Let me ask you something... we Italians, we got our families, and we got the church; the Irish they have their homeland, Jews their tradition; even the niggers got their music. But what about you people, Mr. Wilson, what do you have?

Edward Wilson: The United States of America. The rest of you are just visiting.

- The Good Shepherd

I grabbed a pile of dust and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust. I forgot to ask that they be years of youth.

~Ovidius, Metamorphoses

All this begs the grand philosophical question of who is fooling whom, and who really cares? The answer is quite simple. Nobody cares so long as the majority feels no pain. So long as the global system alongside the majority of its citizenry remains flush with the sensation of wealth, everything else sells itself.

-Joseph Russo

Martial law only as a last resort- if the tax revolution breaks out at the same time there's a big push from the 9-11 truthers, and the antiwar protesters join in as well. Otherwise it would be 'too much too soon,' as long as the herding is progressing nicely there's no need to risk stampeding the flock.

dd

Grown-ups like numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask questions about what really matters. They never ask: 'What does his voice sound like?' 'What games does he like best?' 'Does he collect butterflies?' They ask: 'How old is he?' 'How many brothers does he have?' 'How much does he weigh?' 'How much money does his father make?' Only then do they think they know him.

If you tell grown-ups, 'I saw a beautiful red brick house, with geraniums at the windows and doves on the roof,' they won't be able to imagine such a house. You have to tell them, 'I saw a house worth a hundred thousand dollars.' Then they exclaim, 'What a pretty house!' That's the way they are. You must not hold it against them. Children should be very understanding of grown-ups.


- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Rose paused and let the room stay silent for a moment before speaking again. "Truth is kind," he said finally. "If you're weak, it keeps it's distance. It won't reveal itself until you're strong enough to take it."

"A couple of years ago, for instance, my daughter Ruth was home from college on summer break. I'd just finished writing The Albigen Papers, and I hoped maybe it might stir something spiritual in her if she read it. But I had to give it to her at the right time and in the right way. One morning I came into the kitchen and she's at the sink, finishing up the breakfast dishes. Did you notice how low the sink is?"

I nodded.

"My mother was a tiny woman and my father put that sink in for her. So anyway, Ruth is standing there and I figure this might be a good time to ask her. So I gave her the manuscript and told her I wanted to get some feedback, to find out if it was worth trying to get the thing published. Which was also true. I did value her opinion--she's always been a bright girl, sensitive and level-headed. She said, 'Sure.'

"A few days later I come home from work and she's at the kitchen table with the manuscript open in front of her, staring straight ahead, like she's in a trance. I stood there for a minute but she didn’t say anything so I just picked up manuscript and walked away.

"I figured eventually she'd tell me what was on her mind, but a couple of weeks went by and she still hadn't said anything about the book. So finally one day when we were alone I brought it up. 'By the way, Ruth,’ I said, ‘I never got a chance to talk to you about my book. What did you think?'

"I'll never forget the look on her face when she turned around, almost angry. She looked me in the eye and said, 'Daddy, I know you're God. But I've got games to play.'"

- story from Richard Rose

extract From Sterling Hayden's book, Wanderer:

"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm
foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine
traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea --
"cruising," it is called.
Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or
will not, fit in.

If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the
venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is
all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the South Seas, but I can't afford
it." What these men can't afford is _not_ to go. They are enmeshed in the
cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling
our lives beneath the wheels of routine -- and before we know it our lives
are gone.

What does a man need -- really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and
shelter, six feet to lie down in -- and some form of working activity that
will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all-- in the material sense.
And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end
up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous
gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the
charade. The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie
caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is
sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be:
bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"

You ask why I make my home in the mountain forest,

By Li Po
(701 - 762)

English version by Sam Hamill

You ask why I make my home in the mountain forest,
and I smile, and am silent,
and even my soul remains quiet:
it lives in the other world
which no one owns.
The peach trees blossom,
The water flows.

In humility is the greatest freedom.

As long as you have to defend the imaginary self
that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart.
As soon as you compare that shadow
with the shadows of other people, you lose all joy,
because you have begun to trade in unrealities
and there is no joy in things that do not exist.

- Thomas Merton

Another way to get more flexibility gains for your splits is to use the wall. Lay on your back with your butt against the wall and your legs up on the wall. For more intensity put light ankle weights on. You slowly open your legs in a "V" as far as they will go and just stay there for some minutes. Try to keep your knees straight and toes pointed. After the initial tightness goes away, open your legs more. Do this for 5 minutes. To get up, close legs while bending your knees rolling to one side and sit up. Try it. You will be amazed at the progress you will make.

"Atta loved gambling, cocaine, alcohol, pork, and lap dances."
-David Ray Griffin