Updates: Wisconsin, Islamaphobia, Newsman David Broder and Political Cartoons

Supreme Court building Image via Wikipedia

Wisconsin



From Denny:  This past weekend 100,000 protesters came out again into the Wisconsin winter weather, committed to carrying the fight to the public court of opinion. While the governor and the Republicans believe they have won they may find they have ignited an Employee Firestorm across America against all politicians.



Recall petitions are gathering steam for the four Republican State Senators that voted against the workers. Another recall petition against the governor is in the works as well, though it cannot be executed until the governor has finished one year in office. Count on it these workers and the unions will be ready and waiting to pounce as soon as the minute past midnight strikes, signaling Gov. Walker has finished his first year on the job.



The workers have also gone to court to question the legitimacy of violating state Open Meeting Laws. No ruling as of yet on that count.



It's clear why the Republican Party has pushed so hard the past 30 years to stack the federal judiciary and the Supreme Court with conservatives they could bribe. What it amounts to is there is no longer any justice in the land for any but the small percentage of the wealthiest among us. If all employees in every sector stick together, unions or not, like they do in Europe, striking as one mass, is the only way to turn the tide of injustice.



Wisconsin Uprising cartoons: 

Waking The Day poem - Libations Friday 17 Sept 2010

When the day - and I - awaken, present in the moment.











Waking The Day





When I suddenly awakened from the long night’s hot summer sleep

The energizing scent of coffee brewing wafted around the corner.

I stumbled in the dark, bouncing off the doorway, fumbling for the kitchen lights.

I saw cats waiting eagerly at the back door, wide-eyed nocturnal keepers of the yard.











Measuring out fresh food into their three bowls, then wisely throwing open the door.

They looked up at me, measuring me more than their food, wondering how awake,

Hugging the doorway, quietly gliding through the opening instead of their usual burst.

The golden tiger cat squeaked his morning gossip of the neighborhood nightly report.











Steaming dark brown coffee breathed foggy swirls, spilling into the pristine mug.

The hot libation slid down my throat as it gave off its sweet Ethiopian perfume.

Drinking coffee before speaking plays first in the slumbering beginnings at my house.

Glancing at the cats, all lined in a row, they ate heartily as if miners just off a long shift.













I stepped out into the night to view the sparkling stars before they faded to the day.

The sky was astounding in its simple beauty; the love planet Venus the brightest smile.

How could anyone not smile in return when the planets seem to speak lovingly to us?

So many stars, so many messages written in the sky, our Universe speaks unceasingly.











Pouring another offering of coffee, I pulled up a chair on the porch to view the lake.

I could witness early morning on the water a thousand times, never to be disappointed.

Smoke rose on the water, little ghostly fingers walking forward on the mirrored surface.

Three mallard ducks emerged from the mist, swimming my way, dancing long strides.













Huge prehistoric wings filled the air with a swooping sound and blanketed darkness.

A blue heron landed to fish his breakfast, blending into the smoky gray surrounding mist.

Soon a white egret flew in from the east, careful to move down to another fishing hole.

In the dim light a neighbor fished, sitting, pole in hand as his coffee scent filled the air.















Faint pink embers, the growing light, were filling the sky just above the rooftop horizon.

The blue heron stalked the shallows on his long legs, searching the moving warm waters.

A sudden splash, beak dove down, retrieving a huge fish he flung high on to the bank.

The egret caught small fishes, silver glints in the sunlight, tossed into the air, swallowed.











Two cups of coffee later it was time to check back in the house to rouse my husband.

Entering the room, he slumbered peacefully, his breath shallow; I knew he was awake.

The golden tiger cat pounced onto the bed and onto his chest, demanding attention.

His eyes closed, my husband smiled and knew he had not fooled either one of us.









Denny Lyon

Copyright 17 Sept 2010

All Rights Reserved





*** For the spiritual symbolism explained see:



A Healing Spiritual Poem: Waking The Day







Photo Credits





Steaming coffee in white cup photo by Kvasov Andrey @ flickr



Pink embers sunrise photo by Indy Kethdy @ flickr



Two great white egrets photo by flythebirdpath~} teddy @ flickr



The night sky photo by James Jordan @ flickr (combination of two photos)



Smoke on the water photo by flamesworddragon @ flickr



Ducks swimming under full moon photo by joiseyshowaa @ flickr



Fairy tale moon photo by davedehetre @ flickr



Golden cat in shadow photo by 1 suisse @ flickr





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Call to Christians And Muslims Against Violence From Threat to Burn Koran

Phony Christian pastor incites international violence for threatening to burn the Koran.From Denny: When I heard about this nut case in Florida, claiming to be a Christian, yet screaming how another religion is "of the Devil," well, evidence there is yet more from Camp Stupid and Camp Outrageous. The first question that came to mind was, "So why is this guy so adamant to get his 15 minutes of negative attention fame?" Like so many things in life, what is on the surface is rarely the truth.Usually, when people pull destructive stunts like this it is often for misdirection away from something else. The internal suspicion radar wonders if this guy is tied into a white supremacist militia group. Then there are the Republican political strategists who are always stirring up the Moral Majority religious fringe right. It is curious how this bizarre stunt suddenly surfaces when President Obama is working so hard on Middle East Peace with Israel and Palestine. There are always those fools on all sides who try to derail Peace initiatives. Our job is not to give in to them and allow them to destroy Peace.The vast majority of Americans think this "pastor" has crossed the line. After all, when you condemn someone else's religion you end up condemning your own. All religions could take a lesson from that thought.Often these small fringe Protestant churches are a bunch of odd misfits who think they don't have to answer to anyone or respect anyone. They lie and hide behind the apron strings of religion and constitutional rights while they incite violence and hate. The same could be said of Islamic terrorists for they operate in the same manner. They are both wrong and both not honoring their claimed religions, rather they are wallowing in negative cultures that grew up around those religions.If ever there was a time for a rallying call it's now. The rallying call is not for Christians to line up on the battle field against Muslims or Muslims to line up on the battle field against Christians. What we all need to do is take a deep breath and ask ourselves one question: "Do we think God is great?" For that is where our focus should rest - not upon ourselves or "the other guy" we don't like.If we do agree on that one precept then it's obvious what is the next logical line of reasoning. If God is greater than all of us combined, does He really need us to defend Him? Of course not. What God wants from all of us is to figure out how to live in Peace and kindness toward one another while we each individually - or collectively as nations - travel on our spiritual journeys toward understanding. Part of that path is to grow our attitudes away from violence and toward patience and tolerance.While we do have religious freedom and freedom of expression in this great country of America, there are also local fire ordinances. Remember, at the moment there is only the threat of burning the Koran. Sometimes, it's the simple things that take care of stupidity like this. The city of Gainesville, Florida has prevented the "pastor" from burning the Korans as that burning presents a fire hazard. Apparently, the ink is highly incendiary. Now that's the understatement of the year.*** Update 10 Sept 2010: This story is constantly changing back and forth from threatening to burn the 200 Korans to not doing it. There are claims this pastor has made that the mosque near Ground Zero will be moved or not built at all - all because of his stunt. The New York City mosque has no plans to move their planned building nor has that Imam agreed to meet with this Florida pastor threatening violence - even though Pastor Jones has claimed the Imam will meet with him.As of Friday night the Florida pastor has stated he will not go through with the burning of the Korans and may not even be in town. Let's see, the FBI probably warned him that if he went through with it - and if anyone was harmed by violence or rioting - that he would be held responsible by federal hate crime law. The planned burning was also in violation of the city of Gainesville's fire ordinances.Saturday is the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorism in New York City on the World Trade Center. Tensions continue between American Christians and Muslims around the world because of this act of terrorism. The Republican political strategists continue to stir up people to anger rather than tolerance and cooperation as one nation, different faiths and beliefs. After all, you can easily control people by keeping them angry, so angry they take their focus off solving problems by thinking their way through them with wisdom.On this anniversary of hate, let's lower the political temperature and instead respond with spiritual forgiveness and wisdom.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Terry Jones Defies Administration, Plans to Burn Korans AnywayFBI Says Retaliation for Koran Burning 'Likely'*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates! *** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:The Social Poets - news, politicsThe Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychologyVisual Insights - photos, art, musicBeautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophyPoems From A Spiritual Heart - poetryThe Healing Waters - health newsDennys People Watching - people in the newsDennys Food and RecipesDennys Funny Quotes - humor

Vision of The Gardener Prophet poem - Libations Friday 6 Aug 2010

*** 2012 begins early. Check out a poem of prophecy warning humanity.Vision of The Gardener ProphetThe gardener stood at the window in the heat of summerGazing at the huge weeds growing stronger and larger,Sprouting up proudly as tall and wide as the shrubs,Crowding the beauty, smug, knowing they didn’t belong. What was not theirs they chose to steal and own out of spite.The gardener felt helpless, unable to tend the garden,For the summer heat was too strong to work outside.Day after day the gardener watched the weeds take over,Praying for the beauty to survive the onslaught andThen a break, a pouring rain came to drench the garden.The gardener hurriedly went out into the cooling wet airAnd began pulling the shallow roots, those showy weeds.The gardener prayed as she pulled and threw them away.The gardener prophet knew these weeds sprung up to stop her workAs she prayed for all the people of the world to do better.The gardener prophet prayed as she worked, knowing that“As below on Earth, so above in Heaven,” hoping this gardenWould influence and clean humanity of the great suffering.She toiled with the stubborn and contentious weeds for hours,Refusing to give in and allow beauty to wither and die.Deep in thought, hunting down the very smallest new weeds,Suddenly she looked up and there was an Angel appearing.The Angel looked at her work in the garden and said,“Tell the people their suffering has been heard in Heaven.The culling of humanity begins not in 2012 but now in 2010.”The gardener prophet wiped her eyes of the spattered mud.Patiently, the strong Angel waited for acknowledgement.“The Universe is speeding up the time table,” the Angel announced.“Humanity is past due to reach the next level of development.“Knowledge and wise teaching have spread the world to generations.“Contentiousness, lack of compassion, greed and stubbornness“Grow as weeds all over the world in every society and religion.“Beauty struggles to survive, grow and thrive, yet can wither and die.“The world is now again too full of those who choose to destroy, not build.“And now Death comes stalking them two years early to clean the garden.“Only Beauty is meant to walk the earth and thrive in the garden of Life,”Spoke the Angel softly, and then the vision slowly faded from the gardener prophet.Denny LyonCopyright 6 Aug 2010All Rights ReservedPhoto Credits - All photos are from my garden and are by Denny Lyon, available under Creative Commons copyright with Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives license.3 chocolate mint flowers in brush stroke effect Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickrField of discarded weeds Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickrHuge dragonfly on window screen in glowing edges effect Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickrBouquet of antique roses in colored pencils effect Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickrChocolate mint flowers favored by hummingbirds, colored foil effect Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickrPurple leaves Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickrBlue plumbago shade plant Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickrBumblebee on lilac chaste tree blossom Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickrAntique roses in saturated color Photo by Denny Lyon @ flickr*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates! *** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:The Social Poets - news, politicsThe Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychologyVisual Insights - photos, art, musicBeautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophyPoems From A Spiritual Heart - poetryThe Healing Waters - health newsDennys People Watching - people in the newsDennys Food and RecipesDennys Funny Quotes - humor