R-E-S-P-E-C-T

At Changing of Guard at Buckingham Palace this morning, Respect paid to Aretha Franklin.

BIGGER

Thursday Therapy

Thirteen Years

Pictures and stories at a page I created in the aftermath of the storm:   http://www.angelfire.com/la3/judyb/katrina.html

A Moment of Beauty

 Daniel Schatz plays Bach - Sinfonia Prelude 1006

Bored?

A perfect online past time for wanderlusters, virtually step through the secret door and be transported to a random location just about anywhere on Earth– Google Earth, that is. From a time capsule shed in the Antarctic to an abandoned house somewhere in China or a cozy pub in London, virtually travel the world with this nifty little site, hosted appropriately enough by a window and door replacement company called Safe Style.  Here's the link:    http://ww3.safestyle-windows.co.uk/the-secret-door/

Monday Morning Smile

The Last Republican

An excerpt from this link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/08/25/john-mccain-death-donald-trump-old-republican-party-editorials-debates/692818002/

Sadly, his death serves as an almost perfect metaphor for the death of the old Republican Party, the one personified in the past 100-plus years by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. It was a party that believed, like McCain, that the United States should stand for the advance of freedom abroad and the rule of law at home. It was confident that American commerce could compete with anyone, and that immigration was essential to a growing nation.

In remarkably short order, that party has been turned into a Donald Trump cheering section. It has adopted Trump’s previously un-Republican positions on trade, immigration and authoritarianism, while enabling his childish outbursts and ethical outrages.

In short, many in today’s GOP are woefully lacking in character and pragmatism, the very McCain hallmarks that made him such an invaluable senator and statesman. To say he will be missed hardly conveys the void his passing leaves. He had the gravity to serve as a beacon in a troubling time, to remind his country and his party of genuine American greatness.

We need more leaders to show us true north. McCain left us a shining example worth following.

The FDA

  A story about the FDA and Dr. Ley is here: https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/14/archives/demoralized-fda-struggles-to-cope-some-top-jobs-remain-unfilled-at.html 

Sunday Serenity

LISTEN

Monday Morning Smile

Thoughts

image from 

http://nathaliesart.com/pf/beautiful-thoughts/

Most thoughts are disposable.

Yep. If we listen, actually listen,, to the chatter in our heads, we will see that the vast majority of what passes for thoughts are disposable. They are just fleeting words and images which are without profound meaning or importance. 

Many thoughts are “housekeeping” thoughts e.g. what are we going to have for dinner or errands that need running. Some are “daydreams” about a crush or sex although sexual thoughts are far less common than is generally believed.

Still, others are “emotional artifacts”. These are old recurring thoughts. These thoughts are “packets” of thoughts which are associated with the same emotions. We dredge them up almost at random to feel a certain way even though very often these feelings are unpleasant.

Our psyches want to “feel” no matter what. We choose to feel bad feelings just as often, or even more often than pleasant reminiscences.

Why? Nobody knows.

from Facebook page Freedom of Conscience https://www.facebook.com/Freedomconscience/

Aretha on 60 Minutes 1990

RIP Aretha

“America has no royalty. But we do have a chance to earn something more enduring. Born in Memphis and raised in Detroit, Aretha Franklin grew up performing gospel songs in her father’s congregation. For more than six decades since, every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine. Through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade—our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance.

Aretha may have passed on to a better place, but the gift of her music remains to inspire us all. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. Michelle and I send our prayers and warmest sympathies to her family and all those moved by her song.”
~ President Obama

Monday Morning Smile

The violinist is  Wuilly Arteaga, 24, now famous for playing his violin in the middle of Venezuela’s deadly protests last year against President Nicolás Maduro. Once homeless, Mr. Arteaga taught himself to play the violin by watching videos online and later joined Venezuela’s renowned music education program, El Sistema.  His story and video are at this link https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/opinion/contributors/wuilly-arteaga-fighting-venezuelas-repression-with-my-violin.html">

Racists Among Us

A woman who was filmed insisting that a group of Hispanic Americans move their car from the street in front of her house is no longer employed.


Lesleigh Franklin, a co-founder of the East Bay Family Institute (which provides mental health services and works with the immigrant community), told the San Francisco Chronicle that she had left her position.


Franklin's coworker, Marisol Reyna stated that
“It’s not appropriate for someone to run it who’s under so much scrutiny,” she said.

“Unfortunately Dr. Franklin was just diagnosed with an illness (that) impacted her mental state of mind on that particular day but that’s not an excuse.”


Posted on Facebook by Jordann Cordova, the footage shows Franklin telling the group of people not to park in front of her house.

From Cordova's Facebook page: 

On Saturday August 4th, my family and I were on our way to a party. So we parked on public parking, in front of the white womans house in this video. This woman began to confront us and began yelling at us without reason. Keep in mind that as soon as I saw her come out of her home, I sincerely asked her why she wanted us to leave. Never did i disrespect her in any way. She wanted us to leave, as we refused she approached our car and tried to open the doors. That's when I began recording because we felt attacked and we know these situations have happened already to black and brown people because of how we look. This woman targeted us AND even questioned our status in this country. I ask people to share and find who this women who claims is immigrants attorney.

Wuilly Arteaga

his story in his words. 

Monday Morning Smile

Grocery ID