WHAT BUTTON DO YOU PRESS TO GRANT FORGIVENESS?

The meaning of forgive is not hard to grasp. Merriam-Webster writes: " for·give
Pronunciation: \fər-ˈgiv, fȯr-\Function: verb Inflected Form(s): for·gave \-ˈgāv\; for·giv·en \-ˈgi-vən\; for·giv·ing Etymology: Middle English, from Old English forgifan, from for- + gifan to give Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1 a : to give up resentment of or claim to requital for b : to grant relief from payment of 2 : to cease to feel resentment against (an offender) : pardon, forgive one's enemies>

Click here for encouraging Bible verses. The only thing missing here is 'a how-to-do-it' manual which the Bible does not provide.

Those who do not know how to put wrongs behind them, try to balance them with more hurt as: 'An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth'. This just perpetuates pain, does it not? Justice, other than to remove offenders from the general society with the hope that they will cease to cause pain, is none other than to gain an eye for an eye, etc. However, if the pain they caused is emotional or other than a violation of law, what use does revenge serve? For those who feel some power for being able to hurt back, ask is this real, useful power or are you just kidding yourself?

It seems to me that most of what people do when they are unable to 'forgive' is that they feel powerless and, just like those who think when they find who is at fault, it solves an issue, the powerless try to find some control of their feelings of having felt violated, used or abused.

For whatever it may say about me, I do not dwell on what I cannot change. What is done is done. However, I stay away from those who have hurt me and try to avoid situations in which I might be at their mercy ever again. Unfortunately I am missing the 'forgetting' gene, as well. It seems the only things I forget are things I want to remember.

There are, in fact, reasons one should not forget even if they can 'forgive'. This act of not forgetting helps builds defenses and protective coping skills. Just as there are differences between being paranoid (believing you will be mugged when there is no indication of such) or having paranoid defenses (being cautious when one recognizes similar signs of danger as might have existed before a trauma occurred).

There are those who believe that God will forgive sin but the law doesn't count on it and throws people in jail. This seems to be mostly the eye-for-an-eye rationale. Religions are pretty hypocritical when they say that God will forgive sin while telling people they will go to Hell if they sin or do not believe in God or Christ or Allah or whoever people have chosen to throw all responsibility to for their own helpless lives. Presumably Jesus Commanded Forgiveness : "Mark 11:25 ESV And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” That anyone believes that feelings can be commanded from another never ceases to make me wonder at that naivety in today's modern world of knowledge that could not have existed when the Bible was written.

OCTOMOM TODAY WITH ALL 14 KIDS

On the afternoon edition of the NY Times, 11/12/09, my curiosity was finally rewarded with an update on the single mother, Nadya Suleman, and her fourteen children, oldest being only seven or eight years of age. As many feared, the necessity for welfare and many other state agencies has come with the family so far. There must be enormous medical bills as one child is autistic, another has a cleft palate or harelip, but you can read the article for yourselves and be saved from my slightly biased opinions.

To do this, click here. It sounds like there has been a lot poured in for the care and safety of all thee children. Imagine having one high chair for eight infants in which you can just drop them in and they share one surface and are also contained. Apparently a camera crew is frequently just part of the scenery. It seems a goal of Ms. Suleman to be able to 'earn' her own way for herself and all the children by doing something that no other woman in the US has done...have eight babies and all of them survive.

Thanks to the NY Times for keeping an interested public informed by capturing the life plan that seems to be working. As the old vaudevillians used to say, "You have to have your own 'shtick' to be a success in show-biz".

SELDOM KNOWN OR USED WORDS

Words are wonderful in any language! English doesn't say it all; it has only one word for snow, but it says a lot. There is no word that replicates the full meaning of chutzpah, for example. Today a learned the word for the part of the body where one cannot reach to scratch...acnestis pronunciationN: (ak-NEES-tis).

I guess I've always wanted to be a nihilarian. pronunciation: (nih-i-LAR-ee-uhn)
meaning: noun: One who does useless work. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not one and sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing. Useless and work don't seem to go well together. What may be useless to one, may have great value or use to another. Take twiddling one's thumbs, for example. No product is seen from the exercise but if it calms someone and moves them away from an anxiety attack, is that useless? Playing Free Cell on the computer works better from me than drinking alcohol does.

Otiose is another great word. pronunciation:
(O-shee-ohs, O-ti-)meaning: adjective: 1. Superfluous. 2. Futile. 3. Indolent.
ETYMOLOGY: From otium (leisure). The rubber stamping of the Republican House these past 9 years has been otiose, certainly futile in terms of the good of the country. It is how the Conservatives lost their way to demonstrating caring for their fellow man, is it now?

There are also words that really just sound right for their meaning. subfusc is one of those. It doesn't have a happy sound to it for good reason. pronunciation: (sub-FUSK) (It actually has a rather randy sound to it, doesn't it?) meaning: adjective: Dark, drab, or gloomy.
noun: Dark, formal clothing worn at some universities for exams and special occasions. It is hard to imagine being lower than 'fusc'!

There are also words that sound like their meaning. Ding dong and toot are such words. Smooth makes you feel it as compared to the word abrupt which lacks a sense of ease. Comics make a great study of words that make people laugh.

My last comments are about how people hear words more than the words themselves. There are those who deny poetic license and take everything literally. We have many examples of this on wards with schizophrenic patients and in jokes. One such joke goes like this: Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy takes out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"

LIFE HAS TURNED INTO ANOTHER SOAP OPERA

It finally became clear that the major reason I find the media so disquieting is that they treat the news like the previews to an exciting serial. There is rarely a finish, inevitable for most of the stories since there is no end to war, the recession, a bad economy, and fights among those who think they are empowered or are angling to become so.

Today, an anniversary of the Berlin Wall being brought down, brought out history as well as today's state of the world. Korea is fighting with itself; Pakistan is where Al Qaeda is but we can't fight there so we are fighting Bin Laden in Afghanistan, though we know he is not there and no one admits why we really ARE there still..

The Republican party is in danger of splitting itself off into two parts. (I remember my Latin telling me that 'All Gaul was divided into three parts!_The Republicans sure have gall. (gall 1 (gôl)n. 1. See bile. 2. a. Bitterness of feeling; rancor. b. Something bitter to endure: the gall of defeat.
3. Outrageous insolence; effrontery.) The few moderate Republicans still in existence are finally rising up and realizing that their party has been hijacked by total impostors though they haven't yet figured out what to do about it after eight years of just rubber-stamping Bush.

The Catholic Church is not staying out of Washington and politics; it is trying to dictate how the rest of us should conduct our lives. So much for separation of church and state. The Pro-Lifers (at least for life that has not yet started) are trying to dictate their way to doing away with Roe v Wade.

Members of the House are trying to legislate a group of new overseers to banks and the amount of 'bonus' they can dole out. I suppose it should be filed under 'Better late than never' that they notice how banks have been robbing the public and shareholders for so many years.

We need to figure out a new definition for Independent voters since Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman seem not to fit under the same umbrella. My block to remembering Lieberman's name was cleared when I finally was able to associate him to Quisling.

Rupert Murdoch had an employee who reports that Murdoch hired people to destroy Obama's presidency and make him a failure. This is the kind of man we allow to control so much of the media brainwashing on Fox stations and the rest of Rupert's media empire. We are, and have been for two of Bush's terms in office, experiencing a governmental malfunction. It will take more than hair pins and duct tape to put things back together.

The state of the world used to be anxiety provoking. Now it seems just another unbelievable soap opera. The desire to fast forward through the commercials is now felt through the entire show.

LOBBYING THE HOUSE BY CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFUSES ME

Everything in politics today seems to strike me like a fingernail scraping on a blackboard. We are supposed to be a government which keeps a separation between church and state. This seems hardly the case when Catholic Bishops are allowed to lobby the House of Representatives on a bill that ends up essentially voiding a law. Abortion has been made legal in the USA for many years now. An unwanted pregnancy would bring an unwanted child into the world. In the best interests of the child one might consider that abortion might be a reasonable solution for one whose religion is not insulted by that choice. Why then, should the law be negated by people who have no religious interest in the choice of non-Catholics.

If one is to believe comments by people who have read the bill, it would even prevent women from paying for their own abortions. It is difficult to believe that people would try to sneak in language that would reverse Roe v Wade. It is further my understanding that the Church has agreed not to involve itself in politics and reversal of laws. Will someone please tell me our government has not been hijacked to that degree by people who are given credence but are, in fact, not a part of our government and should not be advocating violating the Constitution. What am I missing here?

While this may seem a non-sequitor, will someone update me on the current status of the octuplets? Is the government in any way involved in their current care? If it is, then why can't women have the choice to abort and keep the government out of the child's further care

BEING THE FIRST TO DISCOVER, SEE, OR HEAR

Some people really love being on the forefront of things. I know people who sat in their cars for hours to be the first over a bridge. Well, this is a first sight of a rare small-eyed sting ray....2 1/2 meters across. It is the largest of the stingrays and extremely rare so that this is the first photograph of it.

Click here for the film. Click here for first pictures of the coral manta rays feasting by masses in a lagoon. You won't see this in your local aquarium. For those of you interested in the details of survival, mating, and other biology facts, watch the third clip in that series.

REPUBLICANS PREFER TO KILL PEOPLE THAN JOBS

Boehner complains the HealthCare bill will cost too much and will kill jobs. There can be no other conclusion than to assume he believes it is better to continue to allow people to die for lack of health care than to suppress the greed of the fat cats who prefer excess profits to sparing their fellow mankind suffering and death.

Not all Democrats voted for the bill passed by House, suggesting that some of them can still vote their own conscience (or protect their election funding) than march lock step like the Republican robots.

This is only a beginning and a long way still from the goal post. Oddly, today I received a request from a telemarketer who said they were not asking for money but, rather, would pay $10 for my answering a questionnaire. Not surprisingly, when I truthfully answered that I was over 64 (thus likely on Medicare) I was thanked and told that the quota had been filled for my age group. Of course, why would the greedy private companies want an opinion from people on Medicare?

To hear what the BBC reported on the passing of the bill, click here. You will be forced to wait for the short commercial to finish, while wishing this was taped so you could fast-forward through it. However, the wise marketers who usurp those few seconds of your life make the commercials short.

IS ALL SPEECH FREE? NO, IT IS NOT!

Opinions are free. Plotting to overthrow the government, as well as I recall, gets capital punishment. It seems to me that many don't realize they are crossing a very serious line. I can't help but wonder who is minding the store on this. Is no one paying attention who is in a position to legally put a stop to this treasonous oratory?

Actually it may be wise for the non-Republicans to let the Republican party continue on its road to self-destruction as it seems the direction it is currently headed. But I can't help wonder what it says about the citizen's who feel differently. If not legally prohibited, it is certainly morally prohibited to neglect to warn authorities if someone is threatening suicide. Limbaugh is not making a threat to personally take action to cause Obama to fail. However, Michelle Bachman is urging people to take up arms against the government and win it back for the 'people'. Does the 'people' in that context mean those few who think as she does? If that is the case, isn't the way it is usually done is to debate, work towards speaking out then coming up with new and better ideas shared? How can a party who allowed our Constitution to be ignored for eight years, with no solutions to prevent the resulting chaos, presume to be critical of the new broom properly chosen by a democratic process and majority that IS offering new ideas and changes?

Apparently these vicious political critics forget that someone is filming and saving what they say, bringing it out for entertainment after the politician denies ever having said the 'whatever.' The database used for instant retrieval even from speeches made many years ago is wondrous. The snake oil salesman can no longer take your money and run off to a town where you can't find him.