I feel like a kid in the back seat of an automobile on a long journey.  "Are we there yet?  Are we there yet?"

I'm not one to hurry time, but November 4, 2008, and January 20, 2009, can't get here soon enough to suit me.

We're to learn who Obama's VP choice will be any second now.  But I just read this from CNN and thought I'd pass it along, for what it's worth.  I kinda like the notion!!!!!

(CNN) – It's already happened once before: the person tapped to search for a vice presidential candidate assumes the position instead. Now, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore is pushing for it to happen again — this time with Caroline Kennedy assuming the role of Dick Cheney.

In an open letter to the famous political scion Wednesday tapped by Obama to find his No. 2, Moore expresses deep reserve with leading VP candidates Joe Biden and Evan Bayh because of their votes to authorize the Iraq war, and urges Kennedy to float her own name for the position.

"What Obama needs is a vice presidential candidate who is not a professional politician, but someone who is well-known and beloved by people across the political spectrum; someone who, like Obama, spoke out against the war; someone who has a good and generous heart, who will be cheered by the rest of the world; someone whom we've known and loved and admired all our lives and who has dedicated her life to public service and to the greater good for all," Moore writes in the letter published on his Web site.

"That person, Caroline, is you."

Read the entire article here.

I had a powerful dream last night that was definitely an "ah-ha" moment.  I don't know if this was a result of our exceptionally powerful and magical weekend we shared recently, but the timing is suspicious. 

We all experience certain "themes" in our dreaming state, I'm sure.  For example, I often dream of being in my Grandmother's house as it was when I was a child.  Dreams where this takes place have come to mean family, home, safety and security because I have such fond memories of my childhood there.

I had a different theme last night . . . but a far different outcome that was profound.

Okay . . . how to word this to protect privacy?  Hmmm?

There is a couple I once knew who, to me, before moving away, represented right-action and moral integrity.  I attended church with them and have had many dreams with them being present.

Last night we were gathered together yet again.  Aley was there as well, offering support but not a major role.  [WTF!!!  That's NOT Aley!!!!]

In the exchange which I can't recall now . . . I do remember telling the woman to "Shut up and sit down!" very forcefully.  The energy of the dream totally changed.  I claimed my power.  We next went into the sanctuary of the church where I attended . . . but it was changed in my dream.  Gone were the normal tried and true pews and podium.  There were white translucent glass panels that went up eight or nine feet strategically placed throughout the room that, I must assume, had to do with acoustics.  It was beautiful.

In the real world, Aley came into the bedroom and I awoke, vividly recalling the dream.  I laid there going over the details . . . and herein lies the "ah-ha" I got and came running into the living room to share it with her.

You see, in these dreams in the past, I was always an observer, where the others acted.  I had allowed others to define what was moral and right, as they represented this to me.  But not last night.  In real life some religious people "play-act" . . . go through the motions, attending church on Sunday but act anything but Christian outside the church doors.  In this dream I told the archetype I held for morality and right-action that I was taking over.  The message was clear.

As I laid in bed contemplating this dream, I began considering some of the other "themes" I have during my dream state.

I have work to do.  Another example is a recurring theme regarding wealth.  Growing up, there was a place I considered prosperous and in my mind represented wealth.  In my dreams I'm usually an interloper in that place.  I could see all this clearly last night.  I need to claim this place as mine and not feel like I'm an intruder.

Occasionally I do have lucid dreams . . . so this will be my assignment for the next one.

UPDATED with pictures and links at the bottom to others who attended.

Around 15 or 16 Gaia members spent this past weekend in a Glass House in a small community named Florence on the coast of Oregon.  Actually, there were so many of us . . . we had to rent TWO houses!!!!




We were trying to come up with a name for the event and one that resonated the best was the "Northwest Transformation Weekend" . . . but this still doesn't quite get it.  The weekend began with a solar eclipse and it also included a New Moon.  To say it was transformative would be an understatement.

There were many healings . . . laughing . . . crying . . . feasting . . . sharing . . . merely being . .




It was magic.  We're already talking about when we want to do it again.

So we began with a virtual community . . . and brought our connections and friendship into the world of matter.

We did not want to leave.  No one wanted it to end.  A lot of tears were shed at our departure. 






























Also check out . . .

     Doug

     Mamacat

     Dryad

     Peridot

     Martha

     Amber

     Judi

     Apple

     Aley # 1

     Aley # 2

     MorningStar # 1

     MorningStar # 2

     MorningStar # 3

     MorningStar # 4

     MorningStar # 5

     MorningStar # 6

Did I leave anyone out?  If I did, was unintentional.  Some haven't blogged, though.

This is not the video I wanted.  The news was on MSNBC's Hardball, so you can go there to see the full interview.

Matthews: “Did you see FOX television as a tool when you were in the White House? As a useful avenue to get your message out?”

McClellan: “I make a distinction between the journalists and the commentators. Certainly there were commentators and other, pundits at FOX News, that were useful to the White House.” […] That was something we at the White House, yes, were doing, getting them talkng points and making sure they knew where we were coming from.

Matthews: “So you were using these commentators as your spokespeople.”

McClellan: “Well, certainly.”

We all knew this, of course.  Now it's official. 

Transcript below the YouTube

“A World that Stands as One”

July 24th, 2008

Berlin, Germany

"Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you for this welcome.

I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen - a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.

I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father - my grandfather - was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.

At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning - his dream - required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.

That is why I’m here. And you are here because you too know that yearning. This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. And you know that the only reason we stand here tonight is because men and women from both of our nations came together to work, and struggle, and sacrifice for that better life.

Ours is a partnership that truly began sixty years ago this summer, on the day when the first American plane touched down at Templehof.

On that day, much of this continent still lay in ruin. The rubble of this city had yet to be built into a wall. The Soviet shadow had swept across Eastern Europe, while in the West, America, Britain, and France took stock of their losses, and pondered how the world might be remade.

This is where the two sides met. And on the twenty-fourth of June, 1948, the Communists chose to blockade the western part of the city. They cut off food and supplies to more than two million Germans in an effort to extinguish the last flame of freedom in Berlin.

The size of our forces was no match for the much larger Soviet Army. And yet retreat would have allowed Communism to march across Europe. Where the last war had ended, another World War could have easily begun. All that stood in the way was Berlin.

And that’s when the airlift began - when the largest and most unlikely rescue in history brought food and hope to the people of this city.

The odds were stacked against success. In the winter, a heavy fog filled the sky above, and many planes were forced to turn back without dropping off the needed supplies. The streets where we stand were filled with hungry families who had no comfort from the cold.

But in the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city’s mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. “There is only one possibility,” he said. “For us to stand together united until this battle is won…The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty. People of the world: now do your duty…People of the world, look at Berlin!”

People of the world - look at Berlin!

Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle.

Look at Berlin, where the determination of a people met the generosity of the Marshall Plan and created a German miracle; where a victory over tyranny gave rise to NATO, the greatest alliance ever formed to defend our common security.

Look at Berlin, where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity.

People of the world - look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.

Sixty years after the airlift, we are called upon again. History has led us to a new crossroad, with new promise and new peril. When you, the German people, tore down that wall - a wall that divided East and West; freedom and tyranny; fear and hope - walls came tumbling down around the world. From Kiev to Cape Town, prison camps were closed, and the doors of democracy were opened. Markets opened too, and the spread of information and technology reduced barriers to opportunity and prosperity. While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history.

The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers - dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.

The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.

In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. None of us can deny these threats, or escape responsibility in meeting them. Yet, in the absence of Soviet tanks and a terrible wall, it has become easy to forget this truth. And if we’re honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.

In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe’s role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth - that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe.

Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more - not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

We know they have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a Union of promise and prosperity. Here, at the base of a column built to mark victory in war, we meet in the center of a Europe at peace. Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid.

So history reminds us that walls can be torn down. But the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy; of progress and peace. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust each other.

That is why America cannot turn inward. That is why Europe cannot turn inward. America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to build new bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in the sky above our heads, and people to assemble where we stand today. And this is the moment when our nations - and all nations - must summon that spirit anew.

This is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it. If we could create NATO to face down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in London and Bali; in Washington and New York. If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope.

This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.

This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons.

This is the moment when every nation in Europe must have the chance to choose its own tomorrow free from the shadows of yesterday. In this century, we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent, while extending a hand abroad. In this century - in this city of all cities - we must reject the Cold War mind-set of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all.

This is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and lasting peace. And despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations - including my own - will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.

And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust - not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.

Now the world will watch and remember what we do here - what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words “never again” in Darfur?

Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

People of Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment. This is our time.

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived - at great cost and great sacrifice - to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom - indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us - what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores - is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people - everywhere - became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation - our generation - must make our mark on the world.

People of Berlin - and people of the world - the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again."

"Coleman cut through the simplistic slogans about evil doers and freedom loving Americans and continued to ask Bush serious questions about the illegal war he had just launched. It fast became evident that this was a man who really had no idea what he was doing -- someone so removed from reality that he failed to even understand what he was being asked.

The world in Bush's mind exists of good and evil, right and wrong, and America and everyone else. He could not fathom anyone disagreeing with his nobility, and simply refused to acknowledge that a different account of reality existed."

Can read the entire interview here.

Yesterday I hosted our local Unite for Change meeting.  To say it was a success would be an understatement. As usual with the Obama campaign we had . . . standing room only . . . DSCN0888 - 2 DSCN0877 - 2

This is Rian, one of the Fellows with the campaign, giving a talk.  (We had two Fellows, our local State Representative, and a representative from the Washington Democratic Party in attendance.)   DSCN0886 - 2 This is a 74-year-old man explaining why he supports Obama.  What's interesting is that his daughter brought him . . . but he had no clue where he was going . . . and was so excited to be there he was the first or one of the first to stand and relate his story.  Was very moving. Here's one more . . . DSCN0885 - 2   We decided to make this a monthly event . . . and was even suggested we move to a larger venue . . . : ) To host your own event, to get involved, to have vast resources quite literally at your fingertips please sign up with my.barackobama.com

Greetings everyone.

I haven't blogged here in so long . . . ??? . . . Hmmm? . . . Oh!  I remember!  It was right after I started shaving . . . . . . . . .

Anyway, today's my Birthday . . . so I thought I'd turn over a new leaf and post something.  It's about the presidential campaign, though.  Don't want to get TOO radical . . .

Per an article in the Washington Post, the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, has come up with a novel idea for our country during this election season, to help counter sticker-shock gasoline prices.

"Sen. John McCain called yesterday for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, offering an aggressive response to high gasoline prices and immediately drawing the ire of environmental groups that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has courted for months."

Ummm?  {{{SCRATCHING HEAD IN COMPLETE BEWILDERMENT}}}

Just consider this the next time you plan your Florida vacation.  You exit your hotel only steps from the beach.  Anticipating the breathtaking ocean view, wanting to savor it, you intentionally choose to look at the sand as it squishes between your toes.

Something odd about this, though.  There's like a slim feel to it and it clumps together.  But you walk anyway, the anticipation growing.

Then you take in the salt air . . . only to caugh because there's this chemical odor.  That's when you blew it because in trying to expel that horrid scent from your lungs . . . you forgot your anticipation and glanced toward the horizon.  There, to your horror, for as far as the eye can see, oil platform . . . after oil platform . . . after oil platform . . .

Never mind that this hair-brained election-year stunt will have absolutely no short-term effect on oil prices at the pump.

What?  Does the McCain campaign think we're all stupid?

They may want to watch this . . .



{{{STILL SCRATCHING HEAD IN COMPLETE BEWILDERMENT}}}

Do you feel . . . per chance . . . that McCain is trying to lose this election?

I think he may have just handed the state of Florida to the Democrats . . .

In case you missed it . . .

Okay Barack Obama Fans (and Foes alike)

Here is a 5-minute YouTube video entitled . . .

     The Empire Strikes Barack

that is absolutely must-see.  You must.  I won't accept 'No' for an answer.

And may the Force be with you always . . .