Today's Quote

"Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is."

—Gary Zukav: American spiritual teacher and the author of four consecutive New York Times Best Sellers

Ideas are Scary

Great commercial!

Why Republicans Always Get Away With It, MSNBC Edition

Our current political media's largest failure has been their well-practiced ability to not only excuse Republicans' bad behavior, but to conveniently forget about it, too. This is why we have midterms where everyone is shrugging and exclaiming that they've never seen an election like this where everything is so...tied.

Here's why that happens. Chris Christie goes out and bullies a constituent, making the fatuous claim that Christie, and Christie alone, was taking care of Sandy victims after the cameras left, unlike that rude man with the sign who just wants to heckle him.

We now know from Chris Hayes that the gentleman holding the sign took a month off work without pay to go and help with the Sandy cleanup. And yet Andrea pronounces the entire episode some "great TV." Cillizza nods and agrees wisely, as if he knows exactly what she means while both of them gabble about whether it's "presidential."

The other side of that coin

Now I want you to imagine a different episode of this particular show. In this one, Obama is giving a speech somewhere and gets heckled, as has been the case at most of his events this year. Instead of tossing his "Don't get mad, vote!" line at the hecklers, he goes off. Loses his temper, tells the hecklers to shut up and sit down because no one -- NO ONE -- has worked harder to (fill in the blank here) than he has, and that person heckling him has no damn idea so they should just shut the hell up and sit their asses down.

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Bill O’Reilly accuses Republicans of being ‘intimidated’ by Black people

Ignorant bastard!

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly argued to PBS counterpart Tavis Smiley on Thursday that Republicans are less apathetic regarding Black voters than they are afraid of them.

“I think they’re more intimidated than uncaring,” O’Reilly said.

“Intimidated by what?” Smiley asked skeptically. “Are Black folks scary?”

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‘Religious zealot’ nearly beheads teen ‘witch’ after watching Christian videos

A religious zealot” in Oklahoma nearly beheaded an acquaintance in a brutal slaying after watching Christian videos, police said.

Isaiah Marin was playing cards Wednesday afternoon with his brother and the victim, 19-year-old Jacob Crockett, at an apartment in Stillwater.

Police said the 21-year-old Marin was watching online videos “related to his Christian beliefs and the Book of Matthew” before he picked up a sword and began swinging it around.

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This Nation of Cowards

By William Rivers Pitt

It is likely that most of us, myself included, will live out our entire lives and die without ever meeting someone who willingly and purposefully volunteers to spend their vacation thousands of miles away, tending to people with diseases that make the talking heads on CNN and Fox want to hide under the bed. Kaci Hickox, a nurse from Maine who graduated from Johns Hopkins, is one such person.

In 2010, Hickox traveled overseas with the organization Doctors Without Borders to treat people suffering from yellow fever, one of several trips she made with that organization. Until last Friday, she was in Sierra Leone for a month, spending her vacation time helping to treat people infected with Ebola, the virus that has been burning through western Africa at an unprecedented rate. Kaci Hickox went to one of the most unstable countries in the world to help fight a deadly disease because someone had to, and so she raised her hand.

On Friday, she came home to a timorous nation of cowards.

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Jim Crow returns

Election officials in 27 states, most of them Republicans, have launched a program that threatens a massive purge of voters from the rolls. Millions, especially black, Hispanic and Asian-American voters, are at risk. Already, tens of thousands have been removed in at least one battleground state, and the numbers are expected to climb, according to a six-month-long, nationwide investigation.

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Republicans use vote suppression as electoral strategy

Ever since Bush v. Gore, changing voter laws in legislatures and courts has been key GOP tactic

Chicken Casserole

2 lbs. of chicken ( I used all thighs, my preference)
1 C. all purpose flour
1 C. milk
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup
2 C. chicken broth (I used the water my chicken cooked in)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Place the chicken in a pot and cover with water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 1 hour. Remove chicken from pot, save the water, and let cool. Shred the chicken and place in the bottom of a 11x7 baking dish. Whisk together the flour, milk and butter, pour over the chicken. Whisk together the broth, soup, salt and pepper, pour over the casserole, DO NOT STIR. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Caramel-Apple Pudding Cake

Rich and yummy and easy.

Prep time 25 minutes
Bake 35 minutes

2 medium, tart cooking apples, such as Granny Smith or Jonathan, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (2 cups)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup raisins (I hate raisins so I leave them out)
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3/4 cup caramel ice-cream topping
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp margarine or butter
Whipped cream (optional) or vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease a 2 quart square baking dish.
Arrange apples in bottom of dish; sprinkle with lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg, top evenly with raisins, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl stir together four, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
Add the milk, the 2 tbls melted bytter, and vanilla; mix well.
Stir in chopped nuts.
Spread the batter evenly over the apple mixture.
In a small saucepan combine caramel topping, water, and the 1 tbls butter; bring to a boiling.
Pour caramel mixture over the batter in the baking dish.
Bake for 35 minutes or until set in center.
While warm, cut into squares, inverting each piece onto dessert plate.
Spoon the caramel apple mixture from the bottom of pan over each piece.
Serve with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.
Makes 12 servings.

Today's Quote

You think you know your possibilities. Then other people come into your life and suddenly there are so many more.

— David Levithan

Today's Quote

“If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is.”

~Unknown

Today's Quote

"It's not what you've got, it's what you use that makes a difference."

—Zig Ziglar (1926-2012)

Today's Quote

“Suffering is not caused by pain but by resisting pain.”

~Unknown

Today's Quote

“I vow to let go of all worries and anxiety in order to be light and free.”

 ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Today's Quote

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Christian Daa Larson
1874-1954, New Thought Leader, Teacher, and Author

Today's Quote

All that a Guru can tell you is:
"My dear Sir, you are quite mistaken about yourself.
You are not the person you think yourself to be."

Trust no one, not even yourself. Search, find out, remove and reject every assumption till you reach the living waters and the Rock of Truth. Until you are free of the drug, all your religions and sciences, prayers and Yogas are of no use to you, for based on a mistake, they strengthen it.

But if you stay with the idea that you are not the body nor the mind, not even their witness, but altogether beyond, your mind will grow in clarity, your desires — in purity, your actions — in charity and that inner distillation will take you to another world, a world of Truth and Fearless Love.

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj ~

Today's Quote

“Until you make peace with who you are, you will never be content with what you have.”

~Doris Mortman

Today's Quote

"The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself."

Mark Caine
Author

Today's Quote

When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear.

- Mark Twain

Today's Quote

"Every time we open our mouths to speak or sing we are affecting ourselves and the people hearing us. By opening up your voice to its greatest possibilities, you will experience positive changes both physically and emotionally. Change the way you sound and enjoy the success it will bring to you."

- Roger Love

Today's Quote

"I know for sure that I don't want to live a shut down life - desensitized to feeling, seeing, and the possibility of experiencing joy on every level. I want every day to be a fresh start on expanding what is possible."

Oprah Winfrey

Today's Quote

“When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.”

~Unknown

Today's Quote

Those who exploit the powerless anger their maker, while those who are kind to the poor honor God.

- Proverbs 14:31

Today's Quote

"Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living."

— Soren Kierkegaard: 19th century Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, and social critic

Today's Quote

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.

– Dorothy Thompson

Today's Quote

“Good enough is the new perfect.”

~Becky Beaupre Gillespie

Today's Quote

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about."

Charles Kingsley
1819-1875, Writer

Today's Quotes

"We do not need more of the things that are seen. We need more of the things that are unseen."

— Calvin Coolidge: 30th President of the United States

Today's Quote

"I live by this credo: Have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations. Even in your darkest moment, you usually can find something to laugh about if you try hard enough."

Red Skelton
1913-1997, Comedian

Today's Quote

Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today's Quote

"I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth I will apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy."

Og Mandino
1923-1996, Author

Today's Quote

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."

—Milton Berle: American comedian and actor

Today's Quote

"If you want the best the world has to offer, offer the world your best."

-Neale Donald Walsch

Today's Quote

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

~ Henry David Thoreau, 1854 ~
"Walden; or, Life in the Woods"

Today's Quote

“You are not just here to fill space or be a background character in someone else's movie. Consider this: nothing would be the same if you did not exist. Every place you have ever been and everyone you have ever spoken to would be different without you. We are all connected, and we are all affected by the decisions and even the existence of those around us.”

~ David Niven ~

Today's Quote

“The outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs.”

~James Allen

Today's Quote

Sometimes people don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them.

– John Green

Today's Quote

"Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blue print, and begin to build."

— Robert Collier: American author of self-help, and New Thought metaphysical books in the 20th century