Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.

- Anatole France

Conceive of Nothing While you live And I give you Heaven.

~ Jack Kerouac

A Robin Redbreast in a cage Puts all Heaven in a Rage.

~ William Blake

A Democracy Corps survey finding disapproval of congressional Republicans at 59 percent. That's an uptick from the 55 percent disapproval rating in April and a 43 percent disapproval the GOP registered in February

“The fights down here can be put in two or three categories: The big greedy bastards against the big greedy bastards; the big greedy bastards against the little greedy bastards; and some cases even the other little greedy bastards against the other little greedy bastards.” Anonymous Senator

In America today, over 13 million people are out of work and millions more are underemployed. One out of every seven is living on food stamps. One out of every five American children lives in poverty. Yet the most consuming issue in Washington -- according to members of Congress, Hill staffers, lobbyists and Treasury officials -- is determining how to slice up the $16 billion debit-card swipe fee pie for corporations.

A man who once threatened to secede from the Union is mulling a presidential bid, proving there is nothing you can do that can disqualify you from running for the White House (except get health care for the uninsured).

You should know by the kindness of uh dog the way uh human should be.

~ Don Van Vliet

Congressional Budget Office, projected “budget deficits will drop markedly over the next few years” — falling by around two-thirds by 2014

RT @MoveOn: Ask @BarackObama to ban political spending by giant military contractors: http://bit.ly/mTi64g

"Awareness can be best achieved and honed through working outside." ~ Lionel Aggett

"I still believe that love is all you need. I don't know a better message than that." ~ Paul McCartney

There must be first the quiet or harmony in one's own self if one would find harmony with the association with others.

Edgar Cayce Reading 1540-7

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world

~ Albert Einstein

Of the 13 to 14 million veterans—or 6 in 10—who are not Social Security beneficiaries, the vast majority will become beneficiaries in the future.

Over one-third of America’s 54 million Social Security beneficiaries are either veterans or family members living with them, such as their spouses.

Social Security currently pays benefits to over 9 million veterans—about 4 in 10 veterans.

Tell the @StateDept: Stop the Canadian tar-sands pipeline! http://bit.ly/mNvjMw

"Republicans took a majority last year saying they were going to create jobs, but instead they've launched the most radical right-wing assault on the middle class that I have ever seen. They're trying to kill Medicare, Social Security, workers' rights, women's rights, the environment, student loans, and voters' rights." Howard Dean

Join me and tell @EPAgov to protect our health and environment from coal's mercury pollution http://j.mp/EPA-rule (via @RepowerAmerica)

The coal industry has been pumping toxic air pollution, virtually unchecked, into our atmosphere for decades -- pollution that has been linked to cancer and countless other health issues.

Stand up for Elizabeth Warren. Co-sign a letter urging @BarackObama to appoint her to the @CFPB. http://bit.ly/ir8pfF

Tell @Orbitz: Stop sponsoring FOX News' #climate lies: http://bit.ly/jFKhvT @LCVoters

One is very crazy when in love.

~ Sigmund Freud

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.

~ Lao Tzu

Earth cannot escape heaven, flee it by going up, or flee it by going down; heaven still invades the earth, energizes it, makes it sacred.

Meister Eckhart

Beauty is in the heart of the beholder.

~ Al Bernstein

Every morning I awaken torn between the desire to save the world and the inclination to savor it.

~ E.B. White

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Many Americans know that the United States is not a democracy but a "corporatocracy," in which we are ruled by a partnership of giant corporations, the extremely wealthy elite and corporate-collaborator government officials.

“Strongly guarded…is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States.” James Madison

Only 4 percent of all Americans ever vote in a Republican primary. That’s 4 percent. The other 96 percent ...normal

Why do "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing? Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

George Carlin

Hence, in the fruits of that--as is given oft, as the fruits of the spirit--does man become aware of the infinite penetrating, or inter-penetrating the activities of all forces of matter, or that which is a manifestation of the realm of the infinite into the finite--and the finite becomes conscious of same.

Edgar Cayce Reading 262-52

Thanks to you, the towering old-growth stands of the wild Tongass -- along with its grizzlies, wolves and bald eagles -- will be spared from an onslaught of chain saws and bulldozers.

Politicians are the weakest link, and scared to death to loose both votes and money - believe it - raise your voice even louder!

If "they" tell you petitions don't work its because they want you to shut up and go away.

Your activism and support have proved critical in this epic fight. (the petitions work - keep signing and forwarding- every signature counts)

A federal judge in Alaska has ruled in our favor and protected 9.5 million acres of wild, roadless areas in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest from destructive logging and road building.

Jonathan Swift

“When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in a confederacy against him.”

“The land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants.” Lev 25:23 - they profess to have faith, campaign on it, solicit business with but do they understand it?

Fact: 1 in 3 seniors lives in or on the edge of poverty.

Stop @ATT's takeover of @TMobile! Submit an official public comment to the FCC: http://bit.ly/kVBibT

"I would invite all Latin people to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy. Who cleans the sheets? Who cleans the toilets? Who babysits? I am here to give voice to the invisible."

- Musician Carlos Santana, protesting Georgia's immigration law while accepting Major League Baseball’s Beacon of Change award before the "Civil Rights Game" in Atlanta.

If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I do not want to go there.

~ Martin Luther

Feds gave $180K 2 a big ag group 2 tell us that pesticides aren't so bad. W/ #EWG I asked feds 2 investigate. Join me http://ow.ly/2VX55

USDA and the state of CA awarded a $180K gov't grant to a farm industry front group to tell us that pesticides aren't really that bad. I disagree, so I signed this petition asking the feds to investigate. Will you join me? http://ow.ly/2VX55

Tell the Senate: Confirm Goodwin Liu http://bit.ly/lgOTiv #p2

Raise Taxes, Close Loopholes, End Subsidies Now!

The disparity between executive pay and worker bee pay is killing the broad based economy - you have to have a middle class to support the broad based economy - concentrating wealth - enormous wealth at the top 1% level is incestuous stagnation that is crippling the economy and threatening our internal national security.

The Country needs to wake up - and guess what higher taxes does not mean a middle class tax hike - it means closing loopholes and dragging hedge fund managers and the other 1% and the biggest of the corporations back onto a FAIR playing field in which their tax rates go up - horror of horrors 3 percentage points in some cases.

Say it loud and say it proud I want the rich fu**ers to pay the SAME percentage as I pay - which means I want higher TAXES for the RICH - pony up boys - you can't run a continent wide Country filled with over 300 million people on the cheap. Unless of course you want infrastructure decay and bridges to collapse with busloads of school children on board - nice priorities republicans.

Unions are the ONLY way we can drag those who would steal everything for themselves and bleed the middle class dry back to being honest brokers. Mostly Americans have been sold a bill of goods and cheap talking points that they parrot even though they aren't in their own best interest. Trickle down just means the well has run dry, been poisoned and you don't have any water to drink. Corporate America and the richest 1% are starving us out - why - I don't know greed, power, lust - they want the country all to themselves- good luck getting rid of 297 million people - especially if they unionize.

Remember demand creates jobs (supply and demand) not rich people (they just hoard wealth and see how much they can steal from the public). In other words I want my god damn solar panels NOW and to get off the coal grid. Monopolies kill economies and cut off innovation and this country's economy was rockin and rollin (for most everyone) when we had a higher tax rate of just 3 more percent.

TAKE ACTION HERE!!!!!

One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz.

~ Lou Reed

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

~ Mohandas Gandhi

The sunrise, of course, doesn't care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful, even if no one bothers to look at it.

~ Gene Amole

The cat could very well be man's best friend but would never stoop to admitting it.

~Doug Larson

An Exxon executive, under questioning from Maria Cantwell, says that much of the price of oil is a result of speculation. See, it's not just us saying it!

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. - Robert Frost

Record Profits? Check. Record Pollution? Check. Time to void Big Oil's subsidy check--join me: http://www.350.org/oil

If Republicans are serious about cutting spending, they'll support the plan to eliminate welfare for Big Oil so we can apply that money toward the deficit.

Flags, Guns, The Bible, Fear, Wedge Issues and MONEY

I'm intrigued to find out about and get a glimpse into how those so fervently waging a cultural war against freedom of choice, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press think and operate.

Although they wrap themselves in the flag, with guns, the bible and the obsessive fear of anything or anyone different they are still the biggest threat to our democracy, freedoms, and the most easily manipulated voter block out there.

Their susceptibility to fall in line behind, aw shucks Regan, I'm one of the guys Bush, and I'm just a suburban mom Palin, make them a dangerous lot who don't value thought, the questioning of supposed norms or authority, or know enough to look behind the curtain and judge a potential candidate on their actions, (not their words).

Politicians are applying for jobs it is not a popularity contest. Running for office is just a different way of saying "job seeker". They want to get on the tax payer payroll so I want to see their credentials, resume and experience. Those are all the things I have to go through before I get a job. It's the same thing. Don't hire (vote for) unqualified people.

I would offer this advise to all; politics is a money game everyone knows that the moneyed class pull the levers of power because self serving politicians (job seekers) fear for their careers and being re-elected (having their contract renewed). It is their main goal. That being the case we can all agree on no matter what party, demographic or state we are talking about the smartest thing for us to do - those of us on the outside looking in - is to VOTE OUR OWN POCKETBOOK.

Wedge issues are a matter of personal choice you already are free to do and live the way you see fit. If your way is so great then lead by example and others will follow. Force your views onto others and they will fight you back. So drop the wedge issues when it comes to voting for politicians. It will never be and never has been a one size fits all world. You are just creating oppression and fomenting violence if you take people's freedom to live the way they see fit away from them.

Since politics is all about the money don't let yourself get stirred up emotionally. Just vote your pocketbook and maybe the middle class can finally get some representation at the table. You know after the voting the table they sit at behind closed doors, the table where they strike their deals to keep their financial backers happy - that table. That's the table at which we "ALL" need to be represented.

Don't let them divide and conquer us over wedge issues its all they are doing.

It's an old and simple game that has been going on for generations.

I'm hoping by NOW we are all a little smarter than that.

Stop falling for it!

Fix Congress - Take Action NOW!

Since the declaration of a "war on drugs" 40 years ago, America has spent at least $1 trillion on the drug war. It cost U.S. taxpayers at least $51 billion in 2009 at the state and federal level. That’s $169 for every man, woman and child in America.

If Congress wants to cut wasteful spending, this is a good place to start. Tell Congress to end the war on drugs:
http://ping.fm/BZpjW

Awareness can be best achieved and honed through working outside.

~ Lionel Aggett

Pollination: it's vital to life on Earth, but largely unseen by the human eye. Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg shows us the intricate world of pollen and pollinators http://ping.fm/Rw2S4

Help prevent the expansion of dirty #coal mining on public land http://j.mp/mx8TlQ

May 9th, 1960: FDA Approves Medicine To Give Women Greater Control Of Their Bodies, Infuriate Focus On The Family Drug policy is a touchy subject in America, and the Food and Drug Administration charged into it head-on with "the pill," otherwise known as birth control. The drugmaker, the G.D. Searle Company, was asked by the FDA to conduct thorough field tests before it was approved for the general market. The Catholic Church had lobbied against it for years, claiming it was artificial birth control, but the government stayed out of it. President Dwight Eisenhower said birth control "is not a proper political or government activity or function or responsibility [and] not our business." The FDA gave final OK and Enovid-10 was released to the public. Soon after, 13 other drug companies produced their own version of the pill, creating the birth control pill industry as we know it.

Social Security lacks the legal authority to deficit-spend, and so, cannot run a deficit. Because it cannot run a deficit, it cannot add to the federal deficit.

Oil Prices, Drilling and the Spot Market

All oil is purchased on the international spot market. The price is in play while the tankers are at sea and the price only locks in at a per barrel rate when it gets unloaded at the ports.

The fact of the matter is that America is the smallest player on the spot market and doesn't have enough oil to influence the price. You need to be able to flood the market to drive the price down.

You could gut this country and its coasts, dismantle all the environmental regulations and have a drill in every front yard and square inch of ocean and still the American oil supply wouldn’t make a dent on the international spot market where all trading (buying and selling of oil) takes place.

Understanding that now ask yourself this. Why would people who make their living selling oil want to bring the price down? It’s not in their best interest.

Destroying your billion dollar tourist industry isn’t going to get you cheaper gas but it will depress your community, put people out of business, close up hardware stores, put the fisherman out of work, close up restaurants, depress the housing market, drive tourists away, lower the tax base and decimate main street. So if you want that go ahead and vote for the drilling representatives they’ll get theirs and vacation in St. Barts, and you’ll get well nothing, not even lower gas prices.

OPEC controls the supply and the price because they alone have enough oil to flood the market.

Commodity speculators drive up the price on the spot market gambling that when a war breaks out or a driving season approaches (like Memorial Day, Labor Day, Christmas Time) that demand will go up (they’re geniuses aren’t they) on a promised supply quota.

OPEC sets the supply quota that’s why when they make an announcement about the guaranteed per barrel release to the spot market it affects Wall Street, the DOW, and the price at the pump. They are shrewd enough to understand global demand and watch the supply closely. They want to maximize their profit but not cripple the global economy because when the global economy is crippled like right now because of the Wall Street debacle that is still trying to shake itself out – demand is low and they sell less oil.

But if OPEC came out today and said they were going to increase supply on the spot market by 5 billion barrels a day the price of a barrel of oil would drop like a rock and then and only then would you see it at the pump.

The meager supply off our coasts is only valuable to industry speculators who want to corner what’s left of our pitiful supply to just own the leases. They have thousands of leased areas all over our coasts and in the gulf but weren’t drilling them before the moratorium. It was a shrewd political move by the President to put off shore drilling in play because a) the risks outweigh the benefit of drilling both in the cost to drill, and the risk to each communities bottom line, and b) it pointed out that the oil companies who already own a ton of leases don’t want to drill them. Owning the leases increases their portfolio, makes their stock more attractive, and makes them more money and companies more valuable to own.

At the end of the day this is about industry speculators trying to pad their portfolios and commodity speculators trying to make a quick buck.

The things you should take away from this post and mull over for yourself are the following: OPEC is the only one who can significantly control the price because they control the supply. There is no way the holder of 2% of the worlds supply can compete with those who control 80% of the world supply.

Speculators never actually take possession of the oil they just trade paper. The price of the paper tied to a barrel of oil is in flux the entire time the tanker is at sea. It locks down the minute the tanker gets to port and unloads.

It takes 6 months for oil to come out of the ground, and get refined before it ever shows up at your pump. Gas Stations receive a call each morning TELLING them what price to set their pumps at and post on their signs.

And as long as you are driving gasoline fueled cars with no other alternative – well like all monopolies – they’ve got "YOU" by the short hairs.

They are not going to lower the price at the pump no matter how much oil they have. They are going to price it just high enough where it doesn't drive demand down too far and bid it up in time of war and seasonal driving because they are gambling on demand.

The only way to lower prices is to flood the market and OPEC won't do that and we can not do that - so our only solution to lower gas pump prices is to create COMPETITION with alternate forms of fuel and automobiles including Electric and compressed air which are both ready now, increase fuel mileage which lowers demand and lower prices, commodity reform, and promote public transportation.

You want lower prices then you can not have only one form of combustion (oil) to fire your personal vehicles and you need to have a choice of personal vehicles that don't just rely on gasoline. That's the monopoly right there and it needs to be broken.

Once competition is introduced the price will come down but the oil industry doesn't want that at all. Be careful who you vote for - don't fall for looks, wedge issues, or folksiness, VOTE YOUR POCKETBOOK and break the monopolies that are ruining our country. Its not jobs versus the environment - that's a spin campaign slogan meant to stop competition. All of our economy is based on the environment its where we get our food, water and natural resources. The whole entire economy of the world is based on the environment. Without it there is no economy, nothing to trade, buy or sell. The environment is the economy and how we use it, manage it and preserve it is how successful we will be.

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More Information - The Tyranny of Oil

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children" - Native American Proverb

When eating a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree.

~ Vietnamese Proverb

Astonishing! Everything is intelligent!

Pythagoras

There is nothing like a dream to create the future.

~ Victor Hugo

May 6th, 1933: When the stock market crashed in October 1929, unemployment went up to 25 percent. Feeling the need to help people, President Roosevelt came up with the idea of having people work for the government and named it the Works Progress Administration, part of The New Deal. This noble proposition of having people build public works projects or provide essential services in exchange for a living wage gave over eight million citizens a job.

Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them whenever they require it.

~ St. Francis of Assisi

RT @MoveOn: House passed H.R. 3. It could force rape survivors to endure IRS investigations. Say no to the #WarOnWomen! http://bit.ly/gosLNE

GOP VOTES TO EXPAND OFFSHORE DRILLING AS OIL PRICES PLUMMET - The chief sponsors of a bill to open up offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Virginia have received more than $8.8 million combined in campaign donations from the oil and gas industry

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.

~ Jean Houston

251 members of Congress just voted for the anti-choice, anti- #woman HR3. Fight back! http://bit.ly/kDMqlZ #prochoice #p2 @CREDOmobile

RT @MoveOn: Back the President in bringing our troops home from Afghanistan this July. Sign the petition: http://bit.ly/lwbmzx

Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods

~ Japanese Proverb

Big #Oil is making billions in profits & getting billions in subsidies. Tell Congress: End #BigOil Handouts http://bit.ly/jl556K @LCVoters

There is always music amongst the trees in the "garden but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it" - Minnie Aumonier

Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.

~ Sigmund Freud

Live every day like it's your last, 'cause one day you're gonna be right.

~ Ray Charles

Dance is the movement of the universe concentrated in an individual.

~ Isadora Duncan

"Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine into trees" - John Muir

Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they're in the game.

~ Paul Rodriguez