JIMI On A Bieber Hunt!

Be honest. Is Bieber really any more obnoxious than Bobby Sherman or Donny Osmand?

With Our Brothers, We Will Share

I have had a week now to think about the killings in Wisconsin and I still have nothing profound or moving to say, only the image of  Bhenji Paramjit Kaur matha teking to Shri Guru Granth Sahib ji and rising to find herself at the feet of Satguru.

We have six new shaheeds.  When we mourn, we do not mourn for them.  They died well and they are fine.  We mourn instead for ourselves who have lost their sweet presence on our planet and in our lives.

The futility of these needless killings brings to mind a song from an old 1970s movie, Billy Jack.  We Sikhs are, after all, willing to freely give what we have.

"With our brothers we will share

All the secrets of our mountain, 

All the treasures buried there. 

Those of my generation will probably remember it.  I hope the rest of you listen and understand its message 



For those unfamiliar with the movie, I should explain that the man being arrested in the video is the hero who has been unjustly accused and the people standing and raising their fists in salute are his supporters, many of them Native American children from the school he was trying to save.  .

Nanak naam chardi kala
Tere bhane sarbat da bhala

CANADIAN OLYMPIC TEAM 2012

Canadian wrestler Arjan Bhullar walking proudly with his red turban at today's Olympic opening ceremonies

6. June 2012 (1984)

A thought on 6. June 2012 (1984)

"Never forget!  Never forgive!"  Every year on this day, I hear those words, read the words, say those words.  What do they really mean?  I agree that we must never forget.  It occurs to me that I'm not sure of the meaning of "forgive," though.  If it means "condone," I agree that we cannot forgive.  Ever.  I do not believe a Sikh is ever called on to condone evil.

The Buddhists say that "Forgiveness involves surrendering feelings of animosity and hatred when others step on our toes."  Or murder our babies?  And mothers and old blind men? 

Forgiving is supposed to be good for us.  It probably often does no benefit to the one forgiven, but it takes a load off the forgiver. 

But exactly what is forgiveness, and how can I tell if I have really forgiven?  Is it possible to forgive and then to unforgive?  Or is forgiveness forever?

I'm just asking because I really don't know.  if you do know, please write it here, so I'll know, too.

SOME ASSUMPTIONS ARE WRONG

Not original, but too good to pass up.

WOMEN WHO KNOW THEIR PLACE
 
Barbara Walters of 20/20 did a story on gender roles in  Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict.
 
She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands.
Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem happy to maintain the old custom.

Ms Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, 'Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?'

The woman looked Ms Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, "Land mines."

Moral of the story is (no matter what language you speak or where you go):

BEHIND EVERY MAN, THERE'S A SMART WOMAN!

Thanks to Friend Asha

PHOTOSHOP CS 5.1 and the HIPPIES

I really was having trouble describing what I was doing, so I put it in this video.  The techniques really have nothing to do with hippies or Scott Mackenzie or even 1968, but the brushes fit well into that very strange era.

I was not a hippie.  My life at that time was filled with weightier matters and I was far too political to be a hippie.  Nonetheless, I really liked the hippies.  I didn't much like their drugs and the refusal of some of them to bathe, and their sexual antics frankly embarrassed me, but they seemed to be the embodiment of a kind of freedom that has always attracted me, a sort of benevolent anarchy overflowing with chardi kala.  (OK, I know the reality was not quite that pretty, but it was 44 years ago and time has blurred the edges, as time should.) 

And the music!  I may have turned away from the sex and drugs (at least in the literal sense), but the rock 'n' roll was irresistible.  Even today, decades later, the music remains.  

The First Amendment

Somebody somewhere has declared Thursday, 15. December 2011 as First Amendment Day.  The refers to the First Amendment to the Constitution of the USA.  I often rightfully bash the US of A.  That country has become a big bully, the biggest bully in the world.  I can go on and on about what is wrong in the USA. This is about what the USA has gotten right.  These are arguably the most powerful 45 words ever written.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I live in and write from the USA.  Respect for these words is what permits me to freely express my sometimes unusual and/or radical beliefs, so I give due where due is merited.  I pray that I will be able to write the same next year at this time.

  

An Interesting English Lesson

for all those who wonder where some English language idioms come from.

I cannot vouch for the veracity of these, but they all make sense.  I think they are probably pretty much tongue=in-cheek.

NOW THIS IS A REAL EDUCATION

Where did "Piss Poor" come from?
Interesting History.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot

And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery...

if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor".
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...

They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature

Isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May,

And they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell,
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.

Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.

The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,

Then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.

Last of all the babies.

By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.

Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath.

It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals

(mice, bugs) lived in the roof.

When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.

This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings

Could mess up your nice clean bed.

Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.

That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.

Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery

In the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.

As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door,

It would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.

Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables

And did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers

In the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.

Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.

Hence the rhyme:

“Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old”.
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.

When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a little to share with guests

And would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter.

Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death.

This happened most often with tomatoes,

so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status.

Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,

and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.

The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.

Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around

and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.

Hence the custom; “of holding a wake”.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be,
“saved by the bell” or was "considered a dead ringer”.

And that's the truth.

Now, whoever said History was boring!!!
So get out there and educate someone! ~~~

Share these facts with a friend.
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering,

'What the heck happened?'