Should the Dalai Lama Retire?

The 14th Dalai Lama is now in his 70's. He's given indications that he's pretty much given up on Tibetan cause, but is still helping to give support to Tibetans in exile. Keep in mind that China invaded Tibet in 1959. That's a long time to be pounding your head against a brick wall.

So, in some interviews, His Holiness has recently mentioned that he'd like to retire and do some gardening. He's even suggested that there be no more Dalai Lamas after him and that Tibetans should be able to vote him out of the Dalai Lama position whenever they are unhappy with him. That hasn't gone down too well with the Tibetans. They still need him, I guess.

There are very few people I really admire, but the Dalai Lama is one of them. I like that he keeps telling people that he's not a god and that if you don't like Buddhism, it's no big deal. I also find it amazing that he can keep smiling after the life he's had. He still seems to have that Anne Frank optimism about humans being genuinely good at heart that in one way I'd like to have.

But he's worked very hard and I think he deserves to have some time to himself. Although his astrologers have predicted that he will die when he is 92, we can't rely on that. Part of Buddhism is about appreciating the moment and retirement can be just as personally rewarding as work.

Smehow, though, I can't picture him going bowling.

It's Time To Tax Organized Religion

(Note: My views are not the views of any political party that I'm aware of.)

Let's face it -- organized religion is a business. Also, we are in an unprecedented economical crisis which requires gobs and gobs of money. Who has gobs and gobs of money and hoarding it for themselves? Organized religion -- no matter what you call it -- Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Scientology -- all of them are out to make money and all of them make money and all have property and so all need to pay taxes. I'm Pagan and I'd make the Pagans and Wiccans pay, too.

Besides, what good do they do? Nothing! They're just country clubs with pews.

Organized religion claims to be humanity's greatest hope. Prove it -- shell out the money and pay your fair share of taxes. They have such faith in God -- let Him pay the bill.

Let's end with a laugh with a conversation between Bill Mahar and Christopher Hitchens about how religion poisons everything:

It's Peter Gabriel's Birthday

Ever since I started this blog, I put this picture up on Peter's birthday. This year is no exception. There has been misinformation that started in the 80's that Peter was born on May 13. I think he put that out so he'd get twice the prezzies.

Short post this time around. Off to celebrate.

Another Sign Of Success: When The Government Spies On You

Last night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, a former employee with the National Security Administration blew the whistle that the US government has been spying on journalists for years. This included tapping their phones, reading their emails - anything.

Which got me to wondering -- do I count as being worrisome enough as a journalist to warrant spying on? God, I hope so! Granted, I mostly blog and do web content, but I also have had an article bought by Springfield, Illinois' oldest newspaper, The State Journal-Register entitled "The Obama Cult: Is The Second Coming Nigh?" (Short answer: Are you kidding me?) Granted, I don't know when it'll be published, but the point is they already paid for it.

So, if I am getting spied on, I'd like to say hello to the person spying on me. I'd also like to do my patriotic duty and suggest another person who should be spied on -- the idiot woman who keeps emailing me about an article I did entitled The Temperament of the Hackney Pony. (EDIT 2107: This article is no longer online unless it's on a scraper site.) I won't print the name here, but the spy reading my email will remember the name by this gem:

This is in regards to your article on: The temperament of the Hackney pony
I think you need to rethink your "article" about the Hackney Horse and Pony.
First of all, the temperaments of the two are nothing similar at all, and
secondly, your article is not at all representative of either. You are basing
your opinion on an outsider's view of a horse show where the ponies were revved
and ready to work. My ten year old daughter rides and shows a Hackney pony and
he couldn't be kinder or gentler. Yes, he requires a sensitive hand and a good
rider to handle his energy, but he is not mean, he is not hard to saddle,
bridle, or mount. He isn't even hard to ride. He just won't allow jerking or
yanking. But what intelligent breed will? In addition, I personally own six
purebred Hackney Horses and my horses in no way resemble your article. Our two
stallions adore attention and stand quietly to be brushed and petted. Our
daughter also rides a Hackney/Arabian mare who couldn't be more kind or gentle
and is a true schoolmaster in the ring, even at her young age of seven. Your
article does an extreme disservice to the breed and to any who know them, it is
filled with misinformation and assumptions. Not only that, but it paints the
breed (horse and pony) in a very unfair and negative light to those who are not
privileged enough to know them. I am very disappointed that you would choose to
put this out in a public forum without better research and facts. You have done
harm to an endangered breed and you should be ashamed of yourself as a "writer."

Wow. Definitely sounds like a fanatic about to blow something up -- figuratively and literally.

Sure Sign Of Success: When Strangers Hate You

There are only three businesses doing well in America today -- undertakers, Campbell's Soup and me. How do I know my freelance business is doing well? Strangers hate me. Some days, they aren't even subtle about it. One day, I got a comment from a "Jason Nevins" for my 451 Press blog, Dealing With Headaches to read this:

I hate you.

And that pretty much sums up 2008 for me. I have more work than I can handle, I'm discovering that snark sells and I get emails from trolls. Among other work that has gone out on the web this year that I'll highlight for no particular reason:

* Have Animal Rights Gone Too Far?
* Why The EPA Sucks
* Defending Yourself From a Zombie Army With Angel Music Boxes
* How To Talk Like William Shatner
* Animals That Are Smarter Than Humans

Back to work.

Obama Wins Shelter Cat Vote

It's the dawn of a new time for America. Those who have been denied a voice in the political arena now get to participate in the democratic process. Four shelter cats led the nation's first "Kitty Caucus" where they voted for McCain or Obama by means of how often they used a red (McCain) litter box or blue (Obama) cat box. Obama won by one "vote". This was a promotional stunt by the Capital Area Humane Society in Columbus, Ohio. But, who knows? First we take the shelter, next we take Washington.

Why Animal Rights Supporters Should Vote For Obama

Not that my endorsement is going to make or break the 2008 Presidential election, but if you are concerned about animal rights, like I am, then Obama is the only candidate for you. Here's why:

The Economy

Obama's economic plan saves little ol' me about $3000. That's just me with an extra $3000 to help support animal charities and maybe (just maybe) adopt a dog that needs a home. (My dog Pony needs a dog). Without the average person getting some financial breaks, there won't be any money for animals.

The Environment

Obama is for investing in alternative energy solutions, not the incredbily polluting use of fossil fuels. Whenever the environment suffers, animals always suffer more than people.

Stem Cell Research

Obama is for stem cell research and other in vitro forms of experimentation. This will stop the use of lab animals.

In contrast, McCain and Palin are for sport hunting and cutting endangered species from the endangered species list. Also, Palin does not believe that global warming is real. McCain has also voted many times to reduce EPA standards and for off-shore drilling in a big way, even though that could lead to an environmental disatster.

But even if you don't agree with me, please vote. Then I'll shut up.

Animal Rights Being Ignored This Election

There are very few issues being discussed by the candidates for this Presidential election thing happening. I do prick my ears up whenever they mention health care, but other than that, they seem to only be talking to the rich, not to people like me. The financial and environmental crisis we are in is due to greed and selfishness whwn people think only of themselves.

Interacting with animals help you lessen your greed and selfishness. You begin to emphasize with others and wonder what they are going through (since animals can't talk). You can't care about your fellow countryman until you can care about all of the species in this country. That's why I think animal rights should be a priority in America. How you treat animals is going to be at the base of how you treat everthing else.

I wonder who the animals would voite for if they had the opportunity?

Since I started to write this, I'm happy to report that my home state of Pennsylvania has passed a huge revamp to the dog care laws, which will hopefully help to shut down all puppy mills in my state. Thank you, Govenor Ed Rendell and my Representative, Nick Micozzie.

Peter Gabriel at PeaceOneDay, Sept 2008

My heart has been broken so many times, I don't think I had anything left to break. Then I saw this and I felt my heart break again. It was recorded at the PeaceOneDay event on 21 September. Enjoy.

I'm Thinking of Getting a Gun

If John McCain and Sarah Palin win the Presidential election in November, I'm getting a gun. It's not because I feel as if it's my God-given right to own a gun or that I like blowing things to hell. It's strictly for survival. If these two are elected, sometime in the next ten years, American civilization will go belly up. And then I want to be armed with, at the very least, a flaming crossbow and a Louiville Slugger.

Am I Being Paranoid?

Well, let's see. Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin is from a Pentacostal Christain church called the Assembly of God. They believe in speaking in tongues, faith healing, banning books, teaching Creationism and the literal interpetation fo the Bible. On ABC News, Palin's former pastor said of his Church:

"Christianity has gotten too cerebral."

If there's anything Americans hate in their religion, it's having to think about it.

The Good News

So, what's the silver lining to this oncoming Republican cloud? It sure makes Paganism look good, doesn't it?

Given Another Chance

Believe it or not, this is NOT a picture of my late lamented model horse collection, but it looks pretty close. The photo here is just part of FAS Sue's collection. (Sue Sudekum is one of the world's prominant model horse collectors and has a great sense of humor). In the mid 1990's, I stopped counting at how many model horses I had because I was pushing 1,000, with well over 500 Breyers (my favorite brand of model horses).

Love Bites

When I fell in love with a homeless man in England, I sold a couple hundred of the collection and then abandoned the rest. (Well, I took five with me, but two had to be traded for food money and the other three died in the fire). My Mom took in two Breyers and three strange but cute toy horses, knowing that someday I would be back. I heard my ex-boyfriend got a hold of them and sold them, buying a truck and a down payment on a house with the money.

I shoulda stuck with the model horses. They were far more loyal than any boyfriend. I did come back to Mom, with pretty much nothing but the clothes on my back, my passport and my dog Pony. Some of those models I had since I was 5 years old. I still think of them as being alive. I assume they'd be ticked off at me for abandoning them.

I Thought Wrong

Imaginary friends, spirits, Breyers, whatever -- they never really die. They just migrate from object to object. This happens with many things like books, record albums and heirlooms. If they are meant to come back to you, they find a way.

I can't go crazy trying to replace all of my favorite model horses, because I don't have the money or the storage space. That and I do have a business to run. I came back to America in September of 2005 and only have been able to afford to replace five models. (Just my luck -- they cost $5 in 1980 and now cost around $50 today). Number six is currently on the way to me this week.

But it feels like they've forgiven me, since I know have a little spending money, so that's all I care about. I've been given another chance. I don't get a second chance at many things at life, so I'll take any chance I can get.

Birthday and Deathday

Today is Pony's 4th birthday. The world has been blessed with four full years of Pony. Perhaps you can tell your children where you were on the day Pony was born. We are planning to have a party today at my father's.

However, one of my goldfish died this morning, Ghost Fish (ala Twin Comet). All I found of him was half a spine and part of a skull stuck to the filter intake valve. He was the only fish of the lot that didn't grow. He originally was the largest fish of the bunch -- then he was the smallest. He lived with me two days shy of ten months. I don't know why he died. He didn't look sick.

I keep looking at the other four suspisciously. Did they kill him and eat him or only ate him after he died? There's a happy topic for Pony's party later today. On that note, this would be a good time to announce that I've been hired to write yet another blog, Depression Talk.

I'm Burnt Out

I apologize to the two readers of this blog for not updating it in a while. I've been so busy working that I haven't had time to blog about my work. For the last year or so, I've been working and average of ten hours a day seven days a week. Although I love writing, I think the job is getting to me. That and the new medication I'm on to prevent migraines (verapamil).

There are days when my body just gives out. It's hard for me to take a day off, as I'm still not used to the concept of freelancing to be the job I'll do for the rest of my life. I keep having nightmares that I have to go back to work at Kmart. So, I'm trying to get the most I can, I suppose.

I now make myself watch television two nights a week. That's my "holiday". I watch Star Trek: The Next Generation on Monday nights and Greatest American Dog on Thursday nights. And I feel guilty doing it, too. I'm such a rebel.

In PG News: The latest Gabriel was born on July 5 and was named Luc. This is Peter's fourth child and second son.

George Carlin: Truthteller

Generally, I don't give a flying fart about the welfare of other people. I pretend to, because it's socially required of me. But on the whole, I hope the human race commits suicide en mass by tomorrow morning. No, wait -- I have a package from Amazon.com coming in the mail. The human race can drop dead next week.

But one of the very few people I would save from a burning building was George Carlin. He was one of my heroes, up there with Peter Gabriel. Granted, if both George and Peter were in a burning building and I could only save one, I'd grab Peter first. George is from New York. Negotiating burning buildings should be daily fare for him.

However, that scenario is moot because George died on June 22. America has lost its last great famous truthteller. We're left without a moral compass now. I didn;t like everything George did (especailly his second book) but I heard enough to know that George often had the same questions I did and came up with very original and articulate answers.

I didn't think George's death would upset me so much. After all, he was 71, so it wasn't a total shock. But I'm seeing him everywhere now -- even on the New Zealand environmentalist blog I write for. When I read a book or medicine instructions, it's his voice in my head.

Critics of George said he was cyncical. He wasn't -- almost everything he said was absolutely true. It shows you how bad things are -- and yet we can still find the humor in it. That may be our species' only saving grace.

I Want To Donate My Breasts To Charity

Now that Peter Gabriel is having his fourth child with his second wife, it's become painfully obvious to me that my breasts no longer serve any purpose of luring Peter over to The Dark Side.

I'm really getting sick of my breasts. The serve no useful purpose now that I've been celibate for nearly 4 years. Now all they do is get zits and point to opposite ends of the compass. They used to be men-magnets -- now all they'll probably ever attract is cancer.

There must be some way I can get rid of my breasts and help make the world a better place at the same time. My breasts keep changing in size. Surely, some breat deprived person needs a breat donation of some kind. There must be some poor soul in the Make A Wish foundation who's final wish is "Get my tits back."

I wonder how much the IRS would reimburse me for donating my breats to charity? Perhaps Peter could use them to auction off for one of his charities.

There I go again.

Odds and Sods

Suddenly, I'm the popular web content writer and have been so busy I need to turn down work. So, here's a quick round up of some news items in my life and updates on stories previously mentioned in previous posts.

Congratulations to Peter Gabriel and his latest wife. She's expecting what will be Peter's fourth child. He's revealed that they already know that it's a boy. He does not reveal when the latest Gabriel is due. This will make the Gabriel kids equalled at two girls and two boys. I think Samuel would be a good name.

I have a new job as one of the two bloggers for WebbleYou Blog Network's Animal Lover. It makes a great change of pace writing about animals. However, I don't know how long this job will last, as I have yet to have a reader make a comment on the blog.

Joe Paterno (who has been coaching Penn State's football team probably before football was even invented) gave us all a scare by being briefly hospitalized, but checked himself out. He tells reporters that it was "no big deal". We've heard that before.

Congress is to hold a hearing on the Thoroughbred horse racing industry June 19 (yes, THIS June 19). I don't think it will help the horses at all, but at least it puts the sillness and cruelty of the "sport" into public light.

I have another new job at eHow. As a joke, I proposed to do How To Live Like Howard Hughes, and they bought it.

My hard-working carpenter father has finally retired at the age of 67. Congrats, Dad! Time to party.

Until next time, remember to keep on taking the painkillers.

Note: The Latest Gabriel is due June 27...yes, THIS June 27.

Did the Mormons Plot to Kill Howard Hughes?

Usually, I blame Tom Cruise for everything, but he wasn't even born when the events that happened to Howard Hughes transpired. Besides, Tom is a Scientologist, not a Mormon. (Yes -- there is a difference).

Anyways, during the last twenty years or so of his indiosyncratic life, billionaire paranoid Aviator extraordinare Howard Hughes had a whole army of aids, security guards, suerveliance crew and drivers that were all Mormon. The legend goes that Hughes was talking on the phone to some Hot Shot's PA on New year's Eve and realizes he was talking to someone who was stone cold sober. "I'm Mormon, so I don't drink or smoke," was the answer.

So, Hughes hired a Mormon. Somehow, this Mormon managed to push out all other employees and have them all replaced by Mormons. It won't be any shocking news to know that Hughes spent his last yeatrs in a drugged stupor, where he was easily maniupulated to giving away his fortune to the "Mormon Mafia" (as his aids were called).

You wonder why the Mormons bothered. Perhaps it was the money. Perhaps it was a shitload of money. Then again, I wonder if the original Mormon employee thought, "I could really make this sinner's life a living hell. And it would serve him right, because I'd be doing God's work."

After all, Hughes was not exactly a poster boy for morality (mainstream, Christian or Mormon). He held hundreds of people's lives in the palms of his hands and really couldn't care less what heppened to them (not through bad morals -- but through the at least head injuries he sustained in his lifetime).

I bet you most of the Mormons who mistreated and robbed Hughes felt perfectly justified in what they were doing.

And if we think we are better than those Mormon aids, then we really don't know ourselves very well.

Todays' Sad Git Is Racehorse Trainer Larry Jones

When you want to absolve yourself of all responsiblity, what do you do? Blame someone else, that's what. Usually, God is the one that gets the blame. Racehorse trainer Larry Jones, trainer of Eight Belles (euthanized on the track at this year's Kentucky Derby) is not blaming greed, inbreeding of Thoroughbreds or the media for the on-camera death of his filly.

Jones said that two nights after the Derby he spent time reading his Bible and trying to understand why he lost Eight Belles. A strong thunder-and-lightning storm hit Delaware Park at the time, which Jones said he took as a sign from above.

"He [God] let me know it wasn't my horse. It was his horse long before I ever knew who she was," the trainer said. "This was her purpose, and he did not let her suffer."

Way to completely confuse the issue of cruelty in horse racing, Mr. Jones, by pointing the finger to invisible powers. Must've learned that tacatic from George Bush.

We don't even know what the person nect to us on the bus is thinking, and yet Larry Jones know all about what's God's thinking. It's always dangerous to interpert the Will of God, for any reason. One day, He may sue for libel.

When Wishes Are Horses

Sorry, not feeling funny today. Another nationally-televised unnecessary death due to horse racing in yesterday's Kentucky Derby. This post from last January is just as relevant now as then. Just the name has been changed. There is NO difference between dog fighting and horse racing. It's all cruelty in the name of human entertainment. Here's the original post:

Barbaro died today. I am glad his owners tried to save him -- that's what a racehorse owner should do but rarely does. But I think the American public is hypocitical. Thousands of race horses die every year, in far worse situations than Barabaro's. Even being a Kentucky Derby winner can't guarantee that the horse won't be slaughtered for meat.

Racing Thoroughbreds are magnificent, fragile babies that can barely support their own weight, let alone that of a jockey's. They run until they literally implode, because we ask them to. The entire gene pool is derived from just three stallions. Funny how no one wonders about what that might do to generations of animals.

These animals are bred for speed, not to survive. What are we DOING? Winning a trophy should not be so high up on our priorities that we condem millions of horses to misery. I've got a feeling if the situations were reversed, the horses wouldn't do it to people. They're not that greedy.

I used to worship horse racing. Football fanatics had nothing on me. I knew statistics, bloodlines; collected books, movies and artwork about racehorses. As a kid, I'd daydream about having my own racehorse.

Then, as I got older, I grew up. Seeing Charismatic being overtrained for the 1999 Triple Crown made me afraid to watch a race he was in, for I knew it was only a matter of time before he'd go down. And he did. And no one said boo. All they wanted to know was "Who do you like in the next race?"

It appalled me. I'd wasted years of my life on a sport that cared not one whit for the very animals it needs. I shocked my family and friends when I no longer watched races and wanted nothing to do with them. But I love horses more than what I looked like to others.

And I've never regretted it. I learned about other things, like paganism. The money, land and tracks of the racing industry can be used for better things, like building homes for the homeless, sheltering abandoned animals or becoming halfway homes for suddenly unemployed racehorses.

And the Thoroughbreds won't even mind if their breed goes extinct. The only ones who would mind are people.

Dogs Have The Right To Live With People

During the past month, I haven't had many spiritual epiphanies but did get a couple more clients. One is writing for a New Zealand-based enviornmental blog called Celsias. I did one of my usual cute yet sarcastic posts about what dog owners may have to do in the future when their aren't any more free plastic carrier bags around to clean up doggy doo-doo.

Some of the comments were, quite frankly, appalling. More than one wrote that pet dogs should be banned for the sake of the health of human children. And they seemed to be serious.

I'm not sure what happened in these poor posters' lives to make them so anti-dog, but banning dogs is not the answer to our enviornmental problems. I'm sure Big Oil and Dow Chemical would love to make dogs' butts the scapegoats for global warming, but I don't think this conspiracy theory is gonna last too long.

We need dogs in our lives far more than we need other people. Animals don't pollute like people, they don't complain like people and they don't post nasty comments on blogs about banning humans from dog kennels. Dogs are just as sentient as we are -- perhaps even more so becuase of their abilities to forgive and accept -- and it is only because of them that many people have become more than just selfish consumers with opposable thumbs.

Pet dogs save their owners' lives every day. What's a bit of poo between friends?