Saturday, November 25, 2006

European Cities Do Away with Traffic Signs

There are many ways for us to regain personal control and responsibility, and to reach out to others.

Here is a good example that is reducing traffic accidents in some areas of Europe: No traffis signals in cities! Full article at title link above.

“The many (traffic) rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate. We’re losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior,” says Dutch traffic guru Hans Monderman ..."

Connection to the Universal Knowing

A friend recently told me why he believes the death of his body is the death of all that he is. A paraphrase of his story.

"In the 1980's a researcher at Purdue University created a many-legged critter with a solar cell and a few circuits to allow movement and hold a few rules of function, but no memory chip. When switched on, the critter started moving, and gradually "learned" how to coordinate the legs for forward movement. When a leg encountered an obstacle, like being stuck in a tiny bucket, it kept moving the impaired leg until it was free, then continued on.

"On the other hand, robots with memory chips that were being programmed by scientists were way behind what these simple critters could do"


"Why do you consider this a proof that you have no spirit that will live on after the death of your body", I asked?

"I never said it was a 'proof'!" (Being a retired chemist, that word had a very specific meaning with a set of rules as to it's proper use.)

I was persistent, asking what the connection was, and never did receive an answer.

Here is my understanding of the meaning of the events as he related them.

• The 'critter' had a solar cell, connecting it to the energy of the sun, one small part of the energy of the Universe.
• By not giving it a memory chip and programming, the researcher was giving 'permission' for the Natural Way of the Universe to happen.
• And it did.
• Everything is connected to the Universal Knowing.
• (The robots with the programming did not give permission for the Knowing to enter, so fumbled along with what they were programmed to do.)

To me, his story is a compelling reason to believe that our spirits DO live beyond our bodies.

I tried to do a search for the original Purdue study to learn more, but being from the 80's, if it was out there, it was buried. If anyone can set me in the right direction, I would appreciate it!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Tribute to Robert Lockwood Jr.




I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Lockwood play just once, at Fat Fish Blue. He was a warm, friendly person whose music came from the depths of his soul.

From today's Plain Dealer:
Lockwood attributed his longevity in part to exercising regularly, a habit he picked up as a teenage boxer. He said he did 30 push-ups and 30 knee-bends a day - most days, anyway.

He also had a low-stress outlook on life.
"I know I'm lucky," he told The Plain Dealer a few weeks shy of his 90th birthday. "I just try not to worry about nothing. Why do that?"


Words to live by.
Peace be with you.

YouTube of Lockwood playing "Sweet Home Chicago"
Robert Lockwood Jr., Cleveland's great bluesman, dies at 91



Wednesday, November 22, 2006
John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic

Grammy Award-nominated bluesman Robert Lockwood Jr., one of the last direct links to the primal blues of the Mississippi Delta and a popular fixture on Cleveland's music scene for decades, died of respiratory failure Tuesday afternoon at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. He was 91.

The singer-guitarist had been in the hospital since he suffered a stroke Nov. 3.

Lockwood "was a giant of American musicians," said his friend Nick Amster. "He was extremely influential."

Lockwood was born in Turkey Scratch, Ark. He moved to Cleveland in 1960.

When he was 11, Lockwood began taking guitar lessons from legendary blues pioneer Robert Johnson, a drifter who briefly moved in with Lockwood's mother.

"He never showed me nothing two times," Lockwood said in a 2005 interview. "After I got the foundation of the way he played, everything was easy."

Lockwood honed his chops on street corners and in juke joints.

He later became a musical mentor to B.B. King, who used to listen to Lockwood in the 1940s on the "King Biscuit Time" radio show broadcast out of Helena, Ark.

Lockwood relocated to Chicago in the 1950s, where he was a sought-after session musician for Chess Records. He recorded with Little Walter, Sunnyland Slim, Roosevelt Sykes and other blues musicians.

Lockwood developed his own sound, going beyond the Mississippi Delta style he learned from Johnson to embrace jump blues, jazz and even funk.

For years, Lockwood had a weekly gig at Fat Fish Blue in Cleveland. On any given Wednesday night, you could find him presiding over the bandstand, a distinguished gentleman in a sharp suit. He coaxed grand chords and gritty leads from a 12-string electric guitar and drew upon hard-earned experience when he sang.

"I've been through so much - I don't give a [expletive]," he once told Benny Mostella, a trumpet player who backed the bluesman.

Lockwood was like a father to members of his band, some of whom had played with him since the 1970s.
As a solo artist, he had a sporadic recording career, although his work did not go unnoticed. He earned Grammy nominations for two albums: 1998's "I Got to Find Me a Woman" and 2000's "Delta Crossroads."

When the latter CD lost to a collaboration between Eric Clapton and King in the best-traditional-blues-album category, Lockwood declared: "You know damn well my album is more traditional than theirs."

He had a way of making such prickly pronouncements as if he were merely stating the facts, not bragging. The more you hung around Lockwood, the more endearing his unfiltered candor and disdain for false modesty became.

On the piano in his Hough home, he kept a photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton - "Miss Hillary," Lockwood called her - presenting him with a National Heritage Fellowship in 1995.

"It's about time," Lockwood said when he accepted the prize, or so the story goes.

He toured throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. In July, he performed at blues festivals in England and Finland, accompanied by his longtime bassist, Gene Schwartz.

The Memphis-based Blues Foundation bestowed two National Blues Music Awards and four W.C. Handy Awards upon Lockwood and inducted him into the Blues Hall of Fame.

He received honorary doctorates from Case Western Reserve and Cleveland State universities. A street on the east bank of Cleveland's Flats was named in his honor in 1998.

At Fat Fish Blue, a bottle of Hennessy cognac with Lockwood's name on it was kept behind the bar. The restaurant also christened an entree after him: Robert Jr.'s Hennessy Cream Shrimp.

He and his wife, Mary, who survives, were married in 2000.

When Lockwood turned 90 in March 2005, the festivities included concerts at Fat Fish Blue and the Savannah Bar & Grille in Westlake. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum hosted a sold-out tribute, too.

He recently returned to the studio to appear on "The Way Things Go," the latest album by Cleveland Fats, aka Mark Hahn.

Lockwood attributed his longevity in part to exercising regularly, a habit he picked up as a teenage boxer. He said he did 30 push-ups and 30 knee-bends a day - most days, anyway.

He also had a low-stress outlook on life.
"I know I'm lucky," he told The Plain Dealer a few weeks shy of his 90th birthday. "I just try not to worry about nothing. Why do that?"

Monday, November 20, 2006

Renewable Energy

The title link goes to the article in yesterday's Plain Dealer that prompted this entry.

I am all in favor of renewable energy ... but NOT if good crop land is used to grow corn for the sole purpose of making liquid fuel to run our addiction for energy.

The first defense should be conservation. Conservation by each of us by choice, rather than by mandated rules alone. Rules are made to be broken. People like to rebel against rules. People fight over what the rules say and how they say it, then make the final watered-down version be effective years from passage. Aruugh!

Conservation needs to begin NOW. Pretend all forms of energy cost ten times what they do now, and live life accordingly. Purchase Energy Star appliances. Wear extra clothes instead of setting the thermostat at 70. Don't leave the hot water running constantly as you do dishes. Purchase cars with the higher mpg ratings. Write to your congresspersons to encourage tax breaks for alternative energy development.

Small examples, but they all add up. Everyone can think of more to add to the list. Start now to help our children in the future.

An Inconvenient Truth

The movie in 10 parts on YouTube at the link above or in the list of "VIDEOS ON CLIMATE CHANGE" at Global Warming.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

More on the Proposed Peace Palaces

Taking a closer look at Peace Palaces' goals
Movement targets sites in NE Ohio
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Amanda Garrett
Plain Dealer Reporter

Last week came news that a movement founded by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi plans to build centers in Parma, Strongsville and Mayfield Heights. Ultimately, the group hopes to build 3,000 centers -- called Peace Palaces -- worldwide.
Zanna Feitler, director of the Maharishi Enlightenment Center in Woodmere and a former candidate for Ohio governor, answered questions Friday about the movement, the Peace Palaces and their mission.

Continue article here ot at title link.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Peace Palaces in Cuyahoga County

Yogi's group chooses 3 Cuyahoga sites for 'Peace Palaces'

Friday, November 17, 2006
Joan Mazzolini
Plain Dealer Reporter
The movement founded by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi plans to build what it calls Peace Palaces in Parma, Strongsville and Mayfield Heights, hoping to further its goal of world peace by "unifying all nations in happiness, prosperity, invincibility and perfect health."

Read the rest of the article here or at title link.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Heinen's Supports Gentler Farming

Chain committed to selling 'Certified Humane' meat
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Janet H. Cho
Plain Dealer Reporter

Heinen's Fine Foods has become the second supermarket chain in the nation to promise to make sure that more of its beef, chicken, pork, dairy and egg products come from animals that have been raised and treated humanely.

"We will be supplying our stores with more products from producers that are Certified Humane' " by the nonprofit Humane Farm Animal Care in Herndon, Va., said Tom Heinen, co-president of the 16-store chain based in Warrensville Heights. Heinen's is announcing the commitment today.

"Certified Humane" means the animals were raised "with enough space to express their natural behaviors," said Adele Douglass, executive director of HFAC. That means chickens don't grow up in cages, pigs aren't confined to tiny stalls and cattle aren't injected with antibiotics and growth hormones.

Animals receive a nutritious diet and aren't force-fed things they wouldn't ordinarily eat. They also receive shelter, have access to clean water, and when they are slaughtered, "there's no electric prods or stuff like that," Douglass said.

Tom Heinen, a grandson of the company's founder, Joe Heinen, said the idea is not to ask people to give up meat.
Rather, "We believe in treating everyone fairly and with respect, and this extends to the animals that supply the food we select for our customers," he said. "With the Certified Humane program, there is the added assurance of a third party that sets high standards for the humane treatment of farm animals."

Humane Farm Animal Care's standards were developed by animal scientists and farm animal welfare experts. HFAC inspectors conduct annual audits to make sure producers continue to abide by the rules.

"The reason we created this program was to change the way animals are raised in the United States," by encouraging more supermarkets to ask for Certified Humane products, Douglass said.

Heinen's Own Chicken is already Certified Humane, as are its Applegate Farms deli meats. And while Heinen's Own Beef comes from ranches that don't use hormones or antibiotics, that program is not yet Certified Humane. Douglass said the only other supermarket chain that has gone as far as Heinen's is D'Agostino's, with 25 stores in the New York City area.

Heinen said HFAC's goals aligned perfectly with his company's insistence on knowing where its food comes from.
"That's what we're all about, the best quality food," he said.

Humane Farm Animal Care's program has been endorsed by the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that works to rebuild local and regional farming.

Joan and Bob Hall's Blue Hen Family Farm in Brecksville, which participates in the Countryside program, this week became the first Ohio food producer to receive Certified Humane status. The label will be used on the farm's eggs.

Tower City Parking

The morning started peaceful enough.  It was with an air of excitement that I headed west on 480 to go to my COSE Orientation.  Rush hour traffic had even parted for me to get onto the highway.

Instructions in hand from the COSE website, I exited at 8:20 AM for an 8:30 meeting, within three blocks of my destination.  

I arrived at the meeting at 9:10, tears of frustration still damp on my face.

I have been driving around downtown Cleveland a lot in the last three months, and been 'lost', too.  It was all part of the adventure.  It does help if one has a sense of where one is going so that going the wrong way is only a bit of a delay.  That was the problem here.  I had no idea where I was going!

For those who have never parked at Tower City Parking, let me give you a few tips:  From Huron, you will not see the parking garage, so do not have your eye attuned for a building with an entrance.  Look instead for what looks like a bridge heading to the West Side, across the Cuyahoga!  The sign for Tower City Parking is small and horizontal.  You might not see it at first because it is overpowered by the huge neon guitar that announces the Hard Rock Cafe.  Drive right past this huge guitar onto the "bridge", which curves around to the ticket kiosk. 

Now to park.  If you happen to head up a ramp only to be confronted by device that looks like it will give you another ticket, say "oops", back up and drive down the 'out' ramp to the ticket-parking area. (What you just left is an area that is for people who have accounts.)

So, part of my morning was a bit unsettling.  The good thing is that more complete driving instructions will soon be posted on the COSE website.  Since COSE serves many businesses in the outskirts of the Greater Cleveland area, this will be of great service.

Once you know the tricks to parking, the wonders of Tower City are just a few steps away. Wander around and enjoy!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Bumper Stickers

I saw a great bumper sticker last year, driving on Lee Road, I believe, somewhere near Shaker Heights:

"God Bless Everyone. No Exceptions"


Shadybrook has a good one, also.




Price, bulk discounts, and ordering information at the Shadybrook email link at their website.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love

The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love was founded in 2001 with a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation. It focuses on love. Not any kind of love, mind you, but deeply unselfish love for others without exception - the kind of love enshrined in the golden rule, and encouraged by the world’s great moral and spiritual traditions.


The presentation this evening by Dr. Stephen Post was truly amazing. For those who would like to know more, click the title link or watch the news program 20/20 on December 1st. The discussion will be devoted entirely to his new book,

"Why Good Things Happen to Good People"

The Exciting Research that Proves the Link Between Doing Good and Living a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life

"Why it's Good to Be Good"

Speaker Stephen G. Post, Professor, Department of Bioethics, Case Shhool of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, will make this presentation this evening.


Tis Better to Give than to Receive and Science Says It's So: Why It's Good to be Good and What This Means for the Pursuit of Happiness 
with Stephen Post, Ph.D.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 @ 7:30 p.m. at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes.

This presentation will focus on the ways in which spiritual and psychological traditions have asserted the paradox of unselfish love - in the giving of self lies the unsought discovery of self.  It will also cover the "progress paradox" - that despite more wealth, Americans on the whole are less happy than they were in the 1930s.  An argument will be made for the centrality of positive psychology in the forms of gratitude, compassionate love, forgiveness, faith, self-control, and hope as keys to authentic happiness.

The latest scientific research and epidemiology will be coupled with philosophy, ethics, and spiritual concepts in presenting the argument as to why it really is good to be good.

Mix It Up at Lunch


One day last year, Nathan saw a new student sit down for lunch at a table full of other kids. The group told the new kid that he couldn't join them.

"It got me thinking that kids often make judgments against people they don't even know," Nathan, 13, said.


One young adult has the right idea. World peace starts at home. Full story at title link or here.

Settlement forces U.S. to require more energy-efficient appliances

In my opinion, energy efficiency helps create a peaceful planet. One small step ahead. Regulation is a start. Individual choices are the key. Full story on title link or here.

Wisdom from Russia

"Almost nothing has been done in the last few years to foster sensible and extensive dialogue between civilizations ..."

Quote from the article by
Sergei Karaganov

Complete article at title link.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Clean Air Car

I found the title-link article at a blog I discovered on the "newly updated" list:
University of New Brunswick Environmental Law Society

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Missing cat takes 2,000-mile Trip


(The full story at the title link or here: A story of people helping people.)


Missing Burmese saved by UA student
Saturday, November 11, 2006
April McClellan-Copeland
Plain Dealer Reporter
Akron

The long-awaited reunion of Simon and Garfunkel will take place in Los Angeles, but no tickets will be sold.
That's because Simon and Garfunkel, in this case, are cats that were separated last summer, when Simon jumped out of the window of a sport utility vehicle at a Los Angeles mall and seemed to vanish.

Needed: A Truth and Reconciliation Commission

by Frank DeMarco, posted Election Day, 11-07-06

(excerpt)
The question is ... where do we go from here?
Revenge leads nowhere, and (not to be forgotten!) it is dangerous to threaten desperate men. Condemnation, Carl Jung pointed out, oppresses; understanding liberates.
I think the first step -- a constructive step -- would be a commission to bring the facts to the public. if you don't know the facts, you can't begin to deal with the real world ...

Friday, November 10, 2006

Begin World Peace

It is up to us. Individuals do have a voice. It is the inner voice of the spirit. When we think and feel loving peaceful thoughts, we send loving peaceful thoughts to those around us, and they can feel it too.

This is how the world will become a better place.

The essential spiritual core of all religions is love. All the rest is edifice created by humans in the guise of holiness.

Heal your own inner doubts, fears, prejudices, angers, resentments.

Let them go, then feel the Love.

We are all connected. We can share the love with those next to us, and those far away, just by feeling it, then imagining the love as the White Light of Peace surrounding specific people, areas of world unrest, and the entire planet.

Send this Light for the Highest Good by your thoughts and good intentions.

The world will feel it, and universal peace will increase, one Light Prayer at a time.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

A Crime Against Nature

Last month I attended an Original Think™ workshop with Jan Philips, author of The Art of Original Thinking.

One activity was to write a message to the world as inspired from a nature photo. I chose from a pile of upside down photos, a scene of waves tumbling in on a beach.

I Am the Water Planet

My oceans, rivers, lakes and streams
Are here for life.
For all life.
You waste it, and care not.

Water is the carrier of nourishment
For all living things,
And the lifeblood
Of all my earthly systems.

All who live on me are in danger of death
By thirst,
By hunger,
By drought.

Wake up, all who have power!

... ALL have power.

All humans have power
To keep water safe
In their daily choices
And uses of water.

Treat water as precious!
Because it is.

Your actions are responsible
For the future
Of all earthly life,
And the planet called Earth.

Every wasted drop of water
Is a Crime against Nature.

I Am the Water Planet.

©2006 Kristen S. Boyesen
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