The Curse of The Urban Legend

For all the valuable information available on the internet and the opportunities for learning and spreading knowledge there are also equal opportunities for those who are sick and mean-spirited to cause pain and spread lies. Many of the things that circulate on the internet are absolutely false and many are obscene, viciously mean, character assassinations with no basis in reality. You can check out most (but not all) on several websites dedicated to debunking these lies which are commonly termed “Urban Legends”. Snopes.com is one of the most reputable sites used for that purpose. You simply enter the person’s name and to narrow the search, include one key word regarding the claim.

For example, one popular urban legend involves Lee Marvin, Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan), and Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers fame. This story makes several false claims about each but most glaring are the claims about Mr. Rogers who, in addition to this false claim, is the victim of several sick rumors.

Mr. Rogers was not a Navy Seal with 25 “kills” to his record and he didn’t wear a long sleeve sweater to cover up tattoos. And the reason he did not have a live audience of children was not because he was a convicted pedophile, etc., etc.

Why would anyone tell these lies about someone so revered by the American public? How sick are these people who delight in attempting to destroy a person’s character and reputation? And why does the PBS attract the ire of the most ignorant of conservatives?

Mr.’ Rogers was apparently one of the most gentle, compassionate and highly respected people to ever grace this planet. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he lived his life Buddha-like and, although he was human and may have had some secrets, they most likely were not anything as bad as most of us are guilty of.

Shortly before his death caused by stomach cancer Mr. Rogers, Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby all served as co-marshals of the 2003 Rose Bowl Parade. Bill Cosby tells this great story of the parade. Despite Cosby's star power he said he was humbled that day. He, Art Linkletter and Mr. Rogers were all riding in back of a convertible waving to the huge crowds that lined either side of the parade route. As they approached and passed by, the crowds would begin applauding and cheering - not for him or for Linkletter - but for Mr. Rogers. The crowds would call out “Welcome to our neighborhood, Mr. Rogers”. Some would sing,” It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood”.

Cosby recently said, “I just want you to know that Art Linkletter and I and Fred were riding in a '38 Packard in the Tournament of Roses parade, millions of people on both sides of the street for five and a half miles, and the one thing that I still remember is people waving and saying, 'Mister Rogers, welcome to the Neighborhood!'"

As for Bob Keeshan, most of us may remember he was also Clarabelle the Clown on the Howdy Doody Show before he played Captain Kangaroo on his own show. Keeshan spent a lot of time in Nashville years ago. I can’t recall why, probably music and book publishing, I’m not sure, but I think he had a residence here. Anyway, I met him once and would see him from time to time at music industry related events. His demeanor was the same as his TV character, Captain Kangaroo. A gentle spirit who owned any room the moment he walked in and immediately instilled a feeling of grace, gentleness and peace.

I’m sure it was even more pronounced when Fred Rogers entered a room.

Mystery on ebay

Why is one copy of a book published in 2006 bringing such a high price on ebay? It’s up to $127 and still has eight days left on the auction. What would make this recently published book so valuable? And who might eventually buy it no matter what price it bids up to? Who might be interested in making sure the content of this book and about 200 plus copies that were pre-released is never disclosed to the American people?

Are you curious about the book on ebay? Here’s the link to the ebay auction.

Do you ever wonder what nefarious undercurrents are in play that form and shape our society and our world? Could corruption and evil be entrenched at the highest level of world power, the office of the US president?

Have you ever heard of the ties between the Bush Family and the Saudis? Surely you heard that for two days after the 9/11 attacks all airliners were grounded and that only government and military aircraft were allowed to fly? Oh, that is except for a few private aircraft including the one that allowed the Saudi royals and eleven bin Ladin family members who were visiting or living in the US to escape to their homelands. Those were the only aircraft allowed to fly, the ones that collected the Saudis and hustled them out of the country. This was authorized by George W Bush.But why?

Why were the Saudi Royal and bin Ladin family members allowed to leave the country when no one else could? Did George W and his father Herbert W fear for the Saudi’s safety? What control over the Bush family do the Saudis have? Again, why were just the Saudis allowed to leave and no high ranking people from other countries?

After all, at that time we had no idea of who flew those planes into the twin towers and the Pentagon - did we? Why was only this select group of Saudis allowed to leave and not other Saudis and citizens of other Arabic nations that were living, visiting and studying here?

This quick exit of the Saudis became a known fact as a result of the 9/11 Commission Report. Why did the FBI and Bush Administration officials for more than three years deny it ever took place? The Bush Administration, the FBI, the FAA, and even defense contractor Raytheon knowingly lied in repeated denials regarding newspaper and magazine accounts of the “phantom flight." Why would Bush not want it known? What and who was he protecting?

This is a picture of the Lear jet that was used to fly the Saudis home. Why did George W authorize this quick escape of the Saudis? What did the Saudis fear? Why did the Saudis think it was imperative that they leave immediately? I mean, at the time no one including George W knew that 17 of the 19 hijackers trained and financed by Osama bin Ladin and his Al Qaeda organization were Saudis – or did they? Think about it. How could anyone have known in advance who it was that attacked us and what nationality they were? These guys were supposed to be just dust among the rubble of their targets. Sure, it could easily be assumed that bin Ladin and Al Queda was likely responsible - but how would anyone, George W or the Saudis here in the US, know the identities of these super-secret terrorists were Saudis?

The Saudis must have known or why would they immediately rush out of the country? George W must have known or why would he have immediately authorized the Saudis to leave when all other flights were grounded? And if he knew the hijackers were Saudis then he must have also known in advance that this attack was going to happen. It follows.

If you want the full details you can Google it or go to this link It may shock you to learn that, according to the FBI, Osama bin Ladin himself was likely the one who paid for the chartered flight.

As for the mysterious book on ebay, here is why it’s bringing such a high price.

New York Post

By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld

August 8, 2007 -- THE Saudis' efforts to keep a veil of secrecy over their support for al Qaeda and Hamas got a shot in the arm last week, as a British publisher opted to suppress a controversial book on the financing of terror.

Facing the mere threat of a lawsuit from Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz, Cambridge University Press agreed to pulp all the unsold copies of "Alms of Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World," issue a public apology to Mahfouz and pay his legal expenses and substantial undisclosed damages.

The prestigious publisher - the world's oldest publishing house - had carefully vetted the book before publishing it last year. Yet now it has asked more than 200 libraries worldwide to pull the work off their shelves.

Bin Mahfouz never sued the authors, J. Millard Burr and Robert O. Collins, both U.S. citizens, who had provided their publisher with all the sources to back their allegations that bin Mahfouz, his family and his former bank, the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia, funded Hamas and al Qaeda. Yet Cambridge University Press still caved - and even asked the authors to join its apology to bin Mahfouz. (They rightly refused.)

Since March 2002, bin Mahfouz has sued or threatened suit in England at least 36 times against those who've linked him to terrorism, including many American authors and publications. Everyone settled with bin Mahfouz - except me.

He sued me in London in January 2004, shortly after my book "Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed - and How to Stop It" was published in the United States. I refused to acknowledge a British court's jurisdiction over a book published here; the court then ruled in bin Mahfouz's favor by default. It enjoined British publication of "Funding Evil," awarded bin Mahfouz $225,900 in damages and expenses and ordered that I publicly apologize and destroy the book. I still refuse to acknowledge the British Court and its ruling.

Will Jesus Be Allowed In Heaven?

No one should be surprised that not all people who believe in God are Christians but some Christians believe only they will enter the kingdom of heaven, that God does not recognize those of other God-fearing religions.Christians have no monopoly on God – or religion. Even Jesus himself was obviously not a “Christian”. He was a member of the Jewish faith who disagreed with some of the teachings and doctrine of his religion but he remained a practicing member of the Jewish religion. He wanted to reform the religion he was raised in, the faith of his father and mother; he didn't set out to create a new organized religion or sect. Others decided to do that after his death.So does that mean Jesus is not allowed in heaven? He wasn't a Christian. He practiced Judaism. 

Despite what they taught, not those back then who broke from Judaism and became Christians, nor any religious leaders since, have been ordained by God to tell the rest of us what to do or how to think when it comes to our belief in a supreme being. We are, at least for the time being, free to choose our faith and our religious beliefs of our own free will. I have to believe that was God’s plan. Free people should not be shamed, cowed, pressured, frightened, threatened or forced into accepting any particular religious doctrine against their will. And for those who profess a certain belief, just the fact you have made a decision to follow a particular religious doctrine does not make you anymore right than anyone else nor does it give you authority or power over them. God has not granted you that right and Christianity is not a state religion. That is the definition of fascism. The right-wing, fundamentalist Christian movement has embraced fascism in their overzealous attempt to take over the reins of our government and convert everyone to their belief. Jesus, who was liberal, and would not support right-wing views by any stretch of the imagination, was anything but a fascist and would reject most aspects of what the Christian religion has become.

Concerning matters of faith, a man-of-the-cloth once told me that having doubts regarding the stories told in the Bible is healthy. He opined that Christianity was alive and evolving and that doubt and ongoing debate was natural and necessary to keep it alive. How can criticism, doubt, debating factual evidence, and reasoning all be wonderful tools for intellectual pursuits but sinful when applied to the Bible? Did Jesus condemn Thomas for doubting? Did he strike him down or condemn him to hell?

Fundamentalist Christians tend to be ignorant concerning the teachings of Jesus and twist the words of the Bible to suit their needs. They foolishly belief that God has blessed them and them alone and that people of other faiths are damned to hell. How ignorant is that? They think only they and those of their particular denomination will walk the golden streets of heaven and the rest of the world’s people will spend an eternity writhing in the flames of hell. In short, they aren't much different than their radical counterparts, the fundamentalist Muslims.

They also indoctrinate their children from birth regarding their religious beliefs, not allowing their children to question or make any decisions of their own as to the logic or absurdity of the faith chosen for them - or if a faith is even required. Many young adults are conflicted by the expectations of their parents and the evidence they encounter as they reason their way through life.

Although I don’t suspect it would make any difference to the closed minds of your average born-again Christian, here are a few things that any professing Christian should consider –

1. Evolution is a scientific fact and religion should stay out of teaching religion/creationism in Public Schools. Religion/creationism is not even good theory and is about things that cannot be proven and must be accepted on faith. Creationism is not knowledge or science. State ordered religious dogma is fascist. Also, praying should not be scheduled and orchestrated by a public institution. Prayer can be practiced by anyone almost anywhere at any time. It doesn’t have to be an overt display. You can set quietly at your desk and pray. Who can deprive you? How do these "Christians" reconcile forced public prayer with Matthew 6:6 ? "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words." Churches are allowed to have their own schools as long as they meet state and federal standards but they should stay out of the affairs of public schools.

2. Speaking of prayer, it only works when and if it changes us, when it moves our hearts and minds - it doesn’t work to change the world we live in. Show me one proof of prayer changing an event or physical property. Prayers do not produce material or physical miracles. Prayers don’t protect us, produce money, and keep bridges from collapsing or debt from consuming us – but hard work, right living, right thinking and being responsible does. Prayer should not be used to ask for things beyond our control but instead to ask for personal forgiveness, understanding, acceptance and compassion. If you truly accept God then you’ll let God take care of the rest.

3. The Bible should not be read literally because those who composed the writings that were assembled into the Bible were just men and they sometimes got it wrong. Some writings were considered for inclusion and rejected – not by God, but by the self proclaimed leaders of the church. The decision of which writings to include was mostly political and not decided by God. In many cases the books of the Bible were written by people who believed in religious myths and they used allegories to make simple points. We are more knowledgeable now. We now know the earth is round and it circles the sun. We know that thunder, lighting, floods, tornados, hurricanes and earthquakes are not God venting his anger, these are naturally occurring events caused by climatic and geological interactions sometimes triggered by environmental disturbance caused by man. It’s ludicrous to think a book as superstition-ridden, prurient, disjointed, rambling and full of mistakes and contradictions as is the Bible is one that God personally supervised and intended.

4. The miracles in the Bible are not to be taken literally as many can be explained as natural phenomena or just myths appropriated from earlier pagan religions. All cultures have created fictional stories to teach and support traditional and cultural views. Even Jesus openly used parables, which are made up stories, to make his points.

5. Biblical and religious salvation is different depending on the person and that person’s circumstances. Why would a person have to be a Christian to enter heaven? Jesus didn’t say that. Jesus wasn’t a Christian.

6. Religion has traditionally held women down, especially fundamentalist sects, and it's time for that to end. Men should not have any more rights than a woman. A woman’s right to choose is sovereign to her freedom. And all children should be our priority, not just unborn American children.

7. Homosexuality has been present throughout history. Most likely all homosexuals are born with easily triggered genetic propensities. Old Testament references to homosexuality are to be discounted. Why not? We discount other outdated, superstitious and ignorant Old Testament instructions. New Testament references are all about pedophilia, not adult homosexuality. The fact is Jesus never talked about homosexuality. Besides, why is it acceptable for men and women to use various means to satisfy sexual urges but not two people of the same gender? It’s not my cup of tea but it’s no skin off my ass if two women or two men want to get each other off. Is it un-natural? One could argue that any form of sex other than procreative sex is un-natural. If I remember correctly, only our near relatives the chimpanzees and perhaps some other species of monkey engage in sex for enjoyment.

8. If you believe in God then you should accept that God knows who needs Christianity or who will find God utilizing a different path. Jesus didn't claim to be the only way to God and the apostle Paul agreed with this. It was later Christians who decided otherwise. Jesus reputedly said “the kingdom of God/Heaven is within”. You don’t need a church, or a mediator, or someone’s permission to go within. Believing the only path to go within and the only way to find God is through Christianity or the church doesn’t make sense. Jesus would not approve.

9. There is no hell except in your mind. You create hell for yourself and for other people. Stop now! God is Love – Love is God. Jesus called himself the son of man and he talked about returning to whence he came and being with God as he was before the world was made – and Jesus claimed we are all sons of man. Why wouldn't it be the same for us? In essence, assuming there is a God and assuming we are more than our physical bodies, weren't we all with God before we came into the world and isn't it likely we will return there when we leave this existence?

10. Jesus was born a man, and as a man he was subject to being fallible. He admitted his temptations. He obviously didn't know everything or he would not have cried, “Father, if it is your will let this cup pass from me’, and, at the last “Father,why hast thou forsaken me?” If in fact he did say those things.

The books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of the New Testament even vary their accounts of Jesus. As example, for Jesus’ last words on the cross, Luke makes no mention that Jesus’ said anything other than, “Father, into my hands I commend my spirit.” John says that Jesus said simply, “It is finished.” Yet Matthew and Mark both say he cried out loudly something akin to, “Father, why hast thou forsaken me.” As a story writer that has a more dramatic twist. Poetic license?

Three different accounts. Wouldn't God in his infinite wisdom, when he allegedly inspired those to write the books of the Bible, have made sure that there was only one factual account or that all agreed with each other? Why would God allow confusion - because he works in mysterious ways? Why would God insist on being mysterious? Why would God allow the Koran, the Vedas, and the Book of Mormon, etc. to complicate things if only the Bible was his true word? And if God really had a hand in the Bible why didn't God just cut through the crap and be clear, accurate, articulate, concise and straightforward so we would know without a doubt that this is the true word of God? Give me a break!

If you look at the heavens and the world of nature, not the world of man, you’ll see a synchronicity beyond understanding, a wondrous complexity, a harmony and balance of amazing proportions and beauty. Accepting that God, whoever and whatever God is, created all this it’s not hard to conceive that God really is omnipotent and perfect. But when I look at man and see the destruction and chaos caused by man’s disregard for and destruction of God’s creation; and when I look at the world religions and see all the conflict, confusion, ambiguities, flaws, contradictions and disharmony they cause; and when I see all the divisiveness and hatred imbued in them; and when I see all the wars and violence, corruption and evil that have been committed in the name of God, I can only believe that man, not God, is behind this madness.

TMA or Text Messaging Abbreviations

CMIIW (correct me if I’m wrong) but FWIW (for what it’s worth) it seems us SC (senior citizens) sometimes referred to as OF (old fogies) or in the case of old women, BH (blue hairs), who are approaching are or well into our GY (golden years), in order to SIT (stay in touch) with the youth of today who delight in KPC (keeping parents clueless), we need to BUOOTMS (brush up on our text messaging skills) if we want to KWTFTKAM (know what the fuck these kids are messaging) to one another.

Below is a link to TMA (text message abbreviations) to HYD (help you decipher) the CAC (concise abbreviated communications) that are TOC (turning our children) into EDI (electronically dependent idiots) who SMOTT (spend most of their time) with TEGTACS (their eyes glued to a computer screen) RT (rather than) LISE (looking into someone’s eyes) and SDTS (speaking directly to someone), SWTV (speaking with their voice) and IWARLP (interacting with a real living person); PETE (physically expressing their emotions) and SWTF (smiling with their face) rather than a CGI (computer generated icon), TWTH (touching with their hands) and IP (interacting physically) rather than IAK (inserting a keyboard) in between them and the RW (real world).

WIMBC (while it may be convenient) IDTIH (I don’t think it’s healthy) and IFO (I for one) TIEI (think it’s extremely important) that WPTOFW (we preserve the old fashion ways of communicating) with one another BWE (before we evolve) ILMT (into little more than) EROBRC (emotionless robots operated by remote control) from some ACTS (advanced communications technology satellite) controlled by someone like a DMCAC (delusional, manic, cold and crazed) DUBYA (dumb-ass, underachieving, Bi-polar, Yalie Asshole) WTTAOBG (who thinks they are ordained by God) to RTE (rule the earth) and AIBOTFCDW (assist in bringing on the fanatical Christian death wish) of the IDOTWASOR (imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous) Rapture as outlined in TBOR (the book of Revelations).

TAYITE (to assist you in the endeavor) of DTM (deciphering text messaging) IHPTL ( I have provided this link ) to AGTUOCA&SF (a guide to understanding online chat acronyms and smiley faces).

B4N, RTB,

LY,

G

Technical Aversion Disorder

A friend recently bought a vehicle equipped with Onstar. It’s an excellent tool and safety device, no doubt, and although I don’t have a vehicle that includes this service, it sounds interesting. I also don’t have a portable GPS – Global Positioniing System for satellite ground navigation. But do I really need it? Getting lost and trying to find my way around is nearly the only exciting thing that happens to me anymore and one of the only sports where I can still compete. I have a pigeon's sense of direction. Margaret, my wife, calls me The Pathfinder.

Mine and Margaret’s biggest monthly outlay is electronic communications including a cable TV and internet provider, plus MLB.TV package, cell phones and land phone line, etc. This world is becoming so technical what with Handheld PC/Phones, GPS’s in cars, cell phones, OnStar, etc. what’s next, personal satellites? And what if you prefer that Big Brother and the Brownshirts don’t know exactly where you are? What if you cherish privacy and your freedom? (BTW, Big Brother and the Brownshirts would be a great name for a rock band. )

That’s right – freedom. Freedom from TV, Computers, cell phones, GPI devices (Ground Point Indicators), etc. Have we become slaves to technology (the correct answer is yes)? Are our lives truly richer for all the microwaves, shortwaves , etc. that bombard our bodies and our brains every second of our lives? Or is there a danger? Has anyone ever read The Zapping of America?

I have one friend of substantial means who refuses to have cable TV, a computer or a cell phone and I’m beginning to see the value of this decision. He refuses to succumb to herd mentality in other ways as well. He values his freedom and his privacy. He is also environmental/energy conscious and a conservative in the original sense of the word. Women in huge SUV’s with a cell phone permanently attached to their ear is his biggest peeve.

How many of us are addicted and have lost the biggest percentage of our lives to the computer? And how many people have lost their lives to vehicle accidents caused by cell phones? Five young female students died just last week. There are two deaths that are glaring examples right here in our community just in the last couple months.

And what happens when these systems fail? What happens if an enemy targets the critical communications satellites we rely on now for nearly everything? Is there one survival system now integral to that communications system that is not threatened as a result? Food supply and distribution? Fuel and transportation? Emergency healthcare? Water? You name it.

Remember this. When the Native Americans were introduced to and became reliant on the technology brought by European invaders, over a few short decades they lost the ability to produce weapons and other essentials. Their survival skills diminished dramatically and they became almost totally reliant on trade goods and food produced by others. They were enslaved by an advanced technology and unable to survive without it. You’ve been warned.

I recently wrote that an old friend who lives in San Francisco has neither cell phone nor computer and still relies on a “rotary” dial phone. How retro is that?

I can dig it. I’ve got one of the old replicas hooked up in a spare bedroom. It’s the pedestal kind with the speaker cone and the ear piece separate – remember? Our number when I was a tad was BR (Bridge) 2439 or something like that. I can’t recall. Remember Junior Sample’s used car lot number from Hee Haw? BR-549. It spawned a popular country group by the same name.

Speaking of old cord sets, my son lives in a rural area with spotty cell coverage and recently when their power failed so did their cordless land line phones and their cells wouldn’t connect. Everyone should have one of the old cord phones available for power failures. Those will still work when the power is off since they are powered by a low voltage signal that comes through the phone line..

It also helps to have a battery operated radio, a gas or kerosene lamp or both, and a small gas camping stove. Of course that list should include extra white or bottle gas. We also include a gas powered generator which is very nice when the power fails during either cold or hot weather. But those are all examples of advanced technology.

Technology is not all bad and might make life easier and more conveinient on some levels but when you become so reliant on it that you can no longer provide for your basic survival needs for lack of an energy source - you are in big trouble when you lose that energy source through accident or when those who control the source decide to hold you hostage.

Sort of like the gasoline situation we now face. If there ever was a mass war and global shutdown of food and energy distribution, the Amish with their horses and wagons and self-sufficient lifestyles would look like the smartest and most blessed people on earth.

To illustrate the point there is a story I like to tell about being in the recording studio when a storm caused the power to go off. Hargus "Pig" Robbins, a well known blind piano player here in Nashville, was on the keyboards and when the windowless studio went black it was like being in a cave. We were all helpless. After about fifteen minutes the drummer on the session, Buddy Harmon, called out to Pig saying he had to piss and would Pig please lead him to the restroom. It was funny at the time but is a prime example of how helpless we can all become when the tecnology we come to depend on is suddenly taken away or witheld to hold us hostage.

Better get out your old scout manual and start learning how to survive with just sticks and rocks and the animal and plantlife at hand - just in case.

Martin Luther King and JFK Spoke Truth

This is an excerpt from a Martin Luther King publication.It is just as true today.

In 1957 a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution. During the past ten years we have seen emerge a pattern of suppression which now has justified the presence of U.S. military "advisors" in Venezuela. This need to maintain social stability for our investments accounts for the counter-revolutionary action of American forces in Guatemala. It tells why American helicopters are being used against guerrillas in Colombia and why American napalm and green beret forces have already been active against rebels in Peru. It is with such activity in mind that the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken -- the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment.

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

A Little Poison In Your Diet - What Can It Hurt?

I recently received and email being circulated on the internet entitled “Cancer Warnings from John Hopkins”. It warned against microwaving food in plastic storage and packing containers and also using plastic wrap to cover food in the microwave. I sent it out to my friends list.

Someone in the first group I received it from countered with an email providing a link to Snopes.com that states this concern is false - but I disagree.

I’m the one who always advises that we should all check out any undocumented claim or “urban legend” that circulates on the internet and almost always relies on Snopes to provide the truth. In this case, I think Snopes got it wrong by not explaining that this is in fact partially true or is at the very least undetermined. While it may be false that this warning came from John Hopkins or that dioxins are released, it is not false that heated plastic constitutes a health hazard. And while we are on the subject of microwaves, there is still a concern that microwaves themselves are advcersely effecting your health.

Snopes has called the email claim false that plastics used in microwaves might cause cancer and their refute quotes Dr. Halden of John Hopkins as saying, “This is an urban legend. There are no dioxins in plastics. In addition, freezing actually works against the release of chemicals. Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don’t think there are.” Halden says “we don’t think there are” dioxins in plastic. He hedges because he doesn’t know. But if you do a little research you will find that dioxins are in fact used in the production of many plastics.

But, he doesn't refute the fact that heating food in plastics can affect your health, only that he doesn't think dioxins are released. Halden states, “In general, whenever you heat something you increase the likelihood of pulling chemicals out. Chemicals can be released from plastic packaging materials like the kinds used in some microwave meals.”

Duh! Even Dr. Halden, who states cooking in plastic does not release dioxins and he “doesn’t think” there are dioxins in plastic, goes on to say “Having said this, there is another group of chemicals, called phthalates that are sometimes added to plastics to make them flexible and less brittle. Phthalates are environmental contaminants that can exhibit hormone-like behavior by acting as endocrine disruptors in humans and animals. If you heat up plastics, you could increase the leaching of phthalates from the containers into water and food.” Why didn’t Snopes point this out? Were they only concerned with dioxins?

According to the Food and Drug Administration, freezing and microwaving plastic food containers and wraps are safe. They say although small amounts of chemicals used to make certain plastics may leach into food; any chemicals that do leach into food are within safe limits.

Oh, I see. And who do you think it was that came to that conclusion? I'm sure it was the lobbyists and the chemists that work for the chemical and plastics industry that were asked by the government, by the Food and Drug Administration, to assure the public there is no danger from using their products. They responded and the Food and Drug Administration has passed this industry conclusion along to us – the concerned public. Oh, there may be a few carcinogens here and there that will be released but "trust us" they say, these chemicals that enter your body are within safe limits.

Where and how many times have we heard that before?

Firstly, their research people are biased. They get paid support corporate decisions and to deliver good news. Do you know how long a chemist would stay employed by his employer if he told them their product is endangering the health of consumers and it can’t be fixed? Even prominent university research scientists have been found guilty of forging research data that hides the truth so they can continue to get federal grants (our tax dollars) to keep their job and continue their research.

And when they talk about safe amounts what about safe amounts for infants? Who recalls the findings that low levels of bisphenol-A in plastic baby bottles were linked to reproductive abnormalities?

If you as a consumer don’t believe that you and your children’s health is being compromised every day of your life by manufacturers and puveyors of products, especially those in the pharmaceutical and food production and distribution industry, you are living in a fool’s paradise. The sources and exposures are too numerous to cover here.

Getting back to heating food in the microwave oven, common sense should tell anyone who has smelled burning plastic, technically educated or not, that plastics are toxic and that any form of chemicals entering your body is harmful in some way. The claim in the email that freezing water in plastic containers releases dioxins doesn’t make sense – but eventhough, I’m not certain. Usually lowering the temperature of anything makes it more inert. Raising the temperature causes the atom structure all materials to become more active, liberating components and eventually changing composition, breaking up completely, usually transported by the surrounding air and suffusing into nearby or equally heat-excited substances.

I worked in and was trained in quality control and research laboratories when I worked for Monsanto Company and was exposed to a plethora of dangerous chemicals and production processes. I have a feel for the processes and the manner in which chemicals react and have experienced first hand how people’s health can be affected. While it is second nature for me, I suppose people who have no chemistry or physics background often just don’t have a clue.

Regardless, why would anyone compromise their health for a little convenience? Only because they’ve been led down a rosy path by the pied pipers of industry. Anyone who has worked for a large corporation knows how the corporate hierarchy tells lies and spins things in their favor.

As a member of Monsanto’s management team I observed first hand how this company compromised their responsibility for safety of employees and routinely and knowingly broke laws and regulations regarding pollution control – all in the name of profits for those at the top and for corporate growth - which are one and the same. When I expressed concern that we might be producing a product whose residues and by-products could be very harmful to the environment and a health hazard to people who came in contact with them, I was told that’s not my concern and that future science would learn to deal with it.

As St Paul said in the Bible (and you know I’m not a crazed Christian just because I quote him) “love of money is the root of all evil”. You must note, he didn’t say money is evil, only love of it; the insatiable drive to get more and more. I think I have actually witnessed the presence of evil in the eyes of greedy people.

I’m currently re-reading a book entitled “Our Kind” by Marvin Harris, an anthropologist that goes into how the barter system most likely arose. They have observed female pigmy chimps in the wild that trade sex for food and theorize that’s how early man began what has evolved into the economic system of commerce we know today. However back then, when homo sapien was first developing, this form of prostitution was dignified and had a positive outcome for the group. Today’s uber-greed has spawned industrial and commercial forms of prostitution that are infused with evil and without conscience. This out-of-control greed sacrifices the less wealthy members of the group for the benefit and upkeep of the wealthiest.

It never ceases to amaze me that people will avert their eyes or delude themselves when they see injustice and dishonesty in business or politics as long as they see themselves profiting as a result. How does one rationalize profiting from behavior that causes suffering and pain to others? What makes some people feel a sense of guilt for such behavior while others somehow reason they are not guilty? What is it about the lust for wealth and the lifestyle it allows that will cause people to sell their soul to the devil – even if it’s just one little piece at a time?

Those who produce consumer products are all guilty of exposing us to disease and hazards of one type or another but they always play it down in their favor. They are fond of claiming that the danger that haunts their products is either not there or are is there but in such small quantity it can’t hurt you. They also like to claim we are exposed to these same hazards by Mother Nature. For example, they like to point out that each of us already carries a certain body burden of dioxins regardless of how and what we eat. If you look hard enough, they say, you’ll find traces of dioxins in pretty much every place on earth. They remind us that Paracelsus, the famous medieval alchemist, declared: “it’s the dose that makes the poison”, meaning any chemical can be toxic if you eat, drink or absorb too much of it.

Maybe so, but who the f--- wants the heavily stock optioned corporate executives of General Foods to decide what dose is okay for us and our children to absorb on a daily basis?

Not me!

Trust In God

One of the most controversial, intelligent, original, free-thinking and courageous spiritual leaders that lived in the last century has been Shree Rajneesh, who later changed his name to simply Osho. The name Osho has been variously translated to mean a zero sum or empty which refers to the absence of ego or as they say in Zen, the state of no-mind, a perfect state of emptiness strived for in meditation practice. Rajneesh did not present himself up as someone who was holy or who was favored by God; not as someone to be paid reverence or as someone who was a religious leader. He was against all religions.

Rajneesh would agree that man’s ego, joined together with religious belief and fear, has been responsible for history’s most egregious crimes and atrocities most often committed in the name of God and one religious belief or another. The Christian crusades are a prime example. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is a continuation.

What kind of God approves of man’s inhumanity to man? How can anyone believe that God sanctions torture and war; that God rejoices as members of one faith attempt to annihilate members of another faith? What kind of God loves one nation but not another, loves some of his children but not all? Only a God that man has created as part of a fabricated religious belief.

Shree Rajneesh argues against blind religious faith and tells us that trust will set us free; that trust opens the door for truth and enlightenment and pushes fear aside.

Rajneesh says God’s gracious gift to mankind is trust. He says trust does not mean faith. Faith is phony; faith is blind. Faith is superstitious; you haven’t known, you have simply believed. And all religious belief is out of fear; man believes because he is afraid. He clings to religious beliefs so he can feel safe, secure.

Trust, Rajneesh says, is a totally different phenomenon, diametrically opposite to belief, to faith. Trust is an experience that can only happen with the help of God. You can’t create it. You can create belief; you can become a Christian, a Hindu, a Mohammedan, etc. There are 300 different religions on the earth. You can choose any of them but that will be your belief, and your belief is not going to help. Your belief will remain a prison for you. Your belief will be a sheer waste of your life, because the more you believe the less you enquire; and there is no truth without enquiry. Then how does trust happen?

Trust comes from God. All that is needed on your part is to be a welcoming heart, to be receptive, to be open. Belief makes you closed. So this looks paradoxical but this is how it is; the believing man never comes to know what trust is. Neither does the non-believer because belief and non-belief are cousin-brothers, they are not different. Non-belief is also a kind of belief. It is anti but a kind of belief; negative but a kind of belief. Trust comes to the mind that neither believes nor disbelieves; a mind that is simply open, that has no prejudice, a mind that says, “I am available, if truth comes I will welcome it.”

And when truth comes, it comes with certainty. And when it descends on you, it transforms you, but it is nothing of your own; it is from God, it is God’s gift.

Rajneesh advises you to be loving and open and one day you will be surprised that something has happened to you; a tremendous trust will arise in you – trust in existence, in life, in everything that is. That trust is the true foundation of a religious consciousness and spiritual peace.

He further states that trust and love are partners in the dissolution of the ego; that the greatest courage in life is to dissolve yourself in love; that there is no other bravery greater than that. Everyone is a coward where the death of the ego is concerned because the death of the ego is somehow perceived to be, appears to be, our own death. It is not, but there is no way to prove it unless you personally experience it, hence courage is needed to step into the unknown.

Love is the alchemy of dissolving your ego and once the ego is gone, God is. God is completely present only when the ego is gone and trust becomes complete.

So sayeth Osho.

The Music Business - The Devil’s Garden

For your entertainment here is a video of what appears to be two staff bloggers filling in for the regular newscasters at WKRN Channel 2 in Nashville. Items of interest on the video are as follows.

Number one, apparently the guy in the video, because he is not a professional, must not be aware that you hold the microphone in your hand and don’t put it in your pocket – or wait! Maybe that’s not a microphone! Maybe he just gets off being on camera.

Number two, the May, 2006 report includes a segment concerning Hal Bynum, a Nashville songwriter who obviously has a green thumb when it comes to growing herbs.

I knew Hal from way back when he and Roger Bowling wrote the Kenny Rogers hit “Lucille”. I could tell stories that are better left untold.

Hal’s co-writer on Lucille, Roger Bowling, used to occasionally hang out at the same watering hole and was one of those guys who would get real melancholy when he got drunk. He often would be seen sitting at a table in a gloomy funk drinking alone. This was also back in the days where a lot of cocaine was available in Nashville music circles and I imagine Hal and Roger may have been partaking as well but Roger's demeanor doesn’t fit the description of cocaine highs that I’m aware of – maybe coming off cocaine, which is described as a miserable low.

Anyway, Roger, who I also knew casually, eventually moved back to Georgia I think it was. He ended up allegedly committing suicide on his couch in 1982. It was an overdose of sleeping pills as I recall – a sad end for someone once so creative and passionate for music – and young. Roger was only 39.

Not all the success stories in Nashville have rosy outcomes and many successes are short-lived. Many songwriters or artists riding high on the charts one year might be washing cars or painting houses a few years later.

I briefly knew a well-known, highly successful producer of an amazing number of hit artists who near the end of his life couldn't find employment and I saw driving an old Ford Escort. I’m not sure that he was destitute but he must have been down on his luck. He died still fairly young in 1997.

And then there's Gary Stewart who ended up taking his life, despondent over his wife's death and from being a bright star who fell off the charts years before. Drinking, drugs and his wild nature played a big part in destroying his career although many who shared his wild lifestyle have survived and are successful.

It seems the little guys are always the most rowdy and wild. That would include Stewart, George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Rodriguez and several others I can't think of at the moment.

As an artist or songwriter, the music business seems most often to either make you very wealthy or destroy you unless you plan for possible failure and have a backup means of support. I would stop short of recommending it to any young dreamer but still, although risky, it’s a romantic adventure, can be highly entertaining and makes for a lot of great memories.

Like one might imagine, the Devil’s garden is full of excitement, many temptations and lots of danger.

I Wish I Was Eighteen Again

A classmate sent me the song link below which many of us can relate to – George Burns singing I Wish I Was Eighteen Again.

I happen to know the guy who wrote this song, Sonny Throckmorton. As I recall he was somewhere around thirty-five or forty when he wrote it.

Sonny was a songwriter here in Nashville who also wrote Middle Aged Crazy (Jerry Lee Lewis) and The Last Cheaters Waltz (T G Shepard) among many other big hits. The Last Cheaters Waltz is one of my all-time favorite songs.

When I first moved here Sonny was writing for Tree Publishing. The song plugger, the person who Sonny brought his songs to at the publishing company, took Sonny’s tape of his latest efforts and threw it back across the desk to Sonny saying “Is this the best you can do? This is crap!”

Disappointed, Sonny left and went back to Texas to work in construction. About six months or so he got a call saying that one of his songs, Middle Aged Crazy I think, had been cut by Jerry Lee Lewis and was screaming up the charts. Sonny came back to Nashville and, based on that song’s success, artists were clamoring for whatever he had. He pulled out all his previously written stuff and within the year he had 20-30 of his songs cut.

Then some time after his first big success, Sonny watched as others took his songs and climbed the charts. He decided that if he was going to write songs for other people to become big stars - why not record them and become a recording star himself. So he wrote a whole album of good stuff, “A” material as it was called, then went in the studio, recorded and released it. The only problem was Sonny wasn’t all that good a singer. Other artists knew this and upon hearing of the impending release of his LP they licked their lips waiting for Sonny’s album to come out because once it did, the songs immediately became available for anyone to record. That’s the way it works. Other artists jumped all over it. For example, Sonny’s version of Last Cheaters Waltz went to 50 on the charts and died. TG Shepard recorded it and took it to number one a few months later.

The music business is tough. I recall that Nick Nixon, a country artist and friend who was super-big in the St Louis area back in the seventies, came to Nashville and cut a song called “She’s Just An Old Love Turned Memory”. It went to #23 on the Billboard charts and was Nick’s highest charting record and one of his last chances to become a hit artist. At the time Nick prophetically commented to me that if Charley Pride had cut it would have been a number one hit. Lo and behold, Charley Pride eventually did cut and release that song and guess what – it went to #1 on Billboard.

Poor Nick. I really think one of the things that hurt him as an artist is that he had this high paying regular gig at a club in St Louis called the Downspout which was near Lambert airport. He felt he couldn’t afford to go out on promotional tours and support his records because he would lose the weekly check from the Downspout gig. Who knows what could have happened if he had taken the other route.

Getting back to Sonny Throckmorton, I actually took Sonny in the studio to record a pilot radio program I created called Sixteenth Avenue back in the early eighties. The concept was to interview a different hit songwriter every week and give the listening audience an inside look into the people who wrote the songs and how they sounded when the creator played and sang them. Sonny was my first guest songwriter. The show never got off the ground because I didn’t know how to market it. I still have the pilot tapes.

I’ll never for get it. My host was the number one DJ in town at the time and Sonny had some really good wacky tobacco that we shared. Those were the good old days.

Anyhow, here is the link for the George Burns singing Throckmorton’s song, I Wish I Was Eighteen Again. Me too Kiddo!

Gary

Chocolate, Gore Vidal and Liars

Last night I ate chocolate – too much of it and too late in the evening. The sugar and caffeine wired me like a Christmas tree and I couldn’t go to sleep. So, propped up in bed in a choco-hyperstate, I watched a fascinating interview of Gore Vidal on NPT.

I haven’t read much Vidal since he mostly writes fiction and I’ve never been into popular fiction, however, I recognize his literary genius. I’ve always considered popular fiction, although entertaining, a waste of time except when it’s based on historical fact, which I understand much of Vidal’s work is, so I guess I should give Vidal a go. Especially his works like Lincoln, Julian, and a few others.

I think I’ll first start with his new memoir entitled, “Point to Point Navigation”. The title refers to his experience in the U.S. Navy attempting to navigate the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. He explained that at the time they didn’t have all the modern navigation equipment and the stars, sun, etc. were hidden by consistently foggy conditions or by clouded, overcast skies so they had to use Aleut Indian guides who knew how to navigate from point to point, one island to the next. Hence the title which I suppose refers to how Vidal navigated the waters of life.

The interviewer, Denis Wholey, remarked of the many references in Gore’s book to Michel de Montaigne, a philosopher I love and became acquainted with when I was just seventeen, in the Air Force and stationed in El Paso, Texas. When Wholey mentioned Vidal's frequent reference to Montaigne, Vidal attempted to quote a particular quote from Montaigne’s essay on lying which I am overly familiar with since it was the one Montaigne quote I memorized and have made a guidepost for my life ever since I first read it. Interesting that Vidal should choose that very quote.

Although there are several translations, the one I most recall goes like this: “Verily, lying is an ill and detestable vice. What holds us together as men if not our word? If we knew but the horror and the weight of it we would with fire and sword pursue the same and more justly than any other crime.” That’s paraphrased, and somewhat incorrect I imagine, but close enough. Vidal’s quote was also in the neighborhood, was his own version and, as I recall, not nearly as accurate as mine.

Parroting Montaigne, Vidal mentions that to not lie is the one thing we should teach our children from very early in life; the consequences of lying and that lying will not be tolerated. He remarked that once a child learns to lie and is allowed to develop the vile habit, it stays with them and corrupts their life from then on. They never escape from it. He got that from Montaigne also

Montaigne speaks much more eloquently than Vidal. "I do myself a greater injury in lying than I do him of whom I tell a lie”, writes Montaigne. “Only lying and stubbornness somewhat more, are the faults whose birth and progress I would have severely punished and cut off; for they grow and increase with them: and if the tongue have once gotten this ill-habit, good Lord how hard, nay how impossible it is to make her leave it.”

I concur.

Vidal’s reference to Montaigne cinched it for me. I have to get the book just to see how he uses Montaigne to support his views and what he has to say. He’d better not be lying.

After the program I thought about this, about lying and about authors, and about authors who lie, either intentionally or through carelessness and forgetfulness. It made me remember a story that I like to tell about an experience that connects Dr. Wayne Dyer, Robert Frost and Jalaluddin Rumi, the Persian (Iranian) poet from the 13th Century.

Many years ago I was listening to a speech by Wayne Dyer (one of my first spiritual gurus) who many of you may have seen and heard in recent years on PBS/NPT. Dyer, who today I know longer consider as spiritually honest as he once was, referred to a brief poem by Frost called “The Secret Sits”.

“We all dance around in a circle and suppose
While the secret sits in the middle and knows.”

What a cool poem I thought. Very mystical.

Since I had trouble falling to sleep that night I decided to read. I thought, “I’ll read some Montaigne”, but then for some strange reason got a notion to read Rumi instead and imagine my shock while reading the poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi to run across the nearly identical couplet that was written by Rumi around 1250 CE.

Frost, a plagiarist? I’m afraid so, whether from flagrant intent or from a mistaken belief that he himself had created this when in fact he had only remembered it and was perhaps confused over its origin..

Most of us have heard of the whirling dervishes of the Middle East, the Sufi’s, whose religious practice includes dancing in circles, whirling around as they go while verbally spouting their love for God. How they ever keep from getting dizzy and falling down is a wonder.

Most of us wouldn’t know (or perhaps don’t care) that it was Jalaluddin Rumi who was the developer of the whirling dance. He would dance around for hours and while spinning about in a trance he would create poetry. His approach to the muse was particularly unique and his followers wrote the poems down as Rumi composed them. All in all he created thousands of beautiful poems dealing with his love for God and how one should approach God. This is the basis for the Sufi spiritual sect of Islam. Rumi was the guy who conceived it. The poem that Frost plagiarized was a concise reference to the Sufi dance by Rumi. "We all dance around in a circle and suppose" is what Rumi said, not sit as Frost wrote.

So, the next time you whirl around the dance floor think of Rumi and the secret that sits in the middle of all existence and knows all that there is to know.

And the next time you tell a lie think of Gore Vidal or of Montaigne and his admonishment about telling lies.

And the next time you read Frost or hear Dyer speak think about how we can't always believe or accept things we are told and about the effect an untruth has on our lives and on those who perpetrate lies.

Then vow that you will use care to always tell the truth as best you know it and not deceive anyone for profit or gain – or for any reason other than to protect someone from emotional suffering or evil intent by others. Only in those limited cases should the truth be compromised – but even then the lie will take its toll because each lie born has a life of its own and will cause others to wrongly accept it and act accordingly. It will necessitate other lies to keep the original lie alive and its originators from being discovered.

It has been said that the truth hurts. Maybe it does often sting, but most of the time it heals, nourishes understanding and grows trust. A lie on the other hand has a ripple effect, It lives on, causing unforeseen damage as one lie requires another to be told to cover for the first. It can snowball and precipitate wrongful actions and lasting injury to everyone who believes it or wields it for advantage and gain. And once discovered it causes more damage by breeding distrust and anger.

Reference the war in Iraq and the lies on top of lies told to Americans and Iraqis alike. How many deaths, crippling injuries, suffering and ruined lives? How many wasted billions of dollars that could have been spent aiding the same people it has destroyed as the lie has been told and retold, modified and added to? A fraction of the wealth gathered and stolen by war profiteers could have produced a ripple effect of life improvement and positive results to the same people it has caused to suffer, to become poisoned with hatred and left with a feeling of complete hopelessness for any semblance of a normal or happy life.

The entire amount of money already wasted on this wrongful war could have insured our social security system for a hundred years, guaranteed our national security, provided healthcare to all Americans, lowered costs and greatly improved our education system, reduced poverty and a caused a positive ripple effect that would be felt for decades to come.

A lie is negative and always produces negative results, harm and suffering. It saddles the fabricators as prisoners and victims of the lie for the life of the lie and beyond. As Montaigne so aptly observes, the liar often injures himself more than the person being lied to or lied about.

The truth by comparison is positive, it sets you free to live honestly and unfettered. It liberates rather than imprisons. It has no equal in its power to produce positive results, to repair and heal. As Al Gore has pointed out on the issue of global warming, the truth may seem inconvienient to those who would profit from a lie but telling the truth is always the right choice.

So all you new parents, like Montaigne and Gore Vidal advise, teach your children to tell the truth while you can.

David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young once pleaded – teach your children well.

You who are on the road
Must have a code
that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past
is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell
did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked,
the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why,
if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh
and know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears - that
your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth
before they can die.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell
will slowly go by,
And feed them
on your dreams
The one they picked,
the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why,
if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh
and know they love you