Thoughts…

When FIVE former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff  (Gen. Hugh Shelton Chairman under Bill Clinton & George W. Bush, Gen. John Shalikashvili Chairman under Bill Clinton,  Gen. Colin Powell
Chairman under George Bush Sr. & Bill Clinton,  Admiral William Crowe Chairman under Ronald Reagan & George Bush Sr., Gen. John Vessey, Chairman under Ronald Reagan)  revolt against the White House’s plans for torture, I think it is clear that a lack of faith in our Commander-In –Chief is justified.  Some on this board have defended Bush, I think because they are staunch Americans who love this country as I do, and believe in the Conservative values Bush pretended to support.  They support the war in Iraq because they feel it will make America safer, and support the removal of tyrants.

I can have nothing but respect for all of these opinions, even if I disagree with ways and means.  I have six words for you: This President has abused your trust.

You may not believe me yet.  But as election time nears in '06 and '08, and more and more Republican officials  jump ship, I think you’ll find the Emperor revealed as having very few clothes indeed.  And it’s going to be embarrassing. I just want you to know that if that happens, I don’t want to see any crowing on this board—this is deadly serious, and the events of the last six years will resonate for the next sixty.  We HAVE to pull together as Americans, and know that we can survive a bad leader, we can have our disagreements, and still pull toward a common dream.

Can’t wait to read the history books.
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2) I was offered a three-book contract yesterday.  I’ll be looking at the particulars over the weekend, and we’ll see.  That would mean that the next year would be BUSY, with screen and television work as well as books and NPR talks.  And teaching the Path, and studying Silat and Japanese arts, and raising my fascinating and rambunctious little boy, and getting Nicki into UC Irvine.

Man oh man, am I ever living in “interesting times”…

3) I’m going to need to connect with an EXPERT on canine intelligence in connection with a SF-Horror project that’s sort of a cross between Jaws and E.T.  Any suggestions?

4)I wake up every morning, and go to sleep at night repeating “I Am” to myself, allowing my drowsy mind to examine every meaning and possibility in those two words.  Using different inflections, different visualizations.  Meditating upon those two words has been said to be the simplest and most reliable path to Enlightenment.  We’ll see.
What I have noticed is that after about a month of this, the words seem to be resonating with my Hara, my Tan T’ien, the third chakra. Interesting, and a bit unanticipated.  I’d been combining it with the Heartbeat meditation, so the “I am” sinking to the Hara was surprising.  Would it make sense to say that the “feeling” of this is as if my Hara is a ball bearing connecting my lower animal drives with my higher emotional/intellectual drives?  That’s just an impression, and I don’t really know what the hell it means.  But sure is interesting…