was speaking as a former
True Believer/Insider looking on from the outside, so if you're implying he was
going through contortions to explain MMY's odd behavior, I think you're missing
my point (and his) which is that the TM needed to get smaller. Wether this was
deliberate, divine action, an unintended side-benefit of MMY's grandiose failed
schemes, or what, who can say, BUT, I think its obvious that down-sizing was
what the TMO needed and downizing is indeed what it got.


Lawson

[FairfieldLife] Re: Obama's quincunx?

[cardemaister]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, cardemaister [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 About that inconjunct, yes, there could be some adjustments to be
 made, but why? As you must well know by now, Obama's Solar Return is a
 very precarious one and has many similarities with the year (and solar
 return) in which Kennedy was assessinated. Prominent astrologers like
 Claude Weiss are very concerned about this. It could be quite possible
 that danger is lurking around the corner for Obama and that, even if
 he would be elected on November 4, wont be able to be inaugurated
 because something could have happened to him shortly after that and he
 has to make adjustments. Ever thought of that possibility?
 
 Read more:
 
 http://www.astrologyweekly.com/forum/showthread.php?p=100360
 
 Didn't read very much of that thread.
 
 Someone on a Finnish astro forum noted, without any further comment,
 that Obama has same kind of quincunx between Uranus and retrograde
 Saturn, that Princess Diana had... :0


I really this ain't gonna happen:

http://www.astrologyweekly.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9920highlight=Hades

[FairfieldLife] States that delivered for Obama

[Robert]

States that delivered for Obama

As the polls closed and the parties began, the early results showed how the new 
President was set for victory
Wednesday, 5 November 2008 
 

Independent Graphics

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Related Articles

The upstart with a dream 
Leading article: The pendulum has swung - and America has changed 
Hamish McRae: The new President has a huge challenge ahead of him 
Farewell Dubya. Now to undo the damage done ... 
Rupert Cornwell: How Bush's toxic legacy did for his party 
Richard Schiff: I've waited my whole life for change 
Tom Sutcliffe: They all called it: this was definitely historic 
The world stops to watch as drama unfolds in America 
The campaign in cartoons 
Mark Steel: It's not about great men, but those who put them there 
Elections that changed America 
US election diary: No room on the electoral roll for Robbins 
Madelyn Dunham: Grandmother of Barack Obama 



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Ohio

The last time a Democratic presidential candidate won Ohio's 20 electoral votes 
was when Bill Clinton was elected in 1996. Then George Bush won after 
hard-fought battles in 2000 and 2004. Ohio has elected every president since 
1964. No Republican has ever been elected president without carrying Ohio, a 
bellwether state which combines urban and rural districts. It was home to Joe 
the Plumber, the ordinary American held aloft by John McCain as an example of 
the people who would suffer under an Obama presidency. In the end, the 
Democrats' foresightedness in having twice as many offices in the state as Mr 
McCain paid dividends.
Pennsylvania
One of three crucial swing states that has played a decisive role in 
presidential elections for the past 50 years. No candidate has won the White 
House without capturing two of three out of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida 
since 1960. It's the sixth most populous state and Mr Obama lost big to Hillary 
Clinton here during the primaries, with blue-collar workers appearing 
uncomfortable with the relative newcomer to national politics. But the state 
swung behind Obama in the end, and he got the prized trove of 21 electoral votes
New Mexico
New Mexico's 5 electoral votes have swung between Republicans and Democrats, 
voting narrowly for Bush in 2004, and equally narrowly for Gore in 2000. The 
Democratic governor, Bill Richardson, who has Hispanic roots, served in the 
Clinton administration and initially supported Hillary Clinton before switching 
allegiance to Obama and helping turn red to blue.
Iowa
Iowa was where it all began for Mr Obama. It was here, at the beginning of 
January, that he won the first Democratic caucus, bumping Hillary Clinton, the 
assumed standard-bearer of the Democratic Party into third place and signalling 
his intent to become the first black occupant of the White House. The victor 
here is usually a toss-up; last time around Mr Bush won by a whisker. But the 
grassroots network Mr Obama had laid all those months ago served him well, and 
he carried the seven electoral votes up for grabs amid the famed cornfields.
Vermont
In the 2004 election, Vermont – a sparsely populated land of maple syrup and 
granola – was the third most Democratic state. There was never any doubt that 
its three electoral votes were safely in Mr Obama's column – it has been 
Democratic in the past four elections. A fiercely independent state. it is also 
one of the most liberal. 
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is special in the American electoral calendar because the first 
primary of the campaign has been held in the state since 1920. Mr Obama won its 
four electoral college votes after losing a shock result in January's primary 
to Hillary Clinton after being expected to win handily on the back of his 
victory in Iowa.
Delaware
Delaware has been hotly contested in most presidential races for decades and 
was a reliable bellwether until 2000, voting for every presidential winner from 
1952 to 1996. But in the past two elections it leant more heavily to the 
Democrats: Al Gore and John Kerry won it easily. It was never likely to be 
anything but solid Obama with its Senator Joe Biden on the ticket as his 
running mate.
Massachusetts
This has been the most Democratic state in the country for the past 10 
presidential elections and it was no surprise that Obama swept its 12 electoral 
votes. Massachusetts has been a factory for producing Democratic Party 
presidential candidates, including John Kerry who won the state with a 25-point 
margin in 2004. Other presidential candidates from the state include Ted 
Kennedy, Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas and the Republican Mitt Romney.
Connecticut
A strongly Democratic state whose seven electoral votes were carried by Mr 
Obama. Wealthy Connecticut voters have traditionally voted Democrat and it is 
the home state of Senator Joe Lieberman, picked by Al Gore as his 

[FairfieldLife] World hails Obama's 'brilliant' victory

[Robert]

World hails Obama's 'brilliant' victory






Nov 5 03:05 AM US/Eastern







 






US president elect Barack Obama is joined by his family on s...



Barack Obama supporters pose in front of the Eiffel Tower du...



US soldiers talk while watching the US election at Bagram mi...



World leaders on Wednesday quickly hailed the triumph of Barack Obama in the US 
presidential election as the start of a new era but there were also calls for a 
new deal with the global superpower. 
Celebrations erupted in capitals around the world. A national holiday was 
declared in Kenya -- where Obama's father was born -- to welcome the first 
black US president. 
Your brilliant victory rewards a tireless commitment to serve the American 
people. It also crowns an exceptional campaign whose inspiration and exaltation 
have proved to the entire world the vitality of American democracy, French 
President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a letter to Obama. 
By choosing you, the American people have chosen change, openness and 
optimism, Sarkozy added. 

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised Obama's energising politics ... 
his progressive values and his vision for the future as congratulations poured 
in before the final result was even announced in the race between Obama and 
Republican John McCain. 
China's President Hu Jintao said in a written message: In a new historical 
era, I look forward to... taking our bilateral relationship of constructive 
cooperation to a new level. 
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso pledged to work with the new US leader to 
strengthen relations. Mexican President Felipe Calderon congratulated Obama on 
his triumph and invited him to visit the United States' southern neighbour. 
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Obama's victory was a landmark for 
equality. 
Twenty-five years ago Martin Luther King had a dream of an America where men 
and women would be judged not on the colour of their skin but on the content of 
their character, Rudd told reporters. Today what America has done is turn 
that dream into a reality. 
But European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso called for the election 
to usher in a new deal between the United States and the rest of the world to 
tackle the global financial crisis and other troubles. 
This is a time for a renewed commitment between Europe and the United States 
of America, Barroso said in a statement. We need to change the current crisis 
into a new opportunity. We need a new deal for a new world. 

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will quickly top the list of White House 
priorities but Obama's election would not lead to a quick US disengagement from 
Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. 
We don't think there will be change in policy overnight. There won't be quick 
disengagement here. A great deal is at stake here, Zebari told AFP, adding 
that Baghdad was looking for a successful partnership with Obama. 
Israeli-US relations have a bright future, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman 
Ygal Palmor said. But Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged Obama to speed 
up efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. 
President Abbas congratulates US president-elect Barack Obama in his name and 
in the name of the Palestinian people and hopes he will speed up efforts to 
achieve peace, particularly since a resolution of the Palestinian problem and 
the Israeli-Arab conflict is key to world peace, said Abbas spokesman Nabil 
Abu Rudeina. 
Election parties were held in major capitals around the world bringing together 
expatriate Americans and people anxious over events in the United States. 
Hundreds of villagers in Kogelo, Obama's Kenyan family home, erupted into song 
and dance. President Mwai Kibaki declared a national holiday on Thursday to 
mark Obama's victory. 

Swinging branches and chairs in the air, men cheered and clapped while women 
shouted Obama! Obama! in the village where his grandmother lives and where 
his late Kenyan father was born. 
Wild celebrations woke the sleepy village, people hugged each other as others 
ran aimlessly in the muddy streets after spending a chilly night glued to a 
giant screen watching results on US networks. 
Senator Obama is our new president. God has answered our prayer, said pastor 
Washington Obonyo. 
Because Obama has won, we will have a change in the whole world. And for that 
I will slaughter a cockrel to celebrate with my family, said Joseph Otieno, a 
jubilant Kogelo resident. 
In the small Japanese town of Obama, hula dancers, ecstatic chanting and 
rock'n'roll greeted the election triumph. 
Obama means small shore in Japanese and many in the small fishing town of 
32,000 people chanted Obama's name and his slogan, Yes, we can!. 


  

[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[guyfawkes91]

 True Believer/Insider looking on from the outside, so if you're
implying he was
 going through contortions to explain MMY's odd behavior, I think
you're missing
 my point (and his) which is that the TM needed to get smaller.
Wether this was
 deliberate, divine action, an unintended side-benefit of MMY's
grandiose failed
 schemes, or what, who can say, BUT, I think its obvious that
down-sizing was
 what the TMO needed and downizing is indeed what it got.
 
 
 Lawson

No, I just expressing my amazement at the variety of ways people use
to deal with the cognitive dissonance between the idea that Maharishi
always performed action in accord with natural law, and the fact that
his decisions caused the movement to shrink from a position of
dominance in the spiritual development market to being a mere footnote. 

The idea that the movement needed to be downsized is just one of those
ways of handling the dissonance. The movement didn't need to be
downsized. Going back to the Time cover article of a few years ago
there are about 10 million people in America doing some form of
meditation. There's no reason why it shouldn't be TM other than the
fact that we've created very big financial, intellectual and cultural
barriers that stop people learning and make it hard for teachers to
teach. 

Any expert, once they step outside their area of expertise, is only as
knowledgeable as the average Joe. Maharishi was very knowledgeable
about higher states of consciousness and the deeper aspects of Vedic
lore, but outside that domain he wasn't much good. I'm quite happy
about that and don't feel a need to explain his actions as being part
of a cosmic plan to keep the movement small. He was very good inside
his area of expertise and not so good outside it. That's why pretty
much everyone thinks the knowledge and techniques are good but the
organization stinks.

[FairfieldLife] The Election As An Exercise In Lucid Dreaming

[TurquoiseB]

I only get a few TV channels on my actual TV,
all of them in Catalan. So my connection to
the world stage for this particular passion
play was through the Internet. Fortunately,
MSNBC did an excellent job of beaming their
live coverage to my computer, full-screen and
with the sound synched to the lip movements
perfectly. (Quite an achievement, if you think
about the number of people worldwide hitting
on that server at one time.)

I stayed up as late as I could, but finally
couldn't stay awake, so I took my laptop to
bed with me and left it on beside me with 
the sound off. Then I fell asleep, and without
consciously planning it, segued seamlessly
into an entire night of lucid dreaming.

That is, there was no gap, no seam between
being awake in the physical world, waiting for
news about something important, and moving
seamlessly into an astral world in which I was
completely awake and in charge of where I went
and what I saw there. And there, too I was 
waiting for news about something important.

Since I *could* choose my location easily,
I did. I did a kind of astral Castanedan recapit-
ulation of all the places I'd lived while waiting
for election results, and revisted not only them,
but the state of consciousness I had been wearing
and that the world had been wearing at those times. 
I visited with old friends, some of them now dead 
in real life, and had fun catching up with them. 
And then, having worked myself up to 2004 and the 
profound sense of disappointment in America and 
its people that greeted me the day after the last 
Presidential election, something told me that it 
was time to wake myself up, so I did.

I rolled over, switched the sound on on the lap-
top, and heard MSNBC announce the winner. I looked
at the time, and it was shortly after 5:00 a.m. my 
time. I got up, danced around the apartment for a 
while with my dogs, and then the three of us settled 
down in front of the screen to watch the speeches 
and the I told you so's. 

After Obama's speech, I went back to bed and this
time drifted off into dreamless, witnessing sleep.
Nowhere else to go, nothing else to recapitulate,
the past dust. Now it's only the present, and the
future that we structure in that present.

Cool. Lots of hard work ahead, not much of which
can be done on the level of lucid dreaming. But
dreaming DOES have a part in the construction of
the future, as this inspiring young man from
Illinois has shown. If you have no dreams that
inspire you, you have nothing to aspire to when
you wake up. 

[FairfieldLife] An exercise in seeing and following through on it

[TurquoiseB]

Today's Doonesbury was drawn by Garry Trudeau
two weeks ago and sent out to all the papers
last week. Some of them refused to run it,
because they were afraid of participating in
the possibility of a Dewey Wins scenario.

But I like it that the man stuck to his guns,
and had his beloved soldiers in Iraq reacting
the way they probably really did this morning.

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20081105

http://tinyurl.com/67xcmk

[FairfieldLife] Legendary Norwegian brand of tape recorders?

[cardemaister]

I guess one might say that Tandberg was a legendary
Norwegian brand of tape recorders at least, I believe,
in the 60's and 70's. 

Here's one I bought a couple of years ago
just to move some of my old Hendrix recordings to a
more state-of-the-art media, or stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0T8Lzl3XFo

[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[guyfawkes91]

 I would agree and nicely put, MMY could have cleared a lot of this up
 by just being up front about who he was.  He never claimed to be
 enlightened, never that I know of. So, he probably wasn't, who knows,
 nobody! People kind of believe he is infallible, like the pope.
 
 And this idea that the Siddhas are functioning *from* the home of all
 the laws of nature is just a bunch of hooey, perhaps from a faint
 awareness of the home of all the laws of nature yes!  MMY seemed to
 exaggerate everything
I think it's obvious that Maharishi's deep insights into the
experience of higher states came from his own direct experience, I'm
OK with the idea that Maharishi was enlightened, and probably the most
enlightened person for a long time. But that didn't make him an expert
in electronics, Swahili, or business management. He couldn't play the
piano and you wouldn't have expected him to be able to fix a faulty
faucet. So there's no reason to defer to his opinions on how to run an
organization. 

Time and time again he'd suggest that plan X would give result Y and
everyone would consult their common sense about how the world works
(well those that haven't forgotten how to use it), and think Err well
no I think we'll get result Z, but keep quiet and go along with the
plan thinking that maybe Maharishi had some insight that other people
lacked. In due course we'd get result Z as predicted by common sense.
Eventually many people became disillusioned with the leadership and
drifted away. Sometimes in vocal disgust, mostly in quiet resignation.

The key principle that allows bad ideas to flourish is that people
silence their own opinions in order to be with the group or
maintain group coherence. If everyone is coherently wrong then a
crack in coherence is a good thing. That's why democracy is a good
system, it allows everyone to pile in with their own opinions, good,
bad, educated and ill-informed. Sometimes a country gets it wrong but
the system allows a country to correct mistakes when it becomes clear
that they are mistakes. In an authoritarian system you can't do that,
when a mistake is made there's no system for acknowledging mistakes
and correcting them so it'll be continued for a very long time. The
TMO provides a miniature example of this, but it's not alone. 

 

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[Louis McKenzie]

I blogged and pushed and fought in forums new paper blogs cnn fox you name it, 
here as well.  And Of course I voted

--- On Wed, 11/5/08, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
From: shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 3:28 AM

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 WE DID IT GANG!


We?

What exactly did you do, Louis, 5,000 miles away?

Did you campaign for him to get him non-votes from the non-U.S. 
citizens of Sao Paolo?

More importantly, did you at least vote for him by absentee ballot?




 DID NOT MEAN TO BE OFFENSIVE JUST WANTED TO ASSIST 
 WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN






To subscribe, send a message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Or go to: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links






  

[FairfieldLife] Something good has shown up big time. . .

[do.rflex]

...that's why the those who prefer the dark have been so rattled.

[FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[cardemaister]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 WE DID IT GANG! DID NOT MEAN TO BE OFFENSIVE JUST WANTED TO ASSIST 
 WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN


Oh yeah! I think one might say, that without Jews (financial
stuff,science, music, etc.) and African-Americans (politics, military,
sports, music, and stuff) USA would be quite a Mister/Mistress
Nobody... ;D 

[FairfieldLife] Exhale

[TurquoiseB]

Excellent commentary by Nora Ephron. I'll have
what she's having. (She wrote When Harry Met
Sally.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/exhale_b_141273.html

I especially appreciate the paragraph about 
conventional wisdom. Goes to show you that
convention is not what it's cracked up to be,
and that neither is the claim of wisdom.

[FairfieldLife] From Barack

[Vaj]

Pretty cool. Got this just before he walked on at Grant Park:

   Vaj:

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there,  
but I wanted to write to you first.


We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day  
you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family,  
friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.


I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to  
this campaign.


We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and  
I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.


But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

Paid for by Obama for America

[FairfieldLife] Re: Something good has shown up big time. . .

[nablusoss1008]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, do.rflex [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 
 ...that's why the those who prefer the dark have been so rattled.

All glory to the coherence-creating Sidhas in The Domes without whom 
this new direction would never happen.

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[Vaj]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 4:55 AM, guyfawkes91 wrote:


There's no reason why it shouldn't be TM other than the
fact that we've created very big financial, intellectual and cultural
barriers that stop people learning and make it hard for teachers to
teach.



Actually I believe there is a good reason: in the 60's America was  
still quite naive on 'things eastern and so you could get away with  
things like a guy dressed in white silk pawning him self off as a  
yogi and a rishi. While that certainly can and does still happen  
today, to a great extent, America has wised up. I think the TM  
schtick is more transparent to the spiritual marketplace.


I'll be helping at a teaching retreat this weekend and it's been sold  
out for two months now with a large waiting list. We can't get enough  
courses to fill the need in our small state.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[guyfawkes91]

 I'll be helping at a teaching retreat this weekend and it's been sold  
 out for two months now with a large waiting list. We can't get enough  
 courses to fill the need in our small state.


You mean you have people queuing up for a spiritual retreat at a
location which doesn't have an east facing entrance? That's
impossible! Surely everyone knows that you can only get people through
the door for spiritual development if the door faces east. I don't
believe you. You'll be telling me next that there are women on a
course being taught by a man.

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[Vaj]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 8:26 AM, guyfawkes91 wrote:





I'll be helping at a teaching retreat this weekend and it's been sold
out for two months now with a large waiting list. We can't get enough
courses to fill the need in our small state.



You mean you have people queuing up for a spiritual retreat at a
location which doesn't have an east facing entrance? That's
impossible! Surely everyone knows that you can only get people through
the door for spiritual development if the door faces east. I don't
believe you. You'll be telling me next that there are women on a
course being taught by a man.



I know it's shocking but it's true. I'm even thinking of putting in a  
southern door to match the Russian masonry furnace I put in the  
Brahmasthan...

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[authfriend]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:
snip
 I'm glad that that dangerous old coot is not going to be
 president and continue the failed policies of Dumbya, but
 if there had not been an economic collapse, this election
 could easily have been taken by the red states. The NYT is
 saying about 55 mil voted for Obama, 51 mil for McCain --
 this was a close race in popular terms, even if distorted
 by the vagaries of the electoral system, and fortunately,
 it's the economy, stupid saved the day for the dems.

The economy, and the fact that McCain ran an unexpectedly
awful campaign and screwed up royally in his choice
of Palin. Plus which, the Republicans unaccountably didn't
haul out Rev. Wright again until the very last minute,
when it was too late to do any serious damage to the Obama
groundswell.

I'm so relieved it's over that it's hard to sort out my
other feelings.

Like Bob, I'm glad McCain lost. Once the economy crashed in
September, it became obvious that another Republican
administration was an untenable risk. Fixing the Democratic
Party will have to wait until the economy recovers.

The monumental symbolic value of Obama's win is undeniable;
it's impossible not to rejoice in that, in and of itself.
It's an almost inconceivably huge positive step for the
country.

I can only cross my fingers and hope that he comes anywhere
near living up to its promise. My misgivings about his
abilities and his character are unchanged. It would be an
equally monumental tragedy if he turns out to be inadequate
to the challenge and to the idealism and good will that put
him in office.

Maybe the office itself will change him; maybe the faith
the voters have invested in him will compel him to rise
above his own limitations. His restrained, solemn, almost
withdrawn demeanor during his victory speech suggested to
me that he was coming to grips with what had just happened
in a new way and beginning to feel the full extent of the
awsome, terrifying responsibility that has settled on his
shoulders.

I've never wished anybody well so hard in my life.

[FairfieldLife] Re: As jaded as I am, even I...

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, off_world_beings [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 
 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
 mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , Robert babajii_99@
 wrote:
 
   (snip)
  It's just something's that hasn't happened in about 12 thousand
  years...
  Not since the beginning of our recorded history, has a black man, 
led
  a major world power...
 
 Well, actually, Tutenkamun, Pharoh of Egypt, was black, and so was
 Krishna according to the records.
 
 OffWorld



Black?

I thought Krishna was blue (didn't he start the Blue Man Group?).

Anyway, we don't have to consult the records to confirm it.  All we 
have to do is ask Barry name-dropper Wright.  It's more than likely 
that Barry met him back in the '60s at some rock concert in Big Sur 
and shared a boogie with him.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Exhale

[shempmcgurk]

I stopped reading Nora Ephron ever since she criticized Warren Buffet 
the day after he announced he gave $40 billion (pretty much his entire 
fortune) to the Gates Foundation.  

Can you imagine that? The largest donation to charity in the history of 
mankind and less than 24 hours later this schmuckette is criticizing 
him.

The silly bitch chastised him for not giving big gifts to charity 
sooner in his life (which, of course, would have meant that whatever he 
had gave earlier would not have been able to accumulate and compound 
into the much greater wealth that he did, eventually, give away; in 
other words, much less would have benefitted the needy).


--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Excellent commentary by Nora Ephron. I'll have
 what she's having. (She wrote When Harry Met
 Sally.)
 
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/exhale_b_141273.html
 
 I especially appreciate the paragraph about 
 conventional wisdom. Goes to show you that
 convention is not what it's cracked up to be,
 and that neither is the claim of wisdom.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?

[boo_lives]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ 
 wrote:
 
  I'll bet you won't be hearing that phrase much in Fairfield tonight 
 (I 
  assume all the cult members are in the Obama corner?).
 
But you're in the cult too shemp.  I have several ffld republican
friends.  The meditating mayor is a republican, they want him to run
for congress.  The majority of ffld sidhas are for obama for sure,
though ron paul has a sizable following plus more than a handfull of
mainstream republicans.  Most ffld sidhas aren't in the cult anymore,
only campus types - they are anti-bush because MMY was anti-bush.

 Not to worry, Shemp, the Dems did not the 60 Senate seats they need to 
 invoke cloture, so you can rest assured that no policies will be 
 enacted unless the Repubs either agree or horsetrade.

I don't expect too much filibustering -- repubs got the message last
night that the country wants change and I think an energy bill, an
infrastructure bill, and a tax bill are all doable.  Contrary to the
fearful and ignorant rantings of the far right, obama will be a
compromiser on these issues, will certainly disappoint some on the
left in order to get things done.  If the repub. filibuster an energy
bill to reduce oil imports or a middle class tax cut or an
infrastructure jobs bill in the depth of the recession , they will
fall even further and they know it.  Health care is another issue and
will be a big fight.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Obama's quincunx?

[raunchydog]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, cardemaister [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 About that inconjunct, yes, there could be some adjustments to be
 made, but why? As you must well know by now, Obama's Solar Return is a
 very precarious one and has many similarities with the year (and solar
 return) in which Kennedy was assessinated. Prominent astrologers like
 Claude Weiss are very concerned about this. It could be quite possible
 that danger is lurking around the corner for Obama and that, even if
 he would be elected on November 4, wont be able to be inaugurated
 because something could have happened to him shortly after that and he
 has to make adjustments. Ever thought of that possibility?
 
 Read more:
 
 http://www.astrologyweekly.com/forum/showthread.php?p=100360
 
 Didn't read very much of that thread.
 
 Someone on a Finnish astro forum noted, without any further comment,
 that Obama has same kind of quincunx between Uranus and retrograde
 Saturn, that Princess Diana had... :0


I've heard many predictions during Obama's campaign about his
assassination. I'd say Bush has a bigger target on his back, but no
one cares because he would never be elevated to the status of martyr
and Obama would. Let's stop speculating about Obama's demise and focus
on his successful presidency. Make him accountable to reverse his FISA
flip flop and be vigilant about all his promises to keep our country
safe and strong. Call him out when he is wishy-washy about taking a
principled stand to uphold our constitution. Don't take your freedom
for granted. 

Words of wisdom from one of our founding fathers, James Madison:

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.

Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more
instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual
and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden
usurpation

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise
of fighting a foreign enemy

[FairfieldLife] We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty

[TurquoiseB]

We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty

Joss Whedon's Firefly and Serenity as a Metaphor
for the Last Eight Years of the Bush Nightmare


A critical server at the company I work for is down 
for maintenance this day after the US Presidential 
election, and thus I don't have to work. So I thought 
I'd relax a little by rewatching my favorite science 
fiction series of all time, Firefly, and its feature-
length sequel, Serenity.

And less than two minutes into the first episode, I 
heard the words in the Subject line, and burst into 
very uncharacteristic tears. They are spoken by Malcolm 
'Mal' Reynolds to what remains of his troop of rebel 
soldiers as they hold out against seemingly impossible 
odds in the battle of Serenity Valley. A few minutes 
later, these words -- and Mal's life -- are shattered 
and rendered tragic as he receives word that his side 
in this war has surrendered and betrayed them. They 
are to lay down arms, and concede. The look on Mal's 
face as he realizes the extent of the betrayal and 
cowardice that has shattered his dreams is 
heartbreaking.

I know that look. I saw it in the mirror, eight years 
ago, as I woke up on another day after the US Presi-
dential election and found that my country, too, had 
betrayed me. 

And I reacted as Mal did. He became an outlaw, renounced 
his home, and found a new one in a beat-to-shit but 
lovable spaceship named Serenity, in which he and a 
band of equally-devastated comrades cruised the edges 
of the 'verse and did their best to keep on keepin' on 
in a universe made inhospitable by the evil Alliance 
that had taken over. 

I left the United States and became an outlaw of another 
kind, living sometimes legally, sometimes illegally as 
an ex-pat in Europe. And, like Mal, I did my best to 
keep on keepin' on, also in a 'verse made inhospitable 
by the evil forces that had taken over my homeland.

I found my own versions of the good ship Serenity. The 
first was an apartment in the 7th arrondissement in 
Paris, from which I could look out and see the Eiffel 
Tower and marvel at its beauty while trying my best to 
not get bummed by the news coming from my country of 
birth, and what it was doing to rape and pillage the 
planet, and its own people. After a few years I found 
a new version of Serenity in a medieval village in the 
south of France, and kept on keepin' on there. A little 
over a year ago, I found a new version of Serenity here, 
a block from the beach in a Spanish tourist town. Like 
Mal, I had my trusty sidekick, who has traveled with me, 
and I have found other friends and fellow outlaws along 
the Way. All three space ships have been very comfy, 
thank you, and have provided me with a fine base of 
operations from which to keep on keepin' on.

Like Mal and his crew, I took work where I could find 
it, and have managed to prove the truth of the old 
saying Living well is the best revenge. I have been 
back to America only twice in the last eight years, and 
felt as out of place when I was there as Captain 
Tightpants would have felt on the Alliance's home 
planet. And like the crew of Whedon's Serenity, I 
have faced challenges and dangers, and have tried to 
deal with them using the most effective weapons at my 
disposal, flexibility and a sense of humor. Both have 
served me well.

But, like Mal and his crew, I had almost lost hope in 
my homeland, and in its ability to throw off the shackles 
it had fastened to its own ankles by allowing the 
Presidency to be stolen by tyrants, twice. I had resigned 
myself, in fact, to never going back again, even for a 
visit, and spending the rest of my life flitting from 
place to place in my version of Serenity.

This morning changes all that, just as the end of the 
film Serenity changed Mal's universe and the possi-
bilities open to him and his crew. At the end of that 
film, the Alliance's tyranny has been exposed, and the 
evil Alliance is in the process of imploding. Mal can 
finally let his bitterness drop and wax eloquent to 
young, psychic River Tam about the thing that has kept 
Serenity flying all these years, and will in the future, 
even though there will still be shitstorms to fly through 
before the hard times are over.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: But it ain't all buttons 
and charts, little albatross. You know what the 
first rule of flyin' is? Well I suppose you do, 
since you already know what I'm about to say.

River Tam: I do. But I like to hear you say it.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Love. You can know all 
the math in the 'verse, but take a boat in the 
air you don't love, she'll shake you off just 
as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her 
in the air when she oughta fall down, tells ya 
she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her home.

River Tam: Storm's getting worse.

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: We'll pass through it 
soon enough. 

Amen. This morning I feel the same way. I carry my real 
home with me, wherever my ex-pat, outlaw life may take me. 
And 

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?

[Sal Sunshine]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 8:27 AM, boo_lives wrote:

 But you're in the cult too shemp.  I have several ffld republican
 friends.  The meditating mayor is a republican,

He is?  He was doing phone ads for the Democratic Party this time.

 they want him to run
 for congress.  The majority of ffld sidhas are for obama for sure,
 though ron paul has a sizable following plus more than a handfull of
 mainstream republicans.  Most ffld sidhas aren't in the cult anymore,
 only campus types - they are anti-bush because MMY was anti-bush.

Sal

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[Vaj]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 5:37 AM, BillyG. wrote:


I would agree and nicely put, MMY could have cleared a lot of this up
by just being up front about who he was.  He never claimed to be
enlightened, never that I know of. So, he probably wasn't, who knows,
nobody!



Actually, since in his tradition those that are enlightened first  
ascend into a type of higher heaven dimension and then return,  
hopefully in the same lifetime, as an enlightened being, we know that  
he was not. That's why when he died there was such big deal made  
about him entering heaven. Now, presumably, if he reincarnates he'll  
be enlightened in that lifetime. When you have to go to a heaven  
dimension on death, it means you were still short of the mark when  
you died.


I still have yet to receive a post card. That bastard!

[FairfieldLife] The Onion's Take on the Election

[boo_lives]

Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress

WASHINGTON—After emerging victorious from one of the most pivotal
elections in history, president-elect Barack Obama will assume the
role of commander in chief on Jan. 20, shattering a racial barrier the
United States is, at long last, shitty enough to overcome.
Enlarge Image Obama

Faced with losing everything, Americans took a long overdue step
forward and elected Barack Obama.

Although polls going into the final weeks of October showed Sen. Obama
in the lead, it remained unclear whether the failing economy,
dilapidated housing market, crumbling national infrastructure, health
care crisis, energy crisis, and five-year-long disastrous war in Iraq
had made the nation crappy enough to rise above 300 years of racial
prejudice and make lasting change.

Today the American people have made their voices heard, and they have
said, 'Things are finally as terrible as we're willing to tolerate,
said Obama, addressing a crowd of unemployed, uninsured, and
debt-ridden supporters. To elect a black man, in this country, and at
this time—these last eight years must have really broken you.

Added Obama, It's a great day for our nation.

Carrying a majority of the popular vote, Obama did especially well
among women and young voters, who polls showed were particularly
sensitive to the current climate of everything being fucked. Another
contributing factor to Obama's victory, political experts said, may
have been the growing number of Americans who, faced with the complete
collapse of their country, were at last able to abandon their
preconceptions and cast their vote for a progressive African-American.

After enduring eight years of near constant trauma, the United States
is, at long last, ready for equality.

Citizens with eyes, ears, and the ability to wake up and realize what
truly matters in the end are also believed to have played a crucial
role in Tuesday's election.

According to a CNN exit poll, 42 percent of voters said that the
nation's financial woes had finally become frightening enough to
eclipse such concerns as gay marriage, while 30 percent said that the
relentless body count in Iraq was at last harrowing enough to outweigh
long ideological debates over abortion. In addition, 28 percent of
voters were reportedly too busy paying off medial bills, desperately
trying not to lose their homes, or watching their futures disappear to
dismiss Obama any longer.

The election of our first African-American president truly shows how
far we've come as a nation, said NBC Nightly News anchor Brian
Williams. Just eight years ago, this moment would have been
unthinkable. But finally we, as a country, have joined together,
realized we've reached rock bottom, and for the first time voted for a
candidate based on his policies rather than the color of his skin.

Today Americans have grudgingly taken a giant leap forward, Williams
continued. And all it took was severe economic downturn, a bloody and
unjust war in Iraq, terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan, nearly 2,000
deaths in New Orleans, and more than three centuries of frequently
violent racial turmoil.

Said Williams, The American people should be commended for their
long-overdue courage.

Obama's victory is being called the most significant change in
politics since the 1992 election, when a full-scale economic recession
led voters to momentarily ignore the fact that candidate Bill Clinton
had once smoked marijuana. While many believed things had once again
reached an all-time low in 2004, the successful reelection of
President George W. Bush—despite historically low approval ratings
nationwide—proved that things were not quite shitty enough to
challenge the already pretty shitty status quo.

If Obama learned one thing from his predecessors, it's that timing
means everything, said Dr. James Pung, a professor of political
science at Princeton University. Less than a decade ago, Al Gore made
the crucial mistake of suggesting we should care about preserving the
environment before it became unavoidably clear that global warming
would kill us all, and in 2004, John Kerry cost himself the presidency
by criticizing Bush's disastrous Iraq policy before everyone realized
our invasion had become a complete and total quagmire.

Obama had the foresight to run for president at a time when being an
African-American was not as important to Americans as, say, the
ability to clothe and feed their children, Pung continued. An
election like this only comes once, maybe twice, in a lifetime.

As we enter a new era of equality for all people, the election of
Barack Obama will decidedly be a milestone in U.S. history, undeniable
proof that Americans, when pushed to the very brink, are willing to
look past outward appearances and judge a person by the quality of his
character and strength of his record. So as long as that person is not
a woman.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante no_reply@ 
 wrote:
 snip
  I'm glad that that dangerous old coot is not going to be
  president and continue the failed policies of Dumbya, but
  if there had not been an economic collapse, this election
  could easily have been taken by the red states. The NYT is
  saying about 55 mil voted for Obama, 51 mil for McCain --
  this was a close race in popular terms, even if distorted
  by the vagaries of the electoral system, and fortunately,
  it's the economy, stupid saved the day for the dems.
 
 The economy, and the fact that McCain ran an unexpectedly
 awful campaign and screwed up royally in his choice
 of Palin.



I'm actually going to agree with you on pretty much every point you 
make in this post, but not this one.

I truly believe McCain would have got 5% less votes had he not chosen 
Palin.

Remember that when John McCain became the Republican nominee, Ann 
Coulter went on record saying that not only would she vote for 
Hillary but that she'd campaign for her (the last part, of course, 
said in jest and quickly retracted by her).  This represented the 
sentiment of a very strong core of the Republican base; McCain had 
proven over the years that he simply wasn't one of them.

Talk radio was in revolt, many saying they would actively work for 
the Libertarian candidate.

Remember also that McCain apparently tried to cross the floor back in 
2001.  As a libertarian, I regard McCain-Feingold as a blatant attack 
on free speech.

There was not much to like about John McCain, most Democrats now 
forget, was, before the election campaign, the man who most Democrats 
loved to say was the one Republican I would vote for.

Then along came Palin. Conservatives went ape-shit over her. And a 
whole lot of Libertarians, too.  And that whole Alaska Independence 
Party connection -- for less central government people like myself -- 
wasn't a negative but a positive!  And I still maintain she's more 
qualified than all three of the men combined.  Her choice by McCain 
energized the base and got Republicans out to vote and participate 
who would otherwise not.

At McCain's concession speech last night, she got the most applause 
of anyone when McCain thanked her.



 Plus which, the Republicans unaccountably didn't
 haul out Rev. Wright again until the very last minute,
 when it was too late to do any serious damage to the Obama
 groundswell.


Totally agree.



 
 I'm so relieved it's over that it's hard to sort out my
 other feelings.




Yes, thank god it's over.




 
 Like Bob, I'm glad McCain lost.





So am I!

Not that I am happy that Obama won, but I've never been a fan of 
McCain's.

This election was a lose-lose for me.






 Once the economy crashed in
 September, it became obvious that another Republican
 administration was an untenable risk. Fixing the Democratic
 Party will have to wait until the economy recovers.
 
 The monumental symbolic value of Obama's win is undeniable;
 it's impossible not to rejoice in that, in and of itself.
 It's an almost inconceivably huge positive step for the
 country.


It's an exciting, compelling story. Hard not to get caught up in it.



 
 I can only cross my fingers and hope that he comes anywhere
 near living up to its promise. My misgivings about his
 abilities and his character are unchanged. It would be an
 equally monumental tragedy if he turns out to be inadequate
 to the challenge and to the idealism and good will that put
 him in office.


Yes.

I'll be more than happy to be proven wrong. Heck, the weight of the 
world will be on the guy's shoulders soon enough.  I think all 300 
million Americans truly extend their hopes and prayers to him.




 
 Maybe the office itself will change him; maybe the faith
 the voters have invested in him will compel him to rise
 above his own limitations. His restrained, solemn, almost
 withdrawn demeanor during his victory speech suggested to
 me that he was coming to grips with what had just happened
 in a new way and beginning to feel the full extent of the
 awsome, terrifying responsibility that has settled on his
 shoulders.
 
 I've never wished anybody well so hard in my life.



Well said.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[Richard J. Williams]

gullible wrote:
 Guess a few whites voted for him, eh, Bob? 
  
 Women, Hispanics, Blacks, and what's left of 
 the middle class voted for him. Score one for 
 the average Joe the plumber in the class war.
  
So, women, Hispanics, and Blacks voted for Obama
and now we're in a class war against the above
average? 

[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[BillyG.]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, guyfawkes91 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:

 
  True Believer/Insider looking on from the outside, so if you're
 implying he was
  going through contortions to explain MMY's odd behavior, I think
 you're missing
  my point (and his) which is that the TM needed to get smaller.
 Wether this was
  deliberate, divine action, an unintended side-benefit of MMY's
 grandiose failed
  schemes, or what, who can say, BUT, I think its obvious that
 down-sizing was
  what the TMO needed and downizing is indeed what it got.
  
  
  Lawson
 
 No, I just expressing my amazement at the variety of ways people use
 to deal with the cognitive dissonance between the idea that Maharishi
 always performed action in accord with natural law, and the fact that
 his decisions caused the movement to shrink from a position of
 dominance in the spiritual development market to being a mere footnote. 
 
 The idea that the movement needed to be downsized is just one of those
 ways of handling the dissonance. The movement didn't need to be
 downsized. Going back to the Time cover article of a few years ago
 there are about 10 million people in America doing some form of
 meditation. There's no reason why it shouldn't be TM other than the
 fact that we've created very big financial, intellectual and cultural
 barriers that stop people learning and make it hard for teachers to
 teach. 
 
 Any expert, once they step outside their area of expertise, is only as
 knowledgeable as the average Joe. Maharishi was very knowledgeable
 about higher states of consciousness and the deeper aspects of Vedic
 lore, but outside that domain he wasn't much good. I'm quite happy
 about that and don't feel a need to explain his actions as being part
 of a cosmic plan to keep the movement small. He was very good inside
 his area of expertise and not so good outside it. That's why pretty
 much everyone thinks the knowledge and techniques are good but the
 organization stinks.

I would agree and nicely put, MMY could have cleared a lot of this up
by just being up front about who he was.  He never claimed to be
enlightened, never that I know of. So, he probably wasn't, who knows,
nobody! People kind of believe he is infallible, like the pope.

And this idea that the Siddhas are functioning *from* the home of all
the laws of nature is just a bunch of hooey, perhaps from a faint
awareness of the home of all the laws of nature yes!  MMY seemed to
exaggerate everything

[FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, boo_lives [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante no_reply@ 
wrote:
 
  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk 
shempmcgurk@ 
  wrote:
  
   I'll bet you won't be hearing that phrase much in Fairfield 
tonight 
  (I 
   assume all the cult members are in the Obama corner?).
  
 But you're in the cult too shemp.  I have several ffld republican
 friends.  The meditating mayor is a republican, they want him to run
 for congress.  The majority of ffld sidhas are for obama for sure,
 though ron paul has a sizable following plus more than a handfull of
 mainstream republicans.  Most ffld sidhas aren't in the cult 
anymore,
 only campus types - they are anti-bush because MMY was anti-bush.
 
  Not to worry, Shemp, the Dems did not the 60 Senate seats they 
need to 
  invoke cloture, so you can rest assured that no policies will be 
  enacted unless the Repubs either agree or horsetrade.
 
 I don't expect too much filibustering -- repubs got the message last
 night that the country wants change and I think an energy bill, an
 infrastructure bill, and a tax bill are all doable.




Not sure what an infrastructure bill is (new roads, etc.?) but a 
wholesale shift to the left on energy and taxes is certainly NOT 
going to happen.  I'll tell you why.

As one of the pundits said this morning, America is still a right-of-
center country.  Remember that Obama didn't flip-flop more to the 
left when he flip-flopped; all that flip-flopping he did (and it was 
virtually on EVERY issue) was to the right.

And the two main areas he has ALREADY compromised on are the two that 
you yourself invoked above: energy (Obama is now for more drilling) 
and taxes (he's backed off the original -- and oh, so horrible -- 
extra Social Security payroll tax contribution for taxpayers earning 
$250,000 or more a year.  Indeed, he is now pretty much for tax-
cuts...just like true, blue Republicans!).

And all down the line of policies and stances, Obama has already 
shifted to the right: Iraq, abortion, etc. etc.  You name it, Obama 
has shifted...and in some areas his shifting has been dramatic.

He's no dummy and he knows quite clearly that the only reason Clinton 
got elected the second time was because he out-conservatived the 
conservatives.

So it's not that the Republicans got the message last night, Booster, 
it is that Obama got the message about 4 months ago: he is the head 
of a conservative nation and he is more than happy to oblige.

Throwing the left under the bus is his stock in trade and there is no 
reason to believe he won't continue the practise.

Hell, I've spent the last four years on this forum defending Bill 
Clinton as the most conservative president of the past 25 years.  I 
hope to be doing that for Barack soon, too!





  Contrary to the
 fearful and ignorant rantings of the far right, obama will be a
 compromiser on these issues, will certainly disappoint some on the
 left in order to get things done.




Precisely.



  If the repub. filibuster an energy
 bill to reduce oil imports or a middle class tax cut or an
 infrastructure jobs bill in the depth of the recession , they will
 fall even further and they know it.  Health care is another issue 
and
 will be a big fight.

[FairfieldLife] The Christian Right killed the Republican Party

[do.rflex]

When Ronald Reagan began courting the religious right in his bid to
win the Presidency, I doubt he knew he was spelling death to the lean
tenets of Goldwater conservatism. Yet soon afterward, under the thumb
of right-wing religion, the Republican party became a bloated fool,
stuffed with hypocrisy, greed, and anti-intellectualism. 

In 2008, the price is being paid through lost elections and a loss of
public trust.

While Bush railed about the axis of evil, there was another axis that
gathered steam during the Reagan years. The Moral Majority, Focus on
the Family, and The Christian Coalition were all formed within years
of each other as religiopolitical groups. 

Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and Pat Robertson, the respective leaders
of these movements, formed a triad that sought to influence politics
through a gospel of neo-conservative Christian rhetoric aimed at
millions of faithful adherents whose votes, it was hoped, could swing
the socio-political pendulum away from progress and back to
traditional values.

In order to win the votes of the triad's faithful followers,
Republican politicians bartered themselves into a hear-no-wrong,
see-no-wrong trade-off. This trade-off allowed Falwell to hold sway
with politicians, and appear as a respected political pundit on
right-wing shows, even after outlandishly insisting that the purple
Tinky Winky children's character was gay, or that the anti-Christ was
coming in the form of a Jew. 

He could promote the idea of ending the public school system in favor
of church-run schools, as he did in his book, America Can Be Saved,
yet still wield considerable influence in Washington.

In trading endorsements for blindness, Pat Robertson could say that
feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that
encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children,
practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians -- and
even suggest that a nuclear device should be used to blow up the State
Department -- yet Senators and other politicians would still appear on
his CBN network, even after other controversies, such as the use of
Operation Blessing planes for mining activities, splintered his Coalition.

Republican politicians continued to cater to James Dobson even after
he distorted the research of scientists to promote his anti-gay agenda
in Time magazine. 

Dobson, who operates several non-profits, has used millions in
tax-free donations to try to influence nominations for the Supreme
Court and to subvert the First Amendment separation of church and
State, but legislators, rather than reining in the 800-pound gorilla,
quaked under threat of being targeted by Dobson's political media machine.

There was a mutuality to the trade-off between the Christian right and
its adopted Republican politicians. In exchange for being given
credibility and influence in Washington, the triad and their various
branches would justify the intrusive Patriot Act, torture at
Guantanamo Bay, and massive governmental debt to their audience of
millions -- if politicians would stand against Roe v. Wade. 

They wouldn't make a stink about outrageously expensive no-bid
contracts -- if it meant that their faith-based charities could get
governmental grants. They would support war against a country that had
nothing to do with 9/11 -- if politicians went on the record against
same-sex marriage.

The would ignore or excuse the fact that a large percentage of
corporations paid no taxes at all -- if it meant no new taxes for them. 

They'd support Bush even as he misled the public about weapons of mass
destruction, and they'd excuse the unethical actions of henchmen like
Rove and Libby -- if it meant that school vouchers would be put on the
agenda.

Working in tandem with their pocketed politicians, the Christian right
would rejoice at the FCC's repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which gave
rise to a slew of unchecked right-wing programs that hawked the myth
of a vast liberal media, even as markets narrowed and became
dominated by a handful of corporations.

Right-wing provocateurs like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh were
encouraged to truck in fear, loathing, and controversy, mirroring the
religious right's mission to divide the country into red/blue,
good/evil, conservative/liberal, Christian/un-Christian factions. 

There was no room for the moderate middle in this with us or against
us equation, as witnessed by the public shredding of moderate
Republican politicians like Arlen Specter, a Jew, and a vocal critic
of the Christian right. What some are trying to do is take over the
party, Specter warned in 1994. That's bad for the Republican Party
and bad for the country. Specter became a target of the religious
right for his support of Roe v. Wade, and his refusal to bend to the
will of religious power brokers like Dobson, who attempted to use his
influence to block Specter's 2005 bid to become chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee.

Today, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are 

[FairfieldLife] Re: Something good has shown up big time. . .

[do.rflex]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, do.rflex do.rflex@ wrote:
 
  
  
  ...that's why the those who prefer the dark have been so rattled.
 
 All glory to the coherence-creating Sidhas in The Domes without whom 
 this new direction would never happen.



And it's OK that narrow-minded true believers take credit for it. They
will benefit - even the though credit isn't theirs to claim.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[Richard J. Williams]

  I'm so relieved it's over that it's hard 
  to sort out my other feelings.
 
Shemp wrote: 
 Yes, thank god it's over.
 
Except that it's just the beginning: now Obama
will have to work with a 'do-nothing' Congress
whose approval rating is 9. It's going to be
difficult to agree on how to redistribute the
wealth, what's left of it. The auto industry 
and the unions are going to be holding out their 
hands for some big time payback.

WASHINGTON — An economy in deep trouble, with 
rising unemployment, a financial sector in crisis, 
and a government budget deeply in the red, all 
face Barack Obama when he takes office in January.

Read more:

'Deep economic crisis faces president-elect Obama'
AFP, November 5, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/595fej

[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[enlightened_dawn11]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 On Nov 5, 2008, at 5:37 AM, BillyG. wrote:
 
  I would agree and nicely put, MMY could have cleared a lot of 
this up
  by just being up front about who he was.  He never claimed to be
  enlightened, never that I know of. So, he probably wasn't, who 
knows,
  nobody!
 
 
 Actually, since in his tradition those that are enlightened first  
 ascend into a type of higher heaven dimension and then return,  
 hopefully in the same lifetime, as an enlightened being, we know 
that  
 he was not. That's why when he died there was such big deal made  
 about him entering heaven. Now, presumably, if he reincarnates 
he'll  
 be enlightened in that lifetime. When you have to go to a heaven  
 dimension on death, it means you were still short of the mark 
when  
 you died.
 
 I still have yet to receive a post card. That bastard!

you sound like such a fundamentalist vaj- your way is the only right 
true and correct way. such foolishness and slavery. the Maharishi 
never said anything even remotely as you describe, and yet in your 
fervor to convert us non believers into your one true church, you 
make up lies and slander. what's next? speaking in tongues?

[FairfieldLife] Re: The Election As An Exercise In Lucid Dreaming

[Richard J. Williams]

TurquoiseB wrote:
 I went back to bed and this time drifted off 
 into dreamless, witnessing sleep. Nowhere else 
 to go, nothing else to recapitulate, the past 
 dust. 

Uh, maybe you forgot to vote, again?

 Now it's only the present, and the future 
 that we structure in that present.
 
 Cool. Lots of hard work ahead, not much of which
 can be done on the level of lucid dreaming. But
 dreaming DOES have a part in the construction of
 the future, as this inspiring young man from
 Illinois has shown. If you have no dreams that
 inspire you, you have nothing to aspire to when
 you wake up.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Something good has shown up big time. . .

[Richard J. Williams]

John wrote: 
 ...that's why the those who prefer the 
 dark have been so rattled.

So, you're rattled. But Barack Obama is 
only half-dark. 

[FairfieldLife] Re: Something good has shown up big time. . .

[Richard J. Williams]

  All glory to the coherence-creating Sidhas 
  in The Domes without whom this new direction 
  would never happen.
  
John wrote:
 And it's OK that narrow-minded true believers 
 take credit for it. They will benefit - even 
 the though credit isn't theirs to claim.

The 'Sidhas in The Domes' that voted should get 
more credit than the non-voters like you.

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[Vaj]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 10:05 AM, enlightened_dawn11 wrote:


Actually, since in his tradition those that are enlightened first
ascend into a type of higher heaven dimension and then return,
hopefully in the same lifetime, as an enlightened being, we know

that

he was not. That's why when he died there was such big deal made
about him entering heaven. Now, presumably, if he reincarnates

he'll

be enlightened in that lifetime. When you have to go to a heaven
dimension on death, it means you were still short of the mark

when

you died.

I still have yet to receive a post card. That bastard!


you sound like such a fundamentalist vaj- your way is the only right
true and correct way. such foolishness and slavery. the Maharishi
never said anything even remotely as you describe,


Of course not, he needed to keep selling you stuff, that's what the  
Mushroom Effect is all about! And no, I'm not a Hindu.


And where did I say ANYTHING about it being 'the only way and the  
correct way'? You made that up!


ROTFLOL, the TM org liked to translate the Sanskrit word for heaven  
as the unified field. Isn't that a hoot?



and yet in your
fervor to convert us non believers into your one true church, you
make up lies and slander. what's next? speaking in tongues?



Why do you think it was announced Mahesh was going to heaven Dawn? If  
you don't like what you hear, can you at least TRY to offer an  
alternative? What do your psychic powers tell you?


Incidentally, a path that requires the use of a heaven dimension is  
NOT my trip. I'm sure it's hard for many Neo-Hindus to find out it  
was part of theirs! Don't be so grumpy Dawn, it's only darkness  
you're hiding in (just try to ignore that 'brown stuff'). ;-)

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[Alex Stanley]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Fixing the Democratic Party will have to wait until the
 economy recovers.

Some are saying it's already fixed. Comments from a message board:

Consider what else Obama accomplished besides winning the election -
which is HUGE.

1. Destroyed the old DNC political machine built by the Clintons which
dictated election strategy for 4 election cycles.

2. Destroyed the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) which was
Clinton's baby. Good riddance.

3. Destroyed any number of election myths, i.e. young people won't
turn-out to vote, the so-called Bradley effect, that Latinos won't
support an African-American, etc.

Not bad for 22 months of work I would have to say.

It would appear that there are two polarities within the Democratic
Party with very different definitions of fixing the Democratic Party.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[curtisdeltablues]

His restrained, solemn, almost
 withdrawn demeanor during his victory speech suggested to
 me that he was coming to grips with what had just happened
 in a new way and beginning to feel the full extent of the
 awsome, terrifying responsibility that has settled on his
 shoulders.

I wouldn't read too much into how any of them appeared last night. 
They just finished a travel campaign push in the last 48 hours that
was inhuman.  I though both McCain and Obama looked like two tough
guys who could go through all that and still deliver great speeches.  

I was especially impressed with McCain, both for his pulling this
schedule off at his age, and for giving a gracious positive speech. 
This was the wrong role for him but he still has a lot to give the
country he obviously loves.

I enjoyed seeing Michelle and Barack's chemistry and warmth as they
left the stage.  I think she is going to be a fist lady to be proud of
and I am looking forward to seeing how she uses this position.  She
won't just be re-decorating the White House I'll bet.

Thanks to everyone on FFL who made this my most engaging campaign.  I
really appreciated all the links people provided and perspectives
shared.  Kumbaya baby.

Oh yeah, to Sarah, Bu by, Bu by.  I hope I never see you on the
international stage again.




--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante no_reply@ 
 wrote:
 snip
  I'm glad that that dangerous old coot is not going to be
  president and continue the failed policies of Dumbya, but
  if there had not been an economic collapse, this election
  could easily have been taken by the red states. The NYT is
  saying about 55 mil voted for Obama, 51 mil for McCain --
  this was a close race in popular terms, even if distorted
  by the vagaries of the electoral system, and fortunately,
  it's the economy, stupid saved the day for the dems.
 
 The economy, and the fact that McCain ran an unexpectedly
 awful campaign and screwed up royally in his choice
 of Palin. Plus which, the Republicans unaccountably didn't
 haul out Rev. Wright again until the very last minute,
 when it was too late to do any serious damage to the Obama
 groundswell.
 
 I'm so relieved it's over that it's hard to sort out my
 other feelings.
 
 Like Bob, I'm glad McCain lost. Once the economy crashed in
 September, it became obvious that another Republican
 administration was an untenable risk. Fixing the Democratic
 Party will have to wait until the economy recovers.
 
 The monumental symbolic value of Obama's win is undeniable;
 it's impossible not to rejoice in that, in and of itself.
 It's an almost inconceivably huge positive step for the
 country.
 
 I can only cross my fingers and hope that he comes anywhere
 near living up to its promise. My misgivings about his
 abilities and his character are unchanged. It would be an
 equally monumental tragedy if he turns out to be inadequate
 to the challenge and to the idealism and good will that put
 him in office.
 
 Maybe the office itself will change him; maybe the faith
 the voters have invested in him will compel him to rise
 above his own limitations. His restrained, solemn, almost
 withdrawn demeanor during his victory speech suggested to
 me that he was coming to grips with what had just happened
 in a new way and beginning to feel the full extent of the
 awsome, terrifying responsibility that has settled on his
 shoulders.
 
 I've never wished anybody well so hard in my life.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[do.rflex]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Alex Stanley
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote:
 
  Fixing the Democratic Party will have to wait until the
  economy recovers.
 
 Some are saying it's already fixed. Comments from a message board:
 
 Consider what else Obama accomplished besides winning the election -
 which is HUGE.
 
 1. Destroyed the old DNC political machine built by the Clintons which
 dictated election strategy for 4 election cycles.
 
 2. Destroyed the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) which was
 Clinton's baby. Good riddance.
 
 3. Destroyed any number of election myths, i.e. young people won't
 turn-out to vote, the so-called Bradley effect, that Latinos won't
 support an African-American, etc.
 
 Not bad for 22 months of work I would have to say.
 
 It would appear that there are two polarities within the Democratic
 Party with very different definitions of fixing the Democratic Party.


Yes. In some of the election night coverage, after it became
increasingly clear that Obama was the winner, it was pointed out that
Obama and his operation are now essentially the leadership of the
Democratic Party -apart from- the establishment machine you mentioned
above.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[TurquoiseB]

  Fixing the Democratic Party will have to wait until the
  economy recovers.
 
 Some are saying it's already fixed. Comments from a message 
 board:
 
 Consider what else Obama accomplished besides winning the 
 election - which is HUGE.
 
 1. Destroyed the old DNC political machine built by the 
 Clintons which dictated election strategy for 4 election 
 cycles.

And lost two of them. And would have lost a third.

 2. Destroyed the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) which 
 was Clinton's baby. Good riddance.
 
 3. Destroyed any number of election myths, i.e. young people 
 won't turn-out to vote, the so-called Bradley effect, that 
 Latinos won't support an African-American, etc.
 
 Not bad for 22 months of work I would have to say.
 
 It would appear that there are two polarities within the 
 Democratic Party with very different definitions of fixing 
 the Democratic Party.

And, as I suggested once before, one of those
polarities is using the word fix as if they
learned it in Veterinary School.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[TurquoiseB]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 I wouldn't read too much into how any of them appeared last night. 
 They just finished a travel campaign push in the last 48 hours that
 was inhuman.  I though both McCain and Obama looked like two tough
 guys who could go through all that and still deliver great 
 speeches.  
 
 I was especially impressed with McCain, both for his pulling this
 schedule off at his age, and for giving a gracious positive speech. 
 This was the wrong role for him but he still has a lot to give the
 country he obviously loves.

I agree. He didn't write that speech, any more than
he wrote any of his others, but he delivered as if
he had. And it was a good one, with exactly the right
tone.

 I enjoyed seeing Michelle and Barack's chemistry and warmth as they
 left the stage.  I think she is going to be a fist lady to be proud 
 of and I am looking forward to seeing how she uses this position.  
 She won't just be re-decorating the White House I'll bet.

I certainly won't bet against you on this one.

 Thanks to everyone on FFL who made this my most engaging campaign.
 I really appreciated all the links people provided and perspectives
 shared.  Kumbaya baby.

Second that. Pass the 'smores.

 Oh yeah, to Sarah, Bu by, Bu by. I hope I never see you on the
 international stage again.

I don't think that's going to happen, or that
it should. The world badly needs people to laugh 
at, and she is one of the best.

[FairfieldLife] The World's View of Obama's Win: India

[Vaj]

India


The most important thing that Barack Obama brings to the presidency  
is his willingness to reason. He won his presidency not as a black  
American but as a reasoning American who happens to be black. America  
needs a change from the reign of obtruding false rules pranked in  
reason's garb — to use John Milton's words. Attacking Iraq for an  
imagined link with 9/11 was daft. Having unaffordable health care is  
not a reasonable way to run a rich society. Destroying the  
environment is not smart. Spreading the wealth a bit in a deeply  
unequal society is not as offensive to reason as it appeared to Joe  
the noncertified Plumber.


The economic crisis has been caused by doctrinaire economic policies,  
and the solution calls for remedial actions that are reasoned — and  
seen to be reasoned, to generate confidence. In politics, the  
alienation of the world is not only because the U.S. has been so  
unilateral but also because the unilateral choices often have been so  
dumb.


Reasoning also demands re-examination. Obama has to reassess whether  
he has got the right balance in policies on trade. On Afghanistan, he  
must examine how to balance his military toughness with the building  
of social infrastructure there and finding ways and means of getting  
Pakistan's energetic — and largely secular — civil society on his  
side, not against him. Obama may have to reassess some of his  
campaign rhetoric while firmly retaining his largehearted  
reasonableness.


—By Amartya Sen
Nobel Prize–winning economist

LINK

[FairfieldLife] A prediction on the heels of the apparent win of Prop 8

[shempmcgurk]

Yeah, yeah, I know; my prediction record is in the shits considering 
I predicted McCain would get 300 electoral votes.

Be that as it may, let me try again.

It appears (but isn't yet certain) that California's Prop 8 -- the 
ban on gay marriages -- is going to win.  But not by much...it's 
winning at around 52% now.

My prediction: this is going to become a national issue, with a push 
now by conservatives in every state to make the gay marriage ban a 
constitutional amendement.  And Congress, according to the amending 
formula, must pass it too in order for it to become part of the 
constitution (but the president has NO vote in the amending process).

This is where push comes to shove.  Congress will come on line and 
vote for it because the Dem's will be shared as hell to love their 
seats in the next election.  As I wrote in an earlier post, Barack 
Obama spent the entire campaign since he procured the nomination flip-
flopping his way to the right.

Conservatism set the agenda for this election and it will continue 
doing it over the next 2 years (and beyond).

Why, more conservative measures may be passed with Republicans as the 
Royal Opposition than they could if they were in power!

[FairfieldLife] Buddhist temple built from beer bottles

[Vaj]

Hey this would be a great way to get other Jefferson County residents  
into Sthapatya ved! Any new buildings planned on campus? :-)


Buddhist temple built from beer bottles:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/temple-built-from-beer- 
bottles.php


LINK

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[raunchydog]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 
 The economy, and the fact that McCain ran an unexpectedly
 awful campaign and screwed up royally in his choice
 of Palin. 

McCain might have gotten more independent voters and men with Romney
but he would never have energized the base like Palin. The left hated
her but she drew huge right wing crowds and they loved her even
without rock concerts, brats and beer. This was going to be a bad year
for Republicans no matter who he picked.  Even if McCain had picked up
OH, FL, VA, NC, IN, were only slightly blue and MO the tie, still
would have lost at 260. It's surprising he did as well as he did.

 Plus which, the Republicans unaccountably didn't
 haul out Rev. Wright again until the very last minute,
 when it was too late to do any serious damage to the Obama
 groundswell.

I doubt it would have helped. He couldn't get much traction from Ayers
either. 

 Fixing the Democratic
 Party will have to wait until the economy recovers.

With the DNC completely digested by the Chicago Combine, I doubt it's
fixable. With Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, no one will be able
to run for Congress without kissing some serious Obama butt. Rahm is
founder of the DCCC and an old hand at recruiting candidates, raising
funds, and organizing races. If you don't play ball with Rahm, you
don't play. 

 The monumental symbolic value of Obama's win is undeniable;
 it's impossible not to rejoice in that, in and of itself.
 It's an almost inconceivably huge positive step for the
 country.

Yes, it's a huge accomplishment that we can see beyond race to elect a
president, but it's just as important that we see the character of the
man inhabiting the skin. 

 I can only cross my fingers and hope that he comes anywhere
 near living up to its promise. My misgivings about his
 abilities and his character are unchanged. It would be an
 equally monumental tragedy if he turns out to be inadequate
 to the challenge and to the idealism and good will that put
 him in office.

Fingers crossed not double crossed.

 Maybe the office itself will change him; maybe the faith
 the voters have invested in him will compel him to rise
 above his own limitations. His restrained, solemn, almost
 withdrawn demeanor during his victory speech suggested to
 me that he was coming to grips with what had just happened
 in a new way and beginning to feel the full extent of the
 awsome, terrifying responsibility that has settled on his
 shoulders.
 
 I've never wished anybody well so hard in my life.

I feel you.

[FairfieldLife] Re: We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty

[TurquoiseB]

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me

Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me

There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjRDcOW7Xp8

http://www.fireflywiki.org/img/Ballad_of_Serenity.mp3



--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty
 
 Joss Whedon's Firefly and Serenity as a Metaphor
 for the Last Eight Years of the Bush Nightmare
 
 
 A critical server at the company I work for is down 
 for maintenance this day after the US Presidential 
 election, and thus I don't have to work. So I thought 
 I'd relax a little by rewatching my favorite science 
 fiction series of all time, Firefly, and its feature-
 length sequel, Serenity.
 
 And less than two minutes into the first episode, I 
 heard the words in the Subject line, and burst into 
 very uncharacteristic tears. They are spoken by Malcolm 
 'Mal' Reynolds to what remains of his troop of rebel 
 soldiers as they hold out against seemingly impossible 
 odds in the battle of Serenity Valley. A few minutes 
 later, these words -- and Mal's life -- are shattered 
 and rendered tragic as he receives word that his side 
 in this war has surrendered and betrayed them. They 
 are to lay down arms, and concede. The look on Mal's 
 face as he realizes the extent of the betrayal and 
 cowardice that has shattered his dreams is 
 heartbreaking.
 
 I know that look. I saw it in the mirror, eight years 
 ago, as I woke up on another day after the US Presi-
 dential election and found that my country, too, had 
 betrayed me. 
 
 And I reacted as Mal did. He became an outlaw, renounced 
 his home, and found a new one in a beat-to-shit but 
 lovable spaceship named Serenity, in which he and a 
 band of equally-devastated comrades cruised the edges 
 of the 'verse and did their best to keep on keepin' on 
 in a universe made inhospitable by the evil Alliance 
 that had taken over. 
 
 I left the United States and became an outlaw of another 
 kind, living sometimes legally, sometimes illegally as 
 an ex-pat in Europe. And, like Mal, I did my best to 
 keep on keepin' on, also in a 'verse made inhospitable 
 by the evil forces that had taken over my homeland.
 
 I found my own versions of the good ship Serenity. The 
 first was an apartment in the 7th arrondissement in 
 Paris, from which I could look out and see the Eiffel 
 Tower and marvel at its beauty while trying my best to 
 not get bummed by the news coming from my country of 
 birth, and what it was doing to rape and pillage the 
 planet, and its own people. After a few years I found 
 a new version of Serenity in a medieval village in the 
 south of France, and kept on keepin' on there. A little 
 over a year ago, I found a new version of Serenity here, 
 a block from the beach in a Spanish tourist town. Like 
 Mal, I had my trusty sidekick, who has traveled with me, 
 and I have found other friends and fellow outlaws along 
 the Way. All three space ships have been very comfy, 
 thank you, and have provided me with a fine base of 
 operations from which to keep on keepin' on.
 
 Like Mal and his crew, I took work where I could find 
 it, and have managed to prove the truth of the old 
 saying Living well is the best revenge. I have been 
 back to America only twice in the last eight years, and 
 felt as out of place when I was there as Captain 
 Tightpants would have felt on the Alliance's home 
 planet. And like the crew of Whedon's Serenity, I 
 have faced challenges and dangers, and have tried to 
 deal with them using the most effective weapons at my 
 disposal, flexibility and a sense of humor. Both have 
 served me well.
 
 But, like Mal and his crew, I had almost lost hope in 
 my homeland, and in its ability to throw off the shackles 
 it had fastened to its own ankles by allowing the 
 Presidency to be stolen by tyrants, twice. I had resigned 
 myself, in fact, to never going back again, even for a 
 visit, and spending the rest of my life flitting from 
 place to place in my version of Serenity.
 
 This morning changes all that, just as the end of the 
 film Serenity changed Mal's universe and the possi-
 bilities open to him and his crew. At the end of that 
 film, the Alliance's tyranny has been exposed, and the 
 evil Alliance is in the process of imploding. Mal can 
 finally let his bitterness drop and wax eloquent to 
 young, psychic River Tam about the thing that has kept 
 Serenity flying all these years, and will in the future, 
 even though there will still be shitstorms to fly through 
 before the hard times are over.
 
 Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: But it ain't all buttons 
 and charts, little albatross. You know what the 
 first rule of flyin' is? Well I suppose you do, 
 

[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[Richard J. Williams]

Vaj wrote:
 ...the TM org liked to translate the Sanskrit 
 word for heaven as the unified field. 

According to the Isha Upanishad, heaven is a unity.

 Isn't that a hoot?

Yes, it's a 'hoot' that they were so perceptive!

That is a complete whole. This too is a complete 
whole. From the complete whole, that complete whole 
was created. Even after removing the complete whole 
from the complete whole, still the complete whole 
remains unaltered and undisturbed.

4. The self is transcendental, immortal and beyond 
the mind and the senses.

Read more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isha_Upanishad

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: 
  The economy, and the fact that McCain ran an unexpectedly
  awful campaign and screwed up royally in his choice
  of Palin. 
 
 McCain might have gotten more independent voters and men with Romney
 but he would never have energized the base like Palin. The left 
hated
 her but she drew huge right wing crowds and they loved her even
 without rock concerts, brats and beer. This was going to be a bad 
year
 for Republicans no matter who he picked.  Even if McCain had picked 
up
 OH, FL, VA, NC, IN, were only slightly blue and MO the tie, still
 would have lost at 260. It's surprising he did as well as he did.



You're absolutely right.

Palin was worth at least 5 percentage points to McCain's success.  
Without her, many Repubicans would simply have stayed home...or voted 
for Bob Barr.

This woman is NOT going away...and I for one hope she doesn't.

I'm putting my money on her being the candidate in 2012...

And, yes, McCain did well.  This was NOT a landslide or a blow-out.




 
  Plus which, the Republicans unaccountably didn't
  haul out Rev. Wright again until the very last minute,
  when it was too late to do any serious damage to the Obama
  groundswell.
 
 I doubt it would have helped. He couldn't get much traction from 
Ayers
 either. 
 
  Fixing the Democratic
  Party will have to wait until the economy recovers.
 
 With the DNC completely digested by the Chicago Combine, I doubt 
it's
 fixable. With Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, no one will be 
able
 to run for Congress without kissing some serious Obama butt. Rahm is
 founder of the DCCC and an old hand at recruiting candidates, 
raising
 funds, and organizing races. If you don't play ball with Rahm, you
 don't play. 
 
  The monumental symbolic value of Obama's win is undeniable;
  it's impossible not to rejoice in that, in and of itself.
  It's an almost inconceivably huge positive step for the
  country.
 
 Yes, it's a huge accomplishment that we can see beyond race to 
elect a
 president, but it's just as important that we see the character of 
the
 man inhabiting the skin. 
 
  I can only cross my fingers and hope that he comes anywhere
  near living up to its promise. My misgivings about his
  abilities and his character are unchanged. It would be an
  equally monumental tragedy if he turns out to be inadequate
  to the challenge and to the idealism and good will that put
  him in office.
 
 Fingers crossed not double crossed.
 
  Maybe the office itself will change him; maybe the faith
  the voters have invested in him will compel him to rise
  above his own limitations. His restrained, solemn, almost
  withdrawn demeanor during his victory speech suggested to
  me that he was coming to grips with what had just happened
  in a new way and beginning to feel the full extent of the
  awsome, terrifying responsibility that has settled on his
  shoulders.
  
  I've never wished anybody well so hard in my life.
 
 I feel you.

[FairfieldLife] mccain palin war just beginning

[boo_lives]

One aide estimated that she spent tens of thousands more than the
reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for
her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An
angry (McCain) aide characterized the shopping spree as Wasilla
hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast, and said the
truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its
books.

Their onstage hug last night was about as cold as it gets in alaska in
january.  This should be fun to watch.

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[Sal Sunshine]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 10:09 AM, shempmcgurk wrote:

 You're absolutely right.

 Palin was worth at least 5 percentage points to McCain's success.
 Without her, many Repubicans would simply have stayed home...or voted
 for Bob Barr.

 This woman is NOT going away...and I for one hope she doesn't.

I hope she doesn't either!  Far too much entertainment value there.

 I'm putting my money on her being the candidate in 2012...

I am too, shemp!  Finally something we can agree on.

 And, yes, McCain did well.  This was NOT a landslide or a blow-out.

Since neither was an incumbent, that would probably have been  
unprecedented.
McCain did do better than I imagined he would.

Sal

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[authfriend]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Alex Stanley 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote:
 
  Fixing the Democratic Party will have to wait until the
  economy recovers.
 
 Some are saying it's already fixed. Comments from a message
 board:
 
 Consider what else Obama accomplished besides winning the 
 election - which is HUGE.
 
 1. Destroyed the old DNC political machine built by the
 Clintons which dictated election strategy for 4 election
 cycles.
 
 2. Destroyed the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) which was
 Clinton's baby. Good riddance.
 
 3. Destroyed any number of election myths, i.e. young people
 won't turn-out to vote, the so-called Bradley effect, that
 Latinos won't support an African-American, etc.
 
 Not bad for 22 months of work I would have to say.
 
 It would appear that there are two polarities within the
 Democratic Party with very different definitions of
 fixing the Democratic Party.

Yes indeedy. The polarity I favor is the one that wants
the Democratic Party to return to fighting for progressive
goals, those Hillary stands for, women's rights and respect
for working people and constitutional principles in
particular; and for fair and honest party primaries.

Nobody likes machine politics, but I'll take the Clinton
machine over the Obama machine any day. The latter is
already corrupt after less than two years.

[FairfieldLife] Religion: Bound to believe?

[Vaj]

Religion: Bound to believe?

I pass on clips from an article by Pascal Boyer that explains why a  
slew of cognitive traits shared by humans will always make atheism a  
hard sell.


In the past ten years, the evolutionary and cognitive study of  
religion has begun to mature. It does not try to identify the gene  
or genes for religious thinking. Nor does it simply dream up  
evolutionary scenarios that might have led to religion as we know  
it. It does much better than that. It puts forward new hypotheses  
and testable predictions. It asks what in the human make-up renders  
religion possible and successful. Religious thought and behaviour  
can be considered part of the natural human capacities, such as  
music, political systems, family relations or ethnic coalitions.  
Findings from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, cultural  
anthropology and archaeology promise to change our view of religion.


Unlike other social animals, humans are very good at establishing  
and maintaining relations with agents beyond their physical  
presence; social hierarchies and coalitions, for instance, include  
temporarily absent members. This goes even further. From childhood,  
humans form enduring, stable and important social relationships  
with fictional characters, imaginary friends, deceased relatives,  
unseen heroes and fantasized mates. Indeed, the extraordinary  
social skills of humans, compared with other primates, may be honed  
by constant practice with imagined or absent partners.


It is a small step from having this capacity to bond with non- 
physical agents to conceptualizing spirits, dead ancestors and  
gods, who are neither visible nor tangible, yet are socially  
involved. This may explain why, in most cultures, at least some of  
the superhuman agents that people believe in have moral concerns.


In addition, the neurophysiology of compulsive behaviour in humans  
and other animals is beginning to shed light on religious rituals.  
These behaviours include stereotyped, highly repetitive actions  
that participants feel they must do, even though most have no  
clear, observable results, such as striking the chest three times  
while repeating a set formula. Ritualized behaviour is also seen in  
patients with obsessive-compulsive disorders and in the routines of  
young children. In these contexts, rituals are generally associated  
with thoughts about pollution and purification, danger and  
protection, the required use of particular colours or numbers or  
the need to construct a safe and ordered environment.


So is religion an adaptation or a by-product of our evolution?  
Perhaps one day we will find compelling evidence that a capacity  
for religious thoughts, rather than 'religion' in the modern form  
of socio-political institutions, contributed to fitness in  
ancestral times. For the time being, the data support a more modest  
conclusion: religious thoughts seem to be an emergent property of  
our standard cognitive capacities.


Religious concepts and activities hijack our cognitive resources,  
as do music, visual art, cuisine, politics, economic institutions  
and fashion. This hijacking occurs simply because religion provides  
some form of what psychologists would call super stimuli. Just as  
visual art is more symmetrical and its colours more saturated than  
what is generally found in nature, religious agents are highly  
simplified versions of absent human agents, and religious rituals  
are highly stylized versions of precautionary procedures. Hijacking  
also occurs because religions facilitate the expression of certain  
behaviours. This is the case for commitment to a group, which is  
made all the more credible when it is phrased as the acceptance of  
bizarre or non-obvious beliefs.


Some form of religious thinking seems to be the path of least  
resistance for our cognitive systems. By contrast, disbelief is  
generally the result of deliberate, effortful work against our  
natural cognitive dispositions — hardly the easiest ideology to  
propagate.

[FairfieldLife] Re: The World's View of Obama's Win: India

[Richard J. Williams]

Vaj wrote:
 The World's View of Obama's Win: India

McCain is one of the few American politicians
in either party with the courage and conviction
to stand up to protectionist populism. By 
contrast, Obama embodies protectionism.

Look at the accompanying chart. It shows that
McCain has voted 88% of the time against bills
creating trade barriers, and 90% of the time
against export subsidies for US producers. Few
other senators have such a splendid record.

Obama has served a much shorter time in the 
Senate, and avoided voting on many key issues. 
He has voted against trade barriers only 36% of 
the time. He supported export subsidies on the 
two occasions on which he voted, a 100% 
protectionist record in this regard.

Read more:

'Where McCain scores over Obama'
By Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar
Times of India, October 28, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/6qpy7s

[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[guyfawkes91]

 I know it's shocking but it's true. I'm even thinking of putting in a  
 southern door to match the Russian masonry furnace I put in the  
 Brahmasthan...

People voluntarily walking through non-east facing doors to enter a
spiritual retreat! Surely it cannot happen. We've been told the
principle reason not many people are learning TM is that the entrances
to TM centers aren't facing east. I'm stunned, everything I ever knew
has been turned upside down by this news. The sky will fall in. What
can this mean for all the people who've spent millions re-arranging
their houses and furniture? Are you suggesting it was money wasted?
But they're rich, therefore they have the support of the laws of
nature, so it must be right. I'll have to lie down to get over the shock.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[authfriend]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 His restrained, solemn, almost
  withdrawn demeanor during his victory speech suggested to
  me that he was coming to grips with what had just happened
  in a new way and beginning to feel the full extent of the
  awsome, terrifying responsibility that has settled on his
  shoulders.
 
 I wouldn't read too much into how any of them appeared last
 night. They just finished a travel campaign push in the last
 48 hours that was inhuman.

Indeed, but usually the winner manages to pump up
some exuberance for his victory speech. Hillary's
*concession* speech had far more energy than Obama's
victory speech. McCain was relaxed, looked relieved,
but he seemed far more open, a lot warmer.

And it isn't just the last 48 hours where Obama is
concerned. There were two pieces in the NYT a couple
days ago about the mood of the candidates. The one
on Obama said he had been noticeably more withdrawn
in the past several weeks. His tendency to keep
everything locked up inside worries me. I'm not sure
his inscrutable calm is a good thing.

Take a look at the photo on the NYTimes front page--
the Web site--this morning. That expression is more
than just exhaustion.

snip
 I was especially impressed with McCain, both for his pulling
 this schedule off at his age, and for giving a gracious
 positive speech.

*Very* classy speech. Too bad his supporters had to
ruin it with boos and jeers when he mentioned Obama.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[enlightened_dawn11]

i agree with both of you-- its too rare that the good guys win, but 
they did last night. the only thing i didn't get was you were 
talking about someone named sarah. sarah who??;) 

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues
 curtisdeltablues@ wrote:
 
  I wouldn't read too much into how any of them appeared last 
night. 
  They just finished a travel campaign push in the last 48 hours 
that
  was inhuman.  I though both McCain and Obama looked like two 
tough
  guys who could go through all that and still deliver great 
  speeches.  
  
  I was especially impressed with McCain, both for his pulling this
  schedule off at his age, and for giving a gracious positive 
speech. 
  This was the wrong role for him but he still has a lot to give 
the
  country he obviously loves.
 
 I agree. He didn't write that speech, any more than
 he wrote any of his others, but he delivered as if
 he had. And it was a good one, with exactly the right
 tone.
 
  I enjoyed seeing Michelle and Barack's chemistry and warmth as 
they
  left the stage.  I think she is going to be a fist lady to be 
proud 
  of and I am looking forward to seeing how she uses this 
position.  
  She won't just be re-decorating the White House I'll bet.
 
 I certainly won't bet against you on this one.
 
  Thanks to everyone on FFL who made this my most engaging 
campaign.
  I really appreciated all the links people provided and 
perspectives
  shared.  Kumbaya baby.
 
 Second that. Pass the 'smores.
 
  Oh yeah, to Sarah, Bu by, Bu by. I hope I never see you on the
  international stage again.
 
 I don't think that's going to happen, or that
 it should. The world badly needs people to laugh 
 at, and she is one of the best.

Re: [FairfieldLife] mccain palin war just beginning

[Vaj]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 11:16 AM, boo_lives wrote:


One aide estimated that she spent tens of thousands more than the
reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for
her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An
angry (McCain) aide characterized the shopping spree as Wasilla
hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast, and said the
truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its
books.

Their onstage hug last night was about as cold as it gets in alaska in
january.  This should be fun to watch.



If you saw the type of people she WAS hugging, you'd want plenty of  
clothes changes too.


In general at the Sarah campaign stops, her Secret Service detachment  
would prevent anyone from getting anywhere near our Sarah. But every  
now and again, some emotional women in the audience would lunge for a  
hug and Sarah, bless her heart, would wave off the SS agents! Now if  
you could see what these women looked like, you'd want a huge  
wardrobe too. I remember thinking 'that hug probably left a huge  
grease stain all over that red dress' as another corn-fed American  
beauty (whose physique looked like it had been cultured thru years of  
Twinkies and Junk Food) groped her for another bear hug.


Yep, you'd want lots of fresh clothing. I know I'd have been changing  
my clothes a lot just to get the cigarette and day old beer smell off  
of me.

[FairfieldLife] Now that the obligatory gracious congrats posts are over...

[TurquoiseB]

...and the standard tone is beginning to return
to the anti-Obama voices on FFL, here's a peace 
offering of sorts, a dish of Corvus Corone a la 
Bradley sauce to chow down on:

http://tinyurl.com/5z6q39

:-)

[FairfieldLife] Re: The World's View of Obama's Win: India

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Richard J. Williams 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Vaj wrote:
  The World's View of Obama's Win: India
 
 McCain is one of the few American politicians
 in either party with the courage and conviction
 to stand up to protectionist populism. By 
 contrast, Obama embodies protectionism.
 
 Look at the accompanying chart. It shows that
 McCain has voted 88% of the time against bills
 creating trade barriers, and 90% of the time
 against export subsidies for US producers. Few
 other senators have such a splendid record.
 
 Obama has served a much shorter time in the 
 Senate, and avoided voting on many key issues. 
 He has voted against trade barriers only 36% of 
 the time. He supported export subsidies on the 
 two occasions on which he voted, a 100% 
 protectionist record in this regard.
 
 Read more:
 
 'Where McCain scores over Obama'
 By Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar
 Times of India, October 28, 2008
 http://tinyurl.com/6qpy7s



Thank you for this, willytex.

Barack's election bodes badly for India on two fronts:

1) Barack's protectionism.  Outsourcing has been a great thing for 
India.  Hopefully Barack will flip-flop back to the center on this 
one.

2) Barack's belief in catastrophic man-made global warming (something 
McCain believes in, too).  This policy has led to great suffering by 
the poor...not just in India but throughout the third world.

Hey, hey, AGJ, how many babies have you killed today? 

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[authfriend]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: 
  The economy, and the fact that McCain ran an unexpectedly
  awful campaign and screwed up royally in his choice
  of Palin. 
 
 McCain might have gotten more independent voters and men
 with Romney but he would never have energized the base
 like Palin. The left hated her

It was more than just the left. McCain lost a lot of
influential Republicans because of her who would 
otherwise have been big McCain cheerleaders.

 but she drew huge right wing crowds and they loved her even
 without rock concerts, brats and beer. This was going to be
 a bad year for Republicans no matter who he picked.

True enough. But *with* Romney or some more reasonable
Republican instead of Palin, and *without* the economic
crisis, and if only the campaign had featured the old
McCain, the real maverick, the charmer, the McCain who
gave the concession speech last night--I'll bet he would
have won, although it would have been close.

snip
 With the DNC completely digested by the Chicago Combine, I
 doubt it's fixable.

Depends on how Obama does in office, I think.

 With Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff, no one will be able
 to run for Congress without kissing some serious Obama butt.
 Rahm is founder of the DCCC and an old hand at recruiting 
 candidates, raising funds, and organizing races. If you don't
 play ball with Rahm, you don't play.

DO NOT LIKE.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Now that the obligatory gracious congrats posts are over...

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 ...and the standard tone is beginning to return
 to the anti-Obama voices on FFL, here's a peace 
 offering of sorts, a dish of Corvus Corone a la 
 Bradley sauce to chow down on:
 
 http://tinyurl.com/5z6q39
 
 :-)



You mean like your returning to using your shitty little :-) smiley 
face when, in reality, the gesture drips with hatred and contempt?

You mean like the way you've been battling Judy for the past 12 years 
with all the hate and bile that your faux Buddhist personality can 
muster?

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[Louis McKenzie]

My friend Lane still thinks Obama is a marxist.   Really I dont think she 
thinks that I believe she is terrified of an extremely powerful Blackman.

--- On Wed, 11/5/08, cardemaister [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
From: cardemaister [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 10:11 AM

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 WE DID IT GANG! DID NOT MEAN TO BE OFFENSIVE JUST WANTED TO ASSIST 
 WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN


Oh yeah! I think one might say, that without Jews (financial
stuff,science, music, etc.) and African-Americans (politics, military,
sports, music, and stuff) USA would be quite a Mister/Mistress
Nobody... ;D 




To subscribe, send a message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Or go to: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links






  

[FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 My friend Lane still thinks Obama is a marxist.   Really I dont 
think she thinks that I believe she is terrified of an extremely 
powerful Blackman.


Obama isn't a Marxist.

He's more like a Trotskyite.



 
 --- On Wed, 11/5/08, cardemaister [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 From: cardemaister [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES 
WE CAN!
 To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
 Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 10:11 AM
 
 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie ltm457@ 
wrote:
 
  WE DID IT GANG! DID NOT MEAN TO BE OFFENSIVE JUST WANTED TO 
ASSIST 
  WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN
 
 
 Oh yeah! I think one might say, that without Jews (financial
 stuff,science, music, etc.) and African-Americans (politics, 
military,
 sports, music, and stuff) USA would be quite a Mister/Mistress
 Nobody... ;D 
 
 
 
 
 To subscribe, send a message to:
 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 
 Or go to: 
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
 and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links

[FairfieldLife] Re: Now that the obligatory gracious congrats posts are over...

[authfriend]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 ...and the standard tone is beginning to return
 to the anti-Obama voices on FFL, here's a peace 
 offering of sorts, a dish of Corvus Corone a la 
 Bradley sauce to chow down on:
 
 http://tinyurl.com/5z6q39

Says Barry, who has just barely been able to hold
in his characteristic viciousness and finally
managed to read it into what others were saying
enough to justify letting it out again.

Of course, he had to avoid reading what others 
were *actually* saying as well in order to use
this particular vehicle for his hatred.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[Patrick Gillam]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend wrote:

 Nobody likes machine politics, but I'll take the Clinton
 machine over the Obama machine any day. The latter is
 already corrupt after less than two years.

How so, Judy? How is the Obama organization corrupt? Thanks.

[FairfieldLife] Re: mccain palin war just beginning

[enlightened_dawn11]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 
 On Nov 5, 2008, at 11:16 AM, boo_lives wrote:
 
  One aide estimated that she spent tens of thousands more than 
the
  reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy 
clothes for
  her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been 
lost. An
  angry (McCain) aide characterized the shopping spree as Wasilla
  hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast, and said 
the
  truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits 
its
  books.
 
  Their onstage hug last night was about as cold as it gets in 
alaska in
  january.  This should be fun to watch.
 
 
 If you saw the type of people she WAS hugging, you'd want plenty 
of  
 clothes changes too.
 
 In general at the Sarah campaign stops, her Secret Service 
detachment  
 would prevent anyone from getting anywhere near our Sarah. But 
every  
 now and again, some emotional women in the audience would lunge 
for a  
 hug and Sarah, bless her heart, would wave off the SS agents! Now 
if  
 you could see what these women looked like, you'd want a huge  
 wardrobe too. I remember thinking 'that hug probably left a huge  
 grease stain all over that red dress' as another corn-fed 
American  
 beauty (whose physique looked like it had been cultured thru years 
of  
 Twinkies and Junk Food) groped her for another bear hug.
 
 Yep, you'd want lots of fresh clothing. I know I'd have been 
changing  
 my clothes a lot just to get the cigarette and day old beer smell 
off  
 of me.

careful who and what you hold in contempt vaj-- you may just 
reincarnate as a fat, cigarette smoking, junk food eating buddhist 
white woman from kentucky your next time around.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Why MMY says-Damn Democracy.

[nablusoss1008]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, guyfawkes91 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:


 
 You mean you have people queuing up for a spiritual retreat at a
 location which doesn't have an east facing entrance? That's
 impossible! Surely everyone knows that you can only get people through
 the door for spiritual development if the door faces east. I don't
 believe you. You'll be telling me next that there are women on a
 course being taught by a man.

Everyone knows that Buddhist Lamas simply love women ;-)

[FairfieldLife] Re: mccain palin war just beginning

[TurquoiseB]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, enlightened_dawn11
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 careful who and what you hold in contempt vaj-- you may just 
 reincarnate as a fat, cigarette smoking, junk food eating 
 buddhist white woman from kentucky your next time around.

I keep forgetting that you're a Newbie, and
haven't been to any of the Fairfield Life 
in-person get-togethers yet. 

Vaj already IS a fat, cigarette-smoking, junk
food eating Buddhist white woman from Kentucky.

Rick, on the other hand, is a total babe, a
dead ringer for Heidi Klum at the beach, but with 
slightly smaller life preservers:

http://bballsml.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/heidi_klum2.jpg

[FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[enlightened_dawn11]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie ltm457@ 
 wrote:
 
  My friend Lane still thinks Obama is a marxist.   Really I dont 
 think she thinks that I believe she is terrified of an extremely 
 powerful Blackman.
 
 
 Obama isn't a Marxist.
 
 He's more like a Trotskyite.
 
the other side of the coin: i heard a fat cat from the wall street 
journal this morning on the radio talking about how the democrats 
had somehow managed to get medicare in place in the 60's which was 
bankrupting the country.

what is the solution? let all 40 million without health care die in 
the streets? these people sound like nazis to me- such hard hearts.

[FairfieldLife] Re: mccain palin war just beginning

[enlightened_dawn11]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, enlightened_dawn11
 no_reply@ wrote:
 
  careful who and what you hold in contempt vaj-- you may just 
  reincarnate as a fat, cigarette smoking, junk food eating 
  buddhist white woman from kentucky your next time around.
 
 I keep forgetting that you're a Newbie, and
 haven't been to any of the Fairfield Life 
 in-person get-togethers yet. 
 
 Vaj already IS a fat, cigarette-smoking, junk
 food eating Buddhist white woman from Kentucky.
 
 Rick, on the other hand, is a total babe, a
 dead ringer for Heidi Klum at the beach, but with 
 slightly smaller life preservers:
 
 http://bballsml.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/heidi_klum2.jpg

lol- thanks for the laugh!

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[raunchydog]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 True enough. But *with* Romney or some more reasonable
 Republican instead of Palin, and *without* the economic
 crisis, and if only the campaign had featured the old
 McCain, the real maverick, the charmer, the McCain who
 gave the concession speech last night--I'll bet he would
 have won, although it would have been close.

The odds were stacked against him. McCain was outspent 8 to 1 in some
cases and the media never got over their love affair with Obama.

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: mccain palin war just beginning

[Vaj]

On Nov 5, 2008, at 12:10 PM, enlightened_dawn11 wrote:


careful who and what you hold in contempt vaj-- you may just
reincarnate as a fat, cigarette smoking, junk food eating buddhist
white woman from kentucky your next time around.


Someone sounds like she needs a hug!

Re: [FairfieldLife] The Election As An Exercise In Lucid Dreaming

[gullible fool]

I rolled over, switched the sound on on the lap-
top, and heard MSNBC announce the winner. I looked
at the time, and it was shortly after 5:00 a.m. my 
time.

That was pretty good timing. Turq. It was at 11:00 PM EST that Obama was 
projected the victor. 
 
Love will swallow you, eat you up completely, until there is no `you,' only 
love. 
 
- Amma  

--- On Wed, 11/5/08, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

From: TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [FairfieldLife] The Election As An Exercise In Lucid Dreaming
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 5:44 AM

I only get a few TV channels on my actual TV,
all of them in Catalan. So my connection to
the world stage for this particular passion
play was through the Internet. Fortunately,
MSNBC did an excellent job of beaming their
live coverage to my computer, full-screen and
with the sound synched to the lip movements
perfectly. (Quite an achievement, if you think
about the number of people worldwide hitting
on that server at one time.)

I stayed up as late as I could, but finally
couldn't stay awake, so I took my laptop to
bed with me and left it on beside me with 
the sound off. Then I fell asleep, and without
consciously planning it, segued seamlessly
into an entire night of lucid dreaming.

That is, there was no gap, no seam between
being awake in the physical world, waiting for
news about something important, and moving
seamlessly into an astral world in which I was
completely awake and in charge of where I went
and what I saw there. And there, too I was 
waiting for news about something important.

Since I *could* choose my location easily,
I did. I did a kind of astral Castanedan recapit-
ulation of all the places I'd lived while waiting
for election results, and revisted not only them,
but the state of consciousness I had been wearing
and that the world had been wearing at those times. 
I visited with old friends, some of them now dead 
in real life, and had fun catching up with them. 
And then, having worked myself up to 2004 and the 
profound sense of disappointment in America and 
its people that greeted me the day after the last 
Presidential election, something told me that it 
was time to wake myself up, so I did.

I rolled over, switched the sound on on the lap-
top, and heard MSNBC announce the winner. I looked
at the time, and it was shortly after 5:00 a.m. my 
time. I got up, danced around the apartment for a 
while with my dogs, and then the three of us settled 
down in front of the screen to watch the speeches 
and the I told you so's. 

After Obama's speech, I went back to bed and this
time drifted off into dreamless, witnessing sleep.
Nowhere else to go, nothing else to recapitulate,
the past dust. Now it's only the present, and the
future that we structure in that present.

Cool. Lots of hard work ahead, not much of which
can be done on the level of lucid dreaming. But
dreaming DOES have a part in the construction of
the future, as this inspiring young man from
Illinois has shown. If you have no dreams that
inspire you, you have nothing to aspire to when
you wake up. 






To subscribe, send a message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Or go to: 
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and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links






  

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[enlightened_dawn11]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, raunchydog [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote:
  True enough. But *with* Romney or some more reasonable
  Republican instead of Palin, and *without* the economic
  crisis, and if only the campaign had featured the old
  McCain, the real maverick, the charmer, the McCain who
  gave the concession speech last night--I'll bet he would
  have won, although it would have been close.
 
 The odds were stacked against him. McCain was outspent 8 to 1 in some
 cases and the media never got over their love affair with Obama.

i was wondering about the love affair with obama too, especially since 
every time i turned on the tube in the last month all i saw was 
mccain, on nearly every channel. 

i think people were so damned sick of bush there was basically no way 
to elect mccain. also let's remember that obama outspent mccain 
because millions contributed to him. sure mccain comes across as a 
nice gracious guy, especially during his i lost speech.

but just nice guys don't cut it anymore. we learned that under reagan, 
who came across as everyone's favorite grandfather, but demonstrated 
he didn't give a damn about the poor, the environment, and countries 
in which the majority were brown. 

RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?

[Rick Archer]

From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of boo_lives
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 8:28 AM
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?

 

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , bob_brigante [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ 
 wrote:
 
  I'll bet you won't be hearing that phrase much in Fairfield tonight 
 (I 
  assume all the cult members are in the Obama corner?).
 
But you're in the cult too shemp. I have several ffld republican
friends. The meditating mayor is a republican,

Ed Malloy is? He was a big Obama supporter. Had him over to his house when
he visited FF. Made robocalls for him here in town.

Re: [FairfieldLife] A prediction on the heels of the apparent win of Prop 8

[Bhairitu]

shempmcgurk wrote:
 Yeah, yeah, I know; my prediction record is in the shits considering 
 I predicted McCain would get 300 electoral votes.

 Be that as it may, let me try again.

 It appears (but isn't yet certain) that California's Prop 8 -- the 
 ban on gay marriages -- is going to win.  But not by much...it's 
 winning at around 52% now.

 My prediction: this is going to become a national issue, with a push 
 now by conservatives in every state to make the gay marriage ban a 
 constitutional amendement.  And Congress, according to the amending 
 formula, must pass it too in order for it to become part of the 
 constitution (but the president has NO vote in the amending process).

 This is where push comes to shove.  Congress will come on line and 
 vote for it because the Dem's will be shared as hell to love their 
 seats in the next election.  As I wrote in an earlier post, Barack 
 Obama spent the entire campaign since he procured the nomination flip-
 flopping his way to the right.

 Conservatism set the agenda for this election and it will continue 
 doing it over the next 2 years (and beyond).

 Why, more conservative measures may be passed with Republicans as the 
 Royal Opposition than they could if they were in power!
First off it hasn't been decided yet as they have to count 3 million 
absentee and provisional ballots.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081105/ap_on_el_ge/ballot_measures

It would truly be a sad day if it passed because it is the first time a 
constitutional amendment actually took away rights.  And believe me if 
it passes there will be a Supreme Court case filed.  Same for the US 
Constitution.  We have no business taking away rights and we need to 
make that plain and clear to the public.

RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?

[gullible fool]

Ed Malloy is? He was a big Obama supporter. Had him over to his house when he 
visited FF. Made robocalls for him here in town.
 
Perhaps he is referring to the pretend city mayor? 

 
Love will swallow you, eat you up completely, until there is no `you,' only 
love. 
 
- Amma  

--- On Wed, 11/5/08, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

From: Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 12:29 PM










From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of 
boo_lives
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 8:28 AM
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?
 



--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ 
 wrote:
 
  I'll bet you won't be hearing that phrase much in Fairfield tonight 
 (I 
  assume all the cult members are in the Obama corner?).
 
But you're in the cult too shemp. I have several ffld republican
friends. The meditating mayor is a republican,
Ed Malloy is? He was a big Obama supporter. Had him over to his house when he 
visited FF. Made robocalls for him here in town. 



  

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[authfriend]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Patrick Gillam [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend wrote:
 
  Nobody likes machine politics, but I'll take the Clinton
  machine over the Obama machine any day. The latter is
  already corrupt after less than two years.
 
 How so, Judy? How is the Obama organization corrupt? Thanks.

Basically, Obama's campaign and the DNC were
complicit in gaming the primary caucus system.
raunchydog has posted several links to
documentation on this.

For that matter, there are questions as well about
how Obama got elected to the Illinois and then the
U.S. Senate--not illegal, but pretty smarmy ethically
speaking. Some of Obama's connections to Chicago
machine politicians aren't too savory either.

(I'm not including ACORN in this, BTW. I think that's
a Republican tempest in a teapot.)

And as far as just plain dirty politics is concerned,
it's hard to beat painting the Clintons as racists
during the primary.

Thank GOD there don't seem to have been any major
election foulups or chicanery--on either side--that
might have been claimed to have affected the outcome,
for the presidential contest, at any rate. That was
my worst nightmare.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?

[mainstream20016]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 On Behalf Of boo_lives
 Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 8:28 AM
 To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
 Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?
 
  
 
 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
 mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , bob_brigante no_reply@
 wrote:
 
  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
 mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ 
  wrote:
  
   I'll bet you won't be hearing that phrase much in Fairfield tonight 
  (I 
   assume all the cult members are in the Obama corner?).
  
 But you're in the cult too shemp. I have several ffld republican
 friends. The meditating mayor is a republican,
 
 Ed Malloy is? He was a big Obama supporter. Had him over to his house when
 he visited FF. Made robocalls for him here in town.



Credit Obama and Malloy for their collaborative efforts.  I wouldn't be 
surprised  to learn 
that Malloy was originally a Democrat in the 70s,  a Republican (Oil broker) in 
the 80s, a 
member of the NLP in the 90s, and who knows what today  

   

[FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, enlightened_dawn11 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk 
 shempmcgurk@ wrote:
 
  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie ltm457@ 
  wrote:
  
   My friend Lane still thinks Obama is a marxist.   Really I dont 
  think she thinks that I believe she is terrified of an extremely 
  powerful Blackman.
  
  
  Obama isn't a Marxist.
  
  He's more like a Trotskyite.
  
 the other side of the coin: i heard a fat cat from the wall street 
 journal this morning on the radio talking about how the democrats 
 had somehow managed to get medicare in place in the 60's which was 
 bankrupting the country.
 
 what is the solution? let all 40 million without health care die in 
 the streets? these people sound like nazis to me- such hard hearts.


You're getting your programs mixed up.

The 46 or thereabouts millions without health care INSURANCE (zero 
are without health care) get it from Medicaid, NOT Medicare.  
Medicare is a program for seniors.  You've got to qualify for it by 
paying into it via your payroll taxes during your working years.

Easy to make the mistake as the two names sound very much the same.  
In hindsight, I'm sure the LBJers who named the two systems would 
probably have named them something different had they known how many 
people over the years would get them mixed up.

Oh, and by the way, these hard hearts as you call them are the ones 
paying the vast bulk of the taxes that actually PAY for these 
programs, so their hearts can't be all THAT hard.  Most of the people 
who are quick to both demand and use the free services that these fat 
cats pay for pay very, very little of their own money towards these 
services.

[FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[enlightened_dawn11]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, enlightened_dawn11 
 no_reply@ wrote:
 
  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk 
  shempmcgurk@ wrote:
  
   --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie ltm457@ 
   wrote:
   
My friend Lane still thinks Obama is a marxist.   Really I 
dont 
   think she thinks that I believe she is terrified of an 
extremely 
   powerful Blackman.
   
   
   Obama isn't a Marxist.
   
   He's more like a Trotskyite.
   
  the other side of the coin: i heard a fat cat from the wall 
street 
  journal this morning on the radio talking about how the 
democrats 
  had somehow managed to get medicare in place in the 60's which 
was 
  bankrupting the country.
  
  what is the solution? let all 40 million without health care die 
in 
  the streets? these people sound like nazis to me- such hard 
hearts.
 
 
 You're getting your programs mixed up.
 
 The 46 or thereabouts millions without health care INSURANCE (zero 
 are without health care) get it from Medicaid, NOT Medicare.  
 Medicare is a program for seniors.  You've got to qualify for it 
by 
 paying into it via your payroll taxes during your working years.
 
 Easy to make the mistake as the two names sound very much the 
same.  
 In hindsight, I'm sure the LBJers who named the two systems would 
 probably have named them something different had they known how 
many 
 people over the years would get them mixed up.
 
 Oh, and by the way, these hard hearts as you call them are the 
ones 
 paying the vast bulk of the taxes that actually PAY for these 
 programs, so their hearts can't be all THAT hard.  Most of the 
people 
 who are quick to both demand and use the free services that these 
fat 
 cats pay for pay very, very little of their own money towards 
these 
 services.

points taken. as i said to someone today though, if the only way 
people can have prosperity in this country is to screw the poor and 
have a system where it is -either- we get prosperity -or- we take 
care of the poor and needy, there is something fundamentally wrong 
with the system. 

we will always have the less fortunate in this country, and it isn't 
because they are lazy and stupid or just looking for handouts. sure 
there are a very few of those too. so what do we do?

i think the rich should pay more taxes than they do right now. after 
all, if i was making 100 million, a much smaller percentage of my 
income is going for necessities than if i made 100 thousand. i am 
not for bleeding the rich dry or capping their income, but i 
personally think it is obscene to acquire all of that wealth and be 
greedy for more, or to die with enough money to sustain 10 future 
generations. 

[FairfieldLife] Re: A prediction on the heels of the apparent win of Prop 8

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 shempmcgurk wrote:
  Yeah, yeah, I know; my prediction record is in the shits 
considering 
  I predicted McCain would get 300 electoral votes.
 
  Be that as it may, let me try again.
 
  It appears (but isn't yet certain) that California's Prop 8 -- 
the 
  ban on gay marriages -- is going to win.  But not by much...it's 
  winning at around 52% now.
 
  My prediction: this is going to become a national issue, with a 
push 
  now by conservatives in every state to make the gay marriage ban 
a 
  constitutional amendement.  And Congress, according to the 
amending 
  formula, must pass it too in order for it to become part of the 
  constitution (but the president has NO vote in the amending 
process).
 
  This is where push comes to shove.  Congress will come on line 
and 
  vote for it because the Dem's will be shared as hell to love 
their 
  seats in the next election.  As I wrote in an earlier post, 
Barack 
  Obama spent the entire campaign since he procured the nomination 
flip-
  flopping his way to the right.
 
  Conservatism set the agenda for this election and it will 
continue 
  doing it over the next 2 years (and beyond).
 
  Why, more conservative measures may be passed with Republicans as 
the 
  Royal Opposition than they could if they were in power!
 First off it hasn't been decided yet as they have to count 3 
million 
 absentee and provisional ballots.
 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081105/ap_on_el_ge/ballot_measures
 
 It would truly be a sad day if it passed because it is the first 
time a 
 constitutional amendment actually took away rights.


Not true, Bhairitu:

16th amendment, allowing federal income tax.  This took away the 
right not to have income be taxed.

18th amendment, prohibiting the right to sell, buy, or consume 
alcohol.

22nd amendment, prohibiting the right of a citizen to run for 
president more than two terms.







  And believe me if 
 it passes there will be a Supreme Court case filed.  Same for the 
US 
 Constitution.  We have no business taking away rights and we need 
to 
 make that plain and clear to the public.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, mainstream20016 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer rick@ wrote:
 
  From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com 
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  On Behalf Of boo_lives
  Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 8:28 AM
  To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Damn the democracy?
  
   
  
  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
  mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , bob_brigante 
no_reply@
  wrote:
  
   --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
  mailto:FairfieldLife%40yahoogroups.com , shempmcgurk 
shempmcgurk@ 
   wrote:
   
I'll bet you won't be hearing that phrase much in Fairfield 
tonight 
   (I 
assume all the cult members are in the Obama corner?).
   
  But you're in the cult too shemp. I have several ffld republican
  friends. The meditating mayor is a republican,
  
  Ed Malloy is? He was a big Obama supporter. Had him over to his 
house when
  he visited FF. Made robocalls for him here in town.
 
 
 
 Credit Obama and Malloy for their collaborative efforts.  I 
wouldn't be surprised  to learn 
 that Malloy was originally a Democrat in the 70s,  a Republican 
(Oil broker) in the 80s, a 
 member of the NLP in the 90s, and who knows what today



Click here to get Jefferson County results (and all Iowa counties):

http://tinyurl.com/5bz2w9

5,028 (59.1%) Obama
3,321 (39.1%) McCain

[FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, enlightened_dawn11 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:




[snip]


 i think the rich should pay more taxes than they do right now. after
 all, if i was making 100 million, a much smaller percentage of my
 income is going for necessities than if i made 100 thousand. i am
 not for bleeding the rich dry or capping their income, but i
 personally think it is obscene to acquire all of that wealth and be
 greedy for more, or to die with enough money to sustain 10 future
 generations.



Okay, please tell me exactly how much you want the rich to pay.

The following chart is from
http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html
http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html  .

The top 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of all federal income taxes (excluding
payroll taxes which is a totally different kettle of fish, both in the
way it is assessed as well as the benefits meted out).

The top 10% pay 71% of all taxes.

The bottom 50% pay only 3%.

Are you saying the rich aren't paying enough?  Really?  How much more
do you want them to pay?

Please explain.



Table 1
Summary of Federal Individual Income Tax Data, 2006
(Updated July 2008)




Number of Returns with Positive AGI

AGI ($ millions)

Income Taxes Paid ($ millions)

Group's Share of Total AGI

Group's Share of Income Taxes

Income Split Point

Average Tax Rate

All Taxpayers

135,719,160

$8,122,040

$1,023,739

100%

100%

-

12.60%

Top 1%

1,357,192

$1,791,886

$408,369

22.06%

39.89%

 $388,806

22.79%

Top 2-5%

5,428,766

$1,185,828

$207,311

14.60%

20.25%




17.48%

Top 5%

6,785,958

$2,977,714

$615,680

36.66%

60.14%

 $153,542

20.68%

Top 6-10%

6,785,958

$865,430

$109,060

10.66%

10.65%




12.60%

Top 10%

13,571,916

$3,843,144

$724,740

47.32%

70.79%


 $108,904
18.86%

Top 11-25%

20,357,874

$1,692,686

$158,413

20.84%

15.47%

9.36%

Top 25%

33,929,790

$5,535,830

$883,153

68.16%

86.27%

 $64,702

15.95%

Top 26-50%

33,929,790

$1,569,769

$110,023

19.33%

10.75%




7.01%

Top 50%

67,859,580

$7,105,599

$993,176

87.49%

97.01%

 $31,987

13.98%

Bottom 50%

67,859,580

$1,016,441

$30,563

12.51%

2.99%

 $31,987

3.01%

[FairfieldLife] In the interest of unity and harmony, I buy Barry Wright lunch.

[shempmcgurk]

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[Bhairitu]

authfriend wrote:
 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Patrick Gillam [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
 wrote:
   
 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend wrote:
 
 Nobody likes machine politics, but I'll take the Clinton
 machine over the Obama machine any day. The latter is
 already corrupt after less than two years.
   
 How so, Judy? How is the Obama organization corrupt? Thanks.
 

 Basically, Obama's campaign and the DNC were
 complicit in gaming the primary caucus system.
 raunchydog has posted several links to
 documentation on this.

 For that matter, there are questions as well about
 how Obama got elected to the Illinois and then the
 U.S. Senate--not illegal, but pretty smarmy ethically
 speaking. Some of Obama's connections to Chicago
 machine politicians aren't too savory either.
And the Clintons are NOT machine politicians?  That's the first thing I 
said when friends asked for me to vote for Bill Clinton in 1992 was that 
he was a machine politician.  I voted for him anyway and again 1996.  
Better the devil you know than the one you don't know.

[FairfieldLife] Lest we forget the hard work ahead of Obama, and us...

[TurquoiseB]

This is a graph of the Dow in recent months overlaid 
on top of a graph of the Dow in 1925 through 1931. 

http://photoput.com/images/92k4w3djulwdqjrre.jpg

Remember, past performance is no indicator of future 
success.

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!

[Louis McKenzie]

I posted what she wrote on that issue.  I was very surprised.

--- On Wed, 11/5/08, enlightened_dawn11 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
From: enlightened_dawn11 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL YES WE CAN!
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 3:20 PM

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Louis McKenzie ltm457@ 
 wrote:
 
  My friend Lane still thinks Obama is a marxist.   Really I dont 
 think she thinks that I believe she is terrified of an extremely 
 powerful Blackman.
 
 
 Obama isn't a Marxist.
 
 He's more like a Trotskyite.
 
the other side of the coin: i heard a fat cat from the wall street 
journal this morning on the radio talking about how the democrats 
had somehow managed to get medicare in place in the 60's which was 
bankrupting the country.

what is the solution? let all 40 million without health care die in 
the streets? these people sound like nazis to me- such hard hearts.




To subscribe, send a message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Or go to: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! Groups Links






  

[FairfieldLife] Someone didn't want this getting out

[TurquoiseB]

http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/what.jpg

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: A prediction on the heels of the apparent win of Prop 8

[Bhairitu]

shempmcgurk wrote:
 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
   
 shempmcgurk wrote:
 
 Yeah, yeah, I know; my prediction record is in the shits 
   
 considering 
   
 I predicted McCain would get 300 electoral votes.

 Be that as it may, let me try again.

 It appears (but isn't yet certain) that California's Prop 8 -- 
   
 the 
   
 ban on gay marriages -- is going to win.  But not by much...it's 
 winning at around 52% now.

 My prediction: this is going to become a national issue, with a 
   
 push 
   
 now by conservatives in every state to make the gay marriage ban 
   
 a 
   
 constitutional amendement.  And Congress, according to the 
   
 amending 
   
 formula, must pass it too in order for it to become part of the 
 constitution (but the president has NO vote in the amending 
   
 process).
   
 This is where push comes to shove.  Congress will come on line 
   
 and 
   
 vote for it because the Dem's will be shared as hell to love 
   
 their 
   
 seats in the next election.  As I wrote in an earlier post, 
   
 Barack 
   
 Obama spent the entire campaign since he procured the nomination 
   
 flip-
   
 flopping his way to the right.

 Conservatism set the agenda for this election and it will 
   
 continue 
   
 doing it over the next 2 years (and beyond).

 Why, more conservative measures may be passed with Republicans as 
   
 the 
   
 Royal Opposition than they could if they were in power!
   
 First off it hasn't been decided yet as they have to count 3 
 
 million 
   
 absentee and provisional ballots.
 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081105/ap_on_el_ge/ballot_measures

 It would truly be a sad day if it passed because it is the first 
 
 time a 
   
 constitutional amendment actually took away rights.
 


 Not true, Bhairitu:

 16th amendment, allowing federal income tax.  This took away the 
 right not to have income be taxed.
   
That's rather a spin the intent of that amendment.
 18th amendment, prohibiting the right to sell, buy, or consume 
 alcohol.
   
And repealed.
 22nd amendment, prohibiting the right of a citizen to run for 
 president more than two terms.
That really doesn't take away the rights from a group of people.  It 
protects us from coups or dynasties.  A good amendment IMO.  All these 
are a bit of a stretch if you want to show that rights were taken away 
from a group.

California voted to take away rights from gays but give rights to 
chickens.  Go figure.

At least teen age girls won't have to tell their Krischun fascist 
parents if they need an abortion.

[FairfieldLife] Obama Win a Victory for the Internet

[Bhairitu]

Obama is for Net Neutrality.  The telecoms aren't.  They want to tier 
the Internet so you have to pay extra if you want to access Yahoo Groups 
or your web site.  Just the major players would be accessible if they 
had their way.   We must support Obama in this fight.   Eventually we 
also need to break up the telecoms (again) too.  They wield way too much 
power.

In fact let's hope Obama and the Dems can also break up the MSM.  They 
have too much power.  There is probably one area I DO applaud taking the 
rights away from a group and that is taking away the rights of the 
filthy rich to control the masses at their whim and for their profit.

We know that the health insurance companies are not going to just roll 
over and give up now that Obama is elected.  We have a big battle ahead 
to fight for health care for everyone.

Let's hope that Obama keeps his promise to Rick to do away with those 
executive orders that Bush put in place.  That will go a long way 
towards getting rid of the terror the Bush administration spread.

And we have some aging Supremes who can happily retire!  ;-)

There's lots of work ahead.  We're only just begun.

[FairfieldLife] Re: New Kind of Politics: Obama Flips McCain Bird like the one he did to Hillary

[Tom]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, off_world_beings [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:

 
 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
 mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , Tom azgrey@ wrote:
 
  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
 mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , enlightened_dawn11 no_reply@
 wrote:
  
   --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
 mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , off_world_beings no_reply@
   wrote:
   
   
You calous fuck raunchydogtypical, disgusting, turd
 republican.
   
His Grandmother had just died, and you interpret his hand gestures
 in
your own corupt and putrid image. Typical neocon dirt.
   
I vote raunchydiag off of FFL. -snip-
  
   just think of her as rush limbaugh in drag. who takes rush
 seriously?
  
 
 
  Unfortunately, millions do take him quite seriously.
 
  Nevertheless, voting off Raunchydog is a very bad
  move. The board is Rick's and he has shown
  himself to be very evenhanded, so I think the
  chances are approaching nonexistent.
 
  Her post a couple back {I report you decide.} cracked
  me up. Her tendency to poke a stick in Turq's eye or up his...
  well, it get tedious but he brings some of it on himself.
  Turq knows that and happily continues being Turq to
  the delight of some and the chagrin of others.  .
 
  Offkilter's reaction reveals much of himself. 
 
 It shows that OffWorld has a heart, where as you don't .
 
 azgray'' is yet another one of Shemp's ID's on FFL. He has about 5 at
 least.
 
 OffWorld


The nasty invective you spew does reveal your heart Offkilter.

When you hear the odd sound in the night do you 
immediately look for Shemp?

The MacBookPro has a dictionary that is handy.

Is English not your native language or did the institutions 
that awarded your claimed two Masters degrees hand them
out like worthless paper?  

[FairfieldLife] Re: A prediction on the heels of the apparent win of Prop 8

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 shempmcgurk wrote:
  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote:

  shempmcgurk wrote:
  
  Yeah, yeah, I know; my prediction record is in the shits 

  considering 

  I predicted McCain would get 300 electoral votes.
 
  Be that as it may, let me try again.
 
  It appears (but isn't yet certain) that California's Prop 8 -- 

  the 

  ban on gay marriages -- is going to win.  But not by 
much...it's 
  winning at around 52% now.
 
  My prediction: this is going to become a national issue, with a 

  push 

  now by conservatives in every state to make the gay marriage 
ban 

  a 

  constitutional amendement.  And Congress, according to the 

  amending 

  formula, must pass it too in order for it to become part of the 
  constitution (but the president has NO vote in the amending 

  process).

  This is where push comes to shove.  Congress will come on line 

  and 

  vote for it because the Dem's will be shared as hell to love 

  their 

  seats in the next election.  As I wrote in an earlier post, 

  Barack 

  Obama spent the entire campaign since he procured the 
nomination 

  flip-

  flopping his way to the right.
 
  Conservatism set the agenda for this election and it will 

  continue 

  doing it over the next 2 years (and beyond).
 
  Why, more conservative measures may be passed with Republicans 
as 

  the 

  Royal Opposition than they could if they were in power!

  First off it hasn't been decided yet as they have to count 3 
  
  million 

  absentee and provisional ballots.
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081105/ap_on_el_ge/ballot_measures
 
  It would truly be a sad day if it passed because it is the first 
  
  time a 

  constitutional amendment actually took away rights.
  
 
 
  Not true, Bhairitu:
 
  16th amendment, allowing federal income tax.  This took away the 
  right not to have income be taxed.

 That's rather a spin the intent of that amendment.



I don't see why it's spin.

This country was founded in large part because of the confiscatory 
taxes the founders thought the mother country, Britain, was imposing 
upon the colonies.

Ever heard of a certain tea party?

The very idea of an income tax was anathema to the founders.  Passing 
an amendment enabling income tax was very much a taking away of a 
right.




  18th amendment, prohibiting the right to sell, buy, or consume 
  alcohol.

 And repealed.


So, what's the point?

It was still an amendment and in effect before it was repealed...and 
you said that there never was an amendment that took away rights.

You were wrong.



  22nd amendment, prohibiting the right of a citizen to run for 
  president more than two terms.
 That really doesn't take away the rights from a group of people.  
It 
 protects us from coups or dynasties.  A good amendment IMO.  All 
these 
 are a bit of a stretch if you want to show that rights were taken 
away 
 from a group.


Who was talking about group rights?

Not me.

Not you.

Indeed, the subject at hand -- gay marriage -- can only happen to 
individuals.

Many people would even make the argument that rights and freedoms can 
only be enjoyed by individuals and not groups.

Be that as it may, Bhairitu, you stand corrected.




 
 California voted to take away rights from gays but give rights to 
 chickens.  Go figure.
 
 At least teen age girls won't have to tell their Krischun fascist 
 parents if they need an abortion.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Obama Win a Victory for the Internet

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Obama is for Net Neutrality.  The telecoms aren't.  They want to 
tier 
 the Internet so you have to pay extra if you want to access Yahoo 
Groups 
 or your web site.  Just the major players would be accessible if 
they 
 had their way.   We must support Obama in this fight.   Eventually 
we 
 also need to break up the telecoms (again) too.  They wield way too 
much 
 power.



Yes.  Especially since they are so powerful that they are on this 
discussion group censoring your speech every day, huh?





 
 In fact let's hope Obama and the Dems can also break up the MSM.  
They 
 have too much power.  There is probably one area I DO applaud 
taking the 
 rights away from a group and that is taking away the rights of the 
 filthy rich to control the masses at their whim and for their 
profit.
 
 We know that the health insurance companies are not going to just 
roll 
 over and give up now that Obama is elected.  We have a big battle 
ahead 
 to fight for health care for everyone.



How little you know about the insurance industry.

The whole bloody thing is run, in a sense, by actuaries, people who 
are crunching numbers all day and figuring out how much to charge for 
the services they provide.

It matters ZERO to them whether what they are figuring out the odds 
for is a thyroid operation or how much to charge for a double wide in 
Shreveport, LA.

If health insurance was 100% nationalized tomorrow, all it would do 
is shift the attention of the insurance companies still in the Health 
Insurance business (most are already, voluntarily out of it 'cause 
it's so much a pain in the ass with all the regulations) will not 
lose one minute of sleep and just shift their attentions to figuring 
out the probabilities of another area of life to insure.

Why, Bhairitu, I'm from Canada. And universal health insurance 
arrived in Canada when I was around 10 or 11, I think.  Not one of 
the insurance companies in health insurance went out of business when 
the law came down...they just shifted their attention.




 
 Let's hope that Obama keeps his promise to Rick to do away with 
those 
 executive orders that Bush put in place.  That will go a long way 
 towards getting rid of the terror the Bush administration spread.
 
 And we have some aging Supremes who can happily retire!  ;-)
 
 There's lots of work ahead.  We're only just begun.


Thank you, Karen Bhairitu Carpenter.

[FairfieldLife] Am I azgray?

[shempmcgurk]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, off_world_beings [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
wrote:


[snip]

 
 azgray'' is yet another one of Shemp's ID's on FFL. He has about 5 at
 least.
 
 OffWorld


If Rick Archer is convinced, as the psychopath is, that I am azgray 
then, Rick, as azgray I am formally demanding that you remove me, 
azgray, as a member of FFL (which will remove my right to post here).

And then we'll see how azgray feels about it.

Oh, and OffKilter, care to tell us what my other 4 IDs are?  I'd really 
like to know because I will, as those pseudonyms, ask Rick to remove me 
as them from FFL, too.

And then you'll have not one but 5 people really pissed off at you.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Mr. UnElectable just won...

[authfriend]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 authfriend wrote:
  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Patrick Gillam 
jpgillam@ 
  wrote:

  --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend wrote:
  
  Nobody likes machine politics, but I'll take the Clinton
  machine over the Obama machine any day. The latter is
  already corrupt after less than two years.

  How so, Judy? How is the Obama organization corrupt? Thanks.
  
 
  Basically, Obama's campaign and the DNC were
  complicit in gaming the primary caucus system.
  raunchydog has posted several links to
  documentation on this.
 
  For that matter, there are questions as well about
  how Obama got elected to the Illinois and then the
  U.S. Senate--not illegal, but pretty smarmy ethically
  speaking. Some of Obama's connections to Chicago
  machine politicians aren't too savory either.

 And the Clintons are NOT machine politicians?

Try putting on your specs and reading what I wrote
that's quoted at the top, Bhairitu.

[FairfieldLife] Re: Obama Win a Victory for the Internet

[TurquoiseB]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Obama is for Net Neutrality.  The telecoms aren't.  They want 
 to tier the Internet so you have to pay extra if you want to 
 access Yahoo Groups or your web site. Just the major players 
 would be accessible if they had their way. We must support 
 Obama in this fight. Eventually we also need to break up the 
 telecoms (again) too.  They wield way too much power.

This is primarily an American concern, and has 
yet to hit the fan worldwide, but I completely
agree. The Net was conceived as a way to communi-
cate, and thus should be treated as a basic human
right.

 In fact let's hope Obama and the Dems can also break up the 
 MSM. They have too much power.  

Power that the Internet has subverted. That is why
the corporations that control the airwaves want to
control the Net.

 There is probably one area I DO applaud taking the rights 
 away from a group and that is taking away the rights of the 
 filthy rich to control the masses at their whim and for their 
 profit.

I believe instead that they have the right to TRY, 
but that their success in doing so is up to the
people. They will either submit to tyranny and
oligarchy and kleptocracy or they will not. The
passion play of history has been one unending 
see-saw of this dynamic playing itself out, and
IMO will continue to be, no matter how many well-
intentioned laws are passed to try to prevent it.
Bottom line is that it's the people's responsibility
to say, Enough of this fucking us over. Put that
thing back in your pants and get real or we'll cut
it off.

Walk softly and carry a big pair of scissors.

 We know that the health insurance companies are not going 
 to just roll over and give up now that Obama is elected.  
 We have a big battle ahead to fight for health care for 
 everyone.

I've worked for insurance companies. Yes, you do.

 Let's hope that Obama keeps his promise to Rick to do away 
 with those executive orders that Bush put in place. That 
 will go a long way towards getting rid of the terror the 
 Bush administration spread.

Let's not just hope; let's hold him to his promises.

 And we have some aging Supremes who can happily retire!  ;-)

Might as well. They abdicated their responsibility
to the American people when they took it upon them-
selves to cross the boundaries of Constitutional 
separation of powers and decide an election.

 There's lots of work ahead.  We're only just begun.

Indeed.

Tops on my list would include Election Reform. Here 
are a few of the planks in my platform, if I were
involved in doing it:

* Limit the time spent on elections to two months. 
It's only six weeks in France for Presidential elec-
tions, including the primaries, and that works just
fine for them.

* Limit the amount of money candidates can spend 
buying the electorate's confidence.

* Trash all existing voting machine systems and start
over with fully-audited, open source replacements.

* Make vote tampering and voter disenfranchisement
a more serious crime, punishable by a fine of $10,000
*per instance* to the state that allows it to happen.
Put the proceeds into an account that funds future
election scrutiny and hires a team of computer security
specialists to constantly monitor the voting machines.

* Punish larger-scale vote fraud and voter intimidation
or disenfranchisement by calling it (and prosecuting it)
as what it is -- treason. Make the penalty for keeping
more than 10 Americans from voting life imprisonment,
with no possibility of parole.